Samsung, NXP challenge Austin Energy revenue requirement

Of the 23 individuals, groups and businesses that have signed on to be “intervenors” in the Austin Energy rate review, perhaps none is as large as Samsung or NXP Semiconductors, which submitted a joint brief outlining what they believe the outcome of the review should be. In a memo sent to City Council on April 7, the companies suggested that the city lower Austin Energy’s revenue requirement – the amount of money the utility must recover from ratepayers – by $218 million. “The higher the revenue requirement, the higher the rates charged to customers,” said the memo. The utility responded with its own memo, promising a rebuttal on May 20 but emphasizing its eagerness to engage with all of the intervenors. “One participant has chosen to provide a rather sensationalized letter to the City Council,” Mark Dreyfus, Austin Energy’s vice president of regulatory affairs and corporate communications, told the Austin Monitor. “That’s OK.”