18th largest plant in Missouri · 916th nationally
South Harper is a natural gas power plant in Missouri with a nameplate capacity of 351 MW. It generates roughly 180.5k MWh per year — enough to power about 17,188 average U.S. homes.
Its capacity factor of 6% reflects intermittent or peaking operation. At 1547 lb CO₂/MWh, its emission rate sits above the national grid average of roughly 800 lb/MWh.
| Plant Name | South Harper |
|---|---|
| Operator | Evergy Missouri West |
| City | Kansas City |
| County | Cass County |
| State | Missouri |
| ZIP | 64701 |
| Coordinates | 38.68030, -94.48240 |
This plant highlighted in navy-ringed pin; other generators within 25 miles shown as fuel-colored dots.
| ID | Technology | Fuel | Capacity | Status | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GT1 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 117 MW | Operating | 2005 |
| GT2 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 117 MW | Operating | 2005 |
| GT3 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 117 MW | Operating | 2005 |
| CO₂ | 139.6k metric tons |
|---|---|
| SO₂ | 1 metric tons |
| NOₓ | 62 metric tons |
| CO₂ Rate | 1547 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.