[00:00:01]
I THINK THAT WE, I THINK WE HAVE ENOUGH FOR QUORUM.
UM, FOLKS DO HAVE TO, UH, TURN YOUR VIDEO ON, UH, SO THAT WE CAN, CAN CONFIRM THAT YOU'RE HERE FOR, FOR ROLL CALL.
[CALL TO ORDER]
IT'S SIX 10.I'M GONNA CALL THE MEETING TO ORDER, AND, UM, IF YOUR YOUR VIDEO IS NOT ON, PLEASE TURN IT ON.
SO, I, I NEED, UH, ALBERTA, DIANA, FRANCIS, RICH IT YAY.
PULLING INTO MY HOUSE RIGHT NOW.
SO HOPEFULLY THIS IS OUR LAST MEETING THAT WE'RE, WE'RE SO MUCH ON THE EDGE FOR A QUORUM.
HOPEFULLY IT'S, IT GETS, UH, LITTLE EASIER FROM HERE ON OUT.
RICH, I SAW YOU, ALBERT, DID YOU COME, DID SHE COME ON SCREEN? YOU DON'T HAVE TO STAY ON SCREEN.
YOU DO HAVE TO BE ON SCREEN IF YOU'RE SPEAKING OR IF YOU'RE VOTING.
BUT FOR RIGHT NOW, I JUST NEED TO SEE EVERYBODY ONCE ALBERTA, ARE YOU THERE? YEAH.
I'M TRYING TO FIGURE OUT WHAT THE BUTTONS PLEASE.
WE HAD TO GET RIGHT UP ON THE COMPUTER.
WE HAVE A LOT ON OUR AGENDA TONIGHT.
UM, SO LET'S, LET'S TRY TO KEEP IT MOVING.
UH, FIRST UP, DO WE HAVE ANYBODY FOR PUBLIC COMMENT? CITIZEN COMMUNICATION? NOBODY ONLINE.
[APPROVAL OF MINUTES]
MOVE FORWARD.WE HAVE TWO SETS OF MINUTES THAT, UH, NEED APPROVING.
UH, SO I'D, UH, TAKE A MOTION FROM ANYBODY ON EITHER OF THOSE.
I, I SAW I, UH, MELISSA AND, UH, DIANA.
SO, AND, AND IS THAT FOR BOTH SETS OF MINUTES, OR JUST ONE OF THEM? BOTH SETS.
I, SO IF YOUR, IF YOUR VIDEO'S OFF YOU DO TO TURN IT ON.
AND THAT'S FOR, FOR BOTH, UH, JUNE AND AUGUST.
WE DO NEED TO DO OUR 2023 MEETING SCHEDULE, BUT I THINK SINCE WE HAVE FOLKS THAT HAVE BEEN ON THE LINE, UM, WAITING, I'M, I'D LIKE TO KIND OF MOVE THE ORDER OF THINGS AROUND A LITTLE BIT, UNLESS THERE'S OBJECTION.
I KNOW WE HAVE SEVERAL FOLKS FROM AUSTIN ENERGY, UM, ON HERE.
UM, SO MAYBE, MAYBE WE CAN TAKE CARE OF THOSE.
AND I THINK WE ALSO HAVE, UH, FOLKS FROM, FROM, UH, TRANSPORTATION, RIGHT? ALSO HERE.
[4. Austin Transportation Department Implementation of the Climate Equity Plan – Austin Transportation Department (Discussion and/or possible action)]
TRANSPORTATION, YOU'RE, YOU'RE FIRST.SO WHY DON'T WE, UH, ALTHOUGH WE DON'T HAVE AN A I DON'T THINK WE HAVE AN ACTION ITEM THERE, SO, WELL, WHY DON'T WE DO TRANSPORTATION? AND IF IT SEEMS LIKE THERE'S A LOT OF QUESTIONS, WE MIGHT POSTPONE THAT SOME OF THE QUESTIONS, UM, BUT WE'LL, WE'LL GET STARTED WITH TRANSPORTATION FIRST.
AND I, I THINK WE HAVE, IS THAT KELSEY? COLE? OKAY.
I'M THE AUSTIN TRANSPORTATION PRODUCT.
HEY, UH, THANKS FOR HAVING ME.
I'M COLE KITTEN, DIVISION MANAGER IN AUSTIN TRANSPORTATION DEPARTMENT.
UM, I OVERSEE OUR SYSTEMS DEVELOPMENT DIVISION, UM, WHICH IS OUR LONG RANGE PLANNING AND PROJECT DEVELOPMENT.
UM, AND I OVERSEE THE CITY'S, UH, TRANSPORTATION PLAN, THE, THE AUSTIN STRATEGIC MOBILITY PLAN.
UM, SO LARGELY, I'M, I'M GONNA BE A BIT OF A MESSENGER ON BEHALF OF OUR, OUR TRANSPORTATION ELEMENTS.
THAT INCLUDES, UM, OUR PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT, AS WELL AS OUR, OUR PARTNER, UM, AGENCY WITH CAPITAL
[00:05:01]
METRO.SO I'LL GO OVER THE LIST OF TRANSPORTATION ACTIVITIES, UM, THAT ARE IN THE CLIMATE EQUITY PLAN.
UH, TALK ABOUT THE RELATIONSHIP, UM, WITH, UH, THE, BETWEEN THE A S M P AND THE CLIMATE EQUITY PLAN.
UM, AND THEN GO THROUGH SOME STATUS UPDATES ON, ON THOSE TRANSPORTATION ACTIVITIES.
SO HERE'S, HERE'S THE LIST OF ITEMS, UM, PRETTY SIGNIFICANT WITHIN TRANSPORTATION AND LAND USE CHAPTER OF THE CLIMATE EQUITY PLAN.
UM, UNDER GOAL, ONE, 80% OF NEW NON RESIDENTIAL DEVELOPMENT IS LOCATED WITHIN THE CITY'S ACTIVITY CENTERS BY 2030.
UM, TRANSPORTATION, UM, HAS, HAS, UH, OVERLAP WITH STRATEGY TWO, WORK WITH EMPLOYERS ON LOCATION AND AMENITIES, AS WELL AS STRATEGY THREE, CREATE MOBILITY HUBS.
AND THEN WITHIN GOAL THREE, UM, SIGNIF, UH, ALL OF THE STRATEGIES, UH, TRANSPORTATION IS RELATED, UM, FOR, UH, BY THIR, UH, BY 2030, 50% OF TRIPS IN AUSTIN ARE MADE USING PUBLIC TRANSIT, BIKING, WALKING, CARPOOLING, OR AVOIDED ALTOGETHER BY WORKING FROM HOME.
AND THEN I'LL GO OVER EACH OF THESE INDIVIDUALLY.
AND THEN UNDER TRANSPORTATION ELECTRIFICATION, UM, WE SHARE, UH, ONE STRATEGY, UM, UNDER GOAL, ONE BY 2030, 40% OF TOTAL VEHICLE MILES TRAVELED IN AUSTIN ARE ELECTRIFIED.
AND EV OWNERSHIP IS CULTURALLY, GEOGRAPHICALLY, AND ECONOMICALLY DIVERSE UNDER STRATEGY FOR, UM, LAUNCH AND E-BIKE AND ELECTRIC CAR SHARING PROGRAM.
SO, THE AUSTIN STRATEGIC MOBILITY PLAN AND THE CLIMATE EQUITY PLAN HAVE A LOT IN COMMON.
UM, THEY'RE, UH, WE HAVE, UH, TWO PLANS WITH, WITH TWO COMMON GOALS THAT BEING MODE SHIFT, UM, IN ORDER TO ACCOMPLISH, UM, A LOT OF, UH, OUR, OUR CITY'S GOALS WERE DEPENDENT UPON, UH, LESS PEOPLE DRIVING ALONE IN THEIR CARS.
UM, SO WHEN THE CITY, UH, COUNCIL ADOPTED THE A S N P IN 2019, IT, IT ESTABLISHED THIS 50 50 MODE SHARE GOAL WHERE 50% OF PEOPLE, UM, UH, TRAVELED TO WORK, UM, ALONE IN THEIR CARS AND 50%, UM, TRAVEL BY OTHER, OTHER MODES OF TRANSPORTATION.
AND THAT'S COMPARED TO 74% THAT DRIVE ALONE TO WORK IN THEIR CAR TODAY.
AND WHAT THAT EFFECTIVELY DOES IS IT, IT MAINTAINS THE SAME NUMBER OF CARS, UM, THAT ARE OUT ON THE ROAD TODAY, AS THERE WILL BE IN 2039.
SO, UM, MAINTAINING, MAINTAINING THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE DRIVING ALONE WHILE SHIFTING ALL OF OUR, OUR GROWTH OVER THE NEXT 20 YEARS TO, UH, SUSTAINABLE MODES.
UM, THE OTHER GOAL THAT WE HAVE IN COMMON IS, IS EQUITY.
UM, OUR, OUR TRANSPORTATION PLAN AND IMPLEMENTATION AND WHAT SUCCESS LOOKS LIKE HAS TO BE CENTERED, UM, ON EQUITY.
SO, UM, THE OTHER, THE OTHER ELEMENT, OR THE OTHER RELATIONSHIP THAT THEY HAVE IN COMMON IS THAT, UH, THE STRATEGIES ACROSS THE TWO PLANS, UM, ARE CIRCULARLY REFERENCED AND SUPPORTIVE OF EACH PLAN'S GOALS.
SO BY VIRTUE OF, OF IMPLEMENTING THE STRATEGIES IN THE A S AND P, UM, WE'LL BE, UH, CONCURRENTLY, UM, ACCOMPLISHING OUR CLIMATE EQUITY GOALS.
SO, GETTING INTO THE STATUS UPDATES, UM, YOU KNOW, THIS IS A, UH, STEALING A LITTLE THUNDER, UM, FROM ZACH AND HIS TEAM IN, IN, UH, PRESENTING ON, ON THE CLIMATE EQUITY PLAN IMPLEMENTATION DASHBOARD.
BUT, UM, WHAT I'VE INCLUDED ON THE NEXT FEW SLIDES IS, IS PULLED FROM THE DASHBOARD, UM, UNDER WHAT'S BEEN DONE SO FAR FOR EACH OF THESE STRATEGIES.
AND I'VE ADDED A LITTLE BIT TO IT.
UM, SOME OF THE, SOME OF THE INFORMATION I'VE PROVIDED TONIGHT, UM, ISN'T ONLINE, BUT IT WAS MORE RECENTLY, UH, RELEVANT.
[00:10:01]
BUT, UM, NONETHELESS, SO UNDER THIS, THIS, UH, FIRST STRATEGY, UM, IS TO WORK WITH MEDIUM AND LARGE EMPLOYERS TO LOCATE THEIR PLACES OF BUSINESS IN GROWTH CENTERS AND ALONG CORRIDORS, UM, IN ORDER TO ACCOMPLISH GOAL ONE WITHIN TRANSPORTATION AND LAND USE.UM, YOU KNOW, THE CITY AND AUSTIN TRANSPORTATION DEPARTMENT HAS A STRONG PARTNER WITH, UH, MOVABILITY, WHICH IS CENTRAL TEXAS'S TRANSPORTATION MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATION.
AND MOVABILITY, UM, WORKS DIRECTLY WITH, WITH, UH, LARGE EMPLOYERS WITHIN THE REGION, UH, CREATING THOSE PARTNERSHIPS, FOCUSING ON TRANSPORTATION DEMAND MANAGEMENT.
UM, AND WE CURRENTLY HAVE A BUDGET, UH, FOR $550,000, UH, WITH MOVE ABILITY TO DO THIS.
NEXT SLIDE, STRATEGY THREE UNDER THE SAME, UM, CHAPTER AND GOAL IS TO CREATE MOBILITY HUBS, UM, INCLUDING PARKING RIGHTS THAT OFFER VARIOUS FIRST AND LAST MILE MOBILITY OPTIONS ADJACENT TO TRANSIT STOPS TO OFFER COMPLETE TRIP EXPERIENCE.
THIS IS SOMETHING THAT ATD IS GETTING, UM, MORE INVESTED IN.
UM, IT IS, IT IS, UH, A POLICY AND PRIORITY, UM, WITHIN THE AS S AND P.
AND, UM, WE CURRENTLY HAVE A BUDGET FOR $835,000 TO DO SO.
UM, AND THIS IS SOMETHING THAT, UM, HAS RECENTLY BEEN EXPLORED IN, UH, THE GEORGIAN ACRES NEIGHBORHOOD, UM, IN NORTH LAMAR IN NORTH AUSTIN.
NEXT SLIDE UNDER GOAL THREE OF TRANSPORTATION AND LAND USE.
UM, THIS IS ONE OF OUR STRATEGIES THAT WE ACTUALLY DIDN'T REPORT ON AS CAPITAL METRO IS LARGELY THE, THE LEAD FOR THIS STRATEGY.
HOWEVER, UM, ATD IS, IS A VERY STRONG, UM, SUPPORTER IN, IN PLAYER, IN, IN HOW WE EXPAND AND IMPROVE PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION.
UM, WE WORK WITH AUSTIN TRANSIT PARTNERSHIP TO IMPLEMENT PROJECT CONNECT, UM, AND, AND EXPAND, UH, AND, AND IMPROVE OUR, OUR CURRENT PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION SERVICES.
SO WE'VE BEEN WORKING WITH ATP AND CATME TO DEVELOP THOSE PROJECT PLANS, AS WELL AS THE NEW METRO RAPID ROUTES THAT'LL BE IN SERVICE, UM, NEXT YEAR.
UM, BUT WE ALSO HAVE A TRANSIT ENHANCEMENT PROGRAM THAT'S BEEN ACTIVE, UM, FOR, FOR A LONG TIME, SINCE 2018, UM, THAT WE ARE CURRENTLY IN THE PROCESS OF DEL DEVELOPING A, A TRANSIT ENHANCEMENT PLAN, UM, BASED ON THE 2020 MOBILITY BOND, UH, REFERENDUM, THAT THAT, UH, AWARDED $19 MILLION FOR TRANSIT IMPROVEMENTS THAT ARE NOT BEING DELIVERED BY PROJECT CONNECT.
SO, UM, I WANTED TO PLUG A SURVEY THAT'S CURRENTLY OPEN TO GET FEEDBACK ON, ON HOW TO PRIORITIZE THESE, THESE IMPROVEMENTS.
UM, AND, AND PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT IS CURRENTLY OCCURRING, UH, FOR THAT TRANSIT ENHANCEMENT PLAN.
SO, UM, UNDER STRATEGY TWO, PROMOTE FREE TRANSPORTATION OPTIONS.
UH, YOU KNOW, SIMILARLY, UM, YOU KNOW, THIS CAN, CAN FALL UNDER, UH, OUR PARTNER AGENCIES, UM, BUT THERE'S ALSO A LOT THAT THE CITY HAS CONTROL OVER.
UM, BUT, UM, IN, IN PARTNERSHIP WITH CAP METRO, ATD OFFERS FREE TRANSIT AND METRO BIKE PASSES TO CITY EMPLOYEES.
UM, AND, AND WE CONTINUE TO TRY TO EXPAND, EXPAND ACCESS, UM, UH, TO, TO OUR TRANSPORTATION OPTIONS.
BUT, UM, WE'RE ALSO IN THE PROCESS OF UPDATING OUR CITY'S, UH, SIDEWALK URBAN TRAILS AND BICYCLE PLANS THROUGH AN EFFORT CALLED ATX WALK, BIKE ROLL.
UM, AND, AND ALL OF THESE OPTIONS ARE, OR ACTIONS ARE BEING FURTHER DEVELOPED AND EXPLORED THROUGH THAT PROCESS.
UM, THE SURVEY, UH, ACTUALLY JUST CLOSED ON THE 23RD.
UM, AND WE'LL BE, UH, SUMMARIZING, UH, THOSE STRATEGIES INTO THREE INDIVIDUAL PLANS AND PRESENTING THOSE, UM, TO COUNCIL FOR ADOPTION, UM, WITHIN, UH, WITH, UH, EARLY 2023.
[00:15:01]
UH, NEXT SLIDE.SO, UM, STRATEGY THREE, ENHANCED TRANSIT STATIONS AND STOPS.
PARTNER WITH CAPITAL METRO DEVELOPERS, COMMUNITY ORGANIZERS TO ENGAGE LOW INCOME COMMUNITIES, COMMUNITIES OF COLOR, AND PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES TO IMPROVE TRANSIT STOP STATIONS AND ACCESS TO THESE FACILITIES.
SO, UM, SOME OF THIS IS, IS REPEATED FROM PREVIOUS STRATEGIES, BUT A LOT OF THEM ARE COMPLIMENTARY OF EACH OTHER.
SO I JUST WANT TO PLUG AGAIN THAT THE TRANSIT ENHANCEMENT PROGRAM AND PLAN WILL, UM, REALLY SPEAK TOWARDS ENHANCING TRANSIT STATIONS AND STOPS, UM, AS WELL AS THE ATX WALK BY PAROLE PLANNING PROCESS THAT WILL, WILL IDENTIFY IMPROVING ACCESS TO THESE FACILITIES.
SO THIS ONE MORE DIRECTLY, UM, RELATED TO OUR ATX WALK MARK ROLL EFFORT, UM, IMPLEMENT THE 2020 PROPOSITION B VOTER APPROVED GENERAL OBLIGATION BONDS FOR TRANSPORTATION INFRASTRUCTURE, INCLUDING SIDEWALKS, TRANSPORTATION RELATED BIKEWAYS, URBAN TRAILS, TRANSPORTATION, SAFETY PROJECTS, SAFE ROUTES TO SCHOOL, AND SUBSTANDARD STREETS AND LOW INCOME COMMUNITIES AND COMMUNITIES OF COLOR THROUGH A MEANINGFUL COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT PROCESS.
SO, UM, WHAT'S BEEN DONE SO FAR, UM, YOU KNOW, ACKNOWLEDGING THAT, UH, THE CITY'S COME A LONG WAY IN, IN IMPLEMENTING OUR ALL AGES AND ABILITIES BICYCLE NETWORK.
UM, WE'RE OVER HALFWAY THERE WITH OVER 220 MILES.
UM, BUT THROUGH THE UPDATE OF THE BICYCLE PLAN, UH, THROUGH ATX WALK, BIKE ROLL, UM, YOU KNOW, WE'LL CONTINUE TO, TO, UH, DEVELOP, UH, THE IMPLEMENTATION PLAN, UH, FOR THE, FOR THE REMAINING, UH, HALF OF THE ALL AGES AND ABILITIES NETWORK.
UM, AND AGAIN, THAT SURVEY ACTUALLY JUST CLOSED, AND THEN WE'LL BE BACK OUT INTO THE PUBLIC, UM, EARLY, UH, EARLY NEXT YEAR.
STRATEGY FIVE, ENHANCED BICYCLE EDUCATION AND TRAINING.
UM, SO THIS IS ALSO A PARTNERSHIP, UM, WITH, WITH MOVEABILITY, UH, THAT I MENTIONED EARLIER.
UH, WE ALSO PARTNER WITH JUST SOLO CYCLING INITIATIVE, UH, TO PROVIDE WALK BIKE TRANSIT TOURS TO EDUCATE COMMUNITY MEMBERS ON HOW TO USE THESE RESOURCES.
UM, IN CURRENT BUDGET FOR THIS WORK IS 650,000.
SO THIS IS, UM, ONE OF OUR SHARED STRATEGIES, UM, TO CREATE AN ELECTRIC BIKE IN CAR SHARING PROGRAM CENTERED ON LOW INCOME COMMUNITIES AND COMMUNITIES OF COLOR TO SUPPORT FUNCTIONAL LOW COST ZERO EMISSIONS, UM, MOBILITY.
UM, THE CITY'S BIKE SHARE PROGRAM HAS BEEN ACTIVE SINCE 2013.
THE CITY OWNS THE ASSETS FOR METRO BIKE AND NOW PARTNERS WITH CAP METRO FOR OPERATIONS AND MAINTENANCE OF THE SYSTEM.
AND WHAT WE'RE LOOKING AT DOING, UM, IS EXPANDING, UH, TO FULLY ELECTRIFY THE FLEET OF THE NEXT 10 YEARS.
UM, AND, UH, WE'RE, WE'RE PLANNING TO FUND THE EXPANSION FOR 10 MILLION, UH, AS FUNDING IS IDENTIFIED.
AND THOSE, THOSE ARE THE, THE QUICK, UH, UPDATE ON, ON THE STRATEGIES THAT TRANSPORTATION, UM, IS, UH, OVERSEEING OR HAS A RELATIONSHIP TOO WITHIN THE CLIMATE EQUITY PLAN.
UM, CAN WE GO OFF OF SCREEN SHARE MODE SO THAT WE CAN SEE EACH OTHER? GREAT.
UH, YEAH, WHO HAS, UH, QUESTIONS, HARRIS? UM, YEAH, I APPRECIATE THE PRESENTATION.
UM, I WAS WONDERING, HAVE Y'ALL CONSIDERED GIVING? CAUSE I REMEMBER WHEN I WAS A STUDENT AT UT, YOU KNOW, AND ACC WE WERE ABLE TO RIDE THE BUS FOR FREE.
I THINK AT ACC WE HAD TO BUY LIKE A GREEN PASS OR SOMETHING.
IS THERE SOMETHING SIMILAR FOR, THAT Y'ALL ARE CONSIDERING FOR LIKE THE E-BIKE OR, YOU KNOW, CAR SHARING PROGRAMS? RIGHT.
THAT'S, THAT'S ACT, UM, ACTUALLY A CONVERSATION.
UM, A POLICY AREA THAT WE'RE DURING THROUGH OUR ATX WALK BIKE PAROLE PLANNING
[00:20:01]
EFFORT IS TO SEE HOW, UM, WE CAN SUPPORT, UM, UH, PROVIDING TRANSPORTATION OPTIONS, UM, UH, TO, TO HELP WITH THE AFFORDABILITY ISSUES IN AUSTIN.UM, SO WHETHER THAT'S A, A TRANSPORTATION WALLET THAT PEOPLE WOULD BE ELIGIBLE FOR THAT COULD GO TOWARDS PAYING FOR DIS DIFFERENT TRANSPORTATION OPTIONS, WHETHER IT'S TO FOR A METRO BIKE OR TRANSIT PASSES, UM, OR EVEN, UM, CAR SHARE WHEN SOMEONE NEEDS TO USE A VEHICLE, UM, TO GET AROUND.
UM, THOSE ARE, THOSE ARE THE POLICY AREAS THAT, THAT WE'RE STARTING TO, TO REALLY, UM, GET INTO AND HIGHLIGHT, UH, THROUGH THIS, THIS, UH, LATEST, UM, PLANNING EFFORT.
