Samson Solar Energy Center

Invenergy · Northeast Texas · Lamar, Red River and Franklin Counties

Invenergy's Samson Solar Energy Center is a 1,310 MW, five-phase solar plant in Northeast Texas, the largest US solar project when announced in 2020. Eight buyers contracted 1,260 MW of its output under power purchase agreements (PPAs), led by AT&T with 500 MW.

Corporate PPAAT&T500 MW Corporate PPAHonda200 MW Corporate PPAMcDonald's160 MW Municipal utility, Bryan Texas UtilitiesCity of Bryan150 MW Corporate PPAGoogle100 MW Municipal utility, Denton Municipal ElectricCity of Denton75 MW Corporate PPAHome Depot50 MW Municipal utility, Garland Power & LightCity of Garland25 MW
Planned
1,310 MW
Contracted
1,260 MW
Phases
Five
Investment
$1.6B
Counties
Lamar, Red River, Franklin
Sector
Energy

Overview

A 1,310 MW Solar Plant Built in Five Phases

Invenergy, the Chicago-based private power developer, began construction in July 2020 on five phases of 250, 200, 250, 300 and 310 MW across Lamar, Red River and Franklin counties, northeast of Dallas-Fort Worth. The $1.6B plan called for up to 600 construction jobs over 36 months and about two million panels on roughly 18,000 acres, mounted on FTC Solar Voyager single-axis trackers, with more than 80 TMEIC inverters and construction by TIC, a Kiewit subsidiary.

Samson I (250 MW, Franklin County) entered commercial operation in May 2022 and Samson III (250 MW, Lamar County) in November 2022. WEC Energy Group agreed in January 2023 to buy 80 percent of Samson I. Samson II (200 MW, Lamar County) closed about $170M in tax equity with Monarch Private Capital in September 2024 ahead of commercial operation. Invenergy staffs the site with 12 full-time operations and maintenance workers.

Profile
Developer and operatorInvenergy
Partial ownerWEC Energy Group, 80 percent of Samson I
LocationLamar, Red River and Franklin counties
Capacity1,310 MW in five phases
Contracted1,260 MW to eight buyers
Investment$1.6B
ConstructionTIC, a Kiewit subsidiary
TrackersFTC Solar Voyager
InvertersTMEIC
GridERCOT

Customers

Five Companies and Three Cities Bought the Output

Invenergy announced the buyers in November 2020: AT&T, Honda, McDonald's, Google and Home Depot, plus the cities of Bryan, Denton and Garland. Their contracts cover 1,260 of the 1,310 MW. Bryan Texas Utilities serves Bryan and College Station in the Brazos Valley, while Denton Municipal Electric and Garland Power & Light serve Dallas-Fort Worth suburbs. Google's 100 MW counts toward the carbon-free energy goals behind its Texas data centers.

Samson Solar PPA buyers, as announced by Invenergy in November 2020
BuyerMWType
AT&T500Corporate
Honda200Corporate
McDonald's160Corporate
City of Bryan150Municipal utility
Google100Corporate
City of Denton75Municipal utility
Home Depot50Corporate
City of Garland25Municipal utility

Local economy

Landowner and Tax Payments Total About $450M

Invenergy projects more than $250M in lifetime lease payments to landowners and nearly $200M in property taxes, about $450M in all. Samson II alone is expected to pay more than $27M to Lamar County and the local school district over its life; the Prairiland and Rivercrest school districts host the project.

Grid

Northeast Texas Solar Feeds the ERCOT Grid Near Dallas-Fort Worth

Samson delivers power into the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) grid. Most Texas wind sits in West Texas and the Panhandle, at sites such as the Roscoe Wind Complex; Samson places 1.3 GW of solar in Northeast Texas, closer to Dallas-Fort Worth demand. Batteries in the Texas BESS concentration shift midday solar output into the evening peak; see ERCOT Energy Sovereignty.

Record

Dataset Record

Sources
Invenergy, Solar Power World, Smart Energy Decisions, NS Energy, enerG Magazine, Global Energy Monitor, EIA via Interconnection.fyi, Renewable Energy Magazine, PV Tech, BizTimes Milwaukee, The Paris News
Last verified
October 2026