12th largest plant in Minnesota · 775th nationally
Pleasant Valley (Mn) is a natural gas power plant in Minnesota with a nameplate capacity of 468 MW. It generates roughly 104.1k MWh per year — enough to power about 9,910 average U.S. homes.
Its capacity factor of 3% reflects intermittent or peaking operation. At 1460 lb CO₂/MWh, its emission rate sits above the national grid average of roughly 800 lb/MWh.
| Plant Name | Pleasant Valley (Mn) |
|---|---|
| Operator | Great River Energy |
| City | Dexter |
| County | Mower County |
| State | Minnesota |
| ZIP | 55926 |
| Coordinates | 43.79945, -92.68287 |
This plant highlighted in navy-ringed pin; other generators within 25 miles shown as fuel-colored dots.
| ID | Technology | Fuel | Capacity | Status | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 168 MW | Operating | 2001 |
| 12 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 168 MW | Operating | 2001 |
| 13 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 133 MW | Operating | 2002 |
| CO₂ | 75.9k metric tons |
|---|---|
| NOₓ | 60 metric tons |
| CO₂ Rate | 1460 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.