3rd largest plant in Maine · 683rd nationally
Maine Independence Station is a natural gas power plant in Maine with a nameplate capacity of 550 MW. It generates roughly 936.9k MWh per year — enough to power about 89,230 average U.S. homes.
Its capacity factor of 19% reflects intermittent or peaking operation. At 886 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 (550 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 | Maine Independence Station |
|---|---|
| Operator | Casco Bay Energy Co Llc |
| City | Veazie |
| County | Penobscot County |
| State | Maine |
| ZIP | 04401 |
| Coordinates | 44.82420, -68.70940 |
This plant highlighted in navy-ringed pin; other generators within 25 miles shown as fuel-colored dots.
| ID | Technology | Fuel | Capacity | Status | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GEN3 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 195 MW | Operating | 2000 |
| GEN1 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 178 MW | Operating | 2000 |
| GEN2 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 178 MW | Operating | 2000 |
| CO₂ | 415.1k metric tons |
|---|---|
| SO₂ | 2 metric tons |
| NOₓ | 55 metric tons |
| CO₂ Rate | 886 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 | NPCC |
|---|---|
| Balancing Authority | Iso New England 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.