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The history of LCRA
An era of changes and challenges

The 1970s and '80s posed some of the most formidable challenges LCRA had ever encountered.

One challenge was the energy crisis of the 1970s. The cost of natural gas — the fuel source for many of the power plants owned by Texas electric utilities — spiraled upward and would continue to climb throughout the decade, sharply driving up the cost of electricity.

LCRA and its customers were not immune from the price shock, as more than 80 percent of LCRA's generating capacity used natural gas. LCRA also faced the need to add capacity to meet the continually increasing demand for electricity. The solution was to build power plants that used coal, which was more economical and reliable than gas. In 1975 LCRA began construction of the Fayette Power Project in Fayette County. By 1988 it had built three coal-fired units at that site, which generated enough electricity to meet most of LCRA customers' needs. LCRA's other units provided the remaining power.

In the 1970s and early 1980s the national media "discovered" Austin as one of the most desirable places to live. The attention ushered an unprecedented boom for the region and transformed Austin into a major metropolitan center by the mid-1980s.

But the boom had devastating effects for the water quality of the Colorado River, as poor construction practices and runoff washed dirt, debris and chemicals from yards, streets and rural lands, threatening the pristine quality of the Highland Lakes. Downstream, poorly treated sewage from Austin's overwhelmed wastewater treatment plants turned the river into a mass of greenish slime.

Citizens and public officials pressured LCRA to do something. Over the years, LCRA had come to regard itself as primarily an electric utility. Its new challenge was to reclaim its charter responsibilities for taking care of the river.

As the City of Austin upgraded and expanded its treatment system, LCRA worked with the City to set new treatment standards that would remove most of the pollution from the effluent. LCRA also established nonpoint-source pollution ordinances designed to lessen the pollution and erosion that storms were washing into the Highland Lakes. By the late 1980s water quality throughout the river basin had recovered.

Responding to change
In recent years LCRA has responded to the needs of Central Texans by providing energy, water and community services.

Electricity continues to be LCRA's primary revenue source. It serves 43 cities and electric cooperatives that in turn serves more than a million Central Texas residents in 53 counties. LCRA's wholesale electric rates are among the lowest in Texas.

In 1995 LCRA pioneered the commercial development of wind-generated electricity, purchasing power from West Texas plants. The wind power, along with hydroelectric capacity, has made LCRA one of the state's largest providers of renewable energy.

In 1999 the Texas Legislature authorized LCRA to expand its transmission services outside its traditional service area. LCRA has teamed with other utilities to provide much-needed transmission services in South and West Texas to improve the flow of electricity throughout the state.

The 1990s saw LCRA expand into a new area: operating retail water and wastewater utilities. Many communities in the basin have requested this assistance to bring aging and overburdened utilities into compliance with state and federal clean-water standards. LCRA owns or operates more than 30 systems to provide reliable service to residents, while also maintaining high treatment standards that will protect the basin's water quality.

LCRA has responded to growing demand on the basin's limited water supplies. A Water Management Plan, developed by LCRA in consultation with key stakeholders and approved by the state, determines how LCRA operates the Highland Lakes and the lower Colorado River in a manner that best serves all water interests. By the late 1990s, LCRA had purchased additional irrigation operations in Colorado and Wharton counties, acquiring the last large blocks of privately held water rights on the Colorado River to ensure their beneficial use for the basin. LCRA and the San Antonio Water System are studying an interbasin project that would help meet the long-term water needs of both regions.

LCRA's Highland Lakes and dams successfully handled major floods in 1991, 1997 and 2002. The floods highlighted the degree to which people and development have increased in areas along the lakes and river known as floodplains. LCRA is helping local communities work with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to review floodplains.

LCRA has increased its services to its service-area communities, including training programs, grants and scholarships. To provide public access to the lakes and river, LCRA greatly expanded its network of parks. LCRA has more than 40 parks, natural science centers and access points throughout the basin. LCRA's commitment to environmental leadership not only includes protecting the river's water quality but also in setting high environmental standards in the way it operates its plants, dams and other facilities.

The people who created LCRA envisioned an organization that would not only provide water supplies, flood management and electricity but would also enrich the river valley through environmental and community services. Each day LCRA works to carry out that vision, with the goal that the lower Colorado River will continue to be an asset to the people of Texas.

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TIMELINE

Through the years: 1974 to present

1974 — LCRA's second natural gas plant, Thomas C. Ferguson, begins operation off Lake LBJ in Llano County.

1974 — No longer economical, LCRA ceases operations at the Comal power plant in New Braunfels.

1974 — Faced with climbing natural gas prices, LCRA and City of Austin agree to build the Fayette Power Project (FPP) in Fayette County. They decide the plant will use coal instead of natural gas to fire its boilers.

