405th largest plant in Texas · 2012th nationally
Silas Ray is a natural gas power plant in Texas with a nameplate capacity of 143 MW. It generates roughly 125.1k MWh per year — enough to power about 11,910 average U.S. homes.
Its capacity factor of 10% reflects intermittent or peaking operation. At 1474 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 (143 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 | Silas Ray |
|---|---|
| Operator | Brownsville Public Utilities Board |
| City | Brownsville |
| County | Cameron County |
| State | Texas |
| ZIP | 78520 |
| Coordinates | 25.91310, -97.52140 |
This plant highlighted in navy-ringed pin; other generators within 25 miles shown as fuel-colored dots.
| ID | Technology | Fuel | Capacity | Status | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | Natural Gas | 61.0 MW | Operating | 2004 |
| 9 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 50.0 MW | Operating | 1996 |
| 6 | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | Natural Gas | 25.0 MW | Operating | 1959 |
| 5 | Natural Gas Steam Turbine | Natural Gas | 24.0 MW | Retired | 1952 |
| DG-2 | Petroleum Liquids | Distillate Oil | 1.3 MW | Retired | 2001 |
| DG-3a | Petroleum Liquids | Distillate Oil | 1.3 MW | Standby | 2001 |
| DG-3b | Petroleum Liquids | Distillate Oil | 1.3 MW | Standby | 2001 |
| DG-4 | Petroleum Liquids | Distillate Oil | 1.3 MW | Standby | 2001 |
| DG-6a | Petroleum Liquids | Distillate Oil | 1.3 MW | Standby | 2001 |
| DG-6b | Petroleum Liquids | Distillate Oil | 1.3 MW | Standby | 2001 |
| DG-7a | Petroleum Liquids | Distillate Oil | 1.3 MW | Retired | 2001 |
| DG-7b | Petroleum Liquids | Distillate Oil | 1.3 MW | Retired | 2001 |
| CO₂ | 92.2k metric tons |
|---|---|
| NOₓ | 36 metric tons |
| CO₂ Rate | 1474 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.