The Austin Monitor thanks its sponsors. Become one.
Energy
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…
Energy • By Kali Bramble • Mar 28, 2023
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…
Energy • By Chad Swiatecki • Feb 23, 2023
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…
Energy • By Jo Clifton • Feb 8, 2023
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…
Energy • By Emma Freer • Feb 3, 2023
More than 170,000 Austin Energy customers lost power as a winter storm hits Central Texas
More than 30 percent of Austin Energy customers didn’t have power Wednesday as a winter storm continued to roll through Central Texas, causing ice to accumulate on power lines, utility poles and tree limbs. The electric utility says crews are…
Energy • By KUT News • Feb 2, 2023
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…
Energy • By Nina Hernandez • Jan 20, 2023
Subscribe to our newsletter
Can ERCOT even be sued? Texas Supreme Court will decide.
The Supreme Court of Texas will hear oral arguments Monday in a case that could decide the future of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas. At issue: whether the group that runs the Texas energy grid is, in fact, a…
Courts • By Mose Buchele, KUT • Jan 9, 2023
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…
Energy • By Andrew Weber, KUT • Dec 8, 2022
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…
Energy • By Jo Clifton • Dec 8, 2022
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…
Energy • By Kali Bramble • Dec 1, 2022
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…
Energy • By Kali Bramble • Nov 22, 2022
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…
