Whatever the future holds in terms of exploding power demand from large industrials and residential growth or reliability threats from extreme weather, Rayburn Electric Cooperative and the city of Sherman in booming north Texas are preparing to face it together.

Sherman lies about 60 miles north of Dallas and is surrounded by counties ranked among the fastest-growing in the country. Not only is the population rocketing, but the city of 45,000 is welcoming technology titans and becoming part of the multibillion-dollar “Silicon Prairie” with its own flourishing ecosystem of corporate activity.

To meet this load, the Rockwall, Texas-based generation and transmission co-op will own and operate the more than 1,300-megawatt Rayburn Energy Station within Sherman’s city limits.

“Our mission is to provide our members with affordable, always-on, reliable power and the infrastructure we invest in is built with that responsibility in mind,” says Gentry Ewing, director of strategic affairs at Rayburn Electric, which provides electricity to four distribution co-ops that serve over 625,000 members.

The G&T bought a 758-MW combined-cycle natural gas plant in 2023 and now is breaking ground on a 570-MW plant on the property’s extra acreage. The new plant is slated to go online in July 2028 with 10 black-start capable units that can generate power in an emergency without relying on the grid.

The two plants, known as RES-1 and RES-2, form the basis of a partnership Rayburn shares with Sherman to ensure reliable, affordable power across the region for years to come.

That includes incredible upward load pressure from tech giants manufacturing in Sherman. Texas Instruments is building a $40 billion chip manufacturing facility that will cover more than 24 football fields.

And Taiwan-based GlobalWafers last spring announced an additional $4 billion for a full $7.5 billion investment in a state-of-the-art semiconductor plant.

Such unprecedented expansion can strain utility resources described by Sherman Mayor Shawn Teamann as “a three-legged stool” of water, wastewater and electricity. The city is fortunate to have Lake Texoma but forming its bond with Rayburn was key, he says.

“Our relationship with Rayburn will help us crack the future of what our city is going to look like,” says Teamann. “We control water and wastewater. We have to have a strong relationship with our energy producers. We have to communicate our needs, remove hurdles and burdens and get out of their way.”

That relationship sprouted during Rayburn’s quest to own and operate new dispatchable generation in the aftermath of Winter Storm Uri in 2021. The deadly weather event punished Texas with subfreezing temperatures, snow and ice for more than a week and wrecked power lines, causing millions of people to endure lengthy outages.

“Following Uri, we wanted more control over our system,” says Ewing. “We knew it was important to have additional steel in the ground that was dispatchable. That investment not only helps our power supply portfolio for our members but also helps Sherman have more local power to support its growth and needs.”

With its goal to develop the Rayburn Energy Station, the city helped the G&T through the process of acquiring the existing plant with its gas supply and water rights and developing a new plant on the same site, Ewing says. “Now we’re working in lock step.”

While Rayburn does not sell electricity directly to Sherman, by owning and operating the local power plants, the G&T boosts the region’s overall reliability and appeal. “When prospective industries consider making major investments in Sherman, they notice the power plants,” says Ewing. “It’s enticing for them as well.”

The mayor agrees and underscores the benefits to the city for having solid ties with the co-op as a stabilizing force for generation during the current whirlwind of growth.

“Rayburn is a good partner. They are constantly looking at load demands and how they can invest in the community,” says Teamann. “They are willing to come to table anytime when we have big industrial customers.”

The G&T and its member cooperatives also have invested about $1.7 billion over the last seven years in hardening its system, which includes more than 100 substations and switching stations and nearly 300 miles of transmission, in preparation for new load that could double across the state by 2030. The winter peaking co-op serves more than 300,000 meters.

Ewing recommends that cities invite utilities into economic growth discussions early and often. Rayburn, headquartered about an hour away from Sherman, could have pursued new power plant projects elsewhere, but the city “understood our business model, and there was trust and transparency from the start.”

Teamann says that the G&T has built that trust over “years of being great community partners with excellent service.”