21st largest plant in Louisiana · 752nd nationally
Big Cajun 1 is a natural gas power plant in Louisiana with a nameplate capacity of 493 MW. It generates roughly 268.1k MWh per year — enough to power about 25,530 average U.S. homes.
Its capacity factor of 6% reflects intermittent or peaking operation. At 1549 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 (493 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 | Big Cajun 1 |
|---|---|
| Operator | Louisiana Generating Llc |
| City | Jarreau |
| County | Pointe Coupee County |
| State | Louisiana |
| ZIP | 70749 |
| Coordinates | 30.67390, -91.35560 |
This plant highlighted in navy-ringed pin; other generators within 25 miles shown as fuel-colored dots.
| ID | Technology | Fuel | Capacity | Status | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 133 MW | Operating | 2001 |
| 4 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 133 MW | Operating | 2001 |
| 1 | Natural Gas Steam Turbine | Natural Gas | 114 MW | Operating | 1972 |
| 2 | Natural Gas Steam Turbine | Natural Gas | 114 MW | Operating | 1972 |
| CO₂ | 207.6k metric tons |
|---|---|
| SO₂ | 1 metric tons |
| NOₓ | 131 metric tons |
| CO₂ Rate | 1549 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 | Midcontinent Independent Transmission System Operator, Inc.. |
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.