[00:00:03]
[CALL MEETING TO ORDER]
UH, I'M MARTY HOPKINS AND I AM RETURNING AFTER A FEW MONTHS OF LEAVE AND I WANT TO THANK, UH, COMMISSIONER, UH, TUTTLE, WHO I DON'T BELIEVE IS HERE TODAY.UM, FOR FILLING IN, UH, WHILE I WAS ON PARENTAL LEAVE.
I REALLY APPRECIATE HIM CHAIRING THE MEETINGS WHILE I'VE BEEN AWAY.
UM, IT'S NICE TO SEE EVERYONE AGAIN THIS EVENING.
UM, I'M GOING TO CALL TO ORDER THIS MEETING OF THE ELECTRIC UTILITY COMMISSION.
IT'S FEBRUARY 14TH, VALENTINE'S DAY AT SIX.
AND WE ARE IN THE SHUDI FATH CONFERENCE ROOM IN THE NEW, UH, MILLER HEADQUARTERS.
AND THE BUILDING IS BEAUTIFUL AND WE ALSO HAVE SEVERAL MEMBERS, UM, REMOTELY BE A WEBEX, UH, JUST FOR THE RECORD IN ATTENDANCE.
WE'VE GOT, UH, MYSELF COMMISSIONER BOWEN, UH, COMMISSIONER FUNKHOUSER, COMMISSIONER HADDEN, UH, COMMISSIONER REED, COMMISSIONER TRUSSELL.
AND I'D LIKE TO INTRODUCE, UH, OUR NEWEST MEMBER, OUR NEWEST COMMISSIONER MCKENNA MCKENNA YONKER, WHO WAS APPOINTED BY COUNCIL MEMBER, HARPER, MADISON, UH, MCKENNA FUEL WEIGHT.
DID I MISS ANY COMMISSIONER ON THAT ROLL CALL THERE? I THINK I GOT EVERYBODY.
UH, SO LET'S SEE, UH, FIRST UP WE HAVE CITIZEN COMMUNICATIONS AND I BELIEVE MY UNDERSTANDING IS THAT WE HAD NO ONE SIGN UP FOR REMOTE COMMUNICATIONS AND IT DOESN'T LOOK, IS THERE ANYONE HERE IN PERSON ON CITIZEN COMMUNICATIONS? OKAY.
THEN WE WILL MOVE ON TO APPROVAL
[1. APPROVAL OF MINUTES – Approve minutes of the November 19, 2021 meeting]
OF THE MINUTES FROM THE NOVEMBER 19TH, 2021 MEETING.UH, AND, UM, EITHER, UH, SO, UH, LET'S SEE.
I'LL ENTERTAIN A MOTION TO APPROVE THE NOVEMBER 19TH MINUTES.
DO YOU MEAN NOVEMBER 8TH? OH, I HAVEN'T.
SEE, AT LEAST IN THE DESCRIPTION, IT SAYS NOVEMBER 8TH, 20, 21 MINUTES.
THAT MIGHT BE A TYPE OUT THE MINUTES ARE FOR NOVEMBER 8TH.
WE CAN PUT THEM ON THE NEXT AGENDA TO APPROVE.
SO FOR THE RECORD, EVERYTHING IS CONSISTENT.
WELL, WE'LL JUST DO THAT NEXT MEETING.
UH, THEN MOVING ON AND WE HAVE ACTUALLY, LET ME JUST CORRECT THE RECORD HERE.
WE'VE NOW GOT COMMISSIONER CHATMAN AND ATTENDANCE AS WELL.
[NEW BUSINESS – CONSENT]
UM, AND I WILL OPEN THE FLOOR FOR, OF COMMISSIONERS TO IDENTIFY, IDENTIFY WHICH ITEMS THEY ARE INTERESTED IN TAKING UP FOR DISCUSSION.THIS IS ITEMS TWO THROUGH 14 UM, OKAY.
I HAVE ONE QUESTION ON ITEM 14.
AND, UH, JERRY HOPKINS, I'M UNABLE TO SEE ANYTHING AT MUELLER.
IT'S I'M GETTING A CONTINUOUS CIRCLE THERE.
OH, IT'S SO I'M NOT SEEING YOU OR ROOM OR ANYTHING, OR ANY OF THE OTHERS WHO ARE ON REMOTELY ABLE TO SEE THAT.
LOOKS LIKE POSSIBLY THE CAMERA IS ON THE WHERE OUR STAFF BRIEFINGS WILL COME FROM PERHAPS.
UM, I'M SITTING OPPOSITE THAT PODIUM.
WELL, I'M SEEING NOTHING OTHER THAN IT SAYS AND YOU KNOW, THE LOVELY PERPETUAL CIRCLE, I THINK THEY'LL LOG OFF AND LOG BACK ON.
DID YOU HAVE ANY ITEMS THAT YOU WERE, YOU WOULD LIKE TO DISCUSS? WELL, UM, NOT REALLY.
I WOULD NOTE THAT A NUMBER OF THE ITEMS ARE REALLY RELATED TO EMINENT DOMAIN, BASICALLY ALONG LAMAR, I GUESS I JUST HAVE A GENERAL QUESTION ABOUT THAT, BUT IT'S NOT SPECIFIC TO ANY PARTICULAR ITEM, BUT, YOU KNOW, CHOOSE WHICHEVER NUMBER YOU WANT.
[00:05:01]
KIND OF WONDERED HOW IT ALL WORKED.I'LL JUST, I'M JUST GOING TO PICK THEN THE FIRST ONE THERE.
UH, JUST SO THAT WE CAN TAKE IT UP FOR THANKS PLACE HOLDING PURPOSES.
UM, ANYONE ELSE, ANY OTHER ITEMS FOR DISCUSSION? THIS IS KAREN AND I, I HAVE THE SAME, UM, ITEMS AND THE SAME GENERALIZED QUESTION.
UM, ONE MORE CHANCE FOR DISCUSSION ITEMS. ALL RIGHT.
I WILL ENTERTAIN A MOTION TO APPROVE ITEMS NUMBER, UH, TWO THROUGH FIVE.
UM, AND WELL, HANG ON JUST A SECOND, BECAUSE SEVERAL A MINUTE, SEVERAL OF THESE DEAL WITH EMINENT DOMAIN, HOLD, HOLD TIGHT.
I'M GOING TO, I'M GOING TO TAKE UP ITEMS SIX THROUGH 12 TOGETHER AS A GROUP.
UH, SO THE MOTION I'LL ENTERTAIN A MOTION TO APPROVE ITEMS TWO THROUGH FIVE, UH, AND 13.
I THINK I HEARD WAS THAT COMMISSIONER FUNKHOUSER.
AND THEN, UM, IS THERE A SECOND? THANK YOU, COMMISSIONER.
UM, AND ALL RIGHT, SO, UH, ALL THOSE IN FAVOR.
AND THEN I THINK WE, I CAN'T SEE TRUSSELL.
UH, SO I DON'T KNOW IF SHE'S BACK ON YET, WHETHER SHE'S WAS ABLE TO.
UM, CAN YOU SEE ME NOW? I CAN'T SEE YOU, BUT I CAN HEAR YOU.
SO, UH, PERHAPS WOULD YOU MIND TELLING ME YOUR VOTE ON THAT? THERE WE GO.
I THINK I GOT EVERYBODY, UH, MOTION PASSES, UNANIMOUSLY ITEMS TWO THROUGH FIVE AND 13 ARE APPROVED FOR RECOMMENDATIONS.
[Items 6 - 12]
TAKE UP NOW ITEMS SIX THROUGH 12 AS A GROUP.UM, THESE ALL RELATE TO EMINENT DOMAIN ALONG LAMAR.
IS THERE ANYONE FROM AUSTIN ENERGY HERE WHO CAN, UM, ADDRESS THESE QUESTIONS? IT'S PAMPHLET, ENGLAND.
TOM, ARE YOU? YOU WANT TO TAKE THEM? OKAY.
I'M THE MANAGER OF PUBLIC INVOLVEMENT AND REAL ESTATE SERVICES FOR AUSTIN ENERGY.
AND I CAN ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS YOU HAVE ON THESE.
UM, SO I THINK A COMMISSIONER'S READ AND HADN'T HAD SOME QUESTIONS TO START.
KAREN, DO YOU WANT ME TO START OR DO YOU WANT TO START? YEAH, GO AHEAD.
SO, UM, AUSTIN ENERGY HAS REASON THAT THEY NEED THIS PROPERTY IN ORDER TO RUN THESE, THIS EQUIPMENT AND THESE LINES TO MEET VARIOUS NEEDS THAT YOU HAVE.
UM, AND IN ALL THESE CASES, THE PROPERTY OWNERS DID NOT AGREE TO THE AMOUNT OF MONEY THAT YOU ARE OFFERED.
WHAT HAPPENS NEXT? SO WHAT HAPPENS IS ASSUMING, ASSUMING THAT WE APPROVE THIS AND CITY COUNCIL APPROVES THAT, ET CETERA, WHAT, WHAT WOULD HAPPEN NEXT? RIGHT? IT GOES, THE FILES GO TO THE LEGAL DEPARTMENT AND THEY WILL FILE A PETITION FOR TAKING THE PROPERTY BY EMINENT DOMAIN.
AND ONCE THAT PETITION IS FILED WITH THE COURTS, THEN THE CIVIL COURT JUDGE WILL ASSIGN THREE DIFFERENT COMMIT, UH, SPECIAL COMMISSIONERS TO HEAR THE CASE.
AND SO WE'LL GO AND PRESENT OUR CASE BASED ON THE VALUE, THE PROPERTY OWNER OR THEIR ATTORNEY, WHICH IN THIS CASE, ALL OF THESE ARE REPRESENTED BY ATTORNEYS.
MOST OF THEM ARE REPRESENTED BY, UM, NYCLA RENT AT BARRON AND ADLER.
AND HE HAS PROVED TO BE VERY CHALLENGING TO DEAL WITH.
UM, BUT THEY WILL COME TO THE SPECIAL COMMISSIONERS HEARING AND THE SPECIAL COMMISSIONERS WILL HEAR BOTH SIDES OF THE CASE.
AND BASICALLY WHAT THAT IS, IS WE'RE TRYING TO PROVE UP HOW WE CAME TO THE VALUE, HOW OUR APPRAISER GOT TO THAT VALUE AND THE PROPERTY OWNER AND THEIR REPRESENTATIVES REPRESENTATIVES ARE DOING THE SAME THING, TRYING FOR A HIGHER NUMBER.
SO TYPICALLY WE'VE HAD SEVERAL ED CASES ON SEVERAL PROJECTS.
THE COMMISSIONERS HAVE ALWAYS AWARDED THE APPRAISED VALUE.
UM, SO WE'VE HAD, WE HAVE VERY GOOD WORKING RELATIONSHIPS WITH THEM AND WE'VE HAD VERY GOOD LUCK IN, IN THE HEARINGS.
UM, IN THIS PROJECT SPECIFICALLY EIGHT 11, WE'VE BEEN WORKING ON THE ACQUISITIONS
[00:10:01]
FOR THREE AND A HALF YEARS, AND WE STARTED WITH 103 DIFFERENT EASEMENT TRACKS THAT WE NEEDED FOR THE PROJECT.IT RUNS FROM OUR JUSTIN LANE SUBSTATION, WHICH IS JUST SOUTH OF 180 3.
IT'S GOT, IT'S GONNA FLY OVER 180 3.
AND THEN IT GOES UP ON THE EAST SIDE OF LAMAR AND BUMPS OVER AT WAGON TRAIL GOES UP THROUGH A PORTION OF THE NEIGHBORHOOD WHERE WE ALREADY HAVE EASEMENTS TO MCNEIL SUBSTATION.
AND SO WE HAVE CLOSED 83 OF THE TRACKS, AND THESE ARE THE LAST FEW LITTLE STRAGGLERS WE HAVE TOTAL LEFT TO ACQUIRE, INCLUDING THESE SEVEN THERE'S 25 TRACKS.
AND THESE ARE THE ONES THAT HAVE EITHER TITLE ISSUES, UM, WHICH WE CAN'T CLEAR.
AND WE NEED TO CLEAR VIA EMINENT DOMAIN OR THE PROPERTY OWNERS HAVE NOT AGREED TO THE VALUE, UM, AND OR THEIR ATTORNEYS.
AND SO ONCE WE GET THEM ALL TO THE COMMISSIONER'S HEARING, THEN WE WILL GET A JUDGMENT ON THE VALUE AND WE'LL ALSO GET POSSESSION OF THE PROPERTY.
AND THAT'S WHAT WE'RE TRYING TO DO BECAUSE WE'RE TRYING TO MEET THE CONSTRUCTION SCHEDULE AND ALL OF THE EASEMENTS NEED TO BE ACQUIRED BEFORE WE CAN ACTUALLY DO THAT.
AND BEFORE I KNOW KAREN HAS SOME QUESTIONS AS WELL.
ONE FINAL QUESTION ARE THESE RESIDENTIAL COMMERCIAL, A MIXTURE? UM, THESE PARTICULAR ONES ARE ALL, UH, COMMERCIAL TRACKS.
SO NO ONE'S BEING FORCED OUT OF THEIR HOME BECAUSE OF THIS.
WE DID HAVE FIVE TRACKS THAT WERE RESIDENTIAL TRACKS.
UM, BUT WE JUST TOOK A REALLY SHORT PORTION OF THEIR BACKYARDS AND THAT THOSE HAVE ALL WORKED OUT.
THEY'VE ALL CLOSED AND WE DIDN'T HAVE ANY CONTENTIOUS, UM, NEGOTIATIONS ON THOSE.
THAT'S ALL MY QUESTIONS, COMMISSIONER HADDEN.
UM, WELL, UM, MR. REED ASKED SOME OF THE QUESTIONS I WAS GOING TO ASK, BUT JUST TO MAKE SURE I, A HUNDRED PERCENT UNDERSTAND THAT THIS IS GOING TO BE FOR ADDITIONAL TRANSMISSION LINES THAT SERVE THE MCNEIL SUBSTATION IT'S TO UPGRADE THE EXISTING 69 KB LINES THAT WE HAVE TO 1 38 KV AND ADD, UM, UPGRADED MORE TECHNOLOGICALLY ADVANCED ELECTRIC FIBER TO COMMUNICATE BETWEEN OUR SUBSTATIONS.
UM, WELL ANY EPIC GO UNDERGROUND? UH, NO, MA'AM WE DO NOT UNDERGROUND TRANSMISSION AS A NORMAL COURSE OF BUSINESS.
THAT I THANK YOU FOR YOUR ANSWERS.
ANYBODY ELSE HAVE ANYTHING MS. ENGLAND? CAN YOU TELL ME HOW MANY ADDITIONAL FEET, UH, THE EASEMENT IS WIDENING? YES.
WHAT WE'RE DOING IS WE'RE BUYING 15 FOOT OF PRIVATE PROPERTY ALONG LAMAR.
AND THE REASON FOR THAT IS BECAUSE OF THE CORRIDOR PROGRAM AND THEIR IMPROVEMENTS THAT ARE USING ALL OF THE EXISTING LAMAR RIGHT OF WAY.
PLUS THEY ARE BUYING ACQUIRING A LITTLE BIT MORE IN PLACES.
AND SO WE ARE MOVING OUR TRANSMISSION AND THE DISTRIBUTION UNDER BUILD OUT OF THE LAMAR RIGHT AWAY INTO PRIVATE PROPERTY SO THAT WE'RE OUT OF THE WAY AND THEY CAN MAKE ALL THOSE IMPROVEMENTS.
UM, I THINK THAT THAT'S ALL FROM ME.
ANYBODY ELSE HAVE ANY QUESTIONS FOR MISSING ONE ON, UH, ITEMS NUMBER SIX THROUGH 12? OKAY.
I WILL ENTERTAIN A MOTION TO APPROVE ITEMS, NUMBER SIX THROUGH 12.
AND IS THERE A SECOND, SECOND? THANK YOU.
UH, ALL THOSE IN FAVOR, PLEASE SAY AYE.
IT LOOKS LIKE I GOT EVERYBODY ON THE SCREEN.
UH, AND, AND IN PERSON THAT'S, UH, ALL, ANY OPPOSED.
UH, SO THE ITEMS NUMBERS SIX THROUGH 12, UH, PASSED UNANIMOUSLY, UH, FOR A RECOMMENDATION.
AND I WILL ALSO, I FORGOT MARCUS, UH, TO REMIND EVERYONE IN THE ROOM, UM, THAT IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO TALK, I THINK EVERYBODY HAS FIGURED THIS OUT ALREADY, BUT YOU HAVE TO PUSH THIS LITTLE BUTTON ON THE RIGHT.
THERE'S A LITTLE PERSON WITH, UM, LIKE A VOLUME COMING OUT.
UH, AND SO YOU HAVE TO PUSH THAT.
AND THEN, UM, MARCUS HAS ASKED THAT WE PUSH IT AGAIN WHEN WE'RE FINISHED TALKING, BECAUSE IF THERE ARE MORE THAN ONE OF US, OR I GUESS MORE THAN TWO OF US, UH, WITH THE RED LIGHTS ON, AT A TIME,
[00:15:01]
IT CAN CREATE SOME FEEDBACK ISSUES.SO IF YOU'RE NOT SPEAKING AND YOU'RE IN THE CONFERENCE ROOM, IF YOU COULD PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR MIC.
[14. (3/24) [Purchasing] Authorize an amendment to a contract with Bermex, Inc. for continued manual meter reading services, to increase the amount by $15,427,110 and to extend the term by four years, for a revised total contract amount not to exceed $32,927,110.]
MOVING ON TO ITEM NUMBER 14 NOW, UM, AND COMMISSIONER TRUSSELL, UH, BROUGHT THIS ITEM FOR DISCUSSION AND WHO FROM AUSTIN ENERGY IS AVAILABLE TO SPEAK ON ITEM NUMBER 14, ELAINE VICE PRESIDENT OF CUSTOMER ACCOUNT MANAGEMENT.UM, I'M SORRY, I'M HAVING A HARD TIME HEARING YOU HEAR ME NOW.
UM, ELAINE VASULKA VICE PRESIDENT OF CUSTOMER ACCOUNT MANAGEMENT.
UH, THANK YOU, MS. VALASCO THE LE THE CELL.
DOES THAT SOUND OKAY? I GOT YOU.
UM, MY QUESTION IS THIS, I, I I'M AWARE OF THE MOVE TOWARDS AUTOMATION OF, UH, NADIR READING ADVANCED THE AMI SYSTEM, BUT IN READING THIS, IT, IT APPEARS THAT IT'S, UH, CONTINUE.
I UNDERSTAND IT'S A CONTINUATION OF MANUAL METER READING SERVICES.
UM, BUT THE, UH, INFORMATION JUST INDICATES THAT IT IS TO EXTEND IT UNTIL THE AUSTIN WATER IS READY TO FULLY ROLL OUT.
IT'S COME AND COMPLETE THE AMI, UH, SYSTEM BY THE END OF 2025.
SO TWO QUESTIONS, WHAT PERCENTAGE OF THIS COST IS FOR AUSTIN ENERGY AND IS AUSTIN ENERGY GOING TO CONVERT TO A HUNDRED PERCENT AUTOMATED RE METERING? AND IF SO, WHEN, SO AUSTIN ENERGY IS ALREADY, UM, I'M GOING TO SAY 99.9% AMI.
UM, YOU KNOW, WE HAVE A FEW HUNDRED CUSTOMERS WHO HAVE CHOSEN OPT OUT AND WE STILL MANUALLY READ THOSE METERS.
UM, THIS CONTRACT, UM, COVERS A VARIETY OF SERVICES AND, UM, THE BULK OF IT IS AUSTIN WATER, MANUAL METER READ AND PHOTO CAPTURE.
