4th largest plant in Alaska · 1672nd nationally
North Pole is a oil power plant in Alaska with a nameplate capacity of 181 MW. It generates roughly 444.7k MWh per year — enough to power about 42,352 average U.S. homes.
Its capacity factor of 28% reflects intermittent or peaking operation. At 1453 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 (181 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 | North Pole |
|---|---|
| Operator | Golden Valley Elec Assn Inc |
| City | North Pole |
| County | Fairbanks North Star County |
| State | Alaska |
| ZIP | 99705 |
| Coordinates | 64.73560, -147.34810 |
This plant highlighted in navy-ringed pin; other generators within 25 miles shown as fuel-colored dots.
| ID | Technology | Fuel | Capacity | Status | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Petroleum Liquids | Distillate Oil | 60.5 MW | Operating | 1976 |
| 2 | Petroleum Liquids | Distillate Oil | 60.5 MW | Operating | 1977 |
| GT3 | Petroleum Liquids | WO | 47.0 MW | Operating | 2007 |
| STG1 | Petroleum Liquids | WO | 13.0 MW | Operating | 2007 |
| CO₂ | 323.1k metric tons |
|---|---|
| SO₂ | 404 metric tons |
| NOₓ | 1.7k metric tons |
| CO₂ Rate | 1453 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.
| Balancing Authority | No Ba |
|---|
Oil-fired plants typically run only during peak demand or grid emergencies because oil is expensive compared to gas and coal. They have the highest CO₂ emissions per MWh of any common generation technology.