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Watson Cogeneration

Gas power plant in California, United States of America. Approximate location 33.8166, -118.2448.

GasCaliforniaUnited States of AmericaCO₂ reported

Watson Cogeneration is a 405 MW gas power station in California, United States of America. It is operated by ARCO Products Co-Watson. Based on reported annual generation of 3,037 GWh, it can supply roughly 867,657 homes. It ranks #815 of 9,833 United States of America power plants by installed capacity. Commissioned in 1988, it is around 38 years old — long-established. Its measured emissions of 420,350 t CO₂/yr (Climate TRACE) are equivalent to about 97,984 cars driven for a year. In context, gas supplies about 40.0% of United States of America's electricity; the national grid averages 384 gCO₂/kWh (43.0% low-carbon) (2025).

405MW installed capacity
3,037GWh reported / yr
867,657homes powered
420,350t CO₂ / yr (Climate TRACE)
1988commissioned (~38 yrs)

Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id USA0050216.

420,350 t CO₂/yr — in everyday terms

This facility's annual emissions are roughly equivalent to:

97,984passenger cars driven for a year
54,819homes' yearly energy use
7,005,833tree seedlings grown 10 years to absorb it

Equivalencies via US EPA Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies; emissions reported to Climate TRACE.

Reported generation trend

2013: 3,112 GWh20132014: 3,067 GWh20142015: 3,025 GWh20152016: 3,048 GWh20162017: 3,020 GWh20172018: 2,989 GWh20182019: 3,037 GWh20193k GWh

Annual generation (GWh), WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0).

Owner

Operated by ARCO Products Co-Watson.

Local climate & thermal context

This gas plant burns natural gas in a turbine — often in a combined-cycle setup — to generate electricity. It sits in a cold semi-arid steppe climate (Köppen BSk) — Northern Hemisphere, latitude 33.8°N — which shapes how much energy it can produce and how its output varies through the year.

17.9°Cannual mean temp
544heating degree-days (base 18°C)
499cooling degree-days (base 18°C)
12 melevation

Monthly mean temperature

J: 14 °CJF: 15 °CFM: 15 °CMA: 17 °CAM: 18 °CMJ: 20 °CJJ: 22 °CJA: 23 °CAS: 22 °CSO: 20 °CON: 16 °CND: 14 °CD23 °C

Heating degree-days here run 78% below the median power plant in this dataset — a proxy for how much extra energy heated equipment must replace through its surfaces in winter.

Climate heat-demand index: 21/100 — this site sits in the bottom third of the power plants we cover by heating degree-days.

In colder climates, uninsulated hot equipment (boilers, turbines, valves, steam lines) loses proportionally more heat to ambient air — exactly the loss Inzonex modular insulation is designed to cut.

A gas turbine here also runs ~2% below its ISO (15°C) rating at this annual mean (typical CCGT curve, estimate).

Climate normals: WorldClim 2.1 (1970–2000 monthly normals, 10 arc-min, CC BY 4.0); zone: Köppen-Geiger world climate classification (Kottek et al. 2006, 0.5° grid). Degree-days & heat-demand index computed by PowerAtlas — a modelled heat-demand proxy, not a measured site figure.

How it compares & nearby plants

The #488 largest gas power plant of 1818 in United States of America by capacity.

United States of America has 1818 gas power plants in this dataset, together about 546,436 MW of capacity.

Nearby power plants

Location

Coordinates 33.8166, -118.2448 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.

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