May 18, 2021 Resource Management

AND I'M HERE TOO.

UM, FIRST STEP WE HAVE CITIZEN COMMUNICATION.

WITH THAT, WE HAVE A QUORUM LET'S, UH, WE'LL CALL THIS MEETING TO ORDER.

[CITIZEN COMMUNICATION]

I'LL SHOW.

WHAT, WHO DO WE HAVE ON THE LIST? PAUL ROBBINS.

HELLO? HELLO, APRIL.

UH, CAN, CAN YOU HEAR US, UH, CHAIR BLACKBURN? UH, I HAVE A, I'M SIGNED UP THREE TIMES FOR A TOTAL OF NINE MINUTES.

I CAN DO THIS IN ABOUT FIVE.

WOULD IT BE OKAY IF I SPOKE AT THE BEGINNING OF THE MEETING RATHER THAN THREE SEPARATE TIMES? UH, WELL, THE RULE I SEE SAYS THAT YOU'VE GOT A THREE MINUTE LOT MEANT DRINK, CITIZEN COMMUNICATION.

NATASHA.

DOES THAT, IS THAT CORRECT? I'M ALSO SIGNED UP ON NUMBERS FIVE AND SEVEN.

WELL, YEAH, I GUESS FOR THIS FIRST ROUND, LET'S SEE IF WE CAN KEEP IT TO THREE MINUTES AND THEN, UM, ON, ON NUMBER FIVE AND SEVEN, IF, IF YOU HAVE ADDITIONAL COMMENTS, LET'S, UH, SAVE THAT FOR THEM.

SINGLE FUEL BUILDINGS, INSTEAD OF REQUIRING A 5% INCREASE IN OVERALL EFFICIENCY IN THE STRETCH CODE AS IS CURRENTLY PROPOSED, IT SHOULD BE RAISED TO 10 OR 15% AS A VOLUNTEER.

UH, WELL, I'M GOING TO COMMENT ON, UH, ITEM, UH, ON THE BUILDING CODE, UH, FOR MY FIRST SPEECH ON COMMISSION ON PAUL ROBBINS, I'M AN ENVIRONMENTAL ACTIVIST AND CONSUMER ADVOCATE.

I'M SPEAKING ABOUT THE REVISION OF THE ENERGY BUILDING CODE, UH, REGARDING, UH, THE REVISED STANDARDS FOR GREATER EFFICIENCY.

THIS IS SOMETHING THAT HAPPENS QUITE INFREQUENTLY.

I BELIEVE THE LAST TIME AUSTIN DID, THIS WAS FIVE YEARS AGO.

THIS IS A RARE OPPORTUNITY THAT NEEDS TO BE USED CAREFULLY.

I WOULD ASK YOUR COMMISSION TO DO TWO THINGS FIRST, UH, ASKED THE CITY COUNCIL TO DELAY APPROVAL OF THE NEW CODE UNTIL SEPTEMBER TO OBTAIN MORE STAKEHOLDER INPUT, INCLUDING FROM YOUR COMMISSION.

TO MY KNOWLEDGE, NONE OF YOU WERE INVITED TO CONTRIBUTE YOUR IDEAS TO MAKING THIS A BETTER CODE BEFORE NOW.

AND IT SHOULD BE YOUR RIGHT AS A COMMISSION TO DO SO.

SECOND, I WOULD LIKE RMC TO ASK THAT ALTERNATIVE WATER HEATERS, SUCH AS HEAT PUMP WATER HEATERS BE REQUIRED IN ALL NEW SINGLE FUEL DWELLINGS.

AUSTIN SHOULD DO EVERYTHING FEASIBLE TO DISCOURAGE STRIP HEATING FROM, UH, ITS NEW BUILDING STOCK.

AND THIS APPEARS TO BE A GOOD WAY BY MY ROUGH ESTIMATE.

UH, YOU WILL AUSTIN ENERGY ADD SO MANY NEW CUSTOMERS A YEAR THAT ALL ELECTRIC WATER HEATING, UH, ALONE COULD ADD FIVE MEGAWATTS A YEAR TO LOAD.

AND THIS GIVES YOU AN IDEA OF THE COSTS.

THERE ARE A COUPLE OF WAYS THAT YOU MIGHT DISCOURAGE STRIP WATER HEATING.

THE FIRST IS TO REQUIRE A BAN OUTRIGHT BETWEEN 1984 AND 2007.

AUSTIN'S ENERGY CODE DID JUST THAT.

UH, THERE HAS BEEN A CONCERN THAT THIS MAY CONFLICT WITH FEDERAL LAWS THAT PREEMPT LOCAL CODES.

I FIND IT DIFFICULT TO ACCEPT THAT AUSTIN WAS OUT OF COMPLIANCE WITH FEDERAL LAW FOR 23 YEARS.

HOWEVER, EVEN IF I AM AN ERROR, THE WAY TO GET AROUND THIS IS TO MAKE THE STRETCH CODE THAT, UH, IS BEING DISCUSSED TONIGHT.

STRETCH FARTHER IN THE CASE OF

[00:05:01]

I CAN NOT MEET THE JUNE 3RD DEADLINE THAT AUSTIN ENERGY PREFERS, UH, FOR AN APPROVED VOTE BY CITY COUNCIL TO HAVE MY POINTS ADEQUATELY CONSIDERED.

SO AGAIN, I HOPE YOU WILL OPPRESS FOR DELAY UNTIL SEPTEMBER WHEN THIS AND OTHER CODE MATTERS CAN BE RECONCILED.

APPRECIATE YOUR ATTENTION.

UH, I'LL WAIT TO SPEAK ON TEXAS GAS SERVICE.

ALL RIGHT, THANKS.

THANKS, PAUL.

UM, UH, SO I THINK WHAT WE'RE GOING TO DO IS RESERVE YOUR COMMENTS ON THE OTHER TWO AGENDA ITEMS UNTIL, UH, UNTIL WE REACH THOSE AGENDA ITEMS, YOU KNOW, MAKE IT, I UNDERSTAND YOU'VE EXPLAINED IT.

ON TO THE APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES FROM OUR APRIL 20TH MEETING, UH, AS, HAS EVERYONE HAD A CHANCE TO REVIEW AND DO WE HAVE A, ANY EMOTIONS I'LL MOVE TO APPROVE THE MINUTES OF THE APRIL MEETING? ALL RIGHT.

WELL, THANK YOU FOR THAT.

UH, NATASHA, ANYBODY ELSE SIGNED UP? NO, SIR.

THAT'S ALL RIGHT.

SO WE'LL MOVE

[1. Approve minutes of the April 20, 2021 Meeting of Resource Management Commission.]

MOTION TO APPROVE BY COMMISSIONER HARMON.

ABOUT A SECOND.

NO, I'M JUST GOING TO RUN UP TO, UH, DO ANOTHER QUICK REVIEW OF A CERTAIN SECTION.

YEP, SURE.

SORRY.

OKAY, JONATHAN, WHILE KIBO IS LOOKING AT THE MINUTE, UH, I WAS ABSENT, UM, AND I'M NOT SURE DO WE HAVE QUORUM TO, TO, UH, DECIDE ON THAT? I BELIEVE WE DO.

LET ME COUNT REAL QUICK.

SO, UM, I, I DON'T WANT THOSE TO COME ACROSS AS, UM, UH, I'M REALLY NOT TRYING TO BE RUDE.

UM, BUT THESE MINUTES REALLY JUST DON'T, UM, THEY DON'T REALLY SAY ANYTHING.

AND SO I, I, I WILL JUST SAY I AM NOT COMFORTABLE WITH PROVING THEM, UM, BECAUSE I DON'T THINK THAT THEY CAPTURE THE ESSENCE OF, YOU KNOW, THE CONVERSATIONS THAT WERE HAD.

THEY DO, YOU KNOW, SAY THAT THERE WAS A PRESENTATION ON SOMETHING AND IF THERE WAS A VOTE IN INDICATES THE BOAT, BUT, UM, YOU KNOW, I'M JUST THINKING ABOUT THE, THE STAFF REPORTS THAT THERE WAS SOME CONVERSATION, UM, THAT I THINK WAS IMPORTANT TO HAVE HIM IN THE RECORD, AND IT'S JUST ENTIRELY OMITTED FROM THESE MINUTES.

UH, SO THAT IS A REQUEST TO UPDATE THEM WITH MORE DETAIL.

YES, YES, PLEASE.

HEY, SORRY.

I, I, I, I DON'T CARE.

I DON'T DISAGREE WITH YOUR COMMENTS, UM, THAT THE, THE MINUTES DON'T REFLECT, UH, THE REALLY CAPTURE THE ESSENCE OF THE CONVERSATION.

I DO THINK THAT THAT'S TRUE.

UM, I'D ALSO LIKE TO ACKNOWLEDGE, UM, JUST IN TERMS OF PRECEDENT SETTING THAT I THINK THIS IS, UM, YOU KNOW, KIND OF REFLECTIVE OF THE TYPICAL WAY THAT THE MINUTES HAVE BEEN DONE AT LEAST RECENTLY.

UM, AND SO NOT, NOT TO SAY THAT THAT SHOULD, UM, UH, AFFECT WHETHER WE CHOOSE TO NOT APPROVE THE MINUTES ONE WAY OR ANOTHER.

UM, BUT JUST KIND OF ACKNOWLEDGING THAT.

I THINK THAT THAT IS A, UM, YOU KNOW, I THINK IT WOULD BE HELPFUL FOR THE RECORD TO, TO GREATER REFLECT THE DEPTH OF THE CONVERSATION.

I, I DO AGREE WITH YOU THERE, BUT IT'S JUST, IT'S A BIT OF A CHANGE, UM, JUST TO, TO ACKNOWLEDGE THAT.

OUR, OUR MINUTES TO REFLECT OR ARE THE THOUGHTS THAT THE, THE COMMISSIONERS MAY HAVE EXPRESSED ON ANY ISSUES AND ALSO ANY, YOU KNOW, HE THINKS THAT STAFF MAY HAVE SHARED AT THE MEETING.

AND I AGREE THAT RECENTLY THAT'S BEEN THE CASE.

I THINK IN THE PAST WE HAVE HAD, YOU KNOW, I'M NOT LOOKING FOR A TRANSCRIPT, BUT, UM, YOU KNOW, WHEN KEY QUESTIONS ARE ASKED AND RESPONDED TO BY STAFF, I THINK THAT'S, UM, OR THEY HAVE NOTE IN THE MINUTES.

UM, YEAH.

YOU KNOW, AND I'M NOT LOOKING TO GO BACK AND REVISIT ALL THE, ALL THE PAST MINUTES, BUT, UM, I THINK ALL WE, OH, WE CAN DO IS, UH, YOU KNOW, DECIDE NOW IF, IF WE WANT

[00:10:01]

SO I GUESS THERE'S A COUPLE OF WAYS WE COULD HANDLE THIS.

UM, WE, WE COULD, YOU KNOW, NOTE THAT FOR FUTURE MEETINGS, UH, UH, WE, THAT WE WOULD LIKE MORE DETAILED MINUTES TAKEN AND, YOU KNOW, KIND OF ADDRESS THAT, UH, YOU KNOW, APPROVE THESE AS IT IS AND ADDRESS THAT IN THE FUTURE.

ALTERNATELY, I GUESS WE COULD NOT APPROVE HIM AND ADDRESS AND COME BACK TO THIS AT A LATER MEETING, NATASHA, IS THAT CORRECT? WHAT HAPPENS IF WE DON'T APPROVE THE MINUTES? ALL THAT HAPPENS IS THEY DON'T GET POSTED.

AND THEN WE HAVE TO BREAK IT UP AT OUR NEXT MEETING AND CAN IMPROVE THEM AT THE NEXT MEETING.

SO OF THOSE TWO OPTIONS, DO YOU HAVE A PREFERRED, I HAVE, I HAVE A PREFERENCE FOR NOT APPROVING THESE MINUTES NOW, HAVING THEM UPDATED TO REFLECT OUR CONVERSATION AND OUR, AND THE, YOU KNOW, THE ESSENCE OF, OF THE VARIOUS AGENDA ITEMS THAT WERE DISCUSSED AND THEN BRING IT UP NEXT MONTH, CHAIRS MAKING A MOTION TO TABLE THIS ITEM UNTIL NEXT MONTH CHAIR.

GO AHEAD AND TOUCH IN THE ASPECT OF THE MINUTES.

IT'S MORE, THIS IS, IT'S MORE OF A AREA FOR STAFF, NOT FOR THE COMMISSIONERS.

IF I'M MAKING SENSE HERE, YOU MEAN IN TERMS OF PRODUCING THE MINUTES? CORRECT? I WOULD AGREE WITH THAT.

TO LIKE PLACE ANY BLAME OR ANY, YOU KNOW, I APPRECIATE THAT.

I THINK THAT, IT SOUNDS LIKE THEIR REQUEST IS TO HAVE SOME ADDITIONAL DETAIL, UM, ON THE, YOU KNOW, SPECIFIC AGENDA ITEMS. UM, WELL, SO WE GOT EMOTIONAL ON THE TABLE TO PROVE MOTION TO TABLE UNTIL NEXT MONTH AND ADD ADDITIONAL DETAIL.

UH, DO WE HAVE A SECOND FOR EITHER OF THOSE? CAN I, CAN I JUST ADD, ADD A COMMENT? SO, UM, I GUESS ONE THING WE, WE ALSO HAVE TO DECIDE IS THAT HOW MUCH DETAIL DO WE NEED NOW? WE ALSO HAVE TO RESPECT THE STAFF'S TIME BECAUSE, UH, PUTTING THIS INFORMATION TOGETHER, IT TAKES A LOT OF THEIR TIME.

SO, YOU KNOW, AT SOME POINT THEY HAVE TO DECIDE HOW MUCH DETAIL DO WE NEED TO HAVE, AND, AND IN, UH, IN THESE, UH, MINUTES, WELL, I GUESS SINCE I'M THE ONE SPEAKING UP ABOUT THE REQUEST, I WILL SAY THAT I AM NOT LOOKING FOR, YOU KNOW, ANY, ANYTHING APPROACHING A TRANSCRIPT, I'M FINE WITH BULLET POINTS AND DON'T EVEN, UM, DOESN'T EVEN HAVE TO BE FULL SENTENCES TO, TO MEET MY NEEDS NECESSARILY.

UM, BUT I, I GUESS WHAT, IF IT WOULD BE HELPFUL, I CAN PULL UP SOME PAST MINUTES, UH, THAT I THINK WERE MORE SUBSTANTIAL AND, UM, ALSO SHOULDN'T HAVE BEEN OVERLY ONEROUS.

UM, YEAH, PROBABLY WOULD BE HELPFUL FOR STAFF.

HI, THIS IS REBECCA.

I WAS WONDERING IF MAYBE GOING FORWARD, IF WE WANT SOMETHING INCLUDED ON THE MINUTES, WE JUST MENTION IT IN FUTURE MEETINGS ALSO, JUST TO MAKE SURE IF THERE'S SOMETHING IMPORTANT THAT WE WANT INCLUDED ON THE MINUTES THAT IT GETS CAPTURED, AGREED.

ANY, ANY OTHER COMMENTS? YES.

IF I MAY, UM, THE MINUTES ARE TO REFLECT ACTION.

THEY'RE NOT TO CAPTURE THE DISCUSSION.

I JUST AGREE WITH THAT.

AND I MEAN, I HAVE BEEN SERVING ON THIS COMMISSION AND OTHER COMMISSIONS FOR QUITE A WHILE, AND I REALIZED THAT THE, THE, THE AMOUNT OF DETAIL, DEPENDING ON THE COMMISSION, DEPENDING ON WHO IS, UH, YOU KNOW, TAKING MINUTES AND AGAIN, NOT TRYING

[00:15:01]

LIKE, YOU, YOU FELT LIKE YOU WERE DOING WHAT NEEDED TO BE DONE.

AND I APPRECIATE THAT.

I AM JUST SAYING THAT.

I THINK THAT IT IS HELPFUL FOR US TO HAVE SOME INFORMATION ACTUALLY PROVIDED IN THE MINUTES.

OTHERWISE THEY JUST DON'T, YOU KNOW, YOU'RE RIGHT.

AND REFLECTS ACTION, BUT IT DOESN'T REALLY REFLECT ANYTHING ELSE OTHER THAN THE VOTE.

AND WE REALLY DO NEED TO, TO, TO MOVE ON AND GET THIS MEETING MOVING.

SO I WOULD SUGGEST, UM, EITHER TWO OPTIONS ON THE TABLE, WE CAN, WE CAN TABLE THIS AND READ IT AND ADDRESS IT AT A FUTURE MEETING WITH MORE DETAIL, OR WE CAN APPROVE THEM AS IS, AND JUST, UH, MAKE A NOTE TO KIND OF, IF YOU COULD PROVIDE SOME, YOU KNOW, SOME SAMPLES OF PAST MINUTES THAT ARE MORE DETAILED.

UM, BUT HAVING SAID THAT I WOULD, YOU KNOW, WE'VE GOT TWO MOTIONS ON THE TABLE.

DO I HAVE A SECOND FOR EITHER OF THEM? HOW'S THAT BEEN A GOOD ONE TO BASICALLY COME BACK WITH ANOTHER VERSION OF THESE THAT INCLUDE MORE DETAIL? I THINK THAT ONE OF THE REASONS FOR THAT IS THAT COUNCIL PEOPLE OFTEN LOOK AT OUR STAFF OR LOOK AT OUR NOTES TO SEE IF THEY'RE WHAT THE ESSENCE OF OUR OBJECTIONS OR, OR ACTIONS OR OBJECTIONS WERE.

AND, UM, IT'S USEFUL TO BE ABLE TO HAVE THAT MEMORIALIZED, UH, AND HAVING CHAIRMAN THIS COMMISSION FOR A WHILE.

UM, OFTENTIMES I'M STUMPED ABOUT WHY WE MADE DECISIONS IN THE PAST.

NOW IT'S PART OF USE TO GO TWO MINUTES.

SO MOTION HAS BEEN MADE TO TABLE THIS AGENDA ITEM, UH, AND READDRESS AT THE NEXT MEETING WITH A, UH, MORE DETAILED, UH, SUMMARY OF THE MINUTES.

UM, LET'S, LET'S TAKE A VOTE ON THAT, UH, AT, AT, AT, AT THIS POINT, I THINK THIS ACTUALLY MAY JUST BE THE BEST OPTION.

UH, SO LET'S TAKE A VOTE.

UM, IF YOU ARE, YOU CAN RAISE YOUR HANDS IF YOU ARE IN FAVOR OF THAT MOTION.

SO I SEE COMMISSIONER, I AGREE.

IT'S LIKE MY HAND, MY, MY, UH, MY CAMERA IS NOT WORKING, SO, SO MR. , UH, RAISING HER HAND TOO.

COMMISSIONER BRANDMAN, MR. JOHNSON, AND I WILL GO AHEAD AND RAISE MY HAND, MR. BLACKBURN.

UH, SO THAT'S, UH, AGENDA ITEM PASSES.

WE WILL, UH, RETAKE UP THE, UH, APRIL MINUTES AT THE NEXT MEETING, UH, COMMISSIONER WHITE, IF YOU COULD PROVIDE SOME SAMPLES, UH, THAT WOULD BE MUCH APPRECIATED.

AND THEN WE'LL READDRESS THIS, THIS ISSUE LATER.

I APPRECIATE IT.

AGENDA, ITEM TWO, WE HAVE A DISCUSSION AND RECOMMENDATION FROM, UH, AUSTIN WATER, CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS PROJECTS.

UH, MOVING ON NEW BUSINESS

[2. Discussion and recommendation of Austin Water Capital Improvement Projects located in the Drinking Water Protection Zone for approval to include in the 5-year Capital spending plan as required by Financial Policy #8.]

DO WE HAVE SOMEONE FROM AUSTIN WATER? YES.

UM, A RAPID STANO FROM AUSTIN WATER.

UH, AND, AND YOU HAVE A PRESENTATION ON THIS ITEM.

I SENT JUST A MEMO TO BE POSTED AS SUPPORTING DOCUMENTATION FOR THIS ITEM.

AND, UH, THE IDEA, UH, BEHIND PRESENTING THE PROJECTS THAT YOU SEE THERE ON TABLE ONE IS TO PRESENT THOSE NEW PROJECTS THAT HAVE SPENDING.

ANY QUESTIONS FROM THE COMMISSION ON THIS ONE? OKAY.

UM, I DO HAVE ONE, UH, ONE QUESTION.

UM, I WAS WONDERING IF THE, THE, UH, UM, I SEE THE SPENDING PLAN FOR 22, UH, FISCAL YEAR 22, THREE 26.

I WAS JUST WONDERING IF, UH, ANY OF PLANNING AND DESIGN AS, OR HAVE ALREADY BEEN DONE OR, UM, PLANNING OR DESIGNED FOR ANY OF THIS, THEY HAVEN'T STARTED YET.

SURE.

UM, WITH ME, SO, SO I GUESS FOR THE RECORD, AURORA IS KIND OF A FINANCIAL MANAGER WORK WITH PENDING AUSTIN WATER.

AND WITH ME IS ALSO LAUREN KING AS THE SUPERVISING ENGINEER.

[00:20:01]

SO, UH, AS FAR AS ANY DESIGN OR PLANNING, UM, LAUREN, DO YOU HAVE AN ANSWER FOR THAT? UM, I'M CERTAINLY HAPPY TO, UH, YOU KNOW, KIND OF GO ONE BY ONE, UM, AND, YOU KNOW, TELL YOU, UH, WHICH ONES ARE, ARE UNDERWAY.

UM, OR IF YOU HAVE A SPECIFIC PROJECT THAT YOU WOULD LIKE ME TO, UM, ADDRESS I'M, I'M HAPPY TO DO IT EITHER WAY.

I WAS JUST WONDERING IF, IF, UH, SOME OF THIS, OR IF YOU HAVE A PLANNING DESIGN, WHEN SOME OF US HAVE STARTED, UH, THAT'S ALL REALLY, I NEEDED TO KNOW THE SECOND QUESTION I HAVE, UH, UH, WELL, I, UH, HAVE YOUR MIND, IS THAT ELEVATED A TANK OR RESERVOIR FOR A NUKE THREE 60? IS THAT JUST FOR, IT'S NOT JUST FOR LOST CREEK, IS IT, UH, NO, SIR.

IT'S NOT JUST FOR LOST CREEK.

UM, THAT RESERVOIR IS GOING TO, UM, ADD ADDITIONAL, UH, RESILIENCY TO THE AREA DOWN THERE.

WE TRY TO HAVE, YOU KNOW, UH, TO FEED THEM TO EACH KIND OF SECTION OF OUR SYSTEM, AS WELL AS ENOUGH STORAGE CAPACITY.

UM, AND THAT PROJECT SPECIFICALLY I THINK, WAS IDENTIFIED, UM, COMING OUT OF THE FREEZE IS SOMETHING THAT WE NEEDED TO MOVE FORWARD WITH TO INCREASE THE RESILIENCY OF OUR SYSTEM.

UM, AND TO YOUR FIRST QUESTION, UH, SINCE I'M ALSO SEEKING, UH, SEVERAL OF THESE PROJECTS ARE UNDERWAY, UH, THIS THREE 60 RESERVOIR SPECIFICALLY IS NOT.

UM, BUT, UH, YOU KNOW, IF YOU LOOK AT, UM, TABLE ONE, YOU'LL SEE THAT THE ONES THAT HAVE SPENDING IN F Y 22 ARE EITHER UNDERWAY OR ARE SHORTLY WILL BEGIN, UM, IS A GOOD WAY TO READ THAT TABLE.

SO PRETTY MUCH EVERYTHING, ANY OTHER SHIFTS ON THE SPECIFIC PROJECTS.

UH, WELL, AT THIS TIME, ANY, ANY DISCUSSION AROUND THIS AGENDA ITEM, OR SHOULD WE MOVE FOR APPROVAL? ALL RIGHT.

SO THIS, UM, I DID AN ITEM DOES REQUIRE, OR DOES, DOES COME WITH A POTENTIAL APPROVAL BY THIS COMMISSION FOR, UH, INCLUDING THESE PROJECTS IN, UH, THE FIVE-YEAR CAPITAL SPENDING PLAN? UH, DO I HAVE A MOTION I MOVED TO RECOMMENDED FOR APPROVAL.