SO WE, THE VENDOR TAKES A PICTURE OF EVERY READ.
UM, AND THERE'S ALSO A PORTION, UM, OF THE CONTRACT WHERE THIS VENDOR DELIVERS SERVICE NOTICES FOR US.
SO ON BEHALF OF THE CITY OF AUSTIN UTILITIES, WHICH IS WHO WE, WE BILL FOR ALL THE CITY OF AUSTIN UTILITIES ON THAT, THAT COMBINED BILL, UM, YOU KNOW, CUSTOMERS HAVE A DISCONNECTION NOTICE OR SOME SORT OF SERVICE NOTICE.
UM, THIS, THIS COMPANY ALSO DELIVERS THOSE NOTICES.
UM, WE CALL THOSE SOFT SERVICES.
SO OUT OF THE CURRENT CONTRACT AND THE FUTURE OF YOUR CONTRACT, AND WELL, I'LL SAY CURRENT OUT OF THE CURRENT CONTRACT, ABOUT 75% OF THE SERVICES ARE AUSTIN WATER RELATED METER READING AND PHOTO PHOTO CAPTURE.
AND THE REMAINING 25% IS FOR CITY OF AUSTIN UTILITIES, THE AUSTIN WATER METER READING AND PHOTO CAPTURE.
THOSE COSTS ARE DIRECTLY ALLOCATED BACK TO AUSTIN WATER.
UM, AND THE REMAINING 25% OF THE SOFT SERVICES PER CITY OF BOSTON UTILITIES ARE, UM, ALLOCATED AND ON A COST BASIS, ACCORDING TO HOW WE ARE OUR CUSTOMER SERVICE, UH, ALLOCATION MODEL FOR SERVICE PROVISION.
THAT'S THAT I, THIS GUY KIND OF EXPECTED THAT WAS GOING TO BE THE ANSWER AND JUST WANTED TO MAKE SURE I APPRECIATE YOUR CLARIFICATION.
ANYONE ELSE? UH, QUESTIONS FOR MS. ON ITEM NUMBER 14, HEARING NONE.
I WILL ENTERTAIN A MOTION TO APPROVE ITEM NUMBER 14.
THANK YOU, COMMISSIONER TRUSSELL.
THANK YOU, COMMISSIONER FUNKHOUSER.
UM, AND THEN I ALSO THINK I'M MISSING, UH, SOMEONE ON THE SCREEN.
I THINK I LOST COMMISSIONER BOWEN.
SO AGAIN, UH, ITEM NUMBER 14, UH, PASSES UNANIMOUSLY.
UH, LET'S SEE, MOVING ON TO, UH, STAFF BRIEFING AND BRIEFINGS AND REPORTS.
UM, WE HAVE A FULL AGENDA AS, AS USUAL.
UM, SO ITEM WE'RE ON ITEM NUMBER FOUR
[15. Update regarding Stakeholder Engagement, EV/Electric Ready, and Water Heating]
15 NOW, AND THIS IS AN UPDATE REGARDING STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT, EVY AND ELECTRIC READY, AND WATER HEATING, UM, WHO FROM AUSTIN ENERGY WILL PRESENT CHAIR.WE HAVE KURT STOCKDALE COMING TO PRESENT.
[00:20:19]
GOOD EVENING COMMISSIONERS.I'M KURT STOCKVILLE, I'M THE MANAGER FOR GREEN BUILDING AND SUSTAINABILITY FOR AUSTIN ENERGY.
UH, IT'S NICE TO SEE YOU ALL IN PERSON.
I THINK THIS IS THE FIRST COMMISSION MEETING I'VE BEEN TO IN PERSON SINCE MARCH OF 20.
SO, UH, IT'S, IT'S, UH, A REFRESHING CHANGE TO BE HERE IN PERSON.
UH, I'D LIKE TO TALK TO YOU TODAY ABOUT A COMMITMENT WE MADE TO HAVE A COMMUNITY DISCUSSION AROUND THE AREAS OF ED AND ELECTRIC READY, WHICH WILL ALSO INCLUDE RESIDENTIAL WATER HEATING.
SO I'D LIKE TO START WITH JUST A BRIEF REFRESHER ON WHAT EVA AND ELECTRIC READY ARE THERE PROVISIONS IN BUILDING DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION THAT ENABLE YOU TO IN THE FUTURE MAKE AN, UH, A SHIFT TO A CLEANER FUEL SOURCE FOR YOUR APPLIANCE NEEDS OR YOUR TRANSPORTATION NEEDS? AN EXAMPLE OF ELECTRIC READY WOULD BE THROUGH THE DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION FOR ELECTRIC WATER HEATING, HIGH EFFICIENCY, ELECTRIC WATER HEATERS HAVE A LARGER FOOTPRINT THAN MOST TRADITIONAL NATURAL GAS WATER HEATERS.
SO IF YOU'VE GOT A CLOSET BUILT TO ACCOMMODATE A CLOSE FIT WITH A NATURAL GAS WATER HEATER, YOU'RE GOING TO HAVE PROBLEMS. IF YOU WANT TO GO TO A HIGH EFFICIENCY, ELECTRIC WIND IN THE FUTURE.
IN ADDITION, THEY HAVE DIFFERENT ELECTRIC REQUIREMENTS, SO, AND AN ELECTRIC READY PROVISION IN A CODE THAT WOULD ALLOW YOU TO BE ABLE TO ACCOMMODATE A HIGH EFFICIENCY ELECTRIC WATER HEATING IN THE FUTURE WOULD BE TO HAVE A REQUIREMENT FOR A LARGER FOOTPRINT, AND ALSO TO HAVE SERVICE ELECTRIC SERVICE RUN TO ACCOMMODATE THE UPGRADE TO THAT FEATURE.
IF YOU CHOSE TO DO IT IN THE FUTURE AND ON THE EVIE READY SIDE, IT COULD BE SOMETHING AS STRAIGHTFORWARD AS HAVING DEDICATED PANEL SPACE, SAY A 40 AMP BREAKER AND CONDUIT RUNNING FROM THE PANEL, THE ELECTRIC PANEL TO WHEREVER YOU PLAN TO CHARGE YOUR ELECTRIC VEHICLE.
AND THESE COULD BE DONE THROUGH DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION, A LOT LOWER COST UPFRONT.
YOU DON'T HAVE TO COME BACK AND DO A LOT OF RETROFITS LATER.
SO WHY ARE WE TALKING ABOUT THAT HERE TODAY IN THE PROCESS OF PASSING THE 21 INTERNATIONAL ENERGY CONSERVATION CODE ELECTRIC READY, AND EVIE READY WAS ON THE TABLE AT THE NATIONAL LEVEL.
AT THE FEDERAL LEVEL, WHEN THE INTERNATIONAL CODE COUNCIL WAS DEVELOPING THE 21 ENERGY CONSERVATION CODE, THERE WAS A LAST OR LATE APPEALS PROCESS THAT TOOK PLACE WHERE EVIE READY AND ELECTRIC READY SPECIFICALLY WERE BACKED OUT OF THE 21 CODE AT THE FEDERAL LEVEL.
THE JUSTIFICATION THAT WAS GIVEN BY THE INTERNATIONAL CODE COUNCIL THAT OVERSEES THAT WAS THAT THEY WEREN'T SURE THAT THE MISSION EXPLICITLY STATED IN THE ENERGY CODE ALLOWED THE PURVIEW TO BE ABLE TO COVER THOSE WITHIN THE ENERGY CODE.
THEY WEREN'T SURE IF THEY WOULD GO THERE IF THEY GO IN THE ELECTRIC CODE, BUT THEY DIDN'T FEEL GIVEN THE PUSHBACK THAT THEY WERE GETTING, THAT THEY COULD COMFORTABLY ADDRESS IT WITHIN THE ENERGY CONSERVATION CODE.
GIVEN THAT FEEDBACK, WE AT THE CITY DECIDED THAT IT WAS NOT THE APPROPRIATE TIME TO LOOK AT LOCAL AMENDMENTS.
WE CAN AMEND PASS LOCAL AMENDMENTS TO THE ENERGY CODE TO MEET LOCAL GOALS.
BUT WE DECIDED AT THAT TIME IT WAS NOT THE APPROPRIATE TIME TO PURSUE EVIE AND ELECTRIC REDDING.
DURING THAT PROCESS, THOUGH, WE DID GET AN ASK TO HAVE MORE TRANSPARENCY AND BROADER DISCUSSION AMONGST CITY STAKEHOLDERS, COMMUNITY STAKEHOLDERS, AROUND THESE TWO TOPICS.
AND THAT'S WHAT WE'RE INITIATING NOW.
SO THE OBJECTIVE OF THAT PROCESS IS GOING TO BE, TO HAVE A ROBUST DISCUSSION ABOUT POTENTIAL RECOMMENDATIONS THAT COULD BE DONE IN THE AREAS TO BE READY AND ELECTRIC READY.
NOW, THIS DISCUSSION STARTED OFF WITH A POLICY DISCUSSION AROUND CODE, BUT I DON'T THINK YOU CAN REALLY SUCCESSFULLY HAVE A COMPREHENSIVE LOOK AT POLICY UNLESS YOU LOOK AT THOSE THINGS THAT REALLY SUPPORT POLICY AND FROM A CODES PERSPECTIVE, WE'VE TRADITIONALLY LED WITH EDUCATION.
[00:25:01]
YOUR COMMUNITY, YOUR CUSTOMERS, YOUR DESIGN COMMUNITY ABOUT WHAT CODE IS ABOUT AND WHAT THE PROVISIONS ARE THAT YOU'RE LOOKING AT THE TECHNOLOGIES YOU'RE EXPLORING.AS YOU GET AN UNDERSTANDING OF THAT, THEN YOU MOVE IT INTO YOUR PROGRAMS AND YOU INCENTIVIZE BEHAVIOR TO GET PEOPLE TO, TO BASICALLY KICK THE TIRES ON THE NEW TECHNOLOGY SO THAT YOU CAN UNDERSTAND WHERE THE ISSUES ARE AND THEY CAN GET A COMFORT LEVEL WITH IT.
ONCE YOU GET A BROAD ENOUGH COMFORT LEVEL WITH IT, YOU CAN GET BUY-IN TO CODIFY IT, TO PUT IT INTO ENERGY CODE, BUILDING CODE, THAT SORT OF THING.
SO WHILE THIS STARTED OFF AS A CODES DISCUSSION FOR THIS DISCUSSION WITH THESE COMMUNITY STAKEHOLDERS, WE'RE GOING TO LOOK AT ALL THREE AREAS.
AS FAR AS THE OUTPUT, IT'S GOING TO BE A SUMMARY OF STAKEHOLDER RECOMMENDATIONS IN THESE AREAS.
WE WILL PUT TOGETHER A REPORT THAT IS GOING TO BE BASED OFF OF A SURVEY THAT WILL BE DELIVERED TO BOTH THE EEC AND THE RMC.
AND THEN AUSTIN ENERGY WILL STUDY THESE RECOMMENDATIONS AND WE'LL REPORT BACK TO THE, BOTH THE AUC AND THE RMC WITH WHAT OUR PLANS ARE FOR ANY ACTION RELATED TO THAT.
SORRY, YOU SAID BASED ON A SURVEY, SO FIRST YOU TALKED ABOUT PUTTING TOGETHER A STAKEHOLDER MEETING, AND THEN YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT A SURVEY, ARE THOSE THEY'RE TIED AND I'LL GET TO IT IN JUST A SECOND.
UH, WITH THE STAKEHOLDER COMPOSITION, UH, ANYBODY IN THE, IN THE COMMUNITY THAT IS INTERESTED IS WELCOME.
UH, WE'VE GOT A LIST OF FOLKS THAT WERE INVOLVED IN THE COATED OPTION PROCESS THAT WE WILL REACH OUT TO PROACTIVELY, UH, EUC AND RMC COMMISSIONERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO PARTICIPATE AS WELL.
THIS IS YOUR BEST AVENUE FOR PARTICIPATION, THIS PARTICULAR PROCESS, UH, WE'LL ALSO HAVE RELEVANT INDUSTRY REPRESENTATIVES TO BE ABLE TO SPEAK TO TOPICS.
WE'LL ALSO LOOK TO NONPROFITS TO SUPPORT, UH, SOME OF OUR UNDERREPRESENTED COMMUNITIES AND MAKING SURE THAT THEIR PERSPECTIVES ARE REPRESENTED HERE.
AND THEN WE'LL ALSO WORK THROUGH OUR EXISTING EQUITY ENGAGEMENT CHANNELS, AND ALSO LOOK TO PILOT SOME NEW EQUITY CHANNELS THAT WE'RE LOOKING AT WITHIN THE UTILITY AS WELL.
SO AS FAR AS THAT PROCESS GOES, UH, THESE MEDIUMS WILL BE ALL VIRTUAL AND WE PLAN TO RECORD THEM TO ALLOW PEOPLE TO COME BACK IF THEY CAN'T ATTEND IN REAL TIME.
I THINK WE'RE PROBABLY GOING TO HAVE THREE MEETINGS.
WE'RE GOING TO HAVE AN INTRODUCTORY MEETING, AND THEN WE'RE GOING TO HAVE AN EDUCATIONAL SESSION.
THAT'LL BE PRETTY SUBSTANTIAL, PROBABLY SEVERAL THREE HOURS WHERE WE'LL LOOK AT THE AREAS AROUND CODE POLICY, LEGISLATION, TECHNOLOGY, BE ABLE TO UNDERSTAND THE AFFORDABILITY IMPACTS BASICALLY LOOK AT KIND OF THE NUTS AND BOLTS OF ALL THE DIFFERENT FACTORS THAT COULD INFLUENCE DECISIONS TO BE MADE IN THESE AREAS AROUND, AROUND EDUCATION PROGRAMS AND POLICY.
THEN WE'LL HAVE ANOTHER SESSION THAT'S GOING TO BE FACILITATED THAT WILL ALLOW THE STAKEHOLDERS TO ENGAGE WITH ONE ANOTHER.
BASICALLY TALKING THROUGH THE OPTIONS THAT ARE AVAILABLE AND BOUNCE THINGS OFF OF ONE ANOTHER.
AND THEN BASED OFF OF THAT FEEDBACK, WE'LL PUT TOGETHER A SURVEY TO CAPTURE, UH, STAKEHOLDER PREFERENCES.
AND WE WILL ISSUE THOSE PREFERENCES, THAT SURVEY VERBATIM WITH HOW IT'S ENTERED.
SO THIS IS NOT A NEGOTIATION WITH AUSTIN ENERGY.
THIS IS ENTIRELY STAKEHOLDER FEEDBACK THAT WE PLAN TO PRESENT BACK TO YOU DIRECTLY AS IT CAME FROM OUR, FROM OUR STAKEHOLDERS.
SO WE FIGURED THAT THAT WAS SOMETHING THAT WAS CONSISTENT WITH HOW IT'S BEEN DONE WITH THE CODE PROCESS IN THE PAST.
AND WE THINK THAT IT ALLOWS US TO PROVIDE INFORMATION TO YOU UNFILTERED BY US.
SO, AND THEN WITH THAT, UH, AGAIN, WE WOULD LOOK FOR A SERIES BASICALLY OF RECOMMENDATIONS TO COME OUT OF THAT THAT WOULD BE PRESENTED TO YOU AND REPORT THAT TO YOU, DOES THAT, AND THAT'S WHAT I'VE GOT.
I THINK WE'RE GOING TO KICK OFF THE PROCESS THE WEEK OF MARCH 7TH.
YOU'LL ALL GET INVITES FOR THAT.
I DID PUT OUT A REQUEST FOR ANY REFERENCES THAT YOU HAD FOR STAKEHOLDERS THAT YOU'D LIKE TO SEE ENGAGED.
I GOT RESPONSES FROM SEVERAL OF YOU AND I WILL MAKE SURE THEY'RE INVITED.
IF YOU HAVE FOLKS THAT YOU WANT TO SEE IN INVOLVED IN THIS PROCESS, UH, PLEASE MAKE SURE TO LET ME KNOW.
UH, WE'LL ALSO HAVE A LOT OF INDUSTRY INVOLVED AS WELL.
SOME OF THE UV COMMUNITIES INDICATED AN INTEREST AS WELL AS THE NATURAL GAS INDUSTRY.
SO IS THIS INTENDED TO LOOK AT BOTH? UM, SO RESIDENTIAL COMMERCIAL AND MULTI-FAMILY SO ALL TYPES OF PROPERTIES, I THINK THE DEEP DIVE WE'RE DOING ON, ON THE WATER HEATING IS REALLY RESIDENTIAL.
THERE WAS SOME, SOME THINGS THAT WE HAD TO CLAW BACK BECAUSE OF SOME LEGAL REQUIREMENTS AROUND ELECTRIC WATER HEATING, UH, WE COULDN'T DISCRIMINATE BY TYPE OF TECHNOLOGY.
SO WE HAD TO ALLOW A HIGHER DEMAND WATER
[00:30:01]
HEATERS THAN WE HAD UNDER THE PREVIOUS CODE.SO THERE WAS A DESIRE TO LOOK AT SOME, SOME BETTER OPTIONS.
THERE WAS A CONCERN THAT WE MIGHT SEE A BUNCH OF LOW COST, HIGH DEMAND, WATER HEATERS, WHICH WOULD LEAD TO DEMAND SPIKES LOCALLY.
SO, SO THAT ONE'S GOING TO BE MORE OF A RESIDENTIAL FIX, BUT YEAH, WE'RE GOING TO LOOK PRETTY COMPREHENSIVELY ACROSS THE BOARD AND YOU KNOW THIS, BUT YEAH, I WOULD ENCOURAGE, UM, INCLUDING MULTIFAMILY HOUSING DEVELOPERS AND THE DISCUSSION.
CAUSE OBVIOUSLY THERE'S A, YOU KNOW, THERE'S A, IT'S COOL TO HAVE VERSUS AFFORDABILITY.
LIKE THERE'S THAT, YOU KNOW, THERE'S ALWAYS THAT PUSH AND PULL THAT'S REALLY IMPORTANT FOR AFFORDABLE HOUSING.
SO I'M SURE THAT YOU WOULD HAVE RECOMMENDATIONS AS WELL.
ARE THERE ANY OTHER QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS ON ITEM NUMBER 15? HOW WOULD WE, THIS IS A LEGAL QUESTION.
IF YOU WERE TO HAVE A, A MEETING THE WEEK OF MARCH 7TH AND EVERYONE FROM THE EOC SHOWED UP, ISN'T THAT A PROBLEM? OR IT'S NOT A PROBLEM CAUSE YOU'RE GOING TO YOU, WE'RE JUST GOING AS INDIVIDUALS.
UM, ROBIN, IS THAT SOMETHING WE COULD CHECK ON WITH, UH, CITY, THE CITY LEGAL, I GUESS ASK THEM IF, IF, UH, WE'LL GET AN ANSWER OUT TO EVERYBODY.
YEAH, JUST, THIS IS CAREY JUST FOR WHAT IT'S WORTH.
WE'VE DEALT WITH THIS IN THE PAST AND, AND YOU KNOW, MY SENSE IS ALL OF US WERE GOING TO A CONCERT WITH 10,000 PEOPLE AND WE ALL HAPPEN TO BE AT THE CONCERT.
THE ONLY PROBLEM ARISES WHEN IT'S 15 PEOPLE AND EIGHT OF THEM HAPPENED TO BE US.
UM, SO, UM, YOU KNOW, PART OF THE, CURT'S GOING TO BE HOW MANY PEOPLE ARE SHOWING UP AT THESE THINGS.
