White Stallion

Investors from Kentucky are in the process of developing a new coal-fired power plant in Matagorda County, near the mouth of the Colorado River. Agricultural and environmental groups are vigorously opposing the new plant, for several reasons. These groups include The Sierra Club, Public Citizen and The Texas Pecan Alliance. The first two groups oppose coal-fired power plants in general, and the pecan growers believe that the emissions from coal-fired power plants damage their pecan orchards. 

Public Citizen has already shown itself to be effective in opposing new power plant capacity. When a private power company announced several new plants in Central Texas several years ago, the opposition of Public Citizen resulted in the cancellation of plans for most of those plants. 

Since White Stallion would need 25,000 acre-ft. of firm water each year, opposition is also coming from those who prefer that that water remain in the Highland Lakes. Rice farmers also see the project as potential competition for their irrigation water. 

so, who is in favor of building White Stallion? There are those who say that along with a potential water shortage in central Texas, there might also be a shortage of electric power. ERCOT controls the power industry in central Texas, and they report that there will be a "reserve margin" (surplus power capacity) of 16% this summer, dropping to 13% by 2013.     

 Read on.