419th largest plant in Texas · 2139th nationally
Spencer is a natural gas power plant in Texas with a nameplate capacity of 127 MW. It generates roughly 45.9k MWh per year — enough to power about 4,374 average U.S. homes.
Its capacity factor of 4% reflects intermittent or peaking operation. At 1622 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 (127 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 | Spencer |
|---|---|
| Operator | City Of Garland - (Tx) |
| City | Denton |
| County | Denton County |
| State | Texas |
| ZIP | 76205 |
| Coordinates | 33.19750, -97.10610 |
This plant highlighted in navy-ringed pin; other generators within 25 miles shown as fuel-colored dots.
| ID | Technology | Fuel | Capacity | Status | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | Natural Gas Steam Turbine | Natural Gas | 65.4 MW | Operating | 1973 |
| 4 | Natural Gas Steam Turbine | Natural Gas | 61.1 MW | Operating | 1966 |
| 3 | Natural Gas Steam Turbine | Natural Gas | 22.0 MW | Retired | 1962 |
| 1 | Natural Gas Steam Turbine | Natural Gas | 12.6 MW | Retired | 1955 |
| 2 | Natural Gas Steam Turbine | Natural Gas | 12.6 MW | Retired | 1955 |
| CO₂ | 37.2k metric tons |
|---|---|
| NOₓ | 22 metric tons |
| CO₂ Rate | 1622 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.