34th largest plant in Missouri · 1792nd nationally
Columbia Energy Center is a natural gas power plant in Missouri with a nameplate capacity of 163 MW. It generates roughly 20.1k MWh per year — enough to power about 1,910 average U.S. homes.
Its capacity factor of 1% reflects intermittent or peaking operation. At 1480 lb CO₂/MWh, its emission rate sits above the national grid average of roughly 800 lb/MWh.
| Plant Name | Columbia Energy Center |
|---|---|
| Operator | City Of Columbia - (Mo) |
| City | Columbia |
| County | Boone County |
| State | Missouri |
| ZIP | 65202 |
| Coordinates | 39.01920, -92.26290 |
This plant highlighted in navy-ringed pin; other generators within 25 miles shown as fuel-colored dots.
| ID | Technology | Fuel | Capacity | Status | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CT01 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 40.7 MW | Operating | 2001 |
| CT02 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 40.7 MW | Operating | 2001 |
| CT03 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 40.7 MW | Operating | 2001 |
| CT04 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 40.7 MW | Operating | 2001 |
| CO₂ | 14.8k metric tons |
|---|---|
| NOₓ | 7 metric tons |
| CO₂ Rate | 1480 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 | Midcontinent Independent Transmission System Operator, 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.