6th largest plant in West Virginia · 198th nationally
Mountaineer is a coal power plant in West Virginia with a nameplate capacity of 1,300 MW. It generates roughly 5.0M MWh per year — enough to power about 473,209 average U.S. homes.
Its capacity factor of 44% puts it in the middle range — running steadily but not full-time. At 2134 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 (1,300 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 | Mountaineer |
|---|---|
| Operator | Appalachian Power Co |
| City | New Haven |
| County | Mason County |
| State | West Virginia |
| ZIP | 25265 |
| Coordinates | 38.97940, -81.93440 |
This plant highlighted in navy-ringed pin; other generators within 25 miles shown as fuel-colored dots.
| ID | Technology | Fuel | Capacity | Status | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Conventional Steam Coal | Bituminous Coal | 1,300 MW | Operating | 1980 |
| CO₂ | 5.3M metric tons |
|---|---|
| SO₂ | 2.8k metric tons |
| NOₓ | 2.6k metric tons |
| CO₂ Rate | 2134 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 | RFC |
|---|---|
| Balancing Authority | Pjm Interconnection, Llc |
Coal plants burn pulverized coal to boil water and spin steam turbines. They emit substantial CO₂, SO₂, and NOₓ along with mercury and particulate matter. Modern units include scrubbers and selective catalytic reduction; older units are increasingly being retired or converted to natural gas as economics shift.