How Close Is the Nearest Power Plant to You?

How Close Is the Nearest Power Plant to Your Home?

Whether you're buying a home, researching environmental risk, or simply curious, knowing how close you live to a power plant can be more important than you think. In the U.S., there are over 11,000 operational power plants, ranging from massive nuclear facilities to small natural gas peaker plants.

With power infrastructure scattered across urban, suburban, and rural areas, it’s surprisingly common to live within 5 miles of a major power plant—a factor that can influence everything from air quality to property value.

📍 Use Our Power Plant Proximity Map

🔎 Enter your address to find nearby power plants of any type:
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⚡ Why Proximity to Power Plants Matters

1. Health and Air Quality Risks

Living close to coal or gas plants can increase exposure to pollutants:

• A Harvard study (2022) found that people living within 10 miles of coal plants had 26% higher hospitalization rates for respiratory illness.

• Natural gas plants emit nitrogen oxides and particulate matter, affecting children and the elderly most.

2. Property Values

• Homes within 2 miles of a power plant can sell for 4–7% less, especially near fossil fuel plants, according to a Zillow housing study.

• Renewable energy plants (like solar farms) have less impact, but visual aesthetics still play a role.

3. Emergency Risk Zones

• Nuclear facilities and some gas plants have evacuation zones ranging from 10 to 50 miles.

• Knowing your proximity can help with disaster planning and insurance choices.

🏠 Who Should Check This Map?

✔️ Homebuyers

Avoid future surprises by checking your home's location relative to power facilities.

✔️ Environmental Advocates

Track the concentration of fossil fuel infrastructure in frontline communities.

✔️ Researchers & Journalists

Access a visual tool to enhance reports, papers, or investigations.

🔧 What Types of Plants Are Mapped?

We’ve categorized all U.S. power plants by:

• Fuel Type: Nuclear, Coal, Natural Gas, Oil, Solar, Wind, Hydro, Geothermal

• Output Size: Large baseload vs. small peakers

• Status: Operational, under construction, decommissioned

💡 Action Items

1. Search Your Address on the interactive map to view nearby plants.

2. Share the Map Tool with friends, real estate agents, or climate advocates.

3. Report Errors or Updates if you notice inaccurate data.

🔗 Related Articles:

• Top 10 States with the Most Renewable Energy Plants

• Decommissioned Power Plants Near You

• Do Power Plants Affect Property Value?

📌 Final Thought

Power plants are a critical part of our infrastructure—but they also shape our local environments. Knowing how close you live to one helps you make more informed decisions about your health, investments, and safety.

The Delay in Tearing Down Redondo Beach Power Plant: Unraveling the Complexities

The Redondo Beach Power Plant, a prominent fixture along California's coastline, has been a subject of ongoing discussion and anticipation regarding its demolition. While the desire to remove the plant and repurpose the land for more environmentally friendly uses is widely supported, the actual process has encountered significant delays and challenges. Let's explore the factors contributing to this prolonged timeline. 

Russian military threat to Ukraine's nuclear reactors and facilities

This interactive map is aimed to provide public information on the nuclear plants in Ukraine, their vulnerabilities, and threats from Russian military forces. For detailed background briefing on each nuclear plant click on the plant icon.  Here is our map of power plants in the Ukraine. 

Buying A House Near Power Lines or Electrical Substations

Power Lines Near Homes

If you are buying a home these days you should probably do your real estate due diligence on power lines and electrical substations in your neighborhood.

Is it safe to buy a home with power lines in/near the backyard?  Some people think it is safe and others do not think it is safe due to the electromagnetic field (EMF) radiation these power lines have.  The amount of EMF radiation depends on the amount of power that is traveling through the power lines.  Obviously, larger power lines carry more power and EMF radiation.  Here is a chart that explains the safe distances from larger power lines.

Here is another blog post that explains safe distances from power lines also.

Electrical power lines are usually not hard to find so PowerPlantMaps.com does not map these locations.  However,  substations can be a bit obscure in some neighborhoods inside buildings and behind walls.  Now with Power Plant Maps, you can find electrical substations in your neighborhood that might be an issue. 

Search the map for "substation" to find health and safety issues that have been contributed by users. PowerPlantMaps.com also uses satellite images to locate substations and power plants in neighborhoods similar to this image below.   Please also share news articles of problems that we don't currently have on the map.   Here is a video on how to add a new power plant, substation, or power line issues to our map. 

