499th largest plant in Texas · 2760th nationally
J Robert Massengale is a natural gas power plant in Texas with a nameplate capacity of 84.0 MW. It generates roughly 35.3k MWh per year — enough to power about 3,360 average U.S. homes.
Its capacity factor of 5% reflects intermittent or peaking operation. At 1066 lb CO₂/MWh, its emission rate sits above the national grid average of roughly 800 lb/MWh.
| Plant Name | J Robert Massengale |
|---|---|
| Operator | City Of Lubbock - (Tx) |
| City | Lubock |
| County | Lubbock County |
| State | Texas |
| ZIP | 79401 |
| Coordinates | 33.60390, -101.84080 |
This plant highlighted in navy-ringed pin; other generators within 25 miles shown as fuel-colored dots.
| ID | Technology | Fuel | Capacity | Status | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 40.0 MW | Retired | 2000 |
| 6A | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 22.0 MW | Retired | 1957 |
| 7 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 22.0 MW | Retired | 1959 |
| 4 | Natural Gas Steam Turbine | Natural Gas | 11.5 MW | Retired | 1952 |
| 5 | Natural Gas Steam Turbine | Natural Gas | 11.5 MW | Retired | 1953 |
| CO₂ | 18.8k metric tons |
|---|---|
| NOₓ | 6 metric tons |
| CO₂ Rate | 1066 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 | Southwest Power Pool |
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.