45th largest plant in Iowa · 1670th nationally
Exira is a natural gas power plant in Iowa with a nameplate capacity of 182 MW. It generates roughly 229.8k MWh per year — enough to power about 21,889 average U.S. homes.
Its capacity factor of 14% reflects intermittent or peaking operation. At 1261 lb CO₂/MWh, its emission rate sits above the national grid average of roughly 800 lb/MWh.
| Plant Name | Exira |
|---|---|
| Operator | Western Minnesota Mun Pwr Agny |
| City | Brayton |
| County | Audubon County |
| State | Iowa |
| ZIP | 50042 |
| Coordinates | 41.51436, -94.91973 |
This plant highlighted in navy-ringed pin; other generators within 25 miles shown as fuel-colored dots.
| ID | Technology | Fuel | Capacity | Status | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| U1 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 60.5 MW | Operating | 2004 |
| U2 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 60.5 MW | Operating | 2004 |
| U3 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 60.5 MW | Operating | 2007 |
| CO₂ | 144.9k metric tons |
|---|---|
| SO₂ | 1 metric tons |
| NOₓ | 113 metric tons |
| CO₂ Rate | 1261 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.