71st largest plant in Texas · 596th nationally
Bastrop Energy Center is a natural gas power plant in Texas with a nameplate capacity of 619 MW. It generates roughly 3.0M MWh per year — enough to power about 287,820 average U.S. homes.
Its capacity factor of 56% puts it in the middle range — running steadily but not full-time. At 856 lb CO₂/MWh, its emission rate sits above the national grid average of roughly 800 lb/MWh.
Ghost bars are each month's theoretical maximum (619 MW nameplate × hours in the month). Filled bars are actual net generation reported to EIA Form 923. The gap between them is capacity factor made visible.
| Plant Name | Bastrop Energy Center |
|---|---|
| Operator | Bastrop Energy Partners, Lp |
| City | Cedar Creek |
| County | Bastrop County |
| State | Texas |
| ZIP | 78602 |
| Coordinates | 30.14580, -97.55000 |
This plant highlighted in navy-ringed pin; other generators within 25 miles shown as fuel-colored dots.
| ID | Technology | Fuel | Capacity | Status | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0003 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 242 MW | Operating | 2002 |
| 0001 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 188 MW | Operating | 2002 |
| 0002 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 188 MW | Operating | 2002 |
| CO₂ | 1.3M metric tons |
|---|---|
| SO₂ | 7 metric tons |
| NOₓ | 285 metric tons |
| CO₂ Rate | 856 lb/MWh |
Annual totals and CO₂ rate reported by EPA eGRID for 2023. Reference averages are approximate U.S.-wide figures from the same dataset.
| NERC Region | TRE |
|---|---|
| Balancing Authority | Electric Reliability Council Of Texas, Inc. |
Natural gas plants are the workhorse of the modern grid. Combined-cycle units achieve very high efficiency and can ramp up and down quickly to balance variable renewables. They emit roughly half the CO₂ per MWh of coal and far less of other pollutants, but they still release upstream methane during fuel extraction.