Casa Diablo Hot Springs Geothermal Plant

The Casa Diablo Hot Springs Power Plant, east of Highway 395, is a geothermal electrical production complex, one of several in the state. Wells drilled into the ground inject water that is subsequently heated geothermally heated to 170 degrees C. Returning to the surface, the water drives three turbine driven power plants to generate some 40 megawatts of electricity for Mammoth Pacific, enough to power roughly 40,000 homes. Although geothermal energy is a relatively clean and efficient source of power, like all forms of energy, it has a dark side. The heat that produces the hot water comes from the magma chamber five miles underground that caused the Long Valley Caldera Eruption.