16th largest plant in Kansas · 1036th nationally
Riverton is a natural gas power plant in Kansas with a nameplate capacity of 300 MW. It generates roughly 1.1M MWh per year — enough to power about 109,242 average U.S. homes.
Its capacity factor of 44% puts it in the middle range — running steadily but not full-time. At 898 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 (300 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 | Riverton |
|---|---|
| Operator | Empire District Electric Co |
| City | Riverton |
| County | Cherokee County |
| State | Kansas |
| ZIP | 66770 |
| Coordinates | 37.07262, -94.69870 |
This plant highlighted in navy-ringed pin; other generators within 25 miles shown as fuel-colored dots.
| ID | Technology | Fuel | Capacity | Status | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 149 MW | Operating | 2007 |
| 12-2 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 119 MW | Operating | 2016 |
| 8 | Natural Gas Steam Turbine | Natural Gas | 50.0 MW | Retired | 1954 |
| 7 | Natural Gas Steam Turbine | Natural Gas | 37.5 MW | Retired | 1950 |
| 10 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 16.3 MW | Operating | 1988 |
| 11 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 16.3 MW | Out of Service | 1988 |
| 13 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 13.5 MW | Regulatory | — |
| 14 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 13.5 MW | Regulatory | — |
| 9 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 12.5 MW | Retired | 1964 |
| CO₂ | 515.2k metric tons |
|---|---|
| SO₂ | 3 metric tons |
| NOₓ | 112 metric tons |
| CO₂ Rate | 898 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 | Southwest Power Pool |
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.