U.S.-Japan agreement brings major energy project to East Texas
ANDERSON COUNTY, Texas — A $16 billion natural gas project is headed to East Texas following a Thursday meeting between President Donald Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, marking one of the region’s largest energy investments in recent years.
Major Energy Project announced for East Texas
East Texas Rep. Cody Harris, whose district includes Anderson County—the planned site of the new natural gas generation hub—said the project would create roughly 3,000 long‑term, high‑paying jobs and give local taxing entities room to lower property taxes.
“This will be a massive investment in House District 8, which will have a multi-generational impact. Very exciting day for our area,” Harris said.
The East Texas Impact
KETK News spoke with Anderson County Judge Carey McKinney, who says the project will have a major impact on their local economy.
“It’d be a major impact on our economy, both in creation of jobs and as well our local businesses, because the intent is to try to hire as many local workers in the construction phase and in the long term, long term jobs, for the power plant and you’re going to be interacting with our local businesses, you’re going to have plumbers,” McKinney explained. “I’m sure there’ll be some workforce trainings that are probably going on with this too.”
According to McKinney, the jobs will be high paying positions and since the project is entirely within their school tax district, it will generate a significant boost for their education funding.
Part of a larger U.S.-Japan Investment Deal
The $16 billion Anderson County natural gas project is a part of a larger $550 billion that the United States and Japan negotiated in 2025. As part of the deal, Japan will invest $550 billion into projects across the United States in exchange for a reduced 15% tariff on all U.S. imports of Japanese products, rather than the 25% tariff that President Trump proposed in July 2025.
According to the U.S. Department of Commerce, the new Anderson County natural gas hub will be operated by NextEra Energy Resources of Juno Beach, Fla. and will generate up to 5.2 gigawatts of power for the Texas electricity grid.
“America needs more power, and NextEra Energy is ready to deliver. For more than a century, we have built the energy infrastructure that powers America’s growth,” NextEra CEO John Ketchum said. “Our hub strategy is designed to scale quickly and support rising demand while strengthening America’s energy security—without increasing electricity costs for American households. We are pleased that our Texas and Pennsylvania hubs have been selected to advance the President’s goal of American energy dominance.”
Ownership Structure and Next Steps
A NextEra press release said the Anderson County facility will be jointly owned by the United States and Japan, but will be built and operated by NextEra. Before construction can start on the project, NextEra said the Japanese investment is subject to further negotiations and the finalization of definitive documents between the parties involved.
McKinney said he expects construction to start in 2028, unless President Trump pushes the project toward an earlier date. He added that the Anderson County Commissioner’s Court plans to hear from NextEra about the project in their meeting on April 6 at 9:30 a.m.
Good news for East Texas. Anderson County Sheriff is a friend of mine. He's a Galveston Boy. I'll bet he winds up with a budget increase and lots of extra jobs for deputies.
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