Texas Gas Rush: Granbury

Constellation Energy Letter Withdrawing from Texas Energy Fund

On September 9, 2024, over 150 community members from Granbury attended a Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) public meeting to oppose the Wolf Hollow III plant, a 300-megawatt expansion project of an existing plant owned by Constellation Energy.  

The people of Granbury have been dealing with intense industrial buildout since 2022, mainly attributed to a local bitcoin mining operation.  

Constellation Energy hoped to expand its Wolf Hollow II plant with taxpayer-subsidized loans as part of the Texas Energy Fund. But Constellation faces fierce community opposition. At the public meeting, Granbury residents cited. many reasons for opposing this plant,  from worries about damaging their health and surrounding flora and fauna to concerns about how this and other gas-turbine plants could harm community health. 

After months of filing complaints to the TCEQ, five people were recommended as affected persons and on Feb. 13, 2025, they were granted a contested case hearing, meaning they could make their case in front of an administrative law judge who would decide whether to recommend the awarding of a permit or not. This decision further delayed the granting of this permit. It likely led to Constellation Energy backing out of the TEF, citing “the uncertain timing of the issuance of an air permit for the project” as the reason for withdrawing.  

Throughout this process, concerned citizens formed the group Protect Hood County, organized their community to challenge the air permit. The preliminary hearing for this contested case hearing has been scheduled for May 20, 2025.