65th largest plant in Texas · 556th nationally
Colorado Bend Energy Center is a natural gas power plant in Texas with a nameplate capacity of 654 MW. It generates roughly 2.4M MWh per year — enough to power about 230,122 average U.S. homes.
Its capacity factor of 42% puts it in the middle range — running steadily but not full-time. At 1014 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 (654 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 | Colorado Bend Energy Center |
|---|---|
| Operator | Cer Colorado Bend Energy Partners Lp |
| City | Wharton |
| County | Wharton County |
| State | Texas |
| ZIP | 77488 |
| Coordinates | 29.28780, -96.06830 |
This plant highlighted in navy-ringed pin; other generators within 25 miles shown as fuel-colored dots.
| ID | Technology | Fuel | Capacity | Status | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ST2 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 115 MW | Operating | 2008 |
| ST1 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 105 MW | Operating | 2007 |
| CT1A | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 90.0 MW | Operating | 2002 |
| CT1B | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 90.0 MW | Operating | 2002 |
| CT2A | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 90.0 MW | Operating | 2002 |
| CT2B | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 90.0 MW | Operating | 2002 |
| CT4A | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 37.0 MW | Operating | 2023 |
| CT4B | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 37.0 MW | Operating | 2023 |
| CO₂ | 1.2M metric tons |
|---|---|
| SO₂ | 6 metric tons |
| NOₓ | 164 metric tons |
| CO₂ Rate | 1014 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.