22nd largest plant in Washington · 1016th nationally
Goldendale Generating Station is a natural gas power plant in Washington with a nameplate capacity of 303 MW. It generates roughly 2.2M MWh per year — enough to power about 206,857 average U.S. homes.
Its capacity factor of 82% means it runs nearly around-the-clock as baseload generation. At 838 lb CO₂/MWh, its emission rate sits above the national grid average of roughly 800 lb/MWh.
Ghost bars are each month's theoretical maximum (303 MW nameplate × hours in the month). Filled bars are actual net generation reported to EIA Form 923. The gap between them is capacity factor made visible.
| Plant Name | Goldendale Generating Station |
|---|---|
| Operator | Puget Sound Energy Inc |
| City | Goldendale |
| County | Klickitat County |
| State | Washington |
| ZIP | 98620 |
| Coordinates | 45.81140, -120.83300 |
This plant highlighted in navy-ringed pin; other generators within 25 miles shown as fuel-colored dots.
| ID | Technology | Fuel | Capacity | Status | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G1 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 189 MW | Operating | 2004 |
| G2 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 114 MW | Operating | 2004 |
| CO₂ | 909.8k metric tons |
|---|---|
| SO₂ | 5 metric tons |
| NOₓ | 55 metric tons |
| CO₂ Rate | 838 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 | Puget Sound Energy |
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.