916th largest plant in California · 6643rd nationally
High Sierra Cogeneration Plant is a natural gas power plant in California with a nameplate capacity of 6.2 MW. It generates roughly 35.7k MWh per year — enough to power about 3,396 average U.S. homes.
Its capacity factor of 66% puts it in the middle range — running steadily but not full-time. At 739 lb CO₂/MWh, its emission rate sits below the national grid average of roughly 800 lb/MWh.
| Plant Name | High Sierra Cogeneration Plant |
|---|---|
| Operator | Plumas Sierra Rural Electric Coop |
| City | Susanville |
| County | Lassen County |
| State | California |
| ZIP | 96130 |
| Coordinates | 40.41280, -120.47740 |
This plant highlighted in navy-ringed pin; other generators within 25 miles shown as fuel-colored dots.
| ID | Technology | Fuel | Capacity | Status | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ENG1 | Natural Gas Internal Combustion Engine | Natural Gas | 3.1 MW | Operating | 2010 |
| ENG2 | Natural Gas Internal Combustion Engine | Natural Gas | 3.1 MW | Operating | 2010 |
| CO₂ | 13.2k metric tons |
|---|---|
| NOₓ | 296 metric tons |
| CO₂ Rate | 739 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.