Michigan City

Coal power plant in Indiana, United States of America. Approximate location 41.7208, -86.9086.

CoalIndianaUnited States of AmericaCO₂ reported

Michigan City is a 540 MW coal power station in Indiana, United States of America. It is operated by Northern Indiana Pub Serv Co. Based on reported annual generation of 1,073 GWh, it can supply roughly 306,571 homes. It ranks #693 of 9,833 United States of America power plants by installed capacity. Commissioned in 1974, it is around 52 years old — an older, legacy facility. Its measured emissions of 1,477,536 t CO₂/yr (US EPA GHGRP) are equivalent to about 344,414 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).

540MW installed capacity
1,073GWh reported / yr
306,571homes powered
1,477,536t CO₂ / yr (US EPA GHGRP)
1974commissioned (~52 yrs)

Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id USA0000997.

1,477,536 t CO₂/yr — in everyday terms

This facility's annual emissions are roughly equivalent to:

344,414passenger cars driven for a year
192,689homes' yearly energy use
24,625,600tree seedlings grown 10 years to absorb it

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

Reported generation trend

2013: 2,023 GWh20132014: 2,739 GWh20142015: 1,650 GWh20152016: 1,702 GWh20162017: 1,281 GWh20172018: 2,040 GWh20182019: 1,073 GWh20193k GWh

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

Owner

Operated by Northern Indiana Pub Serv 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 hot-summer humid continental climate (Köppen Dfa) — Northern Hemisphere, latitude 41.7°N — which shapes how much energy it can produce and how its output varies through the year.

9.5°Cannual mean temp
3,387heating degree-days (base 18°C)
320cooling degree-days (base 18°C)
245 melevation

Monthly mean temperature

J: -5 °CJF: -3 °CFM: 3 °CMA: 9 °CAM: 15 °CMJ: 20 °CJJ: 22 °CJA: 22 °CAS: 18 °CSO: 11 °CON: 4 °CND: -2 °CD22 °C

Heating degree-days here run 38% 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: 73/100 — 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 #160 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 41.7208, -86.9086 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.

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