1663rd largest plant in California · 12583rd nationally
Caltech Central is a natural gas power plant in California with a nameplate capacity of 1.1 MW. It generates roughly 401 MWh per year — enough to power about 38 average U.S. homes.
Its capacity factor of 4% reflects intermittent or peaking operation.
| Plant Name | Caltech Central |
|---|---|
| Operator | Bloom Energy 2009 Ppa |
| City | Pasadena |
| County | Los Angeles County |
| State | California |
| ZIP | 91106 |
| Coordinates | 34.13580, -118.12670 |
This plant highlighted in navy-ringed pin; other generators within 25 miles shown as fuel-colored dots.
| ID | Technology | Fuel | Capacity | Status | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CL00 | Other Natural Gas | Natural Gas | 0.1 MW | Operating | 2010 |
| CL01 | Other Natural Gas | Natural Gas | 0.1 MW | Operating | 2010 |
| CL02 | Other Natural Gas | Natural Gas | 0.1 MW | Operating | 2010 |
| CL03 | Other Natural Gas | Natural Gas | 0.1 MW | Operating | 2010 |
| CL04 | Other Natural Gas | Natural Gas | 0.1 MW | Operating | 2010 |
| CL05 | Other Natural Gas | Natural Gas | 0.1 MW | Operating | 2010 |
| CL06 | Other Natural Gas | Natural Gas | 0.1 MW | Operating | 2010 |
| CL07 | Other Natural Gas | Natural Gas | 0.1 MW | Operating | 2010 |
| CL08 | Other Natural Gas | Natural Gas | 0.1 MW | Operating | 2010 |
| CL09 | Other Natural Gas | Natural Gas | 0.1 MW | Operating | 2010 |
| CL10 | Other Natural Gas | Natural Gas | 0.1 MW | Operating | 2010 |
| NERC Region | WECC |
|---|---|
| Balancing Authority | California Independent System Operator |
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.