Austin News

Governor Greg Abbott celebrated the addition of more reliable power to the Texas grid at the announcement of Calpine Corporation's Freestone County Energy Center expansion project in Houston. The expansion project is expected to bring 425 megawatts of new, dispatchable generation to the Texas electrical grid, along with over 300 new jobs to Freestone County. This addition of dispatchable megawatts is part of a larger plan to add 7,000 megawatts of dispatchable generation in 2024.

In his remarks, Governor Abbott emphasized the importance of providing sufficient electrical power to meet the growing needs of Texans. He highlighted the efforts of the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUC), Railroad Commission of Texas, and Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) in ensuring the reliability and resilience of the Texas power grid. Governor Abbott stated, "ERCOT, PUC, and power generators are better prepared this winter than ever before because I signed over a dozen laws to ensure they have the tools and strategies needed to generate more power and make our grid more reliable and resilient."

Governor Abbott also praised the partnership between Texas and energy companies, like Calpine, in bringing reliable and dispatchable power to the state. He thanked Calpine for choosing to expand their Freestone County facility, stating that the Freestone Energy Center expansion will ensure reliable power availability in Texas regardless of weather conditions.

Joining Governor Abbott at the event were Calpine CEO Thad Hill, ERCOT President and CEO Pablo Vegas, and other energy leaders. Calpine is known as America's largest generator of electricity from natural gas and geothermal resources.

The expansion of the Freestone County Energy Center is a significant step towards ensuring a more reliable power supply for Texas. With the addition of these new dispatchable megawatts, coupled with the ongoing efforts to strengthen the power grid, Texas is better prepared to meet the energy needs of its residents and support continued growth and development in the state.

For additional details, please follow this link: https://gov.texas.gov/news/post/governor-abbott-celebrates-more-reliable-power-added-to-texas-grid