This represents an extension and expansion of a previous 15-year agreement between the two companies for energy from Peñascal I. CPS Energy more than doubled its power offtake from the project – increasing from 77 MW to 161 MW – and will now receive almost 80% of the power generated there.

Peñascal I was the first wind power project on the Texas coast, reaching commercial operations in 2009. It includes 84 turbines that generate a total of 202 MW.

“This is another great example of Avangrid working closely with our partners to continue delivering clean, reliable energy to customers,” said Pedro Azagra, Avangrid CEO. “In this case, we are growing our already strong relationship with CPS Energy to support their growing customer base while managing merchant risk at one of our existing wind facilities. Partnerships like this are critical to supporting a clean energy transition in Texas and beyond.”

“Growing our portfolio of renewable energy brings us closer to realizing our Vision 2027 goals,” said Rudy D. Garza, president and CEO of CPS Energy. “This expansion is an exciting step in our renewable energy commitments and is well-aligned with our approved generation plan.”

CPS Energy said the additional 84 MW of wind power supports its Vision 2027 plan that contemplates the retirement of 2,249 MW of older generation capacity before 2030. These efforts also align with CPS Energy’s commitment to the City of San Antonio’s Climate Action & Adaptation Plan (CAAP), which includes a resolution by the CPS Energy board of trustees to support the CAAP’s goal to become carbon neutral by 2050, and the interim goals of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 41% from 2016 levels and 71% by 2040.

Constellation’s ownership will shift to 42%, and Austin Energy’s ownership will remain at 16% following the transaction. Additionally, CPS Energy entered into a long-term Purchase Power Agreement (PPA) with Constellation for an additional 200 MW of firm capacity that will be available for CPS Energy customers by the summer.

The additional 2% ownership of STP for CPS Energy will equate to an additional 52 MW of dispatchable generation to the portfolio and will help support CPS Energy’s Vision 2027 plan that contemplates the retirement of 2,249 MW of older generation capacity before 2030. To date, CPS Energy has added 1,710 MW of natural gas, 730 MW of solar energy and 50 MW of energy storage as part of its generation plan, with an additional 500 MW energy storage RFP in the works.

CPS Energy says these efforts also align with its commitment to the City of San Antonio’s Climate Action & Adaptation Plan (CAAP), which includes a Board of Trustees resolution to support the CAAP’s goal to become carbon neutral by 2050, and the interim goals of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 41% from 2016 levels and 71% by 2040.

CPS Energy, Austin Energy, NRG, and Constellation say they resolved their disputes regarding the proposed sale of an interest in STP by NRG to Constellation South Texas LLC and the related rights of first refusal of CPS Energy and Austin Energy. As part of this resolution, CPS Energy and Austin Energy will dismiss their pending litigation against NRG and Constellation and will withdraw their objections previously filed with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

“The addition of these megawatts to our system supports reliability for our customers as we enter another summer season,” said Rudy D. Garza, President and CEO of CPS Energy. “CPS Energy continues to stay focused on our Vision 2027 plan and will continue our focus on reliability for our growing community.”

San Antonio’s municipal utility will acquire all assets associated with Talen’s 897 MW Barney Davis and 635 MW Nueces Bay natural gas-fired generation facilities, both located in Corpus Christi, Texas. CPS Energy is also acquiring Talen’s 178 MW natural gas-fired generation facility in Laredo. The transaction is expected to close in the second quarter of 2024, subject to customary net working capital adjustments.  

The addition of these units aligns with CPS Energy’s generation plan, approved by the utility’s Board of Trustees in 2023. The generation plan includes the retirement of older units and the addition of a blend of gas, solar, wind, and energy storage.

Earlier this month CPS Energy informed ERCOT of its plan to retire three natural gas-fired units at the V.H. Braunig facility by March 31, 2025. The Braunig units, located in Bexar County, Texas, total 859 MW of capacity. Units 1, 2 and 3 came online in 1966, 1968 and 1970, respectively. ERCOT will now conduct grid reliability studies to determine whether to approve the retirement.

