30th largest plant in Texas · 303rd nationally
Freestone Energy Center is a natural gas power plant in Texas with a nameplate capacity of 1,036 MW. It generates roughly 7.6M MWh per year — enough to power about 719,963 average U.S. homes.
Its capacity factor of 83% means it runs nearly around-the-clock as baseload generation. At 832 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 (1,036 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 | Freestone Energy Center |
|---|---|
| Operator | Freestone Power Generation Llc |
| City | Fairfield |
| County | Freestone County |
| State | Texas |
| ZIP | 75840 |
| Coordinates | 31.89070, -96.11310 |
This plant highlighted in navy-ringed pin; other generators within 25 miles shown as fuel-colored dots.
| ID | Technology | Fuel | Capacity | Status | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ST3 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 185 MW | Operating | 2002 |
| ST6 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 185 MW | Operating | 2002 |
| GT1 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 167 MW | Operating | 2002 |
| GT2 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 167 MW | Operating | 2002 |
| GT3 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 167 MW | Operating | 2002 |
| GT4 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 167 MW | Operating | 2002 |
| Owner | Location | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Freestone Power Generation Llc | Fairfield, TX | 7500.0% |
| Rayburn Country Elec Coop, Inc | Rockwall, TX | 2500.0% |
Ownership reported to EIA Form 860. Percentages reflect reported generator-level ownership share, averaged when a plant has multiple generators.
| CO₂ | 3.1M metric tons |
|---|---|
| SO₂ | 16 metric tons |
| NOₓ | 791 metric tons |
| CO₂ Rate | 832 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.