EL CENTRO

How EL CENTRO compares

With 340 MW of capacity, EL CENTRO ranks 44th among the 874 operating power plants Bywatts maps in California and 32nd of the 190 operating Natural Gas plants in the state. It accounts for about 0.9% of California's operating Natural Gas capacity and 0.5% of all operating capacity in the state. Nationally it is the 424th-largest of the 1,185 operating Natural Gas plants in the database. Commissioned in 1952, it is older than 93% of the 859 operating California plants with a recorded commissioning year. Its operator, IMPERIAL IRRIGATION DISTRICT, runs 6 operating plants in California totaling 638 MW. It shares Imperial County with 33 other operating plants, including IMPERIAL VALLEY SOLAR LLC and OCOTILLO EXPRESS LLC.

EIA-860 lists 7 generators at the site with 388 MW of nameplate capacity, mainly natural gas fired combined cycle technology (this page's HIFLD capacity figure is 340 MW). Net generation was 1,039 GWh in 2024 (a 30% capacity factor), about the same as in 2022. Its generators came online between 1952 and 2016.

Grid neighborhood

The nearest named substation is EL CENTRO (230 kV), about 0.2 miles away; the closest transmission line found within 10 miles is a 230 kV line owned by IMPERIAL IRRIGATION DISTRICT, about 0.1 miles away. Another 20 operating power plants totaling 1,513 MW sit within 25 miles; the largest is IMPERIAL VALLEY SOLAR LLC (434 MW, Solar).

Computed by Bywatts from HIFLD power plant, substation and transmission line records and EIA-860/923 survey data; distances are straight-line. Sources and methodology