As American manufacturers struggle to keep pace with demand, wait times for power transformers have put housing and infrastructure projects across the country on hold. Austin Energy executives joined City Council’s Austin Energy Utility Oversight Committee last week to discuss the nationwide shortage, reporting that new units are now taking nearly 70 weeks to arrive. […]
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 inCourts
Council to vote on payment for wrongful death
City Council is scheduled to vote today on paying the plaintiffs more than $3 million in a wrongful death case brought by the mother of a child whose father died while working a construction job in Austin. Jaime Membreno, a 26-year-old citizen of El Salvador, died in 2009 when he touched one of Austin Energy’s […]
Posted inEnergy
With no end in sight to electric vehicle boom, Austin Energy embraces the transportation sector
As new battery-powered car models from General Motors and Ford roll into the market, Austin Energy is racing to ensure the city’s infrastructure is ready for them. The utility’s electric vehicle and emerging technologies team stopped by last week’s work session to bring City Council up to speed on pending improvements to its charging network […]
Posted inPublic Safety
City Council hears preliminary findings on what went wrong with city response to Winter Storm Mara
As extreme weather in Central Texas becomes more frequent, what is Austin doing to bolster its emergency preparedness? At its work session on Tuesday, City Council heard a preliminary update on the audits examining what broke down in the city’s response to Winter Storm Mara in February. The audit is looking into how the city […]
Posted inCity Hall
Austin Energy’s general manager, Jackie Sargent, steps down
Austin Energy General Manager Jackie Sargent has retired – effective immediately – according to a memo from interim City Manager Jesús Garza. Sargent served as the public utility’s top executive for nearly six years. Sargent was the highest-paid city employee, earning a base salary of $403,374 a year. “I wish Jackie Sargent the best in retirement,” […]
Posted inTexas State Legislature
Austin warns utility legislation would cause taxes to go up
A bill introduced by state Sen. Charles Schwertner, R-Georgetown, would likely result in increased property taxes in Austin, San Antonio and other cities that own electric utilities, according to Austin Chief Financial Officer Ed Van Eenoo. Simply put, Senate Bill 1110 would prevent cities from transferring money from their utilities to their general funds, “if […]
Posted inEnergy
Austin Energy reflects on emergency response two months after record-breaking ice storm
As brush collectors make their final sweeps for toppled tree debris, Austin Energy is working to uncover the hard lessons wrought by February’s catastrophic ice storm. Gearing up to deliver an after-action report to City Council this spring, interim Deputy General Manager Stuart Riley and a cohort of Austin Energy executives stopped by the Electric […]
Posted inCity Council
How realistic is the idea to bury Austin’s power lines? Council wants to know.
At its regular meeting Thursday, City Council approved a pair of items aimed at exploring the possibilities for burying existing utility power lines as well as ones to be constructed in new capital projects such as Project Connect. The idea surfaced after the devastating February winter ice storm that left thousands of Austinites without power […]
Posted inCourts
Jury says Austin Energy retaliated against employee
Editor’s note: More than two years after the publication of this story, the city won the case at the court of appeals. A Travis County district court jury has voted to award $750,000 to an Austin Energy employee after finding that other city employees retaliated against her after she filed a complaint with the Equal […]
Posted inEnergy
Austin Energy shares recovery, emergency preparation plans
Leaders of Austin Energy have started to move forward in the aftermath of the winter storm earlier this month that left hundreds of thousands of Austinites in the dark for days at a time. The next steps outlined include streamlining communications, better assessing the extent of power outages, and determining the cost and timelines for […]
Posted inCity Council
Council OKs tree trimming audit in lieu of larger study
In response to complaints from the public about Austin Energy’s response to the extreme ice storm that knocked out electric power for at least 173,000 AE customers, City Council Member Mackenzie Kelly asked her colleagues Thursday to approve a resolution directing City Auditor Corrie Stokes to perform an extensive audit. Ultimately, the other members of […]
Posted inEnergy
Questions of the day: When will power be restored? Will Cronk keep his job?
Two questions hung over City Council’s abbreviated work session Tuesday, one arising frequently and one never mentioned. First of all, Council members wanted to know how many Austin Energy customers were still without power and when their power would be restored. The unspoken question was whether City Manager Spencer Cronk would retain his job after […]