420th largest plant in California · 3668th nationally
Chowchilla Ii is a natural gas power plant in California with a nameplate capacity of 49.6 MW. It generates roughly 13.6k MWh per year — enough to power about 1,292 average U.S. homes.
Its capacity factor of 3% reflects intermittent or peaking operation. At 1205 lb CO₂/MWh, its emission rate sits above the national grid average of roughly 800 lb/MWh.
| Plant Name | Chowchilla Ii |
|---|---|
| Operator | California Power Holdings Llc |
| City | Chowchilla |
| County | Madera County |
| State | California |
| ZIP | 93610 |
| Coordinates | 37.10730, -120.24850 |
This plant highlighted in navy-ringed pin; other generators within 25 miles shown as fuel-colored dots.
| ID | Technology | Fuel | Capacity | Status | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| IC1 | Natural Gas Internal Combustion Engine | Natural Gas | 3.1 MW | Operating | 2001 |
| IC10 | Natural Gas Internal Combustion Engine | Natural Gas | 3.1 MW | Operating | 2001 |
| IC11 | Natural Gas Internal Combustion Engine | Natural Gas | 3.1 MW | Operating | 2001 |
| IC12 | Natural Gas Internal Combustion Engine | Natural Gas | 3.1 MW | Operating | 2001 |
| IC13 | Natural Gas Internal Combustion Engine | Natural Gas | 3.1 MW | Operating | 2001 |
| IC14 | Natural Gas Internal Combustion Engine | Natural Gas | 3.1 MW | Operating | 2001 |
| IC15 | Natural Gas Internal Combustion Engine | Natural Gas | 3.1 MW | Operating | 2001 |
| IC16 | Natural Gas Internal Combustion Engine | Natural Gas | 3.1 MW | Operating | 2001 |
| IC2 | Natural Gas Internal Combustion Engine | Natural Gas | 3.1 MW | Operating | 2001 |
| IC3 | Natural Gas Internal Combustion Engine | Natural Gas | 3.1 MW | Operating | 2001 |
| IC4 | Natural Gas Internal Combustion Engine | Natural Gas | 3.1 MW | Operating | 2001 |
| IC5 | Natural Gas Internal Combustion Engine | Natural Gas | 3.1 MW | Operating | 2001 |
| IC6 | Natural Gas Internal Combustion Engine | Natural Gas | 3.1 MW | Operating | 2001 |
| IC7 | Natural Gas Internal Combustion Engine | Natural Gas | 3.1 MW | Operating | 2001 |
| IC8 | Natural Gas Internal Combustion Engine | Natural Gas | 3.1 MW | Operating | 2001 |
| IC9 | Natural Gas Internal Combustion Engine | Natural Gas | 3.1 MW | Operating | 2001 |
| CO₂ | 8.2k metric tons |
|---|---|
| NOₓ | 190 metric tons |
| CO₂ Rate | 1205 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.
| 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.