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Central Power Plant

Natural gas power plant · Providence County, Rhode Island

Nameplate capacity
11 MW
Rank in Rhode Island
#17
of 110 plants
In service since
1958
August 1958

Details

Primary fuel
Natural gas
Technology
Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine
Operator
State of Rhode Island
County
Providence County
Generating units
4
Share of state capacity
0.43%
Rank among natural gas plants in Rhode Island
#7 of 8
EIA plant code
50621

Generating units

Individual generating units at Central Power Plant
UnitTechnologyNameplateSummerOnlineStatus
GEN5Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine3.5 MW2.8 MW2004Operating
GEN6Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine3.5 MW2.8 MW2004Operating
GEN4Natural Gas Steam Turbine2.0 MW0.5 MW1958Standby/Backup: available for service but not normally used
GEN7Natural Gas Internal Combustion Engine2.0 MW2.0 MW2015Operating

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 Rhode Island

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 11 MW solar plant and a 11 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 Rhode Island power plants · What Rhode Island actually generates