13th largest plant in Arizona · 461st nationally
Desert Basin is a natural gas power plant in Arizona with a nameplate capacity of 745 MW. It generates roughly 3.0M MWh per year — enough to power about 285,209 average U.S. homes.
Its capacity factor of 46% puts it in the middle range — running steadily but not full-time. At 912 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 (745 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 | Desert Basin |
|---|---|
| Operator | Salt River Project |
| City | Casa Grande |
| County | Pinal County |
| State | Arizona |
| ZIP | 85193 |
| Coordinates | 32.90420, -111.78890 |
This plant highlighted in navy-ringed pin; other generators within 25 miles shown as fuel-colored dots.
| ID | Technology | Fuel | Capacity | Status | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| STG | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 272 MW | Operating | 2001 |
| CTG1 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 187 MW | Operating | 2001 |
| CTG2 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 187 MW | Operating | 2001 |
| CTG4 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 49.5 MW | Operating | 2022 |
| CTG5 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 49.5 MW | Operating | 2022 |
| CO₂ | 1.4M metric tons |
|---|---|
| SO₂ | 7 metric tons |
| NOₓ | 123 metric tons |
| CO₂ Rate | 912 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 | Salt River Project |
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.