8th largest plant in Maryland · 446th nationally
Essential Power Rock Springs Llc is a natural gas power plant in Maryland with a nameplate capacity of 773 MW. It generates roughly 213.7k MWh per year — enough to power about 20,356 average U.S. homes.
Its capacity factor of 3% reflects intermittent or peaking operation. At 1231 lb CO₂/MWh, its emission rate sits above the national grid average of roughly 800 lb/MWh.
| Plant Name | Essential Power Rock Springs Llc |
|---|---|
| Operator | Essential Power Operating Services Llc |
| City | Rising Sun |
| County | Cecil County |
| State | Maryland |
| ZIP | 21911 |
| Coordinates | 39.71901, -76.15976 |
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 | 199 MW | Operating | 2003 |
| 2 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 199 MW | Operating | 2003 |
| 3 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 199 MW | Operating | 2003 |
| 4 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 199 MW | Operating | 2003 |
| 5 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 195 MW | Cancelled | — |
| 6 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 195 MW | Cancelled | — |
| CO₂ | 131.6k metric tons |
|---|---|
| SO₂ | 1 metric tons |
| NOₓ | 39 metric tons |
| CO₂ Rate | 1231 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 | RFC |
|---|---|
| Balancing Authority | Pjm Interconnection, Llc |
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.