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Tag Archives: Austin Water Utility

Brigid Shea at a podium

Purple pipe to save water, Travis County tax dollars

Travis County Commissioner Brigid Shea gathered members of the media at the Heman Marion Sweatt Courthouse on Tuesday afternoon to tout a water conservation program that will save millions of gallons of drinking water per year. Those savings are courtesy…

Austin Water still repairing shattered trust with water bill smoothing

After months of investigation, Austin Water and Austin Energy have an answer for the unusual spikes that Austinites saw in their water bills last September. Although Austin Water responded and changed its meter-reading contractor after the rash of misreads came…

Troxclair wants to know how rates compare to other Texas utilities

This year, the average Austinite will spend $2,475 on utility bills to cover the cost of electricity, water and garbage pickup. City Council Member Ellen Troxclair wants to know how that compares to what other people served by other utilities…

Austin Water pitches rate reductions in 2018

It has been 15 years since the last time Austin Water reduced the rates for the utility. There is a chance, however, that this trend may end in January. On Dec. 13, the assistant director of Austin Water, David Anders,…

Phantom water bill charges remain an unsolved mystery at Austin Water

For several years, water bills have been mysteriously spiking and leaving homeowners clutching their wallets and demanding answers. However, even when the public came en masse to plead that the Electric Utility Commission demand answers from city staff after the…

Council puts off ethics rules vote

City Council postponed a vote on the proposed new ethics ordinance Thursday, raising questions about whether a new request for proposal for handling city biosolids might become the subject of lobbying. That was certainly not Council’s intent, according to Council…

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Austin Water will not be raining down new rate increases in 2018

For the first time in 15 years, Austin Water Utility will not be increasing its rates. On Aug. 9, Austin Water presented its $614.8 million Fiscal Year 2017-18 budget proposal to the Water and Wastewater Commission for approval. Joseph Gonzales,…

Costly wastewater expansion gets OK

Only a few commissioners raised questions on various recommendations presented at the Water and Wastewater Commission’s regular meeting May 10. But when it came to the approval of interlocal agreements and costs related to the Brushy Creek Regional Wastewater System…

Bills threaten Austin's land use plans

Brie Franco, the city of Austin’s chief legislative strategist, gave City Council a brief update at Tuesday’s work session before rushing off to do some last minute lobbying. The city is facing a number of legislative attempts to curb its…

Troxclair gets meter-reading contract postponed

How accurate are the water meters that determine how much Austinites pay their city-owned utility each month? Past allegations of frequent misreadings came up again at City Council Thursday, when Council Member Ellen Troxclair suggested that the city is not…

Fixing street cut repair program to take time

City Council Member Ellen Troxclair said she was “really alarmed” when she read the Office of the City Auditor report showing that the city has a 3.6-year backlog in repairing potholes created by utility crews fixing water lines. That’s the…

City utilities devise plan to help with unpaid bills

Austin’s two city-owned utilities are teaming up to help some of the city’s most indebted customers catch up on unpaid bills. Beginning this summer, the joint effort between Austin Energy and Austin Water will target 543 customers who participate in…

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