25th largest plant in South Dakota · 2303rd nationally
Ben French is a natural gas power plant in South Dakota with a nameplate capacity of 110 MW. It generates roughly 3.1k MWh per year — enough to power about 295 average U.S. homes.
Its capacity factor of 0% reflects intermittent or peaking operation. At 2631 lb CO₂/MWh, its emission rate sits above the national grid average of roughly 800 lb/MWh.
| Plant Name | Ben French |
|---|---|
| Operator | Black Hills Power, Inc. |
| City | Rapid City |
| County | Pennington County |
| State | South Dakota |
| ZIP | 57702 |
| Coordinates | 44.08723, -103.26096 |
This plant highlighted in navy-ringed pin; other generators within 25 miles shown as fuel-colored dots.
| ID | Technology | Fuel | Capacity | Status | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GT1 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 25.0 MW | Operating | 1977 |
| GT2 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 25.0 MW | Operating | 1977 |
| GT3 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 25.0 MW | Operating | 1978 |
| GT4 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 25.0 MW | Operating | 1979 |
| ST1 | Conventional Steam Coal | Subbituminous Coal | 25.0 MW | Retired | 1960 |
| 1 | Petroleum Liquids | Distillate Oil | 2.0 MW | Operating | 1965 |
| 2 | Petroleum Liquids | Distillate Oil | 2.0 MW | Operating | 1965 |
| 3 | Petroleum Liquids | Distillate Oil | 2.0 MW | Operating | 1965 |
| 4 | Petroleum Liquids | Distillate Oil | 2.0 MW | Operating | 1965 |
| 5 | Petroleum Liquids | Distillate Oil | 2.0 MW | Operating | 1965 |
| CO₂ | 4.1k metric tons |
|---|---|
| NOₓ | 12 metric tons |
| CO₂ Rate | 2631 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 | Western Area Power Administration - Rocky Mountain Region |
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.