88th largest plant in Texas · 704th nationally
Cedar Bayou 4 is a natural gas power plant in Texas with a nameplate capacity of 536 MW. It generates roughly 1.9M MWh per year — enough to power about 181,397 average U.S. homes.
Its capacity factor of 41% puts it in the middle range — running steadily but not full-time. At 785 lb CO₂/MWh, its emission rate sits below the national grid average of roughly 800 lb/MWh.
Ghost bars are each month's theoretical maximum (536 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 | Cedar Bayou 4 |
|---|---|
| Operator | Nrg Cedar Bayou Development Company Llc |
| City | Eldon |
| County | Chambers County |
| State | Texas |
| ZIP | 77523 |
| Coordinates | 29.75164, -94.92312 |
This plant highlighted in navy-ringed pin; other generators within 25 miles shown as fuel-colored dots.
| ID | Technology | Fuel | Capacity | Status | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 179 MW | Operating | 2009 |
| 41 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 179 MW | Operating | 2009 |
| 42 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 179 MW | Operating | 2009 |
| Owner | Location | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Nrg Cedar Bayou Development Company Llc | Houston, TX | 5000.0% |
| Oe Holdings, Llc | Charlotte, NC | 5000.0% |
Ownership reported to EIA Form 860. Percentages reflect reported generator-level ownership share, averaged when a plant has multiple generators.
| CO₂ | 747.5k metric tons |
|---|---|
| SO₂ | 4 metric tons |
| NOₓ | 69 metric tons |
| CO₂ Rate | 785 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.