569th largest plant in California · 4323rd nationally
Ormesa I is a geothermal power plant in California with a nameplate capacity of 26.4 MW. It generates roughly 101.7k MWh per year — enough to power about 9,682 average U.S. homes.
Its capacity factor of 44% puts it in the middle range — running steadily but not full-time.
| Plant Name | Ormesa I |
|---|---|
| Operator | Ormat Nevada Inc |
| City | Holtville |
| County | Imperial County |
| State | California |
| ZIP | 92250 |
| Coordinates | 32.81560, -115.25680 |
This plant highlighted in navy-ringed pin; other generators within 25 miles shown as fuel-colored dots.
| ID | Technology | Fuel | Capacity | Status | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ITLU1 | Geothermal | Geothermal | 12.0 MW | Operating | 2003 |
| ITLU2 | Geothermal | Geothermal | 12.0 MW | Operating | 2003 |
| OE1 | Geothermal | Geothermal | 1.2 MW | Retired | 1986 |
| OE10 | Geothermal | Geothermal | 1.2 MW | Retired | 1986 |
| OE11 | Geothermal | Geothermal | 1.2 MW | Retired | 1989 |
| OE12 | Geothermal | Geothermal | 1.2 MW | Retired | 1986 |
| OE13 | Geothermal | Geothermal | 1.2 MW | Retired | 1986 |
| OE14 | Geothermal | Geothermal | 1.2 MW | Retired | 1989 |
| OE15 | Geothermal | Geothermal | 1.2 MW | Retired | 1986 |
| OE16 | Geothermal | Geothermal | 1.2 MW | Retired | 1986 |
| OE2 | Geothermal | Geothermal | 1.2 MW | Retired | 1986 |
| OE21 | Geothermal | Geothermal | 1.2 MW | Retired | 1989 |
| OE22 | Geothermal | Geothermal | 1.2 MW | Retired | 1986 |
| OE23 | Geothermal | Geothermal | 1.2 MW | Retired | 1986 |
| OE24 | Geothermal | Geothermal | 1.2 MW | Retired | 1986 |
| OE25 | Geothermal | Geothermal | 1.2 MW | Retired | 1986 |
| OE26 | Geothermal | Geothermal | 1.2 MW | Retired | 1986 |
| OE27 | Geothermal | Geothermal | 1.2 MW | Retired | 1986 |
| OE28 | Geothermal | Geothermal | 1.2 MW | Retired | 1986 |
| OE3 | Geothermal | Geothermal | 1.2 MW | Retired | 1986 |
| OE31 | Geothermal | Geothermal | 1.2 MW | Retired | 1986 |
| OE32 | Geothermal | Geothermal | 1.2 MW | Retired | 1986 |
| OE4 | Geothermal | Geothermal | 1.2 MW | Retired | 1986 |
| OE5 | Geothermal | Geothermal | 1.2 MW | Retired | 1986 |
| OE6 | Geothermal | Geothermal | 1.2 MW | Retired | 1986 |
| OE7 | Geothermal | Geothermal | 1.2 MW | Retired | 1986 |
| OE8 | Geothermal | Geothermal | 1.2 MW | Retired | 1986 |
| OE9 | Geothermal | Geothermal | 1.2 MW | Retired | 1986 |
| NERC Region | WECC |
|---|---|
| Balancing Authority | Imperial Irrigation District |
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.