UM, UH, SO WE, WE MIGHT NEED TO HAVE JUST KIND OF AN IDEA OF WHAT THAT'S GONNA LOOK LIKE.
IT'S I CAN GET TO, UH, AN ATTENDEE LIST OF WHO'S WHO'S CONFIRMED OR WHO'S RESERVED, UH, FOR ATTENDANCE IN ADVANCE FOR SURE.
ANYTHING ELSE? I WAS GOING TO ASK IF WE CAN INVITE SNOOP DOG, BUT THAT WAS A LOT OF FUN YESTERDAY, RIGHT? THANK YOU, MR. STARKVILLE.
[16. 1st Quarter Financial Briefing]
NUMBER 16, WE HAVE THE FIRST QUARTER FINANCIAL BRIEFING.I CAN TALK A LITTLE CLEAR, GET OUT DOING COMMISSIONERS.
I'M JOHN DAVIS, DIRECTOR OF FINANCE FOR AUSTIN ENERGY HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY.
I'M GOING TO BE PRESENTING AUSTIN ENERGY'S UNAUDITED FINANCIAL RESULTS FOR THE FIRST QUARTER ENDED DECEMBER 31ST, 2021.
THIS INFORMATION WAS PRESENTED IN ABBREVIATED FORM, UH, TO THE AUC MEETING, UH, ON FEBRUARY THE FIRST, BUT I'M GOING TO BE WALKING THROUGH THE FULL PRESENTATION FOR YOUR BENEFIT TONIGHT SINCE THE DATA BEING PRESENTED INCLUDES FORECASTED FINANCIAL INFORMATION, QUENTIN, THE NEXT SLIDE, SORRY.
SINCE THE DATA BEING PRESENTED INCLUDES FORECASTED FINANCIAL INFORMATION, AND WE MUST INCLUDE A DISCLAIMER TO REMIND EVERYONE THAT ACTUAL RESULTS ARE GOING TO VARY FROM THE FORECAST.
I'LL GO AHEAD AND SCROLL DOWN.
FOR CONSISTENCY SAKE, WE PROVIDED TO YOU OUR STANDARD REPORT THAT YOU'RE ACCUSTOMED TO VIEWING.
AT LEAST THOSE OF YOU HAVE BEEN HERE BEFORE, AND THIS PRESENTS THE QUARTERLY FINANCIAL INFORMATION THAT'S UNAUDITED FOLLOWED BY SECTION ON MARKET AND INDUSTRY ANALYSIS.
AT THE END OF THE FIRST QUARTER OF FISCAL YEAR 22, WE ARE GENERALLY COMPLIANT WITH ALL FINANCIAL POLICIES.
ALTHOUGH OUR CONTINGENCY AND CAPITAL RESERVE BALANCES ARE STILL SITTING BELOW THE MINIMUMS. ONCE WE CONSIDER THE ADDITIONAL WORKING CAPITAL AVAILABLE, WE EXCEED THE MINIMUM REQUIRED RESERVES OF 480 MILLION.
OUR OPERATING REVENUE FOR THE FIRST QUARTER WAS 359 MILLION OR 6% MORE THAN BUDGET WHILE OUR OPERATING EXPENSES WERE 344 MILLION OR 18% MORE THAN BUDGET.
THIS RESULTED IN INCOME FROM OPERATIONS OF 15 MILLION.
THIS INCREASE IN REVENUES AND EXPENSES WHERE IT'S MOSTLY DUE TO A WEATHER
[00:35:01]
DRIVEN, INCREASE IN USAGE FOR THE QUARTER.AND THE TIMING OF WHEN EXPENSES WERE BUDGETED VERSUS WHEN THEY WERE INCURRED.
WHILE WE DON'T ILLUSTRATE THIS ON THE SLIDE OUT OF THEIR OPERATING REVENUE OF 359 MILLION, WE ALSO MADE TRANSFERS TO SUPPORT THE CITY AS WELL AS OTHER AUSTIN ENERGY SPECIFIC TRANSFERS TO COVER DEBT SERVICE AND TO FUND THE CASH PORTION OF OUR CONSTRUCTION EXPENDITURES.
ALL OF WHICH NETS TO AN ACTUAL DEFICIENCY OF 84 MILLION VERSUS A BUDGETED DEFICIENCY OF 50 MILLION.
AT THE END OF DECEMBER, OUR CASH BALANCE IS 286 MILLION, WHICH IS A DECREASE OF A AND 18 MILLION FROM A YEAR AGO.
AUSTIN ENERGY CONTINUES TO MEET OUR TARGETED S AND P BOND RATING OF AA.
HOWEVER, WE DO SEE DECLINES IN KEY METRICS THAT WILL REQUIRE A RATE CHANGE IN THE NEAR FUTURE.
IF WE ARE TO MAINTAIN THAT AA RATING, YOU'LL SEE IN THE MARKET INDUSTRY ANALYSIS LATER ON THE PRESENTATION THAT WE PRESENT A PATTERN OF DECLINING SALES ON A PER CUSTOMER BASIS, THAT HAS BEEN COMPOUNDED BY THE ECONOMICS OF THE PANDEMIC, OUR GOAL OF LOWER ENERGY CONSUMPTION THROUGH BETTER BUILDING CODES, EFFICIENCY, AND APPLIANCES AND CONSUMER CONSERVATION IS BEING ACHIEVED.
THIS TREND WILL INFORM AND IMPACT OUR NEXT RATE CASE REVIEW AND HOW WE STRUCTURE OUR FUTURE RETAIL RATES.
ALSO ENERGY'S FINANCIAL POLICIES ARE MEMORIALIZED AND ADOPTED BY ORDINANCE EACH YEAR DURING THE BUDGETING PROCESS AND CAN BE GENERALLY CATEGORIZED INTO THREE AREAS, DEBT RESERVES, AND OPERATING POLICIES.
AS YOU CAN SEE BY THE CHART, THERE WERE PARTIALLY COMPLIANT WITH THEIR DEBT POLICIES.
THIS IS EXPLAINED PRIMARILY DUE TO OUR ACCELERATED TREATMENT OF THE NACADOCIOUS DEBT AND THE LENGTH OF TIME SINCE OUR LAST RATE CASE, AS FAR AS RESERVE POLICIES GO, WE'RE PARTIALLY COMPLIANT AS WE DISCUSSED, AS FAR AS OPERATING POLICIES GO WE'RE FULLY COMPLIANT.
AS I MENTIONED EARLIER, S AND P REAFFIRMED OUR AA RATING ON JULY THE 21ST OF LAST YEAR.
THIS SLIDE SUMMARIZES SOME OF OUR BOND COVENANT METRICS FROM A BOND COVENANT PERSPECTIVE.
WE'RE IN COMPLIANCE WITH THE DAY'S CASH ON HAND.
HOWEVER, OUR OPERATING MARGINS, OUR DEBT SERVICE COVERAGE RATIO AND THE CAPITALIZATION RATE RATIOS ARE ALL OUTSIDE OF THE COVENANTS.
THIS HAS ALREADY BEEN EXPLAINED AS BEING DUE TO OUR ACCOUNTING TREATMENT OF THE ACCELERATED DEBT ASSOCIATED WITH NACADOCIOUS BIOMASS PLANT, AS WELL AS THE LENGTH OF TIME SINCE OUR LAST RATE CASE.
NEXT SLIDE, AUSTIN ENERGY'S AFFORDABILITY GOAL HAS TWO METRICS.
THE AFFORDABILITY METRIC SEEKS TO MAINTAIN SYSTEM AVERAGE RATES AT OR BELOW 2% ANNUAL COMPOUND GROWTH.
WE'VE CONSISTENTLY MET THIS GOAL SINCE 2013, THE COMPETITIVENESS METRIC SEEKS TO MAINTAIN AN AVERAGE ANNUAL SYSTEM RATE IN THE LOWER 50% OF ALL TEXAS ELECTRIC UTILITIES.
WE ARE ALSO MEETING THAT METRIC IN CALENDAR YEAR 2020.
WE SUCCESSFULLY MAINTAINED RATES TWO AND A HALF PERCENT BELOW THE TARGET.
OUR OPERATING RESERVES AT THE END OF THE FIRST QUARTER WERE 6% ABOVE OUR FORECASTED BUDGET AMOUNT WITH POWER SUPPLY DRIVING.
MOST OF THAT DIFFERENCE POWER SUPPLY REVENUES WERE MILLION ABOVE BUDGET, OR ABOUT 19% BASE REVENUES WERE UP BY 1.5 MILLION.
WE'RE ABOUT 1% AS A RESULT OF SLIGHTLY HIGHER THAN FORECASTED CONSUMPTION AND DEMAND.
NEXT SLIDE OPERATING EXPENSES ALSO CAME IN ABOVE OUR FORECAST BY 18% OR 53 MILLION, MOSTLY DUE TO HIGHER POWER SUPPLY EXPENSES, WHICH WERE 18 MILLION OVER BUDGET DUE TO WEATHER RELATED USAGE.
TOTAL OPERATING EXPENSES ARE ABOVE BUDGET AS WELL DUE TO TIMING OF EXPENSES AND CUSTOMER CARE AND HIGHER POWER PRODUCTION COSTS.
NEXT SLIDE OPERATING REVENUES CAME IN AT 359 MILLION FOR QUARTER ENDED DECEMBER, WHICH IS 6% BETTER THAN BUDGET, LARGELY DUE TO HIGHER POWER SUPPLY REVENUE OPERATING EXPENSES OF 344 MILLION.
WE'RE 18% OF OUR BUDGET AS DISCUSSED EARLIER, PRIMARILY DRIVEN BY POWER PRODUCTION AND TIMING OF CUSTOMER CARE EXPENSES.
THIS RESULTS IN OPERATING INCOME OF 15 MILLION, BUT AFTER MEETING DEBT SERVICE REQUIREMENTS OF 42 MILLION AND MAKING GENERAL FUND AND TRANSFERS A 41 MILLION AUSTIN ENERGY ENDED THE QUARTER WITH A DEFICIENCY OF $84 MILLION COMPARED TO THE FORECAST OF 50 MILLION.
NEXT SLIDE, OUR ENERGY SALES THROUGH THE FIRST QUARTER OR ABOUT TWO ARE ABOUT 219 GIGAWATT HOURS UP, UM, BY ABOUT 8% BETTER THAN FORECAST DUE TO WEATHER.
[00:40:01]
NEXT SLIDE NON POWER SUPPLY REVENUE IS ABOUT 3% HIGHER THAN FORECAST FOR THE YEAR DUE TO INCREASED USAGE FROM INCREASED TEMPERATURES AND HIGHER TRANSMISSION COSTS, NON POWER SUPPLY REVENUES REPRESENT ALL REVENUES AND EXCLUDES THE PAST THE REVENUES.OKAY, WELL THIS GRAPH, THE BLUE LINE REPRESENTS BUILD POWER SUPPLY ADJUSTMENT REVENUE, WHICH RECOVERS OUR POWER SUPPLY COSTS DUE TO THE FEBRUARY 21 STORM URI.
WE HAD AN OVERALL RECOVERY OF 105 MILLION.
UM, SO WE INTENTIONALLY SET THE PSA RATE, WHICH IS THE PASS THROUGH RATE, UH, TO UNDER RECOVER COSTS AND PASS THOSE EARNINGS ON TO OUR CUSTOMERS.
THIS SLIDE PROVIDES A BREAKDOWN OF OUR CAPITAL EXPENDITURES THROUGH DECEMBER WITH 25% OF THE YEAR BEING BEHIND US.
AFTER THE FIRST QUARTER, WE SPENT ABOUT 17% OF OUR 22, UH, CONSTRUCTION EXPENDITURE BUDGET.
UH, HOWEVER, IT IS STILL EARLY AND DIFFICULT TO FORECAST WHERE WE MAY BE ENDING THE YEAR SINCE IT'S SO EARLY IN THE FISCAL YEAR.
ALSO, OUR GOAL IS TO KEEP DEBT PORTION OF OUR CAPITALIZATION BELOW 50% WITH 25% OF OUR CIP FUNDING COMING FROM CONTRIBUTIONS AND 31% COMING FROM CASH WE'RE SUCCESSFULLY STAYING WITHIN THAT GOAL.
QUICK QUESTION ON THE CATEGORIES ON THE RIGHT JOHN, UM, WHEN IT SAYS JOINT PROJECTS, IS THAT REFERRING TO THE NUCLEAR PLANT AND FAT? YES.
SO THOSE, BOTH THOSE PROJECTS WILL BE THE JOINT PROJECTS.
AND YOU GUYS ASK ANY QUESTIONS ALONG THE WAY.
THIS SCHEDULE SUMMARIZES THE POWER SUPPLY COST.
SO FAR NOTE THAT THIS SCHEDULE REFLECTS THE 12 MONTHS, UH, FOR CALENDAR 21 NET POWER SUPPLY COSTS WERE 307 MILLION.
SO THE BLUE BAR ON THE END IS THE NET AMOUNT OF ALL THE, UM, YOU KNOW, THE PURCHASES AND THE SALES OF THE POWER INTO THE MARKET NET POWER SUPPLY COSTS WERE 307 MILLION VERSUS A LOAD COST OF 2.2 BILLION.
THE FEBRUARY WINTER STORM HAD A MATERIAL IMPACT ON OUR LOAD ZONE COSTS AS WELL AS OUR REVENUES FROM OWNED AND CONTRACTED ASSETS.
SO YOU CAN SEE HOW MUCH THE OWNED ASSETS CONTRIBUTED TO DECREASE OUR NET PURCHASE POWER COSTS.
GOOD FOR THE BALANCE SHEET, WE'VE HIGHLIGHTED THAT OUR RETAINED EARNINGS IS DECREASING A LITTLE RED CIRCLE THERE AT THE BOTTOM.
THIS IS DUE TO THE IMPACT OF REDUCED MARGINS CAUSED BY LOWER KILOWATT HOUR CONSUMPTION, PAIRED WITH HIGHER OPERATING EXPENSES AND DEBT SERVICE REQUIREMENTS.
IT'S IMPORTANT TO NOTE THAT OUR CURRENT BASE RATES ARE PREDICATED ON ACTUAL EXPENSES FROM 2014, WHICH WERE USED TO ESTABLISH THE BASE RATES THAT WE'RE BILLING TODAY.
ALSO NOTE IN ADDITION TO RETAINED EARNINGS, OUR CASH BALANCES ARE ALSO DECLINING WHILE OUR CAPITAL ASSETS CONTINUE TO GROW THE CHART ON THE UPPER RIGHT SHOWS OUR WORKING CAPITAL AND RESERVES, WHICH CAME IN AT 574 MILLION IN DECEMBER, 2021.
THIS IS WHAT WE DISCUSSED EARLIER AS EXCEEDING OUR MINIMUM TARGET A 480 MILLION AND IN THE LOWER RIGHT-HAND CORNER, UM, YOU COULD SEE THAT THE COMMERCIAL PAPER ISSUES OF, UH, 99 MILLION, UM, COMPARED TO TOTAL CAPACITY OF THE LINE OF 300 MILLION.
HERE'S ANOTHER VIEW OF THE FINANCIALS FROM A GAP STANDPOINT, UM, TO THE RIGHT ON THE INCOME STATEMENT, OPERATING REVENUES INCREASED DUE TO AN INCREASE IN USAGE AND INCREASED REGULATORY REVENUES, POWER SUPPLY REVENUE AND POWER SUPPLY EXPENSE APPEAR LOW RELATIVE TO LAST YEAR.
AGAIN, DUE TO THE IMPACT OF THE WINTER STORM, THE 67 MILLION NET LOSS IS DUE TO THE IMPACT OF OUR DECREASING OPERATING MARGINS.
THE TIMING OF BASE RATES AND HIGHER OPERATING COSTS, INCLUDING POWER PRODUCTION AND TRANSMISSION YEAR OVER YEAR CUSTOMER COUNT HAS GROWN AT 2.2% IN OUR SALES IN GIGAWATT HOURS HAVE INCREASED DUE TO WEATHER BY 3.9%.
WE'RE ABOUT TO MOVE INTO THE MARKET AND INDUSTRY ANALYSIS SECTION.
SO I'M GOING TO PREFACE THIS NEXT SECTION WITH THE STATEMENT, UM, BASICALLY SUMMARIZING WHAT, UM, UH, THE GENERAL MANAGER SAID AND THE PRESENTATION IN FRONT OF THE UFC, UH, JACKIE SERGEANT REMINDED THE COMMITTEE OF THE RATE REVIEW PROCESS IS CURRENTLY UNDERWAY.
AUSTIN ENERGY'S REQUIRED BY CITY FINANCIAL POLICY TO CONDUCT A PERIODIC RATE REVIEW.
THE PURPOSE OF THAT RATE REVIEW IS TO ENSURE RATES ARE DESIGNED TO GENERATE SUFFICIENT REVENUE AND TO MEET THE FULL COST OF OPERATIONS, AS WELL AS MEET OUR DEBT SERVICE REQUIREMENTS OF TWO TIMES MULTIPLE BASE RATES WERE LAST CHANGED IN 2017 WHEN THEY WERE DECREASED ON AVERAGE 6.7%.
[00:45:01]
WERE PREDICATED ON 2014 COSTS.WE'RE CURRENTLY PREPARING A COST OF SERVICE ANALYSIS AND RECOMMENDATIONS WILL BE BROUGHT FORWARD LATER THIS YEAR WITHOUT A GORDON STARTED THE CONVERSATION AROUND THE MARKET INDUSTRY ANALYSIS.
AS WE ALL KNOW, AUSTIN'S A POPULAR PLACE TO LIVE, AS WE'VE JUST DISCUSSED, WE CONTINUED TO HAVE CLOSE TO TWO AND A HALF PERCENT CUSTOMER GROWTH RATE PER YEAR.
THIS IS SYSTEM WIDE GROWTH, MEANING RESIDENTIAL AS WELL AS COMMERCIAL WITH AN OBLIGATION TO SERVE THIS RESULTS IN MORE LONGTERM PLANT INVESTMENT, AS WELL AS HIGHER OPERATING COSTS.
OUR RATES WERE DESIGNED TO RECOUP COSTS BASED UPON KILOWATT HOUR CONSUMPTION AND CONSUMPTION PER CUSTOMER IS ON THE DECLINE WHILE THE NUMBER OF CUSTOMERS IS INCREASING.
THE ORANGE LINE HERE REFLECTS OUR STEADY TOTAL CUSTOMER GROWTH.
SO THAT'S RESIDENTIAL AND COMMERCIAL.
THE YELLOW LINE REPRESENTS THE GROWTH IN KILOWATT HOUR SALES.
WE SPOKEN ABOUT THE CURRENT RATES AND HOW THEY'RE BASED UPON WHERE AUSTIN ENERGY WAS IN TERMS OF COSTS BACK IN 2014, OVER THE PAST EIGHT YEARS.
SINCE THAT TIME, YOU COULD SEE HOW THE CUSTOMER ACCOUNT HAS INCREASED 18%.
SO THAT ORANGE LINE IS A CUMULATIVE AMOUNT AT AN INTO 18%.
UM, WHILE, UM, WE'VE ONLY HAD A 4% GROWTH IN KILOWATT HOUR SALES.
IT'S THESE VERY SALES THAT WE RELY UPON TO RECOUP AES COSTS.
NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE, TO MEET THE NEEDS OF THE 18% INCREASE IN CUSTOMERS.
HE HAS INVESTED OVER $2 BILLION FROM 2014 THROUGH CURRENT.
THESE INVESTMENTS WERE MADE PRIMARILY BECAUSE HE HAS AN OBLIGATION TO SERVE AND TO CARRY OUT OUR MISSION STATEMENT TO SAFELY DELIVER CLEAN, RELIABLE, AFFORDABLE ENERGY, AND EXCELLENT CUSTOMER SERVICE.
