A presentation at the Feb. 17 Conroe ISD board of trustees meeting covered ongoing and future projects throughout the district.

What to know: Easy Foster, Conroe ISD executive director of planning and construction, presented an overview of the 2023 bond projects, including the following:

• Proposed contracts: 37
• Completed projects: 8
• Projects under construction: 20
• Projects currently in the design process: 4
• Upcoming design: 5

With the filing period ending Feb. 13, a number of candidates have filed for the May 2 election in the cities of Shenandoah and Oak Ridge North.

Shenandoah: Residents will see Shenandoah council Positions 1 and 5 on the ballot along with the race for mayor, according to the city's election website. Incumbent Ron Raymaker will not seek reelection for Position 1.

Oak Ridge North: Residents will see Oak Ridge North City Council Places 1 and 2 on the ballot, along with the race for mayor. City Council incumbents Rick Moffatt and Alex Jones are running uncontested, according to the city of Oak Ridge North’s election website.

Republican candidates in the contested March 3 primary for Montgomery County judge, as well as the unopposed Democratic primary candidate, shared their platforms in a Feb. 17 forum presented by The Woodlands Area Chamber of Commerce.

What to expect: Incumbent Mark Keough and challenger Wayne Mack, the current justice of the peace for Montgomery County Precinct 1, are seeking the Republican nomination for the Nov. 3 general election. Democratic candidate James Graf is unopposed in the primary election. Candidates for each party presented their platforms and answered questions in the forum separately.

What's next: Early voting began Feb. 17 and will end Feb. 27. A list of some of the positions on the sample ballot for voters in The Woodlands area in Montgomery County can be found here.

Election day is March 3.

A major new natural gas power project in east Houston just cleared another state milestone, pushing a planned 455-megawatt plant closer to reality as Texas races to add generation amid rising demand.

What this means: Gov. Greg Abbott announced the new unit planned at the existing Greens Bayou facility has been designated a qualified project under the Texas Jobs, Energy, Technology and Innovation program, according to a Feb. 17 news release. The plant represents $617 million in capital investment and is expected to start producing electricity for the Electric Reliability Council of Texas region in 2028, according to the governor’s office.

The project is intended to strengthen grid reliability and create jobs, crediting state leaders and local partners for helping move the plan ahead, per the release.

What’s next: According to the release, with the JETI designation now in place, the focus shifts to the buildout and timeline leading up to the planned 2028 start date—when the additional capacity is expected to begin feeding electricity into the ERCOT grid.