Tenaska Frontier Partners Awards $7,500 in College Scholarships

SHIRO, Texas – Tenaska Frontier Partners, Ltd., owner of the Tenaska Frontier Generating Station near Shiro, has awarded $7,500 in college scholarships to high school seniors in Grimes County.

Since 2000, Tenaska Frontier Partners has presented 148 scholarships totaling $114,000 to local students.

Four Grimes County students received academic awards for demonstrating good character, academic achievement and leadership, while one student received the Strathwell Johnson scholarship based on a record of volunteer service. This scholarship – now in its 14th year – is named in recognition of the late Strathwell Johnson, the Grimes County resident who dedicated his life to community service.

“We appreciated Strathwell’s support and friendship over the years, and we will miss his presence in our community,” said Ross Billingsley, plant manager at Tenaska Frontier. “Strathwell knew so well the importance of citizenship and serving the community. We admired those qualities, and we seek to foster that sense of civic involvement in our own employees and in our future leaders.”

This year, Iola High School’s Blake Kitchens, son of Jose Lozano, of Iola, earned the Strathwell Johnson scholarship for his commitment to community and volunteer service. Kitchens has demonstrated excellence by supporting the local food bank, playing guitar in his church’s praise band, volunteering at a medical mission’s conference and with Special Olympics, and mentoring and coaching younger students.

In addition to the Strathwell prize, scholarships were awarded to students at each Grimes County public high school that participated.

At Anderson-Shiro High School, Anna Welch, daughter of Shawn and Cindy Welch, of Anderson, received a scholarship.

The scholarship recipients at Iola High School are Abby Barnett, daughter of Natalie and Brandon Standley; Michaela Bosquez, daughter of Michael and Karen Bosquez; and Landry Cunningham, daughter of Mark and Nugget Cunningham, all of Iola.

The annual scholarship program managed by Omaha, Nebraska-based Tenaska has awarded approximately $760,000 in scholarships nationwide. Roughly 885 students in communities where its facilities are located have benefited from the program since 2000.

Fueled by clean-burning natural gas, Tenaska Frontier produces 830 megawatts of electricity for sale to Exelon Generation Company, LLC, which markets the power.

The plant is one of the largest taxpayers in Grimes County. It has contributed more than $48.1 million in property taxes to Grimes County and to local school districts since beginning commercial operation in 2000. In 2018, the plant injected more than $4.9 million in salaries and payments to local contractors and vendors into the area economy. In addition to more than 400 hours of volunteer service performed by employees and other annual community contributions, the Tenaska Frontier facility supports the Anderson-Shiro and Navasota education foundations.

Tenaska Frontier Partners is comprised of affiliates of Tenaska, J-POWER USA and Diamond Generating Corporation.