MOTION IS MADE FOR APPROVAL BY COMMISSIONER AND GLORY OUT A SECOND.

I'LL SECOND.

MR. HARMON HAS SECOND.

UH, SO LET'S TAKE A VOTE IF YOU COULD RAISE YOUR HANDS, IF YOU ARE IN FAVOR, UH, COMMISSIONER BLACKBURN'S IN COMMISSIONER HARMON AND FAVOR IN FAVOR PUSHER AND GORY IN FAVOR, UH, COMMISSIONER BRENNAMAN W UH, REBECCA VERNON IS IN FAVOR.

MR. WYATT IS A FAVOR COMMISSIONER JOHNSON.

UH, I'LL ABSTAIN.

I JUST HAVEN'T BEEN ABLE TO KEEP UP WITH ENOUGH INFORMATION ON THESE PROJECTS LATELY WORK WITH THE LEGISLATURE, RIGHT? COMMISSIONER JOHNSON OF STAINS AND COMMISSIONER SMITH, SOMEBODY EITHER.

I'M SORRY.

CAUSE ME TO DAN AND INVISIBLE.

YEAH, I APPROVED, RIGHT.

I THINK THAT'S EVERYONE MISSING ONE.

ON TO AGENDA ITEM THREE, UH, WE HAVE AN RCA FOR, UH, THE FRUIT OF THE ISSUANCE OF THE CAPACITY BASED INCENTIVE TO THE HOUSING

UH, THAT MOTION PASSES.

UM, MOVING

[3. (6/3) [Austin Energy] Approve issuance of capacity-based incentives to the Housing Authority of the City of Austin for the installation of solar electric systems on the new multifamily affordable housing community Pathways at Chalmers Courts East, located at 300 Chicon St., for an amount not to exceed $323,360. (District 3)]

[00:25:01]

AUTHORITY OF THE CITY OF AUSTIN FOR THE INSTALLATION OF SOLAR ELECTRIC SYSTEMS ON THE NEW MULTIFAMILY, AFFORDABLE HOUSING COMMUNITY PATHWAYS AT CHALMERS COURT EAST, UM, ANY DISCUSSION OR QUESTIONS FROM THE COMMISSION ON THIS ITEM.

AND I HAVE A QUESTION.

UM, SO THE RCA, UH, READS THAT APPROXIMATELY 200, 2000 KILOWATT HOURS IS GOING TO BE USED FOR THIS, UM, PROJECT.

AND OF COURSE THE TOTAL KILOWATT HOURS IS ALMOST LIKE 400, SOME THOUSAND 447,000.

SO, UM, I WAS JUST WONDERING THE REMAINING OF, OF THAT, OF THAT KILOWATT HOURS PER YEAR.

IS THAT GOING TO BE GOING BACK TO THE GRID OR IS THAT ALSO THAT EXTRA 200,000? COULD THAT ALSO BE USED FOR NO INCOME HOUSING AROUND SURROUNDING AREA? AND DO WE HAVE, UH, SOMEONE FROM AUSTIN ENERGY ON THAT CAN ANSWER THAT QUESTION.

WE'RE MOVING STAFF OVER.

YEAH, NO WORRIES.

NO WORRIES.

SO WE HAVE TIM HARVEY, SARAH CHATTER, G, AND A MEETING.

NOW IT SHOULD BE ABLE TO SPEAK.

ALL RIGHT, WELCOME TIM OR SARAH.

YOU DON'T WANT TO TAKE THAT.

THIS IS SARAH.

I BELIEVE TIM HARVEY WILL BE SPEAKING ON THIS ITEM ATTEMPT TO GET HER ALL RIGHT.

TIM IS SHOWING, UH, BUT IT IS WEIRD THE WAY THIS IS PHRASED, BECAUSE IT DOES SEEM TO INDICATE TWO DIFFERENT NUMBERS FOR THE PRODUCTION.

I WONDER IF IT'S AN AIR, ARE WE HAVING A TECHNICAL ISSUES WITH, WITH TIM? YES.

IT LOOKS LIKE HE'S HAVING COMPUTER ISSUES.

HE'S SHAKING HIS HEAD.

IT LOOKS LIKE HE'S TRYING TO GET ON.

HE'S GIVEN US THE ONE.

SURE.

BLACKBURN ONE OPTION MAY BE, IF WE, WE, WE COULD MOVE ON TO ANOTHER AGENDA ITEM AND GO BACK TO THIS.

IF WE CONTINUE TO HAVE DELAYS, SO TIM CAN GET ON AUDIO.

I, I KIND OF AGREE.

LET'S GIVE HIM JUST A SECOND.

CAUSE UH, THE NEXT ONE I THINK IS PROBABLY GOING TO BE INTO YEAH.

HE SIGNED OUT.

UM, OKAY, WELL THEN LET US DO THAT THEN.

UH, WE'LL SKIP THREE AND FOUR AND COME BACK TO THOSE.

ONCE WE GET, WE GET TIM BACK ON THE LINE.

THIS IS SARAH CHATTER, SPEAKING ON FOR ITEM NUMBER FOUR, IF YOU WANT TO HIT THAT.

EXCELLENT.

WELL THEN LET'S, LET'S UH, WE'LL TABLE THREE, AND THEN

[4. (6/3) [Austin Energy] Approve an ordinance amending the Fiscal Year 2020-2021 Austin Energy Operating Budget (Ordinance No. 20200812-001) to decrease the Austin Energy Operating Fund Ending Balance by $1,165,887 and increase the Conservation Rebates expenses by $1,165,887 to provide additional funding for the Austin Energy Weatherization Assistance Program.]

COME BACK TO THAT.

LET'S GO TO FOUR.

UH, SO FOR, UH, SIMILARLY, UH, APPROVE AN ORDINANCE AMENDING THE, UH, FISCAL YEAR 20, 20, 2021 AUSTIN ENERGY OPERATING BUDGET TO DECREASE THE AUSTIN ENERGY OPERATING FUND ENDING BALANCE BY $1,165,887 AND INCREASE CONSERVATION REBATES EXPENSES BY THE SAME NUMBER TO PROVIDE ADDITIONAL FUNDING WHERE THE AUSTIN ENERGY WEATHERIZATION ASSISTANCE PROGRAM COMMISSIONERS, ANY COMMENTS OR QUESTIONS FOR SARAH SEEMS

[00:30:01]

LIKE A GREAT IDEA.

I MOVE APPROVAL SECOND.

UH, COMMISSIONER BLACKBURN.

THE MOTION MADE TO APPROVE BY COMMISSIONER WHITE, SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER HARMON.

UH LET'S ANY OTHER DISCUSSION BEFORE WE TAKE A VOTE? ALL RIGHT.

I'M JUST GOING TO, I'M GOING TO ROLL CALL THE VOTES SINCE, UH, I THINK THAT MIGHT BE SMOOTHER.

COMMISSIONER AND GORY.

COMMISSIONER JOHNSON.

AND COMMISSIONER SMITH.

LOW-INCOME MULTIFAMILY COMPLEX, TIM.

THAT MOTION PASSES AND IT LOOKS LIKE WE MAY HAVE TIM BECK.

TIM MILLER.

CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW? WE CAN.

EXCELLENT.

SORRY ABOUT THE ISSUES.

OH YEAH.

SO THIS IS TIM HARVEY AND REGARDING THE CHALMERS, UH, RCA, THAT IS AN ADDITION, UM, TO THE SHARED SOLAR PILOT.

SO THE GENERATION FROM THAT, UM, FROM THAT GENERATION RESOURCE, WE'LL GO INTO THE UTILITY SIDE OF THE METER AT THAT LOCATION, WHICH IS A MULTIFAMILY, UH, COMPLEX.

AND THEN AUSTIN ENERGY WILL TAKE THAT GENERATION AND, UH, DIS-AGGREGATE IT, AND DISSEMINATE IT TO ALL OF THE TENANTS OF THAT.

THIS IS KEEBA.

UM, THE QUESTION WAS AROUND THE TWO DIFFERENT VALUES IS, OR ESTIMATED PRODUCTION THAT ARE FOUND IN THE SRCA UNDER ADDITIONAL BACKUP INFORMATION IN THE SECOND PARAGRAPH, IT SAYS 202,000 AND CHANGE.

AND THEN ON THE NEXT PAGE, IT HAS A, AS I GUESS IT'S IN THE SECOND TO LAST PARAGRAPH OF THAT SECTION, IT SAYS AN ESTIMATED 447,000 AND CHANGE.

I THINK THAT'S WHAT YOU'RE ASKING ABOUT, RIGHT? YEAH.

SO I WAS WONDERING WHETHER THERE'S A DISCREPANCY THERE, OR IF THE GENERATION IS 440 SOME THOUSAND, IT, YOU KNOW, WHAT HAPPENS TO THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE TWO? IS IT, DOES IT GO TO THE GRID OR IS THERE ANY PLANNED AT THAT EXTRA AMOUNT OR KILOWATT HOURS FOR PER, OR IT COULD BE USED FOR, YOU KNOW, SURROUNDING AREA, POSSIBLY RESIDENTIAL, UM, THAT HAVE, UM, LOW INCOME, UH, THAT THERE ARE LOW INCOME, NOT NECESSARILY WITHIN THIS BUILDING.

UM, BUT THE SURROUNDING YEAH.

LOOKING AT THIS, UM, I THINK THAT THE FACT SHEET IS CORRECT AND THERE'S A DISCREPANCY ON THE RCA AND, AND SO ALL OF THE GENERATION FROM THAT, UM, SOLAR ARRAY WILL BE ALLOCATED TO THE TENANTS.

SO THE 447,000 NUMBER IS CORRECT.

THAT'S CORRECT.

I APOLOGIZE FOR THAT MISTAKE.

AND, AND SO, UM, I'LL, I'LL DO WHAT I NEED TO DO TO CORRECT THAT.

ANY OTHER QUESTIONS FOR TIM? ALL RIGHT.

UH, DO I HAVE A MOTION TO ACT ON THIS RCA I'LL MOVE APPROVAL COMMISSIONER, WHAT MOVES TO APPROVE? DO I HAVE A SECOND, A SECOND CORRECTION, MS. SHARON GORY SECONDS, UH, NOTING THAT, UH, THE VALUE NEEDS TO BE UPDATED.

AGREED.

SO A ROLL CALL, IF YOU ARE IN FAVOR, UH, MR. BLACKBURN, BUT IT'S YES, YES.

LET'S YOU ASK THE QUESTION OF HARMON.

MR. BRENNAMAN YES.

UP AGENDA ITEM FIVE QUARTERLY UPDATE FROM TEXAS GAS SERVICE.

COMMISSIONER ANN GORY.

[00:35:01]

THAT MOTION PASSES WITH THE CAVEAT THAT, UH, THE, UH, NUMERICAL ERROR NEEDS TO BE UPDATED.

THANK YOU, TIM.

WE APPRECIATE IT.

UM, NEXT

[5. Quarterly update from Texas Gas Service.]

UH, I WOULD, BEFORE WE GET THAT UPDATE, UM, I DID PROMISE, UH, MR. ROBBINS, THAT WE WOULD, UH, DEFER HIS, UH, COMMENTS ON THAT ITEM UNTIL, UH, THE AGENDA ITEM ACTUALLY CAME UP.

SO, UH, MR. ROBBINS, ARE YOU, YOU STILL ON, I'M STILL ON COMMISSION, THE BACKUP MATERIAL THAT COMPRISES THE COMPANY'S QUARTERLY REPORT THAT YOU'VE BEEN PROVIDED IS WOEFULLY INADEQUATE.

IT DOES NOT PROVIDE ANY METRICS ON BUDGET OR ENERGY SAVINGS, BUT TO THE BIGGER ISSUE, I CONTINUE TO BE A GUEST AT THE GROSS MISSPENDING OF MONEY, AND EVEN MORE DUMBFOUNDED BY THE LACK OF SCRUTINY BY THE CITY'S REGULATORY BUREAUCRACY THAT ALLOWS THIS MISSPENDING, THE COMPANY HAS ADMITTED IN PAST TARIFFS THAT ITS REBATE FOR FURNACES ARE NOT COST EFFECTIVE.

HIS REBATES FOR FURNACES ARE NOT COST-EFFECTIVE IT'S REBATES FOR GLASS, FOR GAS, CLOTHES, DRYERS THAT REPLACE EXISTING GAS CLOTHES DRYERS ARE ALSO NOT COST-EFFECTIVE.

AND THE COMPANY HAS NOT PROVIDED INFORMATION THAT WOULD GIVE THE FULL BREADTH OF THIS MISSPENDING.

IT'S TANKLESS WATER HEATER REBATES ARE ALSO PROBABLY NOT COST EFFECTIVE, BUT THE COMPANY WILL NOT PROVIDE THE MOST BASIC DETAILS TO SHOW IF THIS IS THE CASE, THE COMPANY HAS BEEN BYPASSING THIS COMMISSION SCRUTINY IN THE PAST TEXAS GAS SERVICE HAS ASKED FOR PROGRAM APPROVAL ON AN ANNUAL BASIS, BUT SINCE IT'S SWITCHED TO A THREE-YEAR TARIFF, IT NO LONGER ASKS FOR ANNUAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT COMMISSION APPROVAL.

THIS IS DESPITE A PROMISE MADE BY THE CITY'S REGULATORY AGENCY TO THE CITY COUNCIL THAT THE BUDGET COULD BE AMENDED ANNUALLY.

THE THIRD YEAR OF THIS POORLY DESIGNED TARIFF IS NEARLY OVER AND IN A FEW MONTHS, THEY WILL BRING YOU A NEW ONE.

HOWEVER, WHEN I ASKED THEM FOR KEY DATA NEEDED TO CREATE TESTIMONY FOR THE LAST ONE, TEXAS GAS SERVICE, HE HAD THE INFORMATION AND THE CITY'S REGULATORY BUREAUCRACY REFUSE TO REQUIRE THE COMPANY TO PROVIDE IT.

HAS IT GOTTEN TO THE POINT WHERE A CITIZEN ACTIVIST HAS TO SUE TO GET THE MOST RUDIMENTARY INFORMATION ON HOW OUR RATE MONEY IS SPENT? I'M ASKING RMC TO GO ON RECORD OPPOSING ANY FURTHER CONSERVATION TARIFFS THAT WITH NARROW EXCEPTIONS, SUCH AS LOW INCOME ASSISTANCE, DO NOT SAVE ENOUGH FUEL TO BREAK, EVEN WITH THE COST OF AN INSTALLATION.

IF YOU SAY THIS AS A GROUP, CITY COUNCIL WILL HEAR IT.

UH, I APPRECIATE YOUR ATTENTION.

I NEED TO HOP ON ANOTHER MEETING TO KEEP A CONCRETE PLANT OUT OF MY BACKYARD.

SO I WISH YOU A PLEASANT REST OF YOUR MEETING.

WE APPRECIATE YOU COMING.

I WISH EVERYONE WERE AS GRATEFUL.

TAKE CARE.

UM, ALL RIGHT, SO QUARTERLY UPDATE.

CAN TEXAS GAS, DO WE HAVE LARRY OR IS THIS, UH, OKAY.

THE FLOOR IS YOURS.

GOOD EVENING.

AND I BELIEVE LARRY GRAHAM IS JOINING ME, BUT HE IS CURRENTLY MUTED.

UM, NATHAN, DO YOU HAVE THE PRESENTATION THAT WE SENT OVER? YES, WE'RE LOADING THAT UP RIGHT NOW.

I HAVE THE WEB BASED VIEW, SO I'M NOT SURE IF I'LL BE ABLE TO SEE IT.

I COULDN'T SEE THE MEMO THAT THE YOUNG LADY WAS REFERENCING BEFORE.

SO I'LL LOOK AT YOU.

THANKS, NATHAN.

PERFECT.

SO, UH, FOR THE RECORD AND, UM, AS WELL AS A BRIEF INTRODUCTION, MY NAME IS JASMINE KING BUSH.

I'M THE, UH, ENERGY EFFICIENCY PROGRAM SUPERVISOR FOR TEXAS GAS SERVICE FOR, UM, THE CENTRAL TEXAS AREA.

AND I PROVIDE A QUARTERLY REPORT.

UH, THAT'S MY PRESENCE TODAY.

AND NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE.

[00:40:03]

I'D LIKE TO START OFF OUR PRESENTATION BY DRAWING YOUR ATTENTION TO THE, UH, PUBLISHING OF THE 2020 ANNUAL REPORT.

UH, THIS REPORT IS, UM, OUTLINED IN THE TARIFF, UH, UH, FOR THE PROGRAM.

IT IS AVAILABLE, UH, ON OUR WEBSITE AND IT WAS ALSO PROVIDED TO CITY LEADERSHIP.

UM, SO, UM, THE COPIES, THE DIGITAL COPIES ARE AVAILABLE GIVEN THE PANDEMIC.

UM, LAST YEAR AND THIS YEAR WE ARE PROVIDING DIGITAL COPIES ONLY.

UM, BUT, UM, IF YOU WOULD NEED TO DOWNLOAD A COPY OR VIEW OF THE COPY, PLEASE VISIT THE WEBSITE OR FEEL FREE TO CONTACT ME.

I'D LIKE TO HIGHLIGHT A COUPLE, UM, THINGS FOR, UH, POINT FOR THE ANNUAL REPORT.

UH, LAST YEAR, UH, 2020, WE GAVE OUT OVER 36,000 REBATES TO PARTICIPANTS IN THE PROGRAM.

AND, UH, WE, UH, RETURNED TO OVER 2.2 MILLION TO CUSTOMERS, UH, THAT ALSO PARTICIPATED IN THE PROGRAM.

SOME COMMERCIAL PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS.

UM, WE PARTNER WITH DIRECT, UH, DIRECTOR INSTALL, PARTNER, CLEAR RESULTS.

UH, THEY HAVE, UH, RESUMED A NORMAL BUSINESS OPERATIONS, REACHING OUT TO COMMERCIAL, UH, PROGRAM CUSTOMERS, SCHEDULING APPOINTMENTS TO PROVIDE WEATHERIZATION AND, UH, LOW FLOW AIR RATERS, UH, SHOWER HEADS AS, AS NEEDED.

UM, STILL, UH, BEING MINDFUL OF THE CDC AND CITY AND STATE, UH, RECOMMENDATIONS FOR SAFETY AS FOR BUSINESS OPERATION WITHIN THE CONFINES OF THE PANDEMIC.

BUT I KIND OF PUSH FORWARD, UH, TO RESUME QUOTE UNQUOTE, NORMAL BUSINESS OPERATIONS.

I DON'T KNOW IF WE'LL EVER BE NORMAL AGAIN.

UM, THEY ARE BEING MINDFUL TO REACH OUT TO BUSINESSES THAT WERE IMPACTED BY THE WINTER STORM URI.

UM, KNOWING THAT, UM, WE, THROUGH JANUARY, THROUGH FEBRUARY, THROUGH MARCH, WE SAW A LARGE NEED, UH, FOR ASSISTANCE IN THAT AREA FROM BOTH OUR RESIDENTIAL AND COMMERCIAL CUSTOMERS.

SO THEY'RE, UH, PRIORITIZING THAT AS WELL AND MAKING SURE THAT WE'RE REACHING OUT TO MEDICAL AND CARE FACILITIES, WE KNOW THAT THEY, UM, THEY ARE ALSO PART OF THAT, THAT NEED GROUP, UM, LODGING VENUES, AND, UM, MULTI-FAMILY, UM, BULLING.

UM, NEXT SLIDE PLEASE.

UM, RESIDENTIAL PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS, UH, WE HAVE A NEW WEBSITE.

IF YOU HAVE NOT HAD A CHANCE TO TAKE A VISIT, PLEASE, UH, GO ON OVER TO TEXAS GAS, SERVICE.COM AND SEE HOW WE'VE REVAMPED, UH, THINGS THEN AND CREATED A, UH, MORE USER-FRIENDLY INTERFACE.

UH, WE HAVE SENT OUT THE SPRING NEWSLETTER THAT CONTAINS SOME EFFICIENCY TIPS.

UH, WE DID MOVE OVER THE ENERGY CALCULATOR FROM THE PREVIOUS WEBSITE TO THE CURRENT WEBSITE.

WE FOUND THAT IT'S BEEN VERY HELPFUL FOR CURRENT CUSTOMERS AND EVEN POTENTIAL CUSTOMERS WHO ARE LOOKING TO, UM, LOOK AT WHAT IF SCENARIOS, UM, IN THE, IN THE, UM, EFFORT TO STILL PROVIDE A LEVEL OF EDUCATION TO THE COMMUNITIES THAT WE SERVE.

WE HAVE MAINTAINED PARTNERSHIPS AND STARTED SOME NEW PARTNERSHIPS WITH COMMUNITY FARMER'S MARKETS, UH, WHERE WE, UM, DON'T HAVE TO BE PRESENT.

UH, WE ARE STILL, UH, BEING VERY, UM, SENSITIVE TO THAT, BUT, UM, REACHING OUT TO THE COMMUNITY THROUGH THOSE PARTNERSHIPS AND THEN ALSO OFFERING TRAININGS FOR LOCAL CONTRACTORS THAT, UH, WORK ON, UH, THE NATURAL GAS APPLIANCES, PROVIDING THEM EDUCATION ON HOW THEY CAN EDUCATE THEIR CUSTOMERS AS WELL.

AND THEN CURRENTLY WE HAVE BEEN, UH, ADVERTISING AND EDUCATING OUR CUSTOMERS ABOUT THE WATER SAVINGS KITS PROMOTION.

THEY CAN REQUIRE A REQUEST THOSE THROUGHOUT THE YEAR, BUT WE DO MAKE IT A POINT DURING THIS TIME OF THE YEAR TO LET THEM KNOW THAT THIS IS AVAILABLE AND THE STEPS THAT THEY NEED TO DO TO RECEIVE ONE.

AND OUR GOAL FOR DISTRIBUTION THIS YEAR IS 3000 KITS.

UH, NEXT SLIDE JUST WANT IT TO, UM, UH, YEAR OVER YEAR, LOOK AT THE RESIDENTIAL PROGRAM PARTICIPATION.

SO YOU CAN SEE THE CHANGES FROM 2019 2020.

AND, UH, THIS IS THROUGH Q1 OF 2021.

YOU WILL NOTE THAT, UH, YOU SEE A LARGE PARTICIPATION FOR THE WATER PROGRAM, AND THAT IS LARGELY DUE TO THE WINTER STORM.

WE DID SEE PARTICIPATION INCREASED, UM, EXPONENTIALLY BECAUSE OF THE DAMAGE THAT CUSTOMERS, UM, EXPERIENCE WITH THEIR, UH, WATER HEATERS DURING THE STORM.

UM, AND, UM, WE ARE STILL SEEING THAT CARRY THROUGH PEOPLE ARE NOW STARTING TO BE ABLE TO GET CONTRACTORS, COME IN TO DO THE WORK, AND THEY ARE AWARE OF THE PROGRAMS AND SUBMITTING THE APPLICATIONS FOR THAT PROGRAM.

[00:45:01]

UH, THE LAST TIME WE MET, WHICH WAS, I BELIEVE DECEMBER 15TH, THAT WAS BEFORE YOU, UM, THERE WERE SOME QUESTIONS ABOUT THE MAP THAT WE INCLUDED.

I BELIEVE IT WAS COMMISSIONER HARMON.

UM, IF I RECALL CORRECTLY.

AND SO I WANTED TO MAKE SURE THAT I, UH, PROVIDED A MAP THAT WAS, UM, UP TO DATE.

SO THIS IS, THIS IS, UH, THROUGH APRIL, UM, OF THE DISTRIBUTION OF PARTICIPATION, UH, IN THE AUSTIN AND SURROUNDING AREAS IN THE LOW INCOME PROGRAM.

UH, WE HAVE 101 FAMILIES THAT WE'RE CURRENTLY WORKING WITH, UM, THAT ARE, HAVE APPLIED THROUGH THE PROGRAM, THROUGH OUR PARTNERS AND ARE, UM, HAVE RECEIVED INSTALL OR AWAITING INSTALL AND OR REPAIR, UM, AT THEIR HOMES.

