561st largest plant in California · 4282nd nationally
Western Power & Steam Inc is a natural gas power plant in California with a nameplate capacity of 27.7 MW. It generates roughly 36.6k MWh per year — enough to power about 3,488 average U.S. homes.
Its capacity factor of 15% reflects intermittent or peaking operation. At 867 lb CO₂/MWh, its emission rate sits above the national grid average of roughly 800 lb/MWh.
| Plant Name | Western Power & Steam Inc |
|---|---|
| Operator | Western Power And Steam Ii Llc |
| City | Bakersfield |
| County | Kern County |
| State | California |
| ZIP | 93308 |
| Coordinates | 35.44054, -119.01286 |
This plant highlighted in navy-ringed pin; other generators within 25 miles shown as fuel-colored dots.
| ID | Technology | Fuel | Capacity | Status | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CTG | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 27.7 MW | Operating | 1990 |
| STG | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 8.3 MW | Retired | 1990 |
| CO₂ | 15.9k metric tons |
|---|---|
| NOₓ | 43 metric tons |
| CO₂ Rate | 867 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.