Council OKs tree trimming audit in lieu of larger study

In response to complaints from the public about Austin Energy’s response to the extreme ice storm that knocked out electric power for at least 173,000 AE customers, City Council Member Mackenzie Kelly asked her colleagues Thursday to approve a resolution directing City Auditor Corrie Stokes to perform an extensive audit.

Ultimately, the other members of Council agreed to direct Stokes to audit only the utility’s vegetation management plan, and Council Member Ryan Alter crafted the abbreviated resolution.

Kelly’s original resolution included language indicating a need for “an exhaustive and thorough audit of energy operations” and an assessment of Austin Energy’s “efficiency and effectiveness in fulfilling its responsibilities to the community during major weather events, ensuring that residents are not placed in compromising situations.”

Kelly’s proposal said it is “imperative to evaluate the adequacy of the city’s vegetation management plan, the execution of the plan, and the response to the winter storm to identify opportunities for improvement.” In addition to analyzing the utility’s management of vegetation, Kelly proposed an analysis of “Austin Energy operational practices as they relate to the February 2023 major winter storm event as well as its coordination with other city departments.”

Even though Ryan Alter was a co-sponsor of Kelly’s proposal, his substitute motion eliminated major portions of Kelly’s resolution. Council approved Alter’s substitute on a vote of 10-1, with Kelly the only vote against. So although Kelly’s resolution started out as a wholesale review of Austin Energy’s operational practices as related to the storm, in the end only the vegetation portion was adopted.

At next week’s meeting of the Council Audit and Finance Committee, members are scheduled to discuss an update on how the city has responded to recommendations from the Disaster Preparedness Audit. That audit found the city unprepared for a natural disaster such as Winter Storm Uri and cited, among other problems, failure to communicate with the public. Although Thursday’s resolution did not direct the auditor to comment on the city’s communications with the public, committee members are likely to criticize the city for its communications failures as well as failure to follow up on various other recommendations.

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