157th largest plant in Illinois · 5376th nationally
North Chicago Energy Center is a natural gas power plant in Illinois with a nameplate capacity of 12.4 MW. It generates roughly 36.0k MWh per year — enough to power about 3,424 average U.S. homes.
Its capacity factor of 33% reflects intermittent or peaking operation. At 663 lb CO₂/MWh, its emission rate sits below the national grid average of roughly 800 lb/MWh.
| Plant Name | North Chicago Energy Center |
|---|---|
| Operator | Energy Systems Group Llc |
| City | North Chicago |
| County | Lake County |
| State | Illinois |
| ZIP | 60064 |
| Coordinates | 42.30639, -87.85194 |
This plant highlighted in navy-ringed pin; other generators within 25 miles shown as fuel-colored dots.
| ID | Technology | Fuel | Capacity | Status | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GT2 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 7.2 MW | Operating | 2005 |
| GT1 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 5.2 MW | Operating | 2003 |
| Owner | Location | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Amalgamated Bank Of Chicago | Chicago, IL | 10000.0% |
Ownership reported to EIA Form 860. Percentages reflect reported generator-level ownership share, averaged when a plant has multiple generators.
| CO₂ | 11.9k metric tons |
|---|---|
| NOₓ | 33 metric tons |
| CO₂ Rate | 663 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 |
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.