56th largest plant in New Mexico · 3844th nationally
La Luz Energy Center is a natural gas power plant in New Mexico with a nameplate capacity of 42.3 MW. It generates roughly 67.7k MWh per year — enough to power about 6,450 average U.S. homes.
Its capacity factor of 18% reflects intermittent or peaking operation. At 1179 lb CO₂/MWh, its emission rate sits above the national grid average of roughly 800 lb/MWh.
| Plant Name | La Luz Energy Center |
|---|---|
| Operator | Public Service Co Of Nm |
| City | Belen |
| County | Valencia County |
| State | New Mexico |
| ZIP | 87003 |
| Coordinates | 34.61611, -106.81500 |
This plant highlighted in navy-ringed pin; other generators within 25 miles shown as fuel-colored dots.
| ID | Technology | Fuel | Capacity | Status | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0001 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 42.3 MW | Operating | 2015 |
| 0002 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 42.3 MW | Cancelled | — |
| CO₂ | 39.9k metric tons |
|---|---|
| NOₓ | 3 metric tons |
| CO₂ Rate | 1179 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 | WECC |
|---|---|
| Balancing Authority | Public Service Company Of New Mexico |
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.