How big is Desert Star Energy Center?

Desert Star Energy Center has a reported capacity of 366.4 MW. Source: EIA Form 860.

What kind of plant is Desert Star Energy Center?

Desert Star Energy Center is a Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle facility in Clark County, NV, participating in the CAISO market.

Where is Desert Star Energy Center located?

Desert Star Energy Center is in Clark County, NV, inside the CAISO balancing area.

Who operates Desert Star Energy Center?

Desert Star Energy Center is operated by Desert Star Energy Center SDG&E according to the EIA generator inventory. Reporting membership does not by itself establish ultimate ownership.

How much electricity does Desert Star Energy Center generate?

Desert Star Energy Center reported 333.8 GWh over the twelve months to 2026-04. Figures are net generation as filed to EIA-923.

How does Desert Star Energy Center compare to other plants?

By capacity, Desert Star Energy Center ranks #299 of 538 operating plants of the same technology nationally. It ranks #8 of 12 in NV.

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Natural Gas Fired Combined CycleCAISO · Clark County

Desert Star Energy Center

San Diego Gas & Electric Company (SDG&E) · Clark County · CAISO

Desert Star Energy Center is a natural gas-fired power facility with 366.4 MW of EIA-reported nameplate capacity in Clark County, Nevada, registered as EIA Plant ID 55077. San Diego Gas & Electric Company (SDG&E) is the current owner; Desert Star Energy Center SDG&E is the registered plant entity or operator. The plant's generating configuration is natural-gas-fired combined cycle with two Siemens 501-FC combustion turbines and one Westinghouse steam turbine. San Diego Gas & Electric Company acquired the project from El Dorado Energy, LLC in 2011.

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Asset analyst

plant:plant-55077

Ask about Desert Star Energy Center

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

Overview

Key fields

Reported capacity: 366.4 MW
EIA-reported nameplate capacity; other nameplate and seasonal ratings may differ.
Technology: Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle
Primary generation technology.
Registry anchor: Plant 55077
Desert Star Energy Center SDG&E · Clark County · CAISO
Operating status: Operating
Desert Star Energy Center is operating.

Profile

Grid role: Dispatchable combined-cycle generation
Physical build: Operating natural-gas combined-cycle facility comprising two combustion turbine generators, two heat-recovery steam generators (HRSGs), and one steam-turbine generator. SDG&E identifies the combustion turbines as Siemens 501-FC units and the steam turbine as Westinghouse.

Structured profile

Reported capacity: 366.4 MW
Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle
Operating status: operating
Desert Star Energy Center is operating.
Location: Clark County
CAISO
Operator: Desert Star Energy Center SDG&E
Asset role

Units and generators

Operating generator records and technology attributes reported through EIA-860.

Generator	Capacity	Technology	Operation	Status
ED01	170.9 MW 140 MW summer	Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle Natural Gas · CT	May 2000 Retirement: Apr 2027	Operating
ED02	170.9 MW 140 MW summer	Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle Natural Gas · CT	May 2000 Retirement: Apr 2027	Operating
ED03	195.5 MW 170 MW summer	Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle Natural Gas · CA	May 2000 Retirement: Apr 2027

Performance

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

Peer context

Technology capacity: 537.3 MW
National rank: #299
NV rank: #8

Monthly generation

Download CSV

Latest 12 months

333.8 GWh

Reported net generation

Latest report

Apr 2026

EIA-923 monthly filing

2025 capacity factor

11.7%

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

MERCHANT

IN SERVICE · 230 kV

0.1 km

UNKNOWN307098

Commercial, land, and environmental record

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

Land and environmental record

Air Permit

Sep 27, 2021

Permit No. Clark County Part 70 Operating Permit, Source ID 652

The permit covers Desert Star Energy Center at 701 El Dorado Valley Drive, Boulder City, Nevada. Issued September 27, 2021; expiration date September 26, 2026. Permittee: San Diego Gas & Electric Company.

CLARK COUNTY

Emissions Controls

Sep 27, 2021

Natural-gas-fired combined-cycle units A01 and A02 with dry low-NOx combustion and continuous NOx/O2 monitoring.

Two-on-one combined-cycle configuration with dry low-NOx combustion burner technology and continuous emission monitoring system (CEMS) for NOx and O2 on each stationary gas turbine. Permit requires monitoring of NOx, CO, SO2, PM10, VOCs, and HAPs.

TSD

Future Land Use Authorization

2022

Hydrogen combustion and energy storage authorized as permitted future uses; natural gas in perpetuity per 2022 Boulder City voter ballot.

Proposed amended lease would add hydrogen combustion and energy storage as permitted uses. 2022 Boulder City voter ballot approved natural gas generation as a permitted use in perpetuity, with authorization for battery storage, carbon capture, and clean hydrogen. These are land-use or future-use authorizations, not evidence of a completed hydrogen repowering project or committed plant retirement date.

20-year lease extension up for vote | Boulder City Review

Land Lease

Feb 2025

Boulder City land lease; current lease expires in 2027.

Boulder City has leased land in the Eldorado Valley for the gas-fired facility since 1997. Current lease expires in 2027. City and SDG&E negotiated a proposed 20-year extension, with annual rent of $1,307,790 (as of February 2025). 2022 Boulder City voter ballot approved natural gas generation as a permitted use in perpetuity, with additional authorization for hydrogen combustion, energy storage, carbon capture, and clean hydrogen.

20-year lease extension up for vote | Boulder City Review

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 / operatorEquipment

Parties and identifiers

OrganizationRoleBasis

Timeline and sources

Project milestones and public references behind the asset profile.

Project timeline

May 2000
May 2000
Generators enter operationEIA-860
EIA-860 lists generator ED01, generator ED02, generator ED03 with this operating date.
Apr 2027
Apr 2027
Planned generator retirement

Desert Star Energy Center

Ask about Desert Star Energy Center

Desert Star 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

Land and environmental record

Related parties and identifiers

Relationship graph

Parties and identifiers

Timeline and sources

Project timeline

Reporting portfolio

Sources

Common questions about Desert Star Energy Center

How big is Desert Star Energy Center?

What kind of plant is Desert Star Energy Center?

Where is Desert Star Energy Center located?

Who operates Desert Star Energy Center?

How much electricity does Desert Star Energy Center generate?

How does Desert Star Energy Center compare to other plants?

Co-located assets

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