33rd largest plant in Montana · 3467th nationally
Basin Creek Plant is a natural gas power plant in Montana with a nameplate capacity of 54.9 MW. It generates roughly 111.2k MWh per year — enough to power about 10,589 average U.S. homes.
Its capacity factor of 23% reflects intermittent or peaking operation. At 1094 lb CO₂/MWh, its emission rate sits above the national grid average of roughly 800 lb/MWh.
| Plant Name | Basin Creek Plant |
|---|---|
| Operator | Basin Creek Power Services Llc |
| City | Butte |
| County | Silver Bow County |
| State | Montana |
| ZIP | 59701 |
| Coordinates | 45.92930, -112.51940 |
This plant highlighted in navy-ringed pin; other generators within 25 miles shown as fuel-colored dots.
| ID | Technology | Fuel | Capacity | Status | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Natural Gas Internal Combustion Engine | Natural Gas | 6.1 MW | Operating | 2006 |
| 2 | Natural Gas Internal Combustion Engine | Natural Gas | 6.1 MW | Operating | 2006 |
| 3 | Natural Gas Internal Combustion Engine | Natural Gas | 6.1 MW | Operating | 2006 |
| 4 | Natural Gas Internal Combustion Engine | Natural Gas | 6.1 MW | Operating | 2006 |
| 5 | Natural Gas Internal Combustion Engine | Natural Gas | 6.1 MW | Operating | 2006 |
| 6 | Natural Gas Internal Combustion Engine | Natural Gas | 6.1 MW | Operating | 2006 |
| 7 | Natural Gas Internal Combustion Engine | Natural Gas | 6.1 MW | Operating | 2006 |
| 8 | Natural Gas Internal Combustion Engine | Natural Gas | 6.1 MW | Operating | 2006 |
| 9 | Natural Gas Internal Combustion Engine | Natural Gas | 6.1 MW | Operating | 2006 |
| Owner | Location | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Milepost Power, Inc. | Bethesda, MD | 9489.0% |
| Basin Creek Power Services Llc | Butte, MT | 511.0% |
Ownership reported to EIA Form 860. Percentages reflect reported generator-level ownership share, averaged when a plant has multiple generators.
| CO₂ | 60.8k metric tons |
|---|---|
| SO₂ | 2 metric tons |
| NOₓ | 1.4k metric tons |
| CO₂ Rate | 1094 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 | WECC |
|---|---|
| Balancing Authority | Northwestern Energy (Nwmt) |
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.