771st largest plant in California · 5376th nationally
Taft 26c Cogen is a natural gas power plant in California with a nameplate capacity of 12.4 MW. It generates roughly 63.1k MWh per year — enough to power about 6,013 average U.S. homes.
Its capacity factor of 58% puts it in the middle range — running steadily but not full-time. At 606 lb CO₂/MWh, its emission rate sits below the national grid average of roughly 800 lb/MWh.
| Plant Name | Taft 26c Cogen |
|---|---|
| Operator | Chevron Usa Inc |
| City | Taft |
| County | Kern County |
| State | California |
| ZIP | 93224 |
| Coordinates | 35.11330, -119.47060 |
This plant highlighted in navy-ringed pin; other generators within 25 miles shown as fuel-colored dots.
| ID | Technology | Fuel | Capacity | Status | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TG1 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 3.1 MW | Operating | 1982 |
| TG2 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 3.1 MW | Operating | 1982 |
| TG3 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 3.1 MW | Operating | 1982 |
| TG4 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 3.1 MW | Operating | 1982 |
| CO₂ | 19.1k metric tons |
|---|---|
| SO₂ | 1 metric tons |
| NOₓ | 52 metric tons |
| CO₂ Rate | 606 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.