120th largest plant in Texas · 834th nationally
San Miguel is a coal power plant in Texas with a nameplate capacity of 410 MW. It generates roughly 1.4M MWh per year — enough to power about 131,817 average U.S. homes.
Its capacity factor of 39% reflects intermittent or peaking operation. At 2850 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 (410 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 | San Miguel |
|---|---|
| Operator | San Miguel Electric Coop, Inc |
| City | Christine |
| County | Atascosa County |
| State | Texas |
| ZIP | 78012 |
| Coordinates | 28.70440, -98.47750 |
This plant highlighted in navy-ringed pin; other generators within 25 miles shown as fuel-colored dots.
| ID | Technology | Fuel | Capacity | Status | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Conventional Steam Coal | Lignite | 410 MW | Operating | 1982 |
| CO₂ | 2.0M metric tons |
|---|---|
| SO₂ | 4.6k metric tons |
| NOₓ | 1.4k metric tons |
| CO₂ Rate | 2850 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 | TRE |
|---|---|
| Balancing Authority | Electric Reliability Council Of Texas, Inc. |
Coal plants burn pulverized coal to boil water and spin steam turbines. They emit substantial CO₂, SO₂, and NOₓ along with mercury and particulate matter. Modern units include scrubbers and selective catalytic reduction; older units are increasingly being retired or converted to natural gas as economics shift.