105th largest plant in Connecticut · 9890th nationally
Wesleyan University Cogen 1 is a natural gas power plant in Connecticut with a nameplate capacity of 2.4 MW. It generates roughly 10.5k MWh per year — enough to power about 996 average U.S. homes.
Its capacity factor of 50% puts it in the middle range — running steadily but not full-time. At 825 lb CO₂/MWh, its emission rate sits above the national grid average of roughly 800 lb/MWh.
| Plant Name | Wesleyan University Cogen 1 |
|---|---|
| Operator | Wesleyan University |
| City | Middletown |
| County | Middlesex County |
| State | Connecticut |
| ZIP | 06459 |
| Coordinates | 41.55639, -72.65389 |
This plant highlighted in navy-ringed pin; other generators within 25 miles shown as fuel-colored dots.
| ID | Technology | Fuel | Capacity | Status | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Natural Gas Internal Combustion Engine | Natural Gas | 2.4 MW | Operating | 2009 |
| CO₂ | 4.3k metric tons |
|---|---|
| NOₓ | 99 metric tons |
| CO₂ Rate | 825 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 | NPCC |
|---|---|
| Balancing Authority | Iso New England 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.