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Walter Scott Jr Energy Center

Coal power plant in Nebraska, United States of America. Approximate location 41.18, -95.8408.

CoalNebraskaUnited States of AmericaCO₂ reported

Walter Scott Jr Energy Center is a 1,648 MW coal power station in Nebraska, United States of America. It is operated by MidAmerican Energy Co. Based on reported annual generation of 8,014 GWh, it can supply roughly 2,289,771 homes. It ranks #132 of 9,833 United States of America power plants by installed capacity. Commissioned in 1994, it is around 32 years old — long-established. Its measured emissions of 5,752,624 t CO₂/yr (US EPA GHGRP) are equivalent to about 1,340,938 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).

1,648MW installed capacity
8,014GWh reported / yr
2,289,771homes powered
5,752,624t CO₂ / yr (US EPA GHGRP)
1994commissioned (~32 yrs)

Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id USA0001082.

5,752,624 t CO₂/yr — in everyday terms

This facility's annual emissions are roughly equivalent to:

1,340,938passenger cars driven for a year
750,212homes' yearly energy use
95,877,067tree seedlings grown 10 years to absorb it

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

Reported generation trend

2013: 10,947 GWh20132014: 10,800 GWh20142015: 9,586 GWh20152016: 8,695 GWh20162017: 8,563 GWh20172018: 10,040 GWh20182019: 8,014 GWh201911k GWh

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

Owner

Operated by MidAmerican Energy 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 41.2°N — which shapes how much energy it can produce and how its output varies through the year.

10.3°Cannual mean temp
3,276heating degree-days (base 18°C)
496cooling degree-days (base 18°C)
334 melevation

Monthly mean temperature

J: -6 °CJF: -2 °CFM: 4 °CMA: 11 °CAM: 17 °CMJ: 22 °CJJ: 24 °CJA: 23 °CAS: 18 °CSO: 12 °CON: 3 °CND: -3 °CD24 °C

Heating degree-days here run 33% 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: 70/100 — 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 #51 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 41.18, -95.8408 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.

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