TEMPLE, Texas (AP) — Officials say a natural gas-fueled power plant in Central Texas will double in size and supply power to approximately 1.5 million homes.
It was only last September when Dallas-based Panda Power Funds broke ground on a 758-megawatt plant in Temple, about 35 miles southwest of Waco.
Panda announced Thursday that it will double the size of the plant, ultimately generating 1,516 megawatts. Company officials say up to 800 construction jobs will be created and the second generating station will be online by summer 2015.
Panda spokesman Bill Pentak declined to discuss the cost of the project but the U.S. Energy Information Administration estimates it costs $1 million per megawatt of energy being produced. That would mean the latest Panda project will cost about $758 million.