14th largest plant in California · 380th nationally
Scattergood is a natural gas power plant in California with a nameplate capacity of 876 MW. It generates roughly 1.4M MWh per year — enough to power about 129,323 average U.S. homes.
Its capacity factor of 18% reflects intermittent or peaking operation. At 924 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 (876 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 | Scattergood |
|---|---|
| Operator | Los Angeles Department Of Water & Power |
| City | Playa Del Rey |
| County | Los Angeles County |
| State | California |
| ZIP | 90293 |
| Coordinates | 33.91815, -118.42765 |
This plant highlighted in navy-ringed pin; other generators within 25 miles shown as fuel-colored dots.
| ID | Technology | Fuel | Capacity | Status | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | Natural Gas Steam Turbine | Natural Gas | 497 MW | Retired | 1974 |
| 8 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 230 MW | Cancelled | — |
| 4 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 217 MW | Operating | 2015 |
| 1 | Natural Gas Steam Turbine | Natural Gas | 163 MW | Operating | 1958 |
| 2 | Natural Gas Steam Turbine | Natural Gas | 163 MW | Operating | 1959 |
| 5 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 119 MW | Operating | 2015 |
| 9 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 116 MW | Cancelled | — |
| 6 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 107 MW | Operating | 2015 |
| 7 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 107 MW | Operating | 2015 |
| CO₂ | 627.4k metric tons |
|---|---|
| SO₂ | 3 metric tons |
| NOₓ | 32 metric tons |
| CO₂ Rate | 924 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 | Los Angeles Department Of Water And Power |
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.