27th largest plant in California · 554th nationally
Russell City Energy Center is a natural gas power plant in California with a nameplate capacity of 655 MW. It generates roughly 1.8M MWh per year — enough to power about 170,324 average U.S. homes.
Its capacity factor of 31% reflects intermittent or peaking operation. At 883 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 (655 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 | Russell City Energy Center |
|---|---|
| Operator | Russell City Energy Company Llc |
| City | Hayward |
| County | Alameda County |
| State | California |
| ZIP | 94545 |
| Coordinates | 37.63466, -122.13381 |
This plant highlighted in navy-ringed pin; other generators within 25 miles shown as fuel-colored dots.
| ID | Technology | Fuel | Capacity | Status | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| STG1 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 255 MW | Operating | 2013 |
| CTG1 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 200 MW | Operating | 2013 |
| CTG2 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 200 MW | Operating | 2013 |
| CO₂ | 790.0k metric tons |
|---|---|
| SO₂ | 4 metric tons |
| NOₓ | 48 metric tons |
| CO₂ Rate | 883 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.