Spencer Gas Turbine

🛢 OilElectric Utility23 MW capacity

126th largest plant in Iowa · 4439th nationally

Spencer Gas Turbine is a oil power plant in Iowa with a nameplate capacity of 23.8 MW. It generates roughly 1.2k MWh per year — enough to power about 111 average U.S. homes.

Its capacity factor of 1% reflects intermittent or peaking operation. At 3021 lb CO₂/MWh, its emission rate sits above the national grid average of roughly 800 lb/MWh.

PeakingMid-meritBaseload0%40%80%100%1%
Peaking — intermittent or backup
Capacity24 MWnameplate
Annual Generation1.2k MWhEPA eGRID
Capacity Factor1%of theoretical max
Annual CO₂1.8kmetric tons

Location

Plant NameSpencer Gas Turbine
OperatorCity Of Spencer - (Ia)
CitySpencer
CountyClay County
StateIowa
ZIP51301
Coordinates43.14458, -95.14426

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

Natural GasOilWind

Generators (1)

IDTechnologyFuelCapacityStatusOnline
GT1Petroleum LiquidsKerosene23.8 MWOperating1970

Emissions (annual)

CO₂1.8k metric tons
SO₂5 metric tons
NOₓ10 metric tons
CO₂ Rate3021 lb/MWh
U.S. grid average800 lb/MWhNatural gas combined-cycle average900 lb/MWhCoal plant average2,100 lb/MWhThis plant3,021 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 RegionMRO
Balancing AuthorityMidcontinent Independent Transmission System Operator, Inc..

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.

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