North Chicago Energy Center
Natural gas power plant · Lake County, Illinois
Nameplate capacity
12 MW
Rank in Illinois
#166
of 580 plants
In service since
2003
October 2003
Details
- Primary fuel
- Natural gas
- Technology
- Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine
- Operator
- Energy Systems Group LLC
- County
- Lake County
- Generating units
- 2
- Share of state capacity
- 0.02%
- Rank among natural gas plants in Illinois
- #48 of 72
- EIA plant code
- 58328
Generating units
| Unit | Technology | Nameplate | Summer | Online | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GT2 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | 7.2 MW | 7.1 MW | 2005 | Operating |
| GT1 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | 5.2 MW | 5.2 MW | 2003 | Operating |
Nameplate is the maximum rated output; summer capacity is what the unit can reliably deliver on a hot day, which is typically lower.
Similarly sized plants in Illinois
| Carmi | Other | 13 MW |
| Industrial Park | Other | 13 MW |
| Carlyle | Other | 12 MW |
| Farmer City | Natural gas | 11 MW |
About this data
From EIA’s inventory of operable generators, May 2026 release. Capacity is nameplate — the maximum rated output of the equipment, not what the plant actually generates over a year, which depends on how often it runs. A 12 MW solar plant and a 12 MW nuclear plant have the same entry here and produce very different amounts of electricity.
“In service since” is the earliest in-service date among the units still listed, so a site rebuilt around newer equipment can read as younger than the site itself. All Illinois power plants · What Illinois actually generates