170th largest plant in Iowa · 6341st nationally
Otter Creek Ethanol Poet - Ashton is a natural gas power plant in Iowa with a nameplate capacity of 7.5 MW. It generates roughly 42.0k MWh per year — enough to power about 3,998 average U.S. homes.
Its capacity factor of 64% puts it in the middle range — running steadily but not full-time. At 628 lb CO₂/MWh, its emission rate sits below the national grid average of roughly 800 lb/MWh.
| Plant Name | Otter Creek Ethanol Poet - Ashton |
|---|---|
| Operator | Otter Creek Ethanol Llc - Poet Ashton |
| City | Ashton |
| County | Osceola County |
| State | Iowa |
| ZIP | 51232 |
| Coordinates | 43.27500, -95.80972 |
This plant highlighted in navy-ringed pin; other generators within 25 miles shown as fuel-colored dots.
| ID | Technology | Fuel | Capacity | Status | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 7.5 MW | Operating | 2004 |
| CO₂ | 13.2k metric tons |
|---|---|
| NOₓ | 36 metric tons |
| CO₂ Rate | 628 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 | Midcontinent Independent Transmission System Operator, Inc.. |
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.