70th largest plant in New Mexico · 4891st nationally
Lightning Dock Geothermal is a geothermal power plant in New Mexico with a nameplate capacity of 19.2 MW. It generates roughly 35.9k MWh per year — enough to power about 3,415 average U.S. homes.
Its capacity factor of 21% reflects intermittent or peaking operation.
| Plant Name | Lightning Dock Geothermal |
|---|---|
| Operator | Lightning Dock Geothermal Hi-01, Llc |
| City | Animas |
| County | Hidalgo County |
| State | New Mexico |
| ZIP | 88020 |
| Coordinates | 32.14472, -108.83833 |
This plant highlighted in navy-ringed pin; other generators within 25 miles shown as fuel-colored dots.
| ID | Technology | Fuel | Capacity | Status | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GEN-5 | Geothermal | Geothermal | 15.2 MW | Operating | 2018 |
| PB01 | Geothermal | Geothermal | 1.0 MW | Operating | 2013 |
| PB02 | Geothermal | Geothermal | 1.0 MW | Operating | 2013 |
| PB03 | Geothermal | Geothermal | 1.0 MW | Operating | 2013 |
| PB04 | Geothermal | Geothermal | 1.0 MW | Operating | 2013 |
| NERC Region | WECC |
|---|---|
| Balancing Authority | Public Service Company Of New Mexico |
Geothermal plants tap heat from underground reservoirs to spin steam turbines. They provide carbon-free baseload power with very high capacity factors, but they only work where hot rock is accessible — primarily in the western U.S.