Tag Archives: Austin City Council Public Utility Committee
Tuesday, May 17, 2016 by Audrey McGlinchy
City Hall
Updated: Task force report on Austin flooding prioritizes ‘life, safety and property’
Update: After our story was originally published, we heard from several members of Flood Mitigation Task Force, who disputed the assertions made by some task force members, including the group’s chairman, who said the final report lacked prioritization. An executive…
Friday, February 19, 2016 by Jo Clifton
Budget
Troxclair wants to cut utility transfers
Wading into the affordability debate with a new tactic, City Council Member Ellen Troxclair is proposing to cut transfers from the Austin Water utility to the city’s General Fund. On Wednesday, members of Council’s Public Utilities Committee unanimously approved forwarding…
Thursday, February 18, 2016 by Audrey McGlinchy
Water
Committee takes on water restrictions (again)
The battle over whether to loosen or make permanent some current water restrictions played out once again Wednesday at the City Council Public Utilities Committee, as Council Member Don Zimmerman questioned the intent of a recent public survey by Austin…
Thursday, January 21, 2016 by Tyler Whitson
Resources
Council members react to water meter audit
Although Austin Water and Austin Energy staff said at a City Council Public Utilities Committee meeting Wednesday that recent audits found the city’s water billing system to be accurate, the Council members who sit on that body said they still…
Monday, November 23, 2015 by Elizabeth Pagano
City Hall
Reporter’s Notebook: Semiconductors & Bible bids
A tech company, a City Council and love… Freescale Semiconductor, which joined Samsung Austin Semiconductor on Nov. 13 in rejecting the contract terms of a special new Austin Energy tariff created by City Council the day before, received a nomination…
Thursday, October 22, 2015 by Jo Clifton
Water
Zimmerman water resolution not legal
City Council Member Don Zimmerman has failed in his attempt to give water utility money back to some of the customers who used the most water and had the highest bills during August. Zimmerman had proposed directing the city manager…
Thursday, September 17, 2015 by Jo Clifton
Water
High water bills remain a puzzle (or maybe not)
Although various citizens complained to the Council Public Utilities Committee on Wednesday about their high water bills and the trouble those bills were causing them, there was no aha! moment during which the source of the puzzlingly high water usage…
Tuesday, September 1, 2015 by Jo Clifton
Development
Committees fail to agree on Whisper Valley deal
A relatively small change in an agreement between the city and the developer of the Whisper Valley and Indian Hills Public Improvement Districts has failed to win approval from two committees charged with making such decisions and passing them on…
Wednesday, August 26, 2015 by Tyler Whitson
Resources
Citywide compost pickup may be on the way
The blue recycling bin that many Austinites leave on their curbs may soon have a counterpart – a green organics collection bin. While a citywide compost pickup program boasts obvious environmental benefits, it would come at a cost to taxpayers,…
Wednesday, August 19, 2015 by Jo Clifton
Austin
Two groups disclaim anti-fluoride email
David Foster, state director of the environmental nonprofit group Clean Water Action, was surprised and somewhat concerned Tuesday when he received two emails from friends asking whether his organization was suddenly opposed to fluoridated drinking water. The Public Utilities Committee…
Thursday, July 2, 2015 by Jo Clifton
Water
Austin involved in two battles over water rates
The Austin Water Utility is engaged in two different battles over water rates. One fight is with wholesale water and wastewater customers who have challenged rates adopted by City Council in 2013. According to AWU Assistant Director David Anders, this…
Tuesday, February 18, 2014 by Mark Richardson
Resources
Confederation of water utilities presses rate case against Austin
A group of local water districts continues to press their case against the City of Austin, claiming that the city’s wholesale water rates are unrelated to the cost of providing service. Both the Citizens for Fair Rates and the Austin…
Friday, December 6, 2013 by Jo Clifton
Politics
PUC: Non-city utility customers must pay legal fees
The Texas Public Utility Commission has dismissed a complaint filed by a group of non-City of Austin ratepayers against Austin Energy. That dismissal means that ratepayers who are not Austin residents will foot the $1.55 million bill for the utility’s…
Thursday, November 7, 2013 by Michael Kanin
Resources
PUC staff urges dismissal of latest rate challenge
A document filed Tuesday by staff of the Texas Public Utility Commission hints strongly that the commission will reject an appeal by Homeowners United for Rate Fairness of Austin City Council members’ action to assess legal costs from the Austin…
Tuesday, October 8, 2013 by Michael Kanin
Resources
Non-Austin ratepayers file another Austin Energy complaint with PUC
The group of out-of-town residents who originally challenged last year’s Austin Energy rate increase has filed another complaint with Public Utility Commission against AE. In a nine-page document signed by Homeowners United for Rate Fairness attorney (and Travis County Republican…
