Entergy Texas Brings Its 1,215 MW Orange County Gas Plant Online, Past the Summer 2026 Target and Without a Final Cost
- Capacity & Wholesale Markets News Policy & Markets
Marin Holt
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- 9 minutes read
- Capacity: 1,215 MW combined-cycle, Orange, Texas
- In service: October 14, 2026 (target was summer 2026)
- Homes served: more than 230,000
- Savings claim: more than $1 billion in fuel and operating costs
- Estimated cost at groundbreaking: $1.2 billion (2023), not updated
Entergy Texas placed its Orange County Advanced Power Station into service on October 14, 2026. The combined-cycle gas plant in Orange, Texas is rated at 1,215 megawatts, enough electricity to power more than 230,000 homes, and the utility expects it to generate more than $1 billion in customer savings over time through lower fuel and operating costs. Entergy Texas serves approximately 524,000 customers in 27 counties. Those customers are connected to the Midcontinent Independent System Operator grid, which puts the plant outside the ERCOT market that serves most of the state.
The plant arrived later than the utility said it would. In a November 21, 2025 release, Entergy Texas said construction was more than 80% complete, the overall project had reached 90% completion, and OCAPS was on schedule to begin serving customers in the summer of 2026. The in-service date landed in the middle of October. Entergy broke ground in the spring of 2023, when the expected total cost of the project was $1.2 billion. Power Engineering reported that the utility has not updated the actual cost.
Mitsubishi Power supplied the two M501JAC gas turbines, the steam turbine, the heat recovery steam generator and the advanced control recovery system. The vendor said the plant could eventually accommodate up to 100% hydrogen. The in-service announcement did not name a hydrogen supply, a blend schedule or a date. The design lets operators quickly increase or decrease power production to match how much electricity customers are using, which the utility said is especially important during high-demand periods like summer and winter. The plant captures heat that would normally be wasted and makes more electricity from the same fuel, and Entergy noted that fuel costs flow straight to customers.
“Our customers count on us to power critical parts of their everyday lives, and OCAPS helps us deliver even more of the safe and reliable power they deserve in a cost-effective manner,” said David Borde, CEO of Entergy Texas. Larry Spears Jr., mayor of Orange, called the plant “a significant addition for The Golden Triangle area,” which he described as “a region that faces everything from winter storms to hurricanes.”
Construction generated approximately $1.8 billion in economic activity and supported more than 7,000 direct jobs, according to the utility. Entergy Texas expects electricity demand across its service area to grow by about 13% between 2024 and 2028, and it points to Texas adding more residents than any other state between 2024 and 2025. Including OCAPS, the utility plans to add more than 2.4 GW of new generation capacity by 2028. The Legend and Lone Star power stations, two natural gas facilities approved by the Public Utility Commission of Texas in 2025, would add more than 1,200 MW and are expected to begin serving customers in 2028.
The savings claim comes in two sizes. The Entergy Texas project page says the facility will provide more than $1.5 billion in net benefits to customers by reducing reliance on energy markets, and that it replaces end-of-life legacy gas generation. The November 2025 release and the in-service announcement both use more than $1 billion, tied to fuel efficiency over the plant’s lifetime. Neither figure comes with a gas price assumption or a time horizon, and the utility has not published the final construction cost that customers will repay through rates. The project is part of the utility’s Southeast Texas Energy Plan, also known as STEP Ahead.
Why It Matters
OCAPS is the first of three gas plants Entergy Texas wants in service by 2028, and at 1,215 MW it is the largest of them. The two that follow were approved in 2025 and together add more than 1,200 MW. The cost side of all three will surface in rate proceedings, where the $1.2 billion estimate from 2023 either holds or does not. Readers who followed Entergy’s Google contract in Arkansas have seen the pattern: the utility publishes customer benefits in headline dollars and leaves the inputs in the docket.
The hydrogen line deserves the same reading. Mitsubishi Power says the turbines could eventually run on up to 100% hydrogen. No hydrogen supply, blend schedule or cost came with the in-service notice, so the plant is a gas plant until a filing says otherwise. The concrete benefit is location. The plant sits in one of the largest industrial regions in the nation, next to the load it serves, and it replaces older gas units rather than adding to them.
Critical Perspective
Entergy Texas has now attached three different numbers to one plant: more than $1 billion in lifetime fuel savings, more than $1.5 billion in net benefits from reduced market reliance, and a $1.2 billion cost estimate that has not moved since the 2023 groundbreaking. Black Hills put a $1.8 billion capital figure and a 2027 to 2029 spend window beside its 564 MW Cheyenne plant for Google, so a utility is able to publish a current cost next to a current benefit when it chooses to. OCAPS also arrived in mid-October against a summer 2026 target, and the in-service notice did not say what the delay cost or who absorbs it. If the 1,215 MW plant meant to anchor the savings case came in late and uncosted, what should customers expect when the Legend and Lone Star plants reach their 2028 in-service dates?
Sources
- KOGT: Entergy flips switch on new power station (Entergy Texas in-service announcement, Oct 14, 2026)
- Power Engineering: Entergy Texas’ Orange County combined-cycle plant is now online (Oct 16, 2026)
- BIC Magazine: Entergy Texas launches 1,215-MW Orange County Advanced Power Station (Oct 15, 2026)
- The Orange Leader: Entergy Texas’ Orange County Advanced Power Station now online (Oct 19, 2026)
- Entergy news release: Construction nears completion on Entergy Texas’ Orange County Advanced Power Station (Nov 21, 2025)
- Entergy Texas: Orange County Advanced Power Station project page (accessed Oct 25, 2026)
