7th largest plant in Maryland · 442nd nationally
Cpv St Charles Energy Center is a natural gas power plant in Maryland with a nameplate capacity of 775 MW. It generates roughly 4.2M MWh per year — enough to power about 396,421 average U.S. homes.
Its capacity factor of 61% puts it in the middle range — running steadily but not full-time. At 849 lb CO₂/MWh, its emission rate sits above the national grid average of roughly 800 lb/MWh.
Ghost bars are each month's theoretical maximum (775 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 | Cpv St Charles Energy Center |
|---|---|
| Operator | Cpv Maryland Llc |
| City | Waldorf |
| County | Charles County |
| State | Maryland |
| ZIP | 20602 |
| Coordinates | 38.56860, -76.89190 |
This plant highlighted in navy-ringed pin; other generators within 25 miles shown as fuel-colored dots.
| ID | Technology | Fuel | Capacity | Status | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| STGEN | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 328 MW | Operating | 2017 |
| GTG1 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 224 MW | Operating | 2017 |
| GTG2 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 224 MW | Operating | 2017 |
| CO₂ | 1.8M metric tons |
|---|---|
| SO₂ | 9 metric tons |
| NOₓ | 52 metric tons |
| CO₂ Rate | 849 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.