NRG Energy, Inc. has plans to build a new gas plant in Harris County that will power about 110,000 homes per year.
The power plant will be built at NRG’s already-existing Greens Bayou facility in northeast Harris County.
NRG Senior Vice President of Generation Matthew Pistner said Texas’ demand for electricity is increasing, due to economic development and rapid population growth.
“The Houston area in particular is seeing a lot of that growth,” he said. “So when we look out into the future and look at what our customers need, what the state needs in terms of affordable, reliable energy, sites inside the Houston area and around Texas start to make sense.”
The 455-megawatt facility received a $370 million Texas Energy Fund loan from the Public Utility Commission of Texas in November.
The Texas Energy Fund was created in 2023 in response to the 2021 deadly winter storm that caused massive blackouts and hundreds of deaths. The fund uses tax dollars to help fund low-interest loans to build natural gas plants across the state.
Pistner said the new gas power plant will create about 514 construction jobs while it is being built, and another 14 full-time power plant jobs once it is completed.
“We have a target for this unit to be online and supporting not just the Houston grid, but the entire ERCOT grid (by) summer of 2028,” he said.
The new gas plant has qualified for the Texas Jobs Energy, Technology, and Innovation program, which provides property tax cuts to qualified companies that bring economic benefits to a given area through job creation and taxes.
Gov. Greg Abbott announced Tuesday that the new NRG project had qualified for the program.
“Texas is America’s energy leader,” Abbott said in a news release. “This $617 million investment by NRG in Harris County will add more power to Texas’ energy infrastructure and help meet energy needs of Texas homes and businesses in the fifth-largest metropolitan area in the nation. Smart investments like these will power and sustain an even brighter future in Texas for generations to come.”
Galena Park ISD Superintendent of Schools John Moore also said the new natural gas plant could create benefits for the district.
“Galena Park ISD recognizes the potential of NRG’s investment in the Greens Bayou project and the positive impact it may bring to our community,” he said in a news release. “Projects like this support local economic development while helping ensure long-term stability for public education.”
