31st largest plant in California · 585th nationally
Elk Hills Power Llc is a natural gas power plant in California with a nameplate capacity of 623 MW. It generates roughly 3.8M MWh per year — enough to power about 359,567 average U.S. homes.
Its capacity factor of 69% puts it in the middle range — running steadily but not full-time. At 676 lb CO₂/MWh, its emission rate sits below the national grid average of roughly 800 lb/MWh.
Ghost bars are each month's theoretical maximum (623 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.
| Plant Name | Elk Hills Power Llc |
|---|---|
| Operator | Elk Hills Power Llc |
| City | Tupman |
| County | Kern County |
| State | California |
| ZIP | 93276 |
| Coordinates | 35.28032, -119.47071 |
This plant highlighted in navy-ringed pin; other generators within 25 miles shown as fuel-colored dots.
| ID | Technology | Fuel | Capacity | Status | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| STG | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 225 MW | Operating | 2003 |
| CTG1 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 199 MW | Operating | 2003 |
| CTG2 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 199 MW | Operating | 2003 |
| Owner | Location | Share |
|---|---|---|
| California Resources Elk Hills Llc | Bakersfield, CA | 10000.0% |
Ownership reported to EIA Form 860. Percentages reflect reported generator-level ownership share, averaged when a plant has multiple generators.
| CO₂ | 1.3M metric tons |
|---|---|
| SO₂ | 6 metric tons |
| NOₓ | 76 metric tons |
| CO₂ Rate | 676 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.