Mill Creek (Sc)

🔥 Natural GasElectric Utility799 MW capacity

11th largest plant in South Carolina · 429th nationally

Mill Creek (Sc) is a natural gas power plant in South Carolina with a nameplate capacity of 799 MW. It generates roughly 38.5k MWh per year — enough to power about 3,666 average U.S. homes.

Its capacity factor of 1% reflects intermittent or peaking operation. At 1683 lb CO₂/MWh, its emission rate sits above the national grid average of roughly 800 lb/MWh.

PeakingMid-meritBaseload0%40%80%100%1%
Peaking — intermittent or backup
Capacity799 MWnameplate
Annual Generation38.5k MWhEPA eGRID
Capacity Factor1%of theoretical max
Annual CO₂32.4kmetric tons

Location

Plant NameMill Creek (Sc)
OperatorDuke Energy Carolinas, Llc
CityBlacksburg
CountyCherokee County
StateSouth Carolina
ZIP29702
Coordinates35.15970, -81.43060

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

Natural GasOilHydroelectricSolar

Generators (8)

IDTechnologyFuelCapacityStatusOnline
1Natural Gas Fired Combustion TurbineNatural Gas99.9 MWOperating2002
2Natural Gas Fired Combustion TurbineNatural Gas99.9 MWOperating2002
3Natural Gas Fired Combustion TurbineNatural Gas99.9 MWOperating2002
4Natural Gas Fired Combustion TurbineNatural Gas99.9 MWOperating2002
5Natural Gas Fired Combustion TurbineNatural Gas99.9 MWOperating2003
6Natural Gas Fired Combustion TurbineNatural Gas99.9 MWOperating2003
7Natural Gas Fired Combustion TurbineNatural Gas99.9 MWOperating2003
8Natural Gas Fired Combustion TurbineNatural Gas99.9 MWOperating2003

Emissions (annual)

CO₂32.4k metric tons
NOₓ10 metric tons
CO₂ Rate1683 lb/MWh
U.S. grid average800 lb/MWhNatural gas combined-cycle average900 lb/MWhThis plant1,683 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 RegionSERC
Balancing AuthorityDuke Energy Carolinas

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 Cherokee County

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