34th largest plant in Texas · 325th nationally
Hays Energy Project is a natural gas power plant in Texas with a nameplate capacity of 989 MW. It generates roughly 4.7M MWh per year — enough to power about 446,832 average U.S. homes.
Its capacity factor of 54% puts it in the middle range — running steadily but not full-time. At 896 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 (989 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 | Hays Energy Project |
|---|---|
| Operator | Hays Energy, Llc |
| City | San Marcos |
| County | Hays County |
| State | Texas |
| ZIP | 78666 |
| Coordinates | 29.78060, -97.98940 |
This plant highlighted in navy-ringed pin; other generators within 25 miles shown as fuel-colored dots.
| ID | Technology | Fuel | Capacity | Status | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| U3 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 253 MW | Operating | 2002 |
| U4 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 253 MW | Operating | 2002 |
| U1 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 242 MW | Operating | 2002 |
| U2 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 242 MW | Operating | 2002 |
| CO₂ | 2.1M metric tons |
|---|---|
| SO₂ | 11 metric tons |
| NOₓ | 227 metric tons |
| CO₂ Rate | 896 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.