I MEAN, ACC HAS SO MANY CAMPUSES, IT'S HARD TO TALK ABOUT THEM AS LIKE ONE SINGULAR ENTITY, BUT I KNOW FOR, YOU KNOW, HOUSTON TILTS AND ST.
S AND YOU KNOW, UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS TOO, THEY'RE ALL IN BASICALLY THE CENTRAL PART OF AUSTIN THAT'S, YOU KNOW, SUPER AT THIS POINT, RIGHT? PRETTY DENSE AND, UH, YOU KNOW, HAS A LOT OF STUFF NEARBY.
SO I THINK HAVING THE MORE TRANSIT OPTIONS YOU GIVE THEM, THE BETTER IT IS FOR THE ENVIRONMENT AS A WHOLE.
I ACTUALLY HAVE A FEW QUESTIONS, IF YOU DON'T MIND.
THE FIRST ONE IS FOR THE ENHANCEMENTS TO THE TRANSIT STOPS, I AM HOPING THERE'S GONNA BE A PUSH TO INCLUDE RESTROOMS TO HAVE MORE RESTROOM FACILITIES AT THESE STOPS, AND ALSO MAYBE THE MORE BUSY, BUSIER THE BUS STOPS THAT ARE DOWNTOWN.
UM, MY, MY SECOND POINT WAS KYLE IS WORKING WITH A BORING COMPANY TO INCLUDE A PEDESTRIAN TUNNEL THAT WOULD GO UNDERNEATH A RAILROAD AND I 35 TO GIVE SAFE PEDESTRIAN BIKING ACCESS FROM THE, UM, EAST SIDE OF I 35 TO THE, TO THE WEST SIDE, SO THAT PEDESTRIANS CAN WALK SAFELY TO GET TO SHOPPING.
I DON'T KNOW IF THAT'S SOMETHING THAT AUSTIN IS CONSIDERING, BECAUSE I KNOW THAT WITH THE UPGRADE THAT WE'RE POTENTIALLY GONNA BE GETTING WITH OUR UNDERGROUND TUNNELS IN DOWNTOWN, THAT WOULD BE POTENTIALLY A GOOD OPTION TO ENHANCE THE TUNNELS FOR INCREASING PEDESTRIAN SAFETY.
I DON'T KNOW IF THAT'S INCLUDED IN THIS PLAN OR NOT, OR IF THAT'S BEING OPTION.
AND THE LAST POINT IS, YOU MENTIONED THE CITY EMPLOYEES GETTING A FREE CAPITAL METRO PASS, BUT THE MAJORITY OF STATE EMPLOYEES WORK AND LIVE IN AUSTIN.
AND SPECIFICALLY THEY WORK IN THE CITY CENTER LIKE DOWNTOWN, BUT THEY'RE NOT GIVEN FREE CAPITAL METRO ASSETS.
AND MOST CITY EMPLOYEES OR UM, STATE EMPLOYEES HAVE, UM, GARAGE PARKING THAT, THAT IS FREE.
OTHER, OTHER, UH, PRIVATE ENTITIES, PRIVATE COMPANIES THAT ARE LOCATED IN DOWNTOWN AUSTIN, THEY MAKE YOU PAY TO PARK DOWNTOWN, WHICH IS KIND OF A DIS A DISADVANTAGE FOR DRIVING YOURSELF, BUT NOT FOR STATE EMPLOYEES.
THEY'RE NOT CHARGED TO PARK DOWNTOWN, SO THERE'S NO, THERE'S NO REAL INCENTIVE FOR THEM TO TAKE THE BUS AND PAY FOR THE BUS PASS UNLESS IT WAS FREE.
THAT'S, THAT'S GREAT FEEDBACK.
ANY OTHER, UH, QUESTIONS FROM COMMISSIONERS RICH ON THE, UH, LIKE WALK, BIKE ROLL? UM, WHEN WE WERE GONNA START SEEING THE IMPLEMENTATION, I UNDERSTAND THAT FROM THE 2020 BOND DOLLARS, IT WENT INTO THE EXISTING PLANNED, UH, MAP, AND IT'S BEEN BEING IMPLEMENTED, BUT I KNOW, LIKE WHERE I'M AT IN SOUTHWEST AUSTIN, WE HAVE A, WE'RE A COMMUNITY OF ABOUT, UH, 2,500 FAMILIES WHO ARE 2,500 PEOPLE WHO ARE DISCONNECTED FROM THE 40 SOUTHWEST, UH, 45 SOUTHWEST SHARED PATH.
AND SO WE LOSE THE CONNECTIVITY TO THE BUS LINE ON A GARMENT AS WELL AS TO THAT PATH AND THAT PEDESTRIAN.
UM, AND IT'S BECOME A BIG ISSUE.
WE'VE, YOU KNOW, NOT ME, BUT THE COM THERE'S BEEN A COMMITTEE WITHIN THIS NEIGHBORHOOD WHO HAS ENGAGED THE CITY, WAS ADVOCATED
[00:25:01]
FOR THE BOND, UM, WHO HAS ENGAGED WITH ALL OUR REGIONAL PLANNING PARTNERS, THE COUNTY.AND IT SEEMS THAT, UM, BEING GOOD ENOUGH, AND WE ALMOST HAD A KID GET HIT BY A CAR, GOT PRETTY INJURED, UM, A COUPLE WEEKS AGO RIDING ON THE, THE, THE SIDE OF 45 SOUTHWEST.
JUST TRYING TO GET TO THE SHARED PATH.
I'M JUST WONDERING, LIKE, ARE WE GONNA SEE ANY IMPLEMENTATION OR, OR, OR ONCE THIS NEW PLAN IS DONE, WHEN ARE WE GONNA START SEEING SOME OF THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE UPDATED PLAN? RIGHT.
SO SINCE THE 2016 MOBILITY BOND WAS PASSED, UM, WHAT THE CITY HAS, HAS STARTED DOING IS CALLED A MOBILITY ANNUAL PLAN PROCESS.
SO ON AN ANNUAL BASIS, UM, THE, THE LOCAL MOBILITY PROGRAMS, SO THE SIDEWALK PROGRAM, THE BICYCLE PROGRAM, URBAN TRAILS, UM, ALL OF THESE PROGRAMS THAT RECEIVE BOND FUNDING, THEY PUT TOGETHER THEIR ANNUAL IMPLEMENTATION PLAN, AND THEN THAT'S WHERE, UM, UH, IT GETS PRESENTED TO THE PUBLIC FOR FEEDBACK, UH, BEFORE GOING FORWARD AND, AND CONTINUING WITH IMPLEMENTATION.
SO WE'VE GONE THROUGH, UM, UM, SINCE 2017 DOING THOSE MOBILITY ANNUAL PLANS, AND THE LATEST ONE WAS, WAS FOR 2022.
UM, THE CHARGE THAT, THAT THE CITY RECEIVED WITH THE 2020 BOND WAS TO ENSURE THAT EQUITY WAS, WAS, UM, UM, EVALUATED AND CENTERED IN THE IMPLEMENTATION PROCESS.
SO WHAT WE'LL SEE WITH THE ATX WALK BIKE ROLE IS NOT ONLY AN UPDATE TO THE, THE BICYCLE PLAN AND URBAN TRAILS AND SIDEWALK PLAN, BUT WE'LL ALSO SEE HOW, HOW IT IMPACTS OUR, UM, OUR IMPLEMENTATION PLANS FOR THE REST OF THOSE BOND CYCLES.
SO, UM, THE 2016 BOND IS, UM, WE'LL BE CLOSING OUT IN 2024, BUT THE 2020 BOND HAD A SEVEN YEAR IMPLEMENTATION TIMELINE.
SO IT, IT SHOULD, UM, LAST, THE SPENDING SHOULD LAST UNTIL 2027.
THANK YOU FOR THAT INFORMATION.
YEAH, I JUST KNOW, UM, MY COMMUNITY'S FEELING PRETTY DEFEATED AT THIS POINT.
I'M TRYING TO ENCOURAGE THEM THAT IT HAS TO START SOMEWHERE, AND YES, IT'S TAKING A LOT LONGER.
AND, UM, AND YEAH, THEIR, THEIR COUNCIL PERSON WAS ONE TO PUT IT ON THE BOND OR PUT IT ON THE BALLOT, BUT, UH, I, I KNOW I'VE HAD, I HAD SOME CONVERSATIONS THIS LAST WEEK, SO AT LEAST THIS IS AN UPDATE THAT I CAN GIVE THEM.
ANYTHING ELSE FROM COMMISSIONERS? COLE, I REALLY APPRECIATE YOU BEING HERE AND GIVING US, UH, THIS GREAT UPDATE.
UM, THANKS FOR THE WORK THAT YOU'RE DOING.
UM, I WOULD JUST ENCOURAGE YOU TO, UH, TO, YOU KNOW, STAY IN, STAY IN TOUCH WITH US, UH, AS YOU HAVE PIECES THAT YOU MIGHT BE, UH, MOVING FORWARD OR NEEDING MORE SUPPORT ON.
UM, THIS IS AN AREA THAT'S OBVIOUSLY, UH, VERY IMPORTANT TO, UH, THE CLIMATE PLAN AND, AND OUR MISSION HERE.
AND, UH, WE'RE NOT GONNA BE, YOU KNOW, ASKING YOU TO COME VISIT US EVERY MONTH FOR A FULL UPDATE, BUT WE WOULD LOVE, UH, TO HEAR FROM YOU AS THERE ARE KIND OF ACTIONABLE PIECES THAT WE CAN LEND SUPPORT FOR.
SO, UM, THANKS FOR BEING HERE.
LOOK FORWARD TO CONTINUING THE CONVERSATION.
ALL RIGHT, WE'RE GONNA, UM, MOVE
[5. Austin Energy Residential Rates and Value of Solar Tariff (Discussion and/or possible action)]
ON TO THE, UH, AUSTIN ENERGY AGENDA ITEM.UH, WE HAVE A FEW FOLKS FROM AUSTIN ENERGY HERE.
UM, AND, UH, I KNOW THE INDEPENDENT CONSUMER ADVOCATE, I BELIEVE IS ALSO JOINING.
IS THERE A JOHN KAUFMAN IN THE WAITING? CAN YOU, IF YOU CAN ADD HIM AS WELL? UM, WE'RE GONNA, UM, WE'RE GONNA START WITH, UH, AUSTIN ENERGY, UH, FOLKS PRESENTING, AND THEN WE WILL HAVE A PRESENTATION FROM THE INDEPENDENT, UH, CONSUMER ADVOCATE, UH, AND THEN WE'LL CONSIDER A COUPLE RESOLUTIONS.
SO, UM, I SEE TIM ON HERE TWICE ACTUALLY, AND I SEE RUSSELL AND I THOUGHT I SAW SOMEBODY ELSE FROM AUSTIN ENERGY MARK, SO I'M NOT SURE WHICH YOU ALL WANTS TO GO FIRST, BUT YOU CAN, YOU CAN DECIDE AMONGST YOURSELVES.
GOOD EVENING, THIS IS, UH, MARK DOMBROSKI, UH, THE CFO.
I WILL GO AHEAD AND GO FIRST SINCE I GOT A LITTLE BIT COVERAGE ON THE PROCESS THAT WE'RE FOLLOWING IN SOME INFORMATION FOR YOU ON
[00:30:01]
THAT.SO, UM, I WILL GO AHEAD AND GET STARTED, AND THEN TIM CAN FOLLOW UP WITH THE VALUE OF SILVER.
WELL, THANK YOU FOR HAVING ME THIS EVENING.
UM, SOME OF YOU, I DON'T KNOW, SO IT'S NICE TO SEE, UM, SEE YOU OR SEE YOUR NAMES.
SO I'M MARTIN ROSSI ON THE CFO OF AUSTIN ENERGY AND, UM, RESPONSIBLE FOR ESTABLISHING RATES FOR THE ELECTRIC UTILITY THERE.
SO, UH, TONIGHT I'M GONNA GO A LITTLE BIT OVER OUR, OUR PROCESS AND, UM, SOME OF THE OFFER RESERVATIONS THAT, UH, LED THEMSELVES TO ASSUMPTIONS OR THE WAREHOUSES IN YOUR RE IN YOUR RECOMMENDATION FOR THIS EVENING.
SO CAN WE GO TO THE NEXT PAGE, PLEASE? SO FIRST IS, UM, EVERYTHING, UM, RELEVANT TO OUR BASE RATE CASE IS AVAILABLE, UM, ON OUR WEBSITE.
AND I'VE GIVEN YOU THE WEB ADDRESS THERE.
UH, EVERYTHING IS DOWNLOADABLE, UH, FROM OUR COST OF SERVICE MODELS TO OUR REPORTS TO, UH, FILINGS FROM OUR INTERVENERS TO THE INDEPENDENT HEARING EXAMINER REPORT.
UM, SO, UM, YOU CAN GO THAT WEBSITE AND, UM, GET YOU FILL OF GREAT INFORMATION.
SOME MAY NOT BE AWARE, UM, OF GREAT CASE IS BECAUSE THEY, THEY DON'T HAPPEN THAT OFTEN.
SO, UM, OUR FIRST RATE CASE IN ALMOST 20 YEARS HAPPENED BACK IN 2000 AND, UH, 12.
SO OUR FIRST RATE CASE IN OVER 20 YEARS IN THAT TIME, UH, BASE RATES WERE INCREASED ABOUT 6.4%.
AND AT THAT TIME, COUNCIL DIRECTED US TO, UM, DO TWO THINGS.
ONE IS TO FOLLOW UP AN APPROACH, UH, WITH A, A PARTIAL HEARING EXAMINER IN AN INDEPENDENT CONSUMER ADVOCATE TO REPRESENT RESIDENTIAL AND SMALL BUSINESSES.
AND THEY ALSO ASKED US TO FOLLOW A PROCESS THAT LOOKED SOMETHING LIKE THE PUBLIC UTILITY COMMISSION OF TEXAS PROCESS.
SO WHEN WE ADOPTED THE RATES THAT WENT INTO THE TARIFFS, UM, THOSE RATES WERE IN PLACE, UM, FOR ABOUT FIVE YEARS.
AND THAT TARIFF SAYS THAT WE SHOULD LOOK AT OUR COST SERVICE, UM, AT LEAST EVERY FIVE YEARS.
UH, IT DOESN'T LIMIT US, BUT IT SAYS AT LEAST EVERY FIVE YEARS.
SO WE, WE DID ANOTHER RIGHT CASE THIS YEAR, UM, EXCUSE ME, ANOTHER RIGHT CASE IN 2016, IN WHICH, UH, WE FOUND THAT WE WERE ABLE TO DECREASE THE RATES, MOST OF THAT BECAUSE OF, UH, DECREASED DEBT SERVICE.
AND SO WE, WE DECREASED THE RATES THEN 6.7% BEGINNING 2017.
AND THOSE ARE THE RATES THAT WE CURRENTLY HAVE IN PLACE.
THOSE ARE THE RATES THAT WE'VE STUDIED USING, UH, 2021 NUMBERS, AND WE SEE THAT, UM, WE NEED TO INCREASE OUR RATES NOW 5.6% TO KEEP UP WITH THE COST OF SERVICE.
SO WHAT ARE BASE RATES? SO BASE RATES ARE USED, UM, TO RECOVER OUR FIXED COST.
UM, IT'S NOT THE COST OF THE ELECTRICITY, IT'S NOT THE ELECTRONS THAT ARE FLOWING TO YOUR HOUSE, THAT'S OUR POWER SUPPLY PIECE.
UM, AND WHAT I SAY, THEY'RE, THEY'RE FIXED.
IT DOESN'T MEAN THEY DON'T CHANGE.
WHAT IT MEANS IS THEY DON'T VARY DEPENDING ON THE AMOUNT OF KILOWATT HOURS THAT CUSTOMERS USE.
UH, SO THEY DO CHANGE OVER TIME FOR VARIOUS REASONS, WHETHER IT'S CONTRACTS OR INFLATION, COST OF COMMODITIES, FUEL COSTS FOR THE VEHICLES, UH, LABOR COSTS.
AND AS WE BORROW MORE MONEY, UH, OUR INTEREST COSTS GO UP, BUT NONE OF THOSE ARE RELATED BACK TO THE KILOWATT HOURS THAT CUSTOMERS USE.
SO THAT'S WHAT WE MEAN BY FIXED VERSUS BEER BACK OF YOUR MIND.
SO ONE OF THE CHALLENGES WE HAVE IS, UM, THIS CHART SHOWS THAT ORANGE LINE IS AS, AS YOU ALL KNOW VERY WELL, AUSTIN IS GROWING.
IN FACT, OUR CUSTOMER GROWTH GROWS ABOUT TWO AND A HALF PERCENT EACH YEAR.
AND SO AS YOU ADD MORE CUSTOMERS, YOU ADD MORE OF THOSE FIXED COSTS.
YOU HAVE TO ADD SUBSTATIONS, YOU HAVE TO EXPAND THEM, YOU HAVE TO ADD CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVES, YOU HAVE TO ADD EMPLOYEES TO MANAGE THE LINES.
UM, BUT THE MAJORITY OF OUR BASE RATE COSTS ARE COLLECTED IN KILOWATT HOURS, WHICH IS VARIABLE.
AND SO THAT YELLOW LINE REPRESENTS OUR, OUR OUR SALES, UM, OF KILOWATT HOURS, WHICH IS RELATIVELY FLAT.
UH, THIS IS, UM, NOT WEATHER ADJUSTED.
SO YOU CAN SEE THE, THE BUMPS ARE USUALLY CAUSED BY HAVING A HOT SUMMER OR COLD WINTER.
UM, BUT YOU CAN SEE THE TREND THERE, IT'S ABOUT A HALF A PERCENT PER YEAR INCREASE.
AND SO, UM, TRYING TO RECOVER THESE RISING FIXED COUGHS WITH A RELATIVELY FLAT, UH, VARIABLE RATE HAS BEEN ONE OF OUR CHALLENGES.
[00:35:01]
AND SO WHAT WE'RE SEEING NOW IS, UH, OVER TIME IS OUR CUSTOMERS ARE MOVING AWAY FROM WHAT WE CALL UNITY OR THE COST OF SERVICE.AND SO, AS YOU REMEMBER, I TOLD YOU THAT OUR LAST RATE CASE WAS BACK IN 2016, AND AT THAT TIME, WE WERE GIVING A RATE DECREASE, AND WE HAD, UM, REACHED AN AGREEMENT IN WHICH WE, UM, GAVE A REDUCTION TO RESIDENTIAL CUSTOMERS AND GAVE MOST OF THAT IN, IN THAT FIRST TIER.
UM, AND SO PART OF THAT IS COMPOUNDING BECAUSE WE'RE HAVING A, A, A COMPOUNDING EFFECT OF MORE CUSTOMERS, NEW CUSTOMERS SHOWING UP.
AND IT'S GOOD THAT THEY'RE USING LESS ENERGY, BUT IT'S SIGNIFICANTLY BELOW THE COST IT IS TO SERVE THEM.
AND SO THAT COMPOUNDS THAT ORANGE LINE.
SO RIGHT NOW WE'RE ABOUT, UH, THEY'RE ABOUT $70 MILLION UNDER THE COST OF SERVICE FOR THEM.
AND YOU CAN SEE WHERE THAT'S MADE UP IS, IS LARGELY WITH THE COMMERCIAL, UH, CUSTOMERS.
THEY ARE SIGNIFICANTLY ABOVE THEIR COST OF SERVICE.
SO THAT'S THE SUBSIDY THAT'S OCCURRING.
THAT BLACK LINE SHOWS, THAT'S THE 35.7, THAT'S THE REVENUE REQUEST, UH, THAT, THAT WE HAVE MADE IN THIS RATE CASE.
SO WE NEED INCREASED REVENUES THAT MUCH, AND WE ALSO NEED TO TRY TO MOVE THESE CUSTOMERS A LITTLE BIT CLOSER TO THEIR COST OF SERVICE.
AND SO THIS TRUCK REPRESENTED APPROXIMATELY A HALF 50% TO THAT COST OF SERVICE.
WE'LL SEE SOME OTHER CUSTOMERS OUT THERE ON THE FARTHER END OF PRIMARY AND, UH, TRANSMISSION CUSTOMERS AS WELL AS SECONDARY ONE.
WE WEREN'T ABLE TO GET THEM PRETTY CLOSE TO THEIR COST OF SERVICE DURING THE LAST, UH, COST OF SERVICE.
AND SO YOU SEE, THEY DON'T MOVE VERY MUCH.
UM, THEY DON'T NEED MUCH ADJUSTMENT.
BUT BECAUSE WE'RE STARTING FROM SUCH A FAR AWAY PLACE FOR OUR RESIDENTIAL AND OUR COMMERCIAL, THAT'S WHY THE RATES ARE CHANGING SO MUCH IN THOSE CLASSES OF CUSTOMERS.
AND I DIDN'T WANNA TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT OUR PROCESS.
LIKE I SAID, IT KIND OF, UM, IT DOESN'T MIRROR, BUT IT'S FASHIONED AFTER WHAT THEY USED IN THE PUBLIC PUBLIC UTILITY COMMISSION OF TEXAS.
AND SO, UH, WE, UH, WE SUBMITTED OUR, OUR PROPOSAL, UH, WHICH YOU INVITE ON A WEBSITE.
UH, WE THEN DID, UM, UH, EIGHT PUBLIC OUTREACH, BOTH VIRTUAL IN PERSON THROUGHOUT THE CITY.
WE HAD TWO TECHNICAL CONFERENCES FOR INTERVENERS IN WHICH WE ANSWERED QUESTIONS THAT THEY HAD AT THOSE CONFERENCES.
WE ALSO HAD A DISCOVERY PE, UH, PERIOD WHERE, UM, BOTH AUSTIN ENERGY, AS WELL AS THE INTERVENERS WERE ALLOWED TO ASK EACH OTHER QUESTIONS ABOUT THEIR POSITIONS.
AND SO THAT INVOLVED HUNDREDS OF QUESTIONS GOING BACK AND FORTH AND GIVING THOSE RESPONSES.
AND THEN WE HAD A THREE DAY CONFERENCE, OR LIKE A HEARING, IT LOOKS MUCH LIKE A LEGAL PROCEEDING, WHICH WE HAD A IMPARTIAL HEARING EXAMINER WHO'S, UH, ACTUALLY AN ADMINISTRATIVE LAW JUDGE, UH, FROM THE PUC WHO ACTS LIKE A JUDGE.
