20th largest plant in Pennsylvania · 305th nationally
Hickory Run Energy Station is a natural gas power plant in Pennsylvania with a nameplate capacity of 1,034 MW. It generates roughly 6.6M MWh per year — enough to power about 625,431 average U.S. homes.
Its capacity factor of 73% puts it in the middle range — running steadily but not full-time. At 811 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 (1,034 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 | Hickory Run Energy Station |
|---|---|
| Operator | Hickory Run Energy, Llc |
| City | New Castle |
| County | Lawrence County |
| State | Pennsylvania |
| ZIP | 16102 |
| Coordinates | 40.99444, -80.43000 |
This plant highlighted in navy-ringed pin; other generators within 25 miles shown as fuel-colored dots.
| ID | Technology | Fuel | Capacity | Status | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| STG1 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 444 MW | Operating | 2020 |
| CTG1 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 295 MW | Operating | 2020 |
| CTG2 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 295 MW | Operating | 2020 |
| CO₂ | 2.7M metric tons |
|---|---|
| SO₂ | 13 metric tons |
| NOₓ | 136 metric tons |
| CO₂ Rate | 811 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 | RFC |
|---|---|
| Balancing Authority | Pjm Interconnection, Llc |
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.