SUMMIT LAKE
OperatingNatural Gas power plant
- Capacity
- 85 MW
- Primary fuel
- Natural Gas
- County
- Union County
- Operator
- CENTRAL IOWA POWER COOPERATIVE
- Status
- Operating
- Commissioned
- 1973
- EIA plant ID
- 1206
- Generators
- 5
- Technology
- Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine
- Net generation (2024)
- 70 GWh
- Capacity factor (2024, EIA nameplate)
- 6.7%
- Data vintage
- EIA-860 2024 final; EIA-923 2022-2024 final
- Coordinates
- 41.1134, -94.3476
SUMMIT LAKE, an 85 MW Natural Gas power plant in Union County, Iowa. Operated by CENTRAL IOWA POWER COOPERATIVE, commissioned 1973.
How SUMMIT LAKE compares
With 85 MW of capacity, SUMMIT LAKE ranks 49th among the 198 operating power plants Bywatts maps in Iowa and 8th of the 22 operating Natural Gas plants in the state. It accounts for about 3.4% of Iowa's operating Natural Gas capacity and 0.5% of all operating capacity in the state. Nationally it is the 716th-largest of the 1,185 operating Natural Gas plants in the database. Commissioned in 1973, it is older than 73% of the 198 operating Iowa plants with a recorded commissioning year.
EIA-860 lists 5 generators at the site with 119 MW of nameplate capacity, mainly natural gas fired combustion turbine technology (this page's HIFLD capacity figure is 85 MW). Net generation was 70 GWh in 2024 (a 6.7% capacity factor), down 8% from 2022. Its generators came online between 1973 and 2021.
Grid neighborhood
The closest transmission line found within 10 miles is a 161 kV line, about 0.1 miles away. Another 12 operating power plants totaling 487 MW sit within 25 miles; the largest is ROLLING HILLS WIND FARM (444 MW, Wind).
Computed by Bywatts from HIFLD power plant and transmission line records and EIA-860/923 survey data; distances are straight-line. Sources and methodology
Weather peril exposure
SUMMIT LAKE is an 85 MW natural gas power plant in Union County, IA, operated by CENTRAL IOWA POWER COOPERATIVE, commissioned in 1973. Union County carries high modeled catastrophe exposure in the FEMA National Risk Index, scoring 3.9 of 5 at the 73rd national percentile. Heat wave is the leading peril, rated Relatively Moderate by FEMA at the 97th percentile.
The Bywatts loss layer is calibrated to solar PV hardware, so it is not applied to a natural gas plant. The ratings below are the FEMA National Risk Index county hazard ratings for this location.
Union County hazard ratings
| Peril | FEMA rating | National percentile | Peril score | Events per year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Heat wave | Relatively Moderate | 97th | 4.9 of 5 | 7.7 |
| Strong wind | Relatively Moderate | 83rd | 4.3 of 5 | 4.9 |
| Tornado | Relatively Low | 82nd | 4.3 of 5 | 0.34 |
| Hail | Relatively Moderate | 78th | 4.1 of 5 | 5.9 |
| Winter weather | Relatively Low | 75th | 4.0 of 5 | 11.9 |
| Lightning | Very Low | 57th | 3.3 of 5 | 45.1 |
| Wildfire | Very Low | 55th | 3.2 of 5 | <0.01 |
| Ice storm | Relatively Low | 55th | 3.2 of 5 | 0.56 |
| Riverine flooding | Very Low | 27th | 2.1 of 5 | 1.0 |
| Earthquake | Very Low | 22nd | 1.9 of 5 | <0.01 |
| Hurricane | Very Low | 7th | 1.3 of 5 | <0.01 |
Perils not assessed in Union County
These perils carry no usable National Risk Index figure for this county, so they are excluded from the scoring rather than scored zero. A zero would claim the peril was assessed and found benign.
| Peril | Why it is not scored |
|---|---|
| Coastal flooding | FEMA rating is "Not Applicable" for this county |
Model hail, wind and flood exposure for Union County in the weather risk calculator
Ratings are the FEMA National Risk Index county hazard ratings; the peril score is a Bywatts transform of the FEMA national percentile. Full data sources and the solar vulnerability methodology are in the weather risk calculator.
Modeled estimate for screening and negotiation. Built from FEMA National Risk Index county hazard data and a solar vulnerability layer documented above. Not a quote, a binder, or actuarial advice, and not a substitute for a carrier's own model. Hazard data: FEMA National Risk Index December 2025, synced 2026-07-24. Resolution is county level, not site level.