R S Nelson
Coal power plant · Calcasieu County, Louisiana
Nameplate capacity
1,434 MW
Rank in Louisiana
#4
of 98 plants
In service since
1959
February 1959
Details
- Primary fuel
- Coal
- Technology
- Conventional Steam Coal
- Operator
- Entergy Louisiana LLC
- County
- Calcasieu County
- Generating units
- 4
- Share of state capacity
- 4.90%
- Rank among coal plants in Louisiana
- #2 of 2
- EIA plant code
- 1393
Generating units
| Unit | Technology | Nameplate | Summer | Online | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | Conventional Steam Coal | 615 MW | 514 MW | 1982 | Operating |
| 4 | Natural Gas Steam Turbine | 592 MW | 425 MW | 1970 | Operating |
| 1 | Petroleum Coke | 114 MW | 97 MW | 1959 | Operating |
| 2 | Petroleum Coke | 114 MW | 93 MW | 1959 | 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 Louisiana
| Big Cajun 2 | Coal | 1,903 MW |
| Brame Energy Center | Other | 1,707 MW |
| Acadia Energy Center | Natural gas | 1,389 MW |
| Waterford 3 | Nuclear | 1,200 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 1,434 MW solar plant and a 1,434 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 Louisiana power plants · What Louisiana actually generates