Texas Power Plant Turnaround Schedule 2026: What Vendors Need to Know

ERCOT's June 2026 MORA report projects 9,600 MW of total thermal outage across planned and forced categories during normal grid conditions. That figure represents the combined maintenance load across Texas gas fired, coal, and nuclear generation. For vendors selling gas turbine parts, field services, inspection technology, or plant maintenance contracting, this outage volume defines the commercial year. The question is which plants are in the window, which OEMs own the service relationships, and where the procurement decisions actually happen.

Unlike refinery turnarounds, where facilities publish nothing but timing can be inferred from permit filings and contractor mobilization, power plant outage schedules are filed with ERCOT through a confidential Outage Scheduler system accessible only to market participants. No operator publishes its plant level maintenance calendar. That confidentiality is itself a commercial signal: vendors who maintain direct relationships with plant reliability managers and operations directors see procurement opportunities that never surface in public databases.

How gas turbine maintenance cycles work

Gas turbine maintenance follows a tiered inspection cycle driven by the OEM and the number of equivalent operating hours or starts on each unit. The three tiers are combustion inspections (CI), hot gas path inspections (HGPI), and major inspections (MI). A combustion inspection typically occurs every 8,000 to 12,000 equivalent operating hours and involves replacement or refurbishment of combustion liners, transition pieces, and fuel nozzles. A hot gas path inspection occurs at approximately 24,000 hours and extends into first and second stage turbine blades and nozzles. A major inspection at approximately 48,000 hours is a full disassembly of the gas turbine, generator, and associated auxiliary systems.

Each tier represents an escalating scope of work and procurement. A combustion inspection might require $2M to $5M in parts and services. A major inspection on an F class or H class frame can exceed $15M to $25M depending on the scope of component replacement and whether the OEM or a third party MRO shop performs the work. For vendors selling turbine blades, coatings, bearings, seals, filtration, and balance of plant services, the maintenance tier determines both the procurement timeline and the dollar volume.

ERCOT concentrates planned outages in two seasonal windows. The spring maintenance period runs March 15 through May 15, after winter heating demand subsides and before summer peak. ERCOT applied its new Resource Planned Outage Limit (RPOL) methodology during the spring 2026 window. The grid operator restricts planned transmission outages from May 15 through September 15 to protect generation availability during high load conditions. Fall maintenance runs from October through early December. Plants that miss the spring window or defer maintenance push into the fall or into the following year's spring cycle.

Major fleet operators and new capacity

Vistra operates the largest competitive generation fleet in ERCOT. The company has invested approximately $2 billion since 2020 to add roughly 3,100 MW of capacity and is executing a multi year plan to add 2,000 MW or more of new ERCOT capacity between 2024 and 2028. In September 2025, Vistra announced two new gas fired units totaling 860 MW at its Permian Basin Power Plant, expanding the site from 325 MW to 1,185 MW. Upgrades across the existing Texas gas fleet added over 400 MW, with 2026 projects expected to bring the total to 500 MW of additional capacity. Every megawatt of new capacity will require commissioning support, initial inspection cycles, and long term service agreements. Every megawatt of existing capacity requires ongoing turbine maintenance on the OEM prescribed schedule.

NRG Energy is building aggressively with Texas Energy Fund backing. The T.H. Wharton facility in Houston (415 MW, backed by a $216 million TEF loan at 3 percent) achieved commercial operation in late May 2026, the first TEF project to reach that milestone. NRG is also expanding the same site with a 456 MW addition at a total cost of $360 million. Further out, Cedar Bayou 5 (689 MW) and Greens Bayou 6 (443 MW, targeted summer 2028) extend the NRG ERCOT buildout. Existing NRG plants including W.A. Parish, Cedar Bayou, and Limestone continue on their respective maintenance cycles, with specific outage windows filed through ERCOT's confidential scheduler.

Constellation Energy completed its acquisition of Calpine on January 7, 2026 for approximately $22 billion. The combined entity now operates 79 power plants, 61 of which are primarily combined cycle gas turbines with 26 GW of combined capacity. Calpine operates the nation's largest fleet of F frame combustion turbines, which means the largest concentration of F frame maintenance spend in the country. The Pin Oak Creek Energy Center (460 MW gas peaker, $278.3 million TEF funded) adjacent to the existing Freestone Energy Center was expected to be operational before summer 2026. Regulatory approval of the Constellation Calpine deal required divestiture of the Jack Fusco Energy Center in ERCOT.

CPS Energy acquired Talen Energy's approximately 1,710 MW ERCOT gas portfolio for $785 million in May 2024, including the 897 MW Barney Davis and 635 MW Nueces Bay facilities in Corpus Christi and a 178 MW facility in Laredo. Tenaska operates the 830 MW Frontier Generating Station in Grimes County and the 845 MW Gateway Generating Station in Rusk County. Neither CPS Energy nor Tenaska publicly discloses plant level maintenance schedules.

OEM service landscape and MRO contractors

Three OEMs dominate the Texas gas turbine installed base: GE Vernova, Siemens Energy, and Mitsubishi Power. Each controls significant aftermarket revenue through long term service agreements (LTSAs) that bundle parts supply, field labor, and performance guarantees. Understanding which OEM owns which fleet relationship determines where vendor opportunities exist and where they are locked out.

GE Vernova's 7F fleet accounts for approximately 950 installed units globally producing roughly 175 GW of power. The newer 7HA platform is the turbine of choice for greenfield combined cycle plants in ERCOT. NRG, GE Vernova, and Kiewit/TIC announced a venture to develop 5.4 GW of new gas combined cycle capacity across ERCOT and PJM, with the first 1.2 GW using two GE Vernova 7HA turbines and slot reservations targeting 2029 commercial operation. Separately, Blue Energy and GE Vernova announced a 2.5 GW hybrid nuclear and gas power plant in Texas with two 7HA.02 turbines reserved for 2029 deployment and early site work planned for 2026.

