19th largest plant in Alabama · 557th nationally
Mcwilliams is a natural gas power plant in Alabama with a nameplate capacity of 654 MW. It generates roughly 3.3M MWh per year — enough to power about 318,375 average U.S. homes.
Its capacity factor of 58% puts it in the middle range — running steadily but not full-time. At 956 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 (654 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 | Mcwilliams |
|---|---|
| Operator | Powersouth Energy Cooperative |
| City | Gantt |
| County | Covington County |
| State | Alabama |
| ZIP | 36038 |
| Coordinates | 31.40026, -86.47645 |
This plant highlighted in navy-ringed pin; other generators within 25 miles shown as fuel-colored dots.
| ID | Technology | Fuel | Capacity | Status | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| VAN3 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 177 MW | Operating | 2002 |
| VAN1 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 165 MW | Operating | 2002 |
| VAN2 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 165 MW | Operating | 2002 |
| 4 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 107 MW | Operating | 1996 |
| 3 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 25.0 MW | Operating | 1959 |
| 1 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 7.5 MW | Operating | 1954 |
| 2 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 7.5 MW | Operating | 1954 |
| CO₂ | 1.6M metric tons |
|---|---|
| SO₂ | 8 metric tons |
| NOₓ | 207 metric tons |
| CO₂ Rate | 956 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.