Trenton Channel

Coal power plant in Michigan, United States of America. Approximate location 42.1217, -83.1808.

CoalMichiganUnited States of America

Trenton Channel is a 536 MW coal power station in Michigan, United States of America. It is operated by DTE Electric Company. Based on reported annual generation of 1,397 GWh, it can supply roughly 399,142 homes. It ranks #703 of 9,833 United States of America power plants by installed capacity. Commissioned in 1968, it is around 58 years old — an older, legacy facility. 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).

536MW installed capacity
1,397GWh reported / yr
399,142homes powered
1968commissioned (~58 yrs)

Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id USA0001745.

~1,397,000 t CO₂/yr (estimated) — in everyday terms

This facility's annual emissions are roughly equivalent to:

325,641passenger cars driven for a year
182,186homes' yearly energy use
23,283,333tree 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: 3,416 GWh20132014: 2,536 GWh20142015: 2,342 GWh20152016: 1,965 GWh20162017: 1,919 GWh20172018: 1,068 GWh20182019: 1,397 GWh20193k 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 hot-summer humid continental climate (Köppen Dfa) — Northern Hemisphere, latitude 42.1°N — which shapes how much energy it can produce and how its output varies through the year.

9.3°Cannual mean temp
3,432heating degree-days (base 18°C)
297cooling degree-days (base 18°C)
177 melevation

Monthly mean temperature

J: -4 °CJF: -3 °CFM: 2 °CMA: 8 °CAM: 14 °CMJ: 20 °CJJ: 22 °CJA: 22 °CAS: 17 °CSO: 11 °CON: 5 °CND: -1 °CD22 °C

Heating degree-days here run 40% 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: 74/100 — 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 #162 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 42.1217, -83.1808 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.

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