The Braunig units make up 2,249 MW of dispatchable generation capacity CPS Energy plans to retire by 2030. The utility has added 730 MW of solar energy and 50 MW of energy storage to date as part of its generation plan, with an additional 500 MW energy storage RFP in the works.

The plants to be acquired in Corpus Christi and Laredo are expected to be operational for the next 25 years. There are a total of approximately 65 employees at these sites who will have the opportunity to become CPS Energy employees at the closing of the acquisition.

The Nueces Bay power plant began operating in 2010 and uses two natural gas turbines operating in combined-cycle, with a re-powered steam turbine to generate power. Barney Davis has two natural gas-fired units which began operating in 1974 and 2010.

The Braunig units, located in Bexar County, Texas, total 859 MW of capacity. Units 1, 2 and 3 came online in 1966, 1968 and 1970, respectively.

“The retirement of the Braunig units is part of our Board approved generation plan,” said a CPS Energy spokesperson in a statement. “These power plants are nearing their operational end of life and we took official steps to notify ERCOT of our intent to retire these units in 2025.” 

ERCOT will now conduct grid reliability studies to determine whether they will approve the retirement of these units. CPS Energy said it would continue to have collaborative discussions with ERCOT during the review process.

Electric reliability and resource adequacy concerns in Texas have dominated headlines over the last few years as the state has faced significant demand growth and high-profile weather events.

CPS Energy did not answer questions about how it plans to replace the capacity from Braunig’s retirement. But according to its generation portfolio plan, the utility plans to add a mix of gas, solar wind and energy storage resources. Exponential community growth is expected to require an additional 115 MW of capacity per year, officials have said.

CPS Energy, which is San Antonio’s municipal utility, plans to retire 2,249 MW of dispatchable generation capacity by 2030.

Outside of Braunig, the utility plans to retire two units at the Sommers natural gas-fired plant. The 420 MW Sommers 1 came online in 1972 and would be retired in March 2027. The 410 MW Sommers 2 came online in 1974 and would be retired in March 2029.c

CPS Energy said like at Braunig, the Sommers units are “reaching their end of design life,” according to utility filings from 2021.

The utility also plans to retire one unit at its Spruce coal-fired plant in 2028 and convert the other unit to natural gas by 2027

The generation portfolio plan was approved by the CPS Energy Board of Trustees in January 2023.

The FlexPOWER Bundle initiative aims to further diversify CPS Energy’s power generation mix, adding up to 900 MW of solar, up to 50 MW of energy storage and up to 500 MW of firming capacity. The bundle is part of the utility’s wider plan to replace older generation with newer and cleaner technologies. CPS Energy first launched the RFP in 2020.

Here are the details on the latest procurement:

Natural gas: Calpine will provide a total of approximately 500 MW of firming natural gas capacity located in Guadalupe County at the Guadalupe Energy Center. The agreement will make power available to CPS Energy beginning in the Spring of 2023.

Solar: Ashtrom Renewable Energy, in collaboration with OnPeak Power, will provide 100 MW of the El Patrimonio solar project, which will be located in Bexar County. The power purchase agreement is a 20-year contract with an anticipated commercial operation date of May 2025.

Additionally, Ashtrom will contribute funds towards CPS Energy student scholarships, as well as on-site field day mentorship to local students during the construction of the facility in Bexar County. The company will also grant funds toward the construction of an outdoor classroom that can be used for field trip instruction.

Storage: Eolian L.P. (Eolian) will provide CPS Energy the right to dispatch a 50 MW, 2-hour duration energy storage project located in Bexar County. The agreement is a 20-year contract with an anticipated commercial operation date of December 2024.

CPS Energy will issue a new and separate RFP in the first quarter of 2023 to procure up to an additional 320 MW of solar, to include community solar proposals, to add to its generation portfolio.

In 2022, CPS Energy successfully executed agreements for 300 MW of solar capacity with Consolidated Edison Development Inc. and 180 MW with Ashtrom Renewable Energy. 

The technology is based on conventional drilling technology used in the oil and gas industry as well as off-the-shelf hydropower equipment. When low-cost electricity is available, water in a storage reservoir is pumped down a well and into a body of rock. The energy-storing rock bodies are non-hydrocarbon bearing and found in many locations, including near electricity transmission and distribution hubs.