NEXT SLIDE WHILE CUSTOMER GROWTH COULD BE A GOOD THING, RIGHT? DESIGN NEEDS TO REFLECT THE COST TO SERVE.
AND IN EAST CASE, AS WE ILLUSTRATE HERE, YOU CAN SEE THAT FROM THE ORANGE LINE, THAT THE COSTS ARE OUTPACING REVENUES, PRIMARILY DUE TO THE NUMBER OF CUSTOMERS INCREASING, BUT THE CONSUMPTION PER CUSTOMER IS ON THE DECLINE.
EXCUSE ME, COULD YOU, UH, HERE WE GO, SCROLL UP JUST A TINY BIT.
SO I DON'T THINK MARK IS SEE THE BOTTOM, SO RIGHT.
CUSTOMER GROWTH COULD BE A GOOD THING, RIGHT? DESIGN NEEDS TO REFLECT THE COST TO SERVE.
AND AN EAST CASE IS ILLUSTRATE HERE.
YOU CAN SEE THAT FROM THE ORANGE LINE, THAT COSTS ARE OUTPACING REVENUES PERMANENTLY TO THE NUMBER OF CUSTOMERS INCREASING, BUT THE CONSUMPTION PER CUSTOMER IS ON THE DECLINE.
IN FACT, SINCE 2014, AUSTIN ENERGY NEEDED A 2% INCREASE PER YEAR IN SALES, JUST TO BREAK EVEN HOWEVER, SALES HAVE GROWN AT LESS THAN HALF THAT RATE.
UM, YOU MIGHT'VE SAID THIS ALREADY, BUT WHAT IS THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE YEAR 2014? IS THAT JUST A SET NUMBER OF YEARS THAT WE LOOK BACK AT? WELL, UH, 2014 WAS THE LAST, UM, I GUESS YOU'D CALL IT THE COST OF SERVICE STUDY THAT WAS PERFORMED.
THAT'S WHAT, WHAT THE RATES THAT WE HAVE IN EFFECT TODAY ARE PREDICATED ON.
SO THE, THE COSTS WERE BASED UPON 2014 COSTS AND THEN THE RATES WERE SET IN 2017 BASED UPON THE COST THAT WERE IN EFFECT IN 2014.
SO THAT'S WHY THIS CHART IS DEPICTING, UM, THOSE, UM, UH, BASE RATES BASICALLY BACK TO 2014.
SO NOW WE'LL MOVE ON AND TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT, UM, COMMERCIAL INDUSTRIAL.
SO YOU CAN ALSO SEE THAT FOR THE COMMERCIAL INDUSTRIAL, DUSTY AERIAL CUSTOMER CLASS, THAT WE'VE GOT DECLINING, AVERAGE CONSUMPTION.
UM, THE SLIDE SHOWS THAT TRENDS ARE PRETTY OBVIOUS THAT WE WERE OBSERVING A DECLINING AVERAGE, UH, CONSUMPTION FOR THE COMMERCIAL CLASS, JUST LIKE YOU SAW FOR THE RESIDENTIAL CLASS.
IT'S JUST THAT WHEN YOU LOOK AT THE PIE CHART AND KIND OF BURN THAT IN YOUR MEMORY, YOU'LL NOTICE THAT 65% OF THE RECOVERY FOR THE COMMERCIAL INDUSTRIAL CLASS IS BASED UPON FIXED FIXED RATES, WHICH MEANS THAT WE'RE NOT RELYING AS MUCH ON THE VOLUMETRIC USAGE TO RECOVER A COST.
NEXT SLIDE, I, YOU, SOMEWHAT OF THE STORY THAT WE JUST DISCUSSED FOR THE COMMERCIAL CLASS, A, THIS SLIDE ILLUSTRATES THE TREND THAT WE'RE SEEING FOR THE RESIDENTIAL CUSTOMERS AND THE DECLINING SALES ON A PER HOUSEHOLD BASIS WHILE IT'S GREAT NEWS THAT AES RESIDENTIAL CUSTOMERS ARE BECOMING MORE ENERGY EFFICIENT.
THERE'VE BEEN GAINS ATTRIBUTABLE TO ENERGY EFFICIENCY AND SMALLER LIVING SPACES, AS WELL AS BENEFITS REAPED FROM AUSTIN ENERGY'S COMMUNITY INVESTMENT IN AN ENERGY EFFICIENCY PROGRAM TO THE TUNE OF $35 MILLION PER YEAR.
ALL THESE FACTORS CONTRIBUTE TO FEWER KILOWATT HOUR SALES.
EXCELLENT, WELL INCREASE ENERGY EFFICIENCY IS GREAT.
IT RESULTS IN TOO FEW KILOWATT HOUR SALES TO COVER THE RISING COSTS, THE PIE CHART, WHICH AGAIN REPRESENTS THE RESIDENTIAL ONLY INFORMATION SHOWS THAT 82% OF RESIDENTIAL BASED REVENUES IS TIED TO THE VOLUME METRIC KILOWATT
[00:50:01]
HOUR ENERGY SALES.THE LONGEST SHORT OF IT IS THAT MOST OF OUR COST RECOVERY FOR THE RESIDENTIAL CLASS IS TIED TO KILOWATT HOUR SALES, WHICH ARE ON THE DECLINE WHILE THE NUMBER OF CUSTOMERS CONTINUES TO INCREASE BECAUSE OF ALL THESE TRENDS WE'RE EXPERIENCING, WHICH I PRESENTED TO YOU TODAY, WE'RE PREPARING A COST OF SERVICE ANALYSIS TO BE PRESENTED TO YOU ALONG WITH THE RATE RECOMMENDATIONS LATER THIS YEAR.
AND THAT CONCLUDES THE PRESENTATION.
HAPPY TO ADDRESS ANY QUESTIONS.
UH, I'M NOT FAMILIAR WITH, UH, WITH THE LENGTH OF THE BONDS THAT WE HAVE.
AND COULD YOU SPEAK ABOUT THE EFFECT OF RISING INTEREST RATES THAT WE SEE NOW AND, OR EXPECTING IN TERMS OF, UH, THE COST OF REPAYING, THOSE BONDS OF PREPAYING OR RE UH, REPAYING? OKAY.
I'LL ASK MARK ARRESTED TO STEP UP AND WEIGH IN ON THAT MARK TIM ROSSI, CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER.
SO, UH, FIRST MOST OF OUR BONDS ARE THERE RE REVENUE BONDS, AND WE ISSUE THEM, UH, FOR 30 YEARS IS, IS A NORMAL LENGTH.
THE EXCEPTION WAS WHEN WE BORROWED FOR THE NACADOCIOUS BIOMASS PLANT, WE, WE MIRRORED THE TENOR THAT THE PPA WAS THAT THAT WAS A 13 YEAR BOND.
AND WE'RE IN YEAR THREE OF THAT.
NOW, AS FAR AS INTEREST RATES GO, THOSE BONDS ARE FIXED.
SO, UH, AS THE INTEREST RATES RISE, THE HOLDERS OF THE BOND GET LESS YIELD.
SO IT'S, IT'S, IT'S WORSE OFF FOR THEM AS IT, THOSE INTEREST RATES RISE.
CERTAINLY AS WE LOOK AT ISSUING BONDS IN THE FUTURE, WE WILL SEE THAT PRESSURE ON THE BONDS AND IT'LL COST US MORE TO, TO SELL THOSE BONDS.
UM, I WOULD ADD BY HAVING A AA RATING, WHICH IS AMONGST THE HIGHEST IN THE COUNTRY, THAT WE DO GET VERY FAVORABLE RATES, AS LONG AS WE CAN MAINTAIN THAT, THAT, THAT, THAT AA RATING.
BUT I DO EXPECT FUTURE BONDS TO COST US A LITTLE BIT MORE TO SELL.
UH, IN FACT, THEY'LL TAKE THAT INTO ACCOUNT.
USUALLY WHAT THE TREASURY DOES IS THEY RAISE, UM, UH, THE, THE OVERNIGHT RATE, THE BANK RATE BY 25 BASIS POINTS AT A TIME.
AND THEY USUALLY STARTED THAT OUT OVER A YEAR OR SO.
WE'RE NOT LOOKING TO GO BACK OUT TO THE BOND MARKET, UH, PROBABLY, UH, END OF THIS YEAR, FIRST PART OF NEXT YEAR AT THE EARLIEST.
SO I CAN'T PREDICT WHERE INTEREST RATES WILL BE AT THAT.
AND, AND I'VE ONE OTHER QUESTION CONCERNING THE RIGHT REVIEW.
COULD, COULD YOU GO THROUGH WITH US WHAT THE EXPECTED TIMING OF THAT PROCESS WOULD BE? HOW LONG, ET CETERA.
UM, WE'RE GOING TO BRING THAT TO YOU.
I JUST CAN'T REMEMBER THE DAY, THE NEXT MEETING IS NEXT MONTH, RIGHT.
YEAH, YOU HAVE MARK MARCH 23RD.
WE'RE GOING TO LAY OUT SORT OF A TIMELINE AND A PROCESS FOR YOU.
IS, IS THERE A, DID YOU SAY THAT THE COST OF SERVICE STUDY IS CURRENTLY UNDERWAY? YES.
IT'S GOING TO BE BASED UPON FISCAL YEAR 2121.
SO THAT'S GOING TO INCLUDE WINTER STORM URI THEN.
BUT KNOW, KNOWING THE MISERABLE ADJUSTMENTS WILL BE TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT AS PART OF THE COST OF SERVICE STUDY.
SO ONE-OFF EXPENSES AND REVENUES WILL BE TAKEN TO CONSIDERATION.
RUSTY MANNION VICE PRESIDENT OF FINANCE.
UH, JOHN IS CORRECT THAT, UH, THE TEST YEAR DOES INCLUDE YURI, BUT URI, UH, IMPACTS, UH, POWER SUPPLY COSTS IN.
AND, UH, THE CASE THAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT IS SIMPLY BASE RATES.
AND SO WE WON'T TAKE INTO CONSIDERATION THE CHANGES IN POWER SUPPLY COSTS.
UH, COULD YOU, DO YOU HAVE AN IDEA OF WHAT THE PERCENTAGE OF REVENUE FROM A CNI VERSUS RESIDENTIAL IS? WE SAW THE PIE CHART ON, UM, THAT THE, I THINK YOU SAID IT WAS SOMETHING LIKE 65% OF CNI IS ON A FIXED RATE, BUT WHAT'S THE BREAKDOWN ON CNI VERSUS RESIDENTIAL 66% FROM THE LAST NUMBERS WERE KILOWATT HOUR SALES FROM RESIDENTIAL 44%, UH, SORRY.
SORRY, SAY THAT ONE MORE TIME.
UH, 44% OF THE BASE REVENUES IS RESIDENTIAL 56% COMMERCIAL.
AND THE FIXED RATES ARE THOSE, UM, PARDON MY IGNORANCE HERE, BUT ARE THEY JUST, UH, YOU KNOW, UH, SPECIFICALLY TAILORED PLANS TO LARGE INDUSTRIAL CUSTOMERS? OR WHAT, WHAT ARE THE FIXED RATES?
[00:55:01]
I JUST AM NOT FAMILIAR.SO, UH, WHEN WE, ONCE AGAIN, RUSTY MANUALS, BUT VP OF FINANCE, UH, WHEN WE, THAT PIE CHART, WHEN WE WOULD TALK ABOUT FIXED, FIXED CHARGES, THOSE ARE THINGS LIKE CUSTOMER CHARGE AND DEMAND, CHARGES, THINGS THAT DON'T VARY WITH.
THANK YOU FOR THAT CLARIFICATION.
SO, ONE, ONE COMMENT, I GUESS, IS A QUESTION OR A COMMENT.
UM, FIRST OF ALL, CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL OF US.
I MEAN, I KNOW IT'S TOUGH FOR YOU GUYS, BUT THE FACT THAT WE HAVE HAD THESE SUCCESSES IN ENERGY EFFICIENCY MEANS A LOT OF CUSTOMERS HAVE BENEFITED IN LOWER BILLS.
UM, BUT I GUESS MY QUESTION IS I UNDERSTAND WHY THAT COULD BE PROBLEMATIC FROM, UM, YOU KNOW, GETTING ENOUGH SUFFICIENT REVENUE TO KEEP UP WITH GROWTH, BUT ON THE FLIP SIDE, DOESN'T THAT ALSO MEAN THAT YOU'RE NOT HAVING TO SPEND AS MUCH IN INVESTMENT TO KEEP UP WITH THAT GROWTH BECAUSE PEOPLE ARE USING LESS ENERGY.
SO ISN'T THERE A, A BENEFIT ON THAT, ON THAT SIDE OF THE LEDGER? THAT'S THE WAY I WOULD PHRASE IT IS IS THAT, UM, IT'S NOT SPENDING LESS, IT'S JUST THE RECOVERY.
THE WAY THAT THE, THE WAY THE RATES ARE STRUCTURED IS THAT MOST OF THE RECOVERIES IN THE HIGHER CONSUMPTION RATES RATE, UM, COMPONENTS.
AND SO IF CONGRATULATIONS, WE'VE BEEN ABLE TO, YOU KNOW, HELP WITH EFFICIENCY AND FORTH, BUT IF THE CONSUMPTION IS IN THE LOWER TWO OR THREE TIERS, THEN THE WAY THAT THE RATES WERE DESIGNED WAY BACK, WHEN WAS BASED ON RECOVERY IN THIS UPPER TIERS, THE FOURTH AND THE FIFTH STEP.
AND SO SINCE THERE'S MORE MULTIFAMILY, HOUSING AND APARTMENTS AND SO FORTH, THAT ARE CONSUMING MUCH LESS, WE'RE STILL PUTTING IN THE SAME INFRASTRUCTURE, BUT WE'RE NOT GIVING THE RECOVERY BECAUSE THEY NEVER ACHIEVED THAT HIGHER FOURTH AND FIFTH STEP.
SO IT'S GONNA BE A MATTER OF RESETTING RATES TO HELP RECOVER COSTS IN THIS CASE.
THE PROBLEM IS NOT THAT PEOPLE ARE USING, NOT THAT YOU'RE NOT SELLING ENOUGH ELECTRONS.
THE PROBLEM IS THE COST OF THOSE ELECTRONICS ARE SELLING DOESN'T, DOESN'T REFLECT THE ACTUAL COST TO SERVE.
I MEAN, THINK OF THE COST IS THE SAME, I GUESS YOU COULD SAY, BUT THE RECOVERY, THE WAY IT WAS ORIGINALLY DESIGNED, THE RATE DESIGN WAS RECOVERING.
UM, THOSE COSTS IN THE FOURTH AND FIFTH STEP, UM, AND NOT RECOVERING AS MUCH IN THE FIRST THREE STEPS.
SO AS ENERGY EFFICIENCY IMPROVES AND THERE'S LESS CONSUMPTION PER HOUSEHOLD, UH, THERE NEEDS TO BE A SHIFT IN RECOVERY OF THOSE REVENUES TO THE LOWER, LOWER TIERS.
SO, YOU KNOW, YOUR PREMISE ABOUT WHAT WE'RE SELLING LESS, WE SHOULD INCUR LESS COST.
AND, AND, UH, IN ESSENCE, WE DO, BUT THAT OCCURS IN THE POWER SUPPLY ADJUSTMENT IN THE POWER SUPPLY COSTS.
AND WHEN WE TALK ABOUT BASE COST BASE, UH, COST RECOVERED BY BASE RATES, WHICH WERE THE PIE CHARTS, THOSE, THOSE THINGS ARE WHAT WE REFER TO AS FIXED COSTS, WHICH MEANS THAT DOESN'T MEAN THAT THEY DON'T CHANGE.
IT JUST MEANS THAT THEY DON'T VARY WITH KWH SALES.
SO YOU THINK OF STUFF LIKE DEBT, SERVICE, SALARIES, GENERAL FUND TRANSFER, DOESN'T MATTER WHETHER WE SPEND A MEAT OR NOT, THOSE COSTS ARE THERE.
AND SO, YOU KNOW, OBVIOUSLY, UM, UH, WHEN WE, WHEN YOU USE KWH AS A VEHICLE TO RECOVER THOSE DOLLARS, AND THEY'RE NOT IN THOSE KWH SALES, AREN'T THERE, THAT'S WHERE WE LAG, BUT YOU ARE ABSOLUTELY RIGHT.
THIS IS A GOOD NEWS STORY IN MY OPINION, BECAUSE, YOU KNOW, WE'VE ALWAYS PRIORITIZED, UH, ENERGY EFFICIENCY AND WE'VE DONE JUST THAT.
AND THEN, SORRY, FINAL, FINAL, FINAL QUESTION.
I PROMISE I HAVE ANOTHER ONE TO, UM, UH, JUST MORE OF A THOUGHT, HOW, YOU KNOW, W WHEN WE DO A TEST YEAR, WE'RE LOOKING BACKWARDS, HOW DO YOU ANTICIPATE NEW TECHNOLOGY? IF AS MANY PEOPLE ARE GOING TO DRIVE ELECTRIC VEHICLES, AS WE ALL THINK THEY MIGHT, OR HOPE WHICH WILL LEAD TO MORE SALES? I MEAN, HOW DO YOU FACTOR, HOW CAN WE FACTOR THAT IN BECAUSE THAT'S SORT OF A FUTURE.
SO YOU ARE, YOU ARE CORRECT IN THAT TEST YEARS, A HISTORICAL LOOK BACK AND WE WILL CATCH THOSE, THOSE TRENDS WHEN THEY OCCUR.
SO, UM, WE TRY TO USE A HURDLE CALLED, KNOWN AND MEASURABLE, AND WE DON'T KNOW WHEN THAT ADOPTION WILL COME IN OR HOW FAST IT WILL COME IN AND WHAT THE IMPACT WILL BE.
IT'S WHENEVER WE DO THAT NEXT RATE CASE.
AND IF THEY'VE OCCURRED IN THE TESTER, THAT'S WHEN WE'LL CAPTURE THEM.
I HAD ANOTHER QUICK QUESTION ON, UM, OH, GO, SORRY.
AND, UM, I, I JUST WANT TO SAY COMMISSIONERS, IF, IF YOU HAVE NOT BEEN THROUGH THE RIGHT STUDY YET, THEN THIS IS THE TIME WHEN YOU'RE GOING TO LEARN AN ENORMOUS AMOUNT ABOUT HOW THE UTILITY REALLY WORKS.
UM, I'VE BEEN THROUGH IT A COUPLE OF TIMES NOW.
AND, UH, YOU KNOW, ONE OF THE THINGS WE'VE BEEN PUTTING OFF FOR A LONG TIME IS THE FACT THAT THE WAY WE EARN MONEY DOES IT IS NOT VERY COMPATIBLE WITH THE WAY WE SPEND MONEY.
AND WE'RE JUST, YOU KNOW, WE'VE BEEN PUTTING THAT
[01:00:01]
OFF FOR A LONG TIME BECAUSE OF THE TRANSITION HAS BEEN IN A, NOT, NOT ALL HAPPENING OVERNIGHT, BUT WE'RE GETTING TO THE POINT WHERE WE JUST CAN'T PUT IT OFF ANYMORE, AND IT'S GOING TO BE, IT'S GOING TO BE HARD.IT'S GOING TO BE HARD ON A LOT OF PEOPLE IN THE COMMUNITY, BECAUSE THEY ARE ACCUSTOMED TO GETTING ENERGY AND PAYING FOR ENERGY ON OUR CURRENT SYSTEM.
UH, AND THIS IS GOING TO BE A WALL OVEN, BIG THING.
