9th largest plant in Idaho · 1772nd nationally
Rathdrum is a natural gas power plant in Idaho with a nameplate capacity of 166 MW. It generates roughly 779.3k MWh per year — enough to power about 74,219 average U.S. homes.
Its capacity factor of 53% puts it in the middle range — running steadily but not full-time. At 1233 lb CO₂/MWh, its emission rate sits above the national grid average of roughly 800 lb/MWh.
| Plant Name | Rathdrum |
|---|---|
| Operator | Avista Corp |
| City | Rathdrum |
| County | Kootenai County |
| State | Idaho |
| ZIP | 83858 |
| Coordinates | 47.80427, -116.86731 |
This plant highlighted in navy-ringed pin; other generators within 25 miles shown as fuel-colored dots.
| ID | Technology | Fuel | Capacity | Status | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 83.2 MW | Operating | 1994 |
| 2 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 83.2 MW | Operating | 1994 |
| CO₂ | 480.3k metric tons |
|---|---|
| SO₂ | 2 metric tons |
| NOₓ | 204 metric tons |
| CO₂ Rate | 1233 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 | Avista Corporation |
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.