Kern Front Limited

🔥 Natural GasIPP Non-CHP49 MW capacity

412th largest plant in California · 3658th nationally

Kern Front Limited is a natural gas power plant in California with a nameplate capacity of 49.8 MW. It generates roughly 22.0k MWh per year — enough to power about 2,091 average U.S. homes.

Its capacity factor of 5% reflects intermittent or peaking operation. At 1247 lb CO₂/MWh, its emission rate sits above the national grid average of roughly 800 lb/MWh.

PeakingMid-meritBaseload0%40%80%100%5%
Peaking — intermittent or backup
Capacity50 MWnameplate
Annual Generation22.0k MWhEPA eGRID
Capacity Factor5%of theoretical max
Annual CO₂13.7kmetric tons

Location

Plant NameKern Front Limited
OperatorWcac Operating Company
CityBakersfield
CountyKern County
StateCalifornia
ZIP93308
Coordinates35.51647, -119.04013

This plant highlighted in navy-ringed pin; other generators within 25 miles shown as fuel-colored dots.

Natural GasSolarBiomass

Generators (2)

IDTechnologyFuelCapacityStatusOnline
KF1Natural Gas Fired Combustion TurbineNatural Gas24.9 MWOperating1989
KF2Natural Gas Fired Combustion TurbineNatural Gas24.9 MWOperating1989

Ownership

OwnerLocationShare
Wgp Redwood Holdings, LlcBakersfield, CA10000.0%

Ownership reported to EIA Form 860. Percentages reflect reported generator-level ownership share, averaged when a plant has multiple generators.

Emissions (annual)

CO₂13.7k metric tons
NOₓ37 metric tons
CO₂ Rate1247 lb/MWh
U.S. grid average800 lb/MWhNatural gas combined-cycle average900 lb/MWhThis plant1,247 lb/MWhCoal plant average2,100 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.

Grid context

NERC RegionWECC
Balancing AuthorityCalifornia Independent System Operator

About Natural Gas plants

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.

Other plants in Kern County

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