Lake Road (MO) — United States of America

Lake Road (MO) is a 278.4 MW gas power station in Kansas, United States of America. It is operated by Evergy Missouri West. Based on reported annual generation of 21 GWh, it can supply roughly 6.1k homes. It ranks #1651 of 10,884 United States of America power plants by installed capacity. Commissioned in 1969, it is around 57 years old — an older, legacy facility. Its annual emissions of 289,432 t CO₂/yr (US EPA GHGRP) are equivalent to about 67k 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).

Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id USA0002098.

Capacity provenance

The public capacity above is the current source-record value. A 2026 tracker candidate lists 175 MW for Lake Road (MO) power station, but it is not used as the public primary value until scope is verified (unit vs operating vs installed/project total).

Data provenance

Capacity and fuel are the upstream open-dataset record, not yet matched to a 2026 registry or GEM entry.

capacity: WRI GPPD; fuel: WRI GPPD

In context: how this plant compares

At 278.4 MW, Lake Road (MO) is well above the median gas plant in United States of America (121.2 MW). Technically it is described as OCGT. Gas plants burn natural gas either in open-cycle turbines for fast peaking, or in combined-cycle units that recover exhaust heat in an HRSG to reach roughly 55–62% efficiency — the cleanest-burning fossil option.

Capacity comparison computed from the WRI Global Power Plant Database; fuel-type context is general engineering background.

289,432 t CO₂/yr — in everyday terms

This facility's annual emissions are roughly equivalent to:

Equivalencies via US EPA Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies; emissions per US EPA GHGRP (measured for US EPA/EU ETS, modelled for Climate TRACE).

Key facts

Load factor

1%, from 21 GWh of reported generation; the median for 1622 gas plants in United States of America that report generation is 26%

Generation trend

440 GWh in 2013 and 21 GWh in 2019 (−95%)

Highest and lowest year

2013: 440 GWh; 2019: 21 GWh

Share of United States of America gas capacity

less than 0.1% of 789,950 MW across 2,165 plants in this dataset

Age among peers

133 of 1,973 dated gas plants in United States of America are older

Calculated from the capacity and generation records in this dataset (WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0)).

Reported generation trend

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

Owner

Operated by Evergy Missouri West.

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 hot-summer humid continental climate (Köppen Dfa) — Northern Hemisphere, latitude 39.7°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 15% 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: 58/100 — this site sits in the mid third of the power plants we cover by heating degree-days.

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.

Site climate & environmental severity

This site sits in a mild atmospheric environment (estimated ISO 9223 class C2 — Low), with thermal cycling the leading environmental stress.

Indicative estimate via the ISO 9223:2012 informative method (atmospheric corrosivity from temperature, time-of-wetness and airborne salinity), using WorldClim climate normals, the Köppen-Geiger class and coast distance. Indicative, not a measured corrosion rate.

How it compares & nearby plants

The #813 largest gas power plant of 2165 in United States of America by capacity.

United States of America has 2165 gas power plants in this dataset, together about 789,950 MW of capacity.

Nearby power plants

• Lake Road (MO) power station · Coal · 90 MW · Missouri
• St Joseph Landfill Generating Station · Waste · 1.6 MW · Missouri
• Iatan · Coal · 1,640 MW · Missouri
• Iatan Generating Station · Coal · 1,640 MW · Missouri
• Osborn Wind Energy · Wind · 200.9 MW · Missouri
• Lost Creek Wind Energy Facility · Wind · 150 MW · Missouri

Location

Coordinates 39.7246, -94.8773 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.

Frequently asked questions