S W Bailey

Oil power plant in Alaska, United States of America. Approximate location 55.3574, -131.697.

OilAlaskaUnited States of AmericaCO₂ reported

S W Bailey is a 26 MW oil power plant in Alaska, United States of America. It is operated by Ketchikan Public Utilities. Based on reported annual generation of 27 GWh, it can supply roughly 7,685 homes. It ranks #3424 of 9,833 United States of America power plants by installed capacity. Commissioned in 1982, it is around 44 years old — long-established. Its measured emissions of 17,011 t CO₂/yr (Climate TRACE) are equivalent to about 3,965 cars driven for a year. 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).

26MW installed capacity
27GWh reported / yr
7,685homes powered
17,011t CO₂ / yr (Climate TRACE)
1982commissioned (~44 yrs)

Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id USA0000085.

17,011 t CO₂/yr — in everyday terms

This facility's annual emissions are roughly equivalent to:

3,965passenger cars driven for a year
2,218homes' yearly energy use
283,517tree seedlings grown 10 years to absorb it

Equivalencies via US EPA Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies; emissions reported to Climate TRACE.

Reported generation trend

2013: 10 GWh20132014: -263 GWh20142015: -1 GWh20152016: -1 GWh20162017: 3 GWh20172018: 19 GWh20182019: 27 GWh201927 GWh

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

Owner

Operated by Ketchikan Public Utilities. All plants by this company →

Local climate & thermal context

This oil plant burns oil or diesel to drive turbines or reciprocating engines. It sits in a temperate oceanic climate (Köppen Cfb) — Northern Hemisphere, latitude 55.4°N — which shapes how much energy it can produce and how its output varies through the year.

6.8°Cannual mean temp
4,061heating degree-days (base 18°C)
0cooling degree-days (base 18°C)
185 melevation

Monthly mean temperature

J: 1 °CJF: 2 °CFM: 3 °CMA: 5 °CAM: 8 °CMJ: 12 °CJJ: 14 °CJA: 14 °CAS: 11 °CSO: 7 °CON: 3 °CND: 2 °CD14 °C

Heating degree-days here run 65% 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: 85/100 — 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 #157 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 55.3574, -131.697 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.

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