Former Webster Power Plant Coming Down to Make Way for Residential Area

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas). Work has started to dismantle a power plant in Webster, Texas, that generated electricity for the greater Houston area for over four decades. Cherokee Webster Development, a partnership between The Johnson Development Corporation (Houston, Texas) and Cherokee Investment Partners, LLC (Raleigh, North Carolina), purchased the Webster power plant earlier this year. Once the plant has been dismantled and environmental remediation of the site is complete, the partnership will lay the ground work for a 333-acre residential community called Edgewater that will include 2,600 single-family and multi-family homes, 375,000 square feet of retail space, possible office space, a marina on Clear Creek and a man-made island with 100 custom built homes.

The former Webster power plant started commercial operation in 1954. Previous owners of the plant have included Houston Lighting and Power, Reliant Energy and Texas Genco. Normal operation of the plant ceased in 2002 due to increased competition from more modern and efficient power plants. Tighter competition in the industry was brought about by deregulation of the electric utility industry earlier this decade. In 1954, both fuel oil-fired Units 1 & 2, each capable of generating 112 megawatts, commenced commercial operation. Both of these units ceased operations in 1985. Later in 1965, the 410-megawatt (MW) natural gas-fired Unit 3 started producing electricity. This unit housed a natural gas-fired Riley Stoker Boiler and a 410 MW Allis-Chalmers steam turbine generator set. Unit 3 stopped producing base load capacity in 2002. The last unit operating at the plant was a natural gas-fired Westinghouse 191G combustion turbine generator. This unit provided peaking power from 1967 until it ceased operating in 2004.

The Webster plant site was 574 acres, but only 330 acres will be included in the municipal utility district that is being created. Demolition of the plant started earlier this summer and is expected to take nine months to complete. The developers are actively marketing the property to builders and expect Edgewater to be ready for construction next summer. Complete build-out of the development is expected to take five to seven years.

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