45th largest plant in Colorado · 1848th nationally
Frank Knutson is a natural gas power plant in Colorado with a nameplate capacity of 154 MW. It generates roughly 246.6k MWh per year — enough to power about 23,481 average U.S. homes.
Its capacity factor of 18% reflects intermittent or peaking operation. At 1544 lb CO₂/MWh, its emission rate sits above the national grid average of roughly 800 lb/MWh.
| Plant Name | Frank Knutson |
|---|---|
| Operator | Tri-State G & T Assn, Inc |
| City | Commerce City |
| County | Adams County |
| State | Colorado |
| ZIP | 80022 |
| Coordinates | 39.94113, -104.68202 |
This plant highlighted in navy-ringed pin; other generators within 25 miles shown as fuel-colored dots.
| ID | Technology | Fuel | Capacity | Status | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BR1 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 77.1 MW | Operating | 2002 |
| BR2 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 77.1 MW | Operating | 2002 |
| CO₂ | 190.3k metric tons |
|---|---|
| SO₂ | 1 metric tons |
| NOₓ | 46 metric tons |
| CO₂ Rate | 1544 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 | WECC |
|---|---|
| Balancing Authority | Public Service Company Of Colorado |
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.