An Austin Energy employee suspected of driving intoxicated in a deadly crash misused his city vehicle by driving to locations outside the scope of his work and misused work time to hunt on city property, according to an investigative report released this week by the Office of the City Auditor. Investigators said that Jody Wood, […]
Austin Energy
As a municipally-owned electric utility, Austin Energy is a rarity in the largely deregulated State of Texas. Its annual budget clocks in at over $1 billion. The utility’s annual direct transfer of a Council-determined percentage of its revenues offers the city a notable revenue stream.
Posted inCity Hall
Budget amendment means new $150M Austin Energy HQ at Mueller
Austin Energy will move its offices on Barton Springs Road to a new headquarters at the Mueller development in North Austin, a move that is expected to save the city roughly $1 million per year. Last week City Council unanimously approved an amendment to Austin Energy’s capital budget that provides $148.7 million for the land […]
Posted inEnergy
Austin Energy’s new chief operations officer ‘proud’ of first-year results
At Austin Energy, successful operations begin with safety. With a growing city and a growing need for electric services, Austin Energy has begun to internally push its “Safety Starts With Me” campaign in an effort to reduce the number of injuries on the job and simultaneously increase the productivity of employees. “We are requiring each […]
Posted inEnergy
Austin Energy finishes the year with $50.5M in excess revenue, lower bills for customers
After weathering an erratic Electric Reliability Council of Texas market this summer, Austin Energy finished the year in a financially stable position with extra revenue that will be passed on to the public in the coming year. According to Mark Dombroski, chief financial officer at Austin Energy, who addressed the Electric Utility Commission at its […]
Posted inResources
Austin Energy discusses how to resolve repercussions of water bill fiasco
It has been over a year since the water bill saga first made headlines in Austin. However, only now are city utilities releasing a post-mortem report designed to help them avoid a similar situation in the future. While the report that Monica Joyner, an Austin Energy process manager for quality, presented at the Nov. 19 […]
Posted inEnergy
As temperatures increase, investment in renewables is already shaving dollars off Austin utility bills
Despite summer 2018 being one of the hottest on record in Austin, energy prices did not spike with the temperature. Instead, energy costs for customers this summer were identical to those of summer 2017, even though temperatures were higher this year. Khalil Shalabi, Austin Energy’s vice president of strategy, technology and markets, explained the phenomenon […]
Posted inEnergy
Austin Energy: Storage is the next hurdle to Austin’s renewable energy plan
The big conundrum facing energy utilities today is how to balance supply and demand for every second of every day. Although there are debates around the subject, the answer, albeit simple, seems to lie with storage. In the Austin Energy Resource, Generation and Climate Protection Plan there is a section that outlines the utility’s commitment […]
Posted inEnergy
AE seeks code change to support fast car charging
Austin Energy estimates that there were 5,873 electric plug-in vehicles in its service territory as of Sept. 30. Karl Popham, AE’s manager for electric vehicles and emerging technologies, told City Council during Tuesday’s work session that about 85 percent of those vehicles’ owners do their charging at home and most of that is done at […]
Posted inTexas State Legislature
Property taxes, Austin Energy top city’s worry list
Once again, the city of Austin, along with other large Texas cities, will face a grueling task as the 2019 legislative session begins in January. Intergovernmental Relations Officer Brie Franco told City Council during Tuesday’s work session that she and the city’s outside lobbyists would be concentrating on protecting Austin Energy and preventing passage of […]
Posted inEnergy
Austin Energy proposes local solar farm
In spite of the tremendous appetite for renewable energy in Austin, the city doesn’t offer many opportunities to build the kind of large-scale wind and solar farms necessary to reduce reliance on fossil fuels. “It’s an issue of land,” explained Khalil Shalabi, vice president of strategy, technology and markets for Austin Energy. “Land is expensive. […]
Posted inCity Hall
Ethics commission pushes Austin Energy for info on retiree’s overtime case
An Austin Energy retiree who is being investigated for allegedly misusing his sick and vacation time will get more evidence from his former employer to possibly contest the city’s case against him. The Ethics Review Commission voted 9-0 last week to request more cooperation from Austin Energy in gathering emails and other documentation from Curtis […]
Posted inEnergy
An update on the Fayette Power Plant reveals no news, inspires working group
Almost five years ago, Council recommended that Austin Energy retire its portion of the Fayette Power Plant, which is run on coal, by 2022. Despite intense pressure from environmentalists to move that date up, the city utility is sticking to their plans for retirement on that date. However, the path forward toward retirement remains clear. […]