17th largest plant in California · 440th nationally
Pastoria Energy Facility, Llc is a natural gas power plant in California with a nameplate capacity of 779 MW. It generates roughly 4.3M MWh per year — enough to power about 413,077 average U.S. homes.
Its capacity factor of 64% puts it in the middle range — running steadily but not full-time. At 914 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 (779 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 | Pastoria Energy Facility, Llc |
|---|---|
| Operator | Calpine Corp - Pastoria Energy Center |
| City | Lebec |
| County | Kern County |
| State | California |
| ZIP | 93243 |
| Coordinates | 34.95560, -118.84400 |
This plant highlighted in navy-ringed pin; other generators within 25 miles shown as fuel-colored dots.
| ID | Technology | Fuel | Capacity | Status | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ST03 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 185 MW | Operating | 2005 |
| CT01 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 168 MW | Operating | 2005 |
| CT02 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 168 MW | Operating | 2005 |
| CT04 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 168 MW | Operating | 2005 |
| ST05 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 90.0 MW | Operating | 2005 |
| CO₂ | 2.0M metric tons |
|---|---|
| SO₂ | 10 metric tons |
| NOₓ | 111 metric tons |
| CO₂ Rate | 914 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.