16th largest plant in South Carolina · 540th nationally
Columbia Energy Center (Sc) is a natural gas power plant in South Carolina with a nameplate capacity of 669 MW. It generates roughly 2.5M MWh per year — enough to power about 234,848 average U.S. homes.
Its capacity factor of 42% puts it in the middle range — running steadily but not full-time. At 742 lb CO₂/MWh, its emission rate sits below the national grid average of roughly 800 lb/MWh.
Ghost bars are each month's theoretical maximum (669 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 | Columbia Energy Center (Sc) |
|---|---|
| Operator | Dominion Energy South Carolina, Inc |
| City | Gaston |
| County | Calhoun County |
| State | South Carolina |
| ZIP | 29053 |
| Coordinates | 33.86970, -81.01780 |
This plant highlighted in navy-ringed pin; other generators within 25 miles shown as fuel-colored dots.
| ID | Technology | Fuel | Capacity | Status | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ST1 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 275 MW | Operating | 2004 |
| CT1 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 197 MW | Operating | 2004 |
| CT2 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 197 MW | Operating | 2004 |
| CO₂ | 915.2k metric tons |
|---|---|
| SO₂ | 5 metric tons |
| NOₓ | 105 metric tons |
| CO₂ Rate | 742 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 | Dominion Energy South Carolina |
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.