Austin’s building code may soon include updated provisions concerning electric vehicles and electric readiness for new construction. The city’s Resource Management Commission voted at its Jan. 17 meeting to recommend City Council initiate a public stakeholder process to develop rules for the vehicles and the electrical infrastructure needed to charge them. Increasing electric vehicle use […]
Energy
Posted inEnergy
Can ERCOT even be sued? Texas Supreme Court will decide.
The Supreme Court of Texas will hear oral arguments Monday in a case that could decide the future of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas. At issue: whether the group that runs the Texas energy grid is, in fact, a part of the state government. The case stems from two lawsuits against ERCOT. One of […]
Posted inEnergy
Austin Energy customers can expect (another) increase on their electricity bills next year
Eight months, more than 260 document filings and countless hours of grueling negotiations later, Austin Energy has new electricity rates. If you’re a customer of the public utility, your bill is going up. The plan, which Austin City Council passed on a 7-4 vote Thursday, raises electricity rates overall and increases a flat-rate monthly charge from $10 […]
Posted inEnergy
Austin Energy rate case moving slowly at Council
During Tuesday’s work session, most members of City Council seemed poised to agree that Austin Energy should have an additional $31.3 million in revenue and that the customer service charge should be around $12 or $13 a month instead of the originally proposed $25 per month. They also seemed to agree that there should be […]
Posted inEnergy
Still more questions than answers approaching Austin Energy rate case vote
City Council appears far from resolved heading into today’s vote on Austin Energy base rates, leaving last Tuesday’s work session with the case’s biggest questions still unanswered. On the top of the list is the issue of revenue requirement, with many hesitant to approve the full $35.7 million Austin Energy claims it needs to recover […]
Posted inEnergy
Council weighs options for 2023 Austin Energy rates
With just a month before holiday break, City Council is fighting to resolve significant disagreements among stakeholders, outside counsel and Austin Energy on changes to utility base rates effective 2023. Council began this round of deliberations with the final recommendation of the Electric Utility Commission, which endorsed a number of approaches floated to tackle rate […]
Posted inEnergy
Austin Energy rate case participants band together behind alternative proposal
The race for City Council’s blessing on 2023 electric rates is heating up, as parties in the Austin Energy base rate review case announced their own counter-settlement to the utility’s proposed rate design. The independent consumer advocate, John Coffman, along with Texas Industrial Energy Consumers, NXP Semiconductors, Sierra Club, Public Citizen, Solar United Neighbors, Solar & […]
Posted inEnergy
Council to curtail increases to energy bills, but by how much?
City Council members have their work cut out for them this month, with the first of six work sessions leaving a lot of ground to cover before their vote on Austin Energy base rates for 2023. With the independent hearing examiner ruling largely in its favor, Austin Energy is continuing to propose a shift to […]
Posted inEnergy
Draft recommendation suggests EUC will push back on Austin Energy rate case
With the end of the year steadily approaching, schedules are packed and the city is at full throttle preparing for a ruling on Austin Energy’s controversial rate review case. Last week, the Electric Utility Commission spent its meeting deliberating a draft resolution that would ask City Council to substantially deviate from Austin Energy’s proposed revenue […]
Posted inEnergy
Starting next month, Austin Energy customers can expect a $15 increase on bills
Lee esta historia en Español If you’re an Austin Energy customer, your bill is going up soon, but City Council members passed a proposal Thursday to lower some increases – at least for now. On an 7-4 vote, Council members approved a proposal to lower a planned increase for average customers of $20 a month starting […]
Posted inEnergy
Six weeks out from controversial base rate review hearings, Austin Energy proposes yet another rate hike
Despite the welcome relief of cooler temperatures, there appears to be no end in sight for Austin Energy’s woes, as the utility tackles yet another unpopular rate change. As the base rate review case approaches City Hall, Austin Energy has announced that its annual revision of pass-through rates could mean another hike in energy rates […]
Posted inEnergy
Workers demand labor protections at Austin Energy base rate rally
It was an unusually lively morning outside Austin Energy Headquarters last Saturday, as a coalition of workers, environmentalists and community leaders gathered to air their grievances with the publicly owned utility. With a potential increase to residential rates on the horizon, the Texas Climate Jobs Action Fund led the diverse group of unions and civic […]