UH, WE HAVE REPLACED 43 APPLIANCES YEAR TO DATE.

UH, AGAIN, WE'RE WORKING WITH THE LOCAL CONTRACTORS TO MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE ASSISTING THE FAMILIES AND HOMES AFFECTED BY THE STORM IS AS MUCH AS WE POSSIBLY CAN, BUT WE ARE SEEING AN INCREASED BURDEN, UH, DUE TO INCREASED COSTS OF MATERIALS.

WE'VE BEEN HEARING BACK FROM THE CONTRACTORS THAT THEY ARE HAVING TO RAISE THEIR RATES AND THEIR, THEIR LABOR COSTS, UM, AND EVEN EQUIPMENT COSTS.

SO WE ARE SEEING THAT, UM, COME THROUGH THE PROGRAM.

AND I, I WANTED TO ALSO ADDRESS, I BELIEVE, UH, COMMISSIONER WHITE HAD A QUESTION ABOUT THE SITE, NATURAL GAS SAVINGS GOAL, UH, THAT, UH, WE HAD AGREED TO, AND OF COURSE THERE WE GO.

I HAD THOSE NUMBERS READY AND I WANTED TO REVISIT THAT CONVERSATION.

SO, UM, I BELIEVE THE GOAL WAS, UH, 4.5%, UM, FIGHT NATURAL GAS SAVINGS.

AND, UM, WE, UH, 20, 27, 2016 TO 2017, WE HAD A 4%, UM, NATURAL GAS SAVING 2017 TO 2018.

WE HAD 6% IN 2018 TO 2019.

WE HAD A 19%, UM, RIGHT.

UH, SAVINGS.

OH, I WANTED TO MAKE SURE THAT I, I CAME BACK BEFORE YOU WITH RESPONSE TO THAT.

THERE WERE THOSE NUMBERS.

I JUST WANT TO MAKE SURE I'M SURE I'M UNDERSTANDING CORRECTLY.

SO THOSE SAVINGS COME ONLY FROM REPLACING EXISTING EQUIPMENT WITH NEW EQUIPMENT.

UM, THERE WAS ALSO A QUESTION BY COMMISSIONERS SMITH AND COMMISSIONER HARMON ABOUT THE AGE OF APPLIANCE BEING REPLACED.

WE DO NOT CURRENTLY COLLECT THAT INFORMATION.

I DID LOOK INTO THAT CAUSE I WANTED TO MAKE SURE, UM, THAT WE DID NOT COLLECT THAT INFORMATION.

WE DO NOT COLLECT THAT INFORMATION.

AND THERE WAS ALSO A QUESTION ABOUT, UM, THE SAVINGS INVESTMENT RATIO FOR BUILDER REBATES, UM, BY APPLIANCE TYPE.

UM, I WOULD HAVE TO LOOK INTO THAT A LITTLE FURTHER, UM, AND WORK WITH, UH, SOME OF MY, UM, TEAMMATES, THE, THE, I BELIEVE THE QUESTION WAS REGARDING TO THE BUILT THE NEW CONSTRUCTION PROGRAM.

THE CAVEAT TO THAT IS THAT NOT JUST BUILDERS PARTICIPATE IN THAT PROGRAM.

WE ALSO HAVE, UH, HOMEOWNERS THAT ARE, UM, HAVE NEWLY MOVED INTO NEW CONSTRUCTION.

SO THEY ARE ALSO INCLUDED, THEY WOULD ALSO BE INCLUDED IN THAT NUMBER.

UM, AND THERE WAS ALSO A QUESTION ABOUT, UM, THE, UH, LOW INCOME NUMBERS AS FAR AS, UH, HOW, HOW MUCH OF OUR, HOW MANY OF OUR CUSTOMERS ARE LOW INCOME AND WHAT ZIP CODES AND WE DON'T COLLECT THEIR INCOME DATA.

AND, UM, THE, THE READY REPORTING WE HAVE IS, IS CAPTURED THERE IN THAT GRAPHIC.

UM, BUT PR I COULD PARTNER WITH, UM, UM, POSSIBLY, UM, COMMISSIONER HARMAN, UM, SOME OF HER WEEK'S RESOURCES AND GETTING, UM, SOME, THE ABILITY TO CROSS REFERENCE, UH, BY ZIP CODE, UH, IF THAT'S A POSSIBILITY AND I BELIEVE THAT THAT'S THE END OF MY PRESENTATION.

THE TARIFF ALLOWS ONE OR TWO REBATES, THE NOT BE COST-EFFECTIVE, BUT IT'S THE PSALM.

WELL, THANK YOU VERY MUCH.

THANK YOU, COMMISSIONER IS ANY FURTHER QUESTIONS? THIS IS LARRY GRAHAM.

CAN I SAY ONE THING? YES.

GO FOR IT.

JUST CHOOSE TO RESPOND TO WHAT PAUL SAID.

YOU KNOW, THE, THE TARIFF, UM, SAYS, UH, ALL OF THE REBATES COMBINED WILL BE COST-EFFECTIVE AND WE ARE IN FULL COMPLIANCE WITH THE TARIFFS.

AND SO

[00:50:01]

AND SO I JUST WANTED TO REMIND EVERYBODY OF THAT AND STATE THAT WE ARE IN FULL COMPLIANCE WITH, UH, THE TARIFF AND HE HE'S RIGHT.

IT'S A THREE-YEAR CYCLE.

WE'RE COMING TO THE END OF IT.

AND THAT, THAT HAS COME IN IN THE LAST, UH, FOUR TO FIVE YEARS.

THANK YOU, LARRY COMMISSIONERS TODAY, ANY QUESTIONS? I HAVE A QUESTION.

UH, JASMINE, THANK YOU FOR THE PRESENTATION.

UM, UH, HOW DO YOU, UM, YOU KNOW, ONE OF THE SLIDES TALKS ABOUT WATER SAVING KIDS, PROMOTION, DISTRIBUTION, GOAL, 3000 KIDS.

I WAS JUST WONDERING HOW, HOW YOU GET THIS INFORMATION OUT TO, TO PEOPLE.

UM, NOT ALL, ALL, NOT ALL THE PEOPLE, HELLO, CUSTOMERS HAVE COMPUTERS AND SO ON, BUT, UH, I WAS JUST WONDERING WHETHER YOU HAVE A CONSULTANT THAT GET THIS OUT DOOR TO DOOR, OR HOW DOES, HOW DOES THAT WORK? WE GENERALLY RELY ON, UM, E-BLAST, UM, AND, UH, SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING, UM, AND, UM, WE DO, UH, FROM TIME TO TIME DO, UM, RADIO SPOTS ON K U T M AND K U T X.

UH, SO THAT IS, UM, TRADITIONALLY HOW WE GET THE WORD OUT.

WE ALSO HAVE THE ABILITY TO DO BILL INSERTS.

WE DID NOT DO BILL INSERTS, UM, UH, FOR THIS, UH, SPECIFIC, UM, PUSH, BUT WE, UH, WE DO RELY ON, ON SEVERAL DIFFERENT MEDIUMS OR GETTING THE WORD OUT TO OUR CUSTOMERS.

UM, THANK YOU.

UH, THE SECOND QUESTION I HAVE HAS TO DO WITH THAT 36,000 REBATES, IS THAT, UH, IS THAT, UH, IS THAT THE WHOLE SERVICE AREA FOR TEXAS GAS OR IT'S NOT JUST THE CITY OF AUSTIN.

IT IS NOT JUST THE CITY OF AUSTIN, CORRECT.

IT, IT INCLUDES, UH, IT'S ALL 16 CITIES, BUT THANK YOU.

THANK YOU, JASMINE.

THOSE CUSTOMERS ARE IN THE CITY OF BOSTON, RIGHT? ROUGHLY I WOULD SAY 80 TO 90.

YEAH, SURE.

BLACKBURN, IF I MAY WHISKING BUSH, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR PRESENTATION.

AND I WANTED TO SAY, THANK YOU ALSO FOR, UM, UM, BRINGING BACK AND ADDRESSING THE QUESTIONS ASKED BY THIS COMMISSION, UM, AT YOUR LAST PRESENTATION THAT, UM, THE, THE FOLLOW-THROUGH THERE IS, IS MUCH APPRECIATED TOO, TO KIND OF COME BACK AND MAKE SURE WE GET ANSWERS TO THOSE QUESTIONS.

UM, AND I NOTED SPECIFICALLY THE, UM, UPDATED DATA FOR THE, THE, UM, LOW-INCOME, UH, FREE EQUIPMENT PROGRAM AND, AND APPRECIATE THOSE UPDATES.

UM, AND I, UM, THIS IS REALLY MORE OF A COMMENT THAN A QUESTION, BUT APPRECIATE THE, THE CHALLENGE IN COLLECTING THAT THAT MOST UTILITIES DO NOT COLLECT INCOME DATA.

UM, AND SO YOU HAVE THE DATA FOR THE PRO THE PEOPLE WHO PARTICIPATE IN YOUR PROGRAM.

UM, AND WE JUST REPRESENTING OUR, UH, THE, THE ORGANIZATION FOR WHICH I WORK.

WE DO HAVE SOME, SOME DATA THAT I THINK THERE MAY BE SOME COLLABORATION OPPORTUNITIES THERE, WHICH OF COURSE AREN'T GOING TO BE SPECIFIC TO INDIVIDUAL CUSTOMERS, BUT WE MAY BE ABLE TO HELP SHINE SOME LIGHTS THERE.

UM, SO, SO THANK YOU FOR THAT.

MY, UM, MY QUESTION THOUGH, IS ACTUALLY GOING TO GO BACK OVER TO YOUR COMMENT, LARRY, UM, IF, IF I MAY, UM, AND I APPRECIATE YOU BRINGING UP THAT THE, UM, THE CONSERVATION TARIFFS COVER THE PROGRAM AS A WHOLE, UM, AND NOT NECESSARILY A SPECIFIC MEASURE.

I'M WONDERING IF YOU MIGHT ELABORATE A BIT ON, UM, YOU KNOW, KIND OF GIVEN MR. ROBBINS COMMENTS ON THE JUSTIFICATION, UM, FOR THAT HOLISTIC APPROACH, RATHER THAN EVALUATING ON A MEASURE BY MEASURE BASIS, UM, WHETHER, WHETHER THE MEASURES ARE, ARE COST-EFFECTIVE, CAN YOU HELP US UNDERSTAND THAT RATIONALE A BIT, UM, AND HOW AND WHY THAT BETTER, BEST SERVES YOUR CUSTOMERS? YEAH, I'LL START AND JASMINE MAY WANT TO JUMP IN, BUT I WOULD REMIND EVERYBODY THAT WHEN WE WENT THROUGH THIS PROCESS THREE YEARS AGO, WE DID COLLECT A LOT OF DATA ON COST EFFECTIVENESS.

AND WHEN WE, UM, HAD THAT DATA, WE DID ELIMINATE AT THAT TIME, I THINK THREE YEARS AGO, SEVERAL REBATES THAT, YOU KNOW, WHEN WE LOOKED AT IT AND WE SAID, YOU KNOW, THEY'RE NOT COST JUSTIFIED.

AND THEY PROBABLY, UH, NO LONGER MAKE SENSE.

AND, YOU KNOW, I, I WILL SAY THIS DANA TOO, THAT, YOU KNOW, 10, 12 YEARS AGO, WHEN WE FIRST STARTED COMING TO THE RESOURCE MANAGEMENT COMMISSION, OUR CHARGE FROM THE COUNCIL AND THE COMMISSION WAS TO HAVE REBATES THAT SAVED GAS, NO MATTER WHAT THE COST WAS.

SO THAT'S KIND OF, WE NEVER, WE ORIGINALLY WERE NOT LOOKING AT THE COST EFFECTIVENESS

[00:55:01]

SO THAT SAID, WE, WE, WE SHED SOME OF THE, UH, THE REBATES AND SOME OF THEM ARE VERY CLOSE IN AND RE REMIND EVERYONE THERE'S FIVE DIFFERENT TESTS.

AND SO SOME OF THE REBATES SCORE HIGH ON SOME OF THE TESTS AND SCORES SCORE DIFFERENTLY ON THE OTHER TESTS.

SO, SO THAT THAT'S A FACTOR.

SOMEONE HAD SOCIAL VALUES AND PROVIDE, UM, YOU KNOW, SOME OF THE FREE EQUIPMENT DON'T PASS THE TEST FOR EXAMPLE, BUT THERE WERE SOME OTHER ONES THAT WERE, WERE RIGHT ON THE BUBBLE THAT WE STILL THOUGHT HAD VALUE TO OUR CUSTOMERS.

AND PART OF THE RATIONALE IS THAT ALL THE CUSTOMERS PAY A DOLLAR 30 A MONTH INTO THE PROGRAM.

WE WANT TO HAVE SOME REBATES THAT PEOPLE CAN TAKE ADVANTAGE OF.

AND SO THAT, THAT'S PART OF THE THINKING.

AND AGAIN, WHEN WE GO THROUGH THE PROCESS IN THE FALL, WE'RE GOING TO BE LOOKING AT THE DATA AND, YOU KNOW, WE'RE GOING TO COME BACK TO YOU GUYS.

AND W W I DON'T KNOW NOW, BUT WE MAY MAKE RECOMMENDATIONS ON, UH, REBATES GOING FORWARD.

YEAH, I WOULD, I WOULD JUST ADD TO, UM, LARRY'S COMMENT, OR I WOULD ECHO THAT, THAT AS WE LOOK AT, UM, THE DYNAMIC ENVIRONMENT OF COST-EFFECTIVE AND WHAT WORKS, UM, WE ARE ACTUALLY HAVING THOSE CONVERSATIONS AND REVIEW WITHIN THE ENERGY EFFICIENCY PROGRAM RIGHT NOW TO LOOK AND MAKE SURE THAT WE ARE ADHERING TO, UM, THE, UM, THE NEEDS OF THE PROGRAM TO PROVIDE, UM, COST-EFFECTIVE, UM, REBATES TO THE CUSTOMERS.

SO WE ARE ACTUALLY LOOKING AT THAT RIGHT NOW, UM, AND THERE MAY BE CHANGES MADE AND A THREE-YEAR AND A THREE-YEAR PERIOD.

I WOULD JUST ALSO ADD FOR THOSE WHO AREN'T FAMILIAR, UM, THE THREE-YEAR PERIOD REALLY GIVES US THE ABILITY TO LOOK AND SEE WHAT WORKS, UM, HOW IT'S RECEIVED IT ALSO, UM, HAS PROVEN TO BE, UH, UM, SUFFICIENT TIMELINE TO SEE TRUE PARTICIPATION.

UM, SO, UM, RECENTLY WE WERE LOOKING AT ANOTHER PROGRAM AND, AND THE FIRST YEAR REALLY IS, UH, OF A PROGRAM IS REALLY THE EDUCATION PIECE.

SO AS WE MODIFY AND REVIEW THAT FIRST YEAR IS REALLY EDUCATING AND, AND GETTING THE ART, UM, INFORMATION DISSEMINATION OUT.

SO THE THREE YEARS IS ALSO, UM, TO CALL IT ONE OF THE CALL OUT.

THAT'S WHY WE DO A, THREE-YEAR NOT AN ANNUAL THANK YOU BOTH FOR THOSE, THOSE EXPLANATIONS.

AND, UM, I, I CAN APPRECIATE, UM, ALL OF THOSE COMMENTS AND, OH, LARRY, I THINK I HEARD YOU TRYING TO CHIME IN AND FINALLY, YOU KNOW, I THINK PAUL, YEAH.

I FEEL THAT YOU'VE, YOU'VE PROBABLY HAVE SHARED THAT INFORMATION WITH US IN THE PAST MINUTE.

I, I THINK PAUL, I THINK PAUL'S WRONG.

I THINK ALL OF THE REBATES DO ARE COST-EFFECTIVE WITH A NUMBER OF THE TESTS, SO WE'LL BE HAPPY TO BRING THAT DATA BACK TO YOU AND WE'LL LOOK AT IT.

BUT I, YOU KNOW, PAUL IS NOT A FAN OF THE, UH, THE TANKLESS WATER HEATER REBATES, BUT I DON'T THINK IT'S BASED ON, UH, THE FACT THAT THEY SAVE ENERGY.

HE HAS OTHER CONCERNS ABOUT THE PROGRAM, I THINK, CAUSE WE TALKED ABOUT THIS WITH HIM FOR YEARS AND YEARS.

A LOT OF IT HAS TO DO WITH WHO ARE THE PEOPLE THAT ARE USED, THAT ARE GETTING THE REBATES AND USING THE TANKLESS WATER HEATERS.

IT, THANK YOU.

THANK YOU FOR THAT.

UM, AND I HAVE, I HAVE ONE FINAL QUESTION AND I FEEL LIKE IT'S, IT'S ONE THAT I SHOULD KNOW THE ANSWER TO.

SO I APOLOGIZE BECAUSE I'M SURE THAT YOU, YOU ALL HAVE SHARED WITH US.

UM, BUT IN ADDITION TO THE COST EFFECTIVENESS GOAL, ARE THERE FOR YOUR PROGRAMS, ARE THERE SPECIFIC SAVINGS GOALS THAT YOU'RE ALSO TRYING TO, TO HIT IN TERMS OF, UM, THE, THE ENERGY SAVINGS THAT YOU NEED TO BE ABLE TO USE KIND OF A FLEXIBLE SUITE OF MEASURES TO, TO, TO REACH.

UM, AND I'M ASKING THAT BECAUSE LARRY, I APPRECIATE YOUR COMMENT ABOUT KIND OF THE, THE HISTORY, UM, AND THE IDEA, YOU KNOW, PREVIOUSLY OF, UM, YOU KNOW, GIVING REBATES AND INSTALLING ENERGY EFFICIENCY MEASURES KIND OF REGARDLESS OF COST.

UM, IT SOUNDS LIKE COLLECTIVELY WE'VE MOVED BEYOND THAT PHILOSOPHY.

UM, BUT IS THERE A SPECIFIC SAVINGS GOAL THAT WE'RE TRYING TO PUT ENOUGH OF THE REBATES TOGETHER TO, TO HIT IN ADDITION GETTING, UH, THE NUMBER OF CUSTOMERS SERVED AND THE NUMBER OF REBATES? WELL, WE HAVE MADE A, UM, A COMMITMENT TO THE RMC, W WE'VE SET A GOAL TO HAVE SOME SAVINGS, YOU KNOW, ENERGY SAVINGS AND CCF.

UM, AND I'M NOT SURE I DON'T HAVE THE TARIFFS IN FRONT OF ME.

I'M NOT SURE IF THAT IS ACTUALLY IN THE TERROR, BUT WE, WE MADE THAT COMMITMENT.

I THINK THAT'S WHAT WE WERE REPORTING ON IT EARLIER THAT I THINK WE'VE, WE HAVE, UH, I, I BELIEVE, AND I, I SHOULD CHECK MYSELF, BUT I BELIEVE WE'VE MET THOSE, THOSE GOALS TO REDUCE OVERALL, USE A PROGRAM TO REDUCE CONSUMPTION.

I THANK YOU.

AND I,

[01:00:01]

I DIDN'T HAVE IT AT MY FINGERTIPS, BUT, YOU KNOW, AS WE CONTINUE THE CONVERSATION, I THINK THAT WILL BE, YOU KNOW, SOMETHING THAT I'LL BE INTERESTED IN PERSONALLY.

AND I THINK THAT, YOU KNOW, IS WITHIN THE PURVIEW OF THIS COMMISSION TO UNDERSTAND, UM, AS YOU KNOW, HOW, UM, YOU KNOW, HOW THIS COMBINATION OF, OF REBATES IS HELPING US TO ACHIEVE THOSE OVERALL SAVINGS GOALS, ASSUMING COST EFFECTIVENESS, SO TO SPEAK.

UM, AND THEN, YOU KNOW, ALSO SHARING THE CONCERN ABOUT MAKING SURE THAT THERE'S EQUITABLE ACCESS TO THOSE REBATES FOR, YOU KNOW, ALL, ALL, ALL CUSTOMERS IN OUR COMMUNITY.

UM, SO JUST FOR, FOR OUR, FOR NEXT DISCUSSION.

I DID HAVE JUST ONE FOLLOW-UP ON THOSE NUMBERS THAT WERE SHARED, UM, W WERE THOSE CUMULATIVE OR FOR EACH OF THE, WHAT I WROTE DOWN WAS 2016 TO 2017 WAS 4% 2018 TO 2019 6%, 20, 20 19%.

UM, I'M GUESSING THAT THOSE ARE, ARE CUMULATIVE, BUT CAN, CAN YOU SPECIFY? NO.

SO THE 2016 TO 2017 NUMBERS, 4%, 2017 TO 2018 IS SIX 2018 TO 2019 IS 19.

AND THAT IS HER, UH, PER YEAR, YEAR OVER YEAR SAVINGS.

SO YOU'RE SAYING THAT FROM 2019, FROM TWO, FROM 2019 TO 2020 TEXAS GAS, SO 19% LESS GAS IN THE AUSTIN AREA, NO, FROM 2018 TO 2019, WE HAD, UH, A SITE NATURAL GAS SAVINGS.

WE HAD 19% MORE SAVINGS THAN THE PREVIOUS YEAR.

SO FROM 2018 TO 2019, WE SAW A 19% SAVINGS IN SIGHT, NATURAL GAS IN TERM.

WELL, NOT NOW I'M CONFUSED.

CAUSE I ALSO GOT THE DATES.

UH, I THOUGHT YOU SAID I DIDN'T REPORT ON 2020, JUST 20, UH, 16 TO 20, 2017 TO 2018 AND 2018 TO 2019.

THESE ARE GOOD QUESTIONS.

AND MAYBE WHAT WE CAN DO IS CHECK THIS.

I THINK I KNOW WHAT JASMINE IS TRYING TO SAY, BUT MAYBE WE CAN FIGURE OUT A LITTLE BIT BETTER WAY TO SAY IT.

UM, AND WE'LL GO BACK AND LOOK AT WHATEVER THAT BASE YEAR IS.

CAUSE I CAN'T REMEMBER NOW, BUT, BUT I THINK WHAT MAY BE HELPFUL IS WHAT IF W IF THE BASE YEAR WAS 2017, IF WE COMPARE THAT TO THE MOST RECENT YEAR, WHICH HOPEFULLY IS 2020 AND REPORT THAT TO YOU.

CAUSE I, I, THERE'S DIFFERENT WAYS TO SLICE AND DICE AND SAYS, YOU KNOW, AND I WANT TO MAKE SURE WE'RE ALL ON THE SAME PAGE.

UH, YEAH, I GUESS I'M, ARE WE TALKING ABOUT TOTAL GAS USED WHEN WE SAY CITE SAVINGS? I DON'T THINK THAT IS, I DON'T THINK THAT'S WHAT SHE'S REFERENCING.

I DON'T THINK THE TOTAL THROUGHPUT IN AUSTIN WAS DOWN BY THAT MUCH, SO, YEAH.

BUT, BUT, YOU KNOW, GENERALLY SPEAKING, THERE'S LARGE VARIATIONS IN THROUGHPUT JUST BASED ON WEATHER FROM YEAR TO YEAR.

AND OBVIOUSLY WE'RE GOING TO HAVE, UH, AN UPWARD SWING IN 2021 BECAUSE OF THE WINTER WEATHER EVENT.

AND, AND, AND I UNDERSTAND THAT, AND THAT'S WHY I'M JUST WANTING TO UNDERSTAND WHAT THESE NUMBERS ACTUALLY ARE IF THEY'RE NOT THROUGHPUT.

I TH I THINK, I THINK WE'RE REPORTING SAVINGS THAT ARE THE RESOLVE FROM THE REBATES THAT WE ISSUED.

AND I THINK SOME OF IT IS CUMULATIVE.

IF SOMEONE HAD A, A TANKLESS WATER HEATER INSTALLED IN 2017, THEN THERE'S THERE'S SAVINGS THAT YEAR, THEIR SAVINGS, THE FOLLOWING YEAR, OTHER SAVINGS, YOU KNOW, EACH YEAR, AS LONG AS IT'S IN GOOD OPERATING CONDITION.

