25th largest plant in Washington · 1151st nationally
Wild Horse is a wind power plant in Washington with a nameplate capacity of 273 MW. It generates roughly 525.9k MWh per year — enough to power about 50,090 average U.S. homes.
Its capacity factor of 22% reflects intermittent or peaking operation.
| Plant Name | Wild Horse |
|---|---|
| Operator | Puget Sound Energy Inc |
| City | Ellensburg |
| County | Kittitas County |
| State | Washington |
| ZIP | 98926 |
| Coordinates | 47.03627, -120.20649 |
This plant highlighted in navy-ringed pin; other generators within 25 miles shown as fuel-colored dots.
| ID | Technology | Fuel | Capacity | Status | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Onshore Wind Turbine | Wind | 229 MW | Operating | 2006 |
| WH2 | Onshore Wind Turbine | Wind | 44.0 MW | Operating | 2009 |
| WHS1 | Solar Photovoltaic | Solar | 0.5 MW | Operating | 2007 |
| NERC Region | WECC |
|---|---|
| Balancing Authority | Puget Sound Energy |
Wind farms harvest kinetic energy from moving air using large rotor blades coupled to generators. Like solar, they produce zero emissions but vary with weather. Onshore wind capacity factors typically run 30–45%; offshore can exceed 50%.