393rd largest plant in Massachusetts · 10231st nationally
Clark University is a natural gas power plant in Massachusetts with a nameplate capacity of 2.0 MW. It generates roughly 8.6k MWh per year — enough to power about 817 average U.S. homes.
Its capacity factor of 49% puts it in the middle range — running steadily but not full-time. At 685 lb CO₂/MWh, its emission rate sits below the national grid average of roughly 800 lb/MWh.
| Plant Name | Clark University |
|---|---|
| Operator | Clark University |
| City | Worcester |
| County | Worcester County |
| State | Massachusetts |
| ZIP | 01610 |
| Coordinates | 42.25080, -71.82260 |
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 Internal Combustion Engine | Natural Gas | 2.0 MW | Retired | 1981 |
| GEN2 | Natural Gas Internal Combustion Engine | Natural Gas | 2.0 MW | Operating | 2013 |
| CO₂ | 2.9k metric tons |
|---|---|
| NOₓ | 70 metric tons |
| CO₂ Rate | 685 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 | NPCC |
|---|---|
| Balancing Authority | Iso New England Inc. |
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.