How many natural gas power plants are in Iowa?

Iowa has 45 operating utility-scale natural gas power plants with 4.3 GW of capacity, according to the EIA's monthly survey of power plants.

What is the largest natural gas power plant in Iowa?

Marshalltown Generating Station in Marshall County, Iowa is the largest, at 706 MW. It came online in 2017.

How many natural gas power plants were built in Iowa in 2025?

0 natural gas power plants came online in Iowa in 2025, with 0 MW of capacity.

Who is developing natural gas power plants in Iowa?

Interconnection queues list each project under a project company, not the developer behind it. Cleanview researches the developer of every project and has them on paid plans.

Natural gas power plants in Iowa

Iowa has 45 operating natural gas power plants with 4.3 GW of capacity.

Operating45

See planned natural gas power plants in Iowa

Updated monthly. Last updated November 2026.

Under 250 MW250–999 MW1 GW and up

Updated monthly. Last updated November 2026.

Iowa had 38 natural gas power plants online in 2016 and 45 in 2026

2016’162017’172018’182019’192020’202021’212022’222023’232024’242025’252026’26

Natural gas power plants online at the end of each year. Source: EIA-860M, compiled by Cleanview.

The 10 largest natural gas power plants in Iowa

Operating, by capacity

#	Natural gas power plant	County	Year online	Capacity
1	Marshalltown Generating Station	Marshall County	2017	706 MW
2	Emery Station	Cerro Gordo County	2004	603 MW
3	Greater Des Moines	Polk County	2004	576 MW
4	Burlington (IA)	Des Moines County	1996	291 MW
5	Electrifarm	Black Hawk County	1978	264 MW
6	Marshalltown	Marshall County	1978	189 MW
7	Exira	Audubon County	2007	182 MW
8	Pleasant Hill	Polk County	1994	180 MW
9	Sycamore (IA)	Polk County	1974	158 MW
10	Prairie Creek	Linn County	1967	149 MW

Natural gas power plants that came online most recently in Iowa

Newest first

#	Natural gas power plant	County	Year online	Capacity
1	Poet Bioprocessing Emmetsburg	Palo Alto County	2023	4 MW
2	University of Iowa Main Power Plant	Johnson County	2022	39 MW
3	Summit Lake	Union County	2021	119 MW
4	POET Biorefining - Jewell	Hamilton County	2019	5 MW
5	POET Biorefining - Gowrie	Webster County	2018	5 MW
6	POET Biorefining LLC - Corning	Adams County	2018	5 MW
7	Marshalltown Generating Station	Marshall County	2017	706 MW
8	Archer Daniels Midland Cedar Rapids	Linn County	2016	39 MW
9	Oakdale Renewable Energy Plant	Johnson County	2010	3 MW
10	Exira	Audubon County	2007	182 MW

The developer behind each project is on paid plans. See plans

How Cleanview tracks natural gas power plants

Operating natural gas power plants come from the EIA's monthly survey of power plants. Planned projects come from the grid operators' interconnection queues. We research who is developing each one, since a queue lists a project company, not its owner.

Questions about natural gas power plants in Iowa

How many natural gas power plants are in Iowa?: Iowa has 45 operating utility-scale natural gas power plants with 4.3 GW of capacity, according to the EIA's monthly survey of power plants.
What is the largest natural gas power plant in Iowa?: Marshalltown Generating Station in Marshall County, Iowa is the largest, at 706 MW. It came online in 2017.
How many natural gas power plants were built in Iowa in 2025?: 0 natural gas power plants came online in Iowa in 2025, with 0 MW of capacity.
Who is developing natural gas power plants in Iowa?: Interconnection queues list each project under a project company, not the developer behind it. Cleanview researches the developer of every project and has them on paid plans.