209th largest plant in Illinois · 8803rd nationally
Chicago West Side Energy Center is a natural gas power plant in Illinois with a nameplate capacity of 3.5 MW. It generates roughly 17.3k MWh per year — enough to power about 1,643 average U.S. homes.
Its capacity factor of 56% puts it in the middle range — running steadily but not full-time. At 684 lb CO₂/MWh, its emission rate sits below the national grid average of roughly 800 lb/MWh.
| Plant Name | Chicago West Side Energy Center |
|---|---|
| Operator | Energy Systems Group Llc |
| City | Chicago |
| County | Cook County |
| State | Illinois |
| ZIP | 60612 |
| Coordinates | 41.87075, -87.67838 |
This plant highlighted in navy-ringed pin; other generators within 25 miles shown as fuel-colored dots.
| ID | Technology | Fuel | Capacity | Status | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GEN1 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 3.5 MW | Operating | 2003 |
| Owner | Location | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Amalgamated Bank Of Chicago | Chicago, IL | 10000.0% |
Ownership reported to EIA Form 860. Percentages reflect reported generator-level ownership share, averaged when a plant has multiple generators.
| CO₂ | 5.9k metric tons |
|---|---|
| NOₓ | 16 metric tons |
| CO₂ Rate | 684 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 | RFC |
|---|---|
| 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.