California electricity generation by source 2001-2020

This is a list of

power station A power station, also referred to as a power plant and sometimes generating station or generating plant, is an industrial facility for the generation of electric power. Power stations are generally connected to an electrical grid. Many p ...

s in the U.S. state of

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

that are used for utility-scale electricity generation. This includes

baseload The base load (also baseload) is the minimum level of demand on an electrical grid over a span of time, for example, one week. This demand can be met by unvarying power plants, dispatchable generation, or by a collection of smaller intermittent e ...

, peaking, and

energy storage Energy storage is the capture of energy produced at one time for use at a later time to reduce imbalances between energy demand and energy production. A device that stores energy is generally called an accumulator or battery. Energy comes in ...

power stations, but does not include large

backup generator An emergency power system is an independent source of electrical power that supports important electrical systems on loss of normal power supply. A standby power system may include a standby generator, batteries and other apparatus. Emergency p ...

s. , California had 80 GW of installed generation capacity encompassing more than 1,500 power plants; with 41 GW of natural gas, 26.5 GW of renewable (12 GW solar, 6 GW wind), 12 GW large hydroelectric, and 2.4 GW nuclear. In 2020, California had a total summer capacity of 78,055 MW through all of its power plants, and a net energy generation of 193,075 GWh. Its electricity production was the third largest in the nation behind Texas and Florida. California ranks first in the nation as a producer of solar, geothermal, and biomass resources. Utility-scale solar photovoltaic and thermal sources together generated 17% of electricity in 2021. Small-scale solar including customer-owned PV panels delivered an additional net 19,828 GWh to California's electrical grid, equal to about half the generation by the state's utility-scale facilities. The

Diablo Canyon Power Plant The Diablo Canyon Power Plant is a nuclear power plant near Avila Beach in San Luis Obispo County, California. Since the permanent shutdown of the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station in 2013, Diablo Canyon has been the only operational nu ...

San Luis Obispo County San Luis Obispo County (), officially the County of San Luis Obispo, is a county on the Central Coast of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 282,424. The county seat is San Luis Obispo. Junípero Serra founded the Miss ...

is the largest power station in California with a

nameplate capacity Nameplate capacity, also known as the rated capacity, nominal capacity, installed capacity, or maximum effect, is the intended full-load sustained output of a facility such as a power station,

of 2,256 MW and an annual generation of 18,214 GWh in 2018. The largest under construction is the

Westlands Solar Park The Westlands Solar Park is large-scale solar power project in Kings County south of Fresno, California. It intends to build many photovoltaic power plants with a capacity totaling upwards of 2,000 megawatts (MW), larger than the world's largest ...

in Kings County, which will generate 2,000 MW when completed in 2025. The

California Independent System Operator The California Independent System Operator (CAISO) is a non-profit Independent System Operator (ISO) serving California. It oversees the operation of California's bulk electric power system, transmission lines, and electricity market generated a ...

(CAISO) oversees the operation of its member utilities.

Battery storage

This is a list of operational

battery storage power station A battery storage power station is a type of energy storage power station that uses a group of batteries to store electrical energy. Battery storage is the fastest responding dispatchable source of power on electric grids, and it is used to stab ...

s in California with a

of at least 10

megawatts The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantify the rate of energy transfer. The watt is named after James Wat ...

Biomass

This is a list of operational

biomass Biomass is plant-based material used as a fuel for heat or electricity production. It can be in the form of wood, wood residues, energy crops, agricultural residues, and waste from industry, farms, and households. Some people use the terms bi ...

and

biogas Biogas is a mixture of gases, primarily consisting of methane, carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulphide, produced from raw materials such as agricultural waste, manure, municipal waste, plant material, sewage, green waste and food waste. It is a ...

power stations in California with a

of at least 10

Coal

The Argus Cogeneration Plant in

San Bernardino County San Bernardino County (), officially the County of San Bernardino, is a county located in the southern portion of the U.S. state of California, and is located within the Inland Empire area. As of the 2020 U.S. Census, the population was 2,181, ...

is the only

coal-fired power station A coal-fired power station or coal power plant is a thermal power station which burns coal to generate electricity. Worldwide, there are about 8,500 coal-fired power stations totaling over 2,000 gigawatts Nameplate capacity, capacity. They ...

still operating within the state of California. The

Intermountain Power Plant Intermountain Power Plant is a large coal-fired power plant at Delta, Utah, US. It has an installed capacity of 1,900 MW, is owned by the Intermountain Power Agency, and is operated by the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. The p ...

