Environmental

Environmental Standards & TMPA

TMPA maintains a proactive stance in meeting environmental standards. The voluntary fuel conversion from lignite to Wyoming (PRB) sub-bituminous coal in 1996 halved TMPA’s emissions of sulfur dioxide (SO₂). Another project implemented several years later reduced TMPA’s emissions of nitrogen oxides. In April 2011, TMPA voluntarily implemented a scrubber project that reduced its emissions of sulfur dioxide. By 2012, TMPA’s emissions of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides (the main sources of acid rain) will be 90% less than the emissions in 1995. The scrubber also helps to reduce mercury emissions to levels that will meet or exceed future emissions standards.

TMPA Lignite Mine

TMPA owns Gibbons Creek lignite mine that was the source of fuel for the power plant. A lignite is a low-grade form of coal that gradually became less competitive against higher grade sub-bituminous coal from the Powder River Basin in Wyoming. The mine was operational from 1982 to 1996. In 1996 the mine was closed, and TMPA began importing all of its coal from Wyoming.

Since its closure, the mine has been in reclamation. Most of the large construction projects, such as the reclamation of final open pits, have been completed, and the mine has been converted to post-mining land use that consists of pasture land, ponds, and woodlands. It is now in the process of being monitored and being released from mine reclamation obligations as it meets regulatory performance standards.

At present, over 60% of the mined area has been released partially from its performance bond, and additional areas are being prepared for final bond release.

Texas Municipal Power Agency (TMPA) is a wholesale generation and transmission municipal power agency serving the electric systems of the Member Cities of Bryan, Denton, Garland, and Greenville, Texas. The Agency operates the Gibbons Creek Steam Electric Station (GCSES), a 470-megawatt coal-fired generating plant located east of Bryan/College Station, Texas, in Grimes County. The plant operated 35 years from October 1983 through September 2018.

Effective October 30, 2019, the GCSES generation resource was Decommissioned and Retired Permanently from the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) system. 

TMPA retains the following Coal Combustion Residuals (CCR) records for 5 years following the date the information was first posted to this website per EPA regulation 40 CFR 257.107(c). 

On 2/10/2021 the GCSES was sold to GCERG…. Documents related to the CCR units below required after this date are the responsibility of GCERG

Environmental Reports

Site F:

Scrubber Sludge:

Dust Control Plan:

CCR:

Ash Ponds:

Research Papers: