Coleto Creek power station
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Coleto Creek power station is an operating power station of at least 600-megawatts (MW) in Fannin, Goliad, Texas, United States.
Location
Table 1: Project-level location details
| Plant name | Location | Coordinates (WGS 84) |
|---|---|---|
| Coleto Creek power station | Fannin, Goliad, Texas, United States | 28.712836, -97.214378 (exact)[1] |
Unit-level coordinates (WGS 84):
- Unit 1: 28.712836, -97.214378
Project Details
Table 2: Unit-level details
| Unit name | Status | Fuel(s) | Capacity (MW) | Technology | Start year | Retired year | Emergency/Backup |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unit 1, timepoint 1 | Operating | coal: subbituminous[2] | 600 | subcritical | 1980 | 2027 (planned)[3] | no |
| Unit 1, timepoint 2 | Pre-construction[4][5] | fossil gas: natural gas[4][6][5] | 600[5][4][6][7] | steam turbine[1][5][8][4][6] | 2026 (planned)[9][5] | – | no |
CHP is an abbreviation for Combined Heat and Power. It is a technology that produces electricity and thermal energy at high efficiencies. Coal units track this information in the Captive Use section when known.
Table 3: Unit-level ownership and operator details
| Unit name | Owner | Parent |
|---|---|---|
| Unit 1, timepoint 1 | Coleto Creek Power LLC [50%]; Luminant Generation Company LLC [50%][4][6][4][6] | Vistra Corp [100.0%] |
| Unit 1, timepoint 2 | Coleto Creek Power LLC [50%]; Luminant Generation Company LLC [50%][4][6][4][6] | Vistra Corp [100.0%] |
Unit-level fuel conversion details:
Unit 1: Conversion in pre-construction phase from coal to fossil gas in 2026.
Project-level coal details
- Coal source(s): domestic
Impacts
Potential emissions and details on the project's status and permit applications can be viewed on Oil and Gas Watch page here.
The Oil and Gas Watch database, created by Environmental Integrity Project (EIP), is a free, public-facing tool designed to track the rapid expansion of fossil fuel and petrochemical infrastructure in the United States. Oil and Gas Watch maps new and expanding oil, gas, and petrochemical infrastructure projects across the country and monitors each project’s construction status so the public can stay informed about major oil and gas developments being proposed in their communities. We track key environmental approvals companies must obtain before starting construction or operations and provide access to thousands of government records and permits unearthed by our analysts.
Ownership Tree
This ownership tree is part of the Global Energy Ownership Tracker, a project of Global Energy Monitor.
Ownership
In February 2017 Dynegy bought the plant and 16 others from Engie (previously known as GDF Suez) for US$3.3 billion. Two of the plants are coal-fired: Coleto Creek power station and Kline Cogeneration Facility. The remaining 15 plants are gas-fired.[10] In 2018 Dynegy completed a merger with Vistra Energy. [11]
Retirement plans
In December 2020, Vistra announced plans to retire the Coleto Creek power station by 2027.[12]
As of June 2024, Vistra planned to end coal generation at Coleto Creek power station in 2027 and re-power the station into a gas-fired plant.[13]
Emissions Data
- 2024 Gross Load (MWh): 2,834,810[14]
- 2024 SO2 Mass (short tons): 8,257[14]
- 2024 CO2 Mass (short tons): 3,111,550[14]
- 2024 NOx Mass (short tons): 2,152[14]
- 2023 Mercury emissions (Hg, lb): 12.98[15][16]
Impacts
Potential emissions and details on the project's status and permit applications can be viewed on Oil and Gas Watch page here.
The Oil and Gas Watch database, created by Environmental Integrity Project (EIP), is a free, public-facing tool designed to track the rapid expansion of fossil fuel and petrochemical infrastructure in the United States. Oil and Gas Watch maps new and expanding oil, gas, and petrochemical infrastructure projects across the country and monitors each project’s construction status so the public can stay informed about major oil and gas developments being proposed in their communities. We track key environmental approvals companies must obtain before starting construction or operations and provide access to thousands of government records and permits unearthed by our analysts.
