447th largest plant in California · 3749th nationally
Painted Hills Wind Park is a wind power plant in California with a nameplate capacity of 46.8 MW. It generates roughly 177.3k MWh per year — enough to power about 16,881 average U.S. homes.
Its capacity factor of 43% puts it in the middle range — running steadily but not full-time.
| Plant Name | Painted Hills Wind Park |
|---|---|
| Operator | Terra-Gen Operating Co-Wind |
| City | Whitewater |
| County | Riverside County |
| State | California |
| ZIP | 92282 |
| Coordinates | 33.93690, -116.61830 |
This plant highlighted in navy-ringed pin; other generators within 25 miles shown as fuel-colored dots.
| ID | Technology | Fuel | Capacity | Status | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PHW | Onshore Wind Turbine | Wind | 46.8 MW | Operating | 2021 |
| WGNS | Onshore Wind Turbine | Wind | 19.0 MW | Retired | 1985 |
| NERC Region | WECC |
|---|---|
| Balancing Authority | California Independent System Operator |
Wind farms harvest kinetic energy from moving air using large rotor blades coupled to generators. Like solar, they produce zero emissions but vary with weather. Onshore wind capacity factors typically run 30–45%; offshore can exceed 50%.