Prairie State Generating Station
American Municipal Power, Inc. (AMP)St Clair County
Prairie State Generating Station is a two-unit, 1,766 MW nameplate supercritical pulverized-coal thermal power plant located in St. Clair County, Illinois, approximately 60 miles southeast of St. Louis. Unit 1 (PC1, 883 MW) entered commercial operation on June 6, 2012; Unit 2 (PC2, 883 MW) entered commercial operation in November 2012. The facility is supplied by the adjacent Lively Grove underground coal mine and uses state-of-the-art emissions controls including selective catalytic reduction, activated-carbon injection, dry and wet electrostatic precipitators, and wet flue-gas desulfurization. The plant is jointly owned by nine public-power agencies across eight states and is operated by Prairie State Generating Company, LLC.
Mapped infrastructure geometry associated with this asset.
EIA plant 55856 · Inventory for Aug 2026.
| Generator | Technology | Status | Power (MW) | Energy (MWh) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PC1 | Conventional Steam Coal | Operating | 883 | Unknown |
| PC2 | Conventional Steam Coal | Operating | 883 | Unknown |
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Operating generator records and technology attributes reported through EIA-860.
| Generator | Capacity | Technology | Operation | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PC1 | 883 MW 815 MW summer | Conventional Steam Coal Bituminous Coal · ST | Jun 2012 | Operating |
| PC2 | 883 MW 815 MW summer | Conventional Steam Coal Bituminous Coal · ST | Nov 2012 | Operating |
Monthly EIA generation history and recent market-resource behavior where linked telemetry is available.
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Source-backed project transactions, agreements, land records, permits, and environmental disclosures. Portfolio and adjacent-project facts remain explicitly scoped.
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Project milestones and public references behind the asset profile.
The Prairie State Energy Campus was first proposed as a mine-mouth coal generation project.
Monthly generation is reported through EIA-923. Capacity factor uses the current EIA nameplate capacity and is shown only for complete calendar years.
Portfolio membership follows the latest EIA-860 reporting entity. It does not imply ultimate ownership.
The Illinois EPA issued a Prevention of Significant Deterioration (PSD) permit for the Prairie State project; subsequent legal challenges were resolved in favor of the project.
Equity partners completed financial closing and authorized Bechtel Power Corporation to proceed with full-scale construction.
CMS Energy, original co-sponsor with 15% share, withdrew from the Prairie State project.
Purchase contracts for steam generators, steam turbines, and air quality control equipment were concluded.
American Municipal Power Ohio committed to a 300 MW share in the project.
The U.S. Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the air permit for Prairie State in August 2007, resolving legal challenges.
Southern Illinois Power Cooperative committed to a 125 MW share in the project.
Construction began on the Prairie State Energy Campus with site preparation.
The adjacent underground Lively Grove coal mine became operational and began providing fuel for the generating station.
EIA-860 lists generator PC1 with this operating date.
Unit 1 (PC1), the first supercritical pulverized-coal unit at Prairie State, entered commercial operation.
EIA-860 lists generator PC2 with this operating date.
Unit 2 (PC2) entered commercial operation, completing the two-unit Prairie State Generating Station.
Illinois enacted legislation that established a conditional operational pathway: Prairie State may operate as permitted until 2035, with a requirement for 45% carbon-emissions reduction by 2038 and zero emissions by 2045. Without technological or additional legislative action, the plant would be forced to retire in 2045.
Answered from the published record above. Questions whose inputs this profile does not carry are omitted rather than estimated.
Prairie State Generating Station reports 1,766 MW coal of operating nameplate capacity. These technology ratings do not establish a common export limit. Source: EIA Aug 2026.
Prairie State Generating Station is a Conventional Steam Coal facility in St Clair County, IL, participating in the MISO market.
Prairie State Generating Station is in St Clair County, IL, inside the MISO balancing area.
Prairie State Generating Station is operated by Prairie State Generating Co LLC according to the EIA generator inventory. Reporting membership does not by itself establish ultimate ownership.
Prairie State Generating Station reported 12,194.5 GWh over the twelve months to 2026-07. Figures are net generation as filed to EIA-923.
By capacity, Prairie State Generating Station ranks #27 of 205 operating plants of the same technology nationally. It ranks #2 of 9 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.