Charles R Lowman

Coal power plant in Alabama, United States of America. Approximate location 31.488, -87.9107.

CoalAlabamaUnited States of AmericaCO₂ reported

Charles R Lowman is a 538 MW coal power station in Alabama, United States of America. It is operated by PowerSouth Energy Cooperative. Based on reported annual generation of 955 GWh, it can supply roughly 272,857 homes. It ranks #696 of 9,833 United States of America power plants by installed capacity. Commissioned in 1977, it is around 49 years old — long-established. Its measured emissions of 609,419 t CO₂/yr (US EPA GHGRP) are equivalent to about 142,056 cars driven for a year. In context, coal supplies about 16.3% of United States of America's electricity; the national grid averages 384 gCO₂/kWh (43.0% low-carbon) (2025).

538MW installed capacity
955GWh reported / yr
272,857homes powered
609,419t CO₂ / yr (US EPA GHGRP)
1977commissioned (~49 yrs)

Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id USA0000056.

609,419 t CO₂/yr — in everyday terms

This facility's annual emissions are roughly equivalent to:

142,056passenger cars driven for a year
79,476homes' yearly energy use
10,156,983tree seedlings grown 10 years to absorb it

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

Reported generation trend

2013: 1,712 GWh20132014: 1,877 GWh20142015: 1,648 GWh20152016: 1,481 GWh20162017: 1,321 GWh20172018: 1,257 GWh20182019: 955 GWh20192k GWh

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

Owner

Operated by PowerSouth Energy Cooperative. All plants by this company →

Local climate & thermal context

This coal plant burns coal to raise high-pressure steam that spins a turbine-generator. It sits in a humid subtropical climate (Köppen Cfa) — Northern Hemisphere, latitude 31.5°N — which shapes how much energy it can produce and how its output varies through the year.

18.4°Cannual mean temp
963heating degree-days (base 18°C)
1,130cooling degree-days (base 18°C)
53 melevation

Monthly mean temperature

J: 9 °CJF: 11 °CFM: 15 °CMA: 18 °CAM: 22 °CMJ: 26 °CJJ: 27 °CJA: 27 °CAS: 25 °CSO: 19 °CON: 14 °CND: 10 °CD27 °C

Heating degree-days here run 61% 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: 26/100 — this site sits in the bottom 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.

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 #161 largest coal power plant of 286 in United States of America by capacity.

United States of America has 286 coal power plants in this dataset, together about 249,149 MW of capacity.

Nearby power plants

Location

Coordinates 31.488, -87.9107 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.

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