853rd largest plant in California · 6085th nationally
Spreckels Sugar Company is a natural gas power plant in California with a nameplate capacity of 8.9 MW. It generates roughly 15.8k MWh per year — enough to power about 1,507 average U.S. homes.
Its capacity factor of 20% reflects intermittent or peaking operation. At 653 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 (8.9 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 | Spreckels Sugar Company |
|---|---|
| Operator | Spreckels Sugar Company |
| City | Brawley |
| County | Imperial County |
| State | California |
| ZIP | 92227 |
| Coordinates | 32.91111, -115.56806 |
This plant highlighted in navy-ringed pin; other generators within 25 miles shown as fuel-colored dots.
| ID | Technology | Fuel | Capacity | Status | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Natural Gas Steam Turbine | Natural Gas | 8.9 MW | Operating | 1948 |
| CO₂ | 5.2k metric tons |
|---|---|
| NOₓ | 7 metric tons |
| CO₂ Rate | 653 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 | Imperial Irrigation District |
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.