Tuesday’s City Council work session looks like it will be heavily focused on discussion about the impact of last week’s ice storm, which disrupted power to more than 250,000 people at some point during the three-day freeze. The city and Travis County signed emergency declarations over the weekend, potentially opening up federal resources to help […]
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
Winter storm prompts widespread power outages, with no estimate of restoration
Another historic winter storm left more than 147,000 Austin Energy customers without power and more than 100 work crews struggling to repair downed power lines, with no estimate of when the outages would be resolved. “We had hoped to make more progress today on restoration, and that simply has not happened,” Austin Energy General Manager […]
Posted inEnergy
City to look at electric vehicle building code updates
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 […]
Posted inResources
Austin is giving away free winter prep kits this week
Austin’s utility companies and Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management will distribute free winter-weather supply kits this week at customer service centers. The kits include water meter keys, styrofoam hose covers, hand-crank flashlights, first-aid supplies and winter weather tip sheets. Austin Water’s public information manager, Ginny Guerrero, said there are hundreds of kits available […]
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 inDevelopment
Builders talk pros/cons of city’s push for environmentally friendly construction
As Austin moves closer toward its net-zero energy goals, the city’s building and development community will play a major role in making new buildings environmentally sound and gradually retrofitting existing buildings to be more energy efficient. How to manage those costs and responsibilities was the topic for a recent Urban Land Institute panel held in […]
Posted inBicycles
E-bike rebates to double under proposed pilot program
The city will likely dramatically increase its incentives for electric bike purchases beginning next year with a new program that will double the rebates given for individual and fleet-level purchases. In a memo released this week from Jackie A. Sargent, general manager of Austin Energy, and Richard Mendoza, interim director of the Austin Transportation Department, […]
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 […]