Bear Garden

Gas power plant in Virginia, United States of America. Approximate location 37.6956, -78.2853.

GasVirginiaUnited States of AmericaCO₂ reported

Bear Garden is a 559 MW gas power station in Virginia, United States of America. It is operated by Virginia Electric & Power Co. Based on reported annual generation of 3,558 GWh, it can supply roughly 1,016,685 homes. It ranks #668 of 9,833 United States of America power plants by installed capacity. Commissioned in 2011, it is around 15 years old — relatively modern. Its measured emissions of 1,146,397 t CO₂/yr (US EPA GHGRP) are equivalent to about 267,225 cars driven for a year. In context, gas supplies about 40.0% of United States of America's electricity; the national grid averages 384 gCO₂/kWh (43.0% low-carbon) (2025).

559MW installed capacity
3,558GWh reported / yr
1,016,685homes powered
1,146,397t CO₂ / yr (US EPA GHGRP)
2011commissioned (~15 yrs)

Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id USA0056807.

1,146,397 t CO₂/yr — in everyday terms

This facility's annual emissions are roughly equivalent to:

267,225passenger cars driven for a year
149,504homes' yearly energy use
19,106,617tree seedlings grown 10 years to absorb it

Equivalencies via US EPA Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies; emissions reported to US EPA GHGRP.

Reported generation trend

2013: 0 GWh20132014: 3,172 GWh20142015: 3,460 GWh20152016: 3,614 GWh20162017: 3,219 GWh20172018: 4,013 GWh20182019: 3,558 GWh20194k GWh

Annual generation (GWh), WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0).

Owner

Operated by Virginia Electric & Power Co. All plants by this company →

Local climate & thermal context

This gas plant burns natural gas in a turbine — often in a combined-cycle setup — to generate electricity. It sits in a humid subtropical climate (Köppen Cfa) — Northern Hemisphere, latitude 37.7°N — which shapes how much energy it can produce and how its output varies through the year.

13.6°Cannual mean temp
2,189heating degree-days (base 18°C)
598cooling degree-days (base 18°C)
107 melevation

Monthly mean temperature

J: 2 °CJF: 4 °CFM: 8 °CMA: 13 °CAM: 18 °CMJ: 22 °CJJ: 25 °CJA: 24 °CAS: 20 °CSO: 14 °CON: 9 °CND: 4 °CD25 °C

Heating degree-days here run 11% below the median power plant in this dataset — a proxy for how much extra energy heated equipment must replace through its surfaces in winter.

Climate heat-demand index: 46/100 — this site sits in the mid third of the power plants we cover by heating degree-days.

In colder climates, uninsulated hot equipment (boilers, turbines, valves, steam lines) loses proportionally more heat to ambient air — exactly the loss Inzonex modular insulation is designed to cut.

A gas turbine here also runs ~0% below its ISO (15°C) rating at this annual mean (typical CCGT curve, estimate).

Climate normals: WorldClim 2.1 (1970–2000 monthly normals, 10 arc-min, CC BY 4.0); zone: Köppen-Geiger world climate classification (Kottek et al. 2006, 0.5° grid). Degree-days & heat-demand index computed by PowerAtlas — a modelled heat-demand proxy, not a measured site figure.

How it compares & nearby plants

The #388 largest gas power plant of 1818 in United States of America by capacity.

United States of America has 1818 gas power plants in this dataset, together about 546,436 MW of capacity.

Nearby power plants

Location

Coordinates 37.6956, -78.2853 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.

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