AE says energy audit compliance up

Staff told the Council Committee on Austin Energy Thursday that they are seeing an overall increase in compliance with the Energy Conservation Audit and Disclosure Ordinance. The ordinance, which Council passed in 2008 and the city put into effect in 20112009, requires that the owners of certain single-family, multifamily, commercial and municipal buildings participate in an energy efficiency audit process. The city then provides the owners with a breakdown of their energy usage as it compares to like buildings and encourages them to implement energy-saving measures. Austin Energy staff reported that, as of August, multifamily compliance is at 80 percent, residential compliance is at 52 percent, large commercial buildings are at 31 62 percent, mid-sized commercial are at 48 percent and smaller commercial are at 6231 percent. Vice President of Customer Energy Solutions Deborah Kimberly said that staff has been increasing outreach efforts and considering ways to make the process more convenient, with customer feedback. They plan to launch a more proactive audit process in 2015 that provides commercial customers with their usage information, rather than requiring customers to submit it themselves, and suggesting energy conservation strategies at the same time. “We anticipate that we’ll get a real uptick in results,” Kimberly said.