CONTRACTOR SELECTED FOR FERGUSON REPLACEMENT PROJECT

LCRA has selected Fluor Enterprises Inc. for engineering, procurement and construction of the Ferguson Replacement Project. If LCRA receives required permits from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency by the end of December, it will direct Fluor to proceed with replacing the 37-year-old power plant near Horseshoe Bay, Texas. LCRA hopes to receive both permits this fall. Construction will begin after LCRA receives the required permits.

The project involves building an approximately 540-megawatt (MW), combined-cycle power facility to replace the aging 420-MW Ferguson Power Plant, which was built in 1974. Replacing Ferguson with a newer, more efficient plant will help LCRA provide its wholesale electric customers with more competitively priced power over the long term because a combined-cycle power plant will be more efficient, more cost-effective and more reliable than Ferguson. A combined-cycle facility can produce the same amount of power using 30 to 40 percent less fuel.

Fluor was selected to handle the project following an extensive evaluation of competitive proposals. The Texas-based company will seek opportunities to work with local vendors and suppliers later this year. LCRA is also conducting a traffic impact study to identify options to address the increased level of traffic in the area during construction.

Watch for more information about the Ferguson Replacement Project later this fall. For more information, visit the project website.

Transmission upgrades and other nearby projects
A recent project to remove fuel oil from the plant site is nearly complete. Fuel oil has been removed, and site clean-up will be complete by early September.

In the coming weeks, neighbors also may notice activity related to electric transmission upgrades near the plant and Wirtz Dam. These projects will increase capacity of the lines to address growing electric demand in the region and are not related to the new plant. Crews will begin foundation work Sept. 1 to add three transmission towers and swap existing transmission lines near Wirtz Dam. Beginning in November, another project will start foundation work to upgrade the conductor on transmission lines near the power plant. The conductor capacity will be increased without any additional lines being added.

LCRA will continue to update neighboring communities on significant developments related to the Ferguson Replacement Project and other projects in the area that may affect them.