7th largest plant in Illinois · 112th nationally
Prairie State Generating Station is a coal power plant in Illinois with a nameplate capacity of 1,766 MW. It generates roughly 12.5M MWh per year — enough to power about 1,188,857 average U.S. homes.
Its capacity factor of 81% means it runs nearly around-the-clock as baseload generation. At 1992 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 (1,766 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 | Prairie State Generating Station |
|---|---|
| Operator | Prairie State Generating Co Llc |
| City | Marissa |
| County | St Clair County |
| State | Illinois |
| ZIP | 62257 |
| Coordinates | 38.27917, -89.66694 |
This plant highlighted in navy-ringed pin; other generators within 25 miles shown as fuel-colored dots.
| ID | Technology | Fuel | Capacity | Status | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PC1 | Conventional Steam Coal | Bituminous Coal | 883 MW | Operating | 2012 |
| PC2 | Conventional Steam Coal | Bituminous Coal | 883 MW | Operating | 2012 |
| Owner | Location | Share |
|---|---|---|
| American Mun Power-Ohio, Inc | Columbus, OH | 2326.0% |
| Illinois Municipal Elec Agency | Springfield, IL | 1517.0% |
| Indiana Municipal Power Agency | Carmel, IN | 1264.0% |
| Missouri Jnt Muni.pwr Elec. Ut. Comm. | Columbia, MO | 1233.0% |
| Prairie Power Inc | Jacksonville, IL | 822.0% |
| Southern Illinois Power Coop | Marion, IL | 790.0% |
| Kentucky Municipal Power Agency | Paducah, KY | 782.0% |
| Northern Illinois Municipal Power Agency | Rochelle, IL | 760.0% |
| Wabash Valley Power Assn, Inc | Indianapolis, IN | 506.0% |
| Lively Grove Energy Partners Llc | St. Louis, MO | 506.0% |
Ownership reported to EIA Form 860. Percentages reflect reported generator-level ownership share, averaged when a plant has multiple generators.
| CO₂ | 12.4M metric tons |
|---|---|
| SO₂ | 9.3k metric tons |
| NOₓ | 3.9k metric tons |
| CO₂ Rate | 1992 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 | SERC |
|---|---|
| Balancing Authority | Midcontinent Independent Transmission System Operator, Inc.. |
Coal plants burn pulverized coal to boil water and spin steam turbines. They emit substantial CO₂, SO₂, and NOₓ along with mercury and particulate matter. Modern units include scrubbers and selective catalytic reduction; older units are increasingly being retired or converted to natural gas as economics shift.