California Institute Of Technology

🔥 Natural GasCommercial CHP13 MW capacity

762nd largest plant in California · 5319th nationally

California Institute Of Technology is a natural gas power plant in California with a nameplate capacity of 13.0 MW. It generates roughly 15.8k MWh per year — enough to power about 1,507 average U.S. homes.

Its capacity factor of 14% reflects intermittent or peaking operation. At 651 lb CO₂/MWh, its emission rate sits below the national grid average of roughly 800 lb/MWh.

PeakingMid-meritBaseload0%40%80%100%14%
Peaking — intermittent or backup

Month by month in 2024

100% capacity0Jan: 1.9k MWh (20% of capacity)JFeb: 3.6k MWh (41% of capacity)FMar: 5.7k MWh (59% of capacity)MApr: 5.2k MWh (55% of capacity)AMay: 7.1k MWh (73% of capacity)MJun: 5.1k MWh (54% of capacity)JJul: 6.9k MWh (71% of capacity)JAug: 2.8k MWh (29% of capacity)ASep: 4.6k MWh (49% of capacity)SOct: 6.9k MWh (71% of capacity)ONov: 6.7k MWh (72% of capacity)NDec: 7.1k MWh (73% of capacity)D

Ghost bars are each month's theoretical maximum (13.0 MW nameplate × hours in the month). Filled bars are actual net generation reported to EIA Form 923. The gap between them is capacity factor made visible.

Capacity13 MWnameplate
Annual Generation15.8k MWhEPA eGRID
Capacity Factor14%of theoretical max
Annual CO₂5.2kmetric tons

Location

Plant NameCalifornia Institute Of Technology
OperatorCalifornia Institute-Technology
CityPasadena
CountyLos Angeles County
StateCalifornia
ZIP91125
Coordinates34.13847, -118.12560

This plant highlighted in navy-ringed pin; other generators within 25 miles shown as fuel-colored dots.

Natural GasHydroelectricSolarBiomassBattery Storage

Generators (8)

IDTechnologyFuelCapacityStatusOnline
GEN6Natural Gas Fired Combined CycleNatural Gas10.5 MWOut of Service2003
GEN8Natural Gas Fired Combined CycleNatural Gas10.5 MWCancelled
GEN2Natural Gas Fired Combined CycleNatural Gas4.3 MWRetired1989
GEN3Natural Gas Fired Combined CycleNatural Gas2.5 MWCancelled
GEN4Natural Gas Fired Combined CycleNatural Gas2.5 MWCancelled
GEN7Natural Gas Fired Combined CycleNatural Gas2.5 MWOut of Service2003
GEN1Natural Gas Fired Combined CycleNatural Gas1.0 MWRetired1982
GEN5Natural Gas Fired Combined CycleNatural Gas1.0 MWCancelled

Emissions (annual)

CO₂5.2k metric tons
NOₓ4 metric tons
CO₂ Rate651 lb/MWh
This plant651 lb/MWhU.S. grid average800 lb/MWhNatural gas combined-cycle average900 lb/MWhCoal plant average2,100 lb/MWh

Annual totals and CO₂ rate reported by EPA eGRID for 2023. Reference averages are approximate U.S.-wide figures from the same dataset.

Grid context

NERC RegionWECC
Balancing AuthorityCalifornia Independent System Operator

About Natural Gas plants

Natural gas plants are the workhorse of the modern grid. Combined-cycle units achieve very high efficiency and can ramp up and down quickly to balance variable renewables. They emit roughly half the CO₂ per MWh of coal and far less of other pollutants, but they still release upstream methane during fuel extraction.

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