I DO NOT HAVE THE NUMBERS FOR TOTAL GAS SALES.

I APOLOGIZE.

UH, COMMISSIONER WHITE, IF THAT'S WHAT YOU WERE ASKING ABOUT YEAR OVER YEAR.

YEAH, THAT'S FINE.

AND THEN KATIE WAS JUST FINE.

UM, UH, OKAY.

I, I GUESS MAYBE, MAYBE THESE NUMBERS DO SORT OF GET WHAT I WAS ASKING.

UM, MAYBE, MAYBE THEY DON'T, I GUESS I AM STILL A LITTLE BIT UNCERTAIN, BUT I DO APPRECIATE YOU REPORTING THEM.

I JUST WANT TO UNDERSTAND THEM, I GUESS.

WELL, WHAT I'LL DO IS I WILL, I WILL PULL IT PUT TOGETHER, UM, SOMETHING THAT HAS A LITTLE MORE DETAIL AND ADD IT TO THE SLIDE FOR THE NEXT PRESENTATION.

[01:05:02]

AND IF YOU CAN FOLLOW UP WITH THE COMMISSION, UH, FOR, YOU KNOW, OR WOULD THEY FOR THESE NUMBERS, PLEASE SHOOT.

THANK YOU VERY MUCH.

WHAT I'M GUESSING THE ISSUE IS THAT THE SAVINGS NUMBERS ARE REPORTING OUR SAVINGS, UM, COMPARED TO A BASELINE.

SO I THINK PROBABLY THE ANSWER TO THE QUESTION IS WHAT EXACTLY IS THE BASELINE THAT YOU'RE COMPARING THAT TO THAT? HOW ARE YOU DERIVING THAT SAVINGS NUMBER? AND I, I MEAN, I WOULD, I WOULD JUST GUESS IT'S PROBABLY FROM YOUR, YOU'RE SAYING THAT, UH, YOU'RE INSTALLING MORE EFFICIENT EQUIPMENT THAN WOULD HAVE OTHERWISE BEEN THERE AND THAT'S WHAT THE SAVINGS REPRESENTS, RIGHT? CORRECT.

ALL THE, ALL THE RE THE REBATES ARE ONLY FOR EQUIPMENT THAT'S MORE EFFICIENT THAN CODE.

SURE.

I THINK IT WAS JUST WHAT WE WERE TRYING TO DISTINGUISH BETWEEN, UM, NEW BUILD OR NEW EQUIPMENT THAT WAS NOT REPLACING EXISTING NATURAL GAS EQUIPMENT AND REPLACING EXISTING NATURAL GAS EQUIPMENT.

AND OF COURSE, LET'S NOT FORGET THE, THE WEATHERIZATION, UM, YOU KNOW, THE INSTALLATION AND THAT KIND OF STEP, WHICH, YOU KNOW, IT'S, I THINK IMPORTANT, IMPORTANT PART OF THIS AND DOES RESULT IN AN ACTUAL REDUCTION IN NATURAL GAS USED.

SO JUST, I THINK TO BE CLEAR, WHAT I'M PARTICULARLY INTERESTED IN IS HOW THE PROGRAMS ARE BEING USED TO REDUCE THE ACTUAL VOLUME OF NATURAL GAS BEING USED, UH, ON A, JUST, UM, ON A CUMULATIVE BASIS, REGARDLESS, UH, YOU KNOW, KIND OF NOT, NOT DOING THE MATH FOR WHAT MIGHT'VE BEEN INSTALLED OR NOT INSTALLED, UH, IF IT'S NOT EXISTING EQUIPMENT, IF THAT MAKES SENSE.

UH, I WANTED TO MAKE SURE I RESTATE YOUR QUESTION BECAUSE I WANT TO MAKE SURE I COME BACK WITH THE CORRECT ANSWER.

SO YOU W YOU WANT TO KNOW THAT THE REDUCTION OF VOLUME OF NATURAL GAS ON NEW EQUIPMENT, NEW, NATURAL GAS EQUIPMENT, NEW EQUIPMENT THAT IS REPLACING EXISTING EQUIPMENT, EXISTING, NATURAL GAS EQUIPMENT.

GOT IT.

BUT, AND, AND REALLY WHEN WE HAD THIS DISCUSSION, IT WAS ABOUT HAVING THE PROGRAMS OVERALL, THE CONSERVATION PROGRAMS OVERALL RESULT IN A REDUCTION IN NATURAL GAS.

AND IT, UM, THE WORD IS ESCAPING ME, BUT JUST LIKE A REAL REDUCTION IN NATURAL GAS USAGE, AS OPPOSED TO A CALCULATED REDUCTION BASED ON, UM, I THINK, YOU KNOW, ANY, ANY SORT OF ASSUMPTIONS ABOUT WHAT EQUIPMENT MIGHT GO IN, IN A PLACE WHERE THERE'S NOT EXISTING NATURAL GAS EQUIPMENT.

GOT IT.

THANK YOU, COMMISSIONER COMMISSIONER.

IS ANYONE ELSE? ALRIGHT.

UH, JASMINE AND LARRY, WE REALLY APPRECIATE YOUR TIME.

THANK YOU FOR THE PRESENTATION AND FOR ANSWERING THE QUESTIONS TONIGHT.

[6. Quarterly update from Austin Water.]

QUARTERLY UPDATE FROM AUSTIN WATER.

NATASHA.

WHO DO WE HAVE FROM AUSTIN WATER TOO? WE HAVE MARK JARDEN.

WE'RE MOVING HIM OVER.

A, UM, UH, PROPOSED, UH, COUNCIL RESOLUTION THAT WAS DISCUSSED DURING, UH, A MEETING OF THE AUSTIN WATER OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE LAST WEEK, AND IS SET FOR COUNCIL ACTION.

GOOD EVENING.

CAN EVERYONE HEAR ME? HEY, MARK.

YEAH, WE CAN HEAR YOU FINE.

GREAT.

UM, MY NAME IS MARK JORDAN.

I'M THE, I'M AN ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATION PROGRAM MANAGER WITH THE WATER CONSERVATION DIVISION OVER AT AUSTIN WATER.

AND I'LL BE PROVIDING YOU WITH THE QUARTERLY WATER CONSERVATION UPDATE.

UH, THERE ARE FOUR THINGS I WANTED TO MAKE SURE I COVERED IN THIS, UH, PRESENTATION, BUT BE MINDFUL OF YOUR TIME.

ONE WAS THE POTENTIAL THIS SUMMER TO TRIGGER STAGE ONE DROUGHT RESTRICTIONS, WHICH I ALMOST TOOK OFF THE AGENDA, BUT IT'S STILL WORTH VISITING.

WELL, THE SECOND ONE IS A PROGRESS REPORT ON WATER FORWARD IMPLEMENTATION, INCLUDING

[01:10:01]

THIS THURSDAY IT'S ITEM 63, UH, IT RELATES TO SOME OF THE WATER FORWARD STRATEGIES THAT WERE INCLUDED IN THE LAND DEVELOPMENT CODE, WHICH AS YOU KNOW, IS KIND OF STUCK IN, IN LITIGATION.

SO I'LL COME BACK TO THAT IN JUST A SECOND.

UH, THE THIRD THING I WANTED TO BRIEFLY REVIEW WITH YOU IS THE INITIAL TIMELINE FOR THE 2023 UPDATE OF THE WATERFORD PLAN.

SO WE'RE USING ADAPTIVE MANAGEMENT PROCESS WHERE WE GO AND WE REVISE AND UPDATE THE WATERFORD PLAN EVERY FIVE YEARS BASED UPON NEW AND BETTER INFORMATION AND SO FORTH.

SO I'M GOING TO QUICKLY REVIEW THE TIMELINE FOR THAT.

AND THEN FINALLY, UH, IN WITH SOME SUGGESTED, UH, RMC ITEMS FOR YOUR NEXT QUARTERLY UPDATE, UM, INCLUDING AN UPDATE FOR RECLAIMED WATER AND WATER LOSS, AND, UH, AND THEN THE RENEWAL OF THE SPENDING OFF AUTHORIZATION YOU, UH, IN APRIL.

SO LET ME GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE.

NOW, I'VE GOT SOME GOOD NEWS HERE.

THIS IS A PICTURE OF LAKE TRAVIS, UH, DURING THE, UH, LAST DROUGHT THAT WE HAD, AND YOU CAN SEE THE LAKE LEVELS ARE LOWERING.

AND IN FACT, UM, IF YOU LOOK AT THIS NEXT SLIDE, YOU CAN SEE LCRA IS FORECAST FOR THE COMBINED STORAGE OF LAKE TRAVIS AND BEGAN.

AND THOSE ARE OUR MAJOR WATER SUPPLY RESERVOIRS FOR THE REGION, BUT OUR DROUGHT CONTINGENCY PLAN AS MANY OTHER FROM WATER CUSTOMERS AND LCRA ARE TIED TO THE COMBINED STORAGE CAPACITY THERE.

THOSE TWO LAKES, THIS SNAPSHOT WAS TAKEN ON THE 1ST OF MAY, UH, BEFORE OUR RECENT RAINS.

AND SO YOU CAN SEE THAT AT THAT POINT IN TIME, WE WERE STILL, UH, UNDER THE EFFECTS OF LANEA, WHICH BRINGS US DRIER WEATHER CONDITIONS.

THE FORECAST, UH, INDICATED EVEN UNDER NORMAL CONDITIONS, WE COULD SEE THE COMBINED STORAGE BEGINNING TO DROP, UH, EVEN BELOW OUR FIRST TRIGGER FOR STAGE ONE DROUGHT RESTRICTIONS, WHICH IS 1.4 MILLION ACRE FEET, UH, BEFORE THE INK WAS DRY ON THIS, UH, UH, THE RAINS BEGAN AND, UH, I'VE LEARNED IN THIS BUSINESS, UH, THE WAY TO MAKE IT RAIN IS TO PREPARE FOR DROUGHT.

BUT ANYWAY, UH, SINCE THIS GRAPH WAS, UH, PREPARED, THE COMBINED STORAGE HAS JUMPED BACK OVER, UM, 1.5 MILLION ACRE FEET.

UM, AND GIVEN THE, UH, THE OUTLOOK HERE, UH, OR RAIN IN THE COMING DAYS AND PARTICULARLY BENEFICIAL RAINS THERE UNDER, OVER THE WATERSHEDS THAT CONTRIBUTE INFLUENCE TO THE ON LAKES.

IT LOOKS LIKE WE'RE GOING TO GET SOME, SOME ADDITIONAL TIME AND A BREATHER, UH, BEFORE WE MAY BE POTENTIALLY LOOKING AT THE LAKES BEGINNING TO FALL AGAIN, TOWARD THE 1.4 MILLION ACRE FEET TRIGGER.

SO THE GOOD NEWS IS, UH, LANEA, WHICH TYPICALLY BRINGS US THE DRIER THAN NORMAL WEATHER IS OVER.

UH, THE, UH, NOAH'S CLIMATE PREDICTION CENTER NOW IS PREDICTING A NEUTRAL CONDITION, WHICH MEANS THAT THESE WATER TEMPERATURES IN THE PACIFIC OCEAN THAT CONTROL SOME OF OUR CLIMATE.

UH, FOR EXAMPLE, THE COOLER TEMPERATURES NINA BRINGS IS DRIER WEATHER.

THE EL NINO BRAIN IS WETTER WEATHER WE'RE IN A NEUTRAL POSITION WHERE THOSE KINDS OF EFFECTS OF THE OCEAN TEMPERATURES ARE NOT EXPECTED TO AFFECT US EITHER WAY.

AND WE'LL, UH, IT'S PREDICTED TO BE AN, A NEUTRAL, UH, CONDITION THROUGH THE SUMMER, WHICH IS VERY GOOD, THE LONGER RANGE FORECAST.

SO, UM, AS A 50 50 CHANCE, WE RETURNED TO NINA IN THE FALL.

SO MEANING DRIER CONDITIONS COULD COME BACK IN THE FALL AND OVER THE WINTER, THERE IS A 10% CHANCE RIGHT NOW THAT WE WOULD GO AND MOVE TOWARD AN EL NINO WIDER KIND OF CONDITION.

SO, ANYWAY, FOR NOW, WE'VE GOT A LITTLE BIT OF A BREATHER.

UM, WHAT I WAS GOING TO HAVE, UH, TALK TO YOU ABOUT, UH, IN THIS NEXT SLIDE IS, UM, OUR DROUGHT CONTINGENCY PLAN, UH, THAT HAS SEVERAL STAGES, UH, DEPENDING UPON THE COMBINED SHORTAGE OF LAKES, TRAVIS AND CANON, AND THEIR UC KIND OF HIGHLIGHTED THERE WHERE WE DROP BELOW THE 1.4 MILLION ACRE FEET AND, UH,

[01:15:02]

AND SO FORTH.

AND MOST OF OUR DROUGHT TRIGGERS ARE TIED TO COMBINED STORAGE.

WE DO HAVE AN EMERGENCY CONDITION, WHICH WE ACTUALLY USE TO SOME EXTENT DURING THE WINTER STORM EVENT.

AND THEN WE ALSO HAVE A, UH, A TRIGGER DEPENDING UPON WHETHER OUR TREATMENT OR WATER TREATMENT CAPACITY.

WE'RE GETTING CLOSE TO EXCEEDING THAT, BUT, UH, WITH SOME OF THE NEW CAPACITY WE'VE ADDED HERE RECENTLY, NOT TOO MUCH OF A CHANCE OF THAT, UH, ON THE NEXT SLIDE, YOU'LL SEE, UM, KIND OF A SNAPSHOT OF SOME OF THE RESTRICTIONS THAT WE DO IMPLEMENT.

UH, WHEN WE GO INTO THESE VARIOUS STAGES RIGHT NOW, WE ARE IN THE CONSERVATION STAGE.

AND THOSE OF YOU WHO SERVED ON THE COMMISSION BACK IN THE 2016 ERA KNEW THAT, UH, THAT'S WHEN WE WENT TO THE ONCE A WEEK WATERING SCHEDULE, FOR EXAMPLE, FOR AUTOMATIC IRRIGATION SYSTEM.

BUT WE, WE CONSIDERABLY FRONT-LOADED OUR, OUR CONSERVATION MEASURES IN THE CONSERVATION STAGE.

SO YOU SEE QUITE A BIT, UH, THAT'S REQUIRED ON A DAY TO DAY NORMAL BASIS, WHETHER IT'S A WATER ON DEMAND IN THE RESTAURANTS, OR, YOU KNOW, CAR WASHES OR PATIO MEASURES AND SO FORTH.

ALL OF THOSE ARE DAY TO DAY REQUIREMENTS.

NOW UNDER WHAT'S CALLED THE CONSERVATION STAGE.

IF WE WERE TO HAVE TRIGGERED STAGE ONE AND FALLING BELOW THE 1.4 MILLION ACRE FEET, AND AT ONE TIME IT LOOKED LIKE IT WAS GOING TO BE SOMETIME THIS MONTH, THEN, UH, UNDER STAGE ONE, OUR FIRST STEP IS TO REDUCE THE NUMBER OF HOURS, UH, THAT THE AUTOMATIC IRRIGATION SYSTEMS ARE OPERATING, REDUCE THEM BY A COUPLE OF HOURS THERE IN THE MORNING.

SO AS YOU CAN SEE IN THE PREVIOUS SLIDE, THE GOAL REDUCTION IS 5%.

UM, SO WE'RE RETHINKING WHETHER WE NEED TO, UH, ADD MORE TO STAGE ONE.

AND SO, UH, IN ORDER TO, UH, ACHIEVE AN ADDITIONAL 5% OVER, UH, UH, WATER USAGE FROM THE CONSERVATION STAGE CONDITION.

SO ON THE NEXT SLIDE, YOU CAN SEE, UH, SOME OF THE THINGS THAT WE BEGAN TO THINK ABOUT AS FAR AS WHAT WE COULD FURTHER ADD TO, UH, STAGE ONE, UH, TO INCREASE OUR CHANCES OF ACHIEVING THAT 5% REDUCTION GOAL.

AND SO I'M NOT GOING TO GO OVER TOO MANY OF THESE IN DETAIL.

I WILL SAY THAT RIGHT NOW, THIS IS A BEGINNING POINT.

THIS IS SORT OF A STAFF GENERATED LIST.

UH, WE HAVE NOT YET BEGUN ANY KIND OF PUBLIC INPUT PROCESS ON LOOKING AT CHANGES TO STAGE ONE, BUT I THOUGHT I MIGHT SHOW YOU SOME OF THESE, UM, SOME OF THESE IDEAS AND SEE IF THERE ARE THINGS THAT YOU MIGHT WANT TO, UM, SUGGEST TO US, FOR US TO LOOK LIKE, LOOK FOR, UH, UH, NOT ONLY IN STAGE ONE, BUT STAGE TWO.

I THINK IN THESE EARLIER STAGES, WE ARE TRYING TO OF COURSE, REDUCE WATER DEMAND, BUT DO IT IN A WAY THAT'S NOT THAT DOESN'T HAVE THE SIGNIFICANT IMPACTS ON THE ECONOMY OR THE ENVIRONMENT, BUT, UH, UH, DOES HELP US BEGIN TO PUT THE BRAKES ON WATER DEMAND.

THE NEXT THING I WANTED TO TALK TO YOU A LITTLE BIT ABOUT, AND YOU'VE HEARD ABOUT THIS BEFORE ON THIS NEXT SLIDE IS THE, UM, PROGRESS ON, UH, THE 2018 WATERFORD RECOMMENDATIONS.

SO THIS NEXT SLIDE, UH, AND LET'S GO TO THE NEXT ONE.

UH, THERE, YOU'LL SEE, UM, WITHOUT GOING IN A LOT OF DETAIL, WE'VE COMPLETED AHEAD OF SCHEDULE, UM, ALL THE RECOMMENDED NEW AND REVISED WATER CONSERVATION INCENTIVES.

THESE ARE THE REBATE PROGRAMS. SO WHETHER IT HAS TO DO WITH LANDSCAPE TRANSPORTATION OR IRRIGATION EFFICIENCY, THE ALTERNATIVE WATER, UM, PROGRAMS, ALL THOSE WE HAVE, UH, MADE THOSE REVISIONS OR ADOPTED NEW PROGRAMS, AND THEY ARE NOW, UH, BEING IMPLEMENTED.

IN FACT, UH, WE HAVE IMPLEMENTED NOW AS MANY AS 21 TOTAL PROGRAMS, UH, FOR ALL WATER USE SECTORS, THAT'S COMMERCIAL MULTI-FAMILY AND RESIDENTIAL.

SO IT WAS PROBABLY MORE REBATES THAT WE'VE EVER HAD AT ANY ONE TIME.

UH, THAT'S SOMETHING WE WILL, OF COURSE CONTINUE TO LOOK AT AND SEE WHETHER THEY'RE EFFECTIVE, NOT ONLY AS FAR AS CUSTOMER ACCEPTANCE AND ADOPTION, BUT ALSO FOR WATER SAVINGS AND SEE WHETHER WE CONTINUE TO HAVE THAT MANY, BUT RIGHT NOW, UM, I DON'T BELIEVE, AT LEAST AS LONG AS I'VE BEEN WITH AUSTIN WATER, WE'VE HAD SO MANY PROGRAMS AT ONE TIME, AND MANY OF THESE ARE, UH, BEYOND WHAT WAS RECOMMENDED IN THE WATERFORD PROGRAM AS WELL.

UM, IN ADDITION TO THE INCENTIVE PROGRAMS, THE ORDINANCES, THE CONSERVATION

[01:20:01]

ORDINANCES THAT WERE RECOMMENDED IN THE 2018 PLAN, UH, FOR THE MOST PART, THEY HAVE ALSO BEEN, UH, ADOPTED.

UM, IF YOU REMEMBER THE AC CONDENSATE REUSE REQUIREMENT, AS WELL AS THE COOLING TOWERS WHERE WE ADDED THE NEW EFFICIENCY REQUIREMENTS IN MAIDEN ELIGIBLE FOR THE E-VAPOR LOSS PROGRAM, THOSE WHO DID NOT MEET THE REPORTING AND INSPECTION REQUIREMENTS, THOSE WERE DONE BACK IN DECEMBER.

SO, UM, UH, SO, UH, A TREMENDOUS AMOUNT OF PROGRESS ON THE REG RECOMMENDATIONS COMING OUT OF THE 2018 PLAN, THE EXCEPTION IS THE, UH, THE ALTERNATIVE WATER ORDINANCES.

AND IF YOU REMEMBER, THOSE WERE TO REQUIRE, UH, LARGE COMMERCIAL MULTI-FAMILY FACILITIES, THOSE OVER 250,000 SQUARE FEET OR GREATER TO REQUIRE THEM.

I, UH, AT THE END OF 2023, TO REQUIRE THEM TO INSTALL, UH, THE ALTERNATIVE ON-SITE REUSE SYSTEMS. AND THEY WERE ALSO TO, UM, SUBMIT A, A WATER BALANCE WITH THE CALCULATIONS FOR THE FULL WATER DEMAND OF THE FACILITY.

AND THEN WHAT PART OF THAT DEMAND COULD BE MET BY ALTERNATIVE ONSITE SOURCES OF WATER.

UH, THERE WAS ALSO AN EXTENSION OF THE RECLAIM HOOKUP, THE MANDATORY HOOKUP FROM 250 FEET TO 500 FEET DISTANCE TO THE NEAREST RECLAIM LINE THAT THESE ALL WERE IN THE LAND DEVELOPMENT CODE.

AND AS MANY OF YOU, UM, REMEMBER, UM, WE GOT TO A SECOND READING ON THOSE, AND THEN A NUMBER OF ISSUES BEGAN TO BE RAISED INCLUDING, UH, LITIGATION.

AND SO, UM, THOSE ARE, ARE RIGHT NOW, UH, PENDING RESOLUTION OF THAT, BUT I WANTED TO, UM, BRING UP JUST BRIEFLY, AND THIS IS NOT IN THE PRES IN THE SLIDE PRESENTATION, BUT, UH, AT THE OVERSIGHT ELLISON WATER OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE RESOLUTION WAS PROPOSED TO TRY TO, UH, BRING SOME, YOU KNOW, FIND SOME PATHWAY FOR THOSE THREE PER WATER CONSERVATION PROVISIONS OUT OF WATERFORD THAT ARE IN THE LAND DEVELOPMENT CODE, FIND A WAY TO BRING THOSE IN AND MOVE THEM AHEAD.

AND SO, UM, I'LL NOT GO TOO MUCH INTO THE RESOLUTION, BUT JUST TO TELL YOU, THERE IT IS SET FOR COUNCIL ACTION.

UH, THIS THURSDAY IT'S OUT OF 63, AND I THINK, UH, UH, WE'LL, WE'LL SEE IF THERE'S A WAY TO UNLOCK THESE, UH, OUT OF THE LAND DEVELOPMENT PROCESS AND MOVE AHEAD WITH THESE KINDS OF STRATEGIES THAT, UH, OTHERWISE GOT A GREAT DEAL OF SUPPORT, NOT ONLY FROM THE COUNCIL, BUT ALSO FROM OUR STAKEHOLDERS.

UM, CERTAIN MEASURES OR EQUIPMENT AND TRYING TO PUT SOME MONEY OUT THERE TO INCREASE PARTICIPATION, TO GET SOME DATA, TO BE ABLE TO ANALYZE AND EVALUATE THAT, UH, NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE ALSO, UH, THE RESIDENTIAL MULTIFAMILY INCENTIVES AND, UM, YOU KNOW, SOME OF THESE CAME OUT OF A RECOMMENDATION OF WATER FOR, FOR EXAMPLE, INCREASE, UM, GRAY WATER REUSE, UH, NOT ONLY ON A COMMERCIAL LEVEL, BUT ALSO ON A RESIDENTIAL LEVEL.

AND SO I'M NOT GOING TO GO INTO A GREAT DEAL OF, UH, DETAIL, UH, BUT JUST TO MENTION THAT, UH, UH, THE COMMERCIAL INCENTIVES WERE ALL ACROSS THE BOARD, THE AMOUNTS WERE INCREASED BASED UPON OUR COST BENCHMARK, UM, UH, THEY WERE DOUBLED.

