Rio Grande
Natural gas power plant · Dona Ana County, New Mexico
Details
- Primary fuel
- Natural gas
- Technology
- Natural Gas Steam Turbine
- Operator
- El Paso Electric Co
- County
- Dona Ana County
- Generating units
- 3
- Share of state capacity
- 1.94%
- Rank among natural gas plants in New Mexico
- #4 of 19
- EIA plant code
- 2444
Generating units
| Unit | Technology | Nameplate | Summer | Online | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 | Natural Gas Steam Turbine | 167 MW | 139 MW | 1972 | Operating |
| 9 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | 132 MW | 83 MW | 2013 | Operating |
| 7 | Natural Gas Steam Turbine | 50 MW | 43 MW | 1958 | Operating |
Nameplate is the maximum rated output; summer capacity is what the unit can reliably deliver on a hot day, which is typically lower.
Similarly sized plants in New Mexico
| Cunningham | Natural gas | 444 MW |
| Red Cloud Wind LLC | Wind | 350 MW |
| Clines Corners Wind Farm LLC | Wind | 325 MW |
| La Joya NM | Wind | 306 MW |
About this data
From EIA’s inventory of operable generators, May 2026 release. Capacity is nameplate — the maximum rated output of the equipment, not what the plant actually generates over a year, which depends on how often it runs. A 348 MW solar plant and a 348 MW nuclear plant have the same entry here and produce very different amounts of electricity.
“In service since” is the earliest in-service date among the units still listed, so a site rebuilt around newer equipment can read as younger than the site itself. All New Mexico power plants · What New Mexico actually generates