5th largest plant in Virginia · 151st nationally
Chesterfield is a natural gas power plant in Virginia with a nameplate capacity of 1,500 MW. It generates roughly 2.4M MWh per year — enough to power about 231,349 average U.S. homes.
Its capacity factor of 18% reflects intermittent or peaking operation. At 1168 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 (1,500 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 | Chesterfield |
|---|---|
| Operator | Virginia Electric & Power Co |
| City | Chester |
| County | Chesterfield County |
| State | Virginia |
| ZIP | 23831 |
| Coordinates | 37.38220, -77.38330 |
This plant highlighted in navy-ringed pin; other generators within 25 miles shown as fuel-colored dots.
| ID | Technology | Fuel | Capacity | Status | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | Conventional Steam Coal | Bituminous Coal | 694 MW | Retired | 1969 |
| 5 | Conventional Steam Coal | Bituminous Coal | 359 MW | Retired | 1964 |
| 4 | Conventional Steam Coal | Bituminous Coal | 188 MW | Retired | 1960 |
| CT8 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 148 MW | Operating | 1992 |
| CT7 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 145 MW | Operating | 1990 |
| 3 | Conventional Steam Coal | Bituminous Coal | 113 MW | Retired | 1952 |
| CW8 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 79.2 MW | Operating | 1992 |
| CW7 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 74.4 MW | Operating | 1990 |
| CO₂ | 1.4M metric tons |
|---|---|
| SO₂ | 188 metric tons |
| NOₓ | 1.1k metric tons |
| CO₂ Rate | 1168 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 | Pjm Interconnection, Llc |
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.