AND WHAT I MEAN BY COST BENCHMARK IS WHAT WE'RE LOOKING FOR.

UH, YOU KNOW, WHAT WOULD IT HAVE COST US TO OBTAIN AN ADDITIONAL THOUSAND GALLONS OF WATER SUPPLY OR TO TREAT AND DISTRIBUTE, DISTRIBUTE THAT WATER? WHAT WOULD IT HAVE COST US TO DO THAT? BUT FOR THE CONSERVATION MEASURE WE PUT INTO PLACE.

AND SO, UH, UH, RIGHT NOW OUR COST BENCHMARK IS, UH, TRYING TO AVOID OR POSTPONE THE PAYMENT ON THE REMAINDER OF THE LCRA CONTRACT.

UM, AT THAT TIME WE'RE THINKING IT'S PROBABLY BEYOND 20, 20, 35, IF WE COULD EXTEND OVER 10 YEARS, THEN WHAT COULD WE, UH, ACHIEVE THROUGH CONSERVATION TO OBTAIN THE POSTPONEMENT OF THE PAYMENT ON THE REMAINDER CONCEPT, UH, THE LCRA CONTRACT, WHICH WOULD BE NOT ONLY A WATER SAVINGS, BUT A BENEFIT TO OUR RATE PAYERS.

AND SO THE ESTIMATED COST WOULD BE, LET'S SAY $350 AN ACRE FOOT AT THE TIME THAT WE WOULD HAVE CROSSED THAT LINE, THAT TRIGGER LINE, WHICH IS 201,000 ACRE FOOT OF AVERAGE USE IN TWO CONSECUTIVE YEARS, UM, OR IT'S ABOUT A DOLLAR, A THOUSAND GALLONS.

SO THAT'S, THAT'S OUR COST BENCHMARK FOR W FOR DETERMINING AND APART, WHAT PROGRAMS ARE COST BENEFICIAL AND SENDING THE REBATE AMOUNT.

UM, JUST A TAKE OFF ON THE EARLIER DISCUSSION, JUST BRIEFLY THE COST BENEFIT, THE QUANTITATIVE COST BENEFIT.

IT'S NOT THE ONLY THING WE LOOK AT.

WE'RE OBVIOUSLY LOOKING AT OTHER THINGS LIKE INCREASING CONSERVATION AWARENESS AMONG OUR CUSTOMERS ARE, UM, PILOTING LOOKING AT,

[01:25:01]

SO WE'RE DOING A LAUNDRY LANDSCAPE OF GRAY WATER PROGRAM.

WE ARE ALSO ACTUALLY LOOKING AT ANOTHER SYSTEM THAT WOULD, UH, BE A PART OF NEW RESIDENTIAL DEVELOPMENT, AND IT'S SOMETHING THAT WOULD, UH, CAPTURE AND REUSE BATH WATER, AND REUSE IT FOR TOILET FLUSHING.

BUT TO DO THAT ON A RESIDENTIAL DEVELOPMENT SCALE WHERE THE NEW HOMES WE'D PARTNER WITH THE OLDER AND THE NEW HOMES WOULD ALL HAVE THESE KINDS OF SYSTEMS. AND WE'RE LOOKING AT POSSIBLY PILOTING THAT, UM, SOME OF OUR, UH, OTHER PROGRAMS, UM, WE'VE EITHER ADDED TO LIKE THE POOL CARTRIDGE FILTER, OR WE HAVE EXPANDED THE MEASURES UNDERNEATH THE PROGRAM AS WELL AS INCREASED THE AMOUNTS.

AND AS I MENTIONED EARLIER, THE CII ORDINANCES, PARTICULARLY THE COOLING TOWERS.

WE ALREADY HAD WATER EFFICIENCY, STANDARDS, AND EQUIPMENT REQUIREMENTS FOR THESE, BUT WE ADDED NOW THE BIOCIDE, UH, THAT, UH, NOT ONLY PREVENTS THE, UM, THE ALGAE GROWTH AND THINGS THAT COULD DECREASE WATER EFFICIENCY, BUT ALSO AS A PUBLIC HEALTH MEASURE, THAT'S A WAY TO PREVENT PERHAPS THE, UM, UH, THE SPREAD OF LEGIONELLA THAT COULD, UH, BE, UH, CARRIED BY THE DRIFT FROM THE, UH, TOWNS.

WE ALSO ADDED ADMINISTRATIVE PENALTIES FOR FAILURE TO MEET THE REQUIREMENTS, AS WELL AS WHAT I MENTIONED EARLIER, THOSE WHO DON'T MEET THE REQUIREMENTS ARE NOT ELIGIBLE FOR THE EVAPORATIVE LOSS, WASTEWATER BILLING CREDIT.

AND THAT IS IT'S A BILLING CREDIT FOR THE WATER.

THAT'S LOST TO EVAPORATION FROM THESE COOLING TOWERS THAT DO NOT GO BACK TO THE SANITARY SEWER, NOT REUSE.

SO, UH, ANYWAY, ALL THAT, UH, UH, WAS ACHIEVED HERE WITHIN THE, UH, FISCAL YEAR, UH, NEXT DOOR TO INSTRUMENTS.

I MEAN, NEXT SLIDE, UH, JUST MENTIONED THIS, YOU'VE SEEN THIS BEFORE.

WE HAVE A NUMBER OF PROGRAMS TO HELP OUR, UH, INCOME LIMITED CUSTOMERS.

UM, THE NEW ONE WAS THE EMERGENCY HOME REPAIR PROGRAM.

THAT ONE AT THE END, UM, WE'RE PARTNERING WITH THE HOUSING PLANNING DEPARTMENT TO PROVIDE AN ADDITIONAL $1 MILLION, UH, TO HELP THOSE CUSTOMERS, THOSE LOW INCOME CUSTOMERS THAT WERE AFFECTED BY THE WINTER STORM EVENT AND NEEDED, UH, NEEDED PLUMBING, REPAIRS, UH, REPAIRS VERY QUICKLY TO FIX THEIR LEAKS AND SO FORTH.

SO WE HAVE TWO, UH, PROGRAMS THAT RELATE TO PLUMBING REPAIR.

ONE IS IRREGULAR, GO REPAIR, ALSO A PARTNERSHIP WITH HOUSING AND PLANNING, AND THEN THIS EMERGENCY PROGRAM WHERE WE, UH, PROVIDE THIS ADDITIONAL MONEY, UH, TO HELP THOSE AFFECTED BY THE STORM EVENT.

DEVELOPING HERE, UH, LATER, UH, BEGINNING LATER IN THIS YEAR.

SO 20, 23, WHAT'S NEXT.

UM, THERE'S A NUMBER OF THINGS ON THE LIST, UH, SCHEDULED TO IMPLEMENTATION THE SCHEDULE FOR THESE ARE CONTAINED IN THE BACK OF THE 2018 PLAN.

ONE OF THOSE THAT, UH, WE WERE LOOKING TO, UH, UH, GET TO, UH, COUNCIL ACTION IN, UH, FYI 23 TIMEFRAME IS, UH, THE LANDSCAPE TRANSFORMATION ORDINANCE.

AND, UH, WE HAD PROPOSES BACK WHEN WE HAD THE ONE 40 PLAN THAT'S ABOUT 10 YEARS AGO NOW.

UM, AND WHAT YOU SEE HERE IS THE OUTLINE OF WHAT THAT PROPOSAL WAS.

IT'S NOT THAT WE I'M MENTIONING IT HERE IS WHERE THIS IS GOING TO BE A STARTING POINT ABOUT AN ORDINANCE THAT WOULD LIMIT TURF GRASS AND AUTOMATIC IRRIGATION SYSTEMS AND LIMIT THAT TURF GRASS TO TWO AND A HALF TIMES A BUILDING FOOTPRINT ARE NO MORE THAN 10,000 SQUARE FEET.

AND THE LANDSCAPE HAS TO HAVE NATIVE TOLERANT, UH, DROUGHT TOLERANT PLANTS, IT'S ON THE, UH, ON THE GROW GREEN LIST AND SO FORTH.

ANYWAY, THIS IS WHERE WE LEFT THIS ABOUT 10 YEARS AGO, AND THIS IS WHERE WE'RE GOING TO BEGIN LOOKING AT THIS POSSIBLE OPTION, AS WELL AS ANY NEW ONES, UH, THROUGH A STAKEHOLDER PROCESS THAT, UH, WE'LL BE

[01:30:01]

SO KIND OF, HERE'S THE TIMELINE FOR THE 2023 UPDATE, UM, AS YOU, AS YOU CAN SEE, A PUBLIC KICKOFF IS BEING PLANNED HERE FOR LATER, LATE SUMMER AND EARLY FALL.

AND, UH, ONE OF THE KEYS IS AN UPDATED WATER DEMAND FORECAST THAT TELLS US WITH, UM, LOOKING AT THE PROGRESS TO HAVE WE HAVE IN PLACE AND THE ESTIMATED SAVINGS COMING FROM THOSE PROGRAMS, WHAT WILL BE OUR WATER DEMAND WITH THOSE PROGRAMS, LOOKING OUT INTO THE FUTURE, AND ARE WE STILL LIKELY TO ACHIEVE MANY OF OUR WATER CONSERVATION GOALS OVER THE NEXT DECADE OR TWO DECADES OR EVEN FURTHER.

AND THEN WE LOOK TO SEE HOW WE'RE DOING AND WHETHER WE NEED TO DEVELOP EVEN ADDITIONAL STRATEGIES, NEW, UH, NEW OR REVISED STRATEGIES TO STILL ACHIEVE THOSE GOALS.

AND SO THE WATER DEMAND FORECASTS WHEN THEY GET UPDATED, THAT WILL BE VERY HELPFUL FOR THE NEXT STAGE.

AND THAT IS AN UPDATE OF THE STRATEGIES, YOU KNOW, WHAT DO WE NEED TO NOW LOOK AT AND CHANGE? UM, AND, UH, ALSO A BIG FACTOR WILL BE ANY KIND OF UPDATE TO THE IMPACTS FROM CLIMATE CHANGE IN WHAT OUR AVAILABLE WATER SUPPLY IS EXPECTED TO BE DURING THAT TIME.

UH, THEN AS WE GO THROUGH INTO NEXT YEAR AND TOWARD, UH, YOU KNOW, WE'LL BE IDENTIFYING ALL THESE DEMAND MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES, WHETHER THE NEW REVISED AS WHETHER IT'S WATER, SUPPLY OPTIONS AND BEGIN PRESENTING THOSE AND GETTING THEIR INPUT ON THEM.

SO THAT BY MAY AUGUST TIMEFRAME, WE'VE GOT A DRAFT PLAN FOR EVERYONE TO SEE, AND THEN WE'RE BACK TO BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS AND THEN COUNCIL APPROVAL THERE AT THE END OF 2020, UH, NEXT SLIDE.

AND THAT'S IT.

I AM AVAILABLE FOR ANY QUESTIONS YOU HAVE EITHER ON THIS UPDATE, OUR, UH, OUR, ON OUR MONTHLY, UH, REPORT THAT WE PROVIDE TO THE RNC.

THANK YOU MARK.

MUCH, MUCH APPRECIATED COMMISSIONERS, OPEN THE FLOOR IF ANYONE HAS ANY QUESTIONS.

I HAVE KIND OF QUESTIONS YOU WANT TO GO FOR A SCARBOROUGH.

UM, SO MARK, UH, THANKS SO MUCH FOR BEING HERE AND SHARE THE INFORMATION.

UM, I GOT, I HAVE ONE QUESTION ABOUT, UH, SOME OF THIS WORK PROGRAMS AND THEY'RE GREAT PROGRAMS. UM, WHAT'S NOT CLEAR TO ME, FOR EXAMPLE, UM, YOU'VE ADDED NEW LAUNDRY TO LANDSCAPE, UM, GRAY WATER REUSE PROGRAM, FANTASTIC PROGRAM.

UM, BUT I'M JUST WONDERING ABOUT THAT.

AND ALSO THE GL REPAIR.

I DON'T KNOW WHAT GEO STANDS FOR BESIDES WANTING TO GO, UH, AND, AND, AND THOSE OTHER THREE ITEMS, FREE WATER CONSERVATION TOOLS AND SO ON.

SO YOU'VE GOT ALL THIS GREAT PROGRAMS OUT AS YOU'RE A CUSTOMER GO FIND OUT OR, OR GO APPLY FOR THESE, UM, YOU KNOW, THAT'S AN EXCELLENT QUESTION.

UM, AND I'LL TRY TO TACKLE THAT, THAT ONE FIRST.

UM, RIGHT NOW WE'RE LOOKING AT OUR PARTICIPATION LEVELS AND IF YOU'VE LOOKED AT OUR MONTHLY REPORT, WE'RE NOT DOING SO WELL THIS YEAR AS COMPARED TO PREVIOUS YEARS.

AND I THINK THERE HAVE BEEN SOME IMPACTS BY COVID.

FOR EXAMPLE, THERE'VE BEEN SOME IMPACTS IN OUR INABILITY TO DO OUR NORMAL PUBLIC OUTREACH AND IN MARKETING EFFORTS AND SO FORTH.

AND THEN WE'VE BEEN TIED UP WITH ONE OR TWO CRISES, UM, WITH REGARD TO THE WATERFORD, UH, I MEAN TO THE WINTER STORM EFFORT.

SO WE ARE STANDING WE'RE, WE'RE STANDING BACK AND LOOKING AT ALL OF OUR MARKETING OUTREACH TO SEE HOW OUR CUSTOMERS ARE FINDING OUT ABOUT OUR PROGRAMS, WHETHER WE'RE DOING EFFECTIVE JOB THAT WAY, AS WELL AS OUR REBATE APPLICATION PROCESS ITSELF.

AND, UH, W IF YOU'VE EVER TRIED APPLYING FOR A REBATE, AUSTIN WATERY YOU'LL KNOW THAT WE ARE STILL CAUGHT IN THE PAPER WORLD APPLICATIONS ARE DOWNLOADED AND PRINTED AND FILLED OUT BY HAND AND SUBMITTED BY FAX OR MAILED IN.

AND IT'S NOT EASY.

UH, THERE ARE WAYS WE CAN MAKE IT MUCH EASIER ON OUR CUSTOMERS.

AND WE'RE ACTUALLY LOOKING AT, UM, SOME OF THE PROGRAMS THAT AUSTIN ENERGY AND, UH, TEXAS GAS ARE USING AS FAR AS TO STREAMLINE, UH, THEIR PROGRAMS TO MAKE IT EASIER TO USE FILLABLE ELECTRONICALLY, SOME MISSABLE APPLICATIONS WHERE YOU CAN TRACK PROGRESS AND SO FORTH JUST TO MAKE IT EASIER.

THE

[01:35:01]

OTHER IS THE WEB DESIGN.

WE'RE LOOKING AT THAT, UM, YOU KNOW, IT'S THINGS AS SIMPLE AS THE WATERWISE.ORG LINK, IT GOES TO WATERING RESTRICTIONS, NOT TO OUR REBATE PROGRAMS. AND SO WE'RE GOING TO LOOK AT THAT AND SEE IF WE CAN'T PARTICULARLY IN A CONSERVATION STAGE, GET CUSTOMERS FIRST DIRECTED THAT WAY.

AND THE OTHER OF COURSE IS WHEN, UM, THE ATX MY WATER THAT HAS THE SMART METERS THAT HAVE THE, UH, THE CUSTOMER PORTAL.

SEE IF THERE'S A WAY WE CAN INCREASE OUR MESSAGING THAT WAY AND PROVIDE INFORMATION TO THOSE, UH, ON WATER USE REPORTS.

UH, THERE'S BEEN A LOT OF TARGETING OF HIGH WATER USE NEIGHBORHOODS THROUGH SOCIAL MEDIA.

UM, SO, BUT ANYWAY, IT'S, IT'S, IT'S A COMMENT WE'VE GOTTEN THROUGH J D POWER, UH, WHERE CUSTOMERS, UH, UH, CONTINUE TO, TO COMMENT THAT IT'S DIFFICULT TO FIND OUR PROGRAMS DIFFICULT, UH, TO, TO, UM, SUBMIT THEIR APPLICATIONS AND SO FORTH.

SO WE'RE ACTUALLY IN THE PROCESS OF STANDING BACK AND, AND TRYING TO DO A COMPLETE OVERHAUL AND BRING US BACK INTO THE, UH, BRINGING US INTO THE 21ST CENTURY, I GUESS, THE OTHER THING ON THE, UH, LOW INCOME ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS, UM, GO REPAIR.

UH, THAT'S A GOOD QUESTION.

UH, HOUSING PLANNING, THEN THE NEIGHBORHOOD HOUSING AND PLANNING, UH, DEPARTMENT NOW CALLED THE HOUSING AND PLANNING.

THEY CAME UP WITH THE NAME OF GORY PARENTS OR PROGRAM.

I, I ONCE KNEW WHAT G AND O STOOD FOR.

I CAN'T, I CANNOT REMEMBER, BUT ANYWAY, THAT'S THEIR STANDARD PROGRAM THAT HELPS LOW INCOME CUSTOMERS, NOT ONLY WITH PLUMBING REPAIRS, WHICH WE HELPED FUND, BUT ALSO ALL REPAIRS, INCLUDING ITERATE ENERGY, EFFICIENT REPAIRS TO DO THESE HOMES AND SO FORTH.

AND SO THEY ADMINISTERED THAT PROGRAM.

WE HELPED FUNDED THE ADDITIONAL, UH, PROGRAMS THAT WE ALSO HAVE IS A WASTEWATER LATERAL GRANT PROGRAM.

SO IF A LOW CUSTOMER BEGINS TO HAVE A PROBLEM WITH THEIR WHITEWATER LATERAL, THEN WE'LL OFFER TO HELP, UH, WITH THE COST OF REPAIRING THAT.

AND THEN THE, UH, THE EMERGENCY HOME REPAIR PROGRAM.

I, I JUST, UH, WENT OVER THAT, BUT IT'S, IT'S ADDITIONAL MONEY FOCUSED IN, ON THE QUICK PLUMBING REPAIRS THAT ARE NEEDED TO FIX THE BURST PIPES AND THE OTHER THINGS THAT WERE THE RESULT OF, UH, UH, THE WINTER STORM OF IT.

UM, THANK YOU FOR THE EXPLANATION ON THAT LAUNDRY TO LANDSCAPE GRAY REUSE.

HAVE YOU, HAVE YOU ALL HAD ANY, ANY TAKERS AND THE SECOND QUESTION IS ON ANY OF THESE PROGRAMS, DO YOU DIRECTLY DEAL WITH THE CUSTOMER OR THE CONTRACTOR? OKAY.

UH, ON THE FIRST QUESTION, UM, THE LAUNDRY LANDSCAPE IS RECENT, VERY RECENT PROGRAM.

WE'VE, HAVEN'T HAD A LOT OF APPLICATIONS IN SO FAR.

IT'S A VERY SIMPLE, IT, IT COLLECTS OF COURSE, UH, THE LAUNDRY WASTEWATER, UH, THROUGH A DIVERT OR, AND USING GRAVITY FLOW WILL, UH, PIPE IT OUT TO HELP, UH, THROUGH, UH, UH, SUBSURFACE, UH, EMISSION PRO UH, SYSTEM, UH, HELP WATER LANDSCAPES AND TREES AND SO FORTH.

IT'S, UM, WE HAVE VENDORS NOW THAT WE'RE WORKING WITH, SOMETIMES THEY'RE OUR BEST SALESMAN.

UH, THEY ADVERTISE THAT THEY DO THESE GRAY WATER PROGRAM.

SO WE'VE BEEN IN CONTACT WITH THEM TO HELP US GET THE WORD OUT ABOUT THIS REBATE.

UM, BUT THERE COULD BE MANY SYSTEMS ALREADY THAT ARE OUT THERE THAT WE'RE UNAWARE OF BECAUSE THEY DIDN'T GO THROUGH OUR PROGRAM, BUT IT'S, IT'S FAIRLY NEW.

IT'S TOO EARLY TO TELL IT'S A PROGRAM THAT OTHER UTILITIES HAVE USED IN THE PAST, BECAUSE IT'S, UH, IT'S SO SIMPLE.

UM, AS FAR AS GRAY WATER REUSE IS KIND OF A LOW-HANGING FRUIT IN THAT AREA.

ONE LAST QUESTION ABOUT THAT.

DOES THAT REQUIRE A PERMIT FROM NO.

RATES AND WHAT CONSIDERATION, UH, RATES, UH, UH, WHEN IT COMES TO CONSERVATION AND HOW YOU MIGHT BE USING, OR THINKING ABOUT USING RATES MORE, UM, TO ENCOURAGE CONSERVATION.

COMMISSIONER WHITE.

I THINK YOU HAD SOME QUESTIONS AS WELL.

UM, FIRST THING I DID A PRESENTATION AND, UM, DEFINITELY APPRECIATE ALL THE, UM, PROGRAMS THAT YOU ALL HAVE RUNNING, UH, TO ENCOURAGE WATER CONSERVATION.

UM, I THINK THAT'S GREAT.

UM, MY QUESTION IS JUST AROUND, I GUESS, UM,

[01:40:02]

NOW, AT LEAST IN MY OPINION, WATER IS VERY CHEAP HERE, EVEN IF YOU USE A LOT OF IT.

AND, UM, I DO THINK IT'S IMPORTANT TO MAKE SURE THAT, UM, YOU KNOW, FOLKS THAT ARE, YOU NEED A BASIC LEVEL OF WATER FOR, YOU KNOW, UM, YOU KNOW, HOUSEHOLD KIND OF USE IN A REASONABLE WAY THAT THAT IS VERY AFFORDABLE SO THAT WE'RE NOT, UM, YOU KNOW, HARMING LOW INCOME USERS.

BUT I DUNNO, IT JUST, WHEN I WAS RECENTLY KIND OF LOOKING, UH, INTO WATER RATES A LITTLE BIT MORE, WHICH I KNOW WE'VE REVIEWED HERE, AND I JUST KIND OF FORGOT WHAT THEY WERE.

I WAS, I WAS JUST SURPRISED TO BE REMINDED OF HOW CHEAP WATER IS EVEN IF YOU'RE USING, OH GOD.

SO WHAT CAN WE DO ON THAT FRONT? UM, NOW LET'S SEE.

THAT'S, UH, THAT'S, IT'S A, IT'S A COMPLEX QUESTION, BUT I MEAN, GIVE IT A STAB, YOU KNOW, AS YOU KNOW, WE HAVE A CONSERVATION ORIENTED RATE TIER SYSTEM, SO THE MORE YOU USE, THE MORE YOU PAY AND SO FORTH, WHICH IN ITSELF HELPS TO SOME EXTENT.

UM, BUT OUR RATES, WHAT WE CHARGE ARE TIED BACK TO COST OF SERVICE.

AND SO WE CAN'T CHARGE ANYTHING.

WE CAN'T OVERCHARGE FOR EXAMPLE, MORE MONEY THAN IT COST US TO PROVIDE THE WATER SERVICE.

SO WE HAVE THAT SORT OF LIMITATION UNDER, UNDER STATE LAW, BUT NEVERTHELESS, WE HAVE LOOKED AT THINGS THAT WOULD HELP EDUCATE THE CUSTOMER THAT.

SO FOR EXAMPLE, IN THE HOME WATER USE REPORT, YOU WILL HAVE THE RATE TIERS ON THEIR HISTORICAL WATER USE.

AND WHAT THAT WILL TELL THEM IS WHEN THEY WERE BEGINNING TO APPROACH THE NEXT TIER.

AND SO, AND IT'S NOT JUST PAYING A LITTLE BIT MORE, SOMETIMES YOU PAY MUCH MORE IF YOU CROSS OVER INTO THE NEXT RATE TIER.

SO PROVIDING THE CUSTOMER MORE INFORMATION, AND THAT HAD, UH, THEY'RE, THEY'RE HEADED TOWARD A HIGHER BILL, BUT THE OTHER THING THAT WE'RE LOOKING AT MORE AND MORE ARE THE FINANCIAL INCENTIVES, I'M COMPLETELY ON BOARD WITH THAT, THAT HAS THAT IN MY MIND CAN BE A VERY EFFECTIVE TOOL.

