Salem Electric Department

🛢 OilElectric Utility1 MW capacity

244th largest plant in Virginia · 12185th nationally

Salem Electric Department is a oil power plant in Virginia with a nameplate capacity of 1.3 MW. It generates roughly 24 MWh per year — enough to power about 2 average U.S. homes.

Its capacity factor of 0% reflects intermittent or peaking operation. At 1715 lb CO₂/MWh, its emission rate sits above the national grid average of roughly 800 lb/MWh.

PeakingMid-meritBaseload0%40%80%100%0%
Peaking — intermittent or backup
Capacity1 MWnameplate
Annual Generation24 MWhEPA eGRID
Capacity Factor0%of theoretical max
Annual CO₂21metric tons

Location

Plant NameSalem Electric Department
OperatorCity Of Salem - (Va)
CitySalem
CountySalem City County
StateVirginia
ZIP24153
Coordinates37.28940, -80.07000

This plant highlighted in navy-ringed pin; other generators within 25 miles shown as fuel-colored dots.

Natural GasOilHydroelectric

Generators (1)

IDTechnologyFuelCapacityStatusOnline
1Petroleum LiquidsDistillate Oil1.3 MWStandby2007

Emissions (annual)

CO₂21 metric tons
CO₂ Rate1715 lb/MWh
U.S. grid average800 lb/MWhNatural gas combined-cycle average900 lb/MWhThis plant1,714 lb/MWhCoal plant average2,100 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.

Grid context

NERC RegionRFC
Balancing AuthorityPjm Interconnection, Llc

About Oil plants

Oil-fired plants typically run only during peak demand or grid emergencies because oil is expensive compared to gas and coal. They have the highest CO₂ emissions per MWh of any common generation technology.

Other plants in Salem City County

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