St Clair

Coal power plant in Michigan, United States of America. Approximate location 42.7642, -82.4719.

CoalMichiganUnited States of AmericaCO₂ reported

St Clair is a 1,234 MW coal power station in Michigan, United States of America. It is operated by DTE Electric Company. Based on reported annual generation of 3,901 GWh, it can supply roughly 1,114,571 homes. It ranks #222 of 9,833 United States of America power plants by installed capacity. Commissioned in 1962, it is around 64 years old — an older, legacy facility. Its measured emissions of 449 t CO₂/yr (US EPA GHGRP) are equivalent to about 105 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).

1,234MW installed capacity
3,901GWh reported / yr
1,114,571homes powered
449t CO₂ / yr (US EPA GHGRP)
1962commissioned (~64 yrs)

Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id USA0001743.

449 t CO₂/yr — in everyday terms

This facility's annual emissions are roughly equivalent to:

105passenger cars driven for a year
59homes' yearly energy use
7,483tree seedlings grown 10 years to absorb it

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

Reported generation trend

2013: 6,242 GWh20132014: 5,416 GWh20142015: 5,446 GWh20152016: 0 GWh20162017: 3,548 GWh20172018: 4,531 GWh20182019: 3,901 GWh20196k GWh

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

Owner

Operated by DTE Electric Company. 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 warm-summer humid continental climate (Köppen Dfb) — Northern Hemisphere, latitude 42.8°N — which shapes how much energy it can produce and how its output varies through the year.

8.6°Cannual mean temp
3,636heating degree-days (base 18°C)
231cooling degree-days (base 18°C)
185 melevation

Monthly mean temperature

J: -5 °CJF: -5 °CFM: 1 °CMA: 7 °CAM: 13 °CMJ: 19 °CJJ: 22 °CJA: 21 °CAS: 17 °CSO: 11 °CON: 5 °CND: -2 °CD22 °C

Heating degree-days here run 48% 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: 79/100 — 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 #85 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 42.7642, -82.4719 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.

Built from open public data; no personal information. Operate this site? Request a correction or removal.