AND THE THING THAT WE HAVE LOOKED AT, FOR EXAMPLE, IN GETTING PEOPLE TO USE MORE ALTERNATIVE ONSITE WATER, IS TO LOOK AT, UH, WHETHER WE CAN DO SOME SORT OF FINANCIAL INCENTIVE BASED UPON THE IMPACT FEEDS.

SO FOR EXAMPLE, UM, THESE NEW FACILITIES, THEY COULD COME IN AND, AND IDENTIFY THAT MOST OF THEIR DEMAND CAN BE MET WITH ALTERNATIVE ONSITE WATER USE, BUT THEY WOULD STILL BE REQUIRED TO HAVE A METER THE SIZE TO MEET THAT FULL DEMAND WITH POTABLE WATER.

BUT THE TAP FEE THAT THEY WOULD PAY COULD BE REDUCED BASED UPON THE AMOUNT THAT THEY WILL PROVIDE BY THIS, UH, WITH THIS ALTERNATIVE WATER.

SO THOSE KINDS OF FINANCIAL INCENTIVES, UH, WE'RE LOOKING AT MORE AND MORE, UH, ON THE, UH, OF COURSE OUR LOW INCOME CUSTOMERS.

UM, THEY HAVE A DIFFERENT, UH, FOR EXAMPLE, THEY HAVE A WAIVER ON A LOT OF THE FEES THAT WE PAY IN A REDUCED AMOUNT.

SO, SO THAT IN A WAY IS HELPING THEM, UH, GET A CHEAPER WATER SERVICE BECAUSE OF THE SITUATION.

BUT IT'S, IT'S NOT A CONSERVATION WOULD NOT BE A CONSERVATION TOOL FOR OUR LOW INCOME CUSTOMERS, BUT THAT'S NOT, THAT'S NOT WHERE WE NEED TO FOCUS.

I THINK WE NEED TO FOCUS ON THE HIGH WATER DEMAND AREAS.

I WAS JUST, YOU KNOW, WANTED TO KIND OF A CAVEAT TO MY COMMENT.

UM, I DIDN'T WANT IT TO APPEAR, LIKE I AM NOT SENSITIVE TO THAT.

SOME FOLKS, YOU KNOW, FIND, FIND EVEN PROBABLY THE, I THINK, MINIMAL WATER FEES THAT WE PAY THE CHALLENGE, BECAUSE THEY'RE JUST A VERY LIMITED INCOME, UM, HOUSEHOLDS, BUT, UM, ARE YOU ALL RIGHT? SO WE CAN'T, WE CAN'T CHARGE MORE THAN, UH, THAN IT COSTS TO SERVE.

AND I'M ASSUMING THAT'S A RESTRICTION BECAUSE THE PUC COULD STEP IN IF WE WERE TO CHARGE MORE THAN, THAN THE COST OF SERVICE.

CORRECT.

WE COULD HAVE A RATE REVIEW ON THAT.

WE, WE DO CHARGE THE HIGHER USERS AND THERE IS A REASON FOR THAT BECAUSE IT TAKES ADDITIONAL RESOURCES TO PROVIDE THAT ADDITIONAL AMOUNT, BUT THERE IS A CERTAIN LIMIT TO WHAT WE CAN

[01:45:01]

DO THERE.

AND SO THEN I GUESS, UM, A COUPLE OF QUESTIONS ON THAT THOUGH.

OH, UH, YOU KNOW, THE CONSERVATION PROGRAMS DOES THAT, THAT COUNTS AS PART OF THE COST OF SERVICE.

THAT THAT IS CORRECT.

AND THAT'S WHY I NEED TO BE CAREFUL THAT I'M TYING THE REBATE AMOUNTS TO SOME BENEFIT TO THE CUSTOMER AS A PART OF THAT COST OF SERVICE.

AND SO FOR EXAMPLE, UM, I WILL PAY OUT OF THE REVENUES.

THEY PROVIDE ME SAVED WATER TO AVOID SOME ADDITIONAL COSTS IN TERMS OF TREATMENT DISTRIBUTION, ADDITIONAL SUPPLIER INFRASTRUCTURE.

MAKES SENSE.

UM, AND THEN I GUESS MY LAST QUESTION IS ABOUT KIND OF WHERE THE BREAK POINTS ARE FOR THE TIERS, UM, AND KIND OF HOW, UM, I DON'T KNOW HOW STEEP THE TIERS ARE, UH, AND ASSUMING THERE'S, THERE'S FLEXIBILITY THERE IN TERMS OF, YOU KNOW, HOW, HOW LOW THE LOWEST RANK COULD BE VERSUS, YOU KNOW, HOW HIGH SOME OF THESE, THE MIDDLE AND UPPER RATES COULD BE.

IS THERE, IS THAT PRETTY MUCH RIGHT AT DISCRETION? I DON'T HAVE THESE ALL MEMORIZE, BUT I DO HAVE MY CHEAT SHEET WITH ME.

AND SO, UM, THE, THE RATE TIERS, FOR EXAMPLE, UH, THE LOWEST RATE TIER WE HAVE ARE BASED UPON ZERO TO 2000 GALLONS A MONTH.

AND SO THE FIXED CHARGE, UH, THERE WOULD BE, UM, UH, $3 AND 18 CENTS, UH, A THOUSAND GALLONS.

NOW THE CAP CUSTOMERS GET A CHEAPER RATE, BUT ANYWAY, THE RANGES ARE FROM ZERO TO 2000 GALLONS AND IN 2001 GALLONS TO 6,000 GALLONS AND 6,000 GALLONS TO 11,000 GALLONS, MOST CUSTOMERS FALL WITHIN THOSE TWO TIERS.

AND THEN WHEN YOU GET INTO 11,000 TO 20,000 GALLONS, YOU'RE LOOKING AT CUSTOMERS THAT ARE TYPICALLY NOW USING AUTOMATIC IRRIGATION SYSTEMS. AND SO THEY'RE PAYING A LITTLE BIT MORE, AND THEN FINALLY THOSE USING OVER 20,000 GALLONS PAY, UH, THE GREATEST AMOUNT, WHICH IS, UH, UH, IT'S $14 AND 43 CENTS, UH, FOR A THOUSAND GALLONS FOR THAT HIGHER RIGHTY TIER, THEN WE HAVE A SEPARATE CATEGORY FOR OUR LARGE CUSTOMERS.

AND SO WE'RE TALKING ABOUT THE LARGE, UH, HIGH-TECH INDUSTRY.

UH, THEY HAVE, UH, A SEPARATE HIGHER RATE FOR THEIR USE IT'S BASED UPON A SEASONAL DEMAND, BUT IT'S HIGHER IN THE SUMMER THAN IT IS IN THE WAY.

THANKS FOR THAT.

UM, YEAH, IT JUST SEEMS, I DON'T KNOW, AS I, AS I WENT THROUGH THIS, WE WERE JUST LOOKING FOR OUR NEIGHBORHOOD KIND OF TRYING TO CALCULATE WHAT IT WOULD COST TO, YOU KNOW, WATERS AND REALLY POINTED TREES FOR THE APRIL WAY.

AND I WAS, YOU KNOW, ON THE ONE HAND GLAD THAT IT WAS AFFORDABLE, IT WAS JUST EVEN, IT WAS MUCH LESS THAN I WAS EXPECTING.

AND IT MADE ME REALIZE THAT LIKE, WOW, LIKE, YOU KNOW, PEOPLE CAN BE USING A LOT OF WATER ON AN INDIVIDUAL BASIS AND REALLY NOT PAYING, UM, ALL THAT MUCH FOR IT.

AND SO THERE'S, UH, YOU KNOW, I GUESS IN THE L A LIMITED PUSH TO GET PEOPLE TO UTILIZE THE PROGRAMS THAT YOU'RE PUTTING TOGETHER, BECAUSE, UM, FROM A FINANCIAL PERSPECTIVE, A LOT OF FOLKS ARE, ARE, ARE NOT FEELING THAT PUSH.

SO I DON'T WANT TO TAKE UP TOO MUCH TIME WITH THAT.

I JUST, I DUNNO, IT SEEMS LIKE, YOU KNOW, THAT'S, THAT'S A GREAT POINT.

AND ONE OF THOSE PUSHES COME FROM NOT SO MUCH THE AMOUNT, BUT THE JUMP IN THE AMOUNT.

AND SO FOR EXAMPLE, SOME OF THESE HIGH WATER USE NEIGHBORHOODS, OR THEY GET INTO THE SUMMER SEASON, AND IT BEGAN TO TURN THE AUTOMATIC IRRIGATION SYSTEMS, NOT ONLY DOES THEIR MONTHLY BILL JUMP SIGNIFICANTLY, BUT IF THEY HAVE A LEAKING POOL, IF THEY HAVE LEAKING FAUCETS AND TOILETS, YOU KNOW, IF THERE'S SOMETHING WRONG WITH THE IRRIGATION SYSTEMS, IT REALLY JUMPS.

AND SO IN JULY AND AUGUST, WE BEGAN TO GET CALLS, NOT SO MUCH, YOU KNOW, THAT BASED UPON THE AMOUNT SO MUCH AS THE SIGNIFICANT JUMP IN THE AMOUNT, AND THAT GETS THEIR ATTENTION.

BUT THEN WE BEGAN TO TRY AND BEGAN TO TRY AND WORK WITH THEM, TO BEGIN WITH ALL THEIR OUTDOOR WATERING, AND THEN BEGIN TO LOOK INTO OUR, UH, INCLUDING REBATES AS WELL AS AN IRRIGATION AUDIT.

WE OFFER THAT TO SOME OF THESE HIGH WATER USE CUSTOMERS AS WELL.

[01:50:03]

COMMISSIONER, IS ANYONE ELSE MR. HARMON? SORRY, JUST ONE FINAL.

UM, NOT A QUESTION.

UM, BUT, BUT REALLY MORE OF A COMMENT FOR, FOR THE COMMISSION.

UM, BUT FIRST PLEASE LET ME SAY, THANK YOU SO MUCH, MARK FOR THE PRESENTATION AND THE GREAT DISCUSSION ALWAYS APPRECIATE THE THOROUGHNESS OF YOUR MATERIAL.

UM, AND THEN ALSO FOR MY FELLOW COMMISSIONERS JUST WANTED TO POINT OUT, UM, THE SCHEDULE THAT, UH, THAT MARK PROPOSED FOR THE 20, 30 WATER FORWARD PLAN.

UM, AND JUST MAKING SURE AS WE'RE THINKING ABOUT OUR FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS THAT WE'RE LOOKING AT THAT SCHEDULE AND LOOKING AT THE RIGHT OPPORTUNITY, THE RIGHT PLACES FOR INPUT FOR THIS COMMISSION.

UM, AND, YOU KNOW, IT'S KIND OF JUST A BLANKET OBSERVATION THAT I WANTED TO MAKE AND, AND SUGGEST FOR OUR CONSIDERATION, IF, IF I MAY, UH, MAKE A SUGGESTION, UM, AND THIS HAS COME UP BEFORE, I THINK SMITTY HAS BROUGHT IT UP, BUT AS YOU KNOW, THERE'S OVERLAP BETWEEN YOUR SCOPE, YOU KNOW, WHAT YOU'RE CHARGED TO LOOK AT AS FAR AS CONSERVATION, OF COURSE, WITH THE WATERFORD GROUP, THE WATER AND WASTEWATER GROUP.

AND SO SOMETIMES, UH, HAVING JOINT MEETINGS, UH, MAY BE MORE EFFICIENT AS WELL AS A WAY TO GET YOUR INPUT HEARD, UM, UH, THEY'RE IN THE WATER, THE EFFORT.

SO THAT COULD BE SOMETHING, UH, UH, THAT YOU MAY WANT TO THINK ABOUT AS FAR AS FUTURE ITEMS, INCLUDING IN ADDITION TO THE WATERFORD ITEM, UH, DAN PEDERSON, UH, WE'LL HAVE HIS UPDATE ON THE RECLAIM WATER USE AND OTHER BIG CONSERVATION PROGRAM.

SO IN THE NEXT QUARTERLY UPDATE, UH, NATASHA OR R UH, JONATHAN, IF YOU WANT TO START LOOKING AHEAD, I WOULD SUGGEST, UH, BRINGING DAN IN TO TALK TO YOU ABOUT THE RECLAIMED WATER PROGRAM AND THEN ANOTHER DAN, DAN STRUBE TO COME TALK TO YOU ABOUT THE WATER LOSS EFFORTS, AND PARTICULARLY AFTER THE, UM, THE, THE, UH, THE CHALLENGE THAT WE HAD DURING A WINTER STORM URI, YOU KNOW, HAVE WE LOST GROUND THERE? WE STILL ON TRACK TO ACHIEVE SOME OF OUR WATER LOSS REDUCTION GOALS AND SO FORTH.

ANYONE ELSE? COMMISSIONERS? I HAVE MARK.

WELL, THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR THE PRESENTATION.

WE REALLY APPRECIATE IT.

YOU BET.

HAVE A GOOD EVENING TIPS.

AND POSSIBLE ACTION ON AUSTIN, ENERGY GREEN BUILDING CODE UPDATES.

NEXT STEP DISCUSSION

[7. Discussion and possible action on Austin Energy Green Building Code Updates.]

KURT, I THINK THAT'S YOU RIGHT? GOOD EVENING.

CAN YOU ALL HEAR ME? OKAY.

WE CAN HEAR YOU.

GREAT.

I'LL HOLD OFF ON STARTING MY VIDEO UNTIL AFTER I GET MY PRESENTATION.

IF WE COULD PULL THAT UP, THAT'D BE GREAT.

UH, GOOD EVENING.

I'M KURT STOCKDALE, I'M MANAGER FOR GREEN BUILDING AND SUSTAINABILITY FOR AUSTIN ENERGY.

UH, ALSO JOINED BY BETH CULVER, WHO IS THE CHIEF BUILDING OFFICIAL FOR THE CITY OF AUSTIN.

AND I ALSO HAVE, UH, SOME, UH, AUSTIN ENERGY CODE EXPERTS ON HAND.

IN CASE YOU HAVE ANY MORE IN DEPTH QUESTIONS THAT I CAN HANDLE RELATED TO YOUR CODE.

NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE I'D LIKE TO SPEAK TO TONIGHT IS ANY SIGNIFICANT CHANGES IN THE 2021? IECC KIND OF A REVIEW OF WHAT'S CHANGED IN THE NEW CODE VERSUS WHAT WE HAD IN PLACE, UH, SPEAK TO THE STAKEHOLDER INPUT, UH, PROCESS AND, AND WHAT WE HEARD SPECIFICALLY FROM THE STAKEHOLDERS, UH, TALK TO THE IMPACT OF THE CODE AND ITS ADOPTION, SPEAK A LITTLE BIT TO AFFORDABILITY, AND THEN TO NEXT STEPS, NEXT I PLACE, I'M SORRY TO INTERRUPT, BUT I JUST, I SEE THAT OUR AGENDA SAYS THAT WE'RE GETTING A GREEN BUILDING CODE UPDATE.

THAT IS AN EARTH FOR SURE.

THIS IS, THIS IS DEFINITELY THE IECC UPDATE.

UM, THAT JUST, UH, SEEMS LIKE A PROBLEM FOR US.

UM, I DON'T GET ME WRONG.

I'VE WANTED THIS UPDATE, BUT, UM, IT JUST, IT, IT DOESN'T SEEM LIKE IT'S WHAT WE'RE POSTED FOR.

I THINK IT'S AN, AN UPDATE BY GREEN BUILDING ABOUT THE ENERGY CODE AND THE PROCESS WITH POTENTIAL ACTION AND CAVE.

UH, I BELIEVE THAT THE POSTING IS, THIS IS THE SAME AS IT WAS THE PRIOR TIME.

UH, TWO MONTHS AGO, WE CALLED IT A GREEN BUILDING CODE UPDATE.

[01:55:07]

I THINK I WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE AGENDA.

UM, AND SO I, I DO BELIEVE THAT IS THE WAY THAT IT WAS LISTED FROM OUR PREVIOUS DISCUSSION.

SO, SO CAN WE AGREE THAT, UH, THIS IS THE UPDATE BY THE GREEN BUILDING GROUP ON THE ICC CODE? UM, WELL CERTAINLY IT, IT IS, IT IS THAT I JUST AM QUESTIONING WHETHER OR NOT THAT IS PROPER POSTING, I GUESS, UM, WHATEVER, I'M NOT GOING TO HOLD IT UP, BUT I JUST, UH, I DON'T KNOW.

I WANTED TO FLAG THAT BECAUSE IT WAS SOMETHING THAT WAS BROUGHT TO MY ATTENTION.

AND, UM, I SEE THAT YOU'RE RIGHT THERE NOW THAT IT DOES SAY OSCAR AND ENERGY GREEN BUILDING COULD UPDATE THOUGH WE WEREN'T IN MY VIEW POSTED PROPERLY, UH, LAST MONTH EITHER.

UM, I DON'T KNOW.

I'M JUST, I'M JUST FLAGGING IT.

UM, Y'ALL CAN, HOWEVER YOU WANT.

I JUST WANT TO, I FIGURED I SHOULD SAY SOMETHING BECAUSE IT WAS BROUGHT TO MY ATTENTION.

SURE, SURE.

THANK YOU, NATASHA.

ANY, DO YOU HAVE AN OPINION ON WHETHER WE WERE OKAY HERE? ONE MOMENT.

ASK A QUESTION JUST, JUST FOR CLARIFICATION.

UM, SO DOES AUSTIN ENERGY GREEN BUILDING UPDATE OR CODE UPDATE? IS THAT THE SAME AS I E C C? WELL, YO AUSTIN ENERGY IS THE, THE GROUP THAT FACILITATES, UH, IN, IN COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT AROUND ADOPTION OF THE IECC.

UH, SO IT IS, IT IS THE, THE CODE, THE AUSTIN ENERGY GREENBUILD IS DIRECTLY INVOLVED WITH YES, CHAIR.

WE'RE GOOD TO MOVE FORWARD.

MADE TO CODE WERE ADMINISTRATIVE.

SO WITH HER HOUSE, GO AHEAD.

I'M SORRY.

JOLENE JUST WANTED TO CHIME IN SUPER BRIEFLY APOLOGIES, BUT I THINK LA LAST MONTH WE HAD IT POSTED FOR AUSTIN ENERGY, GREEN BUILDING BRIEFING.

UM, AND, AND SO THAT, BECAUSE IT WAS THE DEPARTMENTS THAT MAY BE WHERE THE CONFUSION CAME UP, CAME UP.

SO, SORRY.

I'LL, I'LL TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR, FOR THAT QUALITIES TO GROUP.

SO, UH, FIRST I'D LIKE TO START TALKING ABOUT, UH, CHANGES TO BOTH THE RESIDENTIAL AND THE COMMERCIAL CODE.

UH, I'M GOING TO HAVE A LOT OF BULLETS UP HERE, UH, PARTICULARLY ON THE COMMERCIAL SIDE.

I MAY NOT NECESSARILY SPEAK TO ALL OF THEM.

UH, IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS ABOUT THEM OR WANT MORE DETAIL THAN I PROVIDED, LET ME KNOW, BUT THERE IS A LOT TO COVER HERE.

UH, SO, UH, I JUST, YOU KNOW, BEAR WITH ME ON THAT AND WE'LL, UH, WE'LL MAKE IT THROUGH, UH, NEXT SLIDE PLEASE.

SO THIS FIRST SLIDE SPEAKS TO ONCE REALLY ADDRESSED WHEN THE IECC CHANGES ARE MADE.

AND I THINK THERE'S GRANDPA DOES A GREAT JOB OF POINTING THIS OUT ABOUT 60% OF THE CHANGES THAT HAVE MADE,

[02:00:01]

AND BASICALLY THAT'S IN MAKING IT CLEARER, HOW TO COMPLY WITH THE CODE, HOW TO UNDERSTAND THE CODE, HOW TO ENFORCE THE CODE.

IT'S A LOT ABOUT HOW INFORMATION IS PRESENTED, WHERE IT'S PRESENTED AS WELL AS SOME OF THE THINGS THAT THEY'VE LESSONS LEARNED FROM PREVIOUS CODES ABOUT HOW TO MAKE IT BETTER MOVING ON.

SO THESE CODES TEND TO BE LIVING DOCUMENTS AND THEY BUILD UPON ONE ANOTHER MOVING FORWARD, UH, ABOUT 17% OF THE CHANGES, UH, LOOKING AT DECREASED ENERGY, UH, ABOUT 4% OF THE CHANGES HAD MINIMAL ENERGY IMPACT, BUT BY 11% AREN'T APPLICABLE TO, TO AUSTIN, TEXAS, UH, LARGELY BECAUSE THEY'RE, UH, PERTAINING TO DIFFERENT CLIMATE ZONES.

AND THEN WE'VE GOT A HANDFUL THAT ALSO INCREASE THE ENERGY CONSUMPTION.

SO, YOU KNOW, IT'S, IT'S POSSIBLE THAT AS YOU LOOK TO MAKE A CHANGE SOMEWHERE, UH, SAY IN THE ENVELOPE AND YOU MAKE A BUILDING TIGHTER, YOU MAY NEED TO INCREASE AIR FLOW AND AIR EXCHANGE RATES IN THE BUILDING TO MAKE UP FOR THAT, WHICH MEANS YOU'RE ACTIVELY USING ENERGY THROUGH THE MECHANICAL SYSTEM TO ACTUALLY EXCHANGE AIR, TO CONTROL HUMIDITY, UH, REMOVE CO2 FROM THE AIR, REMOVE ANY KIND OF, OF, UH, VOLATILES THAT MAY COME FROM FROM CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS, THAT SORT OF THING.

SO YOU GET A WHOLE MIX OF THESE THINGS, BUT ULTIMATELY YOU END UP WITH A, WITH A MORE EFFICIENT CODE, UH, OVERALL NEXT SLIDE PLEASE.

AT 59, BUT THAT'LL KEEP US ABOVE CODE.

SO THIS SLIDE OR THIS, THIS DECK, I BELIEVE HAS A COUPLE OF SLIDES HIDDEN, UH, THERE'S A SLIDE IN HERE THAT SPEAKS TO INSULATION.

AND ON THE, PARTICULARLY ON THE RESIDENTIAL SIDE, THERE ARE TWO AREAS WHERE THE VAST MAJORITY OF THE IMPROVEMENTS COME FROM.

ONE IS AROUND, UH, INSULATION.

UH, ONE OF THE THINGS THAT THE NEW CODE DID IS THEY CHANGED THE R-VALUE, I BELIEVE FROM 39 TO 48, I CAN CONFIRM THAT, UH, THEY ALSO LOOKED AT, UH, AT INSTALLATION, UH, AT, AT EXTERNAL INSULATION TO BE 38 TO 49 HAVE BEEN TOLD.

UH, AND THEN ALSO LOOKING AT, UH, INSTALLATION OUTSIDE THE STUDS.

UH, THE IDEA IS THAT IT BREAKS UP A CONTINUOUS BARRIER THERMAL BARRIER, IF YOU HAVE STUDS IN BETWEEN YOUR, YOUR INSULATION.

SO IT ALLOWS FOR, UH, A HIGHER GRADE OF, OF INSTALLATION THERE, AS FAR AS THE LIGHTING CHANGES THEMSELVES, UH, ALL INTO YOUR LIGHTING.

NOW THAT'S PERMANENTLY INSTALLED IS TO HAVE HIGH EFFICACY LIGHTING SOURCES.

SO GENERALLY THAT'S GOING TO BE YOUR LEDS AND SOME OF YOUR HIGHER EFFICIENCY, UH, FOR ESSENCE, UH, EXTERIOR LIGHTING IS FOR, FOR LOW RISE.

MULTIFAMILY IS TO COMPLY WITH THE COMMERCIAL ENERGY CODE.

