Frequently Asked Questions

The development will be located on an 8-acre parcel within the City’s planned 100-acre industrial park (Central Prison Unit Site). This city-owned property has direct access to Highway 6, Highway 90A, and future access to FM1464. The site is also located adjacent to the Sugar Land Regional Airport.

The plant will use natural gas to provide resilient power to the Texas grid, balancing renewable energy and load within Sugar Land and the Greater Houston area. Highly efficient engines support ERCOT’s objectives of a stable and efficient power supply for energy and ancillary services. The plant will offer black start assistance during outages, aiding quicker recovery post-major events like hurricanes and winter storms. These units operate effectively even during severe weather, as seen in Winter Storm Uri, Winter Storm Elliot, and Hurricane Ida. Texas is rapidly transitioning to a renewable grid, with nearly 39,000 MW of wind and 22,000 MW of solar capacity. However, managing intermittent renewable generation poses challenges due to weather uncertainties, outages, transmission contingencies, and fluctuating customer usage. Traditional “Peakers” cannot resolve these challenges, but “Balancers” like Reciprocating Internal Combustion Engines (RICE) can. RICE technology features fast startup, immediate on-off cycling, low minimum operating levels, and fast ramp speeds of up to 60% total plant output per minute. With high efficiency and low emissions, this local power source can respond immediately to ERCOT’s increasing intermittency.

It is projected to be completed in late 2027-early 2028.

The power plant will be connected to the ERCOT grid and become part of their operations.

This is a public-private partnership project, and project financing is still being negotiated at this time. Public tax dollars will not be used to fund the project.

Fort Bend County falls within one of the defined nonattainment areas within Texas. The map below shows the nonattainment counties in the state. These counties are held to a higher standard when it comes to air permitting. More can be found on the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) website for air permitting.

Click image to enlarge. 

Nonattainment Area 

Defined as Areas that meet the NAAQS (National Ambient Air Quality Standard) are designated “attainment,” and areas that cannot be classified based on the available information, “unclassifiable.” For ozone, the federal Clean Air Act establishes nonattainment-area classifications ranked according to the severity of the area’s air-pollution problem.

The Houston-Galveston-Brazoria (HGB) area counties are included in the state's nonattainment classified areas which includes Fort Bend County. Visit the TCEQ website to review current HGB attainment status. 

If a facility is located in a nonattainment area designated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, additional permitting requirements may apply. In addition to the requirements identified as part of the New Source Review (NSR) permits, nonattainment permit review is required if the facility has emissions above the major source and significant thresholds for the specific county designated as nonattainment. Nonattainment permitting requires the installation of the lowest achievable emission rate control technology and the acquisition of emission reductions to offset the proposed emissions increases. 

More information can be found on the TCEQ website. 

The City is committed to meeting or exceeding the state and federal air standards established through the approved guidelines set by the EPA and TCEQ. 

Noise mitigation is included in the proposal. All noise impacts will be addressed with sound barriers and by housing equipment within buildings and in accordance with all state and federal laws. The plant will operate only when requested by ERCOT, rather than running 24/7. It will be active during periods of high demand, typically on hot summer days or cold winter days when energy usage peaks. Historically, these peak times occur between 4:30 and 8:00 PM, when people return home and energy consumption is at its highest.

The mayor and staff were requested to attend community meetings to talk about the project, answer questions and listen to concerns.

Yes, future events will be posted on the city website. City staff will continue to update the project page and be available to address any community concerns.

The city is committed to providing factual information and addressing all community concerns. City staff have responded to questions from the community since the media announcement for the project. We have also been working to make staff available to attend community meetings to talk about the project, answer questions, and listen to concerns. 

The action City Council took on May 21 to approve a ground lease option agreement was done to grant access to conduct surveys, analysis, an interconnection study and an assessment that identified permits needed to ensure quality of life concerns such as air quality. Should the project proceed, a long term lease agreement will be considered by City Council.

We’ve known for a very long time that reliable power is important to our residents, especially during hot summer months and disasters like Winter Storm Yuri and Hurricane Beryl. The primary goal of this project is to deliver clean and sustainable power to the Texas grid, enhancing grid resiliency in Texas and the surrounding region. Adding capacity to the Texas grid and the surrounding region directly benefits our residents. A secondary benefit is the City is considering a revenue-sharing agreement with the developer. This agreement would allow the City to reinvest in infrastructure, maintenance, and economic development opportunities that help maintain one of the state’s lowest tax rates while also providing the high level of services our residents expect.

The activity is related to the construction of the Public Safety Training Facility and stockpile of materials for the upcoming Oyster Creek Diversion and Detention Facilities project that is currently under design to protect the Airport and Central Unit property from flooding during storm events.

No election is currently planned. The city charter specifies a process for initiative. Learn more at https://www.sugarlandtx.gov/483/Sugar-Land-Charter.

We are very early in the process. The city approved a ground lease option agreement on May 21 with Wärtsilä Development and Financials Services, Inc. to grant site access to facilitate surveys, soil boring, and analysis. A Full Interconnection Study (FIS) Application was submitted to ERCOT. Should the process continue, a future step would be a long-term ground lease and profit sharing agreement with a developer.

The plant will participate in the ERCOT market. This means that the plant will only operate when cost effective to do so. If power from ERCOT’s bulk power system is lower, like when wind and solar are producing at high levels, then the output of the plant would not be needed. However, as demand increases or when low-cost renewable generation is not available, the proposed power plant can provide reliable cost-effective energy. Importantly, this plant will be able to turn on and off quickly as system needs and prices dictate. This means it will not create unnecessary emissions or costs to customers because of operational limitations. Current estimates show the plant will initially run about 30%-35% of the time, minimizing both emissions and operating costs. It also offers black start capabilities, helping restore power during outages.

The plant will adhere to strict U.S. and international gas safety regulations to ensure public safety. These include comprehensive standards for both construction and operation, governed by agencies such as the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and local regulatory bodies, ensuring the highest safety measures are in place.

This power plant will have two primary functions: helping balance the variability of renewable resources and addressing high demand. Balancing variability means that the engine power plant is able to ramp up for example if a cloud cover causes solar output to decrease and then ramp back down as soon as the clouds pass. The ability to operate a plant this flexibly allows the use of as much renewables as possible, as often as possible. Additionally, this power plant can help serve high demand and efficiently produce energy only when needed. This means lower CO2 emissions overall. Also, this plant will apply the best available emission control technologies to ensure compliance with local air quality requirements. As a final matter, the engines can be adapted to operate on a blend of carbon-neutral fuels. In future, the engines can be converted to use 100% carbon neutral fuels, enabling the 100% renewable power systems of tomorrow.

The plant uses an extremely small amount of water—less than a gallon per day—because it operates on a closed-loop cooling system, similar to your car’s radiator. This means that the water is continuously recycled within the system, significantly reducing the need for additional water from local sources.

It is quite common for power plants to be located near airports, and some airports even have their own power plants to ensure a reliable supply of power or back-up power. The plant will be built and operated according to applicable US and global gas safety standards and requirements of relevant agencies such as Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

The proposed power project is classified as a light industrial facility. Unlike large-scale projects built for energy-intensive industries, this plant is designed to support the Texas grid.