Garland Power & Light Timeline

APRIL

C.E. Newman closes the switch on GP&L’s 117 kilowatt (KW) diesel generator, bringing service to 300 customers

First interconnection with another utility, the Brazos Electric Power Cooperative

Construction of C.E. Newman Power Plant Units #1 and #2 is completed

Garland becomes a partner in the Texas Municipal Power Agency (TMPA), created to construct a coal-fueled plant to eliminate dependence on natural gas as a boiler fuel

Final expansion of the Newman Plant to five units; C.E. Newman retires with GP&L having grown to 15,000 customers

Construction of Ray Olinger Power Plant Unit #1 is completed near Lavon Lake

And as renewable energy became more accessible and affordable, GP&L added wind and solar to its energy portfolio. Since 2018, it has offered the Green Choice plan, which allows customers to select 100% renewable power.

Together, GP&L and Garland have come a long way from the original 300 customers and 117 kilowatts of load supplied in 1923 from its original home on Avenue A. Back then, Garland leaders just wanted to take care of their own when an electric provider refused to negotiate a cost-effective commercial rate to power the pump at the City’s newly constructed water well (Garland Water Utilities celebrated 100 years of service in 2022).

Under local leadership and a headquarters just blocks away from that original power plant, 100 years later, GP&L is still taking care of Garland’s own.

Olinger Plant Unit #2 is completed

Olinger Plant Unit #3 is completed, with GP&L at 35,000 customers

TMPA’s 420 megawatt (MW) Gibbons Creek Steam Electric Station is completed

GP&L purchases Farmer’s Electric Cooperative facilities within Garland city limits

75 MW combustion turbine generator (Unit #4) installed at Olinger Plant, with GP&L at 66,000 customers

Spencer Power Plant in Denton purchased, adding as much as 166 MW of energy production

GP&L completes two transmission lines to bring wind power from West Texas

2018 TODAY

GP&L completes its portion of the Houston Import Project, a series of critical bulk power transmission lines for the Electric Reliability Council of Texas grid

TMPA sells the Gibbons Creek Steam Electric Station

With more than 73,000 customers, GP&L is the fourth largest municipal utility in Texas and the 43rd largest in the nation