36th largest plant in North Dakota · 2719th nationally
R M Heskett is a natural gas power plant in North Dakota with a nameplate capacity of 88.0 MW. It generates roughly 27.5k MWh per year — enough to power about 2,618 average U.S. homes.
Its capacity factor of 4% reflects intermittent or peaking operation. At 1717 lb CO₂/MWh, its emission rate sits above the national grid average of roughly 800 lb/MWh.
| Plant Name | R M Heskett |
|---|---|
| Operator | Montana-Dakota Utilities Co |
| City | Mandan |
| County | Morton County |
| State | North Dakota |
| ZIP | 58554 |
| Coordinates | 46.86690, -100.88360 |
This plant highlighted in navy-ringed pin; other generators within 25 miles shown as fuel-colored dots.
| ID | Technology | Fuel | Capacity | Status | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 88.4 MW | Operating | 2024 |
| 3 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 88.0 MW | Operating | 2014 |
| 2 | Conventional Steam Coal | Lignite | 75.0 MW | Retired | 1963 |
| 1 | Conventional Steam Coal | Lignite | 40.0 MW | Retired | 1954 |
| CO₂ | 23.6k metric tons |
|---|---|
| NOₓ | 9 metric tons |
| CO₂ Rate | 1717 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.