Carlsbad Energy Center
Clearway Energy, Inc.San Diego County
Carlsbad Energy Center is Clearway’s fast-start natural-gas plant at the former Encina Power Station complex in Carlsbad, California. Five GE LMS100-PA turbines were built; the CEC’s 632 MW approval covered six turbines, including one never constructed. Clearway lists 527 MW and 100% ownership, and SDG&E’s 2026 resource forecast lists a 528 MW power-purchase agreement. The EIA inventory shown here separately records 659 MW of generator nameplate capacity.
Mapped infrastructure geometry associated with this asset.
Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine
Carlsbad Energy Center is operating.
CAISO
EIA plant 59002 · Inventory for Sep 2026.
| Generator | Technology | Status | Power (MW) | Energy (MWh) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CEC 6 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Operating | 131.8 | Unknown |
| CEC 7 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Operating | 131.8 | Unknown |
| CEC 8 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Operating | 131.8 | Unknown |
| CEC 9 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Operating | 131.8 | Unknown |
| CEC10 |
Clearway’s current flexible-generation portfolio lists Carlsbad Energy Center at 100% ownership and 527 MW. SDG&E is a power-purchase counterparty: its 2026 resource forecast lists a 528 MW Carlsbad PPA.
The CEC approved a six-turbine, 632 MW configuration in 2015. Its September 2024 amendment analysis states that only five turbines were built. The permitted configuration and the installed facility therefore have different scopes.
Source: CEC September 2024 Carlsbad amendment analysis · as of 2024-09-18
Carlsbad occupies part of the existing Encina complex, but is a separate simple-cycle generating facility. Retirement and demolition records for Encina’s older steam plant should not be read as retirement of Carlsbad’s gas turbines.
Source: CEC Carlsbad Energy Center
Similar plants ranked by technology, capacity, and distance.
Current generator records and technology attributes reported through EIA-860.
| Generator | Capacity | Technology | Operation | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CEC 6 | 131.8 MW 105.5 MW summer | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine GT | Dec 2018 | Operating |
| CEC 7 | 131.8 MW 105.5 MW summer | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine GT | Dec 2018 | Operating |
| CEC 8 | 131.8 MW 105.5 MW summer | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine GT | Dec 2018 | Operating |
| CEC 9 | 131.8 MW 105.5 MW summer | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine GT | Dec 2018 | Operating |
| CEC10 | 131.8 MW |
Monthly EIA generation history and recent market-resource behavior where linked telemetry is available.
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Source-backed project transactions, agreements, land records, permits, and environmental disclosures. Portfolio and adjacent-project facts remain explicitly scoped.
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Project milestones and public references behind the asset profile.
The California Energy Commission approved the 558 MW Carlsbad Energy Center Project at the Encina Power Station complex.
CAISO · San Diego County
| Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine |
| Operating |
| 131.8 |
| Unknown |
| CEC11 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | canceled_or_postponed | 105.5 | Unknown |
|---|
Monthly generation is reported through EIA-923. Capacity factor uses the current EIA nameplate capacity and is shown only for complete calendar years.
Portfolio membership follows the latest EIA-860 reporting entity. It does not imply ultimate ownership.
The CEC approved a post-certification amendment for a six-turbine, 632 MW GE LMS100-PA natural-gas simple-cycle project. Five turbines were ultimately constructed.
The CEC approved the start of Phase II construction of the amended project; the CEC record identifies Phase II construction as beginning in May 2016.
NRG Energy agreed to sell 100% of Carlsbad Energy Holdings, LLC, which indirectly owned the project, to NRG Yield for $365 million in cash consideration, subject to customary adjustments and the closing of the NRG-GIP transaction; the agreement also contemplated assumed project debt.
EIA-860 lists generator CEC 6, generator CEC 7, generator CEC 8, generator CEC 9, generator CEC10 with this operating date.
The constructed Carlsbad Energy Center began commercial operation.
Clearway Energy, Inc. acquired 100% of GIP's membership interests in CBAD Holdings, LLC (which indirectly owns Carlsbad Energy Center LLC) for $184 million cash on December 6, 2019.
Demolition of the former Encina Power Station and above-ground structures west of the railroad tracks was completed; the CEC confirmed the site was ready for redevelopment.
Answered from the published record above. Questions whose inputs this profile does not carry are omitted rather than estimated.
Clearway’s current flexible-generation portfolio lists Carlsbad Energy Center at 100% ownership and 527 MW. SDG&E is a power-purchase counterparty: its 2026 resource forecast lists a 528 MW Carlsbad PPA.
The CEC approved a six-turbine, 632 MW configuration in 2015. Its September 2024 amendment analysis states that only five turbines were built. The permitted configuration and the installed facility therefore have different scopes.
Carlsbad occupies part of the existing Encina complex, but is a separate simple-cycle generating facility. Retirement and demolition records for Encina’s older steam plant should not be read as retirement of Carlsbad’s gas turbines.
Carlsbad Energy Center reports 659 MW natural gas of operating nameplate capacity. These technology ratings do not establish a common export limit. Source: EIA Sep 2026.
Carlsbad Energy Center is a Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine facility in San Diego County, CA, participating in the CAISO market.
Carlsbad Energy Center is in San Diego County, CA, inside the CAISO balancing area.
Carlsbad Energy Center is operated by NRG California Peaker Operations LLC according to the EIA generator inventory. Reporting membership does not by itself establish ultimate ownership.
Carlsbad Energy Center reported 200.6 GWh over the twelve months to 2026-07. Figures are net generation as filed to EIA-923.
Carlsbad Energy Center on the San Diego Gas & Electric Company (SDG&E) system.
By capacity, Carlsbad Energy Center ranks #55 of 829 operating plants of the same technology nationally. It ranks #3 of 136 in CA.
Plants within 25 km, nearest first, regardless of technology. Proximity is straight-line distance between mapped plant coordinates; it does not by itself establish a shared point of interconnection.