NRG Energy, Encina Power Station

A classic example of brutalist architecture.
Rumor has it, the concrete building and smoke stack will be decommissioned and demolished once the new power plant is built to the east of the existing site. Like the charger stadium in mission valley, these text book examples of mid-​century modern design may be lost for all future generations because it he aesthetic doesn’t align with current, contemporary buildings. This monolithic, industrial power plant is a staple to all San Diego residents traveling north or south on the 5 and erasing this from our collective memory would be a mistake.
Preserve our architectural history!!’

This thing is like literally unimaginably ugly and I just cant understand how it is not relocated. The City of Carlsbad is such a nice little place, but standing on the beach and turning around to see that was a joke. Most locals claim to like it .but thats only because visitors hate it.
If you need to know your in Carlsbad look for the Windmill much nicer!
If they really like that horrible looking monstrosity move to Michigan. Tammarack Beach is AWESOME but dont look across the road… it will make you not want to swim in there.
What is with California putting horrible looking stations in state beaches… another horrible eye sore is in San Onofre… who knows whats in the water besides the Great Whites.

I have a soft spot in my heart for this place. My father used to work here when I was a little girl.

Drove by this place 3 times today. Still blocks a beautiful view of the pacific. Still 40 stories tall, and still doesn’t provide any power to SD county. This is definitely a place WE in SAn Diego county can live without. I’ll take some pics of it from my bed room tomorrow morning, so the carpet baggers from out of state that give this place rave reviews, can see the eye sore that I look at every day.

I live in Carlsbad, and have always hated looking at this place every time I drive down Coast Hwy. it amazes me that the state of CA allows this place to stay open right next to a beautiful state beach. If we need more power, build it in the desert. I hope they finally tear down this place. It is a boil on the face of Carlsbad. Take a look at the pics and you decide.

Many of the residents in San Diego County could not survive without the electricity generated by this power station! To everyone at Encina Power Station, thanks for keeping the lights on!
As if that weren’t enough, the Carlsbad Desalination Plant is currently under construction, and it’s located on site. The desalination plant will reuse the seawater that the power station currently takes from the ocean in order to cool itself, turning it into clean drinking water for San Diego residents. Given the terrible drought currently underway in California, we need this place badly, and we need it yesterday.
Every time I drive by this amazing facility, I think, «now *that* is a place that we truly could not live without!
Side note: we could have had this plant up and running long ago, because it was first proposed in 1998. But its dogmatic opponents fought the project at every turn, filing a total of nine costly lawsuits and five separate permit appeals, all of which have been dismissed. Their efforts have only succeeded in driving up the cost of water for the rest of us, and making our drought that much worse. (Desalination opponents take note: Israel produces water with similar equipment for $ 493 per acre-​foot, while all of the legal delays you’ve caused have driven the Carlsbad facility’s price to $ 2000 per acre-​foot.)

It’s a power plant that can be seen from the 5 freeway.
To be honest, it’s very clean and completely indoors so it’s not so much of an eye sore. Some people feel it is to close to the beach and takes up valuable real estate, but without it, we would be in the dark (literally).
I don’t mind it, it does its job safely and cleanly.