14th largest plant in Alabama · 403rd nationally
Hillabee Energy Center is a natural gas power plant in Alabama with a nameplate capacity of 823 MW. It generates roughly 4.1M MWh per year — enough to power about 388,465 average U.S. homes.
Its capacity factor of 57% puts it in the middle range — running steadily but not full-time. At 873 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 (823 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 | Hillabee Energy Center |
|---|---|
| Operator | Cer Generation Llc |
| City | Alexander City |
| County | Tallapoosa County |
| State | Alabama |
| ZIP | 35010 |
| Coordinates | 33.00067, -85.90328 |
This plant highlighted in navy-ringed pin; other generators within 25 miles shown as fuel-colored dots.
| ID | Technology | Fuel | Capacity | Status | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HECS | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 306 MW | Operating | 2010 |
| HEC1 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 258 MW | Operating | 2010 |
| HEC2 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 258 MW | Operating | 2010 |
| CO₂ | 1.8M metric tons |
|---|---|
| SO₂ | 9 metric tons |
| NOₓ | 106 metric tons |
| CO₂ Rate | 873 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 | Southern Company Services, Inc. - Trans |
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.