Lower Colorado River Authority is a massively important electric company in Texas, but its power generation and distribution is only one facet of what they provide for our state. In addition to their electricity portfolio, LCRA provides water to over 1 million people from their many dams. In addition, they manage over 40 state and local parks, have a huge radio communications network and have put into place a fiber optic network that covers a vast area of Central and South Texas.
Since we are an electricity website, let’s focus on that part of the company. Lower Colorado River Authority has a vast electricity generation and transmission system. They generate 96% of the electricity they sell, with the remaining 4% being purchased from the Indian Mesa Wind Energy Center, Papalote Creek II Wind Farm, and from the Juno solar and Mars solar projects. These solar and wind purchases were mainly put into place for public relations reasons, as LCRA produces more electrical power than is required to fulfill demand. In fact, they sell over 10,000 megawatts of electricity into the ERCOT electric grid.
LCRA is the 10th largest electricity generator in Texas. They produce over 12,500,000 megawatts of electricity each year, with a respectable portion of that coming from renewable hydroelectric dams.
Lower Colorado River Authority also has a very interesting natural gas storage facility near Rockne, Texas. This storage facility converted an ancient underground volcano into a large storage tank by capping it with shale.
Lower Colorado River Authority power plants:
- Thomas C Ferguson Power Plant, Natural gas, 556 MW
- Fayette Power Project, Coal, 1,642 MW
- Winchester Power Park, Natural gas, 184 MW
- Lost Pines 1 Power Project, Natural gas, 540 MW
- Sim Gideon Power Plant, Natural gas, 620 MW
- Buchanan Dam, Hydroelectric, 54.9 MW
- Inks Dam, Hydroelectric, 13.8 MW
- Wirtz Dam, Hydroelectric, 60 MW
- Starcke Dam, Hydroelectric, 41.4 MW
- Mansfield Dam, Hydroelectric, 108 MW
- Tom Miller Dam, Hydroelectric, 17 MW
LCRA provides electricity to the following cities:
- Bastrop
- Bellville
- Brady
- Brenham
- Burnet
- Cuero
- Flatonia
- Fredericksburg
- Giddings
- Goldthwaite
- Gonzales
- Hallettsville
- Hempstead
- La Grange
- Lampasas
- Lexington
- Llano
- Lockhart
- Luling
- Mason
- Moulton
- San Marcos
- San Saba
- Schulenburg
- Shiner
- Smithville
- Waelder
- Weimar
- Yoakum
LCRA provides electricity to the following electric cooperatives:
- Bandera Electric Cooperative
- Bluebonnet Electric Cooperative
- Hamilton County Electric Cooperative
- Pedernales Electric Cooperative
Contact information and phone number:
Lower Colorado River Authority
P.O. Box 220
Austin, TX 78767
512-473-3200