I THINK THAT'S AS MUCH FOR A CONSISTENCY PERSPECTIVE AS IT IS, UH, FOR THE ENERGY SAVINGS AND THAT OUR LIGHTING CONTROLS TO BE INSTALLED BOTH IN THE INTERIOR AND THE EXTERIOR LIGHTING SYSTEMS. NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE, WHEN WE LOOK AT OTHER PATHS OF COMPLIANCE, UH, THERE'S THE PERFORMANCE PATH IS, IS ONE WAY OF DOING IT.

THERE'S YOUR MODELING PERFORMANCE AND THIS, THIS HYBRID APPROACH ON THE PERFORMANCE PATH, UH, THEY'VE LOOKED TO UPDATE THE BASELINE THAT INCLUDES LOOKING AT HUMIDITY CONTROL, UH, UPDATES ON THE WATER HEATING SIDE, WHERE YOU GET CREDIT FOR GOOD DESIGN OF YOUR SYSTEMS, PARTICULARLY SHORT WATER WATER RUNS FOR, FOR PIPING AND SMALLER PIPING.

UH, ALSO LOOKING TO UPDATE ON, ON THE MECHANICAL VENTILATION SIDE OF THINGS, AND THEN ON THE ERI OR THE ENERGY RATING INDEX SIDE OF THINGS, UH, THIS BULLET THAT TALKS ABOUT UPDATING THE BACKSTOP, UH, AND LIMITS OFFS, UH, GENERALLY IN THESE MODELS AND HYBRID APPROACHES, YOU'RE ALLOWED TO MAKE TRADE-OFFS IN ONE AREA TO BE SUPPLEMENTED IN ANOTHER, TO HAVE AN OVERALL HIGH EFFICIENCY IN THE BUILDING, BUT YOU WANT TO AVOID BEING TOO, TOO RADICAL IN THOSE CHANGE OFFS, BECAUSE YOU CAN HAVE SOME NEGATIVE COMP REO CONSEQUENCES OF THAT.

SO FROM THIS PERSPECTIVE, IN PARTICULAR, THIS ONE LIMITS THE AMOUNT OF TRADE-OFF THAT YOU CAN MAKE IN THE ENVELOPE REQUIREMENTS AND MAKE THEM UP IN OTHER PLACES.

IT ALSO DOES THE SAME THING WITH RENEWABLES AND ADDS A 5% CAP.

SO FOR ONSITE SOLAR, YOU CAN ONLY LOOK OFFSET 5% OF THE ENERGY EFFICIENCY, UH, THROUGH, THROUGH THAT ONSITE SOLAR, UH, ALSO FROM A NATIONAL PERSPECTIVE, IT LOWERED THE ERI TARGETS, UH, FOR COMPLIANCE, UH, FOR ERI THE NUMBER, THE LOWER, THE NUMBER IS THE BETTER, UH, THE NATIONAL CODES ARE STILL HIGHER THAN WHERE WE ARE.

AUSTIN WILL STAY AT AT,

[02:05:01]

SO THIS IS THE SECONDARY OF IN RESIDENTIAL THAT REALLY LOOKS TO MOVE THE BAR FROM AN, FROM AN EFFICIENCY PERSPECTIVE.

UH, SO WE TALKED ABOUT THESE THREE PATHWAYS.

YOU'VE GOT YOUR PRESCRIPTIVE APPROACH.

AGAIN, THIS IS THE CHECKLIST APPROACH THAT WE TALKED ABOUT IN THE LAST MEETING.

YOU'VE GOT THE PERFORMANCE APPROACH WHERE YOU'VE GOT MODELING, AND THEN YOU'VE GOT, UH, THIS HYBRID APPROACH, WHICH IN THIS CASE IS THE ERI OR THE ENERGY RATING INDEX.

SO IF YOU LOOK INTO THE PRESCRIPTIVE SIDE OF THINGS, IT TALKS ABOUT OPTION PACKAGES, BUT THE OPTION IS THAT YOU HAVE TO PICK ONE, BUT IT IS MANDATORY THAT YOU PICK ONE OF THESE OPTIONS.

SO IT'S KIND OF DECEIVING IN THAT IT TALKS TO OPTIONS BECAUSE IT'S A MANDATORY REQUIREMENT, BUT YOU HAVE TO PICK ONE OF THESE OPTIONS.

SO THE FIRST OPTION TALKS ABOUT ENHANCED ENVELOPE PERFORMANCE, UH, FOR PRESCRIPTIVE.

THE SECOND TALKS ABOUT, UH, A, A HIGHER EFFICIENCY HPAC SYSTEM OR A FURNACE OR POTENTIAL OF USING GROUND SOURCE, HEAT PUMPS, UH, OPTION THREE TALKS ABOUT REDUCED ENERGY USE IN, UH, WATER HEATING APPLICATIONS.

AND I THINK THAT'S PARTICULARLY, UH, PERTINENT TO TODAY'S DISCUSSION.

THERE WAS TALK ABOUT, UH, A DESIRE FOR HAVING A HIGH EFFICIENCY, ELECTRIC WATER HEATERS AS BEING MANDATORY.

WELL, THIS OPTION ALLOWS FOR YOU TO MAKE A WATER HEATING SELECTION, BE IT HIGH EFFICIENCY, FOSSIL FUEL HEATER, OR AN ELECTRIC WATER HEATER, WHICH IN THIS CASE, GIVEN THE EFFICIENCY STANDARD SET FORTH WOULD HAVE TO BE A, A HEAT PUMP WATER HEATER, OR YOU COULD LOOK AT A POTENTIALLY AT A SOLAR WATER HEATER.

SO THERE'S SOMETHING FLIPPED INTO THE CODES, THROUGH THE OPTIONS THAT STEERS PEOPLE NATURALLY TO HIGH EFFICIENCY.

WATER IS AN OPTION.

ANOTHER OPTION IS AROUND MORE EFFICIENT DUCTING OF, UH, THE THERMAL SYSTEM.

EITHER YOU CAN MOVE THE DUCKS IN THE AIR HANDLER WITHIN THE THERMAL ENVELOPE OF THE BUILDING.

YOU CAN GO TO A DUCTLESS SYSTEM OR YOU CAN HAVE ALL THE DUCKS INSIDE THE CONDITION SPACE.

AND THEN THE LAST OPTION IS AROUND IMPROVED AIR CEILING IN AN EFFICIENT VENTILATION.

AS YOU MOVE TO THE PERFORMANCE SIDE OF THINGS, YOU CAN EITHER PICK ONE OF THESE OPTIONS FROM THE PRESCRIPTIVE LIST, OR YOU CAN ACHIEVE 5% BETTER THAN CODE PERFORMANCE UNDER YOUR MODELING, AND THEN YOU DON'T HAVE TO PICK ONE OF THESE OPTIONS.

AND THEN ON THE ERI PATH, IT'S STRICTLY TO ACHIEVE 5% BETTER ON THE ENERGY RATING INDEX.

SO FOR LOCAL AMENDMENTS, UH, AS WE SPOKE ABOUT LAST WEEK, WE RETAINED ANY EXISTING AMENDMENTS THAT WERE MORE STRINGENT THAN CODE.

UH, WE'VE DELETED ANY AMENDMENTS THAT ARE, HAVE NOW BEEN INCORPORATED OR, OR RENDERED, UH, UH, MOOT WITH THE PUBLISHED CODE.

WE HAVE DELETED THE REQUIREMENT FOR, UH, NATURAL GAS AS A SOURCE FOR WATER HEATING FOR RESIDENTIAL NEW CONSTRUCTION, WITH ADJACENT GAS SERVICE.

AND THE LAST ONE SPEAKS, UH, OH, EXCUSE ME, IS, IS, UH, WE HAVE A REQUIREMENT WITH WATER HEATING FOR RESIDENTIAL, THAT THEY USE A TIMER AND WE'VE ADDED, UH, ANOTHER ELEMENT TO THAT, THAT IF THEY CHOOSE TO USE A DEMAND, RISK RESPONSE, CAPABLE WATER HEATER, SOMETHING THAT'S WIFI ENABLED, THEN THEY DON'T HAVE TO USE A TIMER.

AND THEN WE RETAINED THE EXCEPTION THAT IF THEY'RE USING A HEAT PUMP WATER HEATER, THEY DON'T HAVE TO USE A TIMER OR, OR THE DEMAND RESPONSE OPTION.

SO ON THE COMMERCIAL SIDE OF THINGS, AGAIN, THINGS ARE, ARE MUCH MORE SPREAD OUT THERE.

UH, SO I DON'T HAVE A SPECIFIC AREA TO POINT TO WHERE THERE'S A BIG JUMP, BUT ACROSS THE BOARD, THERE WAS SIGNIFICANTLY MORE PROGRESS MADE ON THE COMMERCIAL SIDE THAN THERE WAS ON THE RESIDENTIAL SIDE.

NEXT SLIDE.

SO IN GENERAL, UH, YOU KNOW, THE THERMAL ENVELOPE CERTIFICATE, THIS SPEAKS TO, UH, POSTING IN A MECHANICAL ROOM, THE INSULATION LEVELS, THE WINDOW PERFORMANCE AND THE RESULTS OF TESTING.

UH, THIS HELPS A LOT WITH ENFORCEMENT, UH, AND INSPECTION, UH, MAKING SURE THAT WHAT THEY'RE DOING IS WHAT THEY'RE SUPPOSED TO DO, THEY'RE SUPPOSED TO BE DOING, AND THAT, UH, WE CAN THEN EASILY VERIFY WHAT'S BEEN DONE ONSITE WITH WHAT'S LISTED IN THE, IN THE MECHANICAL ROOM, UH, ON THE HERS SIDE OF THINGS, THE HOME ENERGY RATING SYSTEM, THAT'S TRADITIONALLY BEEN A RESIDENTIAL, UH, WRITING, AND IT'S BEING APPLIED NOW IN MEDIUM AND HIGH DENSITY.

MULTI-FAMILY ON THE COMMERCIAL SIDE.

SO A LITTLE BIT OF A CHANGE THERE.

[02:10:01]

SO ON THE BUILDING ENVELOPE SIDE OF THINGS, UH, SO IF YOU HAVE A BIG GARAGE DOOR OPENING OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT, SOMETHING OVER 40 SQUARE FEET, UH, WE HAD A LOCAL AMENDMENT THAT SAID YOU HAD TO HAVE AN INTERLOCK.

AND IF THAT GARAGE DOOR WAS OPEN, IF IT WAS INTO, IF IT WAS A DOOR THAT WAS ON PART OF A CONDITION SPACE, THAT THERE WAS AN INTERLOCK THAT WOULD SHUT OFF THE COOLING OR HEATING TO THAT SPACE UNTIL THAT GARAGE DOOR GOT CLOSED.

WELL, THAT'S NOW BEEN MADE PART OF CODE.

SO THAT'S KIND OF AN EXAMPLE OF WHERE THINGS COME FROM OUR LOCAL AMENDMENTS OR OUR GREEN BUILDING PRACTICES, AND THEN COME TO BE ADOPTED ON A LARGER SCALE THROUGH CODE.

UH, ALSO NOW THEY'RE LOOKING AT, AT THE SLAB EDGES AS PART OF THE DEFINITION OF THE WALL ABOVE GRADE.

SO TRADITIONALLY THE WALL STOPPED AT THE SLAB.

NOW THEY'RE LOOKING AT THINGS LIKE SLAB INSULATION AS, AS PART OF THAT BUILDING ENVELOPE, AGAIN, WITH SOME ENERGY EFFICIENCY INCREASES THERE.

NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE, ON THE MECHANICAL SIDE OF THINGS, THE FIRST THING TALKS ABOUT FAULT DETECTION AND DIAGNOSTICS ON BUILDINGS OVER A HUNDRED THOUSAND SQUARE FEET.

WHEN YOU'VE GOT AN ENERGY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM FOR A BUILDING, GENERALLY YOU, THEY COME IN AND THEY SET IT UP AT THE FIRST DAY, YOU KNOW, BEFORE THE BUILDING IS EVEN OCCUPIED BASED ON THEIR ANTICIPATED OCCUPATION AND USAGE AND THROUGH A COMBINATION OF, YOU KNOW, THINGS CHANGING IN THE MECHANICAL SYSTEM, IN THE, UH, MECHANICAL SYSTEMS AND, UH, THE ENERGY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM, AS WELL AS HOW THE BUILDING IS USED AS EVERY GROUP'S MOVED DIFFERENT PLACES, OR THEY REPURPOSE SPACES.

THAT SORT OF THING.

OFTENTIMES IF YOU DON'T COME BACK AND REVISIT HOW A BUILDING IS PERFORMING AND HOW THEIR ENERGY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM IS PERFORMING, YOU GET A BUILDING ENERGY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM THAT REALLY ISN'T MEETING THE BEST NEEDS OF THE BUILDING.

AND THIS IS A GREAT OPPORTUNITY TO HAVE A PROACTIVE SYSTEM THAT TELLS YOU WHEN THERE ARE ISSUES OR WHEN THEY SEE PROBLEMS AND WHAT YOU KNOW ABOUT THESE THINGS SO THAT YOU CAN FIX THEM, UH, AS OPPOSED TO JUST GOING ON, UH, IN SOME CASES, BLISSFULLY UNAWARE THAT YOU HAVE ISSUES.

UH, THE ITEM ON GUESTROOM SETBACK, UH, LOOKS AT HOTEL ROOMS WHEN YOU'VE GOT A GUEST THAT CHECKS INTO A HOTEL ROOM, IF THEY COME IN AND THEY, THE FIRST THING THEY DO IS SET THE AIR CONDITIONER TO 60 DEGREES, UH, ON A HOT SUMMER DAY.

BUT THEN THEY GO DOWN TO THE POOL AND THEY'RE NOT IN THE ROOM WHILE IT'S COOL.

THIS LOOKS AT HAVING OCCUPANCY SENSORS, AND IT WILL RESET THE SETTINGS IN A ROOM WHEN IT'S NOT OCCUPIED TO A MORE REASONABLE AND EFFICIENT RATE.

SO IN THE SUMMERTIME, IT WOULD LOOK TO SET A HIGHER SET POINT AND IN THE WINTERTIME, PROBABLY LOOK TO LOWER THAT STEP.

ON THE LIGHTING SIDE OF THINGS, UH, PARKING GARAGE, UH, GARAGE HAS REQUIRE, UH, LIGHTING CONTROL SYSTEMS. NOW, UH, THEY'RE LOOKING AT SOME HIGHER EFFICIENCY, ELECTRICAL TRANSFORMERS, UH, AND THEN ARE ALSO LOOKING AT ENERGY MONITORING FOR BUILDINGS THAT ARE OVER 25,000 SQUARE FEET ON THE WATER SIDE OF THINGS.

I THINK THE BIG THING THEY'VE DONE THERE IS THAT THEY'VE LIMITED THE LENGTH AND VOLUME OR VOLUME OF, OF HOT WATER PIPES, UH, SO THAT YOU DON'T HAVE A LOT OF HOT WATER SITTING AROUND IN A PIPE WHEN IT'S NOT BEING USED, THAT THEN GETS COLD AND ALL THAT HEAT AND THE ENERGY THAT WENT INTO IT AS LOST.

SO ULTIMATELY IT ENDS UP WITH A HIGHER EFFICIENCY OPTION THERE.

SO ON THE LOCAL VENDOR, IT'S A PERSPECTIVE, AGAIN, CONSISTENT WITH WHAT WE DID ON THE, ON THE RESIDENTIAL SIDE, WE DROPPED A BUNCH LARGELY BECAUSE, UH, THE PUBLISH CODE IS, HAS TAKEN OVER AND SUPERSEDED THOSE.

AND WE KEPT A LOT OF THE, THE ONGOING, UH, AMENDMENTS THAT WE HAD FROM THE PREVIOUS CODE AND HAVE CARRIED THOSE FORWARD.

SO FROM AN OUTREACH PERSPECTIVE, NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE, WE WORKED WITH DSD AND I'VE ONE SENTENCE JARVIS OR A QUESTION.

UH, WE WORKED WITH DSD AND GOT SOME STATISTICS BACK WITH THEM ON, ON THEIR INITIAL LAUNCH, UH, ON, ON, ON, UH, THE ANNOUNCEMENT OF THEIR ENTIRE IECC ENGAGEMENT PROCESS AND ANNOUNCEMENT.

THE ENERGY CODE WAS, WAS PART

[02:15:01]

OF THAT.

SO FROM THAT PERSPECTIVE, DSD SENT OUT APPROXIMATELY 5,700 EMAIL CONTACTS OR REACHES, AND THEY SAID IT WAS RECEIVED BY 5,286 PEOPLE.

AND THAT APPROXIMATELY 1800 PEOPLE ACTUALLY OPENED THE INVITE.

SO FROM A, FROM A NOTIFICATION PERSPECTIVE BEYOND THE FOLKS THAT WE REACHED OUT TO, WE, WE STILL DEFINITELY, YOU KNOW, ACKNOWLEDGED THAT WE NEED TO REACH OUT TO THE BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS, BUT WE DID GO THROUGH A DSD WITH THAT.

AND THEN KIND OF GIVES YOU AN IDEA OF SOME OF THE SCALE OF THE TRADITIONAL AUDIENCES THAT WE REACHED OUT TO, UH, AS FAR AS ACTIVELY ENGAGED, WE HAD OVER 30 EXTERNAL STAKEHOLDERS INVOLVED.

IF YOU LOOK AT THE GRAPHIC TO THE RIGHT, IT SHOWS YOU A BREAKDOWN BY TYPE, WHICH SHOWS YOU.

WE HAD A LOT OF DIVERSITY THERE, A LOT OF DIVERSITY OF, OF INTEREST AND SKILLS.

AND I THINK THAT THAT BUILDS TO A, A MUCH MORE ROBUST PROCESS.

THEN WE HAD 25 OVER 25 INTERNAL STAKEHOLDERS AND SUBJECT MATTER EXPERTS, UH, THROUGH THE PUBLIC INPUT PORTAL FOR DSD, WE HAD, UH, 211 VIEWS, UH, LOOKING AT, UH, THEN FROM A RESPONSE PERSPECTIVE, WE HAD NINE NON-REPETITIVE SUGGESTIONS.

SO THOSE WERE INDIVIDUAL SUGGESTIONS LOOKING AT SOLAR, READY, EBY, READY, ELECTRIC READY, UH, THE CURRENT GAS UNION REQUIREMENTS, ERI, UH, AIR FILTRATION, INSTALLATION OF WINDOWS.

UH, AND, AND WE'VE GOT ONE OF THOSE THAT WE'VE, WE'VE CONTINUED TO HAVE INPUT ABOUT, AND THAT IS AROUND THE WATER HEATING AND, AND OPTIONS THERE.

THE ONE OVERWHELMING AREA THAT WE HAD COMMENTS, UH, AND THESE WEREN'T SPECIFIC COMMENTS, THEY WERE, UH, WERE GENERIC RESPONSES IN.

WE WOULD LIKE TO SEE YOU DO MORE THERE THAT IS OVERWHELMINGLY AROUND EVIE READY AND ELECTRIC READY.

SO WE HAD 61 COMMENTS THAT WE RECEIVED IN THOSE, IN THOSE AREAS.

UH, WE ALSO, UH, REACHED OUT TO BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS AND, AND CONTINUED TO DO THAT.

SO ON THE COMMERCIAL SIDE, WE'VE GOT A, A LARGER NUMBER OF STAKEHOLDERS HERE, BUT THE COMMERCIAL SECTOR IS IT, AS WE'RE LOOKING AT IT, PARTICULARLY FROM A CODE PERSPECTIVE, THERE'S A LOT MORE COMPLEX, HAS A LOT MORE, UH, ENTITIES INVOLVED IN THAT YOUR COMMERCIAL BUILDINGS AND PROJECTS TEND TO BE A LOT MORE COMPLEX THAN YOUR RESIDENTIAL ONES.

SO IT WOULD MAKE SENSE TO HAVE A HIGHER DEGREE OF, OF, OF INPUT THERE JUST TO MAKE SURE YOU'VE GOT REPRESENTATIVE INPUT.

UH, WE HAD OVER A HUNDRED INTERNAL OR EXTERNAL STAKEHOLDERS THERE AND, UH, OVER 50 INTERNAL STAKEHOLDERS.

AGAIN, IF YOU LOOK AT THE GRAPHIC ON THE, ON THE RIGHT, AGAIN, YOU HAVE A PRETTY BALANCED APPROACH ACROSS THE DIFFERENT SKILL SETS THERE.

UH, AGAIN, BUILDING, I THINK TO THE ROBUSTNESS OF THE PROCESS, UH, THROUGH PUBLIC INPUT, WE HAD 183 VIEWS AND WE HAD EIGHT NON-REPETITIVE SUGGESTIONS THERE.

SQUARE FOOT ATTACHED GARAGE OR GARAGE WITHIN THE FOOTPRINT AND WINDOWS THAT ARE ABOUT 15% OF THE, THE WALL AREA.

SO AS WE LOOK AT THE CODE IMPACTS, NEXT SLIDE.

UH, FIRST, IF WE, IF WE LOOK AT THE RIGHT SIDE OF THIS SLIDE, THIS SPEAKS TO SAVINGS PERCENTAGES BY BUILDING TYPES.

AND I THINK THIS IS SOMETHING THAT, UH, COMMISSIONER WHITED ASKED FOR SPECIFICALLY, UH, WE LOOKED AT BUILDING TYPES AS, AS MODELED AND DEFINED THROUGH, THROUGH THE DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY, ALL AT THE TOP, ALL THAT THE BOTTOM THREE BUILDING TYPES ARE COMMERCIAL TYPES, AND THEY RANGE FROM A LOW, FROM A, UH, A SAVINGS INCREASE OVER CURRENT CODE, UH, FROM RESTAURANTS OF ABOUT 4%, ALL THE WAY UP TO SCHOOLS AND HOSPITALS AND HOTELS HAVE SAVINGS PROJECTED BE IN THE RANGE OF 17%.

SO YOU'VE GOT, UH, A WIDE RANGE OF, OF POTENTIAL SAVINGS BY BUILDING TYPE, BUT YOU'VE GOT A SIGNIFICANT IMPACT.

IF YOU LOOK AT THE LEFT SIDE, WE'VE GOT A, UH, A PROJECTED WEIGHTED AVERAGE ACROSS THOSE DIFFERENT BUILDING TYPES, BASED UPON THE TYPE OF PERMITS WE'VE SEEN SUBMITTED IN THE LAST COUPLE OF YEARS OF ABOUT 10% SAVINGS FROM THE COMMERCIAL SIDE, AND FROM AN ENERGY PERSPECTIVE, A SIGNIFICANT JUMP OVER THE LAST ENERGY CODE THAT WE ADOPTED.

IF YOU LOOK AT THE BOTTOM THREE, YOU LOOK AT SINGLE FAMILY, UH, WE'VE GOT THREE TYPES OF SINGLE FAMILY HERE.

UH, WE'VE GOT, UH, A TYPICAL SINGLE FAMILY.

AND FOR OUR, OUR MODELING EFFORTS ON THAT, UH, WE LOOKED AT A TYPICAL SINGLE FAMILY HOUSE BEING 2,240 SQUARE FEET OF FOUR BEDROOM, TWO BATH, TWO STORY HOUSE WITH A 420

[02:20:01]

UH, WE'D LOOK AT PROBABLY AN AVERAGE OF ABOUT THREE, 3% SAVINGS OVER THE PRIOR YEAR CODE THERE, UH, IN THE AFFORDABLE MARKET SEGMENT, THE MODEL WE USED THERE WAS FOR A 1200 SQUARE FOOT HOME, THREE BEDROOMS, TWO BATH, TWO STORY, NO GARAGE AND WINDOWS ONLY ACCOUNT FOR ABOUT 12% OF THE, OF THE, UH, WALL AREA HAD A HIGHER SAVINGS.

THEY'RE PROBABLY IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD RIGHT AROUND 4%.

UH, AND THEN ON THE LOW RISE MULTI-FAMILY, WHICH WE ALSO, UH, FOR, FOR PURPOSES OF THIS ANALYSIS, LUMPED IN WITH THE RESIDENTIAL, WE HAD OVER 4%, OUR WEIGHTED AVERAGE ACROSS OUR BUILDING TYPES IS IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD OF 4%, MAYBE JUST BELOW 4% AND PROBABLY SAVINGS ON A PAR WITH, OR AT LEAST IN THE SAME NEIGHBORHOOD WITH WHAT WE'VE SEEN FROM THE LAST CODE CYCLE, THE 2015 CODE CYCLE, BUT CERTAINLY NOT NEARLY AS AGGRESSIVE AS WE HAD ON THE COMMERCIAL SIDE.

