Low-income Austin Energy customers may receive some additional help in lowering their bills in coming years, based on a recommendation that a City Council committee made on Thursday. The Austin Energy Utility Oversight Committee, which consists of the full Council but does not take official action, recommended directing city staff at a future Council meeting […]
Energy
Posted inEnergy
Council delays decision on consumer advocate
Not just any old consumer advocate will do. City Council members made clear Thursday night that they were far from convinced that Oxford Advisors LLC, a firm proposed by Austin Energy to serve as an advocate for Austin ratepayers, was qualified to represent the best interests of average Austinites during the upcoming cost of service study. […]
Posted inEnergy
Austin Energy’s GM resigns to take Seattle post
Austin Energy General Manager Larry Weis has given notice that he will be resigning effective Jan. 31, 2016, in order to become chief executive officer at Seattle City Light. Weis, who is the city’s highest-paid employee, submitted his notice to City Manager Marc Ott on Wednesday. Reached for comment in Seattle, Weis told the Austin […]
Posted inEnergy
Consultant endorses gas plant after study
Navigant Consulting, which the city hired to review the 500 megawatt natural gas plant proposed in the Austin Energy generation plan, has recommended the project. Dan Bradley and Matt Tanner, two of the report’s authors, presented the results at an Electric Utility Commission meeting on Monday evening, a few hours after Austin Energy released the […]
Posted inEnergy
Samsung, Freescale reject new energy tariff terms
Samsung Austin Semiconductor and Freescale Semiconductor – Austin Energy’s largest customers – have rejected the contract terms of a new tariff that City Council unanimously passed on Thursday. Catherine Morse and John Holmes, representing Samsung and Freescale, respectively, issued a statement on Friday. “After several hours in executive session and without public debate, our Council […]
Posted inEnergy
Austin Energy supports Clean Power Plan
Although Texas is a major player in a legal challenge to the federal Clean Power Plan, Austin Energy and three utilities outside of Texas have joined Houston-based Calpine Corp. in a legal motion to support the plan. Austin Energy General Manager Larry Weis told the Austin Monitor on Monday what the move means for the […]
Posted inEnergy, Resources
Low-Income Weatherization Program scrutinized
The Office of the City Auditor and the City Council Audit and Finance Committee put Austin Energy’s Low-Income Weatherization Program under the microscope on Wednesday, finding that customers are satisfied with the program overall but that it needs improvement. The program, which Austin Energy has run since 1982, provides certain weatherization and health-related services to […]
Posted inEnergy
Austin Energy committee considers new tariff
City Council appears to be moving closer to deciding how to charge Austin Energy’s two largest industrial customers, an issue it has grappled with since May. Convened as the Austin Energy Utility Oversight Committee, Council heard a presentation Thursday from utility staff on the proposed “P4” tariff, which would replace the long-term contracts that it […]
Posted inEnergy
Council expands immediate solar energy purchase
Just two weeks after approving 288 megawatts’ worth of solar energy contracts, City Council upped the total on Thursday to between 400 and 450 MW. In addition to the immediate purchases, the body directed Austin Energy to reach an ultimate goal of 600 MW by the end of 2019 by either signing contracts with solar […]
Posted inEnergy, Monitor News & Media, Radio, Resources
Austin Monitor Radio: 600 MW of solar power?
The Sierra Club’s Cyrus Reed and city of Austin Electric Utility Commission chair (and former Austin Energy employee) Michael Osborne join Austin Monitor publisher Mike Kanin to talk about the potential of as much as 600 megawatts in additional solar power contracts for Austin Energy. Program is embedded below: [soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/226880045″ params=”auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&visual=true” width=”100%” height=”450″ iframe=”true” […]
Posted inEnergy
Austin makes major investment in new solar
The Austin City Council took a huge step toward achieving the city’s renewable energy goals on Thursday when it approved up to 300 megawatts’ worth of utility-scale solar contracts that will last for the next 15 to 25 years. The story isn’t over yet, though, as Council has additional contracts on the table that could […]
Posted inEnergy
Austin Energy one step closer to energy storage
Local energy storage – essentially a giant battery connected to a power grid – seems like a simple idea, but for years it has been too costly for Austin Energy to pursue. That could change next year, though, when the utility hopes to have a Tesla-manufactured, 1.6 megawatt lithium ion battery – the same kind […]