Siemens Energy is expanding its Deer Park, Texas service facility with a $23 million investment, directly serving the company's Gulf Coast gas turbine fleet. Sandow Lakes Energy Company is building a 1.2 GW combined cycle plant in Lee County featuring two Siemens SGT6-9000HL turbines, with Gemma Power Systems as EPC contractor. Siemens is also supplying 1.1 GW of gas capacity for the planned 11 GW data center campus in Amarillo. On the existing fleet side, Xcel Energy purchased 10 Siemens SGT6-5000F turbines for the Tolk Station coal to gas conversion in Muleshoe, Texas, with first deliveries in early 2026.

The third party MRO contractor landscape in Texas includes several established players. NAES Corporation is the largest third party power plant operator in the United States, with NAES Power Contractors handling specialized outage and overhaul work. EthosEnergy operates a 140,000 square foot Houston Service Shop specializing in steam turbine, compressor, and heavy industrial gas turbine MRO. MTU Maintenance opened a level 2 shop in Houston for industrial gas turbine service, positioned near major customers including Cheniere Energy. Hickham Industries in LaPorte handles gas turbine restoration, and MD&A in San Antonio provides gas turbine parts service. For vendors selling into this ecosystem, understanding whether a given plant is under an OEM LTSA or maintained by a third party MRO shop determines the path to procurement.

Post Winter Storm Uri reliability spending

Senate Bill 3, passed in 2021, mandated weatherization requirements for generation, transmission, and natural gas fuel supply facilities across Texas. ERCOT has since inspected over 4,000 facilities, noting significant improvements in power plant cold weather performance. The Railroad Commission of Texas conducted over 7,400 weatherization inspections between September 2024 and September 2025. During Winter Storm Elliott in December 2022, only four weather related issues occurred among 255 inspected units, validating the reforms. The Firm Fuel Supply Service (FFSS) program ensures 48 hours of on site fuel for participating generators.

For vendors, the weatherization mandate created a permanent maintenance category that did not exist before 2021. Heat tracing, pipe and valve insulation, instrument enclosures, backup power for control systems, and cold weather testing are now annual inspection items at every ERCOT generator. Winter 2025 2026 inspections began December 2, 2025, prioritizing new generation resources and critical transmission facilities. This is not one time spending. It is recurring, inspectable, and enforceable.

What this means for vendors

The commercial opportunity in Texas power plant maintenance is defined by three overlapping dynamics. First, the existing fleet requires ongoing tiered maintenance on OEM prescribed cycles, with 9,600 MW of total thermal outage projected for June 2026 alone. Second, the new capacity pipeline adds commissioning and early cycle maintenance demand. ERCOT anticipates 8.8 GW of new gas fired generation by the end of 2029, with 9.9 GW of new generation across all fuel types targeted to synchronize in the first half of 2026. All 18 Texas Energy Fund projects totaling over 7 GW have submitted Full Interconnection Study applications. Third, post Uri weatherization spending is a permanent addition to the annual maintenance budget at every ERCOT generator.

The procurement path for power plant maintenance is different from refinery turnarounds. OEM LTSAs lock in parts and field service for the life of the agreement, which means vendors selling turbine components, coatings, or major repair services need to be positioned before the LTSA is executed, not after. For plants maintained by third party MRO shops, the procurement window is more open but the decision authority sits with the plant operations director and reliability manager, not with a centralized procurement function. ERCOT's summer 2026 reserve margin stands at 17.2 percent per the May 2025 CDR, up sharply from 5.2 percent in December 2024, which means the grid is in better shape to accommodate planned outages without emergency conditions.

Looking to map vendor relationships at Texas power operators? See the full contact directory at ExecGraph.

Frequently asked questions

When is the ERCOT planned maintenance season?

ERCOT's spring maintenance window runs March 15 through May 15 each year. A second fall window runs October through early December. ERCOT restricts planned transmission outages from May 15 through September 15 to protect summer reliability. The June 2026 MORA projects 9,600 MW of total thermal outage across planned and forced categories.

Which companies operate the largest gas turbine fleets in Texas?

Constellation Energy (which acquired Calpine in January 2026 for $22 billion) operates the nation's largest fleet of F frame combustion turbines with 26 GW across 79 plants. Vistra has invested approximately $2 billion to add 3,100 MW since 2020 and plans 2,000 MW or more of new ERCOT capacity through 2028. NRG Energy is building multiple TEF backed projects including T.H. Wharton (415 MW, operational May 2026), Cedar Bayou 5 (689 MW), and Greens Bayou 6 (443 MW).

What are the three tiers of gas turbine maintenance?

Gas turbine maintenance follows a tiered cycle: combustion inspections (every 8,000 to 12,000 equivalent operating hours), hot gas path inspections (approximately 24,000 hours), and major inspections (approximately 48,000 hours). Each tier escalates in scope and cost. A combustion inspection may cost $2M to $5M in parts and services. A major inspection on an F class or H class frame can exceed $15M to $25M.

How has Winter Storm Uri changed power plant maintenance spending?

Senate Bill 3 mandated weatherization for all ERCOT generation, transmission, and fuel supply facilities. ERCOT has inspected over 4,000 facilities since 2021. Heat tracing, insulation, instrument enclosures, backup power, and cold weather testing are now annual inspection items at every generator. The Railroad Commission conducted over 7,400 inspections in the year ending September 2025. This is recurring spending, not one time capital.