Austin Energy has entered the public hearing phase of its base rate review process, following its proposal to raise service costs. The monthslong dialogue with stakeholders and city staff, slated for resolution by City Council in November, has surfaced predictable conflicts over the price hike. Released late April, Austin Energy’s proposal includes an overall base […]
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
Utility commission ponders letting new developments shoulder rate increase
Austin’s Electric Utility Commission is thinking over some suggestions to offer to City Council about Austin Energy’s rate review, which as currently proposed would increase the utility’s base rate by 7.6 percent to make up for a $48 million deficit. The commission’s budget and audit work group came to this week’s EUC meeting with some […]
Posted inCity Hall
Resource Management Commission at stalemate over toxic materials resolution
Resource Management commissioners recently butted heads over a proposed resolution directing Austin Energy staff to facilitate a working group tasked with brainstorming how to dissuade builders from using toxic materials. The resolution ultimately did not pass, ending in a 4-4 tie vote, with one abstention. Ultimately there was some confusion over what exactly the resolution aimed […]
Posted inEnergy
Austin Energy’s proposed rate increase would hit lower-use residential customers hardest
Austin Energy recently launched a public input process to collect feedback on a proposal to increase its base rates by 7.6 percent. The city-owned utility says the price hike is necessary to balance a $48 million shortfall between its costs and revenue. But some lower-use residential customers fear they will disproportionately bear the brunt of […]
Posted inEnergy
Austin Energy wants to raise its rates. Here’s how you can give feedback.
Residential customers could see a nearly $16 bump in their monthly electric bills under a rate hike proposed by Austin Energy. But before it can raise base rates, the city-owned utility must first go through a public input process. Austin Energy says it needs to bridge a $48 million gap between its costs and revenue. […]
Posted inEnergy
Austin Energy seeks to bridge revenue gap through changes to service costs
Austin Energy customers can anticipate changes to their bills in the near future, as the utility gears up to revise its base rate charges by 2023. Russell Maenius, vice president of finance, and Tammy Cooper, vice president of communications, spoke to City Council’s Austin Energy Utility Oversight Committee on Tuesday to propose a timeline for […]
Posted inEnergy
Auditors find few faults with utility bill assistance program
Austin Energy, which manages billings for city utility customers, provides reduced utility bills for more than 35,000 electric, water and wastewater customers with low incomes. The Customer Assistance Program offers discounts that average about $650 a year for residential customers who participate in a variety of programs, including Medicaid, food stamps, the Children’s Health Insurance […]
Posted inEnergy
Austin Energy’s REACH program falls behind its carbon emissions goals
Austin Energy announced last week that it is significantly behind its goals for reducing carbon emissions this year, citing operational and market factors. While the utility hopes to make up some of the gap between now and the end of the year, it may fall short of the 1.28 million metric tons of carbon it hoped […]
Posted inAustin
City presents long-awaited follow-up on Winter Storm Uri
As Austin prepares for colder temperatures, a coalition of teams led by the city’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management has finalized its after-action report on February’s Winter Storm Uri. Staying well past 10 p.m. last Thursday, City Council ended its meeting with a briefing on the report’s findings. The briefing, which included presentations […]
Posted inEnergy
Austin will keep running Fayette coal power plant, missing key climate goal
Austin Energy will not retire its stake in the Fayette coal power plant next year, the publicly owned electric utility announced Monday. Shutting down its portion of the plant by 2022 had been a key part of the city’s climate goals. Austin Energy said it was unable to reach an agreement on the closure with […]
Posted inEnergy
In the wake of Uri, solar battery sales soar
Seven months after Winter Storm Uri caused the deaths of more than 200 people around Texas and left millions without power, demand for solar power and home battery systems has skyrocketed. Austin Energy has received more requests for solar panel and battery installations since the storm than in the past four years combined, said Luis Rivas, […]
Posted inThe Code
A new Austin Energy rule aims to keep construction workers safe. It could also make homes harder to build.
In response to the death by electrocution of a construction worker and a subsequent lawsuit, Austin Energy has increased the minimum distance between power lines and new buildings, a regulation the utility says will keep workers safer. A jury in 2019 found Austin Energy guilty of negligence in the death of Jaime Membreno, who was […]