8th largest plant in Iowa · 648th nationally
Greater Des Moines is a natural gas power plant in Iowa with a nameplate capacity of 576 MW. It generates roughly 2.1M MWh per year — enough to power about 203,926 average U.S. homes.
Its capacity factor of 42% puts it in the middle range — running steadily but not full-time. At 862 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 (576 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 | Greater Des Moines |
|---|---|
| Operator | Midamerican Energy Co |
| City | Pleasant Hill |
| County | Polk County |
| State | Iowa |
| ZIP | 50327 |
| Coordinates | 41.55630, -93.52830 |
This plant highlighted in navy-ringed pin; other generators within 25 miles shown as fuel-colored dots.
| ID | Technology | Fuel | Capacity | Status | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ST1 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 196 MW | Operating | 2004 |
| GT1 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 190 MW | Operating | 2003 |
| GT2 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 190 MW | Operating | 2003 |
| CO₂ | 923.3k metric tons |
|---|---|
| SO₂ | 5 metric tons |
| NOₓ | 71 metric tons |
| CO₂ Rate | 862 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 | 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.