SO THESE LAST, UH, THIS LAST YEAR OR SO, WHERE WE HAVEN'T HAD A BIG, HEAVY LOAD IN OUR, UM, UM, IN OUR WORK AT THE EUC IS GETTING READY TO CHANGE.
I THINK YOU'RE ALL GOING TO FIND THAT THIS IS A TIME WHEN, WHEN YOU'RE GOING TO HAVE TO POUR UP OR, UH, QUITE A BIT OF RESOURCES INTO THIS, JUST LETTING EVERYBODY KNOW ANYTHING SINCE, UH, YEAH.
UM, SO I DON'T KNOW WHO SHOULD BE ANSWERING THIS.
UM, UM, BUT MY QUESTION IS, DOES IT LOOKING, UM, I'M ASSUMING THEN THAT WE'RE LOOKING AT A POTENTIAL BASE RATE INCREASE AND DO WE HAVE ANY KIND OF FEEL FOR THE RANGE OF THE PROPOSED BASED RATE INCREASE? I KNOW MAYBE IT'S NOT FINALIZED YET, BUT CAN YOU GIVE US A GENERAL, GENERAL THINKING OR BALLPARK? WELL, YOU, YOU ARE CORRECT THAT IT WILL BE A BASE RATE INCREASE, BUT NO, WE DON'T HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT, WHAT THE MAGNITUDE IS YET.
WE'RE STILL WORKING ON THOSE NUMBERS, OUR OTHER UTILITIES INCREASING BASE RATES.
UH, YES, MA'AM, UH, CPS ENERGY JUST RAISED THEIR RATES.
UM, I JUST LOOKED AT EL PASO ELECTRIC HAD SOME BLUR ABOUT, THEY RAISED THEIR AVERAGE RESIDENTIAL RATE, $10 PEC RAISED THEIR TEMPER, RAISED THEIR RATES.
YEAH, I THINK, UH, ON AN AVERAGE, RESIDENTIAL WAS 10 OR $12 A MONTH.
SOMETHING LIKE THAT IS THAT THE KIND OF, KIND OF RANGE THAT WE'RE LOOKING AT HERE.
YOU KNOW, I, I, IF I HAD INFORMATION, I SURELY SHARE IT WITH YOU MA'AM, BUT, BUT QUITE FRANKLY, THE NUMBERS JUST ARE NOT IN YET.
AND I WOULD HESITATE TO, TO MAKE A GUESS, AND I'M REAL NERVOUS, REAL NERVOUS WHAT THIS, UM, COULD BRING FOR PEOPLE THAT ARE HAVING, UM, UH, NATURAL CHALLENGES ALREADY, ESPECIALLY WITH THE COVID SCENARIO.
UM, BUT, BUT I'M SURE THAT WE'LL BE GETTING INTO THAT IN MORE DETAIL IN THE FUTURE.
G AM I CORRECT THAT WHEN THE RIGHT REVIEW WAS DONE 2014, UH, THAT AUSTIN ENERGY INITIALLY PROPOSED A LARGE INCREASE IN THE RESIDENTIAL CUSTOMER SERVICE FEE.
AND, UH, THEN IT WAS SUBSEQUENTLY ROLLED BACK, UH, BY CITY COUNCIL ARE DURING THE PUC OVER AT THE PUC, UH, AND THE, THE, THE S THE, THE 2017 CASE, OR THE ONE BACK IN 2000 9, 10, 11, WHATEVER.
THAT WAS WELL HELPED ME ON BOTH.
SO, UM, I DON'T RECALL IF THERE WAS AN INCREASE, UM, PROPOSED OR NOT, BUT YOU ARE RIGHT.
WE, WE DID NOT RAISE THE, UH, CUSTOMER CHARGE IN THE 2017 CASE.
UH, I THINK THE CUSTOMER CHARGE WAS $6 AND IT WAS RAISED TO 10.
SO THAT $10 CHARGE HAS BEEN IN EFFECT FOR 10 YEARS NOW, BUT I, IF I RECALL THE GENERAL MANAGER WAS RECOMMENDING A MUCH HIGHER MO GOING MUCH HIGHER THAN 10, I BELIEVE, 15, $20.
I CAN SAY YES, IT WAS DISCUSSED.
THERE WAS NEVER A FORMAL PROPOSAL TO DO IT, AND EVENTUALLY IT WAS, IT WAS ABANDONED, UH, WAS NEVER PRESENTED IN THE CITY COUNCIL AND THE ELECTRIC UTILITY COMMISSION, OTHER THAN OUR CUSTOMERS OUTSIDE THE, UH, THE JURISDICTION DO NOT, UH, DO NOT REVIEW OUR RIGHTS.
SO, UM, IT WASN'T BECAUSE OF THE, UH, OF THE PUC.
IT WAS JUST A DECISION NOT, UH, NOT TO TAKE THAT TALENT, JOHN, AT THE TIME, CARRIE, WHEN YOU SAY ELECTRIC UTILITY COMMISSION, YOU MEAN THE PUBLIC UTILITY COMMISSION? WHAT DID I SAY? ELECTRIC.
I MEANT TO SAY PUBLIC UTILITY COMMISSION.
ANYBODY ELSE HAVE ANY QUESTIONS?
[01:05:01]
ALL RIGHT.IT SOUNDS LIKE WE HAVE A LOT TO LOOK FORWARD TO, UM, THE REMAINDER OF THE YEAR.
[17. 1st Quarter Operations Briefing]
RIGHT.MOVING ON TO ITEM NUMBER, UH, 17.
THIS IS THE QUARTER OPERATIONS BRIEFING.
UM, TOM PEERPOINT, UH, VICE-PRESIDENT OF ELECTRIC SYSTEM, UH, ENGINEERING AND TECHNICAL SERVICES.
AND I'M HERE TO PROVIDE AN UPDATE ON THE, UH, UH, Q1 FISCAL YEAR 22, UM, AUSTIN ENERGY OPERATIONAL UPDATE.
UM, I'M ALSO, UH, I'M JOINED BY MICHAEL ANGER, OUR DIRECTOR OF ENERGY AND MARKET OPERATIONS, AND I BELIEVE PAT SWEENEY IS ON THE LINE, OUR, UM, VICE PRESIDENT OF POWER PRODUCTION.
IF THERE'S ANY QUESTIONS, R D UH, NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE.
FOR, UM, OUR TOPICS TONIGHT, WE'LL TALK ABOUT PERFORMANCE, UM, ONSITE, ENERGY RESOURCES, CARBON FOOTPRINT, AND FUTURE STATE.
UM, THE FIRST THING WE'RE GOING TO TALK ABOUT IS THE, UM, UH, AUSTIN ENERGY OPERATIONAL UPDATE.
IF I WALK THROUGH THIS SLIDE AND WE'RE TALKING ABOUT, UM, UH, OCTOBER, NOVEMBER, DECEMBER OF LAST YEAR AND THIS AND THIS, UH, UPDATE, UM, OVERALL THE, UH, UH, POWER PLAN AVAILABILITY WAS PRETTY IMPRESSIVE DURING THE SUMMER MONTHS PRECEDING THIS, UM, WHICH IS Q4, UH, FISCAL YEAR 21, UH, W UH, AVAILABILITY WAS A NEAR A HUNDRED PERCENT DURING THE SUMMER MONTHS.
UM, THIS OCCURRED DURING A PERIOD WHERE OUR PRICE VOLATILITY CAN BE HIGH, UM, THAT THE PAST QUARTER, UH, WAS NEGATIVELY, NEGATIVELY IMPACTED BY BOTH SCHEDULED AND UNSCHEDULED POWER PLANT OUTAGES.
UM, WITH, UH, SPECIFIC WITH SPECIFICALLY A PLAN GENERATOR OUTAGE FOR DECKER TWO THAT WAS COMPLETED IN EARLY JANUARY.
UM, ADDITIONALLY, SOME OTHER PLANNED OUTAGES, UH, IMPACTED AVAILABILITY.
UM, THIS INCLUDES A SAND HILL, UH, PLANNED OUT AS TO REPLACE STEAM TURBINE BLADES OF FAYETTEVILLE POWER PLANT PLANNED OUTAGE FOR OUR STEAM TURBINE OVERHAUL AND A, UH, STP NUCLEAR UNIT REFUELING OUTAGE, UH, WHICH WAS COMPLETED AN IMPRESSIVE PERIOD OF TIME.
UM, LASTLY, THE RELIABILITY AND AVAILABILITY OF OUR PEAKER GENERATION FACILITIES WAS ONCE AGAIN, DEMONSTRATED BY THE 100% START SUCCESS IN BOTH Q4 AND Q1.
UH, THIS DATA IS A I'M UPDATED ON THE LATEST, UH, FROM THE LATEST FINANCIAL DATA.
UM, THE TOTAL, THE TOP LEFT, UH, PIE CHART IS THE TOTAL DOLLAR SPENT ON GENERATION, UH, BY PERCENT FROM OCTOBER TO DECEMBER, 2021.
THE CHART ON THE, UM, UM, LET'S SEE IF THIS WORKS.
THE TOP RIGHT-HAND CHART IS, UH, POINTS OUT THAT AUSTIN ENERGY, UH, GENERATED, UH, TO A 2 TRILLION, A MEGAWATT HOURS FROM OUR, UH, ASSETS, WHICH IS LESS THAN WHAT WE CONSUMED.
WE BROUGHT THE REST FROM THE ERCOT MARKET AND APOLOGIZE.
THAT'S 2.8 BILLION, UM, MEGAWATT HOURS.
BOTTOM LEFT GRAFT IS ASSISTANT PEAK FOR THIS SPECIFIC, UH, QUARTER, YEAR OR A YEAR.
AND THEN, UM, THE RIGHT-HAND LOWER CHART IS WE'VE GOT RENEWABLE POWERS THAT PERCENT OF CONSUMPTION.
NEXT SLIDE I'D LIKE TO TALK ABOUT IS OUR ELECTRIC SYSTEM RESILIENCE AND RELIABILITY, UM, RE UH, RESILIENCE AND RELIABILITY AS AN AUSTIN ENERGY STRATEGIC GOAL.
AUSTIN ENERGY HAS RECEIVED TWO INDUSTRY AWARDS FOR OVERALL SYSTEM RELIABILITY.
THE FIRST IS FROM FIRST CORE TILE CONSULTING, UH, AND THEIR BENCHMARKING SERVICES.
AND THE SECOND IS THE PA CONSULTING RELIABILITY, ONE EFFORT, AND THE RESULTS FROM THE APA, UH, THE PUBLIC POWER ASSOCIATION ARE NOT IN YET ON THE RIGHT HAND, UPPER RIGHT-HAND SIDE, UM, IS A QUOTE FROM ONE OF THE BENCHMARKING ORGANIZATIONS.
AUSTIN ENERGY, UH, STANDS AMONG A HANDFUL OF ELECTRIC UTILITIES AND PROVIDING ITS CUSTOMERS WITH SOME OF THE BEST OVERALL RELIABILITY IN NORTH AMERICA ON THE RELIABILITY STRENGTHS ON THE LEFT-HAND SIDE.
UM, OUR STRENGTHS AT AUSTIN ENERGY ARE OVERALL DISTRIBUTION RELIABILITY AND TRANSMISSION SYSTEM PERFORMANCE.
UM, LOWER LEFT IS CURRENT IMPROVEMENT INITIATIVES.
[01:10:01]
UH, EVEN THOUGH AUSTIN ENERGY IS FIRST CORE TILE, DISTRIBUTION RELIABILITY, THE ORGANIZATION RECOGNIZES THAT THERE'S POCKETS OF, UH, PERFORMANCE WHERE WE, WE'RE NOT WHERE WE WANT TO BE.AND A LOT OF THOSE ARE INTRIGUED OR HEAVY VEGETATION AREAS AND OTHER AREAS.
UM, AUSTIN ENERGY HAS HAD, UM, FOURTH CORE TILE, SUBSTATION RELIABILITY, WHICH MANIFEST ITSELF IN SHORT OUTAGES.
UH, THE TEAM HAS WORKED DILIGENTLY ON THAT OVER THE PAST CALENDAR YEAR, UM, AND IS LARGELY RESOLVED THE ROOT CAUSES OF, UH, OF, UH, BASICALLY ONE MINUTE SUBSTATION OUTAGES ON THE AUSTIN ENERGY SYSTEM.
AND WE'RE VERY PROUD OF THE TEAM FOR THE WORK THEY'VE ACCOMPLISHED FOR SYSTEM RELIABILITY.
AND THIS IS ON THE DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM, UM, LIKE TO TALK ABOUT THREE METRICS.
UM, THE FIRST IS SAFETY AND THIS IS A, THERE'S A LOT OF INFORMATION HERE, BUT THE, UM, THE CHART ON THE LEFT HAND SIDE SHOWS THE YELLOW BARS, TOP CORE TILE, UM, SAFETY, PERFORMANCE, AND SAFETY IS HOW OFTEN THE AVERAGE CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE IS A SUSTAINED INTERRUPTION.
THE BENCHMARK, UH, FOR TOP CORE TILE IS 0.72 FOR SAFETY.
AND YOU CAN SEE ON THE LEFT-HAND SIDE WHERE, UM, AUSTIN ENERGY IS CLOSE TO OR BEATS, UM, THAT, THAT TOP CORE TILE BENCHMARK ON THE RIGHT-HAND SIDE, THIS IS PART OF THE RELIABILITY, ONE BENCHMARKING.
UM, YOU CAN SEE THAT THE NUMBERS, UM, THEY GO AS HIGH AS, UH, ABOUT 2.25, UM, COMPARED TO THE, YOU KNOW, THE BENCHMARK OF 0.72 THAT AUSTIN ENERGY IS NEAR.
UM, YOU CAN SEE AS THE, UM, GRAPH GOES TO THE RIGHT, THE NUMBERS ON THE BOTTOM ARE THE NUMBERS OF UTILITIES.
SO THERE'S 91 UTILITIES IN THAT PARTICULAR PANEL.
UM, AUSTIN ENERGY AS WELL INTO THE, UH, TOP PERFORMANCE IN TERMS OF SAFETY.
NEXT SLIDE IS, UM, TALKS ABOUT SADIE.
SADIE'S A TOTAL DURATION OF INTERRUPTIONS FOR THE AVERAGE CUSTOMER DURING A PERIOD OF TIME.
AND AGAIN, YOU CAN SEE THE YELLOW LINE IS THE TOP CORE, TOP PERFORMANCE OF 57 AND AUSTIN ENERGY IS AT, UM, AT, OR EXCEEDS, UH, THAT BENCHMARKING LEVEL AGAIN ON THE RIGHT HAND SIDE, A PANEL OF 91 UTILITIES IN NORTH AMERICA.
UM, SADIE'S AS HIGH AS FOUR 50.
UM, AUSTIN ENERGY IS WELL DOWN IN 50, ABOUT 54.3.
UM, AND IS UP NEAR THE TOP PERFORMERS.
QUICK, QUICK QUESTION ON THE SAFETY AND SAFETY.
UM, DO WE HAVE A GENERAL SENSE OF THE, UH, REASONS FOR THE DECLINE THERE? AND, UH, IT WAS LIKE IN 20 Q1, TWO, THREE AND FOUR, WHEN WE WERE BELOW THE, UH, THE TOP CORE TILE THERE.
UM, DO WE KNOW WHAT, WHAT, WHAT, WHAT, WHAT TOOK US DOWN AND WHAT, WHAT BROUGHT US BACK UP HERE? WHAT, WHAT DOES A GOOD QUESTION? WHAT TYPICALLY I'LL JOCKEY THE NUMBERS A LITTLE BIT IS, UM, IS, IS WEATHER EVENTS THAT DON'T MEET THE THRESHOLD OF A MAJOR EVENT DAY, BUT STILL UNPACK THE SYSTEM AND KIND OF CYCLICAL SOME YEARS OF ROUGHER THAN OTHERS.
AND THE LAST SLIDE OF THESE IS I TALK THAT I LIKE TO TALK ABOUT IS THE CUSTOMER, UH, AVERAGE INTERRUPTION DURATION INDEX.
AND THIS IS BASICALLY THE AVERAGE TIME TO RESTORE SERVICE, OR KATIE IS CALLED KATIE.
UM, AGAIN, TOP CORE TILE PERFORMANCE IS ON THE LEFT-HAND BAR.
UM, AUSTIN ENERGY IS AT, UM, IS A BIT BASICALLY AT THAT THRESHOLD.
UM, ON THE RIGHT HAND SIDE, AGAIN, THE SAME PANEL OF 91 UTILITIES ACROSS NORTH AMERICA, UM, KATIE'S IS PUSHING ABOUT 250, ABOUT 230, UM, WORST CASE PERFORMERS, AUSTIN.
ENERGY'S A WELL TO THE RIGHT WAS 79.8.
SO TOP PERFORMER, ONE OF THE THINGS THAT SETS AUSTIN ENERGY APART FROM MOST OF THE UTILITIES IN NORTH AMERICA, AND THIS IS WHY THE ORGANIZATION IS CREDITED AS ONE OF THE TOP PERFORMERS, IS THAT THERE'S VERY FEW TO NO UTILITIES THAT HAVE TOP BENCHMARKING AND SADIE SAFETY AND KATIE, UH, SOME OF THEM ARE STRONG IN ONE, BUT NOT IN THE OTHERS.
AUSTIN ENERGY IS ONE THAT EXCELS IN ALL THREE CATEGORIES.
UH, THE NEXT THING I'D LIKE TO TALK ABOUT IS THE, UM, AUSTIN ENERGY, UH, OPERATIONAL UPDATE IS THE CARBON FOOTPRINT.
THEY RENEWABLE GENERATION AS A PERCENTAGE OF LOAD HAS BEEN, UM, INCREASING RECENTLY.
UM, AUSTIN ENERGY IS ADD MORE POWER, MORE RENEWABLE POWER PURCHASING AGREEMENTS TO THE PORTFOLIO IN 2021, WHICH HAS INCREASED THE PERCENTAGES OVERALL, SOME KEY PROGRAMS AND PROJECTS, UM, TO POINT OUT, UH, ARAGON SOLAR WAS ENERGIZED, TESTED, AND WENT INTO COMMERCIAL
[01:15:01]
OPERATION LATE LAST YEAR.UH, THERE IS A BATTERY STORAGE RFP, WHICH WILL BE ISSUED, UH, BY THE END OF THE MONTH.
THE TEAM IS WORKING VERY DILIGENTLY ON THAT.
UM, AND THAT'S REFRESHING OFFERS FROM THE LAST, UM, UH, RFP COULD TOM, I DON'T THAT LAST BULLET REFRESHING OFFERS.
DO YOU, DOES THAT MEAN YOU REISSUED IT AND YOU'RE GETTING NEW OFFERS? I DON'T KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS.
WELL, MICHAEL, COME ON UP ESSENTIALLY.
UM, AS YOU GUYS ARE PROBABLY WELL AWARE, THERE'S BEEN A LOT OF ISSUES WITH THE SUPPLY CHAIN, AS WELL AS SOME CHANGES WITH CUSTOMS AND BORDER PATROL ON HOW THEY'RE VIEWING SOME OF THE PANELS BEING IMPORTED.
AND SO WE HAVE SEEN A LOT OF DEVELOPERS HAVING TROUBLE MAINTAINING SOME EARLY PROPOSAL PRICES.
AND SO WE WERE GOING BACK OUT TO OUR, TO OUR TOP PROJECTS AND HAVING REFRESHED PRICES TO ENSURE THAT THEY'RE STILL WITHIN AN AREA THAT WE WANT TO MOVE FORWARD WITH THEM.
