COLORADO BEND ENERGY CENTER

How COLORADO BEND ENERGY CENTER compares

With 580 MW of capacity, COLORADO BEND ENERGY CENTER ranks 63rd among the 307 operating power plants Bywatts maps in Texas and 48th of the 134 operating Natural Gas plants in the state. It accounts for about 0.9% of Texas's operating Natural Gas capacity and 0.6% of all operating capacity in the state. Nationally it is the 270th-largest of the 1,185 operating Natural Gas plants in the database. Commissioned in 2002, it is newer than 52% of the 303 operating Texas plants with a recorded commissioning year. It shares Wharton County with one other operating plant, NEWGULF COGEN.

EIA-860 lists 8 generators at the site with 654 MW of nameplate capacity, mainly natural gas fired combined cycle technology (this page's HIFLD capacity figure is 580 MW). Net generation was 2,431 GWh in 2024 (a 42% capacity factor). Its generators came online between 2002 and 2023.

Grid neighborhood

The closest transmission line found within 10 miles is a 138 kV line owned by CENTERPOINT ENERGY HOUSTON ELECTRIC, LLC, under 0.1 miles away. Another 2 operating power plants totaling 674 MW sit within 25 miles; the largest is SWEENY COGEN FACILITY (572 MW, Natural Gas). Within 50 miles are 2 mapped data centers; the nearest is Databank Houston Galleria (HOU5) in Houston, about 48.3 miles away.

Computed by Bywatts from HIFLD power plant and transmission line records, EIA-860/923 survey data and PeeringDB data center locations; distances are straight-line. Sources and methodology