(which is 75% owned by

LADWP The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) is the largest municipal utility in the United States with 8,100 megawatts of electric generating capacity (2021-2022) and delivering an average of 435 million gallons of water per day to more ...

along with five other Los Angeles area cities) in the state of Utah supplied 20% of the electricity consumed by Los Angeles residents in 2017.

Geothermal

This is a list of all operational geothermal power stations in California.

Hydroelectric

Conventional

Conventional hydroelectric power stations include traditional

reservoir A reservoir (; from French ''réservoir'' ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam. Such a dam may be either artificial, built to store fresh water or it may be a natural formation. Reservoirs can be created in a number of ways, including contro ...

and

run-of-the-river Run-of-river hydroelectricity (ROR) or run-of-the-river hydroelectricity is a type of hydroelectric generation plant whereby little or no water storage is provided. Run-of-the-river power plants may have no water storage at all or a limited amou ...

hydroelectric power stations. The list below includes all conventional hydroelectric power station in the state with a nameplate capacity of at least 50

Pumped-storage

Pumped-storage hydroelectricity is important means of large-scale

grid energy storage Grid energy storage (also called large-scale energy storage) is a collection of methods used for energy storage on a large scale within an electrical power grid. Electrical energy is stored during times when electricity is plentiful and inexp ...

that helps improve the daily capacity factor of California's electricity generation system. This is a list of all operational pumped-storage power stations in California.

Natural gas

This is a list of operational natural gas-fired power stations in California with a

of at least 100

Nuclear

The

has been the only

nuclear power station A nuclear power plant (NPP) is a thermal power station in which the heat source is a nuclear reactor. As is typical of thermal power stations, heat is used to generate steam that drives a steam turbine connected to a generator that produces elec ...

in California since the closure of the

San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station The San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) is a permanently closed nuclear power plant located south of San Clemente, California, on the Pacific coast, in Nuclear Regulatory Commission Region IV. The plant was shut down in 2013 after repl ...

in 2013. Due to the changing dynamics of electricity generation in California, Diablo Canyon is scheduled to be decommissioned in 2025. The

Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station The Palo Verde Generating Station is a nuclear power plant located near Tonopah, Arizona, in western Arizona. It is located about due west of downtown Phoenix, Arizona, and it is located near the Gila River, which is dry save for the rainy seaso ...

(the largest power generator in the United States), which is 27% owned by California power agencies, in the neighboring state of Arizona supplies a significant amount of power to southern California.

Petroleum

This is a list of operational petroleum-fired power stations in California.

Solar

Photovoltaic

List of very large (>100MW) solar photovoltaic power stations in California as of January 1, 2019.
To update and expand this list, search the

Energy Information Administration The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System responsible for collecting, analyzing, and disseminating energy information to promote sound policymaking, efficient markets, and publ ...

's plant-level data set by visiting th
Electricity Data Browser

Alternatively, view th
Solar Industry Association's Major Solar Projects List
which is less frequently updated.

Thermal

This is a list of all operational solar thermal power stations in California.

Wind

This is a list of all operational

wind farm A wind farm or wind park, also called a wind power station or wind power plant, is a group of wind turbines in the same location used Wind power, to produce electricity. Wind farms vary in size from a small number of turbines to several hundre ...

s in California.

Under construction

This is a list of power stations under construction in California.

Former facilities

References

Nuclear Energy in California (CA.gov): http://www.energy.ca.gov/nuclear/california.html retrieved: 11/10/12

External links

U.S. Department of Energy California StatisticsU.S. Department of Energy California Quick FactsCalenergy Geothermal Plant Information
{{DEFAULTSORT:Power Stations In California Lists of power stations in the United States, California *

Power stations A power station, also referred to as a power plant and sometimes generating station or generating plant, is an industrial facility for the generation of electric power. Power stations are generally connected to an electrical grid. Many pow ...