Metcalf Energy Center — Plant Summary
- EIA Plant ID
- 55393
- Capacity
- 635 MW
- Primary Fuel
- Natural Gas
- Technology
- Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle
- Status
- Operating
- Location
- Santa Clara, CA
- Operating Since
- 2005
- Generators
- 3
- Operator
- Calpine Corp - Metcalf Energy Center
- Parent Company
- —
- Annual Generation
- 2,334,357 MWh
- Capacity Factor
- 41.9%
- Balancing Authority
- California Independent System Operator
- ISO/RTO
- CAISO
- NERC Region
- WECC
Metcalf Energy Center
OperatingNatural Gas
Ranked #23 of 306 Natural Gas plants in CA#366 of 2009 nationally
635 MW Natural Gas operating in Santa Clara, CA — California Independent System Operator
EIAWD
635 MW
Nameplate Capacity
3
Generators
units
Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle
Technology
2005
Operating Since
Location
Coordinates
37.2207, -121.7457
County
Santa Clara, CA
Nearby Plants
- Hummingbird Energy Storage LLCBESS75 MW · 3.6 km
- Equinix San JoseNatural Gas1.1 MW · 3.9 km
- EQX015 Great Oaks Fuel CellNatural Gas4 MW · 4.0 km
Ownership & Operator
| Field | EIA | GEM | Wikidata |
|---|---|---|---|
| Operator | Calpine Corp - Metcalf Energy Center | — | — |
| Owner(s) | Calpine Corp - Metcalf Energy Center | — | Calpine |
| Status | Operating | — | — |
Ownership Chain
No GEM tracker match for this plant — ownership chain unavailable.
About
The Metcalf Energy Center is a 605 megawatt combined cycle power plant located in Silicon Valley, located in unincorporated Coyote Valley, south of San Jose, California and north of Morgan Hill, California. The power plant is owned by Calpine and powered by natural gas. Some of the power generated by the plant is sent to far away places via Path 15, a major electrical power transmission corridor that is connected to the power plant.
Read more on WikipediaThe Metcalf Energy Center is a 635 MW natural gas-fired combined cycle power plant located in Santa Clara County, California. The plant began operating in 2005 and is owned and operated by Calpine Corp - Metcalf Energy Center. It consists of 3 generators utilizing natural gas as its primary fuel source. The facility is connected to the California Independent System Operator (CAISO) grid and falls within the Western Electricity Coordinating Council (WECC) NERC region.
In the latest year of reported generation data, the Metcalf Energy Center produced 2,334,357 MWh of electricity, achieving a capacity factor of 41.9%. The plant is ranked as the 23rd largest out of 76 power plants in California, and 370th out of 945 plants nationally. News coverage of the plant includes regulatory, grid, and industry-related topics.
Generated from EIA, GEM, and public data sources
Engineering & Generators
Grid Context
NERC Region
WECC
Balancing Authority
California Independent System Operator
Grid Voltage
230 kV
Regulatory Status
NR
Entity Type
Independent Power Producer
Sector
IPP Non-CHP
Generation
223.8K MWh
Latest Month
2.3M MWh
Annual Generation
41.9%
Capacity Factor
Jan 2023 – Dec 2025
Financial Data
No financial data available for this plant.
Pricing & Market Data
HIGH confidenceMarket Position
ISO/RTO Market
CAISO
LMP Node
METEC_2_PL1X3-APND
Pricing Hub
TH_ZP26_GEN-APND
Location Type
Aggregated Node
Node Source
Curated node match
News & Articles (10)Beta
Grid·outage
“Shoot me!”: Thompson Nguyen asked police to kill him. Could they have done something different?
The scene was a South San Jose power plant where police responded to a report of an armed man breaking in.
San Jose (other)Thompson Nguyen (other)
The Mercury News·2 years ago
Grid·capacity addition
Energy Storage Projects to Replace Three Natural Gas Power Plants in California
the storage would sideline three gas-fired power plants—the 605-MW Metcalf Energy Center, the 47-MW Feather River Energy Center, and the 47-MW...
Metcalf Energy Center (operator)Feather River Energy Center (operator)
IEEE Spectrum·7 years ago
Regulatory·state puc
California regulators choose clean energy and storage over existing gas plants
CPUC has turned down a request by Calpine for lucrative contracts for three gas plants and ordered PG&E to hold a solicitation for energy...
CPUC (regulator)Calpine (seller)
pv magazine USA·8 years ago
Grid·outage
Police say intruder at San Jose power plant was heavily armed
A suspect who jumped a fence Tuesday night and got into the Metcalf Energy Center in South San Jose challenged officers to shoot and kill...
Metcalf Energy Center (operator)San Jose (other)
ABC7 San Francisco·8 years ago
Last updated 2026-03-14
View all 10 articles