W W SO THIS WAS FROM, UM, BASICALLY LAST YEAR'S RFP IS THAT THAT'S CORRECT.
THIS RFP CLOSED LAST YEAR IN SEPTEMBER.
AND WE'VE BEEN GOING THROUGH A, QUITE A BIT OF MODELING AND SENSITIVITY ANALYSIS.
UH, WE'VE WE'VE GOTTEN DOWN TO A SHORTLIST, BUT WE HAVE BEEN SEEING OVER THE LAST, UH, TWO TO THREE MONTHS, UH, JUST A, A LOT OF SUPPLY CHAIN RELATED ISSUES, AS WELL AS A LOT OF INFLATIONARY PRESSURES.
WE'VE SEEN THE COST OF STEEL GO UP SIGNIFICANTLY.
AND SO A LOT OF THESE PROPOSALS, MANY OF THE DEVELOPERS ARE UNABLE TO STAND ON THE ORIGINAL PRICE THEY HAVE OFFERED US.
SO DEPENDING ON WHAT THAT THOSE FINALS OFFERS ON, YOU MIGHT DECIDE TO BRING SOME FORWARD, OR YOU MIGHT SAY NOT A GOOD TIME AND YOU WOULDN'T BRING ANYTHING FORWARD TO US.
IS THAT FAIR TO SAY? THAT IS CORRECT? YES.
WE'VE GOTTEN ON A ROUTINE WHERE WE ISSUE AN RFP EACH AND EVERY YEAR FOR RENEWABLE POWER SO THAT WE CAN, UH, HAVE TRANSPARENCY INTO THE RENEWABLE POWER MARKET AND HOW IT IS TRENDING AND MAKE DECISIONS ON WINNER AND PPH WHEN THERE ARE MORE ECONOMIC FOR US AND HELP US MEET OUR ENVIRONMENTAL GOALS, EXCUSE ME, I DON'T QUITE UNDERSTAND THEY PUT IN AND SOME OF THEM ARE BACKING OUT FOR THE REASONS THAT ISN'T THERE A PERIOD WHERE AUSTIN ENERGY, UH, WITHIN 90 DAYS OR SOME TIME PERIOD, THAT, THAT THOSE OFFERS ARE FROM OFFERS.
WE DO OFFER, WE DO ASK THEM TO PROVIDE FIRM OFFERS FOR 90 DAYS.
IT HAS BEEN LONGER THAN 90 DAYS AND THE TIME IT TOOK US TO GET TO THIS POINT IN OUR ANALYSIS.
AND EVEN THOUGH THOSE OFFERS ARE OFFERED IN US FIRM OFFERS NOTHING IS FIRM UNTIL WE'VE SIGNED A CONTRACT.
THERE'S ALWAYS THE OPPORTUNITY FOR A DEVELOPER TO, TO WALK AWAY FROM SOMETHING THEY HAVE PROPOSED.
AND WE ARE ACTUALLY HEARING ABOUT A NUMBER OF POWER PURCHASE AGREEMENTS WITHIN THE UNITED STATES RIGHT NOW THAT THAT ARE ON THE VERGE OF FAILING.
OUR DEVELOPERS ARE BEING UNABLE TO MEET THE CONTRACTUAL OBLIGATIONS THAT THEY'VE ALREADY SIGNED WITH PEOPLE OVER THIS PAST COUPLE OF YEARS, BUT WE'RE NOT IN THAT SITUATION WHERE WE HAD ACCEPTED SOMETHING AND THEY BACKED OUT.
WE ARE NOT IN THAT SITUATION TODAY.
WE, UH, WE HAVE DONE, UH, SIX PAS, UH, SINCE I THINK ABOUT 2017, WHICH PART OF OUR STRATEGIC INITIATIVE, FIVE OF THOSE SIX PPS HAVE GONE COMMERCIAL, UH, ARAGORN WAS THAT FIFTH AT THE END OF THE YEAR, WE DO HAVE ONE MORE PPA, BUT IT IS A, A LONG DAY TO PPA AND IT'S NOT EXPECTED TO GO COD UNTIL THE END OF 2023.
AND SO THERE IS QUITE SOME TIME IN BETWEEN WHEN WE SIGN THAT PPA AGREEMENT AND WHEN IT GOES COV, IT'S THE, UH, BATTERY RFP IS THAT, UH, OUR FIRST RFP ON BATTERY STORAGE, UH, IT IS NOT OUR FIRST RFP ON BATTERY STORAGE.
UH, WE TYPICALLY HAVE DONE RPS WHERE WE COMBINE VALERIE STORAGE, UH, WITH AN ASSET OR WE ASK FOR A STANDALONE BATTERY STORAGE.
UH, THIS IS OUR FIRST, I THINK, SOLO RFP FOR STANDALONE BATTERY STORAGE.
AND WE'RE REALLY LOOKING TO IDENTIFY, UH, QUALITY DEVELOPERS AND LOOK FOR VERY LARGE PROJECTS.
I WAS GOING TO ASK WHAT'S THE SIZE.
UM, WE ARE PROBABLY LOOKING AT SOMETHING AROUND A 200 MEGAWATT HOUR BATTERY, UH, POTENTIALLY A LITTLE BIT LARGER, UM, AND, OH, SORRY.
AND WE'RE REALLY LOOKING AT, AT DOING SO, UH, IN ANTICIPATION OF HOW TO BUILD OUT OUR OVERALL PORTFOLIO AS WE ADD MORE AND MORE SOLAR.
AND WE'RE SEEING BIGGER, BIGGER RAPES, UH, AHEAD OF THE SUN AND AFTER THE SUN.
UH, NEXT THING TO TALK ABOUT IS THE DISTRICT COOLING PROJECTS.
[01:20:01]
KI KI COOLING ACTIVITIES AS WE HAVE, UM, DISTRICT PLANT THREE DOWNTOWN, UH, AT THE CRESCENT.UM, THE PROJECT IS SUBSTANTIALLY COMPLETE AND, UH, PROGRESS TO THE FINAL COMPLETION CONTINUES.
AND THEN THE OTHER IS THE AUSTIN COMMUNITY COLLEGE HIGHLAND CAMPUS, UH, WHERE WE'RE CONSTRUCTING A 6,000 TON CHILLED WATER PLANT WITH THERMAL ENERGY STORAGE.
AND THAT PROJECT IS SUSPECTED TO BE SUBSTANTIALLY COMPLETE IN THE COMING WEEKS.
I LIKE TO WRAP UP WITH SOME, UH, SOME OF OUR, UM, TOP ITEMS IN A GRID RESILIENCE, UH, ON IMPROVED DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM RELIABILITY, UM, MADE SIGNIFICANT PROGRESS ON OUR TOP 10 FEEDERS IN BOTH PERFORMANCE AND WILDFIRE CRITICALITY.
UM, A LOT OF THIS HAS TO DO WITH, UH, UH, VEGETATION AND, UH, HAVING, UH, HAVING UP THE INFRASTRUCTURE, UM, PHASE TWO, WE HAVE OUR OVERALL DISTRIBUTION RESILIENCE PROGRAM ESTABLISHED AND ROLLING IT OUT.
AND, UH, BASICALLY THAT'S TAKING MORE OF A PROGRAM AND LOOK AT A NUMBER OF CRITERIA ON FEEDERS OR CIRCUITS THAT HAVE THE POOREST RELIABILITY UNDER IMPROVED SUBSTATION RELIABILITY.
UM, I MENTIONED THAT EARLIER PHASE TWO, UM, IT'S CALLED SLOW BREAKER OPERATION, BUT WHAT THIS IS IS A BREAKER THAT SLOWED OPERATE AND IT TRIPS THE ENTIRE SUBSTATION FOR A MINUTE OR LESS.
UM, AND AUSTIN ENERGY TEAM HAS REFURBISHED, UH, OVER 130 SUBSTATION BREAKERS USING IN HOUSE PERSONNEL MATERIALS AND TOOLS, WHICH IS QUITE A FEAT IN THE UTILITY INDUSTRY.
AND THEY'VE DONE IT ABOUT SEVEN MONTHS UNDER IMPROVING, UH, NETWORK UNDERGROUND NETWORK RELIABILITY, UM, AUSTIN ENERGY, UM, HAD A SIGNIFICANT EFFORT UNDERWAY TO MODEL THE UNDERGROUND SYSTEM, AND THIS IS DOWN THE DOWNTOWN AREA, UM, AND GET IT INTO THE AMS SO THAT THERE'S MORE INTELLIGENCE ABOUT HOW THE UNDERGROUND NETWORK IS PERFORMING.
UM, PHASE ONE AND PHASE TWO HAVE BEEN COMPLETED PHASE THREE, THE, UH, NETWORK SECONDARY CIRCUITS.
AND THIS IS PRIMARILY IN THE LOW RISE, OLD CO UH, KIND OF COMMERCIAL AREAS.
THE TEAM IS WORKING TO MODEL THAT IN AMS TO GET BETTER INSIGHTS ON WHAT'S GOING ON ON THE SECONDARY NETWORK AND THEN TRANSMISSION SYSTEM OF THE FUTURE.
UM, TWO PHASES HAVE BEEN COMPLETE, UH, COMPLETED IN THE, UM, UH, RESOURCE PLAN, UM, TO 2030.
UM, PHASE THREE IS STARTED, UH, WE HAVE A CONTRACTOR ON BOARD AND WE'RE UNDERWAY WITH THE TRANSMISSION SYSTEM ASSESSMENT.
AND, UH, THERE'S ONE MORE SLIDE ACTUALLY THAT I HAVE IN THE NEXT PRESENTATION.
AND I'LL, UH, IS THAT TIMELINE OF GETTING THAT TRANSMISSION STUDY BY THE END OF 2023? IS THAT WHAT YOU GUYS ANTICIPATED OR IS THAT LONGER THAN YOU ANTICIPATE IT'S RIGHT NOW? IT'S, THAT'S A GOOD QUESTION.
IT'S LONGER THAN WE ANTICIPATED.
AND WE MET WITH, UH, THE, UM, CONSULTING FIRM TODAY.
WE THINK WE CAN SIGNIFICANTLY IMPROVE ON THAT NUMBER, UH, AND WE'LL WORK IN TOWARDS THAT BECAUSE WE KNOW HOW IMPORTANT IT IS, ANY OTHER QUESTIONS, AND I'LL GO ONTO THAT LAST PRESENTATION.
SO THIS IS ACTUALLY MOVING ON TO ITEM NUMBER 18.
I HAD ONE QUESTION FROM A LONG TIME AGO.
UM, WHEN YOU SAID THAT, UH, I SAW THAT THE FA POWER PLANT WAS OUT, UH, PARTIALLY IN THE FIRST QUARTER OF THIS YEAR.
AND YOU SAID THAT'S BECAUSE THERE'S A, UM, A STEAM TURBINE ISSUE OR IS SOMETHING, IS SOMETHING BROKEN OR IS THIS JUST NORMAL MAINTENANCE IT'S UM, I CALL IT IT'S KIND OF BOTH IS, IS FAIR.
SO IT'S A, UM, UH, IT'S AN OVERHAUL BLOOD, UH, THAT REQUIRES BLADE REMOVAL AND REPLACEMENT.
AND SO CLEARLY THE TEAM EITHER IN ADVANCE OR DURING THE OUTAGE DISCOVERED THAT THE BLADES WERE NOT SUITABLE TO PUT BACK INTO SERVICE, BUT I DON'T BELIEVE IN THAT WE GET DETAILS ON THIS, THAT IT WAS A FAILURE DURING OPERATION.
IT WAS, UH, IT WAS ITEMS THAT NEEDED TO BE DONE DURING A PLANNED OVERHAUL.
I MAY, I MAY SUBMIT A QUESTION ON THAT LATER, JUST IN WRITING, PLEASE.
THANKS GENERALLY, HOW FAR IN ADVANCE DO YOU SCHEDULE THE PLANNED OUTAGES THAT THE, UM, THAT WOULD BE DEPENDING ON WHAT TYPE OF UNIT IT IS SO THAT, YOU KNOW, THE NUCLEAR IS THE LONGEST LEAD TIME.
AND IF, IF YOU, LIKE, WE CAN GET SPECIFIC ANSWERS, NUCLEAR AS LONG LEAD TIME.
AND A LOT OF THE OUTAGES ARE LONG DURATION, DEPENDING ON WHAT'S BEING DONE AT THE PLANT.
UM, SOME OF THE UNITS, LIKE THE GAS TURBINES MIGHT HAVE A SHORTER TIMELINE.
THEY'VE GOT A CYCLIC MAINTENANCE THAT HAS TO BE DONE.
UM, BUT YOU KNOW, THE TEAMS CAN GET IN THERE PRETTY QUICKLY AND DO WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE.
AND THEN, YOU KNOW, SOMETHING, A BIGGER UNIT, LIKE A COAL PLANT
[01:25:01]
IS FALL SOMEWHERE IN THE MIDDLE.SO, UM, I THINK IF THERE ARE NO ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS, WE'LL MOVE ON
[18. February 2021 Winter Storms After Action Report Follow-up re Load Shed and Circuit Sectionalizin]
TO ITEM NUMBER 18.THIS IS THE FEBRUARY, 2021 WINTER STORM AFTER ACTION REPORT, FOLLOW UP REGARDING LOAD SHED AND CIRCUIT SECTIONAL, ANYTHING.
UH, AS A POINT OF PERSONAL PRIVILEGE, WHEN WE SPOKE, WHEN WE LAST MET HERE IN PERSON, WE RECEIVED THE, WE RECEIVED THE REPORT AND EVERYONE SAW VISUALLY THE ACTIONS TAKEN BY AUSTIN ENERGY STAFF.
IT WAS CROOK, IT WAS TREMENDOUS PEOPLE WHO HAD NO ELECTRICITY AT THEIR HOMES LINE WORKERS WHO LEFT THEIR FAMILIES, PERSONS IN ADMINISTRATION HERE, SIMILARLY SUFFERED AND PUT CUSTOMERS ABOVE THE NEEDS OF THEIR FAMILIES.
WE DID NOT HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY, THE AGENDA BEING SUCH TO RECOGNIZE AS A COMMISSION, THE IMPORTANT WORK, AND JUST SAY, THANK YOU.
AND, UH, AND I REALLY DEEPLY ADMIRE AND RESPECT THE WORK OF EACH AND EVERY AUSTIN ENERGY EMPLOYEE, STAFF MEMBER LEADERSHIP.
AND WE ARE COMING UP WITHIN A FEW HOURS ON THE FIRST ANNIVERSARY OF THE AIR COTTON MANDATED LOAD SHEDS JUST A FEW HOURS AWAY.
SO THE NEXT PRESENTATION, WE'LL TALK ABOUT THE, UM, 20, 21 WINTER STORMS AFTER ACTION REPORT WITH A SPECIFIC FOCUS ON, UM, UH, THE ERCOT MANDATED, UH, LOAD SHEDS TOPICS ARE, UH, REAL QUICKLY.
AND I'LL GO THROUGH THESE SLIDES VERY QUICKLY.
UH, THE TOPICS ARE THAT 2021, UH, WINTER STORMS AFTER ACTION REPORT, THE IMPACT OF THE ERCOT MANDATED LOAD SHED, UM, CIRCUIT RECONFIGURATION, AND SECTIONALIZING, WHICH HAS BEEN A BIG TOPIC IN SOME AREAS.
UM, AND THEN WE'LL TALK ABOUT THE STATUS OF THE FOLLOW-UP ITEMS AND THEN ANY QUESTIONS AND COMMENTS I'VE BEEN HERE AT AUSTIN ENERGY FOR ABOUT TWO AND A HALF YEARS.
SO WHEN THIS, ALL THIS HAPPENED LAST YEAR, I'VE BEEN HERE ABOUT A YEAR AND A HALF.
UM, I COME FROM THE LARGEST UTILITY IN THE COUNTRY.
UM, I'VE BEEN THROUGH ABOUT A HUNDRED EVENTS, I THINK BALLPARK ISH.
UM, THE, UH, UM, I'VE BEEN INVOLVED IN THREE OF THE FOUR POLAR VORTEXES IN AN OPERATIONAL ROLE, UM, UH, TO COMMISSIONER CHAPMAN'S POINT.
UM, I WANT TO SAY THAT FROM WHAT I'VE SEEN IN RESPONSES, UH, THE TEAM AT AUSTIN ENERGY PERFORMS AMONG THE BEST IN THE INDUSTRY THAT I'VE BEEN PRIVILEGED TO WORK WITH.
UM, I'D ALSO LIKE TO, UM, UH, POINT OUT THAT AUSTIN ENERGY, THE TEAM, DESPITE THAT, UH, THE WHOLE TEAM WAS ALL IN AND REALLY TAKING A HARD LOOK WITH THIS AFTER ACTIONS REPORT AND REALLY LEAVING NO STONE UNTURNED.
UM, AND I ADMIRE THE TEAM FOR BEING WILLING TO TAKE THAT ON.
ONE OF THE THINGS IN THE AFTER ACTION REPORT IS, UH, UN UH, UNDER OBSERVATION FIVE, THERE WAS A BIG FOCUS ON THE, UH, ERCOT MANDATED LOAD SHED, WHICH I'LL TALK SOME ABOUT HERE IN THESE NEXT SLIDES.
THIS IS A, A VERY BUSY SLIDE, BUT IT TALKS ABOUT AND SHOWS VISUALLY THE WHOLE EVENT, THE POLAR VORTEX, UH, BROKE UP AROUND THE NORTH POLE.
AND THIS IS SUPER COLD WINDS AT NORMALLY CIRCLED.
THE NORTH POLE BROKE UP INTO SEND IT IN THE UNITED STATES IN THIS PARTICULAR CASE.
UH, IT CAME DOWN THROUGH CENTRAL CANADA, CENTRAL US INTO TEXAS AND NORTHERN MEXICO, WHICH IS FAIR, UH, PROBABLY ON PRESENT UNPRECEDENTED.
UH, THE EVENT STARTED REALLY KIND OF THE 10TH, THE 10TH, NINTH, OR 10TH OF FEBRUARY.
UM, AND THEN, UH, WAS STAYED WITH US QUITE A WHILE AND WAS, UH, COMBINED WITH, UH, MULTIPLE PRECIPITATION EVENTS.
SO YOU MIGHT RECALL FROM LAST YEAR, THE POLAR VORTEX DESCENDED.
WE HAD PRECIPITATION IN THE AUSTIN KIND OF CENTRAL TEXAS REGION, AND THERE WAS A ICE STORM WITH OUTAGES OF ABOUT 30, 30, 30 5,000 TOTAL.
THOSE RAYS WERE RESTORED OVER THE WEEKEND AND ALL WAS ALWAYS WELL, UH, UNTIL THE MORNING OF THE 15TH ABOUT 1:00 AM WHEN, UH, UH, ERCOT HAD TO MANDATE LOAD SHEDS TO KEEP THE GRID WHOLE, UM, AS YOU CAN SEE ON THIS,
[01:30:01]
UH, BLUE KIND OF LINE THAT SHOWS THE OUTAGES FROM THE, UH, EVENT ON THE 11TH AND 12TH, AND YOU CAN SEE THERE REALLY WASN'T STORM ACTIVITY, BUT THE OUTAGE HAS SHOT WAY UP AS WE ENTERED THE ERCOT MANDATED LOAD SHEDS.THIS IS AUSTIN ENERGY ONLY, RIGHT? YES MA'AM.
IT, IT, IT, I WOULD SURMISE THAT THERE MIGHT BE SOME SIMILARITIES WITH OTHER UTILITIES.
I DON'T KNOW THAT THEY'VE PRESENTED THE DATA IN THIS WAY THOUGH.
