32nd largest plant in Pennsylvania · 559th nationally
Lower Mount Bethel Energy is a natural gas power plant in Pennsylvania with a nameplate capacity of 652 MW. It generates roughly 4.4M MWh per year — enough to power about 418,310 average U.S. homes.
Its capacity factor of 77% puts it in the middle range — running steadily but not full-time. At 832 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 (652 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 | Lower Mount Bethel Energy |
|---|---|
| Operator | Lower Mount Bethel Energy Llc |
| City | Bangor |
| County | Northampton County |
| State | Pennsylvania |
| ZIP | 18013 |
| Coordinates | 40.80192, -75.10756 |
This plant highlighted in navy-ringed pin; other generators within 25 miles shown as fuel-colored dots.
| ID | Technology | Fuel | Capacity | Status | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G3 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 229 MW | Operating | 2004 |
| G1 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 212 MW | Operating | 2004 |
| G2 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 212 MW | Operating | 2004 |
| Owner | Location | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Lower Mount Bethel Project Company Llc | Allentown, PA | 10000.0% |
Ownership reported to EIA Form 860. Percentages reflect reported generator-level ownership share, averaged when a plant has multiple generators.
| CO₂ | 1.8M metric tons |
|---|---|
| SO₂ | 9 metric tons |
| NOₓ | 124 metric tons |
| CO₂ Rate | 832 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.