AND WE HAD LAWYERS THAT REPRESENT EACH SIDE AND PUT ON A CASE AND, AND TESTIMONY THAT LASTED FOR THREE DAYS.
AND THEN, UH, THE HEARING EXAMINER PREPARED A REPORT WITH HIS FINDINGS, AND THAT WAS RELEASED ON SEPTEMBER 9TH.
NOW, UH, WE'RE HERE AT, AT THE END OF OCTOBER, AND YOU CAN SEE YOU HAVE A SERIES OF MEETINGS COMING UP, UM, IN NOVEMBER, UH, EARLY DECEMBER, OF WHICH, UH, THE PUBLIC HAS THE ABILITY TO BOTH PROVIDE TESTIMONY DURING THOSE, UM, MEETINGS WITH, WITH COUNSEL, UH, AS WELL AS THE ELECTRIC UTILITY COMMISSION AND THE AUSTIN ENERGY UTILITY OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE, WHICH IS, UH, THE COMMITTEE OF A WHOLE, IT'S, IT'S ALL MEMBERS OF THE CITY COUNCIL.
AND THEN ONCE THEY DECIDE ON THE RATES AND VOTE ON THAT, ABOUT 90 DAYS LATER, WE'LL BE ABLE TO ADOPT THOSE RATES AND IMPLEMENT THEM.
SO I WANNA COVER A LITTLE BIT ABOUT SOME OF THE ASSUMPTIONS HERE, UH, THAT YOU HAVE IN, UM, SOME INFORMATION THAT WE PROVIDED.
MOSTLY, MOST OF THIS IS IN OUR, OUR REPORT THAT WE PROVIDED, UH, DURING THE HEARINGS.
SO SPECIFICALLY, THESE ARE THE FOUR THAT I WANTED TO BRING TO YOUR ATTENTION IN, UM, ADDRESS TONIGHT.
SO THE FIRST IS UNDERSTAND SORT OF HOW THESE WORK.
AND SO, A GOOD ANALOGY I WOULD LIKE TO USE IS, IS LIKE A VEHICLE.
SO, YOU KNOW, MOST PEOPLE ARE FAMILIAR.
YOU HAVE A CAR, YOU MIGHT, MIGHT HAVE A CAR PAYMENT.
UM, YOU FINANCE THAT CAR AND THEN IT REQUIRES SOME SORT OF FUEL OR, UH, SOMETHING TO, TO POWER IT.
AND SO, UM, OFTEN CUSTOMERS WILL, UH, DRIVERS WILL TAKE SOME SORT OF A CONSERVATION MEASURE.
THEY MIGHT TAKE THE BUS TO WORK SO THEY CAN DRIVE FEWER MILES.
AND SO THE RESULT IS YOU STILL HAVE THE SAME CAR PAYMENT, UM, BUT YOU DO HAVE LESS FUEL COSTS.
SO THERE, THERE'S A SAVINGS THERE.
YOU WOULDN'T CALL YOUR, WHOEVER HAS YOUR LOAN AND SAY, I'M ONLY GONNA SAY THEY HAVE THE CAR PAYMENT CUZ I DROVE HALF AS MANY MILES.
WELL, THAT'S SOMETHING THAT'S HAPPENING TO US HERE.
SO BASE RATES, LIKE I SAID, IS THOSE, THOSE FIXED
[00:40:01]
COSTS, UH, THAT, THAT REALLY DON'T CHANGE.AND SO THE POWER SUPPLY, THAT'S THE ACTUAL ELECTRONS THAT ARE SENT THROUGH THE WIRES THAT ARE USED BY OUR CUSTOMERS.
IN FACT, WE JUST ADJUSTED THAT POWER SUPPLY ADJUSTMENT.
UH, YOU PROBABLY HEARD LAST MONTH, UM, WE HAD TO INCREASE THAT, UH, CUZ THE PRICE OF ENERGY IS, IS INCREASED SO MUCH.
BUT, UH, A CONSERVATION MEASURE SOMEONE MIGHT TAKE WOULD BE TO TURN THEIR THERMOSTAT UP SO THEY CAN CONSUME FEW KILOWATT HOURS ON THAT CASE.
YOU STILL HAVE THE SAME BASE RATE COST, THE POLES, THE POWERS, THE TRANSFORMERS, THE EMPLOYEES TO GET IT THERE.
BUT YOU HAVE LESS POWER SUPPLY COSTS BECAUSE YOU'RE USING LESS K KWH.
EVERY KW H WE CAN AVOID BUYING FROM MURCOTT IS A KW H SAVING WE CAN PASS ON TO OUR CUSTOMERS.
AND ON THE SAME POINT, UM, I LIKE TO MAKE A PITCH FOR DISTRIBUTED GENERATION.
EVERY KW H OUR CUSTOMER CAN GENERATE WITH ROOFTOP SOLAR OR OTHER MEANS, UM, IS A KW H THAT WE DON'T HAVE TO BUY FROM, FROM MURCOTT SO THAT SAVINGS CAN BE DIRECTLY PASSED ON.
SO THAT'S WHERE THESE SAVINGS COME ON, ON THE ENERGY SIDE RELATIVE TO THE BASE RATES.
SO WHEN WE START LOOKING AT THIS, UM, IN OUR HOW WE SHOULD STRUCTURE RATES, UH, WE, WE DID SOME LOOKING AROUND IT, YOU KNOW, SINCE THE 1980S, UH, EA HAS BEEN REPORTING A REDUCTION IN AVERAGE CONSUMPTION ON THE RESIDENTIAL SIDE.
AND THEN, UH, TEXAS IS IN THE SOUTH REGION FOR EIA DAYS.
SO THAT'S A SECOND SET OF BARS ON THE RIGHT THERE.
AND WHILE HAVE A LOT MORE PEOPLE IN THE COUNTRY, A LOT, A LOT MORE RESIDENTIAL CUSTOMERS, THE AVERAGE CONSUMPTIONS CONTINUES TO DECLINE.
AND MOST OF THIS IS FOR REASONS LIKE, UH, BUILDING CODES, UH, THAT WE'VE BEEN ABLE TO PASS, UM, BETTER INSULATION, HIGHER EFFICIENCY AND APPLIANCES, BETTER SHES OR HVAC UNITS.
WE'VE GONE FROM THE EIGHTIES TO TODAY FOR INCANDESCENT TO FLUORESCENT TO L E D BULBS, BETTER REFRIGERATION, ALL OF THOSE THINGS ARE DRIVING THE AVERAGE CONSUMPTION DOWN FOR EACH OF OUR CONSUMERS.
AND SO THAT AGAIN, IS A VERY GOOD THING, BUT THAT'S A PHENOMENA WE'RE SEEING ACROSS THE COUNTRY.
AND WHAT WE'RE NOTICED HERE IN AUSTIN IS, AS YOU, AS YOU ALL KNOW THAT WE'VE SEEN A LOT OF GROWTH IS, UH, AS NEWER HOMES, UH, COME ONLINE, THEY TEND TO BE MORE ENERGY EFFICIENT.
AND SO WHAT WE LOOKED AT IS, UM, WE LOOKED AT ALL RESIDENTIAL UNITS THAT, UH, FIRST BEGAN SERVICE, UM, IN EACH YEAR.
SO PRE 2012, AND EACH BAR REPRESENTS EVERY YEAR THROUGH TWO 2020 WHEN THEY BEGAN TAKING SERVICE.
SO YOU CAN SEE ON THE SINGLE FAMILY SIDE, UH, THAT THEY WENT FROM ABOUT 1,148, UH, AVERAGE KW H PER MONTH TO LET ME, I GOTTA PULL UP ON MINE.
SO I CAN SEE THE NUMBER HERE TO, UM, ABOUT 659 AVERAGE KWH.
SO THAT'S ALMOST A A WHAT WAS A 50% DECREASE IN CONSUMPTION ON AVERAGE FOR SINGLE FAMILY RESIDENCES.
AND YOU CAN SEE THE TREND, THEY'RE NEWER, THE HOME, THE MORE EFFICIENT THAT, THAT MAKES PERFECT SENSE ON THE MULTI-FAMILY, UM, WHICH TEND TO BE SMALLER.
THEY USE ABOUT HALF AS MUCH AS A, AS A SINGLE FAMILY.
AND THEY TOO HAVE BECOME MORE EFFICIENT.
THEY'VE GONE FROM 654 FOR A, UH, MULTIFAMILY UNIT CONSTRUCTED FOR 2012 DOWN TO ABOUT 336, UH, KW H PER MONTH, WHICH TWO THAT'S BUILT IN 2020.
UM, SO MULTI-FAMILY, ABOUT HALF A SINGLE FAMILY AND ABOUT A HALF PERCENT DE OR, UH, 50% DECREASE OVER THE LAST 10 YEARS.
SO, UH, THAT IS, UM, SOME EXCELLENT ENERGY EFFICIENCY, UH, MOSTLY BEING ACHIEVED THROUGH OUR, OUR BUILDING CODES AND NEWER APPLIANCES.
ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE'VE NOTICED IS, UH, WHEN WE SET THESE TIER STRUCTURES BACK IN 2012, THE, THE, THE RATE CASE WE HAD BACK THEN, WE USED 2009 DATA.
AND THAT'S REALLY WHERE THE FIVE TIERS AND WHERE THEY BREAK WERE, WERE DEVELOPED.
AND SO THIS SLIDE SHOWS, UM, RESIDENTIAL SUMMER CONSUMPTION.
THE ORANGE BARS ARE WHAT WE SAW IN 2009 AND THE GOLD BARS ARE WHAT WE SAW IN 2021, A CURRENT TEST YEAR.
AND YOU CAN SEE THAT WE'VE, UM, ADDED A LOT OF SALES IN TIER ONE AND TWO AND IN THREE.
UM, AND THAT'S CONSISTENT WITH WHAT I JUST SHOWED YOU CUZ WE'VE HAD THIS, A LOT OF GROWTH, A LOT OF NEW CU UH, CUSTOMERS COMING ON AND ARE USING LESS AND LESS ENERGY.
IN FACT, IF YOU LOOK AT THIS, UM, BILLS WITH 1500 KILOWATT HOURS INCREASED BY 78%, UH, WHILE THOSE OVER 1500 K CAN DECREASE BY 12%.
SO YOU CAN SEE THAT THE ENERGY EFFICIENCY THERE, BUT YOU CAN ALSO
[00:45:01]
SEE HOW THE SALES ARE AGGREGATING NOW IN TIERS ONE AND TWO AND THREE.AND SO WE'RE TRYING TO ADDRESS THIS, UH, IN OUR RATE DESIGN.
NEXT THING WE ADDRESS IS THE PRICE SIGNALS.
UH, GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE PLEASE.
SO ONE OF THE THINGS WE DID WAS, UH, WE LOOKED AT WHAT'S THE ELASTICITY OF DEMAND FOR ELECTRICITY.
AND SO WE WANTED TO USE OUR, OUR ACTUAL DATA AND WE COPIED A, UH, AN ANALYSIS THAT WAS DONE IN CALIFORNIA TO BECOME PRETTY FAMOUS.
BUT, UH, BUT IT USES A BUNCHING ANALYSIS.
AND SO THE THEORY IS HERE THAT AS, UH, CUSTOMERS USE MORE ENERGY AND THEY GET THESE HIGHER PRICED TIERS, THAT THEY WILL BEGIN TO REDUCE THEIR CONSUMPTION SO THEY DON'T FROST INTO THE NEXT TIER.
AND SO THE EXAMPLE I HAVE HERE IS, UM, UM, THEORETICAL, IT'S NOT ACTUAL USAGE.
AND SO A BIT, UM, EXAGGERATED JUST TO, TO SHOW OUR POINT, BUT YOU CAN SEE THAT, UM, IN THEORY AS A CUSTOMER GETS UP TO THE, TO THE TOP OF TIER TWO THERE, THAT, UM, THEY WOULD START TO, UH, CONSERVE ENERGY AND NOT CROSS INTO TIER THREE.
UM, AND THAT, THAT'S THE IDEA BEHIND THE, THE PRICE SIGNALS.
UM, AND THAT DOES WORK IN SOME COMMODITIES AND SOME OTHER PRODUCTS.
UM, SO WE WANTED TO SEE IF THIS WORKED FOR, UM, OUR ELECTRICAL SIDE.
SO IF YOU GO TO THE NEXT SIDE, PLEASE.
BUT OUR RESULTS WERE VERY DIFFERENT.
AND SO, UH, WHAT WE SAW WAS CUSTOMERS SMOOTHLY CROSSED OVER THESE, THESE TIERS.
UH, THERE THERE WAS NO BUNCHING.
AND SO THIS IS OUR ACTUAL DATA.
THESE ARE THE, THE PERCENTAGE OF BILLS AT EACH OF THOSE K WHS.
AND SO WE WOULD EXPECT TO SEE SOME OF THOSE LITTLE SPIKES BEFORE THOSE PRICE CHANGES, BUT WE DON'T, THEY SMOOTHLY CROSS OVER.
SO THEY INDICATES THAT CUSTOMERS AREN'T RESPONDING TO, UM, THESE, UM, PRICE SIGNALS WITHIN BASE RATES.
WE DO THINK THEY RESPOND TO, UH, HIGHER BILLS OVERALL.
UH, IF YOU HAVE A SERIES OF BILLS OVER A COUPLE OF MONTHS OR YOU GET A BILL LAST MONTH, YOU KNOW, THAT MIGHT TRIGGER A RESPONSE.
BUT THE, THE TIERS THEMSELVES DON'T SEEM TO RESPOND.
AND THIS HAS BEEN HELD UP BY SOME LITERATURE THAT, THAT WE'VE READ.
UM, AND WE CAN BUY COPIES OF THAT WHERE, UM, THERE'S A COUPLE THINGS GOING HERE.
ONE IS IN THE SHORT RUN, THERE'S NOT A, UM, A GOOD ALTERNATIVE.
IT'S NOT AS IF YOU CAN SWITCH FUELS OR HEATING SOURCES OR COOLING SOURCES, UH, WHILE YOU'RE, UH, UH, PROCESS OF USING THE ENERGY.
AND THE OTHER ONE IS, UM, IT'S DIFFICULT TO FOLLOW ALONG AND KNOW WHEN YOU CROSS TIERS.
WE DID DEVELOP AN APP FOR OUR CUSTOMERS, UH, THAT THEY CAN GO ONLINE, IT CAN DOWNLOAD IT ON THEIR CELL PHONES AND IT SENDS THEM ALERTS WHEN THEY'RE ABOUT TO CROSS A HERE, IT'S BEEN A FEW MONTHS SINCE I CHECKED, BUT I THINK WE HAVE FOUR OR 5% OF OUR RESIDENTIAL CUSTOMERS WHO HAVE USED IT.
WE DID THE SAME ANALYSIS LOOKING AT THEIR CONSUMPTION PATTERNS, AND WE SAW NO DISCERNIBLE DIFFERENCE, UH, OF THEM RESPONDING TO THOSE PRICE TIERS EITHER.
THE OTHER THING WE LOOKED AT IS WE HAVE SORT OF A NATURAL, UM, EXPERIMENT HERE IN AUSTIN.
SO IF YOU LIVE INSIDE THE CITY OF AUSTIN, UH, WE USE FIVE TIERS FOR RESIDENTIAL CUSTOMERS, UH, PRICE FROM 2.8 UP TO ABOUT 11 CENTS.
AND IF YOU'RE OUTSIDE THE CITY OF AUSTIN IN ONE OF OUR OTHER COMMUNITIES THAT WE SERVE, YOU HAVE THREE TIERS.
AND SO WE LOOKED AT, WE COMPARED THE, UM, THE DIFFERENCE IN AVERAGE CONSUMPTION, UH, FOR THOSE CUSTOMERS FROM 2012 WHEN WE IMPLEMENTED THOSE TIER STRUCTURES THROUGH 2021.
AND YOU CAN SEE THAT, UH, BOTH INSIDE AND OUTSIDE ACHIEVED ALMOST THE EXACT SAME AMOUNT OF DECREASE IN AVERAGE CONSUMPTION OVER TIME.
AND AGAIN, I THINK THAT'S MORE BASED UPON THE TYPES OF, UH, HOUSING, THE, THE NEWNESS OF THE HOMES, THE ENERGY EFFICIENCY APPLIANCES AND THINGS LIKE THAT, RATHER THAN ATTRIBUTING TO THE SPECIFIC TIER STRUCTURE THAT'S DRIVING THAT.
WE ALSO SAW THE, UM, ISSUE ABOUT PROGRESSIVE AND, AND REGRESSIVE.
AND, UM, I'M NOT THE EXPERT, BUT YOU KNOW, I I I DO KNOW ENOUGH THAT, YOU KNOW, THAT IS A VERY, UH, COMMON TERMINOLOGY USED FOR TAXES IN WHICH IF YOU HAVE A PROGRESSIVE TAX, THAT MEANS, UH, YOU IMPOSE A LOWER PERCENTAGE TAX RATE ON CUSTOMER CONSUMERS OR, UH, RESIDENTS, UH, SO THAT THEY PAY LESS PERCENTAGE OF YOUR DISPOSABLE INCOME IN TAXES.
AND IF IT'S A, A REGRESSIVE TAX, IT'S MORE OF A UNIFORM TYPE WHERE, UM, THE LESS INCOME YOU HAVE, THE HIGHER PERCENTAGE YOU PAY TOWARDS THAT TAX.
AND THAT'S THE UNDERSTAND OF PROGRESSIVE AND REGRESSIVE.
AND SO UTILITY FEES ARE NOT REALLY, THEY'RE NOT TAXES, UM, WHERE TAXES A PRIMARY PERSON OF RAISING REVENUES FOR A GOVERNMENT.
[00:50:01]
WE'RE DOING IS WE'RE RECOVERING THE COST, PROVIDING A COMMODITY.AND SO IF YOU LOOK AT TIERED RATES AND YOU THINK OF PROGRESSIVE INGRESS, UH, WE LIKE TO SAY THAT TIERED RATES ARE INCOME BLIND AND THAT, UM, THOSE TIERS APPLY TO EVERYONE.
SO EVERY CUSTOMER, REGARDLESS OF INCOME, IS SOLD ENERGY IN TIERS ONE.
UM, AND IF THEY USE OVER 500 KWH TO GO TO TIER TWO AND LIKEWISE, AND SO, UM, THOSE SIGNIFICANT BELOW THE COST OF SERVICE.
AND THEN IF YOU GO UP TO THE HIGHER TIERS, TIERS ONE AND TWO, OR EXCUSE ME, TIERS FOUR AND FIVE, UM, AGAIN, YOU'RE, YOU'RE, YOU'RE PAYING MUCH MORE THAN THE COST OF SERVICE.
AND THAT'S, UH, THAT'S NOT, IS NOT DRIVEN BY, BY INCOME LEVELS.
SO PROGRESSIVE AND REGRESSIVE TIER STRUCTURES JUST ISN'T REALLY A GOOD APPLICATION OF THAT, THAT THOUGHT.
ONE OF THE THINGS WE LOOKED AT WAS, UM, WE DON'T COLLECT INDIVIDUAL INCOME DATA IN OUR CUSTOMERS, UH, BUT WE HAVE, UH, CAP CUSTOMERS IN WHICH, UH, THEY ARE, UH, WE USE THEM AS A PRO ANALYSIS, BUT WE DO LOOK AT THEM, LOOK AT THEIR PATTERNS AND TRY TO INFER WHY WHAT MIGHT BE HAPPENING WITH, WITH LOW INCOME CUSTOMERS.
AND SO HERE YOU CAN SEE, UM, THE NOTION, UH, WHERE HOW MUCH OF EACH, UH, TIER ARE CAP CUSTOMERS AND NON-CUSTOMERS FALLING INTO.
AND YOU CAN SEE THAT ON AVERAGE, UH, FY THIS IS FOR 2020 DATA, UM, CAP CUSTOMERS OF LOW INCOME CUSTOMERS USED ABOUT 11, 11% MORE ENERGY THAN NON CAP CUSTOMERS.
AND YOU CAN SEE THAT THE ORANGE BAR IS THE NON CAP CUSTOMER.
SO YOU CAN SEE THE MAJ, UH, THE VAST MAJORITY OF THE SALES OF KW H TO NON CAP CUSTOMERS OCCURRED IN TIERS ONE AND TWO.
WHERE FOR CAP CUSTOMERS, IT, UH, FOR ACUTE HAPPENS IN TIER TWO, THREE AND IN FOUR.
UH, SO YOU CAN SEE THAT, UH, THE DISPROPORTIONATELY RECOVERING MORE REVENUE PERCENTAGE BASES FROM, UH, CAP CUSTOMERS AND NON CAP CUSTOMERS.
WE HAVE A COUPLE OF THEORIES ON ON WHY THAT'S, THAT'S HAPPENING.
WE ARE LOOKING AT, UH, CENSUS DATA.
NOW WE HAVE CENSUS TRACKS, WHICH IS A LITTLE BIT MORE GRANULAR THAN A ZIP CODE.
AND WE WE'RE LOOKING AT, AND, UH, WE'RE SEEING SOME SIMILAR PATTERNS IN THAT WHEN WE LOOK AT THE MEDIAN INCOME, UH, BY CENSUS TRACK AND THE CONSUMPTION BY CENSUS TRACK.
SO WE APPLIED THIS TO, UM, WHAT WE'RE ACTUALLY SEEING, UM, THE GROUND HERE.
SO WE GRAB TWO, TWO ZIP CODES, UM, ONE, UH, 7 0 1, WHICH IS OUR DOWNTOWN ZIP CODE VERSUS 7 24.
AND THERE ARE REALLY TWO DIFFERENT TYPES OF GROUPS OF CUSTOMERS.
SO IF YOU LOOK AT DOWNTOWN, WHERE THE MEDIAN HOUSING VALUES, UH, UH, $450,000 VERSUS 147,007 24, UH, THE INCOME QUITE DIFFERENT.
122,000 FOR DOWNTOWN AND 50,000 FOR, UH, 7, 2 4, WHICH PUTS IT, UM, AT 200% THE FEDERAL POVERTY LEVEL.
UM, FROM THE MEDIAN INCOME, YOU CAN SEE DOWNTOWN ABOUT TWO POINT ABOUT 0.2, 0.2% ARE CAP CUSTOMERS, WHERE AT 7, 2 4, IT'S ALMOST 22%.
BUT I DO WANNA BRING YOUR EYES DOWN TO THAT AVERAGE BILL.
