Goose Creek CISD board OKs new power plant’s tax deal

May 15, 2025

The Goose Creek school board has signed off on an application to construct an additional 721 megawatt electric power generation plant at the NRG complex in Chambers County, creating electricity for sale into the wholesale power market.

The board unanimously approved the application after holding a public hearing at its May 6 meeting. 

Brigitte Clark, the district’s chief financial officer, said the project began a couple of years ago.

“Now, it is moving forward and coming to fruition,” Clark said.

The project will consist of one natural gas-fired combustion turbine in a single-shaft combined cycle configuration.

It would be developed on approximately nine acres within Chambers County, in a reinvestment zone on land near Baytown Industrial Park.

The application, referred to as the Jobs, Energy, Technology & Innovation Act or JETI, was created by House Bill 5 during the 88th Legislative Session in 2023 at sunset of the Chapter 313 agreements, a Texas program that was designed to help school districts lure investment dollars.

The agreements expired in December 2022 and the new legislation replaced them. Clark added that the new legislation creates economic development, jobs and has a financial benefit to the district. It allows qualifying projects to pay 50% of Maintenance and Operations taxes, and 100% of Interest and Sinking taxes, for a designated 10-year period. No M&O taxes will be paid during the construction period. In addition, a three-party agreement between the company, the school district and the governor’s office is required. 

The application also comes with job and investment requirements. Clark said that since the project will be in Chambers County, which has a population of more than 56,000, placing it in the 99,999 or less category, the required investment is $20 million. 

The company is expected to invest about $825 million, meeting the statute’s required minimum investment based on Chambers County’s population. Land will not be included in the incentive and is assumed to be taxed in both M&O and I&S scenarios.

Clark said the project is estimated to be operational by 2029.

Board President Jim Campisi said the application approval was a win-win.

“It will add new high-paying jobs to our area and add additional revenue to GCCISD as well,” Campisi said. 

NRG released a statement about the application approval. 

“NRG appreciates Goose Creek CISD’s unanimous support of this mutually beneficial tax agreement,” the statement read. “It provides increased tax base to Goose Creek, giving immediate and long-term support, for decades to come, creates construction and permanent jobs and is infrastructure to support local electricity reliability. NRG appreciates the excellent and consistent support from the community, which is so critical to these projects.”

The next step is for the school district and Gov. Greg Abbott to make a determination and then execute the agreements.