Energy
City to consider selling its district cooling system
City Manager T.C. Broadnax has notified City Council that staff will be seeking approval during the July 18 meeting to hire J.P. Morgan Securities LLC to provide “strategic advice about the potential sale of Austin Energy’s district cooling system.” The…
Energy • By Jo Clifton • Jul 9, 2024
Resource Management Commission sets sights on natural gas utilities in bid to expand oversight
As the city prepares to renegotiate its contract with Texas Gas Service, Austin’s Resource Management Commission is vying for a seat at the table, with a proposal to expand its purview to include the utility’s oversight on its way to…
Energy • By Kali Bramble • Jun 26, 2024
Austin Energy on track on its goals for assisting low-income customers
A year and a half into Austin Energy’s campaign to expand its Customer Assistance Program, the utility says it’s on track to enroll 90 percent of eligible ratepayers by June of next year. The enrollment target dates back to December…
Energy • By Kali Bramble • Jun 17, 2024
Austin Energy dialing in to climate protection plan
After pausing to rethink its approach, Austin Energy is revisiting its update to the 2030 Resource, Generation and Climate Protection Plan with a series of workshops set to begin next month. The first of four workshops, scheduled for June 7…
Energy • By Kali Bramble • May 20, 2024
Austin Energy's climate protection plan timeline comes under fire
After an unpopular first draft, Austin Energy is taking a new approach to update its Resource, Generation and Climate Protection Plan. Staff says the approach, led by a newly hired mediation specialist, will employ strategies that bring new voices to…
Energy • By Kali Bramble • May 2, 2024
Panelists: Transmission lines, local generation needed to meet Austin's energy demands
Keeping up with aggressive business and residential growth throughout the Austin area is a persistent challenge for those involved in supplying energy reliably to the city while also trying to move away from fossil fuel sources for generation needs. Speakers…
Energy • By Chad Swiatecki • Apr 5, 2024
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Some vulnerable residents can’t use Austin Energy’s program
Some Austin Energy customers who are categorized as medically vulnerable and need electricity to operate life-saving equipment have not been able to sign up for the utility’s program to assist them in emergency situations, according to an audit report from…
Energy • By Jo Clifton • Mar 27, 2024
Austin Energy pauses to analyze path forward for climate plan
Austin Energy General Manager Bob Kahn has informed the mayor and City Council that the utility is pausing the current process of amending its resource, generation and climate protection plan. The utility had been working to provide proposed changes to…
Energy • By Jo Clifton • Mar 13, 2024
Electric Utility Commission offers climate-friendly recommendations for Austin Energy update
As the deadline approaches for an update to Austin Energy’s Resource, Generation, and Climate Protection Plan, the city’s Electric Utility Commission is joining the conversation, banding behind its own proposal for the coming decade. The proposal, formed in collaboration with…
Energy • By Kali Bramble • Feb 26, 2024
U.S. Rep. Greg Casar files bill to connect Texas grid to rest of the country
Of the numerous vulnerabilities exposed by the deadly 2021 Texas blackouts, one caught people’s attention more than the rest: Texas exists as an energy island. Unlike any other power grid in the continental U.S., the energy system that serves 90 percent of…
Energy • By Mose Buchele, KUT • Feb 14, 2024
Critics say Austin Energy's proposal to pivot toward hydrogen could do more harm than good
As Austin Energy drafts an update to its Resource, Generation and Climate Protection Plan, industry watchdogs are doing their homework, investigating a controversial proposal to construct a brand-new gas plant designed to burn carbon-neutral green hydrogen. Among those asking questions…
Energy • By Kali Bramble • Feb 1, 2024
Austin Energy, advisory group move toward presenting plans to Council
Austin Energy has seemed to be at odds with environmentalists over its updated power generation plan. And it is likely that the working group tasked with helping the utility come up with a new plan for fueling Austin’s electricity needs…