When electricity is needed, the well is opened to let the pressurized water pass through a turbine to generate electricity, and return to the pond for the next cycle.

The approach makes use of approaches and supply chains used in the oil and gas industry, Houston-based Quidnet said, and provides a possible “pathway into the green economy” for oil patch workers.

(Read “What makes a great plant manager? CPS Energy’s James Richardson got hooked early.”)

Quidnet has developed energy storage test sites in Medina and San Saba counties in Texas. It said it is working on pilot projects in Ohio, New York, and Alberta, Canada. The company is backed by Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Evok Innovations, Trafigura, and other investors and has received support from the U.S. Department of Energy, the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, and Emissions Reduction Alberta.

The company said that each 10 MWh system would cycle water equivalent to approximately five olympic swimming pools, or around 3.3 million gallons.

CPS Energy adopted its Flexible Path Resource Plan to close coal plants, and adopt technologies like energy storage and electric vehicles, expand renewable resources, and add more programs and services such as energy efficiency and demand response. By 2040, the utility plans to increase renewables by 127% while decreasing gas- and coal-fired generation by 72% and 61%, respectively.

EPIcenter’s Innovation Management program was engaged to support CPS Energy’s decision-making process for this novel form of energy storage. The program facilitates the process alongside a team of CPS Energy leadership to vet and implement emerging technologies. The nonprofit organization, established in 2015, is intended to speed innovation to make the production and consumption of energy smarter, cleaner, more resilient and more efficient. 

EPICenter is taking part in DISTRIBUTECH / POWERGEN 2022 with the session Energy Innovation: Move the Needle for Real on May 25.

Growing up in the small town of Latta, South Carolina, James Richardson became interested in power generation when a local electric company presented at his high school.

“There was a stationary bicycle that was connected to a generator that lit a light when someone pedaled the bicycle,” he said. “I was fascinated by this as a freshman.” Richardson spoke with Power Engineering in observance of #BlackHistoryMonth.

Richardson’s pastor, Reverend Paul B. German, was the maintenance man at the nearby elementary school. He taught Richardson how to start up and operate the package boilers that heated the school, to sound fuel oil tanks and do other basic repairs. Richardson said these skills were valuable when he joined the U.S. Navy after graduating.  

“My mother and brother Charles walked to receive my high school diploma,” he recalled. “She was very proud.”

Richardson found success quickly. In the Navy, he was promoted to E-6, Machinist Mate 1^st Class in just four years. At 22 years old, he said he was leading some men who were more than twice his age. But knowing he might not progress to the next rank for a decade, he left the Navy to begin a career in the waste-to-energy sector.

“I worked my way from entry-level engineer to Plant Manager in 10 years,” said Richardson in an interview in recognition of Black History Month. “Along the way, there were issues that seemed discriminatory. However, I did not quit, I became more involved.”

He did everything: writing start up procedures for plant equipment, volunteering for plant commissioning teams, even appearing in company infomercials.

Richardson recalled learning a lot from a man named Steve Di Liberto, a plant manager he supported. One piece of advice he recalls Di Liberto telling him was to get a degree. Richardson had been six credits shy when he left the Navy.

“As a young, Black male, I might not be given first consideration for a job, but with a degree, employers have one less reason not to hire me,” said Richardson. “He told me not to give anyone a reason to not hire me.”

Six years later, Richardson had earned both a bachelor’s and master’s in business administration.

He has held a variety of positions at CPS Energy, the utility serving San Antonio, Texas. Previously, he was director at Sommers, an 830 MW gas-fired plant. He also oversaw the coal yard, which processes nearly 4 million tons of coal per year for the J.K. Spruce Power Plant.

In February, Richardson took over as director for Spruce, ensuring his teams operate and maintain the plant to provide reliable power in a safe, environmentally compliant manner.

“I have been in power plants since I was 18 and have enjoyed almost every minute of it,” he said.

