4th largest plant in Colorado · 314th nationally
Cherokee is a natural gas power plant in Colorado with a nameplate capacity of 1,006 MW. It generates roughly 3.6M MWh per year — enough to power about 339,000 average U.S. homes.
Its capacity factor of 40% puts it in the middle range — running steadily but not full-time. At 933 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 (1,006 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 | Cherokee |
|---|---|
| Operator | Public Service Co Of Colorado |
| City | Denver |
| County | Adams County |
| State | Colorado |
| ZIP | 80216 |
| Coordinates | 39.80727, -104.96455 |
This plant highlighted in navy-ringed pin; other generators within 25 miles shown as fuel-colored dots.
| ID | Technology | Fuel | Capacity | Status | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | Natural Gas Steam Turbine | Natural Gas | 381 MW | Operating | 1968 |
| 7 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 255 MW | Operating | 2015 |
| 5 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 185 MW | Operating | 2015 |
| 6 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 185 MW | Operating | 2015 |
| 3 | Conventional Steam Coal | Bituminous Coal | 171 MW | Retired | 1962 |
| 1 | Conventional Steam Coal | Bituminous Coal | 125 MW | Retired | 1957 |
| 2 | Conventional Steam Coal | Bituminous Coal | 125 MW | Retired | 1959 |
| CO₂ | 1.7M metric tons |
|---|---|
| SO₂ | 8 metric tons |
| NOₓ | 326 metric tons |
| CO₂ Rate | 933 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 | Public Service Company Of Colorado |
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.