New Texas Fossil-Fuel Power Plant Planned to Shore Up Shaky Grid

A new, natural gas-fired power plant is planned for central Texas that will bolster the Lone Star State’s electricity grid while threatening to slow any transition away from fossil fuels.

Sandow Lakes Energy Company LLC will constructa 1.2-gigawatt facility about 60 miles (97 kilometers) east of the capital Austin, on the site of a former Alcoa Corp. aluminum smelter.

When it begins generating electricity in 2028, the plant will generate roughly as much power as a nuclear facility — enough to light more than 800,000 homes. It’ll also be on a par with the inaugural phase of what ...