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Gridcensus

Carlsbad

Brownfield

Carlsbad, Eddy, New Mexico · Southwestern Public Service Co

Legacy capacity
16
MW

Carlsbad is a natural gas plant in Carlsbad, Eddy, New Mexico, retired 2017-12-01. Retired generation sites are among the most attractive datacenter redevelopment targets: the existing interconnection was sized for roughly 16 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 usenatural gas plant
Site typeretired_plant
Existing capacity16 MW
Retirement date2017-12-01
EIA plant ID#2453

Grid hookup & remediation

Nearest substation0.4 mi
Operator address501 Musctel Drive, Carlsbad, NM, 88220
Why this site is datacenter-attractive: a natural gas plant 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 — Eddy 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)27,379
IT / tech employment14
Construction employment3,117
Land value$907/acre

Power economics & interconnection

Commercial power rate13.30¢/kWh
Industrial power rate8.44¢/kWh
Load growth (FERC-714)1.1%

Water & cooling

Water stressExtremely High
Public water supply13.4 MGD
Industrial water use0.9 MGD
Cooling degree days1,400
Mean annual temp53°F

Hazard, flood & connectivity

FEMA risk index15.0 · Relatively Low
Fiber providers4 · 49% 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.

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Nearby datacenter candidate sites

Scored candidate sites near Carlsbad, ranked by DC Readiness.

Candidate sites near Carlsbad
SiteTypeStateCountyVoltageCapacityQueue waitScore
UNKNOWN307140Substation-AdjacentNMEddy County345 kV600 MW3.3 yrs58.7
EDDY AC-DC-AC TIESubstation-AdjacentNMEddy County345 kV600 MW3.3 yrs58.1
UNKNOWN306969Substation-AdjacentNMEddy County230 kV300 MW3.3 yrs57.0
EC Near CarlsbadGreenfieldNMEddy——3.5 yrs57.0
POTASH JUNCTIONSubstation-AdjacentNMEddy County230 kV300 MW3.3 yrs56.9
OZ EddyGreenfieldNMEddy——3.5 yrs56.6
UNKNOWN305514Substation-AdjacentNMEddy County230 kV300 MW3.3 yrs56.5
EC Near CarlsbadGreenfieldNMEddy——3.5 yrs56.4

See all datacenter sites in New Mexico →

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 Carlsbad, Carlsbad, Eddy, New Mexico. 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.