Marshalltown Generating Station

🔥 Natural GasElectric Utility708 MW capacity

4th largest plant in Iowa · 494th nationally

Marshalltown Generating Station is a natural gas power plant in Iowa with a nameplate capacity of 709 MW. It generates roughly 3.6M MWh per year — enough to power about 341,139 average U.S. homes.

Its capacity factor of 58% puts it in the middle range — running steadily but not full-time. At 882 lb CO₂/MWh, its emission rate sits above the national grid average of roughly 800 lb/MWh.

PeakingMid-meritBaseload0%40%80%100%58%
Mid-merit — steady but not full-time

Month by month in 2024

100% capacity0Jan: 372.2k MWh (71% of capacity)JFeb: 238.4k MWh (50% of capacity)FMar: 139.0k MWh (26% of capacity)MApr: 1.6k MWh (0% of capacity)AMay: 316.8k MWh (60% of capacity)MJun: 327.2k MWh (64% of capacity)JJul: 461.8k MWh (88% of capacity)JAug: 466.6k MWh (88% of capacity)ASep: 368.7k MWh (72% of capacity)SOct: 141.6k MWh (27% of capacity)ONov: 319.5k MWh (63% of capacity)NDec: 342.4k MWh (65% of capacity)D

Ghost bars are each month's theoretical maximum (709 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.

Capacity709 MWnameplate
Annual Generation3.6M MWhEPA eGRID
Capacity Factor58%of theoretical max
Annual CO₂1.6Mmetric tons

Location

Plant NameMarshalltown Generating Station
OperatorInterstate Power And Light Co
CityMarshalltown
CountyMarshall County
StateIowa
ZIP50158
Coordinates42.04333, -92.87278

This plant highlighted in navy-ringed pin; other generators within 25 miles shown as fuel-colored dots.

Natural GasOilWindSolar

Generators (5)

IDTechnologyFuelCapacityStatusOnline
STG1Natural Gas Fired Combined CycleNatural Gas261 MWOperating2017
CTG1Natural Gas Fired Combined CycleNatural Gas223 MWOperating2017
CTG2Natural Gas Fired Combined CycleNatural Gas223 MWOperating2017
PV1Solar PhotovoltaicSolar2.6 MWOperating2020
BESS1BatteriesBattery0.3 MWOperating2020

Emissions (annual)

CO₂1.6M metric tons
SO₂8 metric tons
NOₓ101 metric tons
CO₂ Rate882 lb/MWh
U.S. grid average800 lb/MWhThis plant881 lb/MWhNatural gas combined-cycle average900 lb/MWhCoal plant average2,100 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.

Grid context

NERC RegionMRO
Balancing AuthorityMidcontinent Independent Transmission System Operator, Inc..

About Natural Gas plants

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.

Other plants in Marshall County

View all plants in Marshall County →

Explore more