Since 1983, Gulf Coast Power Association (GCPA) has served Texas and the Gulf Coast as a regional electric power trade organization dedicated to promoting an improved understanding of the issues and opportunities impacting contemporary power markets.

GCPA’s highly diversified membership base consists of over 100 corporate members and 250 individual members representing virtually every segment of the electric power industry. The Association’s popular Spring and Fall Conferences are the largest gatherings of electric power professionals in the region and attract over 1,000 registrants annually. Additional educational and networking opportunities include monthly luncheon meetings in Houston, Austin and Dallas as well as periodic special briefing workshops on topics of special interest.

GCPA’s focus on providing superior educational and networking opportunities for its members and event attendees has contributed to its strong reputation as a premier and precedent-setting educator within the region’s competitive power market.

History of GCPA
The Association was formed in Houston in 1983 as the Gulf Coast Cogeneration Association, by a handful of individuals from development companies and suppliers of goods and services involved in the new industry spawned by passage of the Public Utility Regulatory Policy Act of 1978 (PURPA). Since then, Association membership has increased steadily, both in numbers and in the diversity of industry segments represented, until now with over 100 corporate members and over 250 individual members, it embraces virtually every aspect of the electric power industry.

In 1994, the Board recognized that its members' interests had broadened beyond cogeneration, to include power production, delivery and marketing of competitive electric energy supplies worldwide using a variety of energy sources. The name of the Association was changed officially in 1995 to the Gulf Coast Power Association (GCPA).