Coal power plant in Kentucky, United States of America. Approximate location 37.7942, -87.0608.
CoalKentuckyUnited States of America
Elmer Smith is a 445 MW coal power station in Kentucky, United States of America. It is operated by City of Owensboro - (KY). Based on reported annual generation of 1,605 GWh, it can supply roughly 458,542 homes. It ranks #781 of 9,833 United States of America power plants by installed capacity. Commissioned in 1970, it is around 56 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).
Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id USA0001374.
This facility's annual emissions are roughly equivalent to:
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.
Annual generation (GWh), WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0).
Operated by City of Owensboro - (KY).
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 37.8°N — which shapes how much energy it can produce and how its output varies through the year.
Monthly mean temperature
Heating degree-days here run 5% 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: 48/100 — 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.
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.
The #176 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.
Coordinates 37.7942, -87.0608 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.
