46th largest plant in South Dakota · 8126th nationally
Valley Queen Cheese is a oil power plant in South Dakota with a nameplate capacity of 4.5 MW. It generates roughly 17 MWh per year — enough to power about 1 average U.S. homes.
Its capacity factor of 0% reflects intermittent or peaking operation. At 1662 lb CO₂/MWh, its emission rate sits above the national grid average of roughly 800 lb/MWh.
| Plant Name | Valley Queen Cheese |
|---|---|
| Operator | Valley Queen Cheese Factory, Inc. |
| City | Milbank |
| County | Grant County |
| State | South Dakota |
| ZIP | 57252 |
| Coordinates | 45.22111, -96.63722 |
This plant highlighted in navy-ringed pin; other generators within 25 miles shown as fuel-colored dots.
| ID | Technology | Fuel | Capacity | Status | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Petroleum Liquids | Distillate Oil | 1.5 MW | Standby | 2002 |
| 2 | Petroleum Liquids | Distillate Oil | 1.5 MW | Standby | 2002 |
| 3 | Petroleum Liquids | Distillate Oil | 1.5 MW | Standby | 2004 |
| CO₂ | 14 metric tons |
|---|---|
| CO₂ Rate | 1662 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.. |
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.