20th largest plant in Wyoming · 2025th nationally
Cheyenne Prairie Generating Station is a natural gas power plant in Wyoming with a nameplate capacity of 140 MW. It generates roughly 421.9k MWh per year — enough to power about 40,178 average U.S. homes.
Its capacity factor of 34% reflects intermittent or peaking operation. At 930 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 (140 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 | Cheyenne Prairie Generating Station |
|---|---|
| Operator | Black Hills Service Company Llc |
| City | Cheyenne |
| County | Laramie County |
| State | Wyoming |
| ZIP | 82007 |
| Coordinates | 41.12361, -104.72000 |
This plant highlighted in navy-ringed pin; other generators within 25 miles shown as fuel-colored dots.
| ID | Technology | Fuel | Capacity | Status | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01A | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 40.0 MW | Operating | 2014 |
| 01B | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 40.0 MW | Operating | 2014 |
| 02A | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 40.0 MW | Operating | 2014 |
| 02B | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 40.0 MW | Indef Postponed | — |
| 03A | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 40.0 MW | Indef Postponed | — |
| 01C | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 20.0 MW | Operating | 2014 |
| Owner | Location | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Black Hills Power, Inc. | Rapid City, SD | 5800.0% |
| Cheyenne Light Fuel & Power | Rapid City, SD | 5650.0% |
Ownership reported to EIA Form 860. Percentages reflect reported generator-level ownership share, averaged when a plant has multiple generators.
| CO₂ | 196.3k metric tons |
|---|---|
| SO₂ | 1 metric tons |
| NOₓ | 14 metric tons |
| CO₂ Rate | 930 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 | Western Area Power Administration - Rocky Mountain Region |
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.