Lenox

Oil power plant in Iowa, United States of America. Approximate location 40.88, -94.5589.

OilIowaUnited States of America

Lenox is a 6 MW oil power plant in Iowa, United States of America. It is operated by City of Lenox - (IA). Based on its capacity (estimated), it can supply roughly 4,580 homes (estimated). It ranks #5318 of 9,833 United States of America power plants by installed capacity. Commissioned in 1991, it is around 35 years old — long-established. In context, oil supplies about 0.7% of United States of America's electricity; the national grid averages 384 gCO₂/kWh (43.0% low-carbon) (2025).

6MW installed capacity
4,580homes powered (est.)
1991commissioned (~35 yrs)

Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id USA0001158.

~12,023 t CO₂/yr (estimated) — in everyday terms

This facility's annual emissions are roughly equivalent to:

2,803passenger cars driven for a year
1,568homes' yearly energy use
200,385tree seedlings grown 10 years to absorb it

Estimated, not measured: from installed capacity at a typical 30% load factor × a typical oil emission factor (~750 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: 0 GWh20132014: 0 GWh20142015: 0 GWh20152016: 0 GWh20162017: 0 GWh20172018: 0 GWh20182019: 0 GWh20190 GWh

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

Owner

Operated by City of Lenox - (IA).

Local climate & thermal context

This oil plant burns oil or diesel to drive turbines or reciprocating engines. It sits in a hot-summer humid continental climate (Köppen Dfa) — Northern Hemisphere, latitude 40.9°N — which shapes how much energy it can produce and how its output varies through the year.

10.1°Cannual mean temp
3,299heating degree-days (base 18°C)
455cooling degree-days (base 18°C)
358 melevation

Monthly mean temperature

J: -6 °CJF: -2 °CFM: 4 °CMA: 11 °CAM: 16 °CMJ: 22 °CJJ: 24 °CJA: 23 °CAS: 18 °CSO: 12 °CON: 4 °CND: -3 °CD24 °C

Heating degree-days here run 34% 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: 71/100 — 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 #464 largest oil power plant of 876 in United States of America by capacity.

United States of America has 876 oil power plants in this dataset, together about 37,143 MW of capacity.

Nearby power plants

Location

Coordinates 40.88, -94.5589 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.

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