19th largest plant in Georgia · 624th nationally
Bobby C Smith Jr Energy Facility is a natural gas power plant in Georgia with a nameplate capacity of 597 MW. It generates roughly 2.4M MWh per year — enough to power about 232,345 average U.S. homes.
Its capacity factor of 47% puts it in the middle range — running steadily but not full-time. At 901 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 (597 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 | Bobby C Smith Jr Energy Facility |
|---|---|
| Operator | Oglethorpe Power Corporation |
| City | Rincon |
| County | Effingham County |
| State | Georgia |
| ZIP | 31326 |
| Coordinates | 32.27725, -81.28441 |
This plant highlighted in navy-ringed pin; other generators within 25 miles shown as fuel-colored dots.
| ID | Technology | Fuel | Capacity | Status | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UNT1 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 199 MW | Operating | 2003 |
| UNT2 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 199 MW | Operating | 2003 |
| STG | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 198 MW | Operating | 2003 |
| CO₂ | 1.1M metric tons |
|---|---|
| SO₂ | 6 metric tons |
| NOₓ | 104 metric tons |
| CO₂ Rate | 901 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 | Southern Company Services, Inc. - Trans |
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.