Texas has big plans for natural gas-fired power plants Image By EPN Staff There are 130 new gas plants, or planned gas plant expansions, proposed or under construction in Texas, according to a new report from an environmental advocacy group. That would be enough to generate 58 gigawatts of new electricity capacity – roughly enough to power 48 million homes a year. Data center demand is driving much of the growth: They’re a big reason Texas’ main grid operator predicts demand will nearly double by 2030. Why it matters Some of these projects may never come to fruition, but the large number proposed highlights the rapidly changing world of energy production, even in Texas, which is already the No. 1 generating state by far. The Environmental Integrity Project report cataloged: 108 proposed new plants 17 expansions 5 projects “for which specifics have not been announced” The June report focused largely on the environmental impacts of adding this much gas generation, with researchers at the left-leaning energy advocacy group criticizing the prospect of new greenhouse gas emissions. Natural gas is in demand, though, because it's abundant - the United States produces more than any other country - it burns cleaner than coal, and gas plants can cycle up or down to meet demand in real time. It also has a huge impact in Texas: The oil and gas industry is a financial juggernaut that paid $27.3 billion in taxes there last year. And the industry has helped drive down emissions in the U.S., where CO2 levels have declined as natural gas has supplanted coal. China, meanwhile, now emits more than twice as much CO2 as the U.S., and India’s emissions continue to grow. The bigger picture Texas has seen a massive spike in new solar and wind generation, but state policy makers have pushed in recent years to favor “firm” generation – electricity not depending on sun or wind. To that end the state legislature put $10 billion in public financing into the Texas Energy Fun, a grant and loan program for natural gas plants. Several companies have withdrawn from the program, though, citing financial and logistical issues. One of the challenges: A construction glut that caused a shortage of natural gas turbines. Major manufacturers have said new orders likely can’t be filled until 2029 or 2030. “Manufacturers were caught flat-footed,” Daniel Cohan, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at Rice University, told The Texas Tribune recently. “The cost of the gas turbines is now more than the cost of wind and solar farms, even before considering that you have to pay for the fuel.” Additional details The coming energy boom is also driving equity questions, regardless of the generating source. Utilities have traditionally spread the cost of new plants and other infrastructure among customers, but with AI data centers expected to suck up so much power, some argue the dynamic must shift. “The rush to build new data centers to meet growing AI demand risks shifting the infrastructure costs onto consumers in the form of increased electricity rates, effectively subsidizing the development of such facilities for trillion-dollar technology companies,” Harvard Magazine recently reported.
