282nd largest plant in California · 2673rd nationally
Coachella is a natural gas power plant in California with a nameplate capacity of 92.4 MW. It generates roughly 754 MWh per year — enough to power about 71 average U.S. homes.
Its capacity factor of 0% reflects intermittent or peaking operation. At 7400 lb CO₂/MWh, its emission rate sits above the national grid average of roughly 800 lb/MWh.
| Plant Name | Coachella |
|---|---|
| Operator | Imperial Irrigation District |
| City | Coachella |
| County | Riverside County |
| State | California |
| ZIP | 92236 |
| Coordinates | 33.67580, -116.17140 |
This plant highlighted in navy-ringed pin; other generators within 25 miles shown as fuel-colored dots.
| ID | Technology | Fuel | Capacity | Status | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 23.1 MW | Operating | 1973 |
| 2 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 23.1 MW | Operating | 1973 |
| 3 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 23.1 MW | Operating | 1974 |
| 4 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 23.1 MW | Operating | 1976 |
| CO₂ | 2.8k metric tons |
|---|---|
| NOₓ | 8 metric tons |
| CO₂ Rate | 7400 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 | Imperial Irrigation District |
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.