6th largest plant in South Carolina · 278th nationally
John S Rainey is a natural gas power plant in South Carolina with a nameplate capacity of 1,102 MW. It generates roughly 5.6M MWh per year — enough to power about 532,281 average U.S. homes.
Its capacity factor of 58% puts it in the middle range — running steadily but not full-time. At 1037 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 (1,102 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 | John S Rainey |
|---|---|
| Operator | South Carolina Public Service Authority |
| City | Starr |
| County | Anderson County |
| State | South Carolina |
| ZIP | 29684 |
| Coordinates | 34.34773, -82.77448 |
This plant highlighted in navy-ringed pin; other generators within 25 miles shown as fuel-colored dots.
| ID | Technology | Fuel | Capacity | Status | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ST1S | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 194 MW | Operating | 2001 |
| ST5S | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 190 MW | Indef Postponed | — |
| CT1A | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 175 MW | Operating | 2001 |
| CT1B | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 175 MW | Operating | 2001 |
| CT2A | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 175 MW | Operating | 2002 |
| CT2B | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 175 MW | Operating | 2002 |
| CT4B | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 170 MW | Indef Postponed | — |
| CT5B | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 170 MW | Indef Postponed | — |
| CT3A | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 86.5 MW | Operating | 2004 |
| CT3B | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 86.5 MW | Operating | 2004 |
| CT4A | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 86.5 MW | Operating | 2004 |
| CO₂ | 2.9M metric tons |
|---|---|
| SO₂ | 15 metric tons |
| NOₓ | 532 metric tons |
| CO₂ Rate | 1037 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 | South Carolina Public Service Authority |
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.