SO DOWNTOWN, AGAIN, IT'S MOSTLY CONDOS AND, UM, HIGH EFFICIENCY APARTMENTS, THEIR AVERAGE BILL IS ABOUT $66 WHERE OUT IN 7 2 4, THEIR AVERAGE BILL IS $102.
AND REMEMBER, ALMOST 22% OF THOSE ARE PAYING, UH, UH, THE DISCOUNTED CAP BILL.
SO, UH, SIGNIFICANTLY HIGHER BILL FOR THOSE.
AND YOU CAN SEE THE SINGLE FAMILY IS ONLY ABOUT 18% FOR DOWNTOWN VERSUS, UH, ALMOST 75%, UH, SINGLE FAMILY FOR 7 24.
AND YOU CAN SEE THE, UM, THE AGE OF THE HOMES WHERE THERE'S SIGNIFICANTLY NEWER HOMES, UH, DOWNTOWN VERSUS THE NORTHWEST.
SO THAT GOES BACK TO THAT ENERGY EFFICIENCY ARGUMENT.
AND YOU CAN SEE THAT ON THAT CHART THERE, THAT REALLY WHAT HAPPENS IS, UM, THOSE CUSTOMERS OUT THERE IN THEORY 7 24 ARE SUBSIDIZED IN THE DOWNTOWN CUSTOMERS BECAUSE OF THAT, UH, THE TIERING STRUCTURE AND, AND THE WAY WE HAVE SET RATES.
AND SO THIS REALLY IS AN UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCE THAT WE TRIED TO ADDRESS WITH OUR NEW RATE STRUCTURE.
AND SO WE, YOU KNOW, IT'S ALWAYS GOOD TO LOOK AT WHAT OTHER UTILITIES DO, BUT YOU ALWAYS HAVE TO UNDERSTAND THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE UTILITIES.
AND SO, UM, TO SOME EXTENT THERE IS A FAMILIAR RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN A, A CUSTOMER CHARGE.
UH, OURS IS CURRENTLY $10 AND WE PROPOSED TO 25 AND, UH, THE TIERS, AND AGAIN,
[00:55:01]
UM, THOSE KWH CHARGES AND BASE RATES ARE RECOVERING FIXED COST.AND SO, UH, A HIGHER YOUR CUSTOMER CHARGE WILL LOWER THE ENERGY CHARGE AND VICE VERSA FORCE.
AND SO, UM, WHEN YOU LOOK AT THIS, WE GRAB SOME CENTRAL TEXAS UTILITIES WELL AS WELL AS LUBBOCK, WHICH IS NOT IN ERCOT FOR 21, BUT YOU CAN SEE, UM, THAT THE CUSTOMER CHARGES ARE SORT OF ANYWHERE FROM ABOUT, UH, $8 TO ABOUT $25 FOR THESE UTILITIES.
BUT WE'RE THE ONLY ONES WITH TIERED RATES.
UM, CPS ENERGY, WHICH IS THE CITY OF SAN ANTONIO, IT'S A MUNICIPAL UTILITY.
THEY DO HAVE A, DURING SUMMER, UH, AN ADDER FOR CUSTOMERS WHO HAVE MORE THAN 600 KILOWATT HOURS ON A MONTHLY BASIS.
UH, SO THAT'S SOMETHING SIMILAR TO A TIER, UH, BUT IT'S ONLY DURING THE SUMMERTIME AND YOU CAN ALSO SEE THEIR AVERAGE, UH, CONSUMPTION.
UM, SO IT'S, IT'S PRETTY VARIED AND THE BAR ARE ON THE RIGHT, AGAIN, JUST LIKE I SHOWED YOU ACROSS THE US WHERE WE ARE SEEING, UM, EFFICIENCY GAINS IN IN RESIDENTIAL, UH, CUSTOMERS ACROSS THE BOARD.
WE'RE SEEING THE SAME THING HERE IN TEXAS.
AND SO YOU CAN SEE ALL THESE UTILITIES HAVE SEEN SOME PRETTY SIGNIFICANT DECREASES IN AVERAGE CONSUMPTION BETWEEN 2013 AND 20.
UH, WHERE THE YELLOW BAR THERE, AUSTIN ENERGY, THE ONE WITH THE GREATEST WAS GEORGETOWN.
WE HAVE HUNDRED 51 WAS OUR AVERAGE CONSUMPTION FOR 21 THERE.
AND, UM, YOU CAN SEE THAT COMPARE THAT SOME OF THE OTHER UTILITIES, CENTRAL TEXAS THERE UP CLOSER TO ABOUT 1200 K H.
AND SO THIS ONE I DO NEED TO POINT OUT A CORRECTION.
UM, SO IF YOU LOOK AT THE, THE BLUE CHART HERE, UM, THIS IS OUR, OUR PROPOSED RATES.
AND IF YOU SEE WHERE I BREAK THE TIER, THE PROPOSED TIER THREE, UH, TIER THREE SHOULD BE GREATER THAN, UH, 1200 KW H NOT 2,500.
SO I APOLOGIZE FOR THAT CORRECTION.
UM, BUT YOU CAN SEE CURRENTLY OUR RATE STRUCTURE ON TOP IS AN ORANGE, UM, BOX THERE WITH, UH, THE FIVE TIERS WHERE, UM, THE FIRST TIER'S ABOUT 2.80 CENTS, AND IT'S FOR ZERO TO 500.
AGAIN, IF YOU REMEMBER, WHAT'S THE AVERAGE CONSUMPTION FOR RESIDENTIAL CONSUMERS.
YOU KNOW, IF YOU'RE IN A, UH, MULTI-FAMILY, IT'S ABOUT, YOU KNOW, 300.
SO YOU NEVER GET OUTSIDE OF TIER ONE.
IF YOU'RE A OR A SINGLE FAMILY HOME, IT'S ABOUT 600.
SO YOU CAN'T GET INTO TIER TWO.
BUT YOU CAN SEE THE PREPONDERANCE OF OUR SALES ARE IN THE TEST YEAR IN THAT TIER ONE, WHICH ARE SIGNIFICANTLY BELOW THE COST OF SERVICE, WHICH IS AROUND, UH, FOUR AND A HALF CENTS.
TIER TWO, UM, YOU CAN SEE IT AT 5.80 CENTS.
SO, UM, WE'RE, WE'RE SELLING ALMOST 80% OF OUR KW H WE'RE NOT RECOVERING THOSE COSTS.
AND AGAIN, YOU CAN SEE THAT THOSE TIERS ARE DECREASING, UH, AS A PERCENTAGE AS YOU GET HIGHER, WHICH IS A, A GOOD THING.
WE WANT THEM TO USE LESS ENERGY.
BUT OUR, OUR RATE STRUCTURE HAS TO MATCH THE CONSUMPTION PATTERN.
AND SO WHAT WE PROPOSED IS THREE TIERS WITH TIER ONE BEING ZERO TO 300 AT 3.60 CENTS, AND THAT COVERS ABOUT 37% OF THE ENERGY SOLD.
AND THEN TIER TWO FROM 301 TO 1200, WHICH IS RIGHT ABOUT THE COST OF SERVICE.
UM, AND THAT COVERS ABOUT 51% OF THE ENERGY SOLD.
AND THEN TIER THREE IS EVERYTHING ABOVE 1200 AT 4.6 SETS, WHICH IS ABOUT 11% OF THE ENERGY SOLD.
SO IT'S MORE BALANCED WITH THE WAY CUSTOMERS ACTUALLY USE ENERGY.
SO I DID, I DID WANT TO END A NOTE THAT, YOU KNOW, UM, I THINK MANY OF US ALL HAVE THE, UH, SHARE GOALS OF, OF WHAT WE WANT TO, UH, ACHIEVE.
UM, BUT I THINK WE LOOK AT SOME DIFFERENT DATA SETS AND WE LOOK AT, UM, THINGS DIFFERENTLY.
UM, BUT WE'RE ALL SORT OF ACHIEVING THE WANT TO ACHIEVE THE SAME GOAL.
AND SO THE FIRST IS WE ABSOLUTELY WANT TO ENCOURAGE, INCENTIVIZE ENERGY EFFICIENCY AND CONSERVATION.
IN FACT, WE'VE BEEN INCREASING OUR, UH, CUSTOMER ENERGY SERVICES BUDGET, WHICH IS WHERE A LOT OF THOSE PROGRAMS ARE FUNDED, UH, REBATES AND REFUNDS.
AND MINERALIZATIONS HAS FROM 45 TO 47 MILLION IN, IN FY 23.
UM, THE LARGEST INCREASE WAS IN OUR SOLAR BUDGET FROM 3 MILLION TO 6 MILLION.
UH, WE PARTNER WITH A, A LOT OF THE GROUPS, UM, TO, UH, FOR OUR GREEN, GREEN BUILDINGS.
UM, AND SO, YOU KNOW, WE'RE PUTTING A LOT OF MONEY AND EFFORT INTO INCENTIVIZING ENERGY EFFICIENCY AND CONSERVATION.
AND HOW THAT REALLY COMES OUT ON THE CUSTOMER'S BILLS IS, UM, CUSTOMERS WHO USE MORE ENERGY WILL CONTINUE TO SEE HIGHER BILLS.
AND THAT'S CONSISTENT WITH WHAT WE SEE, WHICH IS WHEN CUSTOMERS BILLS ARE HIGHER OVER TIME, THEY, THEY TOO DO REACT, THEY DON'T REACT TO THE TIERS.
[01:00:01]
BUT WE DO WANNA MAINTAIN THOSE THREE TIERS SO THAT THOSE CUSTOMERS USING MORE ENERGY ARE BUILD HIGHER.UM, CUSTOMERS WHO CAN SERVE ENERGY WILL CONTINUE ENJOY LOWER POWER SUPPLY COSTS.
REMEMBER I TOLD YOU ABOUT THAT, UH, VARIABLE RATE.
IF YOU, IF YOU USE LESS FUEL, UM, THEN YOU, YOU HAVE A LOWER, UH, VARIABLE COST.
AND FINALLY, UH, RECOVERING FIXED COST FROM THE FIXEDS CHARGE THAT, THAT CUSTOMER CHARGE.
ALL OF THESE, UH, NEW CUSTOMERS ARE COMING ON IN HIGH EFFICIENCY APARTMENTS AND CONDOS AND HOMES.
UH, THEY'RE, THEY'RE PAYING THOSE REALLY LOW TIERS.
THEY ARE NOT PAYING THEIR COST OF THE SYSTEM GROWTH.
SO ALL THE SUBSTATIONS AND POLES AND WIRES, YOU KNOW, A LOT OF PEOPLE SAY GROWTH SHOULD PAY FOR GROWTH.
ONE THING WE CAN DO IS MAKE SURE THAT THE RATES ARE PAYING, PICK UP THEIR COSTS OF THE GROWTH, UH, BUT SUBSIDIZE THAT.
AND FINALLY, UM, OUR LOW INCOME CUSTOMERS THAT ARE ON CAP PROGRAM, WE CAN PROTECT THEM AND WE SPECIFICALLY DESIGN TO HELP PROTECT THEM.
BECAUSE WHAT THE PROGRAM DOES IS, UH, THE LOW INCOME CUSTOMERS ON CAP, THEY DO NOT PAY THE CUSTOMER CHARGE.
AND SO RATHER THAN WAIVING THE $10 CHARGE THAT WE GET WAIVED A MUCH LARGER PORTION, THE $25 PIECE, UM, THEN THEY CONTINUE TO GET A 10% DISCOUNT ON THE REMAINDER OF THE BILL.
SO THEY ARE JUST ABOUT ISOLATED OR INSULATED FROM, UH, THESE, THESE RATE CHANGES THAT WE HAVE.
AND IT RECOGNIZES THAT CAP CUSTOMERS TEND TO HAVE SLIGHTLY HIGHER CONSUMPTION.
AND PART OF THAT IS THE HOUSING STOCK THAT WE OFTEN SEE, UH, IN THE AREAS OF TOWN WHERE, UM, OUR CAP CUSTOMERS, UH, LIVE, UH, THEY TEND TO LIVE IN, UM, UH, UH, OLDER HOMES, SINGLE FAMILY HOMES.
UM, THEY TEND TO, UH, OFTEN HAVE, UH, MORE, MORE PEOPLE IN, IN THE RESIDENCE, UH, THAN WHAT WE MIGHT SEE IN, IN THE DOWNTOWN MULTI-FAMILY, AS I POINTED OUT.
SO, UH, THIS, THIS RECOGNIZES THAT.
FINALLY, UH, WE HAVE AN AUTO ENROLLMENT.
WE HAVE ABOUT 35,000 CUSTOMERS CURRENTLY ON CUSTOMER ASSISTANCE PROGRAM.
WE WOULD LIKE TO, UH, DO A GREATER COMMUNITY OUTREACH.
WE'VE BEEN WORKING WITH THAT GROUP WITHIN AUSTIN ENERGY, AND WE THINK BY, UH, CREATING A GREATER REWARD THAT $25 CHARGE, UH, WE COULD GET MORE CUSTOMERS WHO ARE DESERVING OF THIS BENEFIT ONTO THE PROGRAM SO THEY CAN, UM, IMPROVE THEIR AFFORDABILITY IN AUSTIN.
SO WITH THAT, I CAN TAKE ANY QUESTIONS.
UM, I THINK WE'RE GONNA FIRST, UH, LET JOHN, UH, KAUFMAN THE CONSUMER ADVOCATE.
IS HE, IS HE ON HERE WITH US? I AM.
UM, I'M GONNA LET YOU PRESENT AND THEN WE CAN DO QUESTIONS TO BOTH OF THEM, UH, AT THE SAME TIME SO THAT WE CAN KIND OF COVER THIS TOPIC.
ABA, I I DIDN'T KNOW HOW YOU WANTED TO FIT VALUE SOLAR IN AFTERWARDS.
I DON'T KNOW WHETHER JOHN HAD SPECIFIC ISSUES ABOUT VALUE SOLAR, IF NOT THAT, WE CAN JUST DO THAT AFTERWARDS.
YEAH, THAT'S WHY I THOUGHT I'D PAIRED THE TWO OF Y'ALL UP AND THEN, AND THEN WE'LL, WE'LL HEAR FROM TIM AFTERWARDS, SINCE IT'S A KIND OF SEPARATE ISSUE.
SO I WILL, YEAH, WON'T WEIGH IN ON THE, ON THE, UH, VALUE OF SELLER, ALTHOUGH I FEEL LIKE THERE'S A GREAT DEAL OF, UH, AGREEMENT COMING TOGETHER ON THAT PART OF THINGS.
I'M A, A CONSUMER ADVOCATE, AND I WAS INVOLVED IN THE, UH, 2016, UH, RATE CASE WHERE, UH, WHICH WAS A MUCH EASIER RATE CASE BECAUSE THERE, THERE WERE RATE REDUCTIONS ULTIMATELY FOR, UH, ALL CUSTOMER CLASSES, UH, IN, BUT THE, UH, THIS IS A KIND OF A STRANGE SETUP AND I APPRECIATE, UM, UM, AUSTIN ENERGY KIND OF TALKING ABOUT THE PROCESS, BUT, UH, IT'S SET UP TO BE SOMEWHAT OF AN ADVERSARIAL PROCESS.
UH, SORT OF, UM, UH, WE, WE PLAY THE DEVIL'S ADVOCATE AT THE CON THE INDEPENDENT CONSUMER ADVOCATE, BUT WE, WE LOOK AT THINGS FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF THE RESIDENTIAL AND SMALL BUSINESS INTERESTS GENERALLY.
SO WE'RE, WE'RE LOOKING AT OUT FOR EVERYONE IN THE RESIDENTIAL CLASS, NOT THE BIG INDUSTRIAL CUSTOMER CLASS OR, OR FROM THE UTILITIES PERSPECTIVE.
AND WE LOOK AT THE SAME DATA, AND YOU COULD GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE AND, UM, SEE THAT, UM, UH, WE, WE WENT THROUGH THE WHOLE RATE CASE PROCESS, UH, WITH EXPERTS THAT HAD, UM, YOU KNOW, DECADES OF EXPERIENCE LOOKING AT IT.
AND WE CAME TO SOME DIFFERENT CONCLUSIONS THAN AUSTIN ENERGY COMES.
UH, AND, UM, YOU KNOW, FOR INSTANCE, I MEAN, THERE ARE PLACES WHERE AUSTIN ENERGY SEES A SUBSIDY AND, AND WE SEE A SUBSIDY THE OTHER WAY.
SO IT, IT'S A SUBSIDY IS OFTEN IN THE EYE, THE BEHOLDER AND, UH, DIFFERENT EXPERTS CAN LOOK AT THE SAME INFORMATION AND COME TO DIFFERENT CONCLUSIONS.
AND SO WE, WE WERE PRESENTING, UH, I GUESS SOME ALTERNATE OPINIONS AND, UH, AND UH, CONCLUSIONS ABOUT THINGS.
UH, AND SO, YOU KNOW, THIS, THIS 1, 2 34 IS ESSENTIALLY, UH, WHAT WE WENT THROUGH, INCLUDING THE, YOU KNOW, THE OVERALL INCREASE.
THERE'S STILL A, A BIG DISAGREEMENT BETWEEN CONSUMER ADVOCATES AND UH, UH,
[01:05:01]
AUSTIN ENERGY AS TO HOW MUCH MORE BASE RATE INCREASE THEY NEED EACH YEAR.AND, UM, AND THERE'S A VARIETY OF ISSUES THAT I, I WON'T GO INTO CAUSE I DON'T REALLY THINK THAT'S YOUR, UH, PURVIEW HERE.
I, I, I ASSUME YOU'RE REALLY INTERESTED MOSTLY IN THE RESIDENTIAL RATE DESIGN AND, AND HOW THAT IMPACTS AND INTERRELATES WITH ENERGY EFFICIENCY AND, AND, AND SO FORTH.
BUT, UH, AS YOU GO THROUGH THESE STEPS, YOU, THE REVENUE REQUIREMENT, THE OVERALL INCREASE, THAT'S THE PIE.
AND THEN YOU, YOU KIND OF SLICE AND DICE IT AND YOU MAKE DECISIONS.
AND THESE ARE SUBJECTIVE DECISIONS THAT EXPERTS ECONOMISTS MAKE ABOUT HOW THESE COSTS ARE RELATED AND, AND WHAT BUCKETS TO PUT THEM IN.
AND THEN YOU HAVE TO APPLY, UH, BOTH COST IMPACT INFORMATION AND OTHER POLICY REASONS TO, COULD DIVIDE IT UP BETWEEN THE INDUSTRIAL, THE COMMERCIAL, THE SMALL BUSINESS, THE RESIDENTIAL, AND, AND ALL THE VARIOUS, UH, COMPONENTS WITHIN IT.
AND THE, AND THE RATE DESIGN ISSUE, WHICH HAS BEEN MOSTLY DISCUSSED AND I THINK IS MOSTLY OF YOUR, WITHIN YOUR INTEREST IS, UH, WHAT, WHAT DO WE DO WITH THE RESIDENTIAL RATE DESIGN? AND BECAUSE WE HAVE AN OVERALL INCREASE, UH, THAT, THAT COULD BE VERY LARGE IF AUSTIN ENERGY GETS THE ENTIRE INCREASE THAT IT WANTS AND, AND THEN THERE'S SHIFTING, UH, BEING PROPOSED, UH, WHEREBY COSTS THAT HAVE BEEN PAID BY LARGE CUSTOMERS OR GET PUSHED DOWN INTO THE RESIDENTIAL CLASS.
UH, AND THEN, UH, AND THEN THIS, THIS CHANGE IN THE CUSTOMER CHARGE AND THE TIERS, WHICH THEN PUTS THE, THE INCREASE EVEN MORE SO ON THE SMALL USERS.
AND, UH, UH, WE, WE CAN GET THAT.
BUT THE, THE, UM, THE MESSAGE THAT WE HAVE OVERALL, AS THE INDEPENDENT CONSUMER ADVOCATE AT THIS POINT, IS THAT THERE REALLY NEEDS TO BE SOME MITIGATION IN THE RATE DESIGN BECAUSE OF THE IMPACTS PRIMARILY.
AND THIS IS, YOU KNOW, UM, I, REGARDLESS AND INDEPENDENT OF ANY ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERNS, BUT THAT IF YOU, YOU SHIFT SO MUCH ABOUT HOW YOU, HOW YOU DIVIDE THE COST BETWEEN THE LARGE CUSTOMERS AND THE SMALL CUSTOMERS, AND THEN YOU CHANGE DRAMATICALLY THE WAY THAT YOU RECOVER THE, THE COSTS, UH, ON A FIXED BASIS AND, AND HOW MUCH IS ON A VOLUMETRIC BASIS, YOU CAN REALLY GET SOME VERY WIDE DIFFERING RESULTS.
AND, AND, UH, IF AUSTIN ENERGY'S PROPOSAL IS ADOPTED, THERE WILL BE, UM, SOME, SOME GROUPS ON THE LOWER END, THE LOWER USAGE RESIDENTIAL CUSTOMERS WHO WILL BE FACING INCREASES OF, UH, WELL, QUITE A BIT.
WE COULD, WE COULD ACTUALLY, UM, UH, PROBABLY, UH, JUST, JUST JUMP DOWN THERE.
LET'S, UH, WHY DON'T WE JUST SKIP THROUGH THE NEXT, UH, COUPLE SLIDES PRETTY QUICKLY.
UM, THIS IS THE, THIS IS THE DIFFERENCE IN THE OVERALL RATE INCREASE.
I BELIEVE AUSTIN ENERGY IS STILL, UH, UH, REQUESTING SOMEWHERE IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD OF, OF 35 MILLION.
THE ICA RECOMMENDED A REVENUE AFTER WE AUDITED THE, THE SAME BOOKS AND RECORDS WAS ONLY SIX AND A HALF MILLION DOLLARS.
THE, UH, THE INDEPENDENT, OR I'M SORRY, THAT SHOULD BE IMPARTIAL HEARING EXAMINER, THAT IT'S, UH, WE'RE INDEPENDENT, THEY'RE IMPARTIAL, BUT THEY, THEY'RE THE JUDGE, UH, THAT WAS, THAT WAS HIRED TO DO THIS JOB AND HE, HE AGREED MOSTLY WITH THE UTILITY AND CAME IN AROUND 31 MILLION.
BUT LET'S KEEP GOING THROUGH THE SLIDES HERE.
UM, CUZ I WANNA FOCUS MOSTLY ON THAT RATE DESIGN.
AND THIS IS THE ALLOCATION OF COST.
AND, UM, UH, THERE WERE BASICALLY THREE DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVES GIVEN, UH, OVERALL AS TO HOW THE COST SHOULD BE DIVIDED BETWEEN THE LARGE COMMERCIAL CUSTOMERS AND THE RESIDENTIAL CLASS.
