71st largest plant in Iowa · 2230th nationally
Summit Lake is a natural gas power plant in Iowa with a nameplate capacity of 119 MW. It generates roughly 72.1k MWh per year — enough to power about 6,864 average U.S. homes.
Its capacity factor of 7% reflects intermittent or peaking operation. At 181 lb CO₂/MWh, its emission rate sits below the national grid average of roughly 800 lb/MWh.
| Plant Name | Summit Lake |
|---|---|
| Operator | Central Iowa Power Cooperative |
| City | Creston |
| County | Union County |
| State | Iowa |
| ZIP | 50801 |
| Coordinates | 41.11360, -94.34720 |
This plant highlighted in navy-ringed pin; other generators within 25 miles shown as fuel-colored dots.
| ID | Technology | Fuel | Capacity | Status | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GT2 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 35.3 MW | Operating | 1975 |
| GT1 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 27.0 MW | Operating | 1973 |
| R1 | Natural Gas Internal Combustion Engine | Natural Gas | 18.8 MW | Operating | 2021 |
| R2 | Natural Gas Internal Combustion Engine | Natural Gas | 18.8 MW | Operating | 2021 |
| R3 | Natural Gas Internal Combustion Engine | Natural Gas | 18.8 MW | Operating | 2021 |
| 1 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 7.5 MW | Retired | 1951 |
| 2 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 7.5 MW | Retired | 1951 |
| 3 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 7.5 MW | Retired | 1957 |
| IC1 | Petroleum Liquids | Distillate Oil | 1.0 MW | Retired | 1948 |
| IC2 | Petroleum Liquids | Distillate Oil | 1.0 MW | Retired | 1948 |
| IC4 | Petroleum Liquids | Distillate Oil | 1.0 MW | Retired | 1948 |
| IC5 | Petroleum Liquids | Distillate Oil | 1.0 MW | Retired | 1948 |
| CO₂ | 6.5k metric tons |
|---|---|
| NOₓ | 39 metric tons |
| CO₂ Rate | 181 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 | 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.