707th largest plant in California · 4902nd nationally
Uci Facilities Management Central Plant is a natural gas power plant in California with a nameplate capacity of 19.0 MW. It generates roughly 86.4k MWh per year — enough to power about 8,227 average U.S. homes.
Its capacity factor of 52% puts it in the middle range — running steadily but not full-time. At 645 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 (19.0 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 | Uci Facilities Management Central Plant |
|---|---|
| Operator | University Of California Irvine |
| City | Irvine |
| County | Orange County |
| State | California |
| ZIP | 92697 |
| Coordinates | 33.64810, -117.84670 |
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 Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 13.5 MW | Operating | 2007 |
| STG1 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 5.5 MW | Operating | 2007 |
| CO₂ | 27.9k metric tons |
|---|---|
| NOₓ | 71 metric tons |
| CO₂ Rate | 645 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.