Austin Energy weighs climate goals, transmission constraints ahead of resource management plan update

After navigating the summer’s record temperatures, Austin Energy is shifting gears, preparing an update to its Resource Generation Plan for the first time since committing to total carbon neutrality by 2035.

The 2030 Plan, which launched in 2020 as Covid-19 shook the globe, charts a course for the utility as it aims to transition entirely to renewable energy sources over the coming decade. While the policy has seen Austin Energy’s carbon dioxide emissions decrease from 5.3 million to 3.5 million tons per year since 2018, advocates say it’s time to dig deeper.

“So much has changed since 2020, and it’s critical that we have a new broad policy discussion of our future plans,” said environmentalist Al Braden, who serves on the Electric Utility Commission’s Resource Planning Working Group. “The failure to close the Fayette power plant, the transmission study reporting impacts of closing gas generation units, major advances in battery and storage technology, changes to the regulatory landscape following Winter Storm Uri, the summer’s new normal of excessive temperatures, and significant increases in the price of natural gas … these all demand a full community discussion.”

The years since the 2030 plan’s passing have seen Austin Energy’s generation mix become increasingly dominated by wind and solar, sourced largely from wind farms in the Panhandle and Gulf Coast and solar farms both in East Texas and just outside Austin city limits. Still, natural gas and coal plants supply most of the remaining load, alongside contributions from the South Texas nuclear power plant and Nacogdoches biomass plant.

“Most recently, we are at about 71 percent offsetting our load with carbon-free generation,” said Michael Enger, Austin Energy vice president of marketing operations and resource planning. “You’ll notice this is down a bit from where we were back in May of 2022, which was closer to 79 percent. Part of the reason for that is we had a very unseasonably low windy period in April, May, and early parts of June here in Texas.”

While Austin Energy has been quick to embrace new solar and wind projects, it has been slower to phase out fracking and coal. The utility recently broke ground with the closure of its natural gas power plant at Decker Creek, but has ruffled feathers faltering on its promise to shutter the still-running Fayette coal power plant by 2022.

Enger says part of the challenge in overhauling the utility’s generation mix is one of infrastructure, noting that the closure of older, local power plants means an increasing dependence on transmission lines carrying power from elsewhere in Texas. Austin Energy’s recently completed transmission study, commissioned by the original 2030 plan, will be critical in navigating the necessary infrastructure planning.

The city’s Electric Utility Commission, City Council and Austin Energy staff will continue to hash out the update over the coming months, hoping to have a final plan in place sometime next spring. While opinions over approach will likely splinter, all agree the update is a critical step in facing Austin’s new climate reality.

“I can tell you that back in 2020, we had about 49 intervals where we exceeded 2,700 megawatts load here in the city of Austin,” Enger said. “This last summer we exceeded that 900 times, so our load is growing significantly here, especially on those hotter days.”

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