As the city begins to re-examine its electric rate structure for the first time since 2012, Austin Energy staff revealed the preliminary results of its internal cost-of-service analysis at an Electric Utility Commission meeting on Dec. 14. In short, Austin Energy staff found that rates for its residential and small commercial classes of customers are […]
Tyler Whitson
Posted inTransportation
Council sets background check penalties for TNCs
The battle over fingerprint background checks for transportation network companies such as Uber and Lyft has taken a turn that may ultimately result in the two companies pausing operations in Austin. City Council passed an ordinance on all three readings that “sets benchmarks that work towards a goal of fingerprinting for all drivers and disincentives […]
Posted inTransportation
CTRMA issues notice of default on MoPac project
The Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority issued a notice of default Thursday to CH2M Hill – the contractor that has been working on the MoPac Improvement Project – over delays that have caused work to continue far beyond the $200 million project’s original September completion date. “This is part of our contractual discussions and construction […]
Posted inTransportation
Council debates concerns about “ward politics”
Inspired by a vote set for today on how to spend the $21.8 million in transportation dollars remaining in the “quarter-cent fund,” City Council debated at a Tuesday work session about whether the proposed approach sets a precedent that could lead to a system in which funds are often divided up evenly among districts. “I […]
Posted inWhispers
Council plans to split short-term rental vote
The City Council members present at a work session on Tuesday appeared to reach a consensus on the idea of splitting up the discussion on the short-term rental ordinance planned for this Thursday. Rather than consider all of the proposed changes to the ordinance, Council members discussed holding a public hearing and vote only on […]
Posted inCity Council
Council talks TNC regulations ahead of vote
After months of deliberation, City Council will consider a slew of new regulations Thursday for transportation network companies including Uber, Lyft and Austin’s newest arrival, Dallas-based Get Me. Council talked through the proposals – including a fingerprint background check requirement that could mean the end of Lyft and Uber in the city – at a […]
Posted inWhispers
Oxford officially files anti-lobbying protest
City Purchasing Officer James Scarboro broke the news at an Electric Utility Commission meeting on Monday that Oxford Advisors LLC has officially filed a protest to the city’s disqualification, under its anti-lobbying ordinance, of the company’s bid to be the consumer advocate in the upcoming Austin Energy cost-of-service study. Mark Dreyfus, the utility’s vice president […]
Posted inWhispers
Austin Energy staff changes solidify
Austin Energy General Manager Larry Weis noted at an Electric Utility Commission meeting on Monday that the utility’s Chief Operating Officer Cheryl Mele will step down on Dec. 21 and will be temporarily replaced by Elaina Ball, current vice president of power production. “There’s a good group of people to keep a steady hand on […]
Posted inWhispers
EPA releases regional haze plan for Texas
The Environmental Protection Agency released its regional haze plan for Texas on Wednesday, designed to reduce air pollution that impacts visibility in the Big Bend and Guadalupe Mountains national parks in Texas as well as the Wichita Mountains National Wildlife Refuge in Oklahoma. According to a Sierra Club press release, the plan puts in place […]
Posted inCity Council
Council narrowly supports COTA tax incentive bid
Following a contentious debate about the nature of tax incentives, a fractured City Council voted Thursday to endorse applications for funds from the Texas Major Events Reimbursement Program for upcoming events at the Circuit of the Americas. Both items – one for all future MotoGP events and one for the 2016 and 2017 Austin X […]
Posted inPolice
City releases police body camera solicitation
The Austin Police Department moved closer to kicking off its highly anticipated body camera pilot program on Monday, when the city quietly released a solicitation for contract bids online. The contracts would be for the “purchase, implementation, and support” of the anticipated 500 body cameras to be rolled out over a four-month period next year, […]
Posted inWhispers
Uber, cab companies release competing polls
Do Austinites support regulations – currently under consideration by City Council – for transportation network companies such as Uber and Lyft? It is apparently a landslide in either direction, depending on whom – and how – you ask. On Wednesday, Uber released the results of a poll that it commissioned through pollster We Ask America […]