43rd largest plant in Arizona · 1655th nationally
Saguaro is a natural gas power plant in Arizona with a nameplate capacity of 185 MW. It generates roughly 175.6k MWh per year — enough to power about 16,724 average U.S. homes.
Its capacity factor of 11% reflects intermittent or peaking operation. At 1089 lb CO₂/MWh, its emission rate sits above the national grid average of roughly 800 lb/MWh.
| Plant Name | Saguaro |
|---|---|
| Operator | Arizona Public Service Co |
| City | Red Rock |
| County | Pinal County |
| State | Arizona |
| ZIP | 85245 |
| Coordinates | 32.55170, -111.30000 |
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 Steam Turbine | Natural Gas | 125 MW | Retired | 1954 |
| 2 | Natural Gas Steam Turbine | Natural Gas | 125 MW | Retired | 1955 |
| GE1 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 78.3 MW | Operating | 2002 |
| GT1 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 53.1 MW | Operating | 1972 |
| GT2 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 53.1 MW | Operating | 1973 |
| PV1 | Solar Thermal without Energy Storage | Solar | 1.0 MW | Retired | 2005 |
| CO₂ | 95.7k metric tons |
|---|---|
| NOₓ | 24 metric tons |
| CO₂ Rate | 1089 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 | Arizona Public Service Company |
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.