11th largest plant in New York · 230th nationally
Athens Generating Plant is a natural gas power plant in New York with a nameplate capacity of 1,222 MW. It generates roughly 1.8M MWh per year — enough to power about 174,935 average U.S. homes.
Its capacity factor of 17% reflects intermittent or peaking operation. At 846 lb CO₂/MWh, its emission rate sits above the national grid average of roughly 800 lb/MWh.
Ghost bars are each month's theoretical maximum (1,222 MW nameplate × hours in the month). Filled bars are actual net generation reported to EIA Form 923. The gap between them is capacity factor made visible.
| Plant Name | Athens Generating Plant |
|---|---|
| Operator | New Athens Generating Company Llc |
| City | Athens |
| County | Greene County |
| State | New York |
| ZIP | 12015 |
| Coordinates | 42.27280, -73.84920 |
This plant highlighted in navy-ringed pin; other generators within 25 miles shown as fuel-colored dots.
| ID | Technology | Fuel | Capacity | Status | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CT1 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 270 MW | Operating | 2004 |
| CT2 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 270 MW | Operating | 2004 |
| CT3 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 270 MW | Operating | 2003 |
| ST1 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 137 MW | Operating | 2004 |
| ST2 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 137 MW | Operating | 2004 |
| ST3 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 137 MW | Operating | 2004 |
| CO₂ | 777.3k metric tons |
|---|---|
| SO₂ | 4 metric tons |
| NOₓ | 57 metric tons |
| CO₂ Rate | 846 lb/MWh |
Annual totals and CO₂ rate reported by EPA eGRID for 2023. Reference averages are approximate U.S.-wide figures from the same dataset.
| NERC Region | NPCC |
|---|---|
| Balancing Authority | New York Independent System Operator |
Natural gas plants are the workhorse of the modern grid. Combined-cycle units achieve very high efficiency and can ramp up and down quickly to balance variable renewables. They emit roughly half the CO₂ per MWh of coal and far less of other pollutants, but they still release upstream methane during fuel extraction.