16th largest plant in California · 428th nationally
Sentinel Energy Center, Llc is a natural gas power plant in California with a nameplate capacity of 800 MW. It generates roughly 554.4k MWh per year — enough to power about 52,796 average U.S. homes.
Its capacity factor of 8% reflects intermittent or peaking operation. At 1137 lb CO₂/MWh, its emission rate sits above the national grid average of roughly 800 lb/MWh.
| Plant Name | Sentinel Energy Center, Llc |
|---|---|
| Operator | Sentinel Energy Center Llc |
| City | Desert Hot Springs |
| County | Riverside County |
| State | California |
| ZIP | 92240 |
| Coordinates | 33.93417, -116.57139 |
This plant highlighted in navy-ringed pin; other generators within 25 miles shown as fuel-colored dots.
| ID | Technology | Fuel | Capacity | Status | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CTG1 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 100 MW | Operating | 2013 |
| CTG2 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 100 MW | Operating | 2013 |
| CTG3 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 100 MW | Operating | 2013 |
| CTG4 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 100 MW | Operating | 2013 |
| CTG5 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 100 MW | Operating | 2013 |
| CTG6 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 100 MW | Operating | 2013 |
| CTG7 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 100 MW | Operating | 2013 |
| CTG8 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 100 MW | Operating | 2013 |
| Owner | Location | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Diamond Generating Corporation | Los Angeles, CA | 5000.0% |
| Meridian Clean Energy | Oakland, CA | 5000.0% |
Ownership reported to EIA Form 860. Percentages reflect reported generator-level ownership share, averaged when a plant has multiple generators.
| CO₂ | 315.1k metric tons |
|---|---|
| SO₂ | 2 metric tons |
| NOₓ | 31 metric tons |
| CO₂ Rate | 1137 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.