Columbia (WI)

Coal power plant in Wisconsin, United States of America. Approximate location 43.4864, -89.4203.

CoalWisconsinUnited States of AmericaCO₂ reported

Columbia (WI) is a 1,112 MW coal power station in Wisconsin, United States of America. It is operated by Wisconsin Power & Light Co. Based on reported annual generation of 5,367 GWh, it can supply roughly 1,533,314 homes. It ranks #273 of 9,833 United States of America power plants by installed capacity. Commissioned in 1976, it is around 50 years old — long-established. Its measured emissions of 4,621,127 t CO₂/yr (US EPA GHGRP) are equivalent to about 1,077,186 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).

1,112MW installed capacity
5,367GWh reported / yr
1,533,314homes powered
4,621,127t CO₂ / yr (US EPA GHGRP)
1976commissioned (~50 yrs)

Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id USA0008023.

4,621,127 t CO₂/yr — in everyday terms

This facility's annual emissions are roughly equivalent to:

1,077,186passenger cars driven for a year
602,651homes' yearly energy use
77,018,783tree seedlings grown 10 years to absorb it

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

Reported generation trend

2013: 7,238 GWh20132014: 4,940 GWh20142015: 4,860 GWh20152016: 0 GWh20162017: 6,509 GWh20172018: 6,642 GWh20182019: 5,367 GWh20197k GWh

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

Owner

Operated by Wisconsin Power & Light Co. 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 warm-summer humid continental climate (Köppen Dfb) — Northern Hemisphere, latitude 43.5°N — which shapes how much energy it can produce and how its output varies through the year.

7.4°Cannual mean temp
4,052heating degree-days (base 18°C)
227cooling degree-days (base 18°C)
278 melevation

Monthly mean temperature

J: -9 °CJF: -6 °CFM: 0 °CMA: 7 °CAM: 14 °CMJ: 19 °CJJ: 22 °CJA: 20 °CAS: 16 °CSO: 10 °CON: 2 °CND: -6 °CD22 °C

Heating degree-days here run 65% above 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: 85/100 — this site sits in the top 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 #96 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 43.4864, -89.4203 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.

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