13th largest plant in Colorado · 804th nationally
Pueblo Airport Generating Station is a natural gas power plant in Colorado with a nameplate capacity of 440 MW. It generates roughly 1.5M MWh per year — enough to power about 141,207 average U.S. homes.
Its capacity factor of 38% reflects intermittent or peaking operation. At 1080 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 (440 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 | Pueblo Airport Generating Station |
|---|---|
| Operator | Black Hills Service Company Llc |
| City | Pueblo |
| County | Pueblo County |
| State | Colorado |
| ZIP | 81001 |
| Coordinates | 38.32083, -104.52639 |
This plant highlighted in navy-ringed pin; other generators within 25 miles shown as fuel-colored dots.
| ID | Technology | Fuel | Capacity | Status | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GT1 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 100 MW | Operating | 2012 |
| GT2 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 100 MW | Operating | 2012 |
| GT3 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 100 MW | Cancelled | — |
| 4 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 40.0 MW | Operating | 2012 |
| 5 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 40.0 MW | Operating | 2012 |
| 6 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 40.0 MW | Operating | 2012 |
| 7 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 40.0 MW | Operating | 2012 |
| CT08 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 40.0 MW | Operating | 2016 |
| 43 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 20.0 MW | Operating | 2012 |
| 53 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 20.0 MW | Operating | 2012 |
| Owner | Location | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Black Hills Colorado Ipp, Llc | Rapid City, SD | 10000.0% |
| Black Hills Colorado Electric, Llc | Rapid City, SD | 10000.0% |
Ownership reported to EIA Form 860. Percentages reflect reported generator-level ownership share, averaged when a plant has multiple generators.
| CO₂ | 800.6k metric tons |
|---|---|
| SO₂ | 4 metric tons |
| NOₓ | 41 metric tons |
| CO₂ Rate | 1080 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 | WECC |
|---|---|
| Balancing Authority | Public Service Company Of Colorado |
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.