Austin Energy withdraws agenda item to sell district cooling system

A City Council discussion on a proposal to sell Austin Energy’s district cooling system has been put on ice. Austin Energy General Manager Bob Kahn notified City Manager T.C. Broadnax and Council that the utility was asking to withdraw an item on Thursday’s agenda relating to a contract with J.P. Morgan “to assist in evaluating a potential sale” of the system that provides chilled water to help air conditioners efficiently cool large downtown buildings. The proposal had alarmed environmentalists, including Paul Robbins, a member of the Resource Management Commission. Robbins proposed a resolution in opposition to the agenda item, which the commission approved on Tuesday night, according to mayoral candidate Doug Greco, who has spoken in support of the resolution. Still, it was probably a reaction from the union representing city employees that caused the utility to think again. “Why sell a profitable, efficient, and environmentally friendly system just to line the pockets of J.P. Morgan?” AFSCME Local 1624 President Pedro Villalobos said. “Privatizing the service and its assets is a short-sighted, misguided decision that fails our community and ignores the public’s best interests. Let’s invest in our local infrastructure, not Wall Street.” According to a spokesperson for Austin Energy, the utility is currently losing about $5.2 million on the system. He said the utility withdrew the proposal in order to allow for more conversation about it.