Horseshoe Bay, Texas

The Thomas C. Ferguson Power Plant consists of dual natural gas fired turbines and a single steam turbine run by exhaust heat from the gas turbines in a combined cycle configuration that generates 540 megawatts (MW) of electricity. The facility is located near Horseshoe Bay in Llano County, Texas, United States. It is owned and operated by the Lower Colorado River Authority (LCRA) and was named for Thomas C. Ferguson, a member of LCRA's first Board of Directors. Cooling water is provided by Lake LBJ, a freshwater reservoir created by Wirtz Dam. The LCRA broke ground in April 2012 on the plant to replace the existing single-unit natural gas fired 420 megawatt turbine completed in 1974. Fluor Corporation was the general contractor on the Ferguson Replacement Project. The LCRA dedicated the new $500 million facility, which is 35% more efficient, in October 2014.During its last years, the original generator only operated during periods of peak demand or when other utilities needed reserve or emergency power. It stopped operating in September 2013 and was dismantled.

The Texas Highland Lakes are a chain of fresh water reservoirs in Central Texas formed by dams on the lower Colorado River. The Texas Colorado River winds southeast from West Texas to Matagorda Bay and the Gulf of Mexico. The lower Colorado River basin has a history of major flooding. The Lower Colorado River Authority (LCRA) built the dams to manage floods and generate hydroelectric power in the 1930s and 1940s. Lady Bird Lake (formerly Town Lake) and the respective Longhorn Dam are sometimes considered the seventh "honorary" lake and dam of the Highland Lakes despite being commissioned and managed by the City of Austin instead of the LCRA. Unlike the other reservoirs in the chain which were constructed primarily to prevent flooding and generate hydroelectric power, Lady Bird Lake was constructed in order to provide a cooling pond for the city's new power plant. The two largest lakes—Buchanan and Travis—are the reservoirs that store water supply for the region. The smaller lakes—Inks, LBJ, Marble Falls and Austin—are pass-through lakes that are operated within a certain range. In all, the six official dams of the Highland Lakes have a hydroelectric power production capacity of 295MW, with Mansfield Dam alone able to provide 108MW. While Longhorn Dam has no hydroelectric production capacity, Lady Bird Lake served as a cooling pond for the 100MW Seaholm Power Plant and the 550MW Holly Street Power Plant until they were closed in 1996 and 2007, respectively.

Wirtz Dam (formerly Granite Shoals Dam) was constructed from 1949 to 1951 to provide hydroelectric power and to form Lake Lyndon B. Johnson (formerly Lake Granite Shoals), one of the Texas Highland Lakes. Lake LBJ ‒ as it is more commonly referred to ‒ provides cooling water for the Lower Colorado River Authority's Thomas C. Ferguson Power Plant along Horseshoe Bay. Wirtz Dam was originally named Granite Shoals Dam until 1951 when it was renamed in honor of Alvin J. Wirtz who had been instrumental in the formation of the LCRA. Likewise, Lake LBJ was originally named Lake Granite Shoals until 1965 when it was renamed for another advocate of the LCRA, U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson. Wirtz Dam and Lake LBJ are located due west of Lake Marble Falls and the city of Marble Falls, Texas.

Lake Lyndon B. Johnson (more commonly referred to as Lake LBJ and originally named Lake Granite Shoals) is a reservoir on the Colorado River in the Texas Hill Country about 45 miles northwest of Austin. The reservoir was formed in 1950 by the construction of Granite Shoals Dam by the Lower Colorado River Authority (LCRA). The Colorado River and the Llano River meet in the northern portion of the lake at Kingsland.

Granite Shoals is a city in Burnet County, Texas, United States with a 2020 census population of 5,129.

Cottonwood Shores is a city in Burnet County, Texas, United States. The population was 1,123 at the 2010 census.

Sherwood Shores is an unincorporated community in Burnet County, Texas, United States. According to the Handbook of Texas, the community had an estimated population of 870 in 2000.

Highland Haven is a city in Burnet County, Texas, United States. The population was 431 at the 2010 census.

Sunrise Beach Village is a city in Llano County, Texas, United States. The village was established in 1973. The population was 713 at the 2010 census.

Meadowlakes is a city in Burnet County, Texas, United States. The population was 1,907 at the 2020 census.

Granite Mountain is a solid dome, also known as a bornhardt, of pink granite (pink granite is also known as Sunset Red) rising over 860 feet one mile west of Marble Falls, Texas. Since quarry operations began in the late 19th century, the distinctive pink-red colored rock has been used in the construction of the Texas State Capitol in Austin, Texas, and also for the construction of the Galveston Seawall. In 1882, three businessmen and the owners of Granite Mountain, G. W. Lacy (of the Lacy Lans Ranch), N. L. Norton and W. H. Westfall, donated the amount of granite necessary to build the Texas State Capitol. The mountain no longer looks like a geographic feature because of the heavy mining, which has fully covered its surface. A similar but much larger area known as Enchanted Rock State Natural Area can be seen in its undisturbed state west of Marble Falls near Fredericksburg, Texas.

Marble Falls is a city in Burnet County, Texas, United States. As of the 2020 United States Census, the city population was 7,033.Lake Marble Falls is part of the Highland Lakes on the Colorado River, the largest chain of lakes in Texas. Marble Falls was founded by Adam Rankin Johnson in 1887, a former Indian fighter and Confederate general.