Mt Poso Cogeneration

🌿 BiomassIPP CHP62 MW capacity

348th largest plant in California · 3307th nationally

Mt Poso Cogeneration is a biomass power plant in California with a nameplate capacity of 62.0 MW. It generates roughly 212.1k MWh per year — enough to power about 20,196 average U.S. homes.

Its capacity factor of 39% reflects intermittent or peaking operation. At 14 lb CO₂/MWh, its emission rate sits below the national grid average of roughly 800 lb/MWh.

PeakingMid-meritBaseload0%40%80%100%39%
Peaking — intermittent or backup

Month by month in 2024

100% capacity0JFMar: 14.6k MWh (32% of capacity)MApr: 20.5k MWh (46% of capacity)AMay: 26.6k MWh (58% of capacity)MJun: 18.3k MWh (41% of capacity)JJul: 23.7k MWh (51% of capacity)JAug: 26.8k MWh (58% of capacity)ASep: 22.2k MWh (50% of capacity)SOct: 15.9k MWh (35% of capacity)ONov: 10.9k MWh (24% of capacity)ND

Ghost bars are each month's theoretical maximum (62.0 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.

Capacity62 MWnameplate
Annual Generation212.1k MWhEPA eGRID
Capacity Factor39%of theoretical max
Annual CO₂1.5kmetric tons

Location

Plant NameMt Poso Cogeneration
OperatorMt Poso Cogeneration Co
CityBakersfield
CountyKern County
StateCalifornia
ZIP93308
Coordinates35.57632, -119.00625

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

Natural GasSolarBiomass

Generators (1)

IDTechnologyFuelCapacityStatusOnline
TG01Wood/Wood Waste BiomassWood/Wood Waste62.0 MWRetired1989

Ownership

OwnerLocationShare
Dte Energy ServicesAnn Arbor, MI6666.0%
Berry Petroleum CoBakersfield, CA3334.0%

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

Emissions (annual)

CO₂1.5k metric tons
SO₂38 metric tons
NOₓ125 metric tons
CO₂ Rate14 lb/MWh
This plant14 lb/MWhU.S. grid average800 lb/MWhNatural gas combined-cycle average900 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 Biomass plants

Biomass plants burn wood, agricultural waste, or methane from landfills to generate steam and electricity. They are considered carbon-neutral over long timescales when fuel is sustainably sourced, but they produce particulate emissions similar to coal.

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