1975 — State Legislature confirms LCRA's right to develop all sources of electric power — not just hydropower. LCRA also given right to preserve wildlife, to jointly own property and electric facilities and to sell power to the state government in Travis County. Also, state legislature gives LCRA power to build dams between Austin and the Gulf of Mexico.

1979 — The first electric generator at the Fayette Power Project begins operation.

1979 — City of Austin and LCRA agree to build a rail car maintenance facility in Smithville to maintain coal trains traveling between FPP and the mines of Wyoming.

1980 — FPP's second electric generator begins operation.

1981 — Elof Soderberg promoted to general manager of LCRA.

1982 — LCRA begins testing the quality of the water in the Colorado River.

1983 — LCRA purchases Lakeside Irrigation Company and begins managing irrigation canals in Colorado County.

1983 — Austin Service Center named after 30-year board member M.C. Dalchau.

1986 — S. David Freeman hired as LCRA's general manager.

1986 — LCRA expands its water quality monitoring program.

1986 — LCRA introduces its lighting replacement rebates and load management program as part of its conservation program.

1986 — The City of San Marcos purchases the local electrical distribution system from LCRA for $9.4 million.

1987 — The City of Kerrville purchases area electrical distribution system from LCRA. Issues $28 million in bonds for the purchase.

1988 — FPP's third electric generator goes on line under budget for $435 million.

1989 — The state Legislature clarifies LCRA's right to conduct energy and water conservation programs as well as engage in economic development efforts.

1989 — LCRA Board votes to cancel Cummins Creek lignite mine in Fayette County. Board finds quality of fuel not worth expense of mining operation.

1990 — LCRA's transmission group begins joint-planning of LCRA's transmission projects with its wholesale customers.

1990 — Mark Rose becomes LCRA's general manager.

1991 — The Colorado River Trail, a system of parks designed to increase the public's access to the Colorado River, opens at Beason Park in Columbus.

1992 — LCRA begins operation of the Camp Swift Regional Wastewater Project near Bastrop.

1992 — LCRA begins operation of Buchanan Dam Water Treatment Project.

1992 — LCRA's Board votes to freeze wholesale electric rates at current level until the year 2000.

1993 — LCRA concludes mining at its only operational lignite mine. LCRA begins reclamation at the Powell Bend mine in Bastrop County.

1994 — LCRA purchases West Travis County water system.

1995 — LCRA begins purchasing power from the Texas Wind Power Project. The wind plant is a joint effort among LCRA, Kenetech Corp. and the Texas General Land Office.

1995 — LCRA is one of 13 utilities across the nation to join an ambitious federal clean-air program to reduce "greenhouse" gases. LCRA's contribution is to reduce carbon-dioxide emissions at its power plants by an estimated 400,000 tons by the year 2000

May 1995 — The Memorial Day Flood along Sandy Creek points to a need for more local emergency information, leading to a partnership between LCRA and the National Weather Service to install NOAA Weather Radio transmitters throughout the basin.

October 1995 — LCRA's Board approves the Community Development Partnership Program to provide grants to communities and nonprofit organizations in LCRA's service area to help build parks, purchase equipment and other capital projects.

June 1997 — The Summer Flood of 1997 rivals the 1991 Christmas Flood in severity, but LCRA contains flooding within the floodplains. Floodwaters from Wirtz Dam create a gaping hole in the bedrock of Lake Marble Falls, requiring $4 million to repair.

February 1998 — LCRA announces an agreement to purchase the Garwood Irrigation Company, which holds the largest privately held block of water rights on the Colorado River.

September 1998 — LCRA opens the first of two premier outdoor facilities: McKinney Roughs Nature Park, a 1,600-acre ecological paradise between Austin and Bastrop. The following summer, Canyon of the Eagles opens on Lake Buchanan.

September 1999 — LCRA can now sell power outside of its traditional service area and expand its transmission operations throughout the state, as a result of new legislation that restructures and further deregulates the electric-utility industry.

October 1999 — LCRA and City of Austin officials sign an agreement to ensure adequate water supplies for the city for at least a 50-year period.

December 1999 — LCRA purchases the Pierce Ranch water rights, the last remaining block of privately held water rights in the basin.

January 2000 — Joseph J. Beal named LCRA's eighth general manager.

June 2001 — Lost Pines Unit 1 opens, adding more than 500 megawatts of capacity to LCRA's generating system. The unit is the first built and managed by an LCRA affiliate, GenTex Power Corporation, and the first owned jointly with a private company, the Calpine Corporation.

February 2002 — LCRA and San Antonio Water System officials sign a historic agreement to develop water resources to be shared by the lower Colorado River basin and the San Antonio area.

Go back: Through the Years: 1937-1973

Through the Years: Beginning

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