A "peaker" power plant will be built in Caldwell County

A "peaker" power plant will be built in Caldwell County

Monday, March 20, 2023 by Bob Sechler

The Lower Colorado River Authority has picked a site in Caldwell County south of Austin to build a new power plant, a so-called "peaker" plant designed to ramp up quickly when demand for electricity starts to approach what's available on the state's grid. The plant, which will be fueled by natural gas, is going to be built on a 51-acre site in the Maxwell area, according to the LCRA, and it's expected to be operational in 2025. "Thousands of people are moving to our state every week, and I'm proud LCRA is continuing to develop new sources of power to help support our state's dynamic growth," said Phil Wilson, general manager of the LCRA. According to the agency, the power plant will have a generation capacity of about 190 megawatts. One megawatt is enough to power 200 homes during periods of peak demand, according to the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, which operates the state's power grid.

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