114th largest plant in Illinois · 3163rd nationally
Freedom Power Project is a natural gas power plant in Illinois with a nameplate capacity of 71.0 MW. It generates roughly 1.1k MWh per year — enough to power about 102 average U.S. homes.
Its capacity factor of 0% reflects intermittent or peaking operation. At 1163 lb CO₂/MWh, its emission rate sits above the national grid average of roughly 800 lb/MWh.
| Plant Name | Freedom Power Project |
|---|---|
| Operator | Southwestern Electric Coop Inc - (Il) |
| City | St. Elmo |
| County | Fayette County |
| State | Illinois |
| ZIP | 62458 |
| Coordinates | 39.10333, -88.85898 |
This plant highlighted in navy-ringed pin; other generators within 25 miles shown as fuel-colored dots.
| ID | Technology | Fuel | Capacity | Status | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CT1 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 71.0 MW | Retired | 2000 |
| CO₂ | 625 metric tons |
|---|---|
| NOₓ | 1 metric tons |
| CO₂ Rate | 1163 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 | SERC |
|---|---|
| Balancing Authority | Midcontinent Independent Transmission System Operator, Inc.. |
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.