Dave Johnston

Coal power plant in Wyoming, United States of America. Approximate location 42.8378, -105.7769.

CoalWyomingUnited States of America

Dave Johnston is a 922 MW coal power station in Wyoming, United States of America. It is operated by PacifiCorp. Based on reported annual generation of 4,686 GWh, it can supply roughly 1,338,971 homes. It ranks #352 of 9,833 United States of America power plants by installed capacity. Commissioned in 1966, it is around 60 years old — an older, legacy facility. 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).

922MW installed capacity
4,686GWh reported / yr
1,338,971homes powered
1966commissioned (~60 yrs)

Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id USA0004158.

~4,686,400 t CO₂/yr (estimated) — in everyday terms

This facility's annual emissions are roughly equivalent to:

1,092,401passenger cars driven for a year
611,163homes' yearly energy use
78,106,667tree seedlings grown 10 years to absorb it

Estimated, not measured: from reported annual generation × a typical coal emission factor (~1000 g CO₂/kWh, IPCC AR5 / US EIA). Actual emissions depend on plant efficiency and running hours.Equivalencies via US EPA Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies.

Reported generation trend

2013: 5,295 GWh20132014: 5,183 GWh20142015: 5,141 GWh20152016: 5,088 GWh20162017: 4,520 GWh20172018: 4,800 GWh20182019: 4,686 GWh20195k GWh

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

Owner

Operated by PacifiCorp. 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 cold semi-arid steppe climate (Köppen BSk) — Northern Hemisphere, latitude 42.8°N — which shapes how much energy it can produce and how its output varies through the year.

7.0°Cannual mean temp
4,094heating degree-days (base 18°C)
109cooling degree-days (base 18°C)
1,771 melevation

Monthly mean temperature

J: -4 °CJF: -3 °CFM: 1 °CMA: 5 °CAM: 10 °CMJ: 16 °CJJ: 20 °CJA: 19 °CAS: 14 °CSO: 8 °CON: 1 °CND: -3 °CD20 °C

Heating degree-days here run 67% 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 #114 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 42.8378, -105.7769 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.

Built from open public data; no personal information. Operate this site? Request a correction or removal.