NRG T.H. Wharton Plant

This is a natural gas power plant that uses combined cycle turbines to produce power. It creates large clouds of steam when operating at high capacity. Sometimes you can see it flaring (flames). This occurs to burn excess methane. Because it's a greenhouse gas, it can't be released into the atmosphere as is. So they burn it the form of a flare to release it as water and carbon dioxide. Its so cool seeing it form clouds during the winter time when everyone is running their heaters! P.S. combined cycle turbines produce energy from the thermal expansion of burning methane and from steam created from the exhaust gases of burning methane. Pretty efficient way of extracting energy twice from one fuel!

Coal fired power plants like this one just got deregulated: anyone living in the area, working there or in the area please meticulously monitor your health and the air quality. A Harvard study shows anyone living within 18 miles ie 30 kilometers have a higher cancer risk.

It’s keeping the lights on, it’s producing lots of steam from those fat stacks, I’m not sure how to review a power plant but here I am. 5 stars, food could be better. When I was a kid I thought this place was making the clouds, turns out it’s making the electricity so I could charge my phone and use my microwave.

Another review called this a coal fired plant. It is not. Gas powered. There is no coal pile obviously.

I drive by here a lot. Wish I could get a tour of the place with my kids. They love cloud factories! 😆