1048th largest plant in California · 8228th nationally
City Of Palo Alto is a natural gas power plant in California with a nameplate capacity of 4.4 MW. It generates roughly 21 MWh per year — enough to power about 2 average U.S. homes.
Its capacity factor of 0% reflects intermittent or peaking operation. At 4618 lb CO₂/MWh, its emission rate sits above the national grid average of roughly 800 lb/MWh.
| Plant Name | City Of Palo Alto |
|---|---|
| Operator | City Of Palo Alto |
| City | Palo Alta |
| County | Santa Clara County |
| State | California |
| ZIP | 94303 |
| Coordinates | 37.43830, -122.10940 |
This plant highlighted in navy-ringed pin; other generators within 25 miles shown as fuel-colored dots.
| ID | Technology | Fuel | Capacity | Status | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GEN1 | Natural Gas Internal Combustion Engine | Natural Gas | 1.1 MW | Retired | 2002 |
| GEN2 | Natural Gas Internal Combustion Engine | Natural Gas | 1.1 MW | Retired | 2002 |
| GEN3 | Natural Gas Internal Combustion Engine | Natural Gas | 1.1 MW | Retired | 2002 |
| GEN4 | Natural Gas Internal Combustion Engine | Natural Gas | 1.1 MW | Retired | 2002 |
| CO₂ | 48 metric tons |
|---|---|
| NOₓ | 1 metric tons |
| CO₂ Rate | 4618 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.