16th largest plant in Alabama · 470th nationally
Lowman Energy Center is a natural gas power plant in Alabama with a nameplate capacity of 733 MW. It generates roughly 1.3M MWh per year — enough to power about 127,746 average U.S. homes.
Its capacity factor of 21% reflects intermittent or peaking operation. At 963 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 (733 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 | Lowman Energy Center |
|---|---|
| Operator | Powersouth Energy Cooperative |
| City | Leroy |
| County | Washington County |
| State | Alabama |
| ZIP | 36548 |
| Coordinates | 31.48802, -87.91075 |
This plant highlighted in navy-ringed pin; other generators within 25 miles shown as fuel-colored dots.
| ID | Technology | Fuel | Capacity | Status | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LEC1 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 459 MW | Operating | 2023 |
| LEC2 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 274 MW | Operating | 2023 |
| 2 | Conventional Steam Coal | Bituminous Coal | 236 MW | Retired | 1978 |
| 3 | Conventional Steam Coal | Bituminous Coal | 236 MW | Retired | 1980 |
| 1 | Conventional Steam Coal | Bituminous Coal | 66.0 MW | Retired | 1969 |
| CO₂ | 646.1k metric tons |
|---|---|
| SO₂ | 3 metric tons |
| NOₓ | 87 metric tons |
| CO₂ Rate | 963 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.