12th largest plant in Illinois · 206th nationally
Jackson Generation, Llc is a natural gas power plant in Illinois with a nameplate capacity of 1,289 MW. It generates roughly 7.1M MWh per year — enough to power about 675,853 average U.S. homes.
Its capacity factor of 63% puts it in the middle range — running steadily but not full-time. At 789 lb CO₂/MWh, its emission rate sits below the national grid average of roughly 800 lb/MWh.
Ghost bars are each month's theoretical maximum (1,289 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 | Jackson Generation, Llc |
|---|---|
| Operator | Jackson Generation, Llc |
| City | Elwood |
| County | Will County |
| State | Illinois |
| ZIP | 60421 |
| Coordinates | 41.43854, -88.11063 |
This plant highlighted in navy-ringed pin; other generators within 25 miles shown as fuel-colored dots.
| ID | Technology | Fuel | Capacity | Status | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 644 MW | Operating | 2022 |
| 02 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 644 MW | Operating | 2022 |
| CO₂ | 2.8M metric tons |
|---|---|
| SO₂ | 14 metric tons |
| NOₓ | 142 metric tons |
| CO₂ Rate | 789 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.