118th largest plant in New York · 3939th nationally
Cornell University Central Heat is a natural gas power plant in New York with a nameplate capacity of 39.5 MW. It generates roughly 216.7k MWh per year — enough to power about 20,637 average U.S. homes.
Its capacity factor of 63% puts it in the middle range — running steadily but not full-time.
Ghost bars are each month's theoretical maximum (39.5 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 | Cornell University Central Heat |
|---|---|
| Operator | Cornell University |
| City | Ithaca |
| County | Tompkins County |
| State | New York |
| ZIP | 14853 |
| Coordinates | 42.44280, -76.47640 |
This plant highlighted in navy-ringed pin; other generators within 25 miles shown as fuel-colored dots.
| ID | Technology | Fuel | Capacity | Status | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CT1 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 15.0 MW | Operating | 2009 |
| CT2 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 15.0 MW | Operating | 2009 |
| TG2 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 5.7 MW | Operating | 1988 |
| TG1 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 1.8 MW | Standby | 1988 |
| EDG1 | Petroleum Liquids | Distillate Oil | 1.0 MW | Standby | 2009 |
| EDG2 | Petroleum Liquids | Distillate Oil | 1.0 MW | Standby | 2009 |
| NOₓ | 81 metric tons |
|---|
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 | New York Independent System Operator |
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.