730th largest plant in California · 5126th nationally
San Diego State University is a natural gas power plant in California with a nameplate capacity of 15.1 MW. It generates roughly 58.1k MWh per year — enough to power about 5,531 average U.S. homes.
Its capacity factor of 44% puts it in the middle range — running steadily but not full-time. At 725 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 (15.1 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 | San Diego State University |
|---|---|
| Operator | San Diego State University |
| City | San Diego |
| County | San Diego County |
| State | California |
| ZIP | 92182 |
| Coordinates | 32.77822, -117.07011 |
This plant highlighted in navy-ringed pin; other generators within 25 miles shown as fuel-colored dots.
| ID | Technology | Fuel | Capacity | Status | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GEN2 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 5.1 MW | Operating | 2002 |
| GEN3 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 5.1 MW | Operating | 2002 |
| GEN4 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 4.1 MW | Operating | 2002 |
| GEN1 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 2.5 MW | Retired | 1986 |
| GEN6 | Solar Photovoltaic | Solar | 0.3 MW | Operating | 2011 |
| GEN7 | Solar Photovoltaic | Solar | 0.3 MW | Operating | 2012 |
| GEN5 | Solar Photovoltaic | Solar | 0.1 MW | Operating | 2009 |
| GEN8 | Solar Photovoltaic | Solar | 0.1 MW | Operating | 2014 |
| CO₂ | 21.1k metric tons |
|---|---|
| NOₓ | 59 metric tons |
| CO₂ Rate | 725 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.