Sutter Energy Center — Plant Summary
- EIA Plant ID
- 55112
- Capacity
- 636 MW
- Primary Fuel
- Natural Gas
- Technology
- Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle
- Status
- Operating
- Location
- Sutter, CA
- Operating Since
- 2001
- Generators
- 3
- Operator
- Calpine Corp-Sutter
- Parent Company
- —
- Annual Generation
- 1,775,995 MWh
- Capacity Factor
- 31.9%
- Balancing Authority
- Balancing Authority of Northern California
- ISO/RTO
- —
- NERC Region
- WECC
Sutter Energy Center
OperatingNatural Gas
Ranked #22 of 306 Natural Gas plants in CA#365 of 2009 nationally
636 MW Natural Gas operating in Sutter, CA — Balancing Authority of Northern California
EIAWD
636 MW
Nameplate Capacity
3
Generators
units
Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle
Technology
2001
Operating Since
Location
Coordinates
39.0531, -121.6959
County
Sutter, CA
Nearby Plants
- Greenleaf 1Natural Gas69.8 MW · 0.0 km
- Feather River Energy CenterNatural Gas47 MW · 9.7 km
- Yuba City Cogen PartnersNatural Gas49.9 MW · 10.5 km
Ownership & Operator
| Field | EIA | GEM | Wikidata |
|---|---|---|---|
| Operator | Calpine Corp-Sutter | — | Calpine |
| Owner(s) | Calpine Corp-Sutter | — | — |
| Status | Operating | — | — |
Ownership Chain
No GEM tracker match for this plant — ownership chain unavailable.
About
Sutter Energy Center is a 636 MW natural gas-fired combined cycle power plant located in Sutter County, California. The plant began operating in 2001 and is owned and operated by Calpine Corp-Sutter. It consists of three generators utilizing natural gas as its primary fuel source. Sutter Energy Center is within the Balancing Authority of Northern California balancing authority area and the Western Electricity Coordinating Council (WECC) NERC region.
In the most recent year with available data, Sutter Energy Center generated 1,775,995 MWh of electricity, achieving a capacity factor of 31.9%. The plant is ranked as the 22nd largest in California out of 76 power plants and 369th nationally out of 945 plants. Public sources show that the plant has been mentioned in 10 news articles, with 9 focused on industry topics and 1 on deals.
Generated from EIA, GEM, and public data sources
Engineering & Generators
Grid Context
NERC Region
WECC
Balancing Authority
Balancing Authority of Northern California
Grid Voltage
230 kV
Regulatory Status
NR
Entity Type
Independent Power Producer
Sector
IPP Non-CHP
Generation
164.6K MWh
Latest Month
1.8M MWh
Annual Generation
31.9%
Capacity Factor
Jan 2023 – Dec 2025
Financial Data
No financial data available for this plant.
Pricing & Market Data
This plant is outside organized wholesale electricity markets (ISOs/RTOs). Nodal pricing data is not available.
News & Articles (10)Beta
Industry·technology
DOE Scraps $3.7B in OCED Projects, Upending Carbon Capture Progress at Power Plants
The Department of Energy's (DOE's) abrupt termination of 24 previously awarded projects—including four prominent power-related carbon capture...
DOE (regulator)
POWER Magazine·9 months ago
Deals·m and a
Calpine acquires 550 MW natural gas plant in Texas
Calpine announced the acquisition of the 550 MW Quail Run Energy Center natural gas-fired plant in Odessa, Texas, from Lotus Infrastructure Partners.
Calpine (buyer)Lotus Infrastructure Partners (seller)
Power Engineering·1 years ago
Industry·technology
Billions in Federal Funding Earmarked for Power Plant CCS Projects: Here’s a Snapshot
The Department of Energy (DOE) unveiled plans on Sept. 27 to inject $1.3 billion into its portfolio of federally funded carbon capture demonstration and large-...
DOE (regulator)
POWER Magazine·1 years ago
Industry·technology
Calpine moves forward with carbon capture demo project at combined-cycle plant in California
A full-scale carbon capture demonstration project at the Sutter Energy Center, a natural gas combined-cycle plant in California.
Calpine (developer)Sutter Energy Center (operator)
Power Engineering·1 years ago
Last updated 2026-03-14
View all 10 articles