UM, THE ERCOT MANDATED LOAD SHEDS, UH, LARGELY RAN OVER, UH, THE BETTER PART OF, UH, UH, THREE DAYS AND INTO A FOURTH.
UM, UH, THE TEXAS REGION WAS FINALLY RELEASED FROM THE LOAD SHEDS, UH, SOMETIME ON THE 18TH AND, UH, SET ABOUT RESTORING CUSTOMERS AND INCLUDING, UH, COLD LOAD PICKUP ISSUES FROM CIRCUITS THAT HAVE BEEN OFF FOR A PERIOD OF TIME.
AND THEN AS WE ALL, UH, KIND OF RECALL, THE TEMPERATURES KIND OF WENT UP AROUND THE 20TH, 21ST, AND WE KIND OF CAME OUT OF THE BACK END OF THE EVENT.
UM, CERTAINLY AN EVENT FOR ALL OF US THAT WE, UH, SINCERELY HOPE WE DON'T HAVE TO LIVE THROUGH.
AGAIN, LIKE TO TALK ABOUT THE, FOR LOAD SHED FOR THE ERCOT MANDATED LOAD SHED.
UM, THERE'S BEEN A LOT OF DISCUSSION, UH, IN THE INDUSTRY.
THERE'S A LOT OF FOLKS ON THE NEWS, UH, KIND OF TALKING ABOUT THIS RIGHT NOW WITH THE ANNIVERSARY, UM, FOR THE LOAD SHEDS, WE HAVE AUSTIN ENERGY HAS DIFFERENT CATEGORIES OF CIRCUITS THAT GET PUT INTO, UH, INTO LOW SHED.
THE FIRST IS WHAT'S CALLED MANUAL LOAD SHED, AND THESE ARE ALL, THESE ARE ALL CIRCUITS ARE FEEDERS THAT CAN BE CYCLED.
UM, TYPICALLY THE, THE AMOUNT THAT ARE CAUGHT REQUIRES IS ENTERED INTO THE CONTROL CENTER COMPUTER, AND THE COMPUTER RUNS THE, UM, RUNS AT RANDOM, REALLY THE, UH, THE CIRCUITS THAT ARE GONNA GET CYCLED FOR THAT PERIOD OF TIME.
ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE EXPERIENCED IN THE, UM, IN THE LAST EVENT, THE WAS THE DEPTH AND BREADTH OF THE, UH, REDUCTIONS, WHICH LIMITED THE CYCLING OPPORTUNITIES.
IDEALLY, UH, THINGS ARE SET UP SO THAT IT'S 50 MINUTES ON AND 10 MINUTES OFF FOR THE CIRCUITS THAT CAN BE CYCLED, BUT THE ERCOT MANDATED LOAD SHED WAS SO GREAT THAT WASN'T POSSIBLE.
UM, THE SECOND CATEGORY IS CALLED UNDER FREQUENCY LOAD SHED.
AND THESE ARE CIRCUITS THAT ARE REQUIRED BY, UH, ERCOT TO BE RESERVED AND PRE-PROGRAMMED TO TRIP UNDER CERTAIN PARAMETERS.
AND THIS IS ABOUT 25% OF THE LOAD, UM, FOR EVERY UTILITY IN TEXAS THERE'S LAST YEAR AS AUSTIN ENERGY GOT INTO THE LOAD SHED EVENT, AS THE LOAD STARTS COMING DOWN, IT'S POSSIBLE TO PUT THE, THIS CATEGORY OF CIRCUITS INTO LOAD SHED, UM, CAUSE YOU DON'T NEED AS MANY CIRCUITS ANYMORE.
AND SO, UH, WE HAVE THAT SET UP TO MOVE THOSE CIRCUITS OUT OF UFL S INTO REGULAR CYCLING.
UM, THE NEXT CATEGORY IS, UH, DEDICATED AND INDUSTRIAL, AND THESE ARE CIRCUITS AND CUSTOMERS THAT CAN'T BE CYCLED.
UM, IT'S, IT'S INCREDIBLY DISRUPTIVE OR EVEN DESTRUCTIVE TO THE OPERATIONS, UM, UH, ESPECIALLY INDUSTRIAL CUSTOMERS.
IT'S NOT POSSIBLE TO JUST TURN THEM ON AND TURN THEM OFF AGAIN.
UM, WHAT AUSTIN ENERGY HAS DONE OVER THE PAST YEAR IS FOCUSED TREMENDOUSLY ON CUSTOMER SIDE CURTAILMENTS OR DEMAND RESPONSE, UM, OPPORTUNITIES INSTEAD OF POWER INTERRUPTIONS FOR THESE TYPES OF CUSTOMERS, THE, UH, THE REDUCTIONS CAN BE, THEY CAN DROP TO VERY DEEP REDUCTIONS AND HOLD THEM FOR LONG PERIODS OF TIME.
REQUESTS, WHAT ARE WE PAYING? WHAT ARE WE AUSTIN ENERGY PAYING, UH, FOR THE, THOSE LARGE COMMERCIAL CUSTOMERS, UH, IN ORDER TO BE ABLE TO CYCLE THEM OFF ON DIFFERENT TY, I AM IMAGINE THAT YOU HAVE DIFFERENT TIE, YOU KNOW, 30 MINUTES AN HOUR NOTICE, ET CETERA, BUT WHAT ARE THOSE AN EXCELLENT COST? AN EXCELLENT QUESTION THAT COSTS TOSSED AND ENERGY IS ZERO.
UH, THE CUSTOMERS HAVE VOLUNTEERED.
THE CUSTOMERS THAT ARE IN THIS, IN THE CURTAILMENT PROGRAMS IN LIEU OF LOW SHED HAD VOLUNTEERED TO BRING DOWN THEIR, THEIR LOADS DRAMATICALLY, SO THEY DON'T GET SHUT OFF, BUT ARE THESE CUSTOMERS THAT HAVE CONTRACTS WHERE THEY ARE RECEIVING POWER, HAD A LOWER CALL? I, THE OVER COSTS, THESE WOULD TYPICALLY BE, UM, LET ME THINK THROUGH YOUR QUESTION.
THESE WOULD TYPICALLY BE CUSTOMERS THAT CAN'T ENGAGE IN OTHER MARKET OR, OR CAUGHT PROGRAMS. UM, AND SO THEIR, THEIR FACILITIES ARE, ARE RESPONSIVE TO BE, TO BE ABLE TO BRING DOWN THEIR LOAD AND RUN BACK UP POWER ON SITE.
BASICALLY THE, UM, THE NEXT CATEGORY, THERE WAS A LOT OF, UM, UH, KIND OF OBSERVATIONS ABOUT THE DOWNTOWN, UH, SYSTEM.
[01:35:01]
CUSTOMERS THAT IT'S A LOAD SHED IS VERY, CAN BE VERY DESTRUCTIVE ON THEIR EQUIPMENT.UM, AND ALSO, UNFORTUNATELY, THE ADDED DIMENSION IS THAT LOAD CYCLING, THE DOWNTOWN NETWORK WOULD BE DESTRUCTIVE TO THE ELECTRIC SYSTEM.
SO SAME WITH THESE CUSTOMERS DOWNTOWN WORKING WITH THE CUSTOMERS TO BE ABLE TO TURN DOWN THE LIGHTS, BRING DOWN THEIR LOAD, UH, TO, TO A SET LEVEL, AS OPPOSED TO TRYING TO CYCLE OR TURN THEM OFF.
AND THEN THE LAST CATEGORY THAT I'LL POINT OUT IS, UH, CRITICAL LOAD LIFE-SUSTAINING.
THIS WILL BE HOSPITALS, SURGERY CENTERS, TRUE SURGERY CENTERS, UM, SOME CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE.
AND WE WANT TO POINT OUT THAT AUSTIN ENERGY HAD NONE OF THESE FACILITIES THAT LOST POWER ON THE LIFE SUSTAINING TYPE FACILITIES.
TOM, I'M TRYING TO UNDERSTAND IN MY MIND TO DISTINGUISH THINGS.
SO WHAT YOU'RE PRESENTING, THIS IS WHERE ERCOT IS MANDATING A LOAD SHED, BUT WE DO, WE DO HAVE VOLUNTARY LOAD PROGRAMS WHERE WE DO PAY PEOPLE TO REDUCE THEIR USE DURING PEAK TIMES.
BUT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT THIS ABOUT PARTICULAR IN LOAD SHED.
THANK YOU FOR THAT DISTINCTION, THE PROGRAMS WHERE CUSTOMERS ARE ALREADY ENROLLED IN SOMETHING ELSE, LIKE AN ENERGY MANAGEMENT DEMAND RESPONSE, UM, THEY WOULD TYPICALLY NOT BE ABLE TO CURTAIL AS PART OF LOAD SHED.
UH, SO DEPENDING ON THE CUSTOMER, THEY MIGHT BE CYCLED AS WELL WITH, WITH THE OTHER CUSTOMERS.
AND THOSE CUSTOMERS CAN GET INCENTIVES AND CAN BE PAID TO PARTICIPATE IN THOSE PROGRAMS. YES, YES, YES, EXACTLY.
THERE'S, THERE'S BEEN A LOT OF DISCUSSION IN SOME AREAS ABOUT CIRCUIT RECONFIGURATION, BUT ESPECIALLY CIRCUIT SECTIONALIZING.
UM, AND SECTIONALIZING IS WHERE, UH, UH, OVERHEAD RADIAL, YOU KNOW, POINT A TO POINT B AND THE POINT A B AND A SUBSTATION, A POINT B UH, THE END OF THE, OR IS BROKEN UP INTO SECTIONS AND SWITCHES ARE PUT IN THE SECTIONS.
SO CHUNKS OF THE CIRCUIT OR FEET, OR CAN BE DEACTIVATED IF YOU WILL.
UM, THAT, THAT WAS, THAT HAS BEEN DONE AT AUSTIN ENERGY, BUT IT'S ALSO BEEN MAYBE A LITTLE BIT OF SOURCE OF CONFUSION WITH REGARDS TO LOAD SHED.
SO THESE CIRCUITS, THESE DEVICES AND SWITCHES WERE PUT ON THESE CIRCUITS FOR RELIABILITY.
SO IF A, UM, UH, LIKE A TREE LAMB OR SOMETHING, OR A CAR HITS A POLE AT THE END OF THE CIRCUIT, THESE DEVICES CAN OPEN UP AT THE END OF THE CIRCUIT, BUT KEEP THE UPSTREAM STUFF ENERGIZED.
AND IT WAS SPECIFICALLY DESIGNED FOR RELIABILITY.
SO THE KIND OF THE THOUGHT PROCESS IS, WELL, COULD THESE BE USED FOR LOAD SHED? AND, UM, UH, SO AUSTIN ENERGY HAS BEEN LOOKING TO SEE IF, IF THAT'S POSSIBLE AND IT IS CHALLENGING.
UM, ONE OF THE KEY THINGS IS THE LOCATION OF CRITICAL CUSTOMERS.
A LOT OF TIMES THEY'RE EVENLY DISTRIBUTED ON THE CIRCUIT.
UM, SO IT'S, IT'S, IT MAKES IT MORE DIFFICULT TO SECTIONALIZE CIRCUITS, FOUR, FOUR LOAD SHED, CAUSE YOU'RE STILL TURNING OFF CRITICAL LOAD CUSTOMERS.
UM, THERE'S ALSO SOME INFRASTRUCTURE ISSUES THAT HAVE TO BE LOOKED AT LIKE POLE LOADING, UH, CIRCUIT DENSITY, AND THIRD-PARTY COMMUNICATIONS ATTACHMENTS TO SEE IF CIRCUITS CAN BE FURTHER BROKEN UP, UM, W AND THERE'S AFFORDABILITY.
SOMETIMES IT'S JUST TOO EXPENSIVE TO TRY AND BREAK UP THESE CIRCUITS FOR, UH, LET'S SAY, IN THIS CASE LOAD SHED, UH, AUSTIN ENERGY DOES HAVE A LOAD SHED SECTIONALIZING PILOT.
UM, THE TEAM'S LOOKING AT SEVEN CIRCUITS.
THIS WOULD HAVE TO BE KIND OF DONE, UH, MANUALLY, UM, UH, IN MORE CIRCUITS SINCE THEN THE SEVEN WERE REQUIRE FULL AUTOMATION.
AND THAT KIND OF GETS TO THE LAST POINT, IS THESE DEVICES IN THE CIRCUITS HAVE BEEN SET UP FOR RELIABILITY BASED, UH SECTIONALIZING BUT NOT LOAD SHED SECTIONALIZING.
AND SO SOME OF THE CHALLENGES ARE, YOU KNOW, THE CRITICAL LOAD CUSTOMERS.
LIKE I SAID, THEY'VE GOT TO BE AT THE HEAD END OF THE CIRCUIT, THE CONTROL CENTER COMPUTER, UH, HAS THE ALGORITHM.
IT DOES THE LOAD SHED ON A CIRCUIT BASIS.
THAT'S ALREADY A COMPLEX PIECE OF SOFTWARE AND TRYING TO FURTHER SUBDIVIDE THAT INTO SUBSECTIONS OF FEEDERS, UH, WOULD EVEN BE MORE COMPLICATED.
SO THERE'D HAVE TO BE SOME CHANGES TO THE CONTROL CENTER COMPUTER.
UM, AUSTIN ENERGY WOULD HAVE TO BUILD OUT A TWO-WAY WIRELESS COMMUNICATION SYSTEM.
THAT'S VERY FAST, FASTER THAN AMI.
UH, CAUSE WHEN THE COMMANDS GO OUT TO THESE DEVICES, THEY'VE GOT TO GET, THERE HAS TO BE A RESPONSE IMMEDIATELY.
UM, AND THEN THERE'D BE NEW EQUIPMENT, UM, AT, AT SOME OF THE POLES AND SOME OF THE EXISTING EQUIPMENT WOULD HAVE TO BE MODIFIED.
UM, SO, SO VERY CHALLENGING TO SECTIONALIZE, UM, STILL SERIOUSLY LOOKING AT IT.
UH, AND THIS IS SECTIONALIZING FOR LOAD SHED WAS STILL SERIOUSLY LOOKING AT IT, BUT VERY CHALLENGING.
UM, SO I'VE KIND OF JUMPED TO THIS SLIDE.
WHAT ARE THE AUSTIN ENERGY TEAM HAS DONE IF YOU LOOK, IF YOU THINK BACK ON THE CATEGORIES THAT WE TALKED ABOUT EARLIER, MANUAL LOAD SHED, UNDER FREQUENCY LOAD SHED, DEDICATED INDUSTRIAL
[01:40:01]
DOWNTOWN UNDERGROUND NETWORK AND CRITICAL LOAD LIFE-SUSTAINING, THERE'S BEEN A NUMBER OF ACTIONS TO TRY AND BUILD THE LOAD SHED LIST.UM, UH, FIRST OF ALL, AS, AS I MENTIONED EARLIER, THE INDUSTRIAL CURTAILMENT PROGRAM, HAVING CUSTOMERS COME DOWN, UH, TO PREDEFINE LEVELS AND HOLDING THEIR NETS A LOT OF, UM, A LOT OF MEGAWATTS, UM, LIKEWISE ON THE LEFT DOING THE SAME FOR COMMERCIAL, UM, THE AUSTIN ENERGY TEAM HAS RECONFIGURED THREE, UH, CRITICAL LOAD CIRCUITS.
SO WHERE A CRITICAL LOAD CUSTOMER WAS PUT ON ANOTHER FEEDER AND THE REST OF THE, THE FEEDER THEY CAME OFF OF IS NOW AVAILABLE FOR LOAD SHED.
SO THERE'S BEEN THREE OPPORTUNITIES WHERE WE FOUND THAT, UM, YOU, I THINK THAT'S A KEY POINT.
SO IN THAT, SO THAT AS OPPOSED TO, UH, SECTIONALIZING AGAIN, WHICH HAS GOTTEN A LOT OF AIRTIME IN SOME AREAS, UM, OF THE COMMUNITY, UM, IT'LL, IT'LL, IT COULD NET MAYBE, BUT THERE'S A LOT OF COSTS.
THESE, THESE EFFORTS HAVE NETTED QUITE A BIT OF MEGAWATTS ADDED TO THE LOAD SHED LIST.
UM, AND IT'S DONE SO FAIRLY QUICKLY.
AND THE LAST SLIDE I'LL FINISH UP WITH IS THE, UM, THE AFTER ACTIONS REPORT HAD A H UH, 19, UH, OBSERVATION AREAS, 116 SPECIFIC ITEMS, UH, THE TEAMS ARE, UH, HAVE COMPLETED ABOUT 55% OF THOSE ITEMS. UM, THERE'S ANOTHER 22% AND PROGRESS.
AND THEN THERE'S 22% THAT ARE ONGOING, WHICH MEANS THEY'LL EVENTUALLY BE OPERATIONALIZED AND CLOSED.
UM, THE, UH, AUSTIN ENERGY IS GETTING READY TO PUBLISH THE FIRST, UM, FORMAL UPDATE TO THIS AFTER ACTIONS THAT HAS, UH, WRITTEN DESCRIPTIONS OF THE RESOLUTIONS FOR EACH OF THE ITEMS THAT HAVE BEEN CLOSED OUT AT THIS POINT.
UM, THE TEAM HAS ALSO MET ALL TIMELINES.
SO ANYTHING THAT WAS DUE IN THE FOURTH, UH, THE FOURTH CALENDAR, ANYTHING THAT WAS DUE IS DUE ON DECEMBER 31ST OF LAST YEAR HAS BEEN DONE.
AND, UH, THE TEAM IS NOW WORKING ON THIS QUARTERS, UH, ITEMS AND WE'LL, UH, THE TEAM WILL DO QUARTERLY UPDATES, UH, THROUGHOUT, UNTIL EVERYTHING'S CLOSED.
THAT IS, I BELIEVE IT FOR THE PRESENTATION.
ANY, ANY QUESTIONS? COMMENTS? OH, GO AHEAD, COMMISSIONER.
SORRY, I DON'T KNOW IF YOU CAN SEE ME, BUT THIS IS MARSHALL GOING.
UM, I FIRST JUST WANT TO ECHO RANDY'S COMMENTS OF HOW GRATEFUL I AM TO THE WHOLE STAFF AT AUSTIN ENERGY, UH, AND ESPECIALLY SEEING THE AFTER ACTION REPORT.
IT CONFIRMS THAT YOU ALL HANDLE THIS SITUATION AS BEST AS ANYONE COULD.
I JUST HAVE ONE CLARIFYING QUESTION, IS IT, IS IT TRUE THAT AUSTIN ENERGY RETAINS, COMPLETE DISCRETION DECIDING, UM, WHICH CIRCUITS ARE SHED IN THE LOAD SHED.
IN OTHER WORDS, OR COTTON DOESN'T MANDATE AND SAY, THESE ARE THE PARTICULAR CATEGORIES AND CIRCUITS THAT NEED TO BE CYCLED AND A LOAD SHED EVENT, OFFICER ENERGY, ERCOT BASICALLY JUST TELLS AUSTIN ENERGY.
WE NEED YOU TO SHED THIS MUCH POWER OR THIS MUCH CONSUMPTION, AND YOU ALL IMPLEMENT THE POLICY AND HOW TO DO THAT.
IS THAT CORRECT? THAT IS CORRECT.
THERE IS, THERE'S AN INDUSTRY ACCEPTED TEMPLATE TO WORK THROUGH ON THAT.
IT'S NOT AN ARBITRARY PROCESS.
AND, UM, THE, THE CIRCUITS THAT CAN BE SHED ARE THEN LOADED INTO THE CONTROL CENTER COMPUTER, UM, SO THAT THEY COULD BE CYCLED BASED ON A NARCOTIC MANDATED LOAD SHED.
