After nearly two years of study, revision, public outreach and intense debate, the city of Austin finally has a new plan for how it will meet its energy needs over the next 10 years.
Austin Energy’s Resource, Generation and Climate Protection Plan to 2035 serves as a road map, not just for how the city’s public utility will generate electricity, but how it will conserve it, try to keep it affordable and meet city climate and environmental goals at the same time.
Since its public debut last spring, the main point of contention in the plan was the role that natural gas might play in Austin’s future energy mix.
Over the last several years the utility has shut down some of its older gas generators in an attempt to meet Austin’s goal of making Austin a “net-zero” emission city by 2040.
That reduction in local power generation led to an increase in transmission costs, as the city pulled more electricity from distant wind and solar farms.
Austin Energy says the price for importing that power into Austin’s service area (referred to as its “load zone” in utility speak) has been great.
The city paid over $135 million in such costs in 2022, and $150 million in 2023, according to Lisa Martin, the utility company’s chief operating officer.
To reduce that cost and generate more power locally, Austin Energy proposed installing new natural generators – much like jet engines – to run when demand and power costs are high.
While Austin Energy studiously avoids calling this a power plant, facilities housing these quick-starting units are referred to as “peaker plants” precisely because they operate in times of peak demand.
Beyond the cost savings, the utility says a new “peaker plant” would help stabilize the local electric distribution system.
Climate change-minded Austinites and local environmental groups rebelled at the idea of expanding fossil fuel power in a city that is supposed to be going carbon-free.
The fact that the proposal was released the day before Thanksgiving, when few were paying attention, added to a sense among some that the city utility was trying to get away with something.
Still, the generation plan ultimately won the support of two key city commissions, the Electric Utility Commission and the Resource Management Commission, before making its way to Council this week.
That’s when the amendments started.
What City Council did to the plan
In response to the concerns raised by environmentalists and others, City Council members added 14 amendments to the generation plan before approving it.
Broadley speaking, the changes added requirements for Austin Energy to regularly report on its progress in reducing emissions.
They included conditions for how the utility could pursue new natural gas generation, requiring that the utility conduct studies comparing the value of a new “peaker plant” against other, cleaner energy sources of power.
Council members also approved caps on carbon dioxide (CO2) and other emissions from city power plants. They set a new goal to increase utility-scale battery storage locally, strengthened language committing Austin Energy to going carbon free, and added goals to enhance utility labor protections and to encourage renters to participate in renewable energy programs.
Council members also told the utility to take a new look at how it measures success when it comes to meeting city climate goals.
Rather than only reduce emissions from power generation, Council members told Austin Energy to take a “holistic” look at how it might further reduce greenhouse gas pollution by changing energy use in Austin with things like heat pumps and electric cars.
“There are scenarios where, if we electrify our transportation enough, if we electrify our buildings enough, that we might have to add carbon-emitting units in our system, but we would get a significant reduction of emissions in our community,” Council Member Alison Alter said.
“Obviously, we’d prefer for that to be renewable energy that we’re using,” she added.
The plan passed unanimously with all amendments included. You can read the full plan on the city website.