11th largest plant in Montana · 1441st nationally
Dave Gates Generating Station is a natural gas power plant in Montana with a nameplate capacity of 203 MW. It generates roughly 547.5k MWh per year — enough to power about 52,139 average U.S. homes.
Its capacity factor of 31% reflects intermittent or peaking operation. At 1318 lb CO₂/MWh, its emission rate sits above the national grid average of roughly 800 lb/MWh.
| Plant Name | Dave Gates Generating Station |
|---|---|
| Operator | Northwestern Energy (Mt Wind/Thermal) |
| City | Anaconda |
| County | Deer Lodge County |
| State | Montana |
| ZIP | 59711 |
| Coordinates | 46.10471, -112.87660 |
This plant highlighted in navy-ringed pin; other generators within 25 miles shown as fuel-colored dots.
| ID | Technology | Fuel | Capacity | Status | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 67.7 MW | Operating | 2011 |
| 2 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 67.7 MW | Operating | 2011 |
| 3 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 67.7 MW | Operating | 2011 |
| CO₂ | 360.9k metric tons |
|---|---|
| SO₂ | 2 metric tons |
| NOₓ | 50 metric tons |
| CO₂ Rate | 1318 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 | WECC |
|---|---|
| Balancing Authority | Northwestern Energy (Nwmt) |
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.