OUR CUT DOESN'T DICTATE THE SPECIFIC CIRCUITS IT'LL GET SHUT DOWN.
WHAT'S THE PROCESS FOR, UH, BEING DESIGNATED A CRITICAL LOAD FOR AUSTIN? THERE'S A, UM, UH, APPLICATION PROCESS, THEIR SPECIFIC CRITERIA, UM, THAT HAVE TO BE MET FOR EACH OF THE CRITICAL LOAD DESIGNATIONS.
AND WE HAVE A TEAM INTERNALLY THAT REVIEWS, UH, INCLUDING, UH, UP TO AND INCLUDING SITE VISITS, UM, AND DETAILED DISCUSSIONS, UM, TO, TO MAKE SURE THAT THE CUSTOMER'S APPLYING FOR, UH, CRITICAL LOAD DESK DESIGNATION MEET THE CRITERIA.
AND I THINK THAT THERE MAY HAVE BEEN DISCUSSION ON THIS, UH, WHEN THE AFTER ACTION REPORT WAS FIRST DISCUSSED.
UM, SO FORGIVE ME IF THIS WAS COVERED, BUT, UM, IS THERE ANY THOUGHT GIVEN TO, UM, PROACTIVE OUTREACH? I THINK THERE WAS SOME, UH, YOU KNOW, FOLKS WHO THOUGHT THEY SHOULD HAVE BEEN CRITICAL LOAD WHO WEREN'T, BUT WEREN'T AWARE THAT THEY NEEDED TO APPLY FOR IT THEMSELVES.
AND SO IS THERE ANY, UM, IS, IS AUSTIN ENERGY LIKE PROACTIVELY TRYING TO EDUCATE THE COMMUNITY OR WORK CUSTOMERS ABOUT, UM, YOU KNOW, YOU LOOK LIKE A FACILITY THAT MIGHT QUALIFY, YOU SHOULD LOOK AT THIS, YOU KNOW, APPLICATION AND SEE, OR HOW DOES THAT THE, THE INFORMATION IS, UM, IS, IS AVAILABLE ONLINE.
THERE'S, THERE'S SOME OUTREACH REACH, ESPECIALLY TO THE BIGGER, YOU KNOW, LIKE
[01:45:01]
A HOSPITAL, UH, YOU KNOW, ONE CASE WAS A NEW HOSPITAL THAT, UH, UH, LOCATED AT THE Y IN AUSTIN.UM, SO THE, THE, THE, YOU KNOW, THE TOP TIER CRITICAL LOAD WERE, WERE, UM, MORE PROACTIVE ABOUT, UH, ENGAGING AND THEN THERE'S VERY SPECIFIC CRITERIA THAT THEY HAVE TO MEET AS FAR AS A FORMS, EVEN WITH THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT TO, TO MEET THE CRITERIA.
AND THIS SORT OF A FOLLOW-UP QUESTION TO THE PREVIOUS TWO, UM, IN ADDITION TO ERCOT UNDER THE BILL THAT THE LEGISLATURE PASSED, I'M UNCLEAR ON WHERE WE ARE IN THAT PROCESS, BUT I BELIEVE YOU'RE REQUIRED TO SUBMIT SOME SORT OF A PLAN THAT INCLUDES BOTH THE LIST OF THOSE THAT ARE CONSIDERED TO BE CRITICAL, AS WELL AS THE PLAN ON, YOU KNOW, HOW DO YOU DEAL WITH OUTAGES AND, YOU KNOW, VOLUNTARY AND INVOLUNTARY REDUCTIONS IN USE? IS THAT SOMETHING, IS THOSE RULES ALREADY COME OUT FROM THE PUBLIC UTILITY COMMISSIONER THAT'S STILL BEING DEVELOPED? UH, UH, I BELIEVE THAT'S A SUBMITTAL FOR THE EMERGENCY OPERATIONS PLAN, WHICH IS DUE IN APRIL.
UM, AND, AND, UH, THE AUSTIN ENERGY TEAM IS CURRENTLY WORKING ON A PACKAGE PACKAGING THAT MATERIAL TOGETHER TO MEET THE PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION.
AND THAT WOULD HAVE A LOT OF INFORMATION ON WHO'S ON THE CRITICAL LIST AND THAT KIND OF STUFF.
HI, JEREMY COOPER, UH, SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT REGULATORY COMMUNICATIONS AND COMPLIANCE.
I THINK THE RULES YOU'RE SPECIFICALLY REFERRING TO WE'RE ADDING, UH, MUNICIPALITIES AND COOPERATIVES TO CERTAIN RULES THAT WERE ALREADY IN PLACE FOR THE INVESTOR OWNED UTILITIES.
AND, AND THERE IS A PROJECT NUMBER OPEN AT THE PUC, BUT THEY HAVE NOT DONE ANY WORK ON THAT YET, BUT I'M CORRECT THAT THAT WOULD REQUIRE A PLAN WITH A LIST OF WHO, WHO, WHO IS CRITICAL.
AND, AND IT'S BASICALLY A PLAN FOR HOW YOU DEAL WITH OUTAGES, JUST SOMETHING, YOU KNOW, WE ALREADY HAVE.
IT'S JUST, IT'S ALSO ONE OF THE PRIMARY PIECES OF THAT PART OF SENATE.
BILL THREE IS IT'S SPECIFIC CUSTOMER NOTIFICATION TALKING ABOUT, YOU KNOW, NOTIFYING CUSTOMERS AND WE'RE GOING TO BE REQUIRED TO BE HAVING A BILL INSERT THAT SAYS, THIS IS, YOU KNOW, THE PROCESS FOR, FOR BECOMING OR APPLYING TO BE A CRITICAL LOAD CUSTOMER.
AND ALSO THERE'S LIKELY GOING TO BE A DISCLAIMER INCLUDED IN THAT NOTICE THAT SAYS, YOU KNOW, THE UNINTERRUPTED SUPPLY OF POWER IS NOT GUARANTEED AND THAT YOU NEED TO MAKE, UH, ARRANGEMENTS FOR POTENTIALLY, UH, YOU KNOW, ANOTHER PLAN OR SOME BACKUP GENERATION, IF YOU CONSIDER YOURSELF EVEN TO BE A CRITICAL LOAD, BECAUSE THERE'S STILL NO GUARANTEE.
AND JUST, SO IF YOU COULD JUST KEEP US INFORMED, AS YOU KNOW, AS THAT WE, WE HAVE BEEN, WE HAVE BEEN ACTIVELY SEEKING INFORMATION ON THAT THAT HAS NOT BEEN ON HIGH ON THE PUC LIST.
UM, IT'S, IT'S, UH, IT'S POTENTIAL.
THEY MAY NOT ACTUALLY DO A RULE FROM WHAT WE'VE HEARD AND THAT THEY JUST MAY HAVE THE, THE MUNIES AND CO-OPS JUST FOLLOW THE LAW, SO TO SPEAK WITHOUT ACTUALLY DOING A RULE, SIMPLY BECAUSE THEY'VE GOT SO MUCH ON THEIR PLATE RIGHT NOW.
ANY OTHER QUESTIONS? COMMENTS.
[19. Update from Fayette Power Plant Resource Plan Working Group. (Sponsors: Tuttle; Reed)]
ITEMS FROM COMMISSIONERS.WE HAVE, UM, UH, AN UPDATE FROM THE FED POWER PLANT RESOURCE PLAN, WORKING GROUP, UM, COMMISSIONER REED.
SO, UM, THE WORKING GROUP ON FAYETTE, WHICH IS ACTUALLY A JOINT WORKING GROUP WITH MEMBERS OF THE RMC, UM, HAS MET, I WOULD SAY ON THREE OCCASIONS, WE HAD AN INITIAL MEETING WHERE WE CAME UP WITH A LIST OF QUESTIONS THAT WE SUBMITTED TO AUSTIN ENERGY.
WE THEN SCHEDULED, UM, A MEETING WITH AUSTIN ENERGY TO GO OVER.
UH, WELL, THEY RESPONDED TO THE QUESTIONS.
THEN WE HAD A MEETING TO GO OVER THOSE RESPONSES AND IT WAS WITH ERICA ERICA, BE I CALL HER CAUSE I CAN NEVER REMEMBER HER LAST NAME AND PAT, AND I DON'T KNOW IF THERE WAS ANYBODY ELSE FROM AUSTIN ENERGY.
THERE WAS JUST THE TWO OF THEM.
AND THEY DID ANSWER OUR QUESTIONS.
SOME OF THE ANSWERS WE MIGHT NOT HAVE LIKED CAUSE SOME OF THEM INVOLVED NON-DISCLOSURE RIGHT.
THERE ARE CERTAIN THINGS THEY COULDN'T TELL US.
UH, WE THEN HAD A FOLLOW-UP MEETING IN WHICH WE BEGAN TO DEVELOP SOME DRAFT RECOMMENDATIONS, WHICH ARE DRAFT AT THIS POINT.
UM, AND WE ARE NOW TRYING TO SCHEDULE AN ADDITIONAL, PROBABLY LAST MEETING THAT WOULD INCLUDE BOTH AUSTIN ENERGY AND THE ABILITY OF THE MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC TO CALL IN AND GIVE THEIR VIEWS.
[01:50:01]
AND THEN WE WOULD COME BACK, HOPEFULLY WITH SOME RECOMMENDATIONS TO THE TWO COMMISSIONS, HOPEFULLY IN MARCH.UH, BUT WE HAVE NOT, WE HAVE A TENTATIVE, UH, MARCH 3RD AT 7:00 PM VIRTUAL MEETING, BUT IT'S NOT, IT'S NOT BEEN CONFIRMED.
THAT'S JUST SOMETHING WE'RE HOPEFULLY GONNA CONFIRM THIS WEEK, BUT I CAN, UM, UH, TH THESE WOULD NOT BE, YOU KNOW, CITY OF AUSTIN OFFICIAL MEETINGS.
WE WOULD JUST HAVE HOLD A MEETING AND INVITE AUSTIN ENERGY AND MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC.
UH, BUT WE DO WANT TO MAKE, YOU KNOW, WE DO WANT TO AT LEAST LET PEOPLE KNOW ABOUT IT.
SO WE'LL, UH, WE'LL CERTAINLY LET AUSTIN ENERGY AND OTHERS KNOW ABOUT IT THROUGH OUR, I GUESS, THROUGH, THROUGH MEANS.
CAUSE I DON'T THINK WE CAN POST THOSE OFFICIALLY TO THE CITY OF AUSTIN.
THEY'RE NOT OFFICIAL MEETINGS WITH THE COMMISSION AND I DON'T KNOW IF ANYONE HAS ANY QUESTIONS OR WE HAVE OTHER MEMBERS WHO HAVE ATTENDED SOME OF THESE MEETINGS.
SO IF PEOPLE HAVE ANYTHING THEY WANNA ADD OR RANDY, I THINK YOU COVERED IT.
BUT, UH, IF ANY OF THE OTHER COMMISSIONERS WANNA, UH, MAKE COMMENTS, PLEASE.
I THINK WHAT WE COULD DO, UM, WHEN WE COME BACK, HOPEFULLY IN MARCH IS INCLUDE THE QUESTIONS AND THE ANSWERS WE GOT AND THEN ANY DRAFT RECOMMENDATIONS THAT COME OUT OF OUR PROCESS, UH, FOR THE MARCH MEETING, I THINK IS PROBABLY WHAT WOULD BE THE WAY TO DO IT.
UM, AND IF, IF WE'RE NOT ABLE TO DO IT IN MARCH, WE COULD DO IT IN APRIL IF WE CAN'T GET THERE BECAUSE IT'S, IT'S, IT TURNS OUT IT'S COMPLICATED.
UM, SO WE WILL TENTATIVELY, UM, YOU KNOW, INCLUDE THAT AS, AS A, UH, REPORT FROM THE WORKING GROUP, UH, IN THE MARCH AGENDA.
UM, AND THEN I GUESS JUST KEEP US POSTED ON, ON WHETHER WE'LL BLACK.
AND THIS ITEM WAS NOT, UM, SPECIFICALLY INCLUDED ON, UH, THE, UM, AGENDA, BUT I DON'T BELIEVE THAT WE NEED, UM, AN AGENDA ITEM TO FORM A WORKING GROUP, UM, COMMISSIONER CHAPMAN.
SO IF, IF THAT IS INCORRECT, I AM SURE THAT, UM, UH, CITY STAFF WILL INFORM ME OF THAT.
AND WE'LL, WE'LL CORRECT IT NEXT MEETING.
UM, BUT I, BUT I, UH, COMMISSIONER CHAPMAN HAS REQUESTED THAT A, UH, THAT THE COMMISSION FORM OF WORKING GROUP FOR PURPOSES OF REVIEWING BUDGET AND AUDIT REPORTS, UM, AND, UH, AND YOU KNOW, I THINK WE'VE HAD A WORKING GROUP JUST LIKE THIS IN THE, IN THE PAST.
AND SO I THINK IT'S APPROPRIATE TO DO SO AGAIN.
UM, AND I WOULD JUST SAY, UM, YOU KNOW, SO I THINK THAT WE JUST HAVE THE ABILITY TO FORM A WORKING GROUP.
AND, AND SO I WILL JUST SAY WE'VE FORMED A BUDGET, AN AUDIT REPORT, WORKING GROUP, UM, COMMISSIONER CHAPMAN, UH, IS, ARE THERE OTHER COMMISSIONERS THAT ARE SPECIFICALLY INTERESTED IN PARTICIPATING IN, IN THIS WORKING GROUP? CAN, CAN SOMEONE REMIND US OF THE TIMING OF THE BUDGET PROCESS FOR AUSTIN? WHEN DID, WHEN, WHEN ARE THE, THE DOCUMENTS FIRST CIRCULATED SORT OF THE DRAFT, TRY TO GET A SENSE OF THE TIMING OF THIS, JOHN DO'S AGAIN? SO THE FIRST DRAFT THAT WE'RE GOING TO RECEIVE BACK INTERNALLY IS GOING TO BE IN MARCH.
WE PROBABLY WON'T BE GETTING TOGETHER WITH YOU GUYS UNTIL LATER IN APRIL, AND THEN WE DON'T TAKE IT TO CITY COUNCIL UNTIL JULY, AUGUST TIMEFRAME.
SO, SO IT SEEMS TO ME THE PURPOSE, THE PURPOSE HERE IS TO HAVE MEANINGFUL INPUT BEFORE THIS GOES, BEFORE THIS GOES TO COUNCIL, THIS REVIEW, THIS INCLUDES GENERATION, IT INCLUDES ENERGY EFFICIENCY PROGRAMS. IT INCLUDES EVERYTHING THAT Y'ALL ARE DEVELOPED IN THE PROCESS OF DEVELOPING NOW.
AND, UH, SO, AND THAT WILL BE PRESENTED FORMALLY TO COUNCIL, UH, MARCH, APRIL, PROBABLY GOING TO BE APRIL WILL BE THE FIRST DRAFT.
WE DON'T RECEIVE INTERNAL RESPONSES FROM EU MANAGERS UNTIL MARCH THE 11TH.
SO I THINK, UM, YOU KNOW, LIKE I SAID, I THINK OUR WORKING GROUP IS APPROPRIATE.
UM, AND I LET'S JUST SAY THAT, UH, COMMISSIONER CHAPMAN WILL HELP THAT UP.
AND IF YOU'RE INTERESTED IN PARTICIPATING ON THE WORKING GROUP, REACH OUT TO HIM DIRECTLY, UM, OH, GO SURE.
[01:55:05]
I THINK THOSE ON THE, UH, FAYETTE WORKING GROUP WERE PROBABLY REMINDED OF THIS RECENTLY, BUT I WILL JUST SAY AS, AS YOU ALL ARE TALKING ABOUT THIS, UM, THAT IT HAS TO BE LESS THAN A QUORUM OF THE BOARD, UM, AND THAT THERE'S NO STAFF SUPPORT FOR WORKING GROUP.SO, UM, AGAIN, A QUORUM IS, IS IT SIX? UH, THAT'S CORRECT.
SO W IT'S GOTTA BE LESS THAN SIX OF US.
[20. Report regarding City Council action on items previously reviewed by the EUC.]
UH, MOVING ON OTHER BUSINESS, WE JUST HAVE ITEM NUMBER 20, WHICH IS THE REPORT REGARDING CITY COUNCIL ACTION ON ITEMS PREVIOUSLY REVIEWED BY THE EUC.AND THAT WAS, UH, INCLUDED IN YOUR MATERIAL.
UH, ANY COMMENTS ON THOSE, UH, CORRECTION, MADAM CHAIR? THE, WE DO NOT HAVE A REPORT THIS MONTH.
I'M JUST KIDDING ABOUT IT BEING INCLUDED IN YOUR MATERIALS.
[21. Future agenda items]
ITEM NUMBER 21.THIS IS FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS THAT WE'VE ALREADY TALKED ABOUT, THE, UM, FAYETTE WORKING GROUP POTENTIAL, UH, REPORT, UM, IN MARCH.
UH, ARE THERE ANY OTHER ITEMS THAT, UH, AND, UM, ROBIN, ARE THERE ANY, ANY THAT YOU CURRENTLY ARE TRACKING? I APOLOGIZE THAT THIS IS MY FIRST MEETING BACK AND I'M A LITTLE BIT OUT OF THE LOOP, SO I'M SURE THAT THERE ARE THINGS THAT ARE FORTHCOMING, BUT I, I'M NOT AWARE OF, UM, I HAVE, UH, JEFF VICES HANDY-DANDY LIST FROM, UM, NOVEMBER.
UM, WE DO HAVE A REQUEST FROM COMMISSIONER HADDEN, A REQUEST FOR DATA ON A BIO-MASS EMISSIONS.
UH, I THINK IT'S PROVIDING DATA VERSUS AN AGENDA ITEM.
SO I WILL SEE IF I CAN TRACK THAT, THAT DATA HAS BEEN PROVIDED A UPDATE REGARD REGARDING THEIR RATE REVIEW, WHICH I THINK WE ARE.
UM, AND I THINK YOU SAID THAT WAS IN MARCH OR THE RIGHT REAR VIEW.
WE HAVE A TENDENCY REALLY ON OUR SIDE TO BRING FORWARD IN MARCH.
AND A CONTINUED DISCUSSION ON AFTER ACTION REPORT, I THINK WE'VE COVERED.
ANY OTHER FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS FROM COMMISSIONERS? THAT DOESN'T SOUND SO GREAT.
I KNOW ONE OF THE ISSUES WE'RE DISCUSSING AS PART OF THE WORKING GROUP ON FAT IS TO GET A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF COMPLIANCE ISSUES WITH THE PLAN SORT OF ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE ISSUES.
BUT, UM, IT MIGHT MAKE MORE SENSE TO ALLOW US TO CONTINUE THAT DISCUSSION AND COME BACK WITH SOME SPECIFIC, YOU KNOW, WHAT WE SPECIFICALLY WANT TO SEE AS PART OF THAT, BUT JUST SORT OF, UH, W UH, I DON'T KNOW, WARNINGS TOO STRONG, A WORD, JUST LETTING YOU KNOW, AUSTIN ENERGY STAFF THAT, THAT WE, WE, WE DO WANT TO GET A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF HOW THE PLANT'S OPERATING AND HOW IT'S MEETING ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE ISSUES.
UM, BUT I THINK WE CAN, WE CAN TALK ABOUT THAT IN MARCH AND THEN LOOK FOR A, UH, A REPORT FOR THEM LATER.
IF THERE ARE NO OTHER MATTERS, THEN I WILL.
UH, AND WITHOUT OBJECTION, I WILL ADJOURN THE MEETING.