Death and disease attributable to fine particle pollution from Coleto Creek power station
In 2010, Abt Associates issued a study commissioned by the Clean Air Task Force, a nonprofit research and advocacy organization, quantifying the deaths and other health effects attributable to fine particle pollution from coal-fired power plants.[17] Fine particle pollution consists of a complex mixture of soot, heavy metals, sulfur dioxide, and nitrogen oxides. Among these particles, the most dangerous are those less than 2.5 microns in diameter, which are so tiny that they can evade the lung's natural defenses, enter the bloodstream, and be transported to vital organs. Impacts are especially severe among the elderly, children, and those with respiratory disease. The study found that over 13,000 deaths and tens of thousands of cases of chronic bronchitis, acute bronchitis, asthma, congestive heart failure, acute myocardial infarction, dysrhythmia, ischemic heart disease, chronic lung disease, and pneumonia each year are attributable to fine particle pollution from U.S. coal plant emissions. These deaths and illnesses are major examples of coal's external costs, i.e. uncompensated harms inflicted upon the public at large. Low-income and minority populations are disproportionately impacted as well, due to the tendency of companies to avoid locating power plants upwind of affluent communities. To monetize the health impact of fine particle pollution from each coal plant, Abt assigned a value of $7,300,000 to each 2010 mortality, based on a range of government and private studies. Valuations of illnesses ranged from $52 for an asthma episode to $440,000 for a case of chronic bronchitis.[18]
Table 1: Death and disease attributable to fine particle pollution from Coleto Creek power station
| Type of Impact | Annual Incidence | Valuation |
|---|---|---|
| Deaths | 7 | $54,000,000 |
| Heart attacks | 11 | $1,200,000 |
| Asthma attacks | 150 | $8,000 |
| Hospital admissions | 6 | $130,000 |
| Chronic bronchitis | 5 | $2,300,000 |
| Asthma ER visits | 8 | $3,000 |
Source: "Find Your Risk from Power Plant Pollution," Clean Air Task Force interactive table, accessed February 2011
Coal Ash Waste
In November 2025, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed to delay the closure deadline for unlined coal ash ponds at eleven coal plants, including Coleto Creek power station. Under a 2015 rule, unlined coal ash ponds were to cease receiving waste by April 2021, but in 2020, the then Trump administration extended the deadline to October 2028. The EPA’s latest proposal would allow the eleven coal plants to continue operating and dumping coal ash into unlined ponds until October 2031.[19][20] Earthjustice said that all of the unlined coal ash ponds at the eleven plants were known to be contaminating surrounding groundwater, and that courts had already ruled that the plants cannot dump coal ash into holding ponds that leak pollutants into the groundwater.[19]
Coal Waste Sites
Coleto Creek ranked 54th on list of most polluting power plants in terms of coal waste
In January 2009, Sue Sturgis of the Institute of Southern Studies compiled a list of the 100 most polluting coal plants in the United States in terms of coal combustion waste (CCW) stored in surface impoundments like the one involved in the TVA Kingston Fossil Plant coal ash spill.[21] The data came from the EPA's Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) for 2006, the most recent year available.[22]
Coleto Creek power station ranked number 54 on the list, with 550,623 pounds of coal combustion waste released to surface impoundments in 2006.[21]
Articles and Resources
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 https://www.eia.gov/electricity/data/eia860m/xls/september_generator2024.xlsx.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ↑ https://www.gem.wiki/Coal_source_methodology_for_the_Global_Coal_Plant_Tracker.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ↑ https://www.victoriaadvocate.com/counties/goliad/coleto-creek-power-plant-shutting-down-by-2027/article_261596c8-342b-11eb-92e8-0f9c2d927a2b.html.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.7 (PDF) https://ukozvhzgrcnkcatjqfoo.supabase.co/storage/v1/object/public/03-00-air-construction/AIR_NSR_179653-390926_Permits_Public_20250503_Tech_f9cb519f.pdf.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 https://investor.vistracorp.com/2024-05-30-Vistra-Announces-Plans-to-Add-Up-to-2,000-MW-of-Gas-Fueled-Dispatchable-Power-in-ERCOT.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 6.6 (PDF) https://ukozvhzgrcnkcatjqfoo.supabase.co/storage/v1/object/public/03-00-air-construction/AIR_NSR_179653-390926_Permits_Public_20250502_Init_c2f21a77.pdf.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ↑ https://www.victoriaadvocate.com/news/environment/power-company-to-repower-coleto-creek-plant-as-gas-fueled-plant/article_56cfabb0-2689-11ef-ac50-fb8a5bf61473.html.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ↑ https://www.southtexasnews.com/archives/inside-the-coleto-creek-power-plant/article_47f03519-ff79-5ed6-9c4c-994be42a9192.html.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ↑ https://www.ercot.com/misdownload/servlets/mirDownload?doclookupId=1245185620.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ↑ "Dynegy Completes Acquisition of ENGIE’s U.S. Portfolio," BusinessWire, February 07, 2017
- ↑ https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180409005790/en/Vistra-Energy-Completes-Merger-Dynegy
- ↑ "Coleto Creek Power Plant shutting down by 2027," Victoria Advocate, December 1, 2020
- ↑ "Power company to repower Coleto Creek plant as gas-fueled plant," Victoria Advocate, June 9, 2024
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 14.3 EIA (2024). "Clean Air Markets Program Data (CAMD)". Retrieved 2025-02-20.
- ↑ Clean Air and Power Division, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (February 2024). "Annual data 2022 vs. 2023". Retrieved 2025-03-04.
- ↑ Toxics Release Inventory, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (October 2024). "2023 Basic Plus Data". Retrieved 2025-03-04.
- ↑ "The Toll from Coal: An Updated Assessment of Death and Disease from America's Dirtiest Energy Source," Clean Air Task Force, September 2010.
- ↑ "Technical Support Document for the Powerplant Impact Estimator Software Tool," Prepared for the Clean Air Task Force by Abt Associates, July 2010
- ↑ 19.0 19.1 “EPA Proposes to Delay Closure of Some of the Largest Toxic Coal Ash Ponds, in Violation of the Law,” Earthjustice, November 25, 2025
- ↑ “Trump administration proposes to extend the life of some coal plants,” The Hill, November 26, 2025
- ↑ 21.0 21.1 Sue Sturgis, "Coal's ticking timebomb: Could disaster strike a coal ash dump near you?," Institute for Southern Studies, January 4, 2009.
- ↑ TRI Explorer, EPA, accessed January 2009.
Additional data
To access additional data, including interactive maps of the power stations, downloadable datasets, and summary data, please visit the Global Coal Plant Tracker and the Global Oil and Gas Plant Tracker on the Global Energy Monitor website.
