How big is Carlsbad Energy Center?

Carlsbad Energy Center has a reported capacity of 659 MW. Source: EIA Form 860.

What kind of plant is Carlsbad Energy Center?

Carlsbad Energy Center is a Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine facility in San Diego County, CA, participating in the CAISO market.

Where is Carlsbad Energy Center located?

Carlsbad Energy Center is in San Diego County, CA, inside the CAISO balancing area.

Who operates Carlsbad Energy Center?

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.

How much electricity does Carlsbad Energy Center generate?

Carlsbad Energy Center reported 201.1 GWh over the twelve months to 2026-04. Figures are net generation as filed to EIA-923.

Where does Carlsbad Energy Center connect to the grid?

Carlsbad Energy Center on the San Diego Gas & Electric Company (SDG&E) system.

How does Carlsbad Energy Center compare to other plants?

By capacity, Carlsbad Energy Center ranks #56 of 825 operating plants of the same technology nationally. It ranks #3 of 136 in CA.

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Natural Gas Fired Combustion TurbineCAISO · San Diego County

Carlsbad Energy Center

Clearway Energy, Inc. · San Diego County · CAISO

Carlsbad Energy Center is a natural gas-fired power facility with 659 MW of EIA-reported nameplate capacity in San Diego County, California, registered as EIA Plant ID 59002. Clearway Energy, Inc. is the current owner; NRG California Peaker Operations LLC is the registered plant entity or operator. The Carlsbad project used a bank-and-project-bond hybrid financing structure that was characterized as one of the largest such transactions to date for a greenfield power asset, despite construction-period risk. Clearway Energy, Inc. acquired a 100% interest in the plant from Global Infrastructure Partners III in 2019.

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Asset analyst

plant:plant-59002

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Investigate technology, capacity, output, price behavior, ownership, and related facilities using this profile plus current grid data.

Overview

Key fields

Reported capacity: 659 MW
EIA-reported nameplate capacity; other nameplate and seasonal ratings may differ.
Technology: Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine
Primary generation technology.
Registry anchor: Plant 59002
NRG California Peaker Operations LLC · San Diego County · CAISO
Operating status: Operating
Carlsbad Energy Center is operating.

Profile

Grid role: Fast-start, flexible simple-cycle peaking generation supporting reliability in the SDG&E service territory.
Context: The Carlsbad project used a bank-and-project-bond hybrid financing structure that was characterized as one of the largest such transactions to date for a greenfield power asset, despite construction-period risk. It also provides contracted fast-start generation and reliability support in the San Diego Gas & Electric service territory.
Physical build: Brownfield peaking generating station in Carlsbad, California: EPC scope covered balance-of-plant equipment, detailed design development, construction services, and plant commissioning for five air-cooled, natural-gas-fired GE LMS100-PA simple-cycle combustion turbines with catalytic emission controls, interconnected to SDG&E's 138-kV and 230-kV transmission systems.

Structured profile

Reported capacity: 659 MW
Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine
Operating status: operating
Carlsbad Energy Center is operating.
Location: San Diego County
CAISO
Operator: NRG California Peaker Operations LLC
Asset role

Units and generators

Operating 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 Natural Gas · GT	Dec 2018	Operating
CEC 7	131.8 MW 105.5 MW summer	Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine Natural Gas · GT	Dec 2018	Operating
CEC 8	131.8 MW 105.5 MW summer	Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine Natural Gas · GT	Dec 2018	Operating
CEC 9	131.8 MW

Performance

Monthly EIA generation history and recent market-resource behavior where linked telemetry is available.

Peer context

Technology capacity: 659 MW
National rank: #56
CA rank: #3

Monthly generation

Download CSV

Latest 12 months

201.1 GWh

Reported net generation

Latest report

Apr 2026

EIA-923 monthly filing

2025 capacity factor

3.7%

Grid and market context

Deterministic links to ERCOT market resources, price records, outage disclosures, queue records, and nearby infrastructure. Candidate joins remain labeled until corroborated.