AND, UH, OUR PROPOSAL WAS MORE FAVORABLE TO THE RESIDENTIAL CUSTOMERS.
THE LARGE CUS COMMERCIAL CUSTOMERS HAD A PROPOSAL THAT WAS MUCH WORSE FOR THE RESIDENTIAL AUSTIN ENERGY'S PROPOSAL WAS RATHER, UH, IN THE MIDDLE THERE.
AND, UH, THAT WAS ALSO WHAT THE, UH, THE IMPARTIAL HEARING EXAMINER RECOMMENDED.
SO I'LL JUST MOVE ON FROM HERE CUZ THAT'S NOT AS CONTROVERSIAL AS SOME OF THE, UM, THESE, THESE LATER THINGS.
UH, SO OBVIOUSLY TO WHAT, WHAT THE CURRENT CHARGE IS $10 FIXED CUSTOMER CHARGE WITH FIVE TIERS, UH, CONSTANTLY INCLINING AS, AS WAS TALKED ABOUT, AUSTIN ENERGY WANTS TO REDUCE IT TO THREE TIERS WITH A $25 CUSTOMER CHARGE.
UH, THE ICA IS, WOULD PREFER TO LEAVE THE, THE CUSTOMER CHARGE WHERE IT IS AT $10.
AND WE'RE, WE'RE SORT OF IN BETWEEN ON THE TIER RECOMMENDATIONS.
WE HAVE A FOURIER UH, PROPOSAL, BUT, UM, THIS, THE SHIFTING THAT'S OCCURRING THAT IS, UH, IN THE, IN THE AUSTIN ENERGY PROPOSAL.
UM, YOU'LL SEE ON THE NEXT SLIDE, JUST GO ON TO THE, UH, THE SLIDE, WHICH IS FROM OUR, UM, WELL GOING TO THE NEXT SLIDE AFTER THAT, COME BACK TO COME BACK TO THIS ONE.
SO THIS SHOWS YOU WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU MAKE, WHEN YOU DO, BUT WHEN YOU, YOU, UH, TINKER WITH THE TIERS AND YOU RAISE THE FIXED CHARGE SO MUCH ON THE RIGHT HAND SIDE IS THE AUSTIN ENERGY RATE DESIGN.
AND THEY, UH, YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT THE, THE INCREASE BEING, YOU KNOW, FIVE, SIX, 7%.
IT, IT'S REALLY A LOT MORE FOR THE AVERAGE USER, UH, WITHIN THE CITY.
[01:10:01]
WITHIN THE CITY NUMBERS.AND SO AT THE AVERAGE USAGE LEVEL OF AROUND 875 KILOWATT HOURS, YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT AN EIGHT, YOU KNOW, 18, 19%, IT'S DEFINITELY A DOUBLE DIGIT INCREASE FOR THE AVERAGE USER.
AND IF YOU'RE A LOWER USER, YOU COULD SAY 27%, MAYBE UP TO 50% OF AN INCREASE.
BUT I, I WOULD SAY YOU'LL DEFINITELY HAVE A GROUPING OF A LOT OF FOLKS IN THE 30% RATE INCREASE RANGE.
SOMETHING THAT'S, THAT'S DEFINITELY RATE SHOCK.
AND SOMETHING, UM, THAT THE, UM, UH, THE, THE, THE JUDGE ALSO AGREED WITH OUR PROPOSAL.
HE, THE JUDGE LOOKED AT THIS AND SAID THAT THESE WERE UNACCEPTABLE IMPACTS, UH, BUT DIDN'T REALLY MAKE A DECISION ONE WAY OR THE OTHER.
HE DIDN'T ADOPT THE ICAS APPROACH OR AUSTIN ENERGY'S APPROACH.
HE URGED SOME SORT OF COMPROMISE.
AND HE NOTED THAT THE CITY, YOU KNOW, THE CITY COUNCIL HAS THE ABILITY TO, UM, PUT A LOT OF DIFFERENT PUBLIC POLICIES INTO PLAY IN THIS.
IT DOESN'T HAVE TO BE EVEN JUST BASED ON THE COST, BUT, UM, WHAT YOU SEE ON THE, ON THE LEFT HAND SIDE IS THE ICA RATE DESIGN.
AND YOU CAN SEE, UH, THIS IS OF COURSE THAT $6 MILLION RATE INCREASE, BUT THE NUMBERS WOULD STILL, THE PERCENTAGE NUMBERS WOULD STILL BE GROUPED, UH, MUCH CLOSER TOGETHER EVEN AT A HIGHER REVENUE INCREASE.
AND SO THAT'S, THAT'S, UH, I GUESS OUR MAIN PLEA HERE IS, IS TO AVOID REALLY DISPARATE IMPACTS BETWEEN DIFFERENT GROUPS.
THERE'S DEFINITELY GONNA BE WINNERS OR LOSERS IF YOU MAKE THIS MUCH OF A CHANGE IN THE RATE DESIGN.
AND IT MAY NOT BE ALL LOW INCOME OR HIGH INCOME, BUT WE DEFINITELY KNOW THAT THERE IS A CORRELATION BETWEEN USAGE AND INCOME.
UH, CAP CUSTOMERS DON'T NECESSARILY REPRESENT ALL LOW O INCOME CUSTOMERS.
AND, UH, EVEN THOUGH THE, THE, IT'S A, IT'S A GREAT PROGRAM AND WE APPLAUD AUSTIN ENERGY FOR THE WAY THAT IT HAS AUTO ENROLLMENT AND, AND IS REALLY TRYING TO, UH, BE MORE AGGRESSIVE IN, UH, PROMOTING THAT PROGRAM.
IT STILL ONLY REACHES, SAY, 30% OR THEREABOUTS OF THE PEOPLE WHO WOULD QUALIFY FOR THAT PROGRAM.
AND SO, UH, WE KNOW THERE'S A LOT OF LOW INCOME PEOPLE OUT THERE THAT ARE JUST IMPACTED AND DON'T HAVE THAT PROTECTION OF THE, THE CAP PROGRAM.
BUT, UH, IT'S, IT'S, IT'S, IT'S HIGH USAGE VERSUS LOW USAGE THAT THAT'S WHAT WE KNOW.
WE KNOW THAT UNDER THE, THE AUSTIN ENERGY PROPOSAL, PEOPLE WHO LIVE IN SMALL HOUSES OR APARTMENTS ARE, ARE GONNA TEND TO DO WORSE.
PEOPLE WHO LIVE IN REALLY BIG HOUSES AND USE A LOT OF ENERGY ARE PROBABLY GONNA DO BETTER AND MAY EVEN SEE A RATE REDUCTION.
UM, I KNOW THERE HASN'T BEEN MUCH DISCUSSION OF THE INSIDE THE OUTSIDE'S CITY LIMITS, BUT, UH, IF YOU LOOK, UM, YOU KNOW, BACK AT THE PROPOSAL FOR THE INCREASE, EVEN THOUGH AUSTIN ENERGY IS ASKING FOR 35 MILLION, THERE'S THIR, THERE'S $43 MILLION BEING ASKED OF THE RESIDENTIAL CLASS.
SO THE RESIDENTIAL CLASS IS BEING ASKED IN THIS PROPOSAL TO, TO PAY, UM, MANY MORE MILLIONS OF DOLLARS, THEN ACTUALLY IS NEEDED TO RUN AWESOME ENERGY OVERALL.
AND THAT'S BECAUSE THERE'S A LOT OF SHIFTING GOING ON, UH, WITH OTHER, UH, OTHER CLASSES AND WITHIN CLASSES.
SO, UM, MAYBE GO BACK ONE MORE SLIDE AND, UM, I, I JUST HAVE A FEW MORE THOUGHTS I WANT TO EXPRESS ABOUT THIS FIXED CUSTOMER CHARGE.
UH, WE, WE BELIEVE AS STRONGLY ABOUT THIS, I THINK AS AUSTIN ENERGY BELIEVES IN THEIR POSITION, AND, UH, WE HAVE A DIFFERENT OPINION ABOUT WHETHER THAT'S FIXED OR NOT.
IT'S, UH, WE DON'T BELIEVE THAT THE DELIVERY CHARGE IS ALL FIXED.
UH, AND, UH, WE BELIEVE THAT, UM, UH, IT REALLY IS NOT UNREASONABLE COMPARED TO COMPARABLES THAT THE, I THINK THE TWO BEST COMPARABLES FOR AUSTIN ENERGY ARE I I THINK CLEARLY SAN ANTONIO AND LUBBOCK, AND THEY HAVE CUSTOMER CHARGES THAT ARE WITHIN A DOLLAR OF, OF, OF, OF THE $10 THAT AUSTIN ENERGY HAS.
I DO NOT THINK THAT, UH, CO COOPERATIVES ARE A GOOD COMPARABLE, THEY HAVE A MUCH DIFFERENT, UH, GEOGRAPHY TO HAVE TO COVER.
THEY HAVE, UM, ARGUABLY MORE FIXED COSTS PER CUSTOMER, UH, THAN IN A CITY.
UH, IF YOU LOOK AT THE INVESTOR OWNED UTILITY AVERAGE AROUND THE STATE OF TEXAS, IT'S, IT'S MUCH LOWER.
UM, OUR, UH, COST, UM, RATE DESIGN EXPERT, UH, THOUGHT THAT THE, THE ACTUAL CUSTOMER COST THAT BELONG IN THE $10 IS, IS LESS THAN $10 AND SOMETHING, YOU KNOW, CLOSER TO THAT $7 RANGE.
WE COULD PROBABLY EVEN AGREED TO INCREASE IT, UH, A SMALL AMOUNT.
AND WE ARE, UH, CERTAINLY PROPOSING AN ALTERNATIVE WHEREBY THE FIVE TIERS IS REDUCED TO FOUR.
BUT AGAIN, WITHIN THE, THE TIERS, IT'S IMPORTANT WHERE THE TIERS START AND WHERE THEY END.
AND, AND THE NUMBER OF TIERS DO MAKE THINGS COMPLICATED, UH, NO DOUBT.
BUT, UH, UH, I THINK WE'RE, WE'RE PLEADING FOR MODERATION AND WE'RE PLEADING FOR SOME, UH, RATE INCREASE THAT ISN'T QUITE AS BIG AND ISN'T QUITE AS RADICALLY, UH, SHIFTED, UH, UH, AS, AS THE ONE PROPOSED.
[01:15:01]
UH, I'LL JUST, I, I THINK THAT'S GOOD ENOUGH ON, UH, BUT I'M AVAILABLE FOR QUESTIONS.UM, A AS YOU KNOW, YOU ALLUDED TO, WE ARE, UH, PRIMARILY, YOU KNOW, KIND OF, UH, I SHOULDN'T SAY JUST INTERESTED, BUT, UM, YOU KNOW, OUR PURVIEW REALLY KIND OF CENTERS AROUND, UH, THINGS THAT, THAT AFFECT, UH, EMISSIONS AND SUSTAINABILITY.
SO KIND OF LOOKING AT THIS, UM, FROM, YOU KNOW, FROM THAT, FROM THAT LENS.
SO I, I WAS JUST WONDERING IF YOU CAN SPEAK TO THE ISSUE OF THE EFFECTIVENESS OR LACK OF EFFECTIVENESS, UM, OF TIERED RATES ON ENERGY CONSERVATION.
I, I, I THINK I MIGHT, I, I THINK I AGREE WITH MR. DOMBROSKI, UM, IN THAT I DON'T, I DON'T THINK THAT WE SEE AT THE, UM, THE GROUPING THAT YOU WOULD PROBABLY, UH, EXPECT TO SEE.
UH, WE THINK THAT OVERALL THE CURVE I THINK HAS AN IMPACT, BUT IT DOESN'T HAVE QUITE THE PROFOUND IMPACT, UM, THAT HAD BEEN THEORETICALLY PROPOSED.
I DON'T THINK THAT PEOPLE ARE ABLE TO PERCEIVE THE BRAKES THAT, THAT, YOU KNOW, MOST PEOPLE DON'T KNOW WHEN THEY'RE GETTING INTO THESE, UH, THESE, UH, INCLINING BLOCKS.
AND, UM, AND I HAVE TO SAY, IT IS KIND OF DIFFICULT, ESPECIALLY WHEN YOU'RE TRYING TO KIND OF BROKER A COMPROMISE ON RATE DESIGN BECAUSE THERE ARE A LOT OF TIERS.
BUT WE DO THINK IT'S, IT'S VALUABLE.
IT'S CLEARLY WORKING, IT'S CLEARLY, UH, HAD AN EFFECT AND PROMOTED ENERGY EFFICIENCY, AND WE ALL AGREE THAT THAT'S GREAT.
UM, BUT IF YOU, UH, YOU KNOW, IF YOU CHANGE THAT TO TOO RADICALLY, YOU'RE GOING TO, UH, ENCOURAGE EXCESSIVE, UM, USAGE AND, UH, START SENDING THIS SIGNAL THE OTHER WAY.
UH, SO, UM, I THINK THAT MAYBE THE CURRENT, THE CURRENT, UH, RATE DESIGN CAN BE TWEAKED AND, UH, MAYBE WE CAN INCREASE THE CUSTOMER CHARGE, UH, BY A DOLLAR OR TWO.
BUT, UM, I THINK, UH, IF, IF YOU DEFINITELY, IF YOU MAKE TOO QUICK OF A CHANGE, UH, YOU'RE GOING GOING TO SEND DIFFERENT SIGNALS AND YOU'RE GOING TO BE KIND OF REVERSING THE ENERGY EFFICIENCY, UM, UH, INCENTIVE.
IT'S NOT COMPLETELY REDUCING IT.
AND OBVIOUSLY YOU HAVE YOUR USAGE COMPONENT, THE, THE, THE ELECTRIC KILOWATT HOUR CHARGE, WHICH IS, WHICH IS CHARGED ON A, ON A USAGE BASIS.
BUT, UM, UH, WE THINK THAT THE, UM, UH, THE FIXED CHARGE IS ABOUT WHERE IT SHOULD BE.
UH, THERE'S NO DOUBT THAT YOU WILL GET LESS, UH, I DON'T JUST SAY IT'S YOU, THERE WILL STILL BE AN INCENTIVE TO CONSERVE, BUT IT WILL BE LESS, YOU'LL GET LESS OF A REWARD FOR DOING THE THING THAT THE PUBLIC POLICY IS TRYING TO ENCOURAGE.
UM, I, I THINK THAT THIS WILL WORK BEST IF WE CAN DO QUESTIONS TO BOTH, UH, JOHN AND MARK, UH, AND THEN WE CAN MOVE ON TO THE, UH, SOLAR ISSUES.
SO IF ANYBODY HAS QUESTIONS? YEAH, GO AHEAD, MELISSA.
IN REGARDS TO THOSE TIERED STRUCTURES AND PROMOTING CONSERVATION WITH AUSTIN CUSTOMERS, HAS THERE BEEN THOUGHT ABOUT HAVING LIKE AN AUTOMATION SCHEDULE TYPE TEXT OR EMAIL SYSTEM IN PLACE THAT WILL NOTIFY CUSTOMERS WHEN THEY'RE APPROACHING LIKE THE NEXT TIER SO THEY CAN SAY, YOU KNOW, IF THEY WANNA CONSERVE, THEN THEY KNOW THAT THEY'RE APPROACHING IT.
YEAH, MAYBE THEY JUST DON'T KNOW.
AND SO, UH, WE HAVE AN APPLICATION THAT POSTS CAN DOWNLOAD TO THEIR, UH, SMARTPHONES AND IT WILL SEND THEM A TEXT ALERT, UM, WHEN THEY'RE ABOUT TO APPROACH THE NEXT TIER.
AND, UH, WE'VE HAD, UH, ABOUT FOUR OR 5% OF OUR CUSTOMERS HAVE DOWNLOADED THAT OUR RESIDENTIAL CUSTOMERS, UM, AND WE DID STUDY THEIR, THEIR BEHAVIOR PATTERNS, WHETHER THEY WERE USING THOSE PRICE SIGNALS AND WE, WE HAD THE SAME RESULTS.
THEY, THEY, THEY WEREN'T RESPONDING TO THE OTHERS.
THEY WEREN'T GETTING THE ONE TIER AND STOPPING OR CONSERVING, THEY WERE JUST SMOOTHLY GOING THROUGH THE TIERS.
UH, SO THEY WERE GETTING THE MESSAGES, BUT THEY WEREN'T RESPONDING TO, AND, AND THE, THE CHALLENGE WITH THE, THE BASE RANK TIER IS IT COULD HAPPEN AT TWO O'CLOCK IN THE MORNING, RIGHT? AND SO I'M NOT SURE YOU, YOU KNOW, GET YOUR TEXT AND JUMP UP AND GO TURN YOUR AIR CONDITIONER DOWN OR SOMETHING.
BUT, UM, IT'S, THAT'S THE PROBLEM WITH SOME OF THESE PROGRAMS IS THAT IT'S DIFFICULT FOR CUSTOMERS TO RESPOND, UM, TO THE PERIOD.
AND THAT'S WHY THE THEORY WAS APPLIED TO ELECTRIC RATES, BUT IT DOESN'T WORK VERY WELL.
IT WORKS WITH HAMBURGERS OR TACOS.
YOU KNOW, YOU PRICE TACOS AT A DOLLAR A PIECE AND $2 FREE EVERY TACO OVER FOUR, YOU'D HAVE A LOT OF THREE TACO ORDERS, RIGHT? WELL, ELECTRICITY'S NOT THE SAME WAY.
AND SO IT, THE THEORY KIND OF BREAKS DOWN THERE.
I, I DIDN'T KNOW THAT THAT EXISTED.
[01:20:01]
I'D BE KIND OF CURIOUS TO SEE WHAT THOSE MESSAGES LOOK LIKE.ANOTHER SHOOT EMAIL I CAN SEND YOU INSTRUCTIONS ON, ON HOW TO, HOW TO DO THAT.
OH, I WOULD REALLY APPRECIATE THAT.
I HAVE, I HAD ONE MORE COMMENT AND QUESTION THAT I WANTED TO ASK, AND THAT IS IN REGARDS TO INVESTING IN INFRASTRUCTURE.
SO HAS THERE BEEN THOUGHT ABOUT INVESTING IN THOSE TESLA MEGA PACKS? BECAUSE THAT COULD BE A GOOD ALTERNATIVE, CLEAN, SUSTAINABLE BATTERY ENERGY STORAGE AND THEY'VE BEEN USED, UH, IN SUCCESSFUL TEST CASES IN AUSTRALIA, CALIFORNIA, HAWAII, AND THEY'VE BEEN GOOD FOR REPLACING, UM, PEAK DEMAND FOR THE, THEY'VE BEEN GOOD FOR REPLACING FOSSIL FUEL PEAKER PLANTS WHENEVER YOU HAVE PEAK DEMAND.
AND SO THAT THEY'VE BEEN GOOD FOR MEETING THOSE TYPES OF HIGH DEMAND NEEDS.
AND THAT WOULD BE GOOD FOR US FOR SUMMERTIME.
IN FACT, ON, UM, NOVEMBER 1ST I'M GOING OUT TO TESLA TO TALK TO THEM ABOUT POWER BALLS.
AND SO, UH, WE ARE TALKING TO THEM, WE'RE ACTUALLY TRYING TO LEARN FROM OTHER UTILITIES THAT HAVE, HAVE, HAVE, HAVE DEPLOYED THAT IT'S A RELATIVELY NEW TECHNOLOGY.
IT'S SORT OF DISTRIBUTED GENERATION, BUT DISTRIBUTED STORAGE.
UM, AND SO THERE'S SOME INFRASTRUCTURE THAT WOULD HAVE TO TAKE PLACE.
WE HAVE BE ABLE TO CONTROL ALL THAT TO USE IT, BUT IT, IT'S, IT'S, IT'S A PROMISING LEAD THAT, THAT'S HOW I WOULD CHARACTERIZE IT AS.
I LOOK FORWARD TO HEARING ABOUT THAT IN A FUTURE MEETING, HARRIS.
UM, SO I ACTUALLY GET, YOU KNOW, EMAILS FROM AUSTIN ENERGY THAT SAY LIKE, YOU KNOW, THE POWER THAT I'VE USED IN A SPECIFIC WEEK, UM, YOU KNOW, SOMETIMES WE'LL BE LIKE, OH, YOU USE, YOU KNOW, 29% LESS ENERGY THAN YOU DID LAST WEEK, RIGHT? UM, ONE THING, CUZ YOU KNOW, APP UH, ADOPTION IS GOOD.
JUST GONNA BE SLOW, YOU KNOW, ESPECIALLY WHEN YOU DEAL WITH IS SUCH A DIVERSE USER BASE AS AUSTIN ENERGY, YOU KNOW, UH, NOT ALL OF US ARE SUPER TECH SAVVY OR, YOU KNOW, TO BE FRANK EVEN CARE ABOUT DOWNLOADING AND APPS FOR, UH, OUR UTILITIES ASIDE AS IT IS.
CUZ YOU KNOW, IF UTILITIES GET CUT OFF, WE'LL DEFINITELY DOWNLOAD WHATEVER APP IS NECESSARY, TURN IT BACK ON.
UM, BUT I THINK MAYBE IF THE EMAILS COULD ALSO GIVE ENER OR, YOU KNOW, SORT OF GIVE, UH, YOU KNOW, FEEDBACK ON SORT OF LIKE YOUR TIER LEVEL, RIGHT? WHERE IT'S LIKE, OKAY, NOW YOU'RE ON TRACK TO BE IN TIER FOUR OR TIER THREE, YOU KNOW, TRY CUT BACK BY LIKE, YOU KNOW, 40 KILOWATT HOURS A WEEK OR WHATEVER TO ACHIEVE, YOU KNOW, LOWER PRICING OR WHATEVER.
MAYBE THAT WOULD BE A LITTLE BIT MORE EFFECTIVE IN, UH, YOU KNOW, SORT OF SPURRING CONSUMER, UH, BEHAVIOR.
UH, CUZ YOU KNOW, I THINK IT'S REALLY ABOUT, YOU KNOW, GIVING THE CONSUMER SORT OF LIKE, LIKE YOU SAID, LIKE, OKAY, IF THE, IF THE, THE CHANGEOVER FROM TIER TWO TO TIER THREE HAPPENS WHENEVER THE USER IS ASLEEP AT LIKE, YOU KNOW, TWO IN THE MORNING OR WHATEVER, THEY CAN'T REALLY DO ANYTHING ABOUT THAT, RIGHT? BUT IF INSTEAD, LIKE, YOU KNOW, IN THE BEGINNING OF THE WEEK THEY'RE LIKE, OH, OKAY, LET ME TRY A CONSERVE POWER OVER THE NEXT COUPLE OF WEEKS.
