MAXWELL, Texas (KXAN) – The Lower Colorado River Authority announced Friday that it is building a peaking power plant in Caldwell County that will be operational in 2025.
According to an LCRA release, the plant will run on natural gas and will only do so if energy demand exceeds what renewable energy can provide.
Located in Maxwell, near Church Street and Highway 142, the site spans more than 51 acres and will be able to generate 190 megawatts of electricity—enough to power 38,000 homes.
“The new plant furthers our commitment to powering Texans. With thousands of people moving to our state every week, I’m proud that LCRA is continuing to develop new sources of energy to help support our state’s dynamics growth,” said LCRA general manager Phil Wilson.
Currently, large utility poles and signs mark the parcel as belonging to LCRA.
Siblings Domingo Salinas and Janie Cruz live near the construction site of the home they built from the ground up in the 1980s.
Both said they became aware of the new plant after noticing a neighbor had moved.
That neighbor sold his property to LCRA, which is now building a new factory there, Salinas said.
The siblings, who now live on their property with several other family members, said they feared a developer might try to buy their land as development of Maxwell continued.
“We’re not planning to leave, but we don’t know what’s actually going to happen,” Cruz said.