Nearby substations

HIFLD infrastructure inventory

CANNON

NOT AVAILABLE · 115 kV

0.4 km

ENCINA

Commercial, land, and environmental record

Source-backed project transactions, agreements, land records, permits, and environmental disclosures. Portfolio and adjacent-project facts remain explicitly scoped.

Transactions and agreements

Asset Acquisition

Dec 2019

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.

$184M527 MW contractedClearway Energy, Inc. · Global Infrastructure Partners III (GIP) · CBAD Holdings, LLC · Carlsbad Energy Center, LLC

Clearway Energy, Inc. Completes the Acquisition of Carlsbad Energy Center | Clearway Energy, Inc.

Land and environmental record

Air Permit Identifiers

Aug 12, 2022

Title V application APCD2019-APP-005818; Title V permit APCD2021-TVP-00046; facility ID APCD1982-SITE-00195

San Diego County Air Pollution Control District Statement of Basis identifies application, permit, and facility identifiers for Carlsbad Energy Center, LLC.

Source

Environmental Compliance Status

Aug 25, 2022

San Diego County APCD preliminary Title V decision found facility operating in compliance and expected to remain in compliance with all applicable air-quality requirements

District preliminary-decision notice expressly states facility currently operating in compliance and expected to operate in compliance with applicable District, state, and federal requirements.

Carlsbad-Energy-Center-Notice-of-Preliminary-Decision

Legacy Wastewater Permit

2020

Order R9-2020-0005, NPDES Permit CA0001350 for Cabrillo Power I LLC's retired Encina Power Station. Once-through cooling discontinued post-retirement; remaining discharges include groundwater, stormwater, and low-volume wastewater.

San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board order for former steam-electric Encina facility at 4600 Carlsbad Boulevard. Not attributed to Carlsbad Energy Center turbines.

Source

Permitted Potential Emissions

Aug 12, 2022

NOx 70.8 tons/year (major source), VOC 19.9 tons/year, PM10 23.5 tons/year, PM2.5 23.5 tons/year, SO2 4.7 tons/year, CO 64.8 tons/year, HAPs 9.36 tons/year

Facility-emissions-summary values in District Statement of Basis. NOx identified as a major-source pollutant under stated permitting assumptions.

Source

Site Area

2014

Project occupies the northeastern parcel of the approximately 95-acre Encina Power Station complex. This is total site area, not project-specific parcel acreage.

CEC describes the Amended Carlsbad Energy Center Project as located on the northeastern parcel of the 95-acre EPS complex. A 2014 CEC filing identified the 95-acre site as owned by Cabrillo Power LLC (NRG entity) as a historical statement; current title ownership is reflected in Clearway Energy's 2019 acquisition.

Carlsbad Energy Center | California Energy Commission

Related parties and identifiers

Parties, market resources, and identifiers tied to this asset, with owner, operator, developer, EPC, compliance provider, and interconnecting entity roles kept separate.

Relationship graph

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AssetOwner / operatorContractorProject companyOfftaker

Timeline and sources

Project milestones and public references behind the asset profile.

Project timeline

May 31, 2012
May 31, 2012
Original Project CertificationCarlsbad En...
The California Energy Commission approved the 558 MW Carlsbad Energy Center Project at the Encina Power Station complex.
Jul 30, 2015

Carlsbad Energy Center

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Carlsbad Energy Center

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Overview

Key fields

Profile

Structured profile

Units and generators

Performance

Peer context

Monthly generation

Grid and market context

Nearby substations

Commercial, land, and environmental record

Transactions and agreements

Land and environmental record

Related parties and identifiers

Relationship graph

Timeline and sources

Project timeline

Parties and identifiers

Reporting portfolio

Sources

Common questions about Carlsbad Energy Center

How big is Carlsbad Energy Center?

What kind of plant is Carlsbad Energy Center?

Where is Carlsbad Energy Center located?

Who operates Carlsbad Energy Center?

How much electricity does Carlsbad Energy Center generate?

Where does Carlsbad Energy Center connect to the grid?

How does Carlsbad Energy Center compare to other plants?

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