GRANITE SHOALS
OperatingHydro power plant
- Capacity
- 60 MW
- Primary fuel
- Hydro
- County
- Burnet County
- Operator
- LOWER COLORADO RIVER AUTHORITY
- Status
- Operating
- Commissioned
- 1951
- EIA plant ID
- 3597
- Generators
- 2
- Technology
- Conventional Hydroelectric
- Net generation (2024)
- 22.4 GWh
- Capacity factor (2024, EIA nameplate)
- 4.7%
- Data vintage
- EIA-860 2024 final; EIA-923 2022-2024 final
- Coordinates
- 30.5561, -98.3384
GRANITE SHOALS, a 60 MW Hydro power plant in Burnet County, Texas. Operated by LOWER COLORADO RIVER AUTHORITY, commissioned 1951.
How GRANITE SHOALS compares
With 60 MW of capacity, GRANITE SHOALS ranks 209th among the 307 operating power plants Bywatts maps in Texas and 5th of the 22 operating Hydro plants in the state. It accounts for about 8.9% of Texas's operating Hydro capacity and under 0.1% of all operating capacity in the state. Nationally it is the 249th-largest of the 1,243 operating Hydro plants in the database. Commissioned in 1951, it is older than 95% 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 Burnet County with 2 other operating plants, MARBLE FALLS and INKS.
EIA-860 lists 2 generators at the site with 54 MW of nameplate capacity, all conventional hydroelectric technology. Net generation was 22.4 GWh in 2024 (a 4.7% capacity factor).
Grid neighborhood
The closest transmission line found within 10 miles is a 138 kV line owned by PEDERNALES ELECTRIC COOP, INC, about 0.1 miles away. Another 4 operating power plants totaling 560 MW sit within 25 miles; the largest is THOMAS C FERGUSON (446 MW, Natural Gas). Within 50 miles is one mapped data center, CyrusOne Austin (Met 2) in Austin, about 45.2 miles away.
Computed by Bywatts from HIFLD power plant and transmission line records, EIA-860/923 survey data and PeeringDB data center locations; distances are straight-line. Sources and methodology
Weather peril exposure
GRANITE SHOALS is a 60 MW hydro power plant in Burnet County, TX, operated by LOWER COLORADO RIVER AUTHORITY, commissioned in 1951. Burnet County carries high modeled catastrophe exposure in the FEMA National Risk Index, scoring 4.0 of 5 at the 76th national percentile. Strong wind is the leading peril, rated Relatively Moderate by FEMA at the 84th 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.
Burnet County hazard ratings
| Peril | FEMA rating | National percentile | Peril score | Events per year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Strong wind | Relatively Moderate | 84th | 4.4 of 5 | 1.5 |
| Riverine flooding | Relatively Moderate | 84th | 4.4 of 5 | 2.4 |
| Hail | Relatively Moderate | 80th | 4.2 of 5 | 4.3 |
| Wildfire | Relatively Low | 70th | 3.8 of 5 | <0.01 |
| Winter weather | Relatively Moderate | 61st | 3.5 of 5 | 3.9 |
| Hurricane | Relatively Low | 55th | 3.2 of 5 | 0.01 |
| Tornado | Relatively Moderate | 54th | 3.2 of 5 | 0.49 |
| Heat wave | Relatively Moderate | 35th | 2.4 of 5 | 6.7 |
| Ice storm | Relatively Low | 10th | 1.4 of 5 | 0.55 |
| Lightning | Relatively Moderate | 9th | 1.4 of 5 | 48.4 |
| Earthquake | Very Low | 4th | 1.2 of 5 | <0.01 |
Perils not assessed in Burnet 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 Burnet 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.