LCRA dedicates new power plant

The LCRA dedicated a new 540-megawatt combined-cycle power plant in Horseshoe Bay this week. Officials say the Thomas C. Ferguson Power Plant is one of the newest, most efficient and reliable electric generating facilities in Texas. The new $500 million natural gas plant replaces the original Thomas C. Ferguson plant on Lake LBJ. Fluor Corporation, which constructed the new plant next to the original Ferguson plant, broke ground on the project in April 2012. LCRA officials say the new plant is among the most environmentally responsible power plants in Texas, producing 30 to 40 percent fewer emissions per megawatt-hour than the old plant and using only one-third of the water of a comparably sized steam plant. The original 420-megawatt Ferguson power plant, built in 1974, was taken offline last year and is being dismantled.