You’ve probably seen it from the I-15. That massive, gleaming industrial complex sitting right on the eastern shore of Utah Lake in Vineyard. That’s the Lake Side Power Station. To some, it’s a marvel of modern engineering that keeps the lights on in Salt Lake City when everyone cranks their AC at 5:00 PM in July. To others, it’s a giant question mark sitting on the edge of a sensitive ecosystem.
It exists. It’s loud. It’s vital.
Honestly, most people in Utah County don’t even think about where their electricity comes from until the monthly bill hits their inbox or a transformer blows during a canyon windstorm. But Lake Side isn’t just some old coal burner from the 1970s. It’s a combined-cycle natural gas plant, which is basically a fancy way of saying it’s way more efficient than the stuff your grandpa used to work at. PacifiCorp and Rocky Mountain Power rely on this thing to balance out the grid as coal plants like Huntington and Hunter slowly edge toward retirement.
The Tech Inside Lake Side Power Station
If you peek under the hood, this isn't your average power plant. It uses two massive Siemens gas turbines. Think of them like jet engines bolted to the ground. They burn natural gas to spin a generator, but here’s the kicker: they don't just dump the leftover heat into the atmosphere. They catch it. They use that scorching exhaust to boil water, create steam, and spin another turbine.
Energy recycling. Kind of.
The plant was built in two distinct phases. Lake Side 1 went online back in 2007, and Lake Side 2 followed about seven years later. Combined, they pump out roughly 1,200 megawatts. That is a massive amount of juice. We’re talking about enough power to keep roughly 250,000 homes running simultaneously. In a state like Utah, where the population is exploding faster than we can build roads, that capacity isn't just a luxury—it's the baseline.
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One thing people get wrong is the water. People see the "Lake Side" name and assume it's just gulping down Utah Lake water like a thirsty marathon runner. It actually uses treated wastewater from the Orem City water reclamation plant. They aren't draining the lake to cool the turbines, which is a nuance that usually gets lost in the comment sections of local news sites. By using gray water, they’re actually keeping more fresh water in the system, though the "plumes" you see on cold mornings are still enough to make neighbors nervous.
Why Location Matters (And Why It’s Controversial)
The siting of the Lake Side Power Station was a chess move. It’s built on the old Geneva Steel site. If you’re a longtime local, you remember Geneva—it was a behemoth of smoke and rust that defined the valley’s skyline for decades. Putting a power plant there made sense because the industrial infrastructure, like rail lines and high-voltage transmission paths, was already baked into the dirt.
But Vineyard changed. Fast.
What was once an industrial wasteland is now one of the fastest-growing residential areas in the United States. You have luxury condos and suburban family homes creeping closer and closer to the plant’s perimeter. This creates a weird tension. You have a massive industrial facility that is legally required to operate to keep the state running, and you have thousands of new residents who might not have realized that the "cool industrial vibe" of their neighborhood comes with a side of low-frequency humming and strict emissions permits.
Air quality is the elephant in the room. The Uintah Basin and the Wasatch Front have notorious inversion problems. When the cold air traps the gunk in the valley, every pound of Nitrogen Oxide (NOx) matters. Lake Side uses Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) to scrub those emissions, but critics argue that any fossil fuel burning in a literal bowl like the Utah Valley is a bad idea. Proponents point out that if Lake Side didn't exist, the grid might have to rely on older, dirtier plants further away, losing energy through transmission heat.
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The Economic Engine Nobody Sees
Money talks. The plant is a massive tax contributor to Vineyard and Utah County. We aren't just talking about the property taxes, which are substantial. We're talking about high-skill jobs. It’s not a place where thousands of people punch a clock every day—modern plants are surprisingly automated—but the people who do work there are specialized engineers and technicians who live, shop, and pay taxes in the immediate area.
Siemens Energy often uses Lake Side as a bit of a showcase for their SGT6-5000F turbines. It’s a flagship for reliability. When the sun goes down and solar farms across the West stop producing, or when the wind dies down in Wyoming, plants like this are the "firm" power that prevents rolling blackouts. You can’t just turn a coal plant on like a light switch; it takes days to heat up. Natural gas plants like Lake Side can ramp up much faster, making them the "glue" that allows renewable energy to even be a part of the conversation.
What Most People Get Wrong About Emissions
There’s this persistent myth that natural gas plants are "clean." Let’s be real: they are cleaner than coal, but they aren't "clean" in the sense of being zero-emission. Lake Side releases Carbon Dioxide ($CO_2$) and small amounts of methane and particulate matter.
However, the "smoke" you see? Usually, it’s just steam.
On a 20-degree January morning, the temperature differential between the warm exhaust and the freezing Utah air creates a massive white cloud. It looks scary. It looks like a Victorian-era factory puffing out soot. But if you look at the actual sensors, it’s mostly water vapor. That’s not to say it’s harmless—methane leakage in the supply chain is a real issue that Rocky Mountain Power has to account for—but the visual optics are often worse than the actual chemistry coming out of the stack.
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The Future: Hydrogen and Storage?
The talk in the energy industry right now is all about "decarbonization." You might wonder if a natural gas plant built ten years ago is already a dinosaur. Not quite. There are ongoing discussions about "green hydrogen." The idea is to use excess solar power during the day to split water into hydrogen, then burn that hydrogen in plants like Lake Side.
Is Lake Side ready for that? Not today. It would require significant retrofitting of the turbine burners. But the site’s proximity to potential salt cavern storage in Delta, Utah (where the IPP Renewed project is happening) makes it a candidate for future tech pivots. It's more likely to evolve than to disappear.
Actionable Insights for Residents and Observers
If you live near the Lake Side Power Station or are just interested in how your local grid works, here is how you can actually track what’s going on:
- Monitor Air Quality Real-Time: Don’t guess. Use the Utah Division of Air Quality (DAQ) monitors. There are sensors specifically positioned to track the impact of industrial sites in Utah County.
- Understand Your Bill: Look at your Rocky Mountain Power statement. A portion of that "Generation" fee goes directly into the maintenance and fuel costs for Lake Side. You are a part-owner of its output, in a sense.
- Watch the Integrated Resource Plan (IRP): Every two years, PacifiCorp releases an IRP. This is a massive document that outlines exactly when they plan to retire plants and what they plan to build next. If you want to know the "expiration date" of gas plants in Utah, that is where the truth is buried.
- Check Vineyard City Council Minutes: Since the plant sits within city limits, any expansions, zoning changes, or noise complaints are handled in public meetings. It’s the best way to see the "neighbor vs. industry" dynamic play out in real-time.
The Lake Side Power Station isn't going anywhere anytime soon. It’s the backbone of the Wasatch Front’s energy security. While the push for renewables is real, the physics of the grid currently demand the kind of massive, reliable "always-on" power that only a facility of this scale can provide. Understanding it as a bridge between the coal-heavy past and an uncertain, greener future is the most honest way to look at it.