30th largest plant in Illinois · 763rd nationally
Shelby Energy County is a natural gas power plant in Illinois with a nameplate capacity of 483 MW. It generates roughly 170.0k MWh per year — enough to power about 16,188 average U.S. homes.
Its capacity factor of 4% reflects intermittent or peaking operation. At 1207 lb CO₂/MWh, its emission rate sits above the national grid average of roughly 800 lb/MWh.
| Plant Name | Shelby Energy County |
|---|---|
| Operator | Shelby County Energy Center, Llc |
| City | Neoga |
| County | Shelby County |
| State | Illinois |
| ZIP | 62447 |
| Coordinates | 39.27940, -88.47720 |
This plant highlighted in navy-ringed pin; other generators within 25 miles shown as fuel-colored dots.
| ID | Technology | Fuel | Capacity | Status | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CTG1 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 60.5 MW | Operating | 2000 |
| CTG2 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 60.5 MW | Operating | 2000 |
| CTG3 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 60.5 MW | Operating | 2000 |
| CTG4 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 60.5 MW | Operating | 2000 |
| CTG5 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 60.5 MW | Operating | 2000 |
| CTG6 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 60.5 MW | Operating | 2000 |
| CTG7 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 60.0 MW | Operating | 2001 |
| CTG8 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 60.0 MW | Operating | 2001 |
| CO₂ | 102.6k metric tons |
|---|---|
| SO₂ | 1 metric tons |
| NOₓ | 105 metric tons |
| CO₂ Rate | 1207 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 | SERC |
|---|---|
| Balancing Authority | Midcontinent Independent Transmission System Operator, Inc.. |
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.