The City Auditor’s Integrity Unit has found evidence that Austin Energy employee Steven Salinas solicited and accepted employment from developers over whose projects he had discretionary authority in his position as a lead electric distribution designer. However, while auditors found evidence that Salinas had worked as a contractor on various projects over which he had […]
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 inEnergy
Austin Energy proposes Value of Solar for commercial properties
Austin Energy presented a commercial Value of Solar proposal at the Austin Energy Utility Oversight Committee Monday morning. Danielle Murray, the Solar Energy Services manager at Austin Energy, said the proposed plan would have benefits for both present and future energy customers. One of those benefits is compensation for excess generation. According to Murray, it’s […]
Posted inEnergy
Austin Energy Facilities Master Plan looks to relocate key buildings
Austin Energy presented an update of its Facilities Master Plan at the Austin Energy Utility Oversight Committee Monday morning. The main goal of the plan, according to Mark Dombroski, deputy general manager and chief financial and risk officer at Austin Energy, is to improve services to customers. According to Dombroski, the company has been looking […]
Posted inEnergy
Austin Energy rebate to help renters
The Electric Utility Commission approved a rebate for the Lodge at Stone Oak Ranch apartment complex on April 17. The rebate, requested by Austin Energy, is meant to help fund energy-efficiency improvements at the complex. The proposed rebate is one element of Austin Energy’s Resource, Generation and Climate Protection Plan, parts of which focus on […]
Posted inEnergy
Austin Energy defends demand charge for small biz
Shudde Fath, the legendary advocate for ratepayers, wants Austin Energy to change the way it charges certain small businesses for their electricity. In a January letter to Mayor Steve Adler and City Council members, the longtime member of the Electric Utility Commission wrote that she hoped that the utility would roll back a change from […]
Posted inResources
City utilities devise plan to help with unpaid bills
Austin’s two city-owned utilities are teaming up to help some of the city’s most indebted customers catch up on unpaid bills. Beginning this summer, the joint effort between Austin Energy and Austin Water will target 543 customers who participate in AE’s low-income customer assistance program and owe between $1,750 and $3,000 to the utilities. Those […]
Posted inEnergy
Austin Energy struggles to fill vacancies with outdated hiring process
Facing a wave of retirement over the next three to five years, Austin Energy urgently needs to revamp its hiring approach, staff told the Electric Utility Commission at its March 20 meeting. “We do very passive recruiting here,” said Chief Financial Officer Mark Dombroski at the meeting. “We need to change that. We need to […]
Posted inEnergy
Holly Power Plant to be officially decommissioned in August, staff reports
Remnants of the Holly Street Power Plant still stand in East Austin, bitter reminders of a facility that spread pollution to nearby residents, but Austin Energy staff assured the Electric Utility Commission at its March 20 meeting that the decommissioning would end in August of this year. The update was prompted by testimony from Gavino […]
Posted inEnergy
Austin Energy makes good on energy efficiency goals
Austin Energy officials say the city-owned utility is making good on a lot of the ambitious energy efficiency goals set out for it in the Resource, Generation and Climate Protection Plan approved by City Council in December 2014. Thirty-one percent of the energy Austinites consume now comes from renewable sources, up from 25 percent when […]
Posted inEnergy
Oversight committee discusses making city carbon-free by 2030
“Can Austin be a carbon-free energy city by 2030?” was one of the more prominent questions up for debate Wednesday as the City Council’s Energy Utility Oversight Committee got its first update on the 10-year road map for Austin Energy’s resource needs and climate protection objectives. The discussion came during a presentation from Khalil Shalabi, […]
Posted inReporters' Notebook
Reporter’s Notebook: Fuel for the fire
Austin Energy prepared for Trump’s coal revival… During a presentation on Austin Energy’s financial health at the Electric Utility Commission meeting on Monday, Commissioner Stefan Wray asked AE Deputy General Manager Mark Dombroski a question about the elephant in the room: “What possible impact will the new federal government under President Trump have?” President-elect Donald […]
Posted inResources
New city contract: ‘death knell’ for private dumpster services?
Bob Gregory, CEO of Texas Disposal Systems, and his son Adam Gregory sounded the alarm at Monday’s Electric Utility Commission meeting concerning the pending authorization of a 36-month city contract with Republic Services, or another qualified bidder, to provide dumpster services for city facilities and special events. The contract came before the commission because Austin […]