CAUSE I KNOW, YOU KNOW, I USED A LOT OF POWER IN THE FIRST WEEK OR TWO, YOU KNOW, MAYBE IT WAS REALLY HOT THIS SUMMER.
UH, BUT I STILL WANNA ACHIEVE, YOU KNOW, THAT LOWER TIER PRICING, UH, THAT MIGHT BE USEFUL.
UM, YOU KNOW, IN ADDITION TO TEXTS AND SORT OF OTHER MEDIUMS. UH, AND THEN A QUESTION I HAD WAS, UH, YOU KNOW, HOW DO OTHER TRAVIS COUNTY, CITIES LIKE MAYNOR VILLE OR EVEN LIKE, YOU KNOW, BIGGER METROS LIKE HOUSTON OR DALLAS COMPARED TO LIKE, YOU KNOW, AUSTIN ENERGY OR, OR YOU KNOW, CPS OR YOU KNOW, PATINAS OR SOME OF THESE, UH, OTHER SORT OF ENERGY COMPANIES THAT YOU NAMED.
UH, AND ALSO, YOU KNOW, APPRECIATE THE PRESENTATION.
SO, UM, UH, PARIS, IF, UM, I'LL ALSO SEND YOU THAT INFORMATION, UH, THAT'S THE APP THAT YOU CAN DOWNLOAD WILL TELL YOU WHERE, WHAT, YOU KNOW, IF YOU'RE ABOUT TO CROSS INTO A TIER, NOT JUST HOW MUCH YOU USE, BUT UH, WHERE YOU ARE RELATIVE TO THE NEXT TIER.
UM, ONE OF THE THINGS THAT, UM, WE'RE LOOKING AT IS, YOU KNOW, ON THE, ON THESE BASE RATES WITH THE TIERED BASE RATES, IF YOU CUT BACK USAGE, UM, YOU SAVE ON YOUR BILL, BUT AUSTIN ENERGY DOESN'T HAVE A REDUCED COST.
AND SO WE HAVE UNRECOVERED REVENUE COST, SO THAT'S WHERE, THAT'S WHERE WE HAVE THE SUBSIDIZE OR WE, WE HAVE TO USE OUR CASH.
WHAT WE'RE LOOKING AT IS THE TRUE COSTING ELECTRICITY YOU USE.
AND I DON'T KNOW, LIKE TODAY I WAS LOOKING AT THE ERCOT APP UP BETWEEN, AROUND NOON TIME FOR ALMOST AN HOUR.
THE COST OF ELECTRICITY IN TEXAS WAS ZERO.
AND THAT'S BECAUSE WE HAD SO MUCH WIND AND SO MUCH SOLAR, YOU KNOW, THAT WOULD'VE BEEN A TIME FOR EVERYONE TO GO KICK ON THEIR, THEIR, YOU KNOW, THEIR, THEIR WASHERS AND DRYERS AND WHATEVER THEY WANNA POWER.
THAT'S THE KIND OF THING THAT WE WANNA LOOK AT.
IT'S MORE LIKE WHEN YOU USE ENERGY, DEPEND PRICE, NOT HOW MUCH YOU USE NECESSARILY.
UM, SO I, I THINK THAT'S KIND OF WHERE WE'RE GOING AND THAT'S IN THE POWER SUPPLY PIECE.
BUT, UM, AS FAR AS HOW WE COMPARE, UM,
[01:25:02]
I, I, I, I INCLUDED A CHART THAT HAD SOME OF THOSE UTILITIES, UM, IN THERE.UM, BUT, BUT GENERALLY AUSTIN ENERGY HAS, UM, SOME OF THE LOWEST BILLS IN THE STATE OF TEXAS.
IN FACT, I JUST SAW THE NUMBERS FOR 2021.
CAUSE WE GET IT ON AN ANNUAL BASIS, UM, BECAUSE WE HAVE SUCH LOW CONSUMPTION, I THINK IT WAS AROUND 840 KWH IS OUR AVERAGE FOR 21.
UM, PAIR THAT WITH, WITH, WITH OUR, OUR, OUR LOW COST AND YOU GET A REALLY LOW BILL.
SO OUR BILLS RELATIVE TO OTHER UTILITIES ARE MUCH LESS.
AND PART OF THAT IS BECAUSE THEIR CONSUMPTION, LIKE PER MALICE, THEIR AVERAGE CONSUMPTION'S ABOUT 11 TO 1200 KWH PLUS THEY HAVE A HIGHER RATE.
SO THEY HAVE A MUCH HIGHER BILL AND THE REP AREAS, SO THE PARTS OUTSIDE OF MUNICIPALS OR CO-OPS, THEY'RE SERVED BY PRIVATE COMPANIES CALLED, UH, RETAIL ELECTRIC PROVIDERS.
THEIR BILLS ARE ABOUT THREE TIMES OUR COST.
NOW THAT'S LIKE DALLAS AND HOUSTON.
YEAH, I KNOW, UH, I THINK IN LIKE ROUND ROCK AND FLUGER BILL, THEY USE, UH, THEY USE THE PARTY AS WELL.
I FORGET THE NAME OF THE COMPANY, BUT, UH, YEAH, NO, I TOTALLY, TOTALLY FEEL WITH YOU.
I'VE ONLY LIVED IN AUSTIN, SO I DON'T EVEN KNOW HOW HOUSTON OR DALLAS ENERGY GOES, SO, YOU KNOW.
YEAH, WE, UM, WE HAVE A PRETTY GOOD DEAL HERE IN AUSTIN.
OTHER QUESTIONS FROM COMMISSIONERS? I HAVE A QUESTION.
KAVA, UNFORTUNATELY, UM, I AM NOT ABLE TO NAVIGATE VERY WELL THE WEBEX.
SO I RAISING MY HAND AND STUFF LIKE THAT.
I STILL CAN'T FIND THE BUTTONS, BUT, AND YOU MAY HAVE COVERED THIS, I MAY HAVE BEEN ON A BATHROOM BREAK OR LETTING MY DOGS IN AND OUT, BUT, UM, A COUPLE OF THINGS.
HOW LARGE IS THE AUSTIN ENERGY, UM, CUSTOMER BASE? JUST THE TERMS OF NUMBERS OF PEOPLE AND HOW MUCH OF THAT IS IN THE CITY AND HOW MUCH IS OUT OF THE CITY? AND DO THE PEOPLE WHO ARE INSIDE THE CITY, UH, THE INVESTORS INSIDE THE CITY WHO'VE PAID FOR THE INTEREST INFRASTRUCTURE, ARE THEIR COSTS LOWER THAN THOSE OUTSIDE OF THE CITY LIMITS? RIGHT.
SO WE HAVE ABOUT, UH, THESE ARE PRETTY BROAD NUMBERS IN OUR ABOUT 400 AND, UM, 440,000 RESIDENTIAL CUSTOMERS, UM, IN OUR SERVICE TERRITORY.
UM, AND ABOUT HALF OUR SERVICE TERRITORY IS INSIDE THE CITY.
ABOUT HALF OF THE OUT, BUT ONLY ABOUT 15% OF THE CUSTOMERS ARE OUTSIDE THE CITY.
YOU THINK ABOUT WESTLAKE AND, YOU KNOW, UH, B CAVE AND PARTS IN EAST AUSTIN, THERE'S A LOT OF RURAL LAND, RIGHT? SO THERE'S NOT OF CUSTOMERS.
SO ABOUT 85% OF OUR CUSTOMERS ARE IN THE CITY, HOPEFULLY THAT, THAT, THAT'S HELPFUL.
UM, AND AS FAR AS THEY'VE BEEN OUR CUSTOMERS FOR MANY YEARS, AND SO WE ARE TOTALLY SELF-FUNDED.
SO ALL THE COSTS THAT WE NEED COME FROM OUR CUSTOMERS.
WE DON'T, WE'RE NOT TAX BASED OR HAVE OTHER PRODUCTS WE SELL.
SO, UM, THOSE CUSTOMERS OUTSIDE THE CITY ALSO PAY FOR THE INFRASTRUCTURE.
BUT NOT INITIALLY, THEY, THEY HAVE NOT MADE THE INVESTMENTS THAT THE CUSTOMERS INSIDE THE CITY BECAUSE WE STARTED PAYING LONG BEFORE THEY STARTED PAYING EVEN, YOU KNOW, FROM, FROM THE BEGINNING BEFORE THEY WERE ADDED TO, TO I THINK OUR SERVICE.
I MEAN, WE'VE BEEN IN BUSINESS SINCE 1895.
UM, SO I'M NOT SURE ONE OF THE SERVICE BOUNDARIES, BUT THEY'VE BEEN AROUND FOR AT LEAST 30 OR 40 YEARS.
SO MOST OF THE ASSETS THAT WE BORROWED HAVE BEEN WITH THE SAME SERVICE TERRITORY.
BUT, YOU KNOW, CERTAINLY THE CUSTOMERS COMING TO, SO THE OTHER QUESTION THAT WAS RELATED TO THAT IS HOW DO THE, THE INSIDE THE CITY BASE RATES COMPARE WITH THOSE WHO LIVE OUTSIDE THE CITY BILLS RATES? SO, UM, INSIDE THE CITY, UH, THEY, THEY ALL HAVE A $10 CUSTOMER CHARGE, UM, WHICH COVERS THE COST OF YOU, THE METER READING AND, UH, SENDING A BILL OR JUST JUST OWNING A CUSTOMER BRA ENERGY.
UM, I DON'T HAVE THE EXACT RATES, BUT THEY HAVE, UM, OUTSIDE CITY HAS THREE TIERS, AND THE INSIDE OF THE CITY HAS FIVE TIERS.
SO IT'S MORE, IT COSTS MORE INSIDE THE CITY WHEN YOU'RE IN THE HIGHER TIERS.
AND IT DOES, IF YOU'RE IN THE HIGH TIER OUTSIDE THE CITY.
I APOLOGIZE, I DON'T HAVE THE SPECIFIC RATES FRONT OF ME FIRST FOR OUTSIDE CITY INQUIRING ABOUT GENERAL AVERAGES BECAUSE I'VE OFTEN HEARD THAT THE PEOPLE INSIDE OF AUSTIN PAY GENERALLY, UH, MORE THAN THE PEOPLE WHO LIVE OUTSIDE BECAUSE OF THE TIER STRUCTURE, JUST IF YOU WERE GO BY AVERAGES.
BUT THE, ANOTHER QUESTION, YOU KNOW, UH, AKIVA MENTIONED, UM,
[01:30:01]
THAT HOW WE ARE FOCUSED, AND I THINK SUSTAINABILITY IS TRULY ONE OF THE, YOU KNOW, OUR MAIN GOALS.BUT THAT, THAT MEANS THAT AT SOME POINT, UM, AND I'M SORRY, I FORGOT THE GENTLEMAN'S NAME.
WHO, WHO GAVE THE CUSTOMER POINT OF VIEW IF RATES, YOU KNOW, UM, AND, AND I DON'T REALLY FULLY UNDERSTAND, I DON'T THINK THERE WAS AN EXPLANATION REALLY AS TO WHY, UM, AUSTIN ENERGY'S PROPOSAL IS IS, I DON'T KNOW, FOUR OR FIVE TIMES HIGHER THAN, UM, THE CUSTOMER PROPOSAL AND HOW MUCH THEY NEED TO OPERATE OR FOR THE BASE SERVICE.
I I MAY NOT BE USING THE RIGHT TERMS, BUT I THINK YOU GET THE POINT WHEN THEY'RE TALKING ABOUT SIX OR 7 MILLION AND YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT 35.1 MILLION.
BUT, UM, SO THERE'S BIG SWINGS IN THERE AND AT SOME POINT, UM, YOU KNOW, THE, THE SITUATION BECOMES, UM, NOT SUSTAINABLE AND PUSHES PEOPLE OUTSIDE OF THE CITY BECAUSE, YOU KNOW, PEOPLE ARE AT THE CENTER OF SUSTAINABILITY AND, AND OR CREATES A SITUATION WHERE THE LEGISLATURE WANTS TO TAKE ACTION AGAINST AUSTIN ENERGY BECAUSE CUSTOMERS ARE COMPLAINING, PARTICULARLY OUTSIDE THE CITY TO THE LEGISLATURE.
AND WE KNOW THIS HAS HAPPENED BEFORE.
SO THERE, THERE ARE SOME RISKS INVOLVED AND WE, WE STILL DON'T REALLY HAVE A GREAT EXPLANATION AS TO WHY THESE WIDE SWINGS AND THAT THAT COULD BE A QUESTION FOR BOTH FOLKS, PLEASE.
YEAH, SO OUR, UM, OUR REQUEST IS 35.7 MILLION, AND THAT WAS BASED UPON OUR ACTUAL COSTS THAT WE INCURRED IN, IN 21.
AND ALL THAT IS AVAILABLE ON OUR WEBSITE.
AND THAT WAS WHAT THE BIG, UM, CASE WAS ABOUT.
AND THE HEARING EXAMINER AGREED WITH US AT 35.7, HOWEVER, HE SAID WE SHOULD REDUCE OUR GENERAL FUND TRANSFER, UM, BY, BY ABOUT $5 MILLION.
AND SO THAT'S HOW THE, UH, IMPARTIAL HEARING XAVIER GOT TO THE $31 MILLION VERSUS THE 35.7.
BUT HE AGREED ON ALL THE OTHER POINTS WITH AUSTIN ENERGY.
UH, MR. KAUFMAN HAD HAD OTHER ADJUSTMENTS THAT HE FELT WE SHOULD HAVE MADE, NOT NECESSARILY THAT THEY WEREN'T ACTUAL COSTS, BUT THAT HE THOUGHT MAYBE THEY WEREN'T, WEREN'T REASONABLE.
BUT OUR POINT IS, AS A MUNICIPAL UTILITY, I ONLY HAVE ONE SOURCE OF RECOVERY FOR THOSE COSTS, AND THAT'S OUR CUSTOMERS.
AND WE DON'T HAVE SHAREHOLDERS, WE DON'T HAVE A PROFIT, WE DON'T, YOU KNOW, I DON'T, I CAN'T REDUCE MY DIVIDENDS TO SHAREHOLDERS IN ORDER TO ABSORB THAT.
I HAVE TO COLLECT IT FROM THE CUSTOMERS THEMSELVES.
AND SO THAT'S, THAT'S WHAT A LOT OF THE, UH, THE DISAGREEMENTS THAT HAPPENED DURING THE, THE HEARING CASE BETWEEN THE VARIOUS, UH, PARTIES WERE ABOUT, I, I CAN'T SPEAK FOR MR. KAUFMAN IF HE WANTS TO ITEMIZE HIS, BUT YEAH, THERE'S, UM, I I, I DON'T KNOW, WE DON'T HAVE TIME TO GO INTO ALL OF THEM, BUT THERE WERE, THERE WERE SOME DISAGREEMENTS ABOUT WHETHER CERTAIN, UM, UH, POSITIONS WERE FILLED, WHETHER CERTAIN CONTRACTS REALLY WERE GONNA BE AS HIGH AS THEY SAID THEY WERE, THERE WAS A DISPUTE OVER A, UH, A LAWSUIT OR THAT AUSTIN ENERGY IS NEGOTIATED.
SO THEY'RE JUST A VARIETY OF ITEMS, UH, THAT, THAT A THAT MAKE UP THE DIFFERENCE.
AND, AND I SUPPOSE THAT THE TRUTH MAY BE SOMEWHERE IN BETWEEN OUR POSITIONS.
IT'S, IT WAS A LOT OF, YOU KNOW, JUST, UH, VARIOUS JUDGMENT CALLS MADE BY DIFFERENT EXPERTS.
UH, BUT I I WANTED TO MAKE ONE MORE, GIVE YOU ONE MORE, UH, SET OF FIGURES TO THINK ABOUT ON THE OUTSIDE THE CITY LIMITS TO VERSUS THE INSIDE.
AND I THINK IT'S, IT'S A VERY, A VERY UNUSUAL SET OF POLITICAL CIRCUMSTANCES, WHICH I THINK YOU TOUCHED ON THAT HAVE LED TO THE OUTSIDE THE CITY LIMITS CUSTOMERS.
UM, THE OUTSIDERS, IF THAT'S NOT OFFENSIVE TO ANYONE, CALL 'EM THE OUTSIDERS, IF THEY, UH, THEY ARE PAYING LESS THAN THE INSIDE THE CITY.
AND MOST MUNICIPALITIES, THAT'S NOT THE CASE.
UH, AND THE, THIS PARTICULAR, BECAUSE OF THE VARIOUS CHANGES THAT WE'VE TALKED ABOUT, THIS RATE INCREASE WOULD GENERALLY BE ON THE AVERAGE CUSTOMER, LIKE WE TALKED ABOUT, LIKE A 26% INCREASE, BUT THE AVERAGE CUSTOMER OUTSIDE THE CITY LIMITS WOULD SEE A RATE DECREASE OF 7.4%.
AND SO PART OF THE INCREASE ON THE PROPOSED FOR THE RESIDENTIAL CUSTOMERS IN AUSTIN WOULD GO TO MAKE RATES LOWER FOR EVEN FURTHER LOWER OUTSIDE THE CITY LIMITS.
AND THE ICA PROPOSAL IS NOT TO MAKE, YOU KNOW, BRING EVERYTHING TO, TO EQUALITY BETWEEN THE TWO AREAS.
BUT WE ARE, UH, WE, WE RECOMMEND THAT RATES JUST STAY THE SAME, NOT GO DOWN WHILE, WHILE, WHILE UH, RATES IN THE CITY ARE GENERALLY GOING UP, UH, WE WOULD PROPOSE THAT THERE BEING NO CHANGE OUTSIDE THE CITY LIMITS SO THAT THERE BEING NO DECREASES WHILE ONE IS GETTING A BIG INCREASE.
WELL, OF THE REASONS WHY THAT IS BECAUSE, UM, THEY HAVE HIGHER CONSUMPTION OUTSIDE
[01:35:01]
THE CITY.AND SO WHEN YOU HAVE THOSE, UH, DEEPLY TIERED RATES, UH, RECOVERING OF FIXED COSTS, WE'RE GONNA COLLECT MORE FROM THEM.
SO IN OUR OPINION, THEY'RE OVER THEIR COST OF SERVICE.
SO THAT'S WHY IT'S BEING ADDRESSED.
AND ONE OF THE REASONS WHY, UH, INSIDE THE CITY IS, IS, UM, IS SO FAR BELOW IS DURING THE 2016 RATE CASE, IN ORDER TO REACH SETTLEMENT, UM, MR. KAMAN DID A GOOD JOB REPRESENTING RESIDENTIAL CUSTOMERS AND HAD US PUT $5 MILLION REDUCTION IN TIER ONE WHEN THEY WERE ALREADY BELOW COST OF SERVICE.
THAT'S WHERE ALL THESE NEW CUSTOMERS COMING ON.
AND SO I THINK OF EVERY DOWNTOWN NEW CONDO, ALL THE NEW APARTMENTS GOING AROUND TOWN, THEY'RE ALL STAYING IN THAT ONE TIER.
AND SO THEY'RE PAYING WELL BELOW THEIR COST OF SERVICE.
AND SO REALLY WHAT WE'RE TRYING TO DO IS RIGHT SIZE THE SHIP SO THAT NEXT TIME WE SET RATES, THERE WON'T BE SUCH DISPARITIES BETWEEN ADJUSTMENTS.
WE'LL BE CLOSER TO THEIR COST OF SERVICE.
AT SOME POINT WE HAVE TO FIX IT, WE FEEL NOW IS THE BEST TIME TO FIX IT.
YOU MENTIONED A GENERAL TRANSFER AND YOU MENTIONED YOU DON'T MAKE PROFITS, BUT MAYBE YOU DON'T MAKE PROFITS IN SENSE OF THE WORD PROFITS, BUT YOU CERTAINLY MAKE, YOU CERTAINLY MAKE MORE SO THAT YOU HAVE MONEY TO MAKE A GENERAL TRANSFER.
HOW, WHAT, WHAT IS THAT MONEY AND WHY CAN'T THAT BE PUT BACK INTO THE EQUATION? 5 MILLION OR MAYBE MAYBE 10 MILLION? YEAH, SO THE, THE GENERAL FUND TRANSFER IS, UM, ALLOWED BY STATE STATUTE AND UH, IT SAYS THAT A UTILITY MAY TRANSFER MONEY TO THE GENERAL FUND AT THE CITY OF AUSTIN.
SO WE, WE DON'T COLLECT IT ON THE POWER SUPPLY PIECE.
UM, AND WE DON'T COLLECT IT ON OUR DISTRICT COOLING OPERATION, BUT EVERYTHING ELSE GETS 12% ADDED ON TO PAY THAT GENERAL FUND TRANSFER AND IT GETS PAID.
UM, IN ABSENCE, IF WE WERE A PRIVATE UTILITY, WE'D BE PAYING, UH, PROPERTY TAXES, SALES TAX TO THE CITY, BUT WE DON'T DO THAT.
SO IT'S AN ABSENCE OF THOSE THINGS.
AND FOR AUSTIN ENERGY, IT'S AN EXPENSE, NOT A PROFIT, YOU KNOW, WE DON'T BENEFIT FROM IT.
SO THAT REALLY IS A, UH, POLICY QUESTION FOR THE CITY COUNCIL AT THIS POINT.
UH, IT'S NOT FOR AUSTIN ENERGY TO ADDRESS WHETHER WE SHOULD OR SHOULDN'T MAKE A GFT OR WHAT IT SHOULD BE.
AND SO WE COMPLY WITH THAT CITY POLICY, YOU KNOW, DON'T GET IT FROM THE ELECTRIC UTILITY, YOU KNOW, WE HAVE TO PAY FOR THE PARKS AND SIDEWALKS IN THE OTHER PROGRAMS AND IN SOME WAYS, SO YOU MIGHT, YOU KNOW, HAVE TO INCREASE PROPERTY TAXES OR SOMETHING ALONG THOSE LINES, WHICH THEN COULD BECOME PROGRESSIVE OR AGGRESS, RIGHT? SO, MM-HMM.
ANY OTHER QUESTIONS? COMMENT? YEAH.
SO CAN YOU TURN YOUR VIDEO ON PLEASE? I CANNOT.
I'M HAVING THE SAME ISSUES AS, UM, AS ALBERTA.
