22nd largest plant in California · 517th nationally
Otay Mesa Generating Project is a natural gas power plant in California with a nameplate capacity of 689 MW. It generates roughly 2.2M MWh per year — enough to power about 207,537 average U.S. homes.
Its capacity factor of 36% reflects intermittent or peaking operation. At 848 lb CO₂/MWh, its emission rate sits above the national grid average of roughly 800 lb/MWh.
Ghost bars are each month's theoretical maximum (689 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 | Otay Mesa Generating Project |
|---|---|
| Operator | Otay Mesa Energy Center Llc |
| City | San Diego |
| County | San Diego County |
| State | California |
| ZIP | 92154 |
| Coordinates | 32.58148, -116.91497 |
This plant highlighted in navy-ringed pin; other generators within 25 miles shown as fuel-colored dots.
| ID | Technology | Fuel | Capacity | Status | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1-03 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 291 MW | Operating | 2009 |
| 1-01 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 210 MW | Operating | 2009 |
| 1-02 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 210 MW | Operating | 2009 |
| CO₂ | 924.0k metric tons |
|---|---|
| SO₂ | 5 metric tons |
| NOₓ | 49 metric tons |
| CO₂ Rate | 848 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.