Elm Road Generating Station

⛏ CoalElectric Utility1,402 MW capacity

1st largest plant in Wisconsin · 173rd nationally

Elm Road Generating Station is a coal power plant in Wisconsin with a nameplate capacity of 1,403 MW. It generates roughly 6.7M MWh per year — enough to power about 634,753 average U.S. homes.

Its capacity factor of 54% puts it in the middle range — running steadily but not full-time. At 1933 lb CO₂/MWh, its emission rate sits above the national grid average of roughly 800 lb/MWh.

PeakingMid-meritBaseload0%40%80%100%54%
Mid-merit — steady but not full-time

Month by month in 2024

100% capacity0Jan: 447.9k MWh (43% of capacity)JFeb: 324.4k MWh (34% of capacity)FMar: 689.6k MWh (66% of capacity)MApr: 546.2k MWh (54% of capacity)AMay: 894.3k MWh (86% of capacity)MJun: 851.9k MWh (84% of capacity)JJul: 729.8k MWh (70% of capacity)JAug: 599.7k MWh (57% of capacity)ASep: 791.5k MWh (78% of capacity)SOct: 237.1k MWh (23% of capacity)ONov: 578.4k MWh (57% of capacity)NDec: 862.5k MWh (83% of capacity)D

Ghost bars are each month's theoretical maximum (1,403 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.

Capacity1,403 MWnameplate
Annual Generation6.7M MWhEPA eGRID
Capacity Factor54%of theoretical max
Annual CO₂6.4Mmetric tons

Location

Plant NameElm Road Generating Station
OperatorWisconsin Electric Power Co
CityOak Creek
CountyMilwaukee County
StateWisconsin
ZIP53154
Coordinates42.84920, -87.83360

This plant highlighted in navy-ringed pin; other generators within 25 miles shown as fuel-colored dots.

Natural GasCoalSolarBiomass

Generators (2)

IDTechnologyFuelCapacityStatusOnline
1Conventional Steam CoalSubbituminous Coal701 MWOperating2010
2Conventional Steam CoalSubbituminous Coal701 MWOperating2011

Ownership

OwnerLocationShare
We PowerMilwaukee, WI8334.0%
Madison Gas & Electric CoMadison, WI833.0%
Wppi EnergySun Prairie, WI833.0%

Ownership reported to EIA Form 860. Percentages reflect reported generator-level ownership share, averaged when a plant has multiple generators.

Emissions (annual)

CO₂6.4M metric tons
SO₂307 metric tons
NOₓ2.0k metric tons
CO₂ Rate1933 lb/MWh
U.S. grid average800 lb/MWhNatural gas combined-cycle average900 lb/MWhThis plant1,933 lb/MWhCoal plant average2,100 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.

Grid context

NERC RegionRFC
Balancing AuthorityMidcontinent Independent Transmission System Operator, Inc..

About Coal plants

Coal plants burn pulverized coal to boil water and spin steam turbines. They emit substantial CO₂, SO₂, and NOₓ along with mercury and particulate matter. Modern units include scrubbers and selective catalytic reduction; older units are increasingly being retired or converted to natural gas as economics shift.

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