Santa Maria Cogen Plant is a natural gas power plant in California.
| Plant Name | Santa Maria Cogen Plant |
|---|---|
| Operator | Wellhead Services, Inc |
| City | Santa Maria |
| County | Santa Barbara County |
| State | California |
| ZIP | 93458 |
| Coordinates | 34.94434, -120.45791 |
This plant highlighted in navy-ringed pin; other generators within 25 miles shown as fuel-colored dots.
| ID | Technology | Fuel | Capacity | Status | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GEN1 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 9.0 MW | Retired | 1989 |
| 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.