17th largest plant in Missouri · 876th nationally
Empire Energy Center is a natural gas power plant in Missouri with a nameplate capacity of 379 MW. It generates roughly 239.0k MWh per year — enough to power about 22,764 average U.S. homes.
Its capacity factor of 7% reflects intermittent or peaking operation. At 1599 lb CO₂/MWh, its emission rate sits above the national grid average of roughly 800 lb/MWh.
| Plant Name | Empire Energy Center |
|---|---|
| Operator | Empire District Electric Co |
| City | Sarcoxie |
| County | Jasper County |
| State | Missouri |
| ZIP | 64862 |
| Coordinates | 37.13850, -94.10410 |
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 | 129 MW | Operating | 1978 |
| 2 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 129 MW | Operating | 1981 |
| 3 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 60.5 MW | Operating | 2003 |
| 4 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 60.5 MW | Operating | 2003 |
| CO₂ | 191.1k metric tons |
|---|---|
| SO₂ | 1 metric tons |
| NOₓ | 179 metric tons |
| CO₂ Rate | 1599 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.