5th largest plant in Arkansas · 460th nationally
Magnet Cove is a natural gas power plant in Arkansas with a nameplate capacity of 746 MW. It generates roughly 3.4M MWh per year — enough to power about 321,693 average U.S. homes.
Its capacity factor of 52% puts it in the middle range — running steadily but not full-time. At 824 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 (746 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 | Magnet Cove |
|---|---|
| Operator | Arkansas Electric Coop Corp |
| City | Malvern |
| County | Hot Spring County |
| State | Arkansas |
| ZIP | 72104 |
| Coordinates | 34.42970, -92.83170 |
This plant highlighted in navy-ringed pin; other generators within 25 miles shown as fuel-colored dots.
| ID | Technology | Fuel | Capacity | Status | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ST1 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 262 MW | Operating | 2005 |
| GT1 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 242 MW | Operating | 2005 |
| GT2 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 242 MW | Operating | 2006 |
| CO₂ | 1.4M metric tons |
|---|---|
| SO₂ | 7 metric tons |
| NOₓ | 150 metric tons |
| CO₂ Rate | 824 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 | Midcontinent Independent Transmission System Operator, Inc.. |
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.