W A Parish

Coal power plant in Texas, United States of America. Approximate location 29.4828, -95.6311.

CoalTexasUnited States of America

W A Parish is a 4,008 MW coal power station in Texas, United States of America. It is operated by NRG Texas Power LLC. Based on reported annual generation of 14,328 GWh, it can supply roughly 4,093,771 homes. It ranks #4 of 9,833 United States of America power plants by installed capacity. Commissioned in 1974, it is around 52 years old — an older, legacy facility. In context, coal supplies about 16.3% of United States of America's electricity; the national grid averages 384 gCO₂/kWh (43.0% low-carbon) (2025).

4,008MW installed capacity
14,328GWh reported / yr
4,093,771homes powered
1974commissioned (~52 yrs)

Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id USA0003470.

~14,328,200 t CO₂/yr (estimated) — in everyday terms

This facility's annual emissions are roughly equivalent to:

3,339,907passenger cars driven for a year
1,868,571homes' yearly energy use
238,803,333tree seedlings grown 10 years to absorb it

Estimated, not measured: from reported annual generation × a typical coal emission factor (~1000 g CO₂/kWh, IPCC AR5 / US EIA). Actual emissions depend on plant efficiency and running hours.Equivalencies via US EPA Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies.

Reported generation trend

2013: 15,804 GWh20132014: 16,130 GWh20142015: 15,809 GWh20152016: 13,300 GWh20162017: 16,207 GWh20172018: 15,850 GWh20182019: 14,328 GWh201916k GWh

Annual generation (GWh), WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0).

Owner

Operated by NRG Texas Power LLC. All plants by this company →

Local climate & thermal context

This coal plant burns coal to raise high-pressure steam that spins a turbine-generator. It sits in a humid subtropical climate (Köppen Cfa) — Northern Hemisphere, latitude 29.5°N — which shapes how much energy it can produce and how its output varies through the year.

20.2°Cannual mean temp
642heating degree-days (base 18°C)
1,471cooling degree-days (base 18°C)
21 melevation

Monthly mean temperature

J: 11 °CJF: 12 °CFM: 16 °CMA: 20 °CAM: 24 °CMJ: 27 °CJJ: 28 °CJA: 28 °CAS: 26 °CSO: 22 °CON: 16 °CND: 13 °CD28 °C

Heating degree-days here run 74% below the median power plant in this dataset — a proxy for how much extra energy heated equipment must replace through its surfaces in winter.

Climate heat-demand index: 22/100 — this site sits in the bottom third of the power plants we cover by heating degree-days.

In colder climates, uninsulated hot equipment (boilers, turbines, valves, steam lines) loses proportionally more heat to ambient air — exactly the loss Inzonex modular insulation is designed to cut.

Climate normals: WorldClim 2.1 (1970–2000 monthly normals, 10 arc-min, CC BY 4.0); zone: Köppen-Geiger world climate classification (Kottek et al. 2006, 0.5° grid). Degree-days & heat-demand index computed by PowerAtlas — a modelled heat-demand proxy, not a measured site figure.

How it compares & nearby plants

The #1 largest coal power plant of 286 in United States of America by capacity.

United States of America has 286 coal power plants in this dataset, together about 249,149 MW of capacity.

Nearby power plants

Location

Coordinates 29.4828, -95.6311 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.

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