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Gridcensus

Black Rock III

Brownfield

Calipatria, Imperial, California · CE Obsidian Energy LLC

Legacy capacity
70
MW

Black Rock III is a former geothermal site in Calipatria, Imperial, California. Retired generation sites are among the most attractive datacenter redevelopment targets: the existing interconnection was sized for roughly 70 MW of generation, so the grid hookup, transmission rights, and often cooling-water access are already in place — collapsing the speed-to-power timeline versus a greenfield build.

Former use & capacity

Former useformer geothermal site
Site typeretired_plant
Existing capacity70 MW
EIA plant ID#57479

Grid hookup & remediation

Nearest substation0.3 mi
Operator address7030 Gentry Road, Calipatria, CA, 92233
Why this site is datacenter-attractive: a former geothermal site of this scale leaves behind a high-capacity grid interconnection that a new load can re-use, frequently shaving years off the interconnection queue. Retired-plant sites also tend to be already zoned for heavy industrial use with established road, rail, and water infrastructure.

Site conditions & market — Imperial County

County-level intelligence for this site's location — the power economics, water, hazard, connectivity, and workforce a developer screens before ever visiting. Assembled from FEMA NRI, BLS QCEW, FCC BDC, USGS water-use, and EIA.

Market & workforce

Total employment (laborshed)45,830
Construction employment1,700
Land value$11,892/acre

Power economics & interconnection

Commercial power rate19.28¢/kWh
Industrial power rate18.95¢/kWh
Load growth (FERC-714)1.3%

Water & cooling

Water stressHigh
Public water supply24.5 MGD
Industrial water use1.2 MGD
Cooling degree days1,000
Mean annual temp59°F

Hazard, flood & connectivity

FEMA risk index48.0 · Relatively High
Fiber providers4 · 8% served

County-level context — address-level utility offerings and flood zoning vary within the county. Confirm site-specific service with the utility and a Phase I ESA.

Nearby brownfield & retired-generation sites

A proximity screen of other retired-plant, contaminated, and EPA-flagged sites near Black Rock III — the environmental neighborhood, ranked by legacy grid capacity.

SiteFormer useLegacy MWDistanceCleanup status
Black Rock IIformer geothermal site700.0 mi—
Black Rock Iformer geothermal site700.0 mi—
Hudson Ranch Power II LLCformer geothermal site554.6 mi—
El Centro Hybridnatural gas plant5025.1 mi—
Ormesa Iformer geothermal site3131.5 mi—
Ormesa IIformer geothermal site2433.3 mi—
Brawleyoil plant2314.0 mi—
Ormesa IEformer geothermal site1432.5 mi—

Derived from GridCensus's retired-generator & EPA brownfield dataset. Not a substitute for an ASTM E1527 Phase I environmental radius report.

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Nearby datacenter candidate sites

Scored candidate sites near Black Rock III, ranked by DC Readiness.

Candidate sites near Black Rock III
SiteTypeStateCountyVoltageCapacityQueue waitScore
IMPERIAL VALLEYSubstation-AdjacentCAImperial County500 kV1,000 MW8.2 yrs54.5
Hudson Ranch Power II LLCBrownfieldCAImperial County230 kV55 MW5.7 yrs52.1
EL CENTROSubstation-AdjacentCAImperial County230 kV300 MW8.2 yrs51.3
Ormesa IBrownfieldCAImperial County66 kV31 MW5.7 yrs50.1
HIGHLINESubstation-AdjacentCAImperial County230 kV300 MW8.2 yrs50.1
MIDWAYSubstation-AdjacentCAImperial County230 kV300 MW8.2 yrs50.0
BANNISTERSubstation-AdjacentCAImperial County230 kV300 MW8.2 yrs49.8
Black Rock IIBrownfieldCAImperial County66 kV70 MW5.7 yrs49.6

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Dataset updated . Screening estimates derived from public data sources.

Brownfield attributes are derived from EIA retired-generator and EPA public data. Existing capacity reflects the retired plant's historical nameplate, not deliverable interconnection for a new load. Confirm reusable interconnection rights, remediation status, and site availability with the utility, ISO, and current owner.

Go deeper than the public screen

This page shows a public slice of the GridCensus dataset for Black Rock III, Calipatria, Imperial, California. Pro and Enterprise plans unlock the full 147,272-site catalog, raw sub-scores, parcel ownership, interconnection-queue detail, saved searches, and programmatic API access.