LCRA continues working to help meet state’s growing need for power and water
AUSTIN, Texas – The LCRA Board of Directors on Wednesday approved a business plan of about $577 million and authorized capital investments of about $1.32 billion for energy, water and public service projects to support Texas in fiscal year 2025.
The Lower Colorado River Authority is the primary wholesale provider of electricity in Central Texas and manages the lower Colorado River and six Highland Lakes. LCRA Transmission Services Corporation is one of the largest electric transmission service providers in Texas.
“Our business and capital plans uphold LCRA’s commitment to invest in Texas’ future by helping to build the power, water and communications infrastructure critical for our state’s continued success,” said Timothy Timmerman, chair of the LCRA Board of Directors. “LCRA’s investments support a growing region in Texas and supply the services essential for maintaining healthy economies and businesses within our communities and our state.”
As one of the largest public power providers in the state, LCRA provides power for electric cooperatives and small towns in Central Texas by selling wholesale electricity through long-term contracts with retail utilities.
One of LCRA’s largest capital projects is a new two-unit peaker power plant under construction in Caldwell County. The new natural gas-fired Timmerman Power Plant, named after the chair of the LCRA Board of Directors, will help meet the state’s increasing need for reliable power and support the Texas energy grid by providing dispatchable power when demand approaches or surpasses the amount of power available from other sources.
Each of the plant’s two units will be able to supply up to 190 megawatts of dispatchable power. When operating at full capacity, the Timmerman plant will be able to supply enough electricity to power more than 100,000 homes during periods of peak demand. The first unit is expected to be operational in 2025, and the second unit is scheduled to come online in 2026.
This year marks LCRA’s 90th anniversary. In 1934, Gov. Miriam A. “Ma” Ferguson signed legislation creating LCRA to improve the quality of life of people living in a region challenged by floods, droughts and limited access to electricity.
“We electrified the Hill Country in the 1930s and ’40s, and now we are taking a lead role in investing in dispatchable generation that can be called upon quickly when needed,” LCRA General Manager Phil Wilson said. “We are well positioned to serve Texans and our customers for many years to come because while LCRA’s services have evolved over the past 90 years, we continue to help Texans respond to significant population growth by staying true to our mission to enhance the quality of life of the people we serve through water stewardship, energy and community service.”
LCRA TSC plans to invest more than $3.9 billion over the next five years to build new transmission facilities and improve existing ones. LCRA TSC will undertake numerous projects to increase reliability, meet existing and projected needs for electricity, and connect new electric generators to the grid.
LCRA is working to enhance the information age in its Texas service area, investing about $146 million over the next five years to greatly increase the amount of data that can be sent over LCRA’s radio system to facilitate smart technologies. LCRA also is using its fiber capacity as the middle mile – the highway to which last-mile providers can connect – to help provide broadband services that are essential to the continued success of communities in the region.
Additionally, LCRA continues to make investments to increase regional water supplies. LCRA is completing the new Arbuckle Reservoir and plans to invest about $174 million over the next five years for other new water supply projects. LCRA also will continue to maintain and invest in its system of dams, which are critical to protect water supplies and provide flood management, and will invest more than $38 million in rehabilitation projects over the next five years to help ensure the dams continue to operate safely.
LCRA does not receive state appropriations or have the ability to levy taxes. LCRA is funded by the revenues its businesses generate.
The LCRA 2025 fiscal year begins July 1. The FY 2025 LCRA business and capital plans are available at www.lcra.org/about/financial-highlights/business-plan/.
