70th largest plant in Utah · 6987th nationally
Central Energy Plant Usu is a natural gas power plant in Utah with a nameplate capacity of 5.0 MW. It generates roughly 26.1k MWh per year — enough to power about 2,485 average U.S. homes.
Its capacity factor of 60% puts it in the middle range — running steadily but not full-time. At 1764 lb CO₂/MWh, its emission rate sits above the national grid average of roughly 800 lb/MWh.
| Plant Name | Central Energy Plant Usu |
|---|---|
| Operator | Utah State University |
| City | Logan |
| County | Cache County |
| State | Utah |
| ZIP | 84322 |
| Coordinates | 41.74861, -111.81167 |
This plant highlighted in navy-ringed pin; other generators within 25 miles shown as fuel-colored dots.
| ID | Technology | Fuel | Capacity | Status | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TURBI | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 5.0 MW | Operating | 2004 |
| CO₂ | 23.0k metric tons |
|---|---|
| SO₂ | 1 metric tons |
| NOₓ | 63 metric tons |
| CO₂ Rate | 1764 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 | Pacificorp - East |
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.