53rd largest plant in Texas · 424th nationally
Magic Valley Generating Station is a natural gas power plant in Texas with a nameplate capacity of 801 MW. It generates roughly 2.9M MWh per year — enough to power about 274,608 average U.S. homes.
Its capacity factor of 41% puts it in the middle range — running steadily but not full-time. At 868 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 (801 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 | Magic Valley Generating Station |
|---|---|
| Operator | Calpine Corp-Magic Valley |
| City | Edinburg |
| County | Hidalgo County |
| State | Texas |
| ZIP | 78539 |
| Coordinates | 26.34030, -98.19000 |
This plant highlighted in navy-ringed pin; other generators within 25 miles shown as fuel-colored dots.
| ID | Technology | Fuel | Capacity | Status | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CTG1 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 267 MW | Operating | 2002 |
| CTG2 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 267 MW | Operating | 2002 |
| STG | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 267 MW | Operating | 2002 |
| CO₂ | 1.3M metric tons |
|---|---|
| SO₂ | 6 metric tons |
| NOₓ | 180 metric tons |
| CO₂ Rate | 868 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.