IT'S WEBEX IS DIFFICULT,
UM, I, I APPRECIATE THE WORK OF THE CONSUMER ADVOCATE BECAUSE I THINK WE'RE LOOKING AT A SCENARIO WHERE THOSE LEAST ABLE TO PAY ARE BEING, UM, SET UP FOR A HUGE INCREASE IN BILLS WHILE THOSE MOST ABLE TO PAY ARE GETTING REDUCTIONS.
I AM CONCERNED THAT THE TIERS, UM, THEY WERE PUT IN PLACE FOR ENERGY CONSERVATION.
MAYBE THEY DON'T WORK IMMEDIATELY.
MAYBE PEOPLE ARE NOT TUNED INTO THAT, POSSIBLY BECAUSE NOBODY REALLY KNOWS ABOUT THE APP AND YOU KNOW, VERY FEW PEOPLE, IF WE'VE ONLY GOT FOUR TO 5% USING IT, HOWEVER, PEOPLE ARE LOOKING AT THEIR FINAL BILL, THEY CAN SEE HOW IT WAS CALCULATED, BUT BASED ON THE TIERS, AND THEY CAN ADJUST THE TIERS WORK FOR CONSERVATION.
THAT'S WHY WE HAVE LESS ENERGY USE IN AUSTIN.
AND I THINK WE NEED TO REMEMBER THAT A MUNICIPAL UTILITY IS IN FACT THE CUSTOMERS ARE THE SHAREHOLDERS.
I HEARD MR. DOMBROSKI SAY, WE DON'T HAVE SHAREHOLDERS, BUT WE DO, AND THAT'S YOU AND ME, AND WE HAVE A VOICE IN THIS.
AND I THINK THAT, UM, WHAT THE CONSUMER ADVOCATE IS SAYING IS A REASONABLE POSITION.
IT ALLOWS A LITTLE MORE INCOME FOR THE UTILITY.
UM, AND YET IT, IT'S MORE EVEN I THINK WE NEED THE FOUR TIERS FOR SUSTAINABILITY, AND I'M REAL CONCERNED, UM, ABOUT THE GENERAL APPROACH, UM, THAT'S BEEN PROPOSED TO BEGIN WITH.
[01:40:05]
ALL RIGHT, THANKS KAREN.ARE THERE OTHER QUESTIONS OR SHOULD WE ALL RIGHT, RICH, GO AHEAD.
JUST REAL QUICK, I ACTUALLY A DIFFERENT, A LITTLE BIT DIFFERENT POSITION THAN, UM, BOARD MEMBER ONE.
I DO APPRECIATE EVERY, ALL THE INFORMATION, THE RATE CASE, UM, THE TAXPAYER ADVOCATE, WHAT THEY PROVIDED.
I UNDERSTAND RATE CASES ARE SO EXTRAORDINARILY DIFFICULT.
I KNOW I DON'T HAVE ENOUGH INFORMATION TO SEE, LIKE THE MODELING, HOW IT IMPACTS SPECIFIC HOMES AND SPECIFIC AREAS TO REALLY HELP ME BETTER INFORM, I UNDERSTAND THAT WE WOULD SEE, UM, THAT SIGNIFICANT RATE INCREASE IN SOME PLACES AND SOME PIECES AS WAS DESCRIBED, WILL, WOULD BE DECREASED.
UM, I DON'T SEE THE CURRENT MODEL HAVING BEEN AS EFFECTIVE ON ENERGY CONSERVATION IF WE'RE LOOKING AT FIVE TO 6% UTILIZATION OF G GREASE ON THE APP.
I MEAN, IF THAT'S WHAT'S DRIVING APP USAGE.
UM, AND IF THAT'S TY DIRECTLY TO CONSERVATION, I DON'T KNOW IF THAT'S BEEN THE SUCCESS OR THE SUCCESS ON CONSERVATION, HOW THAT'S BEEN DESCRIBED EARLIER AS MORE REFLECTION OF, UM, THE MATERIALS AND CODE RELATING TO, UM, YOU KNOW, BUILDING INFRASTRUCTURE OR YOUR BUILDING OR BOTH IN TERMS OF ENERGY CONSERVATION, HVAC AND, AND THE WHOLE THING.
SO, YOU KNOW, I'M NOT COMFORTABLE ENOUGH TO SAY THAT WHAT WE HA HAS BEEN WORKING, UM, TO THAT WHOLE THING, IT REALLY, I KNOW I WOULDN'T BE TAKING A POSITION WITHOUT STILL LIKE SOME ADDITIONAL MODELING.
UH, I REALLY APPRECIATE EVERYBODY'S TIME, PARTICULARLY OUR, OUR EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF AUSTIN ENERGY, I HA AM ACTUALLY IN PR ANALYSIS, SO I'M ALWAYS BEEN A BIT ENVIOUS OF NOT BEING AN AE AND, UM, HAVING BE IN PER ANALYSIS OUT HERE ON, UH, VERY SOUTHWEST AUSTIN.
SO APPRECIATE THE TIME, APPRECIATE THE PRESENTATION.
ALL RIGHT, UM, LET'S MOVE ON TO TIM'S, UH, PRESENTATION.
WE'RE GONNA COME BACK TO THESE, UH, TOPICS WE HAVE A, A RESOLUTION TO CONSIDER, BUT, UM, WANNA WANNA DO THIS LAST PRESENTATION AND TIM, UM, OH, I, WE WANNA HEAR FROM YOU, BUT WE'RE ALSO KIND OF RUN RUNNING LOW ON TIME, SO, UM, YEAH.
I AM THE CUSTOMER RENEWABLE SOLUTIONS MANAGER AT AUSTIN ENERGY, AND I WILL BREEZE THROUGH THIS PRESENTATION PRETTY QUICKLY.
UM, FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO MAY NOT KNOW, AUSTIN ENERGY HAS A VALUE OF SOLAR RATE THAT HAS REPLACED NET METERING.
UM, THE VALUE OF SOLAR RATE IS A, UM, RATE THAT WE PROVIDE TO CUSTOMERS FOR ALL OF THEIR PRODUCTION, REGARDLESS OF WHETHER THEY'RE CONSUMING NET ENERGY ON SITE OR IT'S GETTING PUSHBACK TO THE GRID.
AND THEN THE CUSTOMER CONVERSELY, PAYS ALL OF, FOR ALL OF THEIR PRODUCTION, OR SORRY, ALL OF THEIR CONSUMPTION, JUST LIKE THEIR NEIGHBORS DO.
SO EVERY KILOWATT HOUR THEY USE IS APPLIED TO THE BASE RATES AND, AND, UH, AND OTHER RATES THAT WE HAVE, AND THEN THEY GET A STRAIGHT, UM, CREDIT FOR ALL OF THEIR PRODUCTION.
OH, AND IT'S WORTH NOTING THAT IF THEY HAVE A CREDIT THAT EXCEEDS THEIR BILL AMOUNT, THEN THAT CREDIT, UH, ROLLS OVER INDEFINITELY UNTIL IT'S USED THE ELECTRIC BILL AND IT CANNOT BE APPLIED TO OTHER CITY CHARGES OR BE CASHED OUT.
UM, SO, SO WE'VE HAD THIS VALUE OF SOLAR, UM, MECHA RATE MECHANISM IN PLACE SINCE 2012.
UM, AND WE PERFORM, UM, PERIODIC REVIEWS OF WHAT, WHAT THAT MET AND, AND RUN THAT METHODOLOGY TO DETERMINE WHAT THE VALUE IS.
UM, AND WITH THIS RATE CASE, WE ARE TAKING A DIFFERENT APPROACH IN THE METHODOLOGY.
AND, UM, SO, YOU KNOW, ONE OF THE REASONS WHY WE'RE DOING THIS IN THE FIRST PLACE IS TO FULFILL PREVIOUS BASE RATE REVIEW COMMITMENTS, UM, AND WE NEED TO UPDATE THOSE RATE COMPONENTS, AND WE'RE STILL SEEKING TO FAIRLY COMPENSATE SOLAR CUSTOMERS FOR THEIR RENEWABLE ENERGY PRODUCTION.
UM, SO THE CURRENT, UM, WELL, THE, THE CURRENT RACE STRUCTURE HAS THREE DIFFERENT TIERS TO IT, OR THREE LEVELS BASED ON THE CUSTOMER.
[01:45:01]
THAT INCLUDES ALL OF RESIDENTIAL AND COMMERCIAL THAT'S UNDER 10 KW OF USAGE.UM, SO THEY'RE NON DEMAND CUSTOMERS, AND THEN WE HAVE YOUR NORMAL COMMERCIAL CUSTOMERS.
UM, AND THEN THEIR RATE DEPENDS ON WHAT SYSTEM SIZE THEY, UM, HAVE INSTALLED AT THEIR FACILITY.
SO IF THAT SYSTEM SIZE IS OVER A MEGAWATT, THEN AUSTIN ENERGY HAS TO, DOESN'T HAVE AVOIDED TRANSMISSION COSTS SO THAT THOSE TRANSMISSION COSTS AREN'T INCLUDED IN THE VALUE OF SOLAR IF THEIR SYSTEM SIZE IS OVER A MEGAWATT.
AND SO ON, ON THIS CHART, YOU CAN SEE THIS IS OUR CURRENT VALUE OF SOLAR.
UM, AND THE ONE, UM, COLUMN REPRESENTS RESIDENTIAL.
CUSTOMERS THAT ARE, UM, LESS THAN A MEGAWATT AND THREE ARE COMMERCIAL OVER A MEGAWATT.
SO THE VALUES THAT GO INTO, UH, DETERMINING THE VALUE OF SOLAR CURRENTLY ARE ENERGY VALUE.
AND THOSE VALUES ARE, UM, BASED ON THE COST OF FUEL, UH, FOR, YOU KNOW, BASICALLY NATURAL GAS FUTURES.
AND IT'S, IT'S IMPORTANT TO REALIZE THAT THE CURRENT STRUCTURE IS BASED ON FUTURE MODEL.
SO IT'S LOOKING 25 YEARS OUT INTO THE FUTURE.
UM, AND SO WE'RE LOOKING AT THE, THE FUEL FUTURES TO KIND OF HELP DETERMINE WHAT THE ENERGY VALUE IS.
UM, PLANT AND OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE, UM, ARE THE AVOIDED COSTS FOR OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE, UH, ASSOCIATED WITH OWNING A NATURAL GAS POWER PLANT.
IT'S IMPORTANT TO NOTE THAT, UM, AUSTIN ENERGY THROUGH THE, THROUGH OUR RESOURCE MANAGEMENT PLAN, UM, HAS COMMITTED TO NO LONGER PROCURING ANY FOSSIL FUEL GENERATION.
SO, UM, THIS, IT KIND OF, YOU KNOW, WILL BECOME MORE AND MORE OBSOLETE AS WE, UM, MOVE TOWARDS RENEWABLE ENERGY AND NON-CARBON BASED ENERGY, UM, GENERATION CAPACITY.
UM, SO THAT'S THE COST OF ADDITIONAL POWER PLANTS THAT WE DON'T HAVE TO BUILD BECAUSE WE'RE SUPPLYING OUR OWN POWER ON THE DISTRIBUTION GRID, UM, TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION COSTS.
SO OBVIOUSLY THOSE ARE COSTS THAT ARE AVOIDED, UM, AND, UM, BY, BY HAVING THE GENERATION LOCALLY SOURCED AT THE POINT OF LOAD.
UM, AND THEN THE FINAL ONE IS THE ENVIRONMENTAL VALUE, UM, THAT'S BASED ON CARBON EMISSION, UM, OF THE AVOIDED COST OF CARBON EMISSIONS FROM CONVENTIONAL GENERATION.
SO AS YOU CAN SEE HERE, FOR RESIDENTIAL, ALL OF THOSE COMPONENTS GO INTO THAT VALUE OF SOLAR METHODOLOGY.
FOR COMMERCIAL, UM, ONLY THE ENERGY VALUE TRANSMISSION DISTRIBUTION, AND ENVIRONMENTAL VALUE GO INTO DEATH.
AND THEN IF IT'S OVER A MEGAWATT, IT'S JUST THE ENERGY VALUE AND THE ENVIRONMENTAL VALUE.
AND SO THIS IS THE PROPOSED METHODOLOGY.
THIS IS A HISTORIC LOOKING, UM, MARKET BASED APPROACH.
SO WHAT WE'RE DOING IS, UH, LOOKING AT THE TEST YEAR TO DETERMINE WHAT THE ACTUAL AVOIDING COST TO THE UTILITY WERE BASED ON THE TIME OF PRODUCTION AND THE MARKET PRICES AT THOSE, AT THOSE TIMES.
UM, SO AGAIN, WE HAD THE SAME CUSTOMER CLASSES.
UH, NON DEMAND IS FOR THE FIRST COLUMN THERE, COLUMN NUMBER ONE, UH, COM COMMERCIAL UNDER A MEGAWATT, AND THEN COMMERCIAL OVER A MEGA LOT.
SO THE FIRST, UH, VALUE THAT WE LOOK AT IS THE ERCOT ENERGY SAVINGS, WHICH IS THE WEIGHTED AVERAGE PRICE OF THE ENERGY ON THE ERCOT MARKET AT THE TIME THE SOLAR'S PRODUCED.
AND ALL THREE OF THEM INCORPORATE THAT VALUE, UM, ANCILLARY SERVICE SAVINGS.
SO THIS IS THE WEIGHTED AVERAGE COST TO MAKE SURE THAT THE RIGHT NUMBER AND TYPE OF POWER PLANTS ARE RUNNING TO, UM, YOU KNOW, MAINTAIN THE BALANCE ON THE GRID.
UM, AND AGAIN, THOSE ARE ALL INCORPORATED INTO EACH CUSTOMER CLASS, UM, TRANSMISSION SAVINGS, UH, IT'S THE SAME AS, AS WITH THE OTHER ONE.
UM, BUT, AND, AND ALSO IT IS NOT INCLUDED IN, UM, THE OVER MEGAWATT BECAUSE WE ARE NOT AVOIDING THE TRANSMISSION COSTS, UM, IN THAT SCENARIO.
AND THEN SOCIETAL, SOCIETAL BENEFITS HAS BEEN, UM, UH, KIND OF GIVEN A DIFFERENT METHODOLOGY, A MORE SOLID METHODOLOGY THAT IS BASED ON THE ERCOT MIX.
UM, SO THAT, SO THE CARBON SPECIFIC MIX OF
[01:50:01]
ERCOT FOR KILOWATT HOUR AND THEN APPLIED TO THE SOCIETAL COST OF CARMEN REPORT THAT COMES FROM THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT.SO I KIND OF DI DESCRIBED ALL OF THIS, AND IF YOU WANNA GO BACK AND LOOK AT THESE THE WAY THAT WE'RE, YOU KNOW, GETTING INTO THE MINUTIA AND CALCULATING THESE CHARGES, UM, FEEL FREE TO DO THAT.
BUT IN THE INTEREST OF TIME, I'M GONNA SKIP THROUGH, UM, THESE METHODOLOGY CALCULATIONS.
SO IF YOU CAN FORWARD A COUPLE MORE SLIDES.
SO PART OF THE PROPOSAL, UM, FROM AUSTIN ENERGY IN A SPRAY CASE IS TO CHANGE HOW WE, UM, REALIGN THE, UH, RECOVERY MECHANISMS FOR THE VALUE OF SOLAR.
CURRENTLY, EVERYTHING IS RECOVERED THROUGH THE PSA, INCLUDING THE ENVIRONMENTAL PORTION OF IT, AND THE PROPOSAL, UM, WAS TO RECOVER THE ENVIRONMENTAL COST THROUGH THE CBC, UH, THINKING THAT THEY'RE FUNDAMENTALLY DIFFERENT FROM AVOIDED COST FOR ONE.
AND THEN SECONDLY, JUST TO INCREASE THE TRANSPARENCY ON, YOU KNOW, WHAT THAT COST IS, HOW IT CHANGES, AND WHAT THE IMPACTS ARE TO CUSTOMERS.
UM, BUT, AND, AND, AND I'LL GO AHEAD AND ADDRESS THIS HERE, BUT YOU KNOW, THROUGH SETTLEMENT, WE HAVE, UM, WE HAVE PROPOSED THAT THOSE ENVIRONMENTAL COSTS DO CONTINUE TO BE RECOVERED THROUGH THE PSA.
UM, ONE OF THE REASONS FOR THAT IS THE CBC IS NOT A CHARGE THAT IS APPLIED TO ALL CUSTOMERS.
AND, UM, AS, UM, AS PEOPLE POINTED OUT, YOU KNOW, THE ENVIRONMENTAL BENEFITS DO OBVIOUSLY IMPACT ALL CUSTOMERS.
SO IT MAKES SENSE TO, UH, RECOVER THOSE COSTS FROM ALL CUSTOMERS.
SO IN OUR SETTLEMENT, UM, PROPOSAL, WE HAVE, UM, PROPOSED THAT THE, THAT EVERYTHING BE RECOVERED THROUGH THE PSA JUST AS IT CURRENTLY IS.
UM, AND THIS IS JUST A, A GRAPH THAT KIND OF SHOWS WHAT THE IMPACTS OF THOSE COSTS ARE AND ARE EXPECTED TO BE SOMEWHERE AROUND $4 MILLION JUST FOR THE, UH, SOCIETAL BENEFIT, UM, PORTION OF THE VALUE OF SOLAR ANNUALLY.
SO JUST SO YOU KNOW, WE'RE, WE'RE ALL IN A GOOD UNDERSTANDING OF WHAT THAT ACTUALLY COSTS.
SO ON THIS SLIDE, WE'RE SHOWING THE CURRENT METHODOLOGY, UM, APPLIED TO THE TEST YEAR, UM, OF 2021.
AND SO WITH THE CURRENT METHODOLOGY, THE, UH, RESIDENTIAL WOULD BE 9.50 CENTS A KILOWATT HOUR, 8 CENTS A KILOWATT HOUR FOR NON DEMAND, OR I'M SORRY, FOR DEMAND COMMERCIAL LESS THAN A MEGAWATT.
AND, UM, ALMOST 6 CENTS A KILOWATT HOUR FOR DEMAND COMMERCIAL OVER A MEGAWATT.
AS COMPARED TO THE CURRENT METHOD OR THE PROPOSED METHODOLOGY, THAT'S HISTORIC LOOKING WHERE WE SAW THAT THE VALUE OF SOLAR SHOULD BE, UM, 9.91 CENTS PER COMMER OR FOR RESIDENTIAL AND NON DEMAND, WHICH IS ABOUT, UH, FOUR TENTHS OF A PENNY MORE THAN, UH, THE, THE OLD METHODOLOGY, UH, THE COMMERCIAL UNDER MEGAWATT DEMAND CUSTOMERS, UM, AT 9.91 CENTS.
SO THAT'S ALMOST TWO PENNIES MORE THAN THE CURRENT METHODOLOGY.
AND, UH, THE COMMERCIAL OVER MEGAWATT WOULD BE 7.24 CENTS.
SO, UM, YOU KNOW, MORE THAN A PENNY, UM, OVER THAT THE, UH, CURRENT METHODOLOGY THERE AS WELL.
AND ANOTHER THING WE WANTED TO POINT OUT, UM, AND WE DID THE TEST YEAR FOR, OR WE DID THE SAME METHODOLOGY, PROPOSED METHODOLOGY FOR F Y 20 AND FOUND THAT THERE WAS SOME DISPARITY BETWEEN THE TWO YEARS.
UM, THIS IS NOT UNCOMMON FOR VALUE OF SOLAR RATES.
WE SAW THAT IN 2013, WE WERE AT 12.80 CENTS, UM, WITH THE CURRENT METHODOLOGY IN 2014 THOUGH, THE, THE METHODOLOGY WENT TO 10.70 CENTS, SO, UH, MORE THAN A 2 CENT REDUCTION IN THAT VALUE.
UM, THAT DID CAUSE, UH, A LOT OF CONCERN WITH OUR CUSTOMERS.
AND THAT'S WHEN WE MOVED TO, UM,
[01:55:01]
A, A APPROACH WHERE WE WOULD AVERAGE THE VALUE OF SOLAR METHODOLOGY FOR THE PREVIOUS FIVE YEARS.UM, AND THEN THAT AVERAGE WOULD THEN BECOME THE VALUE OF SOLAR RATE THAT WE PUT IN PLACE.
SO THROUGH SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT, WE SEE THAT THIS IS ALSO, YOU KNOW, A POTENTIAL ISSUE IN THE FUTURE.
AND SO, UM, WE'VE ALSO PROPOSED THROUGH SETTLEMENT THAT WE GO TO A FIVE YEAR ROLLING AVERAGE.
AND, UM, AND ALSO FOR PREDICTABILITY AND MORE CERTAINTY FOR CUSTOMERS, UM, WE WOULDN'T CHANGE THAT MORE THAN EVERY THREE YEARS, ALTHOUGH WE WOULD CONTINUE TO RUN THAT METHODOLOGY ANNUALLY.
UM, AND YOU CAN SEE, YOU KNOW, CURRENTLY WE'RE AT 9.70 CENTS FOR RESIDENTIAL, THEY WOULD GO UP TO 9.91 CENTS.
UM, AND FOR COMMERCIAL DEMAND CUSTOMERS, LESS THAN A MEGAWATT 6.70 CENTS CURRENTLY WOULD GO UP TO 9.91 CENTS.
SO OVER 3 CENTS INCREASE THERE, AND I'LL TELL YOU THAT WILL DRAMATICALLY AFFECT COMMERCIAL ADOPTION, SOLAR, UM, AS WELL AS, UH, FOR SYSTEMS OVER A MEGAWATT, UM, GOING FROM 4.70 CENTS TO 7.24 CENTS.
AND THAT CONCLUDES MY PRESENTATION AND SPEED MODE, AND I'M HAPPY TO TAKE ANY QUESTIONS.
THANK YOU, TIM, I APPRECIATE THE WORK YOU'RE DOING AND, AND ALSO APPRECIATE THAT YOU ARE WILLING TO DO THAT IN THE SPEED MODE.
UM, WHO HAS QUESTIONS? ANYBODY HAVE QUESTIONS FOR TIM? ALL RIGHT.
UM, THANK, THANK YOU, TIM, OBVIOUSLY YOU, YOU'RE, OH, ALBERTA, I'M SORRY.
I WAS TRYING TO ASK A QUESTION, AND AGAIN, WEBEX,
SO I NOTICED IN THE, THE OTHER PRESENTATION, THE, THE AMOUNT FOR SOLO WENT FROM SOMETHING FROM 3 MILLION TO 6 MILLION OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT.
SOLO PROGRAMS, I SUPPOSE, ARE THOSE PROGRAMS THAT ARE AIMED AT SUPPLEMENTING FOLKS OR WHAT IS THAT? YEAH.
AND DO YOU, AND DO YOU HAVE A WAY OF ACTUALLY TRACKING HOW MUCH EFFICIENCY OVERALL WE ARE GETTING OUT OF THE SOLAR PROGRAM? UM, UH, I'LL PROBABLY HAVE SOME FOLLOW UP QUESTIONS TO THE EFFICIENCY.
I DON'T, YEAH, I SEE ALSO SHAKING HEADS, SO SOMETHING'S WRONG WITH YOUR AUDIO.
YEAH, SORRY, I WAS HAVING AN INCOMING CALL.
CAN YOU, CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW? YEP.
SO THE SLIDE SAID FROM THREE TO 6 MILLION, BUT IT'S ACTUALLY FROM FIVE TO 8 MILLION.
UM, AND SO THOSE PROGRAMS CURRENTLY, UH, WERE TO KIND OF SUPPLEMENT THE VALUE OF SOLAR RATE SO THAT WE CAN ENCOURAGE A JOB TO MEET THE COUNCIL GOALS THAT HAVE BEEN SET FOR, UH, ONE OF THE PROPOSALS THAT WE PUT IN THE SPACE RATE CASE IS THAT WE START TO LOOK AT, UM, IMPLEMENTING THOSE INCENTIVES THROUGH THE VALUE OF SOLAR RATE RATHER THAN HAVING CUSTOMERS GO THROUGH AN APPLICATION PROCESS.
AND THAT'S CUMBERSOME AND TIME CONSUMING FOR THE UTILITY.
UM, AND TRY TO LIKE KIND OF AUTOMATE AND STREAMLINE THOSE INCENTIVES WHILE STILL HAVING A, A REMAINDER OF THE INCENTIVE BUDGET TO FOCUS OUR EFFORTS, UM, TOWARDS LOW INCOME NON-PROFITS, COMMUNITY SOLAR, AND WORKING ON THINGS LIKE, UM, CUSTOMER FINANCING, UM, AND STREAMLINING PROCESS FOR ADOPTION, THINGS LIKE THAT.
SO WE'RE TRYING TO REALLY FOCUS OUR EFFORTS ON, UM, SOME THINGS THAT REALLY NEED ATTENTION WHILE STREAMLINING OTHER PROCESSES IN THE MEANTIME.
AND THEN, AND YOU HAD ANOTHER QUESTION.
DO WE HAVE ANOTHER WAY? I MEAN, OR DO YOU HAVE A WAY OF MEASURING THE, THE EFFICIENCIES THAT WE'RE GETTING FROM, YOU KNOW, SOLAR?
[02:00:01]
YEAH, WE, YEAH, WE DO.UM, EVERY SOLAR, UH, INSTALLATION IN AUSTIN HAS A SOLAR METER ATTACHED TO IT.
SO WE CAN SEE ALL OF THE PRODUCTION THAT ALL OF OUR CUSTOMERS GENERATE, AND WE CAN ALSO TELL WHETHER THAT PRODUCTION IS BEING CONSUMED ON SITE OR PUSHED BACK ONTO THE GRID.
AND INTERESTINGLY, 48% OF THE PRODUCTION IS PUSHED BACK TO THE GRID AND CONSUMED BY NEIGHBORING HOUSES, UM, BUT NOT CONSUMED AT THE SITE WHERE THEY WERE GENERATED.
I'M SORRY, IS THAT THE CUSTOMER'S CHOICE OR IS IT A E'S CHOICE? THE WHAT CHOICE PUSH BACK TO THE GRID OR USED ON SITE? YEAH, SO, SO, UM, ELECTRICITY WILL FLOW TO THE NEAREST POINT OF LOAD.
SO WHAT'S HAPPENING IS, IS THE CUSTOMER IS PRODUCING MORE ENERGY THAN THEY'RE CONSUMING AT THAT POINT IN TIME ON A NET BASIS, WE TRY TO MAKE SURE THAT THEY'RE NOT PRODUCING MORE ENERGY ANNUALLY THAN THEY CONSUME ANNUALLY.
AND THAT'S TO TRY TO KEEP BALANCE ON THE GRID AND MAKE SURE NO ONE CUSTOMER IS CONSUMING, LIKE THE KIND OF POSTING CAPACITY OF THE GRID THAT'S AVAILABLE.
UM, BUT, AND NOW ON A DAILY BASIS, YOU KNOW, CU CUSTOMERS ARE GOING TO WORK WHILE THEIR SYSTEMS ARE PRODUCING THE MOST ENERGY AT NOONISH.
AND SO THEY MIGHT HAVE A LOT OF THINGS OFF IN THEIR HOUSEHOLD SO THAT EXTRA ENERGY'S GONNA FLOAT BACK ONTO THE GRID AND GO TO THE NEAREST POINT OF LOAD.
IT MIGHT GO THROUGH THEIR TRANSFORMER AND THEN TO, YOU KNOW, SOME OTHER LOAD THAT'S FAR FURTHER AWAY, OR IT MIGHT GO TO THEIR NEIGHBOR'S HOUSE.
JUST DEPENDS ON WHERE THE NEAREST POINT OF LOAD IS THAT IT CAN REACH.
UM, ALBERTA, THE HOMEOWNERS WILL BE ABLE TO MAKE A CHOICE ON HOW THEY USE THE ENERGY IF THEY HAVE SOLAR PANELS AND A POWER WALL.
SO IF THEY HAVE A TESLA POWER WALL, THEN THEY CAN STORE THAT EXCESS ENERGY THAT THEIR SOLAR PANELS GENERATE, THEY CAN STORE IN THEIR HOUSEHOLD AND THEY CAN USE THAT WILL, OR THEY CAN SELL IT BACK TO THE CITY.
UM, BUT THAT WILL IT REQUIRE THEM TO INVEST INTO A TESLA POWER WALL, THOUGH.
IT'S IMPORTANT TO KNOW THAT THE CUSTOMER GETS THE SAME VALUE FOR THAT ENERGY, WHETHER THEY CONSUME IT ON SITE OR PUSH IT BACK TO THE GRID.
ANY OTHER QUESTIONS FOR TIM? OKAY, THANK, THANKS AGAIN, TIM.
I REALLY APPRECIATE THE PRESENTATION.
UM, YOU'RE, YOU'RE WELCOME TO STAY ON OBVIOUSLY IF YOU, IF YOU'D LIKE.
UH, WE HAVE, UH, TWO RESOLUTIONS, UM, FOR CONSIDERATION ON THIS AGENDA ITEM.
BOTH OF THEM, UH, ARE MODELED OFF WHAT THE RESOURCE MANAGEMENT COMMISSION ADOPTED AT OUR, UH, MEETING EARLIER THIS MONTH.
I REALLY JUST REALLY JOLLY, JOLLY, OH, I ADJUSTED.
ARE WE, WE'RE HAVING SOME SORT OF FEEDBACK.
UM, I JUST ADJUSTED SOME OF THE LANGUAGE REALLY TO KIND OF TIE IN WITH, WITH OUR MISSION, UM, HERE.
SO THEY'RE SUBSTANTIALLY THE, THE SAME AS WHAT THE RMC PAST.
UH, IF WE COULD GET THE FIRST ONE, UH, AROUND THE RESIDENTIAL RATES, UH, UP ON THE SCREEN FOR DISCUSSION.
UM, I DON'T KNOW IF THERE'S A WAY TO DO THIS SO THAT IT'S NOT TAKING UP.
USUALLY WE CAN SEE SOME OF THE OTHER PEOPLE WHILE THEY'RE SCREEN SHARING.
IS THAT POSSIBLE? CUZ I CAN'T SEE WHO MIGHT WANNA SPEAK.
YOU'RE NOT GONNA, THAT'S, THAT'S OKAY IF I CAN'T SEE EVERYBODY.
IF I COULD SEE SOME PEOPLE THAT WOULD EVEN BE AN IMPROVEMENT.
UM, BUT YES, I GUESS, UH, SINCE I'M NOT GONNA BE ABLE TO SEE FOLKS, UM, PLEASE JUST SPEAK OUT IF YOU HAVE THOUGHTS ON WHAT YOU'RE SEEING ON THE SCREEN.
UM, WE'LL TAKE A MINUTE HERE ON THE WHEREAS, UH, AND, AND SCROLL DOWN.
FUNDAMENTALLY, THIS, UH, RESOLUTION IS ABOUT KIND OF ALIGNING YOU.
YOU CAN, YOU CAN GO BACK UP JUST SO IT, THE BE IT RESOLVED IS AT THE END JUST SLIGHTLY.
[02:05:01]
UM, THIS, THIS KIND OF ALIGNS WITH WHAT WE HEARD FROM, FROM JOHN KAUFMAN, THE CONSUMER ADVOCATE ABOUT TRYING TO SPREAD THOSE, UH, INCREASES ACROSS THE TIERS IN THE RESIDENTIAL RATE CLASS IN A WAY THAT IS, UH, MORE EQUITABLE AND DOESN'T KIND OF SEND A COUNTERPRODUCTIVE, UM, SIGNAL AS IT RELATES TO ENERGY CONSERVATION.SO THIS DOESN'T ADDRESS, UH, AND, AND ALSO SAME, SAME SORT OF APPROACH FOR THE, FOR THE FIXED FEE.
UH, SO THIS DOES NOT ADDRESS THE TOTAL AMOUNT OF MONEY, UH, THAT THE UTILITY MIGHT NEED OR, UH, THAT ISSUE OF, OF WHICH CUSTOMER CLASSES.
THIS IS REALLY JUST ABOUT THE RESIDENTIAL RATES AND HOW TO ADDRESS THE, UM, TIERED RATE STRUCTURE AND TRYING TO UM, NOT HAVE THE SITUATION WHERE THOSE WHO USE THE LEAST WOULD, YOU KNOW, HAVE NEARLY A 50% INCREASE WHILE THOSE WHO USE THE MOST WOULD HAVE 20 PLUS PERCENT DECREASE.
SO I'LL STOP THERE AND ANYBODY WHO WANTS TO JUMP IN, PLEASE DO.
KAREN, I SEE YOUR MOUTH MOVING, BUT I CAN'T HEAR YOU.
I WAS WONDERING IF YOU COULD READ THE BE IT RESOLVED SECTION.
UM, SO NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED THAT THERE AND, AND WE WILL ADJUST, THIS IS ACTUALLY NOT THE VERSION THAT I SENT OUT.
UM, SO THERE'S SOME CONFUSION THERE.
BUT, UM, ADVISE THE CITY OF AUSTIN TO RETAIN AUSTIN ENERGY'S CURRENT PROGRESSIVE RATE STRUCTURE AND AVOID ANY SIGNIFICANT INCREASE IN THE CUSTOMER CHARGE.
AND THAT, IF ANY BE FURTHER, BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT IF ANY RATE INCREASES ARE ENACTED, THEY BE LEVIED AS A PROPORTIONAL INCREASE TO THE UTILITIES CURRENT MONTHLY BASE COST AND TIERS IN ITS CURRENT RATE STRUCTURE.
DO WE HAVE THE VERSIONS THAT I MODIFIED FOR THE JSC? THANKS.
HOPEFULLY YOU'LL HAVE THOSE IN YOUR EMAIL.
I MEAN, I THINK I HAVE A GOOD UNDERSTANDING THIS IS PROBABLY A GREAT WAY TO GO, BUT I'M REALLY RELYING ON STAFF'S EXPERTISE, THE MODELING THAT THEY HAD DONE, UM, AT THIS, AT THIS MOMENT IN TIME.
BUT I MEAN, IT WOULD BE POSSIBLE THAT I WOULD COULD SUPPORT SOMEBODY LIKE THIS.
IT'S JUST AGAIN, WITHOUT THAT MODELING, UM, I'M, I'M A LITTLE NERVOUS TOO.
I KNOW COUNCIL'S GONNA HAVE A LOT MORE INFORMATION AND BE A LOT BETTER WAY TO DIRECT STAFF THAN I AM.
BUT I'M ALSO CURIOUS AS TO ON THE ENERGY CONSERVATION, THE INTERPLAY BETWEEN THIS MODEL AND THE ENERGY CONSERVATION, UM, OR THE SOLAR, SORRY, THE SOLAR, UM, PROGRAM THAT WAS LAID OUT AS WELL.
CAUSE IT SEEMED LIKE THEY WERE TIED TOGETHER.
UM, YOU KNOW, I THINK, UH, WHEN IT COMES TO ENERGY CONSERVATION, UH, AND ENERGY EFFICIENCY, IT'S IMPORTANT TO LIKE, THINK ABOUT NOT JUST, UM, YOU KNOW, WHAT IS SOMEBODY DOING IN THE MOMENT, YOU KNOW, ARE THEY TURNING OFF THEIR AIR CONDITIONER WHEN THEY GET TO THE NEXT TIER OR THEY, YOU KNOW, TURNING OFF SOME OTHER APPLIANCE IN THEIR HOUSE.
UM, I, I ACTUALLY AGREE WITH AUSTIN ENERGY THAT, UM, THAT'S UNLIKELY TO HAPPEN EXCEPT FOR THOSE PEOPLE WHO ARE REALLY IN THE MOST, UH, MORE KIND OF DIRE FINANCIAL CIRCUMSTANCES.
I DO KNOW THAT THAT POOR FOLKS DO THAT.
THEY GO WITHOUT AIR CONDITIONING IF THEY, THEY FEEL LIKE THEY'RE, UM, YOU KNOW, NOT GONNA BE ABLE TO TO PAY THAT BILL AT TIMES.
AND THAT CAN ACTUALLY BE DANGEROUS.
BUT WHERE IT DOES COME INTO PLAY IS WHEN YOU ARE LOOKING AND MAKING ENERGY EFFICIENCY UPGRADES, YOU LOOK AT YOUR TOTAL BILL OVER
[02:10:01]
THE PAST YEAR OR TWO YEARS OR WHATEVER YOU HAVE DATA FOR.AND SO THAT'S WHERE IT DOES COME INTO PLAY.
AND YOU KNOW, AS, AS SOMEBODY WHO, WHO WENT THROUGH THAT PROCESS MYSELF, YOU, YOU'RE LOOKING, UM, NOT JUST IT DID I GO INTO THE NEXT TIER, BUT THE TOTAL AMOUNT THAT YOU'RE, THAT YOU'RE PAYING BECAUSE THAT WILL BE OFFSET.
YOU KNOW, BASICALLY YOUR PAYBACK ON THOSE ENERGY EFFICIENCY INVESTMENTS IS DETERMINED BY THAT AMOUNT YOU'RE PAYING.
SO IF YOU'RE PAYING MORE AS YOU USE EVEN MORE, THEN ESSENTIALLY THOSE ENERGY EFFICIENCY INVESTMENTS WILL BE, YOU KNOW, THEY WILL BE A BETTER DEAL FOR YOU AND THEREFORE MORE FOLKS ARE MORE LIKELY TO MOVE FORWARD WITH THEM.
SO IT'S NOT SO MUCH ABOUT RESPONDING IN THE MOMENT.
I DON'T THINK THAT'S, UM, PRIMARILY HOW, HOW THAT'S GONNA WORK OR DOES WORK.
I THINK IT'S MORE ABOUT LONGER TERM INVESTMENTS THAT PEOPLE MAKE IN THEIR HOMES.
SO I KNOW THAT THIS IS NOT PART OF THE RESOLUTION, BUT GETTING BACK TO WHAT KAREN SAID AND WHAT YOU JUST SAID, ULTIMATELY, UH, THE ABOUT IN THE MOMENT, UH, AND KAREN SAID THAT MAYBE PEOPLE DON'T USE APPS, BUT THEY READ THEIR BILLS AND THEY DO, AND, AND I DON'T, AND THIS IS OUTSIDE THE RESOLUTION, BUT I THINK IT, IT NEEDS TO BE SAID THAT, UM, I'M NOT CERTAIN, UH, I THINK RICH WAS THE PERSON WHO SAID THAT THE APPS, NO, I WON'T REALLY WORKING OR THAT WHAT THEY'RE SHOWING IN TERMS OF ENERGY EFFICIENCY IS NOT MUCH.
UM, BUT HOW, HOW COULD YOU INCORPORATE THAT INTO PEOPLE'S BILLS? WHETHER IT'S A PLAN THAT SAYS, HEY, AT THIS POINT YOU COULD HAVE MOVED INTO TIER TWO IN A MONTHLY BE BILL IF YOU DO THE FOLLOWING THINGS AND IT DOESN'T SEEM LIKE THAT EDUCATION IS COMING AND IT'S CERTAINLY NOT COMING IN MONTHLY BILLS OR IN MONTHLY EMAIL.
IT IS OUTSIDE OF THE SCOPE OF THE RESOLUTION, I GUESS I'M FINE WITH THE RESOLUTION FOR WHAT IT SAYS, BUT I DON'T SEE HOW IT ADDRESSES SOME OF THE THINGS THAT WE ADDRESSED THIS EVENING.
COULD WE SAY, MAYBE IT'S LIKE OUTREACH.
WE COULD, YOU KNOW, ASK THAT, YOU KNOW, AUSTIN ENERGY AND THE CITY SORT OF MAKE A MORE OF A OUTREACH EFFORT FOR ADOPTION OF THE APP, OR, YOU KNOW, HOWEVER, UH, WE CAN USE TO SPREAD INFORMATION ABOUT WHAT TIERS SOMEONE'S IN, YOU KNOW, AND JUST PURSUE WHATEVER AVENUE, WHETHER IT'S EMAIL ON THE BILL, YOU KNOW, TEXT APP, WHATEVER, YOU KNOW, JUST ON OUT THERE.
AND, UH, I, YOU KNOW, I, I THINK THAT WE CAN TRY TO GET AUSTIN ENERGY FOLKS BACK HERE ANOTHER TIME TO, TO TALK ABOUT THOSE ISSUES OF, OF OUTREACH AND THEIR PROGRAMS OVERALL.
UH, WANTED TO GIVE THEM HERE TONIGHT TO TALK SPECIFICALLY ABOUT, UH, YOU KNOW, RATES CUZ THE RATE CASE IS GOING TO COUNCIL.
UM, BUT I, THERE'S OBVIOUSLY A LOT MORE THAT IS RELEVANT TO OUR WORK HERE.
UM, SO I, YOU KNOW, I, I DON'T THINK THAT THIS, THIS IS NOT THE BE ALL AND END ALL.
IT'S, IT'S ONE, ONE PIECE OF IT.
AND YOU KNOW, ALBERTA, I DEFINITELY HEAR WHAT YOU'RE SAYING TOO.
I'M KIND OF CURIOUS ABOUT WHY THE CHAIR, UH, FOR COMMISSIONER JONATHAN BLACKBURN, THE CHAIR FOR THE RESOURCE MANAGEMENT COMMISSION, WHY HE WAS AGAINST THIS RESOLUTION.
YOUR GUESS WOULD BE AS GOOD AS MINE.
HE DIDN'T MAKE ANY STATEMENT, UM, ABOUT IT OR COMMENTS, SO I, I DON'T KNOW WHY HE VOTED AGAINST IT.
ARE YOU LOOKING FOR A MOTION OR VOTE OR? WELL, MAYBE, UH, IF THAT'S WHERE WE'RE AT, I THINK WE CAN DO THAT.
IF, IF YOU'RE, IF YOU'D LIKE TO PLEASE GO AHEAD.
WELL, I WOULD MOVE APPROVAL IF THERE'S NO UNREADY READINESS, I WOULD SECOND THAT.
DO WE HAVE ANY MORE KIND OF COMMENTS OR QUESTIONS ANYBODY WANTS TO ASK? WE, YOU KNOW, I THINK THIS IS CERTAINLY TIMELY NOW.
HOPEFULLY WE'LL HAVE ANOTHER MEETING IN NOVEMBER SO WE CAN ALWAYS, YOU KNOW, IF THERE ARE CONCERNS OR,
[02:15:01]
OR OUTSTANDING QUESTIONS, WE CAN ALWAYS COME BACK TO IT AND, AND THAT PROBABLY WILL STILL BE TIMELY, ALTHOUGH NOT AS MUCH AS IT WILL BE NOW.UM, SO REMEMBER YOU NEED TO TURN YOUR CAMERA ON TO VOTE.
UM, SO LET'S GO AHEAD AND IF YOU'RE VOTING, I PLEASE RAISE YOUR HAND AND HAVE YOUR CAMERA ON.
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, WHICH I THINK IS NOT ENOUGH, RIGHT? I THINK WE NEED A QUORUM ACTUALLY.
DO WE EVEN HAVE A QUORUM RIGHT NOW? WELL, SO AS AN AUSTIN ENERGY EMPLOYEE, YES WE DO.
SO I, I I PLAN NOT, I PLAN TO VOTE ABSTAIN.
YEAH, SO YOU'RE GONNA NEED TO ABSTAIN ON THE NEXT ONE TOO.
SO WE MIGHT AS WELL NOT EVEN TAKE THAT UP FOR A VOTE, UH, BECAUSE I THINK WE ONLY HAVE 10 OF US ON, AND I THINK THAT WE NEED 10 TO PASS ANYTHING, CUZ I'M PRETTY SURE WE NEED A QUORUM TO PASS ANYTHING.
WAIT, I THOUGHT WE DO NEED MAJORITY TO PASS.
WE DON'T NEED A QUORUM TO PASS.
WE NEED A QUORUM TO MEET IN PARLIAMENTARY PROCEDURE.
AS I UNDERSTAND IT, THEY MADE A DIFFERENT RULING, UM, MAYBE A YEAR AND A HALF AGO.
I'M SORRY, CHAIR, I DIDN'T MEAN TO INTERRUPT YOU.
UM, BUT IT WAS A MAJORITY OF THE BOARD IS WHAT QUALIFIES AS PASSING, UM, THE RESOLUTION.
NOW HER RECOMMENDATION, AND WE HAVE 11.
IS THAT ACCURATE? WE HAVE 10 OF US ON HERE, WHICH IS GOOD FOR QUORUM, BUT THAT MEANS WE WOULD ALL HAVE TO VOTE IN FAVOR OF ANYTHING TO PASS IT.
SO THAT WAS HOW MANY, SO THAT WAS SALES.
WE HAVE MEMBERS, I, IF WE HAVE 11 MEMBERS AS KAREN IS SAYING, THEN SEVEN WOULD BE A MAJORITY OF THE PROBLEM IS, IS THAT IT GOES BASED ON THE NUMBER OF SEATS AND WE HAVE, I THINK, 18 OR 19