Richardson said there isn’t just one attribute that helps make someone a great Director or Plant Manager. Here is the list he gave us, built from more than 40 years of experience:

1. Always enforce safety first. Demand it of everybody in your plant, division, or company.
2. Act with integrity. You can’t lead successfully without it.
3. Honor commitments. Team members remember when you don’t do what you say.
4. Strive for excellence. This is a part of the team building process. Set goals for your team that are SMART, but also require them to stretch and improve their performance.
5. Develop others and allow them to grow with guidance. Your support and guidance can help people to realize their potential.
6. Have a professional curiosity. Try to learn something about the plant or process every day.
7. If there is a plant issue, get to the root cause. There are no ghost or mystery trips. It is in everyone’s best interest to find and resolve the issue. Resolving issues allows maintenance personnel to sleep at night.

“There are days when you know you did great work and there are days when you feel like you could have done better, but you have another shift in 12 hours and you get to do it all over again,” he added. “The odds are in your favor that you win more days that you lose.”

“I was able to see ‘grandpa’s power plant’ and worked in the garage for years,” she recalled. “I was fascinated by it all. It just resonated with me. How cool that I could overhaul a transmission or pull an engine and rebuild it.”

Green went on to study mechanical engineering and graduated from the University of Missouri. From there she went to work in the power sector, her first job being the construction of a coal-fired power plant.

“The company I worked for had never had a woman engineer in the field, so it was a new experience for them,” she said in an interview in connection with International Day of Women and Girls in Science Day (#WomenInScience).

“I guess I just never saw it as a problem, and it wasn’t,” she added. “It was ‘interesting’ to most just because it was different, but I think I was just so open to learning that it really didn’t matter.”

That curiosity and openness has led her through “so many wonderful experiences” in a career spanning more than 40 years. She has held various positions in construction, engineering, operations and maintenance of power plants in Texas, Alaska, and Missouri.

Green joined CPS Energy – the utility serving San Antonio, Texas – in 2003 as O&M Engineer. She became Manager of Projects in Engineering & Technical Services in 2005.

In 2011 she was tasked with integration of a new generating plant into the CPS fleet and then served as Director, Strategic Planning and Analysis and Senior Director, Engineering & Technical Services.

Green now serves as Senior Director of Power Generation for the utility. Around 23% of the utility’s generation capacity is coal, 30% natural gas, 29% nuclear, and 14% renewables through power purchase agreements (PPAs). The balance is made up of a mix of PPAs.

“Being able to start in a construction role enabled me to see a plant literally from the ground up,” she told Power Engineering. “I built upon that with roles that included chemistry, environmental, operations, and maintenance, project engineering, and moved into leadership.”

She said each role allowed her to build her skill set and gain a deeper understanding of the business. Her current job focuses on data analytics.

“We currently can capture operational data like never before,” she noted. “The art is understanding how to view and interpret the data.”

Green says that data enables CPS Energy to build models to analyze and measure performance of plant equipment. Her role has included building graphics to emulate plant processes, using this to help observe changes over time that would indicate declining plant performance. She has built models to evaluate how the utility’s fleet responds to grid events.

“I am able to provide subject matter expertise in all areas of our operation, recently providing an evaluation of the operational impacts of several different coals based on their chemical analyses,” she said.

In a historically male-dominated field, Green still often looks around and realizes she’s the only woman in the room but says she’s proud of the fact she’s there for her knowledge and experience. She adds that while there may not be a lot of female engineers in the power sector, there are other skilled technical roles generally well-represented by women.

“Everyone brings a unique perspective to a role,” said Green. “The strongest teams are comprised of groups of diverse individuals who bring great logical skills, sensory abilities, organizational skills, and leadership. The broader the make-up, the more value that can be derived.”

At this point in her career, she takes pleasure in providing tours to elementary and high school students, aiming to educate them about the many career opportunities available in the power sector. She adds that so many young people don’t consider the generation industry simply because they’re not aware of it.

“The challenge is ensuring that all children are encouraged to develop a curiosity about everything, how things work, and why,” she said. “Getting a chance to show them what happens behind the switch on the wall is exciting.”

She added: “I believe that finding your niche, finding what keeps you engaged is a key element no matter what career you choose.”