La Paloma Generating Plant
Kern County
Overview
- Reported capacity
- 1,156 MW
- EIA-reported nameplate capacity; other nameplate and seasonal ratings may differ.
- Technology
- Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle
- Primary generation technology.
- Registry anchor
- Plant 55151
- Kern County · CAISO
- Operating status
- Operating
- Commercial operation
- March 7, 2003
- Best-supported operating milestone.
Infrastructure record
- Operator
- CXA La Paloma LLC
- Mapped facility footprint
- Mapped infrastructure footprint
Mapped infrastructure geometry associated with this asset.
- In service
- 2003-01
Profile
- Grid role
- Resource-adequacy-contracted generation supporting California grid reliability in the WECC market.
- Context
- A March 2000 PG&E announcement described La Paloma's $730 million project financing as the largest financing to date in the United States for a single greenfield competitive power plant, and said the facility would be California's largest plant built expressly for the state's new competitive power market.
- Physical build
- Operating 1,062 MW natural-gas-fired combined-cycle facility in Kern County, California, comprising four Alstom GT24B combustion turbines, four Alstom/CE heat-recovery steam generators, and four Alstom VAX steam turbines.
Structured profile
- Reported capacity
- 1,156 MW
Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle
- Commercial operation
- March 7, 2003
- Operating status
- operating
La Paloma Generating Plant is operating.
- Location
- Kern County
CAISO
- Asset role
- natural gas
Generation and physical site
EIA plant 55151 · Inventory for Sep 2026.
Reported operating nameplate by technology
- Natural gas
- 1,156 MW
Generator records (4)
| Generator | Technology | Status | Power (MW) | Energy (MWh) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GEN1 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Operating | 289 | Unknown |
| GEN2 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Operating | 289 | Unknown |
| GEN3 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Operating | 289 | Unknown |
| GEN4 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Operating | 289 | Unknown |
- Physical map location · OpenStreetMap
Related assets
Similar plants ranked by technology, capacity, and distance.
Units and generators
Current generator records and technology attributes reported through EIA-860.
| Generator | Capacity | Technology | Operation | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GEN1 | 289 MW 253 MW summer | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle CS | Jan 2003 | Operating |
| GEN2 | 289 MW 252 MW summer | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle CS | Jan 2003 | Operating |
| GEN3 | 289 MW 252 MW summer | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle CS | Mar 2003 | Operating |
| GEN4 | 289 MW 253 MW summer | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle CS | Mar 2003 | Operating |
Performance
Monthly EIA generation history and recent market-resource behavior where linked telemetry is available.
Peer context
- Technology capacity
- 1,156 MW
- Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle
- National rank
- #70
- of 540 operating peers
- CA rank
- #2
- of 64 operating peers
Monthly generation
Download CSVLatest 12 months
1.25 TWh
Reported net generation
Latest report
Jul 2026
EIA-923 monthly filing
2025 capacity factor
16.9%
Using current reported nameplate capacity
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.
Market registration
CAISO resource registrySettlement point
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
Offtake Agreement
Aug 2011
Physical tolling agreements covered three La Paloma units with Morgan Stanley; Morgan Stanley had option to extend toll on one unit through 2017.
La Paloma Generating Trust, Ltd. · Morgan Stanley
Hedging Agreement
Aug 2011
Refinancing included heat-rate call options for 2013, 2014, and 2015 executed with EDF Trading on two La Paloma units.
La Paloma Generating Trust, Ltd. · EDF Trading North America LLC
Hedging Agreement
Aug 2011
Refinancing included sparkspread put swaptions for 2014 and 2015 executed with Bank of America Merrill Lynch on two La Paloma units.
La Paloma Generating Trust, Ltd. · Bank of America Merrill Lynch
Land and environmental record
Cooling Tower Emissions Control
Jun 12, 2024
Cooling-tower drift rate limited to 0.0006%; no hexavalent-chromium compounds may be added to circulating water
Renewed Title V permit sets cooling-tower drift-eliminator limit at 0.0006% and prohibits hexavalent-chromium-containing compounds in cooling-tower circulating water.
Environmental Compliance Milestone
Oct 22, 2018
Auxiliary boiler placed in dormant status
CEC approved dormant status for facility's auxiliary boiler; not needed for normal operations and last operated for three-year source testing in 2016.
Environmental Compliance Milestone
Aug 1, 2007
Wastewater disposal changed to injection wells as primary method with zero-liquid-discharge as backup
CEC approved 2007 post-certification amendment allowing injection wells as primary wastewater-disposal method and zero-liquid-discharge system as backup option.
Environmental Regulatory Milestone
Oct 6, 1999
CEC certification approved October 6, 1999
California Energy Commission certified La Paloma Generating Project on October 6, 1999 under docket 98-AFC-02.
Historical UIC Permit
Mar 6, 2008
Historical UIC permit CA10710001 authorized up to five wells (WD-1 through WD-5)
EPA's prior Class I non-hazardous UIC permit CA10710001 authorized construction and operation of up to five wells. WD-3 identified as existing operating well; newer permit R9UIC-CA1-FY17-1R is current.
UIC Permit
Nov 13, 2021
UIC Class I permit R9UIC-CA1-FY17-1R
EPA's current permit authorizes Class I non-hazardous wastewater injection for CXA La Paloma. Existing well WD-3 is authorized; proposed wells WD-6 and WD-7 may be authorized after construction compliance. Ten-year permit term unless terminated or extended.
Wastewater
Wastewater consists primarily of cooling-tower blowdown with boiler, evaporative-cooler, filter backwash, and stormwater
EPA's current UIC permit describes authorized injectate as wastewater from plant, primarily cooling-tower blowdown plus boiler and evaporative-cooler blowdown, wash water, filter backwash, equipment drains, and stormwater.
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 / operatorContractorFinancierOfftakerOrganization
Timeline and sources
Project milestones and public references behind the asset profile.
Project timeline
- Entity FormationSource
La Paloma Generating Company, LLC was formed and became the original project applicant/developer entity.