Castleton Energy Center

🔥 Natural GasIPP Non-CHP72 MW capacity

87th largest plant in New York · 3143rd nationally

Castleton Energy Center is a natural gas power plant in New York with a nameplate capacity of 72.0 MW. It generates roughly 89.9k MWh per year — enough to power about 8,563 average U.S. homes.

Its capacity factor of 14% reflects intermittent or peaking operation. At 1119 lb CO₂/MWh, its emission rate sits above the national grid average of roughly 800 lb/MWh.

PeakingMid-meritBaseload0%40%80%100%14%
Peaking — intermittent or backup

Month by month in 2024

100% capacity0Jan: 22.1k MWh (41% of capacity)JFeb: 7.0k MWh (14% of capacity)FMAMJun: 3.9k MWh (8% of capacity)JJul: 17.5k MWh (33% of capacity)JAug: 5.0k MWh (9% of capacity)ASep: 957 MWh (2% of capacity)SOct: 2.1k MWh (4% of capacity)ONDec: 28.5k MWh (53% of capacity)D

Ghost bars are each month's theoretical maximum (72.0 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.

Capacity72 MWnameplate
Annual Generation89.9k MWhEPA eGRID
Capacity Factor14%of theoretical max
Annual CO₂50.3kmetric tons

Location

Plant NameCastleton Energy Center
OperatorFortistar Castleton Power
CityCastleton
CountyRensselaer County
StateNew York
ZIP12033
Coordinates42.53750, -73.74330

This plant highlighted in navy-ringed pin; other generators within 25 miles shown as fuel-colored dots.

Natural GasHydroelectricSolarBiomass

Generators (2)

IDTechnologyFuelCapacityStatusOnline
GEN1Natural Gas Fired Combined CycleNatural Gas47.0 MWOperating1992
GEN2Natural Gas Fired Combined CycleNatural Gas25.0 MWOperating1992

Ownership

OwnerLocationShare
Castleton Energy CenterCastleton, NY10000.0%

Ownership reported to EIA Form 860. Percentages reflect reported generator-level ownership share, averaged when a plant has multiple generators.

Emissions (annual)

CO₂50.3k metric tons
NOₓ33 metric tons
CO₂ Rate1119 lb/MWh
U.S. grid average800 lb/MWhNatural gas combined-cycle average900 lb/MWhThis plant1,119 lb/MWhCoal plant average2,100 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.

Grid context

NERC RegionNPCC
Balancing AuthorityNew York Independent System Operator

About Natural Gas plants

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.

Other plants in Rensselaer County

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