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AUSTIN, Texas — Texas has led the nation in population growth and job creation for years. The Lower Colorado River Authority, the backbone of a large swath of Texas energy and water infrastructure, just approved its largest investment plan to date to help Texas keep pace with its continued growth.

On Wednesday, LCRA’s Board of Directors approved a $656 million operating budget and $1.8 billion in capital investments for FY 2027. The $1.8 billion in capital investments is funded primarily through LCRA’s own revenues and debt, consistent with the organization’s operations since 1934, which have relied on no state appropriations.

LCRA manages the lower Colorado River and six Highland Lakes, provides wholesale electricity to Central Texas cooperatives and small towns, and operates one of the state’s largest transmission networks.

The business plan projects that power demand across ERCOT will grow significantly through 2031. Water needs are rising alongside power demand. LCRA’s plan is built for where Texas is going.

What’s in the plan

• Power: LCRA’s new Timmerman Power Plant in Caldwell County is helping meet the increasing need for reliable, dispatchable power in Texas. The plant’s first unit began providing power to the state’s grid in 2025, and a second unit came online last month. LCRA also continues to build and improve transmission facilities. LCRA TSC expects to invest about $8.6 billion in transmission over the next five years as the state continues to grow.

• Water: LCRA added to the region’s water supply last year with the new Arbuckle Reservoir in Wharton County and is exploring building another reservoir in the lower basin to increase water supplies. LCRA’s Water business plans to invest $153 million over the next five years to develop new water supply projects and tens of millions in dam rehabilitation projects over the same period to help ensure the continued safe and effective operation of LCRA dams.

• Broadband: Over the next five years, LCRA is helping connect communities across Texas to critically needed broadband services by making strategic investments to upgrade and expand its fiber network and radio system. LCRA is working with the Kerrville Public Utility Board to build telecommunication infrastructure for a flood warning system in Kerr County, where construction has begun.

Texas added millions of residents this decade. LCRA’s FY 2027 Business and Capital Plan is its operational answer to that reality: delivering more power, more water and more connectivity.

LCRA to invest about $1.63 billion in capital projects over the next year to support Texas during period of unprecedented challenges, opportunities

May 21, 2025

AUSTIN, Texas – The LCRA Board of Directors on Wednesday approved a business plan of $591.4 million and authorized capital investments of about $1.63 billion for energy, water and public service projects to support Texas in fiscal year 2026.

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 outline how LCRA plans to meet the tremendous growth in Texas and tackle the unprecedented challenges and opportunities that come with it,” said Stephen F. Cooper, chair of the Board of Directors. “LCRA is proud to serve our growing region by proactively anticipating and responding to growth.”

Capital projects include power generation and infrastructure improvement, dam rehabilitation, and water supply projects, as well as projects for LCRA’s park system. 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.

LCRA is helping meet the increasing need for reliable, dispatchable power in Texas by building two electric generating units at LCRA’s natural gas-fired peaker Timmerman Power Plant in Caldwell County. The first unit is expected to be online later this year.

LCRA TSC plans to invest about $5.9 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 state’s power grid. In addition, under authority from the Texas Legislature, LCRA is implementing new ways to help connect people to broadband services by using excess capacity in LCRA’s fiber infrastructure.

On the water side, LCRA is taking significant actions to conserve and extend the region’s water supplies, as well as developing new regional water supply projects. LCRA’s biggest project underway is the Arbuckle Reservoir in Wharton County, the first significant new water supply reservoir in the lower Colorado River basin in decades and the first water storage facility LCRA has downstream of the Highland Lakes. Arbuckle is expected to be online later this year.

LCRA plans to invest about $159.5 million over the next five years for the development of new water supply projects and will invest about $44.4 million in dam rehabilitation projects – excluding projects strictly for hydroelectric power facilities – over the next five years for the continued safe and effective operation of its dams.

“LCRA is continuing to make significant investments in all our areas of business, including power, water, broadband and transmission,” LCRA General Manager Phil Wilson said. “These investments align with our mission and vision and demonstrate our commitment to finding strategic and innovative solutions to help meet the needs of current and future generations of Texans in our growing state.”

LCRA does not receive state appropriations or have the ability to levy taxes. LCRA is funded by the revenues its businesses generate.

LCRA’s 2026 fiscal year begins July 1. The FY 2026 LCRA business and capital plans are available at www.lcra.org/about/financial-highlights/business-plan/.

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/.