70th largest plant in Iowa · 2228th nationally
Earl F Wisdom is a natural gas power plant in Iowa with a nameplate capacity of 119 MW. It generates roughly 5.7k MWh per year — enough to power about 545 average U.S. homes.
Its capacity factor of 1% reflects intermittent or peaking operation. At 2306 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 (119 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 | Earl F Wisdom |
|---|---|
| Operator | Corn Belt Power Coop |
| City | Spencer |
| County | Clay County |
| State | Iowa |
| ZIP | 51301 |
| Coordinates | 43.16060, -95.25690 |
This plant highlighted in navy-ringed pin; other generators within 25 miles shown as fuel-colored dots.
| ID | Technology | Fuel | Capacity | Status | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 81.6 MW | Operating | 2004 |
| 1 | Natural Gas Steam Turbine | Natural Gas | 37.5 MW | Operating | 1960 |
| Owner | Location | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Basin Electric Power Coop | Bismarck, ND | 5000.0% |
| Corn Belt Power Coop | Humboldt, IA | 5000.0% |
Ownership reported to EIA Form 860. Percentages reflect reported generator-level ownership share, averaged when a plant has multiple generators.
| CO₂ | 6.6k metric tons |
|---|---|
| NOₓ | 4 metric tons |
| CO₂ Rate | 2306 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 | MRO |
|---|---|
| Balancing Authority | Southwest Power Pool |
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.