755th largest plant in California · 5292nd nationally
Parnassus Central Utility Plant is a natural gas power plant in California with a nameplate capacity of 13.4 MW. It generates roughly 68.5k MWh per year — enough to power about 6,523 average U.S. homes.
Its capacity factor of 58% puts it in the middle range — running steadily but not full-time. At 678 lb CO₂/MWh, its emission rate sits below the national grid average of roughly 800 lb/MWh.
Ghost bars are each month's theoretical maximum (13.4 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 | Parnassus Central Utility Plant |
|---|---|
| Operator | University Of California-San Francisco |
| City | San Francisco |
| County | San Francisco County |
| State | California |
| ZIP | 94143 |
| Coordinates | 37.76252, -122.45675 |
This plant highlighted in navy-ringed pin; other generators within 25 miles shown as fuel-colored dots.
| ID | Technology | Fuel | Capacity | Status | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GTG1 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 4.8 MW | Operating | 1996 |
| GTG2 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 4.8 MW | Operating | 1996 |
| STG1 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 3.8 MW | Operating | 1996 |
| CO₂ | 23.2k metric tons |
|---|---|
| NOₓ | 58 metric tons |
| CO₂ Rate | 678 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.