2nd largest plant in New Mexico · 526th nationally
Hobbs Generating Station is a natural gas power plant in New Mexico with a nameplate capacity of 682 MW. It generates roughly 3.9M MWh per year — enough to power about 374,010 average U.S. homes.
Its capacity factor of 66% puts it in the middle range — running steadily but not full-time. At 896 lb CO₂/MWh, its emission rate sits above the national grid average of roughly 800 lb/MWh.
Ghost bars are each month's theoretical maximum (682 MW nameplate × hours in the month). Filled bars are actual net generation reported to EIA Form 923. The gap between them is capacity factor made visible.
| Plant Name | Hobbs Generating Station |
|---|---|
| Operator | Lea Power Partners Llc |
| City | Hobbs |
| County | Lea County |
| State | New Mexico |
| ZIP | 88240 |
| Coordinates | 32.72833, -103.30944 |
This plant highlighted in navy-ringed pin; other generators within 25 miles shown as fuel-colored dots.
| ID | Technology | Fuel | Capacity | Status | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ST3 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 281 MW | Operating | 2008 |
| GT1 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 197 MW | Operating | 2008 |
| GT2 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 197 MW | Operating | 2008 |
| CHW-T | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 7.2 MW | Operating | 2008 |
| CO₂ | 1.8M metric tons |
|---|---|
| SO₂ | 8 metric tons |
| NOₓ | 95 metric tons |
| CO₂ Rate | 896 lb/MWh |
Annual totals and CO₂ rate reported by EPA eGRID for 2023. Reference averages are approximate U.S.-wide figures from the same dataset.
| NERC Region | MRO |
|---|---|
| Balancing Authority | Southwest Power Pool |
Natural gas plants are the workhorse of the modern grid. Combined-cycle units achieve very high efficiency and can ramp up and down quickly to balance variable renewables. They emit roughly half the CO₂ per MWh of coal and far less of other pollutants, but they still release upstream methane during fuel extraction.