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Energy
Panelists: Transmission lines, local generation needed to meet Austin's energy demands
Keeping up with aggressive business and residential growth throughout the Austin area is a persistent challenge for those involved in supplying energy reliably to the city while also trying to move away from fossil fuel sources for generation needs. Speakers…
Energy • By Chad Swiatecki • Apr 5, 2024
Some vulnerable residents can’t use Austin Energy’s program
Some Austin Energy customers who are categorized as medically vulnerable and need electricity to operate life-saving equipment have not been able to sign up for the utility’s program to assist them in emergency situations, according to an audit report from…
Energy • By Jo Clifton • Mar 27, 2024
Austin Energy pauses to analyze path forward for climate plan
Austin Energy General Manager Bob Kahn has informed the mayor and City Council that the utility is pausing the current process of amending its resource, generation and climate protection plan. The utility had been working to provide proposed changes to…
Energy • By Jo Clifton • Mar 13, 2024
Electric Utility Commission offers climate-friendly recommendations for Austin Energy update
As the deadline approaches for an update to Austin Energy’s Resource, Generation, and Climate Protection Plan, the city’s Electric Utility Commission is joining the conversation, banding behind its own proposal for the coming decade. The proposal, formed in collaboration with…
Energy • By Kali Bramble • Feb 26, 2024
U.S. Rep. Greg Casar files bill to connect Texas grid to rest of the country
Of the numerous vulnerabilities exposed by the deadly 2021 Texas blackouts, one caught people’s attention more than the rest: Texas exists as an energy island. Unlike any other power grid in the continental U.S., the energy system that serves 90 percent of…
Energy • By Mose Buchele, KUT • Feb 14, 2024
Critics say Austin Energy's proposal to pivot toward hydrogen could do more harm than good
As Austin Energy drafts an update to its Resource, Generation and Climate Protection Plan, industry watchdogs are doing their homework, investigating a controversial proposal to construct a brand-new gas plant designed to burn carbon-neutral green hydrogen. Among those asking questions…
Energy • By Kali Bramble • Feb 1, 2024
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Austin Energy, advisory group move toward presenting plans to Council
Austin Energy has seemed to be at odds with environmentalists over its updated power generation plan. And it is likely that the working group tasked with helping the utility come up with a new plan for fueling Austin’s electricity needs…
Energy • By Jo Clifton • Jan 31, 2024
Austin Energy fine-tuning plans for reliable, carbon-free power by 2035
Austin Energy leaders have prioritized reliability of the utility’s power generation at all times as one of the most important components of its next resource generation plan, which is expected to come before City Council for approval in March. During…
Energy • By Chad Swiatecki • Jan 17, 2024
ERCOT asks Texans to conserve electricity again Tuesday morning amid freezing temperatures
The Electric Reliability Council of Texas is asking people to conserve electricity Tuesday morning, the second such request issued by the grid operator this week as freezing weather continues to grip the state. In a media release Monday, ERCOT asked…
Energy • By Mose Buchele, KUT • Jan 16, 2024
Worried about the Texas power grid? Here's what to expect from the incoming arctic blast.
It’s almost mid-January, and there are tomatoes growing in my backyard in Austin. That might seem like a strange way to start an article on the Texas power grid. But as the state faces its first big freeze this winter,…
Energy • By Mose Buchele, KUT • Jan 12, 2024
Energy officials warn of winter blackout risk in Texas and beyond
Outside of the Sand Hill natural gas power plant, near Austin, workers have installed a windbreak in case a big winter storm hits again. The sturdy plastic shrink wrap is stretched tight across scaffolding at the bottom of the plant,…
Energy • By Mose Buchele, KUT • Dec 18, 2023
Summer heat surge caused $115M overspend at Austin Energy
High energy usage brought on by months of severe summer heat caused Austin Energy to spend far more than the utility forecast through the end of the last fiscal year, with a forthcoming rate increase likely to help restore its…
