105th largest plant in Texas · 768th nationally
Nichols is a natural gas power plant in Texas with a nameplate capacity of 475 MW. It generates roughly 1.2M MWh per year — enough to power about 115,300 average U.S. homes.
Its capacity factor of 29% reflects intermittent or peaking operation. At 1347 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 (475 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 | Nichols |
|---|---|
| Operator | Southwestern Public Service Co |
| City | Amarillo |
| County | Potter County |
| State | Texas |
| ZIP | 79108 |
| Coordinates | 35.28336, -101.74642 |
This plant highlighted in navy-ringed pin; other generators within 25 miles shown as fuel-colored dots.
| ID | Technology | Fuel | Capacity | Status | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | Natural Gas Steam Turbine | Natural Gas | 248 MW | Operating | 1968 |
| 1 | Natural Gas Steam Turbine | Natural Gas | 114 MW | Operating | 1960 |
| 2 | Natural Gas Steam Turbine | Natural Gas | 114 MW | Operating | 1962 |
| CO₂ | 815.7k metric tons |
|---|---|
| SO₂ | 4 metric tons |
| NOₓ | 784 metric tons |
| CO₂ Rate | 1347 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 | MRO |
|---|---|
| Balancing Authority | Southwest Power Pool |
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.