104th largest plant in Minnesota · 4902nd nationally
Owatonna is a natural gas power plant in Minnesota with a nameplate capacity of 19.0 MW. It generates roughly 1.4k MWh per year — enough to power about 136 average U.S. homes.
Its capacity factor of 1% reflects intermittent or peaking operation. At 2 lb CO₂/MWh, its emission rate sits below the national grid average of roughly 800 lb/MWh.
| Plant Name | Owatonna |
|---|---|
| Operator | City Of Owatonna - (Mn) |
| City | Owatonna |
| County | Steele County |
| State | Minnesota |
| ZIP | 55060 |
| Coordinates | 44.08330, -93.23000 |
This plant highlighted in navy-ringed pin; other generators within 25 miles shown as fuel-colored dots.
| ID | Technology | Fuel | Capacity | Status | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | Natural Gas Steam Turbine | Natural Gas | 20.0 MW | Retired | 1969 |
| 7 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 19.0 MW | Operating | 1982 |
| 5 | Natural Gas Steam Turbine | Natural Gas | 6.0 MW | Retired | 1957 |
| CO₂ | 1 metric tons |
|---|---|
| CO₂ Rate | 2 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.