Several lawsuits have been won over the years.  Here is a case in Redondo Beach where a woman won $4M from a lawsuit with Edison over a substation near hear home.  You can find this health and safety issue and similar issues on PowerPlantMaps.com as well. 

PowerPlantMaps.com is also actively trying to get this oil & gas data used by real estate companies like Zillow, RedFin, HomeSnap & Realtor.com.  We think power plant, power line and electrical substation data should be attributes used by these real estate data companies similar to how Walkscore provides information about things nearby a home like schools, restaurants, and parks. 

Most real estate companies have been very reluctant to share this data with prospective home buyers for obvious reasons. Why would any real estate agent want to give a reason NOT to buy a home? Hopefully, this culture of dishonesty will change in the near future and this data can provide some transparency.

Here is an inexpensive EMF sensor you can buy from Amazon called the Ghost EMF Sensor.  It works really well sensing EMF from even the smallest power lines and electrical products within your home and office.  This product has actually prevented me from buying two homes because it told me the house was too close to active power lines and a substation nearby.  

Ridgecrest Earthquakes Induced by Coso Geothermal Power Plant?

Map of Coso Geothermal Power Plant Near Ridgecrest, California

Real Time Earthquake Map

Map of Earthquakes near Ridgecrest, California

Coso Volcanic Field Map

Does everyone remember the earthquakes near the Hawaii geothermal power plant on the Big Island last year and then the volcanic eruption that followed?   This cluster of Ridgecrest earthquakes look very similar to what occurred in Hawaii near a geothermal power plant which were induced by injection wells (aka "fracking").  This area of Ridgecrest is a volcanic area where geothermal injection wells also exist.  See detailed images of what a geothermal field and injection well map below. Read this article evidence grows that Hawaii volcanic eruption caused by Puna Geothermal Power Plant. 

The Coso volcanic field, located in the northern part of the Mojave Desert, is one of the most dangerous volcanic areas in California.  The swarm of earthquakes sit between 2 acient vocanic fields.  The Coso Volcanic Fields and the Lava Mountain Fields.  According toe USGS it is estimated that the Coso volcano erupted 40,000 years ago.  

Why isn't the news media asking hard questions of regulators, USGS or Department of Energy officials?  Its a known fact that geothermal power plants induce earthquakes study finds.  The Coso power plant right near the majority of these earthquakes and this area is a volcanic area.  How do geothermal power plants induce earthquakes?   Here is another map of the Hawaii Earthquakes induced by the geothermal power plant. 

The "injection well" concept (aka fracking) is to extract heat by creating a subsurface fracture system to which water can be added through injection wells. Creating an enhanced, or engineered, geothermal system requires improving the natural permeability of rock. Rocks are permeable due to minute fractures and pore spaces between mineral grains. Injected water is heated by contact with the rock and returns to the surface through production wells, as in naturally occurring hydrothermal systems. The US Department of Energy calls this "Enhanced Geothermal System".  EGS are reservoirs created to improve the economics of resources without adequate water and/or permeability.   

The injection well drilling technique is also using in oil and gas and this is commonly known as "fracking".  See DrillingMaps.com and do a search on the map for fracking where a number of minor earthquakes have been caused by this phenomenon.  

The Coso Operating Company geothermal facility, nine geothermal plants on U.S. Navy-owned land abutting China Lake, produces about 145 net megawatts (MW) of power to Southern California Edison. To put that in perspective, a single megawatt has enough electricity to provide power to roughly 1,000 homes. The pipes enter each power station, weaving into steam turbines. The turbines are coupled to generators, and turn at about 3,600 rpm, producing 13,800 volts of electricity. Geothermal reservoir source has been consistent at 600˚F (almost 3 times boiling point). The plants were constructed from 1987 to 1989, and currently use about 105 production wells to capture underground steam that steam turbines then transform into electricity. The first of the facility’s four power plants eventually went online in May of 1987. Each power plant now produces almost equal amounts of power.

Earthquake swarms are common in the Coso area, often producing hundreds of tremors over periods of time as short as a few days. This kind of brisk and robust seismic activity is common in volcanic areas, such as Long Valley Caldera located near Mammoth Lakes, and Yellowstone Caldera at Yellowstone. 

Cos Energy Geothermal Wells

Cos Energy Geothermal Wells