Sca Cogen 2

🔥 Natural GasElectric Utility193 MW capacity

128th largest plant in California · 1622nd nationally

Sca Cogen 2 is a natural gas power plant in California with a nameplate capacity of 193 MW. It generates roughly 627.8k MWh per year — enough to power about 59,792 average U.S. homes.

Its capacity factor of 37% reflects intermittent or peaking operation. At 816 lb CO₂/MWh, its emission rate sits above the national grid average of roughly 800 lb/MWh.

PeakingMid-meritBaseload0%40%80%100%37%
Peaking — intermittent or backup

Month by month in 2024

100% capacity0Jan: 56.0k MWh (39% of capacity)JFeb: 62.5k MWh (48% of capacity)FMar: 32.9k MWh (23% of capacity)MApr: 33.3k MWh (24% of capacity)AMay: 36.9k MWh (26% of capacity)MJun: 46.7k MWh (34% of capacity)JJul: 64.7k MWh (45% of capacity)JAug: 54.1k MWh (38% of capacity)ASep: 45.5k MWh (33% of capacity)SOct: 53.2k MWh (37% of capacity)ONov: 67.6k MWh (49% of capacity)NDec: 69.3k MWh (48% of capacity)D

Ghost bars are each month's theoretical maximum (193 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.

Capacity193 MWnameplate
Annual Generation627.8k MWhEPA eGRID
Capacity Factor37%of theoretical max
Annual CO₂256.1kmetric tons

Location

Plant NameSca Cogen 2
OperatorSacramento Municipal Util Dist
CitySacramento
CountySacramento County
StateCalifornia
ZIP95824
Coordinates38.53094, -121.40013

This plant highlighted in navy-ringed pin; other generators within 25 miles shown as fuel-colored dots.

Natural GasHydroelectricSolarBiomassBattery Storage

Generators (4)

IDTechnologyFuelCapacityStatusOnline
CCSTNatural Gas Fired Combined CycleNatural Gas49.8 MWOperating1997
CT1ANatural Gas Fired Combined CycleNatural Gas49.8 MWOperating1997
CT1BNatural Gas Fired Combined CycleNatural Gas49.8 MWOperating1997
CT1CNatural Gas Fired Combustion TurbineNatural Gas44.0 MWOperating2001

Ownership

OwnerLocationShare
Sacamento Co-Generation AuthSacramento, CA10000.0%

Ownership reported to EIA Form 860. Percentages reflect reported generator-level ownership share, averaged when a plant has multiple generators.

Emissions (annual)

CO₂256.1k metric tons
SO₂1 metric tons
NOₓ15 metric tons
CO₂ Rate816 lb/MWh
U.S. grid average800 lb/MWhThis plant815 lb/MWhNatural gas combined-cycle average900 lb/MWhCoal plant average2,100 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.

Grid context

NERC RegionWECC
Balancing AuthorityBalancing Authority Of Northern California

About Natural Gas plants

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.

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