Dresden Generating Station is a nuclear power facility with 2,018.6 MW of EIA-reported nameplate capacity in Grundy County, Illinois, registered as EIA Plant ID 869. Constellation Nuclear is the registered plant entity or operator. Dresden is the site of the nation's first full-scale privately financed nuclear power plant; the retired Unit 1 has been designated a Nuclear Historic Landmark.
EIA-reported nameplate capacity; other nameplate and seasonal ratings may differ.
Primary generation technology.
Constellation Nuclear · Grundy County · PJM
Dresden Generating Station is currently operating; a closure or retirement is listed for 1978.
Nuclear
Dresden Generating Station is currently operating; a closure or retirement is listed for 1978.
Dresden Generating Station is currently operating; a closure or retirement is listed for 1978.
PJM
Similar plants ranked by technology, capacity, and distance.
Operating generator records and technology attributes reported through EIA-860.
| Generator | Capacity | Technology | Operation | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | 1,009.3 MW 902 MW summer | Nuclear Nuclear · ST | Aug 1970 Retirement: Nov 2021 | Operating |
| 3 | 1,009.3 MW 895 MW summer | Nuclear Nuclear · ST | Oct 1971 Retirement: Nov 2021 | Operating |
Monthly EIA generation history and recent market-resource behavior where linked telemetry is available.
Deterministic links to ERCOT market resources, price records, outage disclosures, queue records, and nearby infrastructure. Candidate joins remain labeled until corroborated.
Source-backed project transactions, agreements, land records, permits, and environmental disclosures. Portfolio and adjacent-project facts remain explicitly scoped.
Parties, market resources, and identifiers tied to this asset, with owner, operator, developer, EPC, compliance provider, and interconnecting entity roles kept separate.
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Project milestones and public references behind the asset profile.
Construction of Dresden Unit 1 began on May 1, 1956.
PJM · Grundy County
Monthly generation is reported through EIA-923. Capacity factor uses the current EIA nameplate capacity and is shown only for complete calendar years.
| Largest reported plants | Capacity | State | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Peach Bottom | 2,876.4 MW | PA | |
| Braidwood Generation Station | 2,449.8 MW | IL | |
| Byron Generating Station | 2,449.8 MW | IL | |
| LaSalle Generating Station | 2,340 MW | IL | |
| Limerick | 2,277 MW | PA | |
| Quad Cities Generating Station | 2,018.6 MW | IL | |
| Dresden Generating StationCurrent | 2,018.6 MW | IL | |
| Nine Mile Point Nuclear Station | 1,901.1 MW | NY |
Portfolio membership follows the latest EIA-860 reporting entity. It does not imply ultimate ownership.
View full reporting portfolioDresden Unit 1 achieved first criticality on October 15, 1959.
Construction of Dresden Units 2 and 3 began in 1966.
Dresden Generating Station entered commercial operation.
Dresden Unit 2 began commercial operation in July 1970.
EIA-860 lists generator 2 with this operating date.
EIA-860 lists generator 3 with this operating date.
Dresden Unit 3 began commercial operation in November 1971.
The NRC approved Dresden's initial operating-license renewal on October 28, 2004.
EIA-860 lists a planned retirement for generator 2, generator 3.
The NRC issued subsequent renewed facility operating licenses for Units 2 and 3, authorizing Unit 2 to operate through December 22, 2049 and Unit 3 through January 12, 2051.
Answered from the published record above. Questions whose inputs this profile does not carry are omitted rather than estimated.
Dresden Generating Station has a reported capacity of 2,018.6 MW. Source: EIA Form 860.
Dresden Generating Station is a nuclear facility in Grundy County, IL, participating in the PJM market.
Dresden Generating Station is in Grundy County, IL, inside the PJM balancing area.
Dresden Generating Station is operated by Constellation Nuclear according to the EIA generator inventory. Reporting membership does not by itself establish ultimate ownership.
Dresden Generating Station reported 15,119.4 GWh over the twelve months to 2026-06. Figures are net generation as filed to EIA-923.
By capacity, Dresden Generating Station ranks #22 of 54 operating plants of the same technology nationally. It ranks #4 of 6 in IL.
Plants within 25 km, nearest first, regardless of technology. Proximity is straight-line distance between mapped plant coordinates; it does not by itself establish a shared point of interconnection.
