2nd largest plant in North Carolina · 32nd nationally
Belews Creek is a natural gas power plant in North Carolina with a nameplate capacity of 2,491 MW. It generates roughly 8.5M MWh per year — enough to power about 808,375 average U.S. homes.
Its capacity factor of 39% reflects intermittent or peaking operation. At 1442 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 (2,491 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 | Belews Creek |
|---|---|
| Operator | Duke Energy Carolinas, Llc |
| City | Belews Creek |
| County | Stokes County |
| State | North Carolina |
| ZIP | 27052 |
| Coordinates | 36.28110, -80.06030 |
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 Steam Turbine | Natural Gas | 1,246 MW | Operating | 1974 |
| 2 | Natural Gas Steam Turbine | Natural Gas | 1,246 MW | Operating | 1975 |
| CO₂ | 6.1M metric tons |
|---|---|
| SO₂ | 1.6k metric tons |
| NOₓ | 7.2k metric tons |
| CO₂ Rate | 1442 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 | SERC |
|---|---|
| Balancing Authority | Duke Energy Carolinas |
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.