After three months of intense negotiations, officials with the city’s electric utility and members of environmental groups — including, most prominently, the Sierra Club — have reached agreement on a proposed 2025 generation plan for Austin Energy. That plan includes ramping down use of the coal-fired Fayette Power Plant in 2020 with an eye to […]
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Posted inAustin, Environment, Resources
City reveals new drainage fee structure
Austin Watershed Protection Department staff publicly presented its proposed restructure of the drainage fee for the first time Wednesday, saying that it is fairer and more equitable to customers than the current flat fee. Watershed Protection Director Victoria Li told the Environmental Board that the proposed structure is based on the impact that each property […]
Posted inDevelopment, Resources, Transportation, Travis County
County OKs Land Water and Transportation Plan
Despite the fact that Texas counties have very little real control over how unincorporated land is developed, Travis County is giving it its best effort, as Commissioners approved a comprehensive Land Water and Transportation Plan on Tuesday. The plan, the result of 10 years of work and planning by the county’s Transportation and Natural Resources […]
Posted inAustin, Development, Housing, Resources
Consultant outlines affordable housing study data
Affordable housing advocates and residents gathered at City Hall on Monday to weigh in on the findings and recommendations of a July report that outlines Austin’s affordable housing needs and fair choice impediments. According to the 2014 Comprehensive Housing Market Study, the city has lost a significant amount of affordable housing since 2000, though it […]
Posted inEnvironment, Local Government, Resources
Aquifer district finishes Habitat Conservation Plan
After a decade of research, public input and development, the Barton Springs Edwards Aquifer Conservation District is sending its completed draft Habitat Conservation Plan, approved last month, to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for approval. The aquifer district board’s recent approval of the plan brings a complex process begun in 2004 to an end. […]
Posted inCity Council, Environment, Parks, Resources, Water
Water worries derail Decker Lake golf course vote
Worries about water — and Central Texas’ persistent drought — have derailed, at least temporarily, plans for the Decker Lake golf course. After hearing concerns from Austin Water Utility Director Greg Meszaros, City Council voted 7-0 to postpone consideration of an agreement to turn over 735 acres of parkland for development of a high-end golf […]
Posted inLocal Government, Resources, Water
LCRA seeks more limits on downstream release
With an analysis predicting the possibility of record low storage levels in lakes Buchanan and Travis early next year, the Lower Colorado River Authority board of directors voted 11-2 Wednesday to ask the state for a fourth year to limit the release of water from the Highland Lakes to agricultural interests downstream. The board also […]
Posted inCity Council, Energy, Resources
Council to consider new utility debt policy
City Council will likely consider a new utility debt policy soon, after learning from staff that customers have accrued about $76 million in electricity debt alone, mostly over the past three years. Staff also reported that customers owe more than $21 million in water and wastewater bills, more than $9 million in waste management and […]
Posted inEnergy, Environment, Resources
AE proposes rate change to improve value of solar
At Monday’s Electric Utility Commission meeting, Austin Energy officials presented a rate change that promises to create greater stability in the compensation of residential customers for the value of electricity generated by their solar units. The rate change is part of a broader effort by the utility to help meet the ambitious solar energy goals […]
Posted inAustin, Energy, Environment, Resources
Austin Energy works to increase ECAD compliance
The city’s Energy Conservation Audit and Disclosure ordinance went fully into effect this year, and Austin Energy staff say they are happy with the program’s progress and optimistic about its future. City Council adopted the ordinance in 2008 to keep property owners and potential buyers aware of how their buildings stack up with similar ones […]
Posted inAustin, City Hall, Resources, Water
Water/Wastewater recommends rate changes, again
The Water and Wastewater Commission has recommended that Council amend Austin Water Utility’s residential rates for 2015 in a way that staff says will cut an average user’s rates while raising them for more intensive users. Austin Water Assistant Director David Anders said the amendment would lower the impact of the 2015 rate increases for […]
Posted inResources, Water
San Antonio approves $3.4B for water pipeline
Saying the city needed to act to secure a new, long-term source of water, the San Antonio City Council voted Thursday to approve a $3.4 billion project to build a pipeline to deliver an estimated 16 billion gallons of water each year from the Carrizo-Wilcox aquifer in Burleson County. The flow from the 142-mile pipeline […]