I THINK, YOU KNOW, A LOT OF THAT SPEAKS TO, YOU KNOW, THE OBVIOUSNESS THAT COMMERCIAL WAS BEHIND LAGGING BEHIND SOMEWHAT AND MADE UP A GOOD DEAL OF PROGRESS THERE.

SO WHEN WE LOOKED AT THE AFFORDABILITY IMPACTS, NEXT SLIDE, WE LOOKED AT THIS MODEL THAT WE TALKED ABOUT FOR AN AFFORDABLE HOME.

UH, AND WE LOOKED AT THE TWO AREAS THAT HAD THE BIGGEST IMPACT AND ALSO REALLY HAD THE, THE HIGHEST POTENTIAL PRICE INCREASE.

SO INSTALLATION AGAIN, THE BIGGEST SINGLE IMPACT THROUGH OUR MODELS LOOKED AT ABOUT A $430 INCREASE IN THE CONSTRUCTION PRICE OF A NEW HOME.

WE LOOKED AT A SAVINGS OF ABOUT $27 PER YEAR.

ALSO LOOKED AT ABOUT A HALF A KILOWATT SAVINGS PER UNIT OR RESIDENTS BASED OFF OF THOSE SAVINGS.

NOW WITH THE ADDITIONAL ENERGY PACKAGE, WE TALKED ABOUT THIS, THIS, THESE OPTIONS, THE SUITE OF OPTIONS THAT WE HAVE TO PICK.

WE ONLY MODELED ONE OF THESE.

WE PICKED THE ONE THAT, WHICH WAS EFFICIENT WATER HEATING.

IT'S THE SAME ONE THAT DOE ISSUED AND ALSO GAVE SOME, SOME COST INFORMATION ON USING THEIR COST INFORMATION.

UH, IT LOOKED LIKE AN APPROXIMATE $1,430 INCREASE IN CONSTRUCTION COSTS, UH, UPFRONT WITH A SAVINGS OF ABOUT A HUNDRED, $2 PER YEAR, SIGNIFICANT INCREASE IN ENERGY SAVINGS AND A SIGNIFICANT INCREASE IN PEAK DEMAND THERE AS WELL.

SO THOSE ARE THE NUMBERS THAT ARE GOING TO GO INTO THE AFFORDABILITY IMPACT STATEMENTS, UH, THAT WE'RE WORKING WITH WITH, UH, UH, WITH, WITH ALSTOM HOUSING AND WE'LL PASS FORWARD.

NEXT SLIDE.

SO AS WE LOOK AT NEXT STEPS, WE, WE TALKED A LOT ABOUT THE PROCESS AND WE'RE GOING TO CONTINUE THE PROCESS OF ADOPTION, UH, FOR THE SCHEDULE OUTLINED IN, IN THE, UH, IN, IN THE LAST MEETING.

AND YOU WERE TALKING ABOUT CHOOSING ONE OPTION.

BUT WE HAVE SOME OTHER INFORMATION TO TALK ABOUT.

UH, OBVIOUSLY WE, WE WOULD LIKE TO GET A RECOMMENDATION COMING FROM THE RMC TO PUT THIS FORWARD.

UH, IT DOES HAVE A DATE REQUIREMENT.

WE WOULD NEED TO GET THAT BY MAY 20TH TO MEET THE POSTING REQUIREMENTS FOR COUNCIL.

UH, WE HAVE A LOT OF WORK TO DO ON SOME OUTSTANDING ISSUES THAT HAVE COME UP IN THIS PROCESS.

UH, CERTAINLY ISSUES AROUND ELECTRIFICATION THERE, OR ARE ELECTRIC READY, EVIE READY? A LOT OF THAT ALSO FALLS UNDER THE, THE IDEA OF CUSTOMER CHOICE.

UH, YOU KNOW, THEY'D LOOKED AT THESE OPTIONS AS CHOICE, AND I THINK WE'LL LOOK AT A LOT OF THIS WITHIN THE LENS OF CUSTOMER CHOICE AS WELL, BUT WE'VE GOT A BROADER ENGAGEMENT EFFORT THAT WE NEED TO BRING FORWARD TO THE COMMUNITY TO SPEAK ABOUT THESE ISSUES.

THEY'VE BEEN CLEAR THAT THEY WANT MORE, MORE DISCUSSION ABOUT THAT.

AND WE WANT US TO DO THAT.

WE'VE BEEN SO ENGAGED IN THE CODE ADOPTION SIDE OF THINGS THAT WE REALLY HAVEN'T HAD THE BANDWIDTH TO PUT TOGETHER YET INTO WHAT THE PROPOSED PATH FORWARD LOOKS LIKE FOR THAT PROCESS, BUT WE'VE COMMITTED.

WE WILL COMMIT OR COMMIT HERE TO COMING FORWARD IN THE NEXT RMC MEETING WITH A PROPOSED PATH FORWARD AND A TIMELINE FOR THAT.

SO, AND WITH THAT, ANY QUESTIONS, THANK YOU, KURT MUCH, MUCH APPRECIATED, UH, COMMISSIONERS I'LL OPEN THE FLOOR, THE CHAIR, UH, ONE, UH, QUESTION ABOUT THIS OPTIONS, UH, OCCURRED.

WELL, FIRST OF ALL, THANK YOU FOR, FOR THE, UH, UH, PRESENTATION.

NOW I'M LOOKING AT SLIDE NINE, NUMBER NINE, UM, TALKING ABOUT ADDITIONAL EFFICIENCY OPTION PACKAGES,

[02:25:01]

SO WHEN I'M LOOKING AT EACH ONE OF THOSE OPTIONS, IT SEEMS LIKE THERE, YOU KNOW, ONE OF THEM HAS TO DO WITH WATER HEATING.

ONE HAS TO DO WITH THERMAL DISTRIBUTION.

ONE HAS TO DO WITH HVAC AND SO ON.

SO, UH, WHY DO THEY HAVE TO PICK ONE INSTEAD OF, SO IF SOMEBODY IS BUILDING A HOUSE, UM, AND IT SEEMS LIKE THEY HAVE TO USE ALL OF THESE, SO I'M NOT CLEAR WHY THEY HAVE TO CHOOSE ONE OPTION OR CAN THEY CHOOSE MORE THAN ONE? WELL, THEY HAVE AN OPTION TO PICK AS MANY OF THESE AS THEY WANT, BUT IT IS A, A MANDATORY MINIMUM THAT THEY MUST PICK ONE OF THESE OPTIONS ABOVE AND BEYOND THE REST OF THE CODE.

AND A LOT OF THIS IS TO KEEP THE CODE FROM ALSO VIOLATING THE FEDERAL PREEMPTION REQUIREMENTS.

UH, SO THEY CAN'T SAY YOU MUST DO.

YOU MUST, UH, INSTALL A, AN HVA SYSTEM HPAC SYSTEM WITH A HIGHER SEER RATING AND IS THE MINIMUM REQUIRED BY THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT, BUT THEY CAN PUT TOGETHER A LIST OF OPTIONS AND SAY, YOU CHOOSE FROM THIS SUITE, WHAT OPTION IS BEST FOR YOU, YOUR SPECIFIC PROJECT, WHERE YOU LIVE YOUR OWN PERSONAL CHOICES ABOUT WHAT YOU WANT TO PURSUE AND ALLOWS YOU THEN TO, TO, TO, TO PICK THE BEST PATH FORWARD.

UH, ALL RIGHT.

UM, NOW ON THAT AFFORDABILITY IMPACT, UH, THAT'S UH, IT'S MY 23, UM, I'M GUESSING YOU ALL HAVE DONE THE, UH, UM, CAUSED IMPACT ON EACH ONE OF THOSE OPTIONS.

UH YOU'RE YOU'RE GOING OPTION THREE.

SO I WAS JUST WONDERING ABOUT THAT.

WE ONLY LOOKED AT OPTION THREE.

WE DIDN'T HAVE, WE DIDN'T HAVE GREAT DATA ON SOME OF THE UN ON A LOT OF THE OTHER OPTIONS.

SO WE WENT WITH THE SAME OPTION THAT WAS PUT FORWARD BY DOE WHEN THEY WERE LOOKING AT IT.

THANK YOU, COMMISSIONER, AS ANYONE ELSE.

UM, KURT, ONE REAL QUICK QUESTION FROM ME ON THIS.

SO, SO WE'RE, WE'RE LOOKING FOR A RECOMMENDATION.

THAT'S GOING TO GO TO COUNCIL, BUT YOU SAID YOU'RE GOING TO COME BACK IN JUNE WITH, YOU KNOW, KIND OF NEXT STEPS AND PROPOSED PATH FORWARD.

HOW DO THOSE TWO ITEMS SQUARE? WELL, UH, I, THE PATHS THAT WE'VE PROPOSED IS THAT WE TAKE A MEASURED APPROACH WITH THE CURRENT CODE AND, YOU KNOW, PASS IT AS, AS PROPOSED.

IT, IT STILL, YOU KNOW, HAS VERY AGGRESSIVE ENERGY EFFICIENCY GOALS, BUT, AND IT ALLOWS US TO GET THE, UH, YOU KNOW, MEANER OBJECTIVES AROUND ALIGNING WITH, UH, THE OTHER BODIES OF CODES GOING FORWARD AND, AND BEING SIMULTANEOUS WITH THAT, UH, ALLOWING INSTALLATION FOR THE CITY FROM, UH, THE INSURANCE SERVICES OFFICE AUDIT REQUIREMENTS, UH, AND, AND INDEED ALSO GETS, GETS THAT CODE IN PLACE AND GETS FOLKS USED TO IT.

UH, BUT SO WE'LL HAVE THAT CODE IN PLACE.

AND THEN WE'LL LOOK COMPREHENSIVELY AT THE ISSUES THAT HAVE BEEN BROUGHT UP, PARTICULARLY AROUND ELECTRIC VEHICLE AND ELECTRIC READY AND PICK THE BEST PATH FORWARD FOR PURSUING THOSE OPTIONS WITH NO FOREGONE CONCLUSIONS, INCLUDING THAT THEY SHOULD BE DONE IN CODE.

BUT LOOKING AT THOSE OPTIONS, YOU KNOW, OBVIOUSLY EDUCATION IS GOING TO BE A BIGGIE.

UH, AUSTIN ENERGY PROGRAMS ARE GOING TO BE A BIGGIE LOOKING AT IT.

IT JUST, YOU KNOW, HOLISTICALLY WHAT THE BEST PATH FORWARD IS FOR THAT, UH, AND THEN PURSUING IT THROUGH A TIMELINE.

THAT MAKES SENSE.

SO, SO THAT, THAT MAKES SENSE THOUGH.

SO YOU'RE SAYING THAT THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THOSE CERTAIN ITEMS, UM, YOU KIND OF WANT TO, WE WANT TO STRATEGIZE, BUT LET'S GO AHEAD AND GET THE CODE IN PLACE.

WELL, FROM AN ENERGY PERSPECTIVE, UH, THE SLIDE WHERE WE TALKED ABOUT IMPACTED IT, IT, IT GAVE THOSE NUMBERS FROM A MEGAWATT PERSPECTIVE, A MEGAWATT HOUR PERSPECTIVE.

THIS IS SMITTY KURT, AND I WANT TO THANK YOU FOR YOUR WORK AND YOUR PRESENTATION TONIGHT.

I'M ALWAYS DEEPLY APPRECIATIVE OF THE WORK THAT YOU AND YOUR TEAM, BUT WITH KOANS HAVE DONE.

WHAT IF, IF WE ADOPT THESE CODES, WHAT DIFFERENCE DOES THIS MAKE IN TERMS OF THE CLIMATE CHANGE PLAN IN TERMS OF ENERGY REDUCTION OVERALL IN OVER THE NEXT THREE, 10 YEARS, 20 YEARS, WHAT IS YOUR PROJECTION ABOUT THE IMPACT THAT WOULD HAVE,

[02:30:01]

UM, IT WILL BE SIGNIFICANT.

UH, YOU KNOW, WE'RE LUCKY IN THAT AGAIN, YOU KNOW, THE IDEA THAT, YOU KNOW, WE'RE LOWERING THE, THE COMMERCIAL IMPACT 10%, UH, THE, THE CLIMATE ACTION PLAN OR CLIMATE EQUITY PLAN, DIDN'T HAVE FIRM GOALS ON ENERGY EFFICIENCY.

UH, IT LOOKS REALLY TO, UH, THE AUSTIN ENERGY RESOURCE PLAN TO SET THOSE GOALS.

SO THEY THEY'VE TRIED TO, TO BE COMPLIMENTARY WITH HOW THEY'VE SET THOSE UP.

SO I THINK THOSE EFFICIENCY GOALS WILL CONTINUE TO BE SENT THROUGH THE, THROUGH THE RESOURCE PLAN.

AND SO I GUESS, IS THAT TRYING TO HELP YOU SELL THIS, IF AT SOME POINT YOU COULD SHOOT US ALL, AND THEN THAT SAYS, UM, THIS WOULD BE 3%, 10%, THE CARBON REDUCTIONS, THE UTILITY NEEDS TO MAKE TO BE ABLE TO COMPLY WITH THAT PATHWAY.

THAT'D BE HELPFUL TO US.

SO WE'RE WORKING ON THOSE CARBON AND I THINK WE'RE WORKING ON SOME GOALS.

AND IS THAT SPECIFICALLY WHAT YOU'RE LOOKING FOR, OR ARE YOU LOOKING FOR US TO TRACK THE ONGOING? WE DO THAT THROUGH OUR ANNUAL REPORT AND, AND ISSUE THAT INFORMATION.

IF, IF THERE'S ADDITIONAL INFORMATION YOU'RE LOOKING FOR, LET ME KNOW WHAT IT IS, AND WE'LL SEE WHAT WE CAN DO.

I'M ACTUALLY LOOKING MORE FOR YOUR BEST GUESTS, UH, ON THE, ON THE PROJECTIONS AND OTHER THINGS THAT'S BEEN USEFUL TO THOSE OF US WHO'VE BEEN SELLING THE CODES FOR DECADES IS THAT NOT ONLY REDUCE THE ENERGY USED IN COSTS, BUT IT ACTUALLY HAS IMPACTS ON AIR POLLUTION, WHETHER THAT BE OH ZONE OR IN THIS AREA OR CARBON POLLUTION.

AND JUST HAVING, YOU KNOW, A COUPLE OF THREE BULLET POINTS THAT ARE SHOW THE VALUE OF CARLOADS TO THE COMMUNITY IS HELPFUL.

AND I KNOW THERE'S SORT OF A RELUCTANCE WITHIN AUSTIN ENERGY TO TOOT THEIR OWN HORNS ON THESE THINGS, BUT, YOU KNOW, WE'RE WILLING TO GO OUT, WE JUST NEED THE NUMBERS.

SO I'M HAPPY TO PROVIDE THAT.

UM, SOMETHING WE TALKED ABOUT IN, IN THE LAST ONE YEAR I TALKED ABOUT IN THE LAST MEETING IS THAT WE'RE GOING TO HAVE TO REVISIT OUR CODES, SAVINGS METHODOLOGY.

AND IF WE BENCHMARK AGAINST THE CURRENT STATE CODE, IF THE CODE ADOPTS, OR IF THE STATE ADOPTS THE 21 CODE, IF OUR METHODOLOGY DOESN'T ALLOW US TO TAKE TO CLAIM SOME SORT OF PERCENTAGE OF SAVINGS INCREMENTALLY THROUGH OUR INVOLVEMENT THROUGH, UH, YOU KNOW, WORK WITH SPEAR WORK WITH THE STATE, WORK, WITH EDUCATION, THAT SORT OF THING.

WE ENDED UP WITH NO CLAIMS SAVINGS FROM CODE.

SO WE'LL WORK WITH YOU GUYS ON WHAT THAT METHODOLOGY LOOKS LIKE, BUT WE WON'T HAVE GOOD NUMBERS FOR THAT, FOR WHAT OUR PROJECTIONS ARE UNTIL WE DEVELOP THAT METHODOLOGY.

AND WE PLAN TO DO THAT WITHIN THE NEXT TWO TO THREE MONTHS.

ALL RIGHT, COMMISSIONER HAS ANYONE ELSE? ALL RIGHT, SO KURT, JUST ON CLEAR, I THINK WHAT YOU'RE LOOKING FOR FROM US IS A RECOMMENDATION THAT A CITY COUNCIL ADOPTED THE 2021 ICC CODE AS, AS YOU GUYS HAVE, UH, PRESENTED.

UH, COMMISSIONERS, DO WE HAVE A MOTION ON SEPTEMBER SERVICE? OKAY.

DID IT BECOME, DID IT BECOME EFFECTIVE SEPTEMBER 1ST? YES.

THE COMMISSIONERS, DO WE, DO WE HAVE A MOTION? I'LL MAKE IT ALL RIGHT.

MOTION MADE BY SMITTY TO RECOMMEND ADOPTION OF THE 2021 ICC.

DO I HAVE A SECOND, SECOND SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER AND GORY? UH, LET'S DO A ROLL CALL.

I'M GOING TO ENTERTAIN COMMISSIONER WHITE ABSTAINS COMMISSIONER.

BRENDAN.

COMMISSIONER AND GORY.

COMMISSIONER JOHNSON.

I'LL

[02:35:01]

ALSO ABSTAIN.

AND COMMISSIONER SMITH I'LL APPROVE.

MOVE TO APPROVE NATASHA.

IS THAT RELIEVE? THAT IS ON NATASHA.

WHAT'S THE COUNT ON THAT? DID YOU, YOU GOT FIVE, FIVE, FOUR, TWO ABSTAIN.

IS THAT, SO DOES THAT MEAN IT PASSES? WHAT'S THE RULE THERE? LET ME CHECK ON THE DATA.

DO YOU GET WHAT I'M ASKING YOU LIKE IT? AND SO WE, WE HAVE, WE HAVE 10 CURRENT COMMISSIONERS AND I BELIEVE WE CONSIDER FIVE QUORUM.

FIVE WAS COURTING TO MEET FOR THE MEAT, OR DO WE NEED SIX? SORRY.

I'M ONE OH SIX IS QUORUM.

IN WHICH CASE? I DON'T KNOW THAT WE HAVE, BUT I THINK YOU NEED TO HAVE SEX.

I THINK WE NEED SIX TO PASS THE DELAY.

SO WE'LL REAL QUICK ON OUR TWO ABSTENTIONS.

ANY, ANY, ANY THOUGHTS THERE? I MEAN, I'M DEFINITELY SUPPORTIVE OF THE IMPROVEMENTS THAT ARE BEING MADE.

I JUST, UM, I, I, YOU KNOW, I THINK THAT THE THINGS THAT I BELIEVE, UH, IN OUR PREVIOUS MEETINGS ARE MY CONCERNS.

I LOOK FORWARD TO THAT ADDITIONAL CONVERSATION.

UM, I JUST, UH, YOU KNOW, YEAH.

NOT VOTING AGAINST IT.

I JUST, I DON'T, I DON'T FEEL GOOD, I GUESS.

GOOD ENOUGH ABOUT THE PROCESS IN PARTICULAR TO VOTE FOR IT.

UH, WELL, LET'S LET THE RECORD REFLECT, UH, THE FIVE YEARS, TWO EXTENSIONS, UH, OR FOR THE RECORD.

UM, ALRIGHT.

UH, KURT, THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR YOUR TIME.

I REALLY APPRECIATE IT.

IT WAS A GREAT PRESENTATION.

APPRECIATE IT.

POTENTIAL FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS. UM, LATASHA, I THINK, FIRST OF WHAT, WHAT DO WE HAVE ON THE AGENDA FOR JUNE AS OF NOW? UM, THE SOLAR UPDATE IS FOR JUNE.

LAST AGENDA ITEM, AS A DISCUSSED

[8. Discuss potential future agenda items.]

BUT THAT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE FOR THIS MONTH, BUT STAFF WASN'T, UM, PREPARED.

ANYTHING ELSE? ALL RIGHT.

UH, WE'LL OPEN UP THE FLOOR COMMISSIONERS FOR FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS. YOU THINK THAT ANYONE WOULD LIKE TO SEE HOW TO, UM, I HAVE A QUESTION ABOUT THE, UH, THE SOLAR PROJECT.

UM, I THINK BACK IN JANUARY OR SO, UM, WE TALKED ABOUT, UM, IF WE COULD POSSIBLY USE SOME OF THE CITY'S PROPERTIES TO, UM, TO BE USED FOR, FOR THAT PURPOSE.

I WAS WONDERING IF THAT'S INCLUDED IN, IN THE, UH, PRESENTATION FOR, UH, FOR THAT ITEM FOR NEXT MONTH.

I BELIEVE THAT CAME UP, UH, W WE'LL FOLLOW UP WITH, WITH TIM TO ASK HIM IF HE CAN ADDRESS THAT ISSUE OR ADDRESS THAT TOPIC.

UM, I THINK AT THAT TIME, UM, CHAIR HARMON AT, UH, UH, DRAFTED A LIST OF ITEMS THAT WE HAD DISCUSSED, UH, AND, AND IT WAS GREAT TO, TO HAVE, UH, I WAS WONDERING IF NATASHA CAN, CAN, UH, UM, UH, MAYBE RESEND THAT TO, TO EVERYBODY.

UH, ANY, ANYTHING ELSE? UM, ALSO,

[02:40:01]

UM, IT WAS, IT WAS A GREAT LIST THAT WE COULD KIND OF LOOK AT AND, AND, UH, UH, YOU KNOW, MOVE FORWARD WITH ITEM BY ITEM FOR, FOR FUTURE MONTHS.

COMMISSIONER, I CAN SEND THAT OUT AS WELL.

AND THANK YOU, COMMISSIONER AND GORY FOR MENTIONING THAT.

AND I'LL JUST ADD, I DO THINK IT'S HELPFUL AS WE LOOK AT FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS TO LOOK A COUPLE OF MONTHS OUT, UM, WHERE WE CAN, BECAUSE YOU KNOW, SO MANY OF THESE PROCESSES, YOU KNOW, WE WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE, WE'RE LOOKING AHEAD TO OUR, OUR OPPORTUNITIES FOR ENGAGEMENT.

UM, SO, UM, NATASHA, I KNOW YOU'RE DOING A GREAT JOB OF, OF KIND OF KEEPING YOU, YOU'VE GOT A FORWARD LOOKING SCHEDULE.

AND SO, YOU KNOW, POTENTIALLY A BIT MORE VISIBILITY INTO THAT.

AND THESE AS WE'RE DISCUSSING FEATURE AGENDA ITEMS WOULD BE HELPFUL.

10 IS COMING NEXT MONTH, RIGHT? TO TALK ABOUT COMMERCIAL SOLAR AND, UM, SHARED SOLAR.

CORRECT.

COOL.

I DON'T KNOW WHAT THE TIMELINE IS THAT, UH, WHENEVER WE'RE ABLE TO GET A BRIEFING ON THE COMMUNITY, SOLAR, THE RFP THAT CLOSED IN NOVEMBER.

I, I, I THINK THAT THAT WAS ONE OF THE ITEMS HE'S GOING TO TALK ABOUT, BUT I WILL, IT'S NOT, I'LL I'LL POINT THAT OUT.

UH, ANY, ANYTHING ELSE ONLY JUST TO THANK YOU, CHAIR, BLACKBURN FOR LEADING THIS MEETING AND KUDOS TO, TO, TO A JOB WELL DONE FOR A, WHAT TURNED OUT TO BE IN SOME WAYS A COMPLICATED AGENDA.

SO THANK YOU.

THANK YOU VERY MUCH WITH THAT.

WE ARE COMING IN JUST UNDER TIME.

UH, ANYTHING FINAL BEFORE WE ADJOURN, I WILL MOTION TO ADJOURN.

SO YOU WANT TO POST.

Y'ALL APPRECIATE EVERYONE JOINING.

THANKS.

THANK YOU, JONATHAN.