BUCHANAN
OperatingHydro power plant
- Capacity
- 55 MW
- Primary fuel
- Hydro
- County
- Llano County
- Operator
- LOWER COLORADO RIVER AUTHORITY
- Status
- Operating
- Commissioned
- 1938
- EIA plant ID
- 3595
- Generators
- 3
- Technology
- Conventional Hydroelectric
- Net generation (2024)
- 17.1 GWh
- Capacity factor (2024, EIA nameplate)
- 3.6%
- Data vintage
- EIA-860 2024 final; EIA-923 2022-2024 final
- Coordinates
- 30.7513, -98.4179
BUCHANAN, a 55 MW Hydro power plant in Llano County, Texas. Operated by LOWER COLORADO RIVER AUTHORITY, commissioned 1938.
How BUCHANAN compares
With 55 MW of capacity, BUCHANAN ranks 215th among the 307 operating power plants Bywatts maps in Texas and 6th of the 22 operating Hydro plants in the state. It accounts for about 8.2% of Texas's operating Hydro capacity and under 0.1% of all operating capacity in the state. Nationally it is the 267th-largest of the 1,243 operating Hydro plants in the database. Commissioned in 1938, it is older than 97% of the 303 operating Texas plants with a recorded commissioning year. Its operator, LOWER COLORADO RIVER AUTHORITY, runs 11 operating plants in Texas totaling 3,912 MW. It shares Llano County with one other operating plant, THOMAS C FERGUSON.
EIA-860 lists 3 generators at the site with 55 MW of nameplate capacity, all conventional hydroelectric technology. Net generation was 17.1 GWh in 2024 (a 3.6% capacity factor). Its generators came online between 1938 and 1950.
Grid neighborhood
The closest transmission line found within 10 miles is a 138 kV line owned by PEDERNALES ELECTRIC COOP, INC, under 0.1 miles away. Another 4 operating power plants totaling 565 MW sit within 25 miles; the largest is THOMAS C FERGUSON (446 MW, Natural Gas).
Computed by Bywatts from HIFLD power plant and transmission line records and EIA-860/923 survey data; distances are straight-line. Sources and methodology
Weather peril exposure
BUCHANAN is a 55 MW hydro power plant in Llano County, TX, operated by LOWER COLORADO RIVER AUTHORITY, commissioned in 1938. Llano County carries high modeled catastrophe exposure in the FEMA National Risk Index, scoring 4.0 of 5 at the 76th national percentile. Riverine flooding is the leading peril, rated Relatively Moderate by FEMA at the 92nd percentile.
The Bywatts loss layer is calibrated to solar PV hardware, so it is not applied to a hydro plant. The ratings below are the FEMA National Risk Index county hazard ratings for this location.
Llano County hazard ratings
| Peril | FEMA rating | National percentile | Peril score | Events per year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Riverine flooding | Relatively Moderate | 92nd | 4.7 of 5 | 2.4 |
| Hail | Relatively Moderate | 81st | 4.2 of 5 | 3.8 |
| Wildfire | Relatively Low | 65th | 3.6 of 5 | <0.01 |
| Winter weather | Relatively Moderate | 61st | 3.5 of 5 | 4.1 |
| Strong wind | Relatively Low | 58th | 3.3 of 5 | 1.1 |
| Hurricane | Very Low | 53rd | 3.1 of 5 | 0.01 |
| Tornado | Relatively Moderate | 49th | 3.0 of 5 | 0.34 |
| Heat wave | Relatively Low | 35th | 2.4 of 5 | 6.7 |
| Ice storm | Very Low | 11th | 1.4 of 5 | 0.46 |
| Lightning | Relatively Moderate | 7th | 1.3 of 5 | 47.9 |
| Earthquake | Very Low | 4th | 1.2 of 5 | <0.01 |
Perils not assessed in Llano County
These perils carry no usable National Risk Index figure for this county, so they are excluded from the scoring rather than scored zero. A zero would claim the peril was assessed and found benign.
| Peril | Why it is not scored |
|---|---|
| Coastal flooding | FEMA rating is "Not Applicable" for this county |
Model hail, wind and flood exposure for Llano County in the weather risk calculator
Ratings are the FEMA National Risk Index county hazard ratings; the peril score is a Bywatts transform of the FEMA national percentile. Full data sources and the solar vulnerability methodology are in the weather risk calculator.
Modeled estimate for screening and negotiation. Built from FEMA National Risk Index county hazard data and a solar vulnerability layer documented above. Not a quote, a binder, or actuarial advice, and not a substitute for a carrier's own model. Hazard data: FEMA National Risk Index December 2025, synced 2026-07-24. Resolution is county level, not site level.