9th largest plant in Michigan · 211th nationally
Blue Water Energy Center is a natural gas power plant in Michigan with a nameplate capacity of 1,267 MW. It generates roughly 8.2M MWh per year — enough to power about 782,536 average U.S. homes.
Its capacity factor of 74% puts it in the middle range — running steadily but not full-time. At 743 lb CO₂/MWh, its emission rate sits below the national grid average of roughly 800 lb/MWh.
Ghost bars are each month's theoretical maximum (1,267 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 | Blue Water Energy Center |
|---|---|
| Operator | Dte Electric Company |
| City | East China |
| County | St Clair County |
| State | Michigan |
| ZIP | 48054 |
| Coordinates | 42.77372, -82.47933 |
This plant highlighted in navy-ringed pin; other generators within 25 miles shown as fuel-colored dots.
| ID | Technology | Fuel | Capacity | Status | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1S | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 479 MW | Operating | 2022 |
| 11 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 394 MW | Operating | 2022 |
| 12 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 394 MW | Operating | 2022 |
| CO₂ | 3.1M metric tons |
|---|---|
| SO₂ | 15 metric tons |
| NOₓ | 170 metric tons |
| CO₂ Rate | 743 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 | RFC |
|---|---|
| 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.