45th largest plant in Arkansas · 3243rd nationally
Elkins Generating Center is a natural gas power plant in Arkansas with a nameplate capacity of 66.0 MW. It generates roughly 25.2k MWh per year — enough to power about 2,400 average U.S. homes.
Its capacity factor of 4% reflects intermittent or peaking operation. At 1392 lb CO₂/MWh, its emission rate sits above the national grid average of roughly 800 lb/MWh.
| Plant Name | Elkins Generating Center |
|---|---|
| Operator | Arkansas Electric Coop Corp |
| City | Elkins |
| County | Washington County |
| State | Arkansas |
| ZIP | 72727 |
| Coordinates | 35.97140, -94.00140 |
This plant highlighted in navy-ringed pin; other generators within 25 miles shown as fuel-colored dots.
| ID | Technology | Fuel | Capacity | Status | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 22.0 MW | Operating | 2010 |
| B | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 22.0 MW | Operating | 2010 |
| C | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 22.0 MW | Operating | 2013 |
| CO₂ | 17.5k metric tons |
|---|---|
| NOₓ | 48 metric tons |
| CO₂ Rate | 1392 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 | SERC |
|---|---|
| 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.