Ray D Nixon

Coal power plant in Colorado, United States of America. Approximate location 38.6335, -104.7058.

CoalColoradoUnited States of America

Ray D Nixon is a 283 MW coal power station in Colorado, United States of America. It is operated by City of Colorado Springs - (CO). Based on reported annual generation of 1,245 GWh, it can supply roughly 355,828 homes. It ranks #1009 of 9,833 United States of America power plants by installed capacity. Commissioned in 1985, it is around 41 years old — long-established. 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).

283MW installed capacity
1,245GWh reported / yr
355,828homes powered
1985commissioned (~41 yrs)

Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id USA0008219.

~1,245,400 t CO₂/yr (estimated) — in everyday terms

This facility's annual emissions are roughly equivalent to:

290,303passenger cars driven for a year
162,415homes' yearly energy use
20,756,667tree 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: 1,588 GWh20132014: 1,330 GWh20142015: 1,553 GWh20152016: 1,207 GWh20162017: 1,347 GWh20172018: 1,134 GWh20182019: 1,245 GWh20192k GWh

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

Owner

Operated by City of Colorado Springs - (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 cold semi-arid steppe climate (Köppen BSk) — Northern Hemisphere, latitude 38.6°N — which shapes how much energy it can produce and how its output varies through the year.

10.4°Cannual mean temp
3,082heating degree-days (base 18°C)
344cooling degree-days (base 18°C)
1,640 melevation

Monthly mean temperature

J: -1 °CJF: 2 °CFM: 5 °CMA: 9 °CAM: 15 °CMJ: 20 °CJJ: 23 °CJA: 22 °CAS: 17 °CSO: 11 °CON: 4 °CND: -1 °CD23 °C

Heating degree-days here run 25% 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: 65/100 — 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.

How it compares & nearby plants

The #198 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 38.6335, -104.7058 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.

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