Greater Des Moines
Natural gas power plant · Polk County, Iowa
Nameplate capacity
576 MW
Rank in Iowa
#8
of 305 plants
In service since
2003
May 2003
Details
- Primary fuel
- Natural gas
- Technology
- Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle
- Operator
- MidAmerican Energy Co
- County
- Polk County
- Generating units
- 3
- Share of state capacity
- 2.31%
- Rank among natural gas plants in Iowa
- #3 of 42
- EIA plant code
- 7985
Generating units
| Unit | Technology | Nameplate | Summer | Online | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ST1 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | 196 MW | 181 MW | 2004 | Operating |
| GT1 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | 190 MW | 159 MW | 2003 | Operating |
| GT2 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | 190 MW | 164 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 Iowa
| Emery Station | Natural gas | 603 MW |
| George Neal North | Coal | 584 MW |
| Highland Wind Project (IA) | Wind | 502 MW |
| Orient Wind Farm | Wind | 501 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 576 MW solar plant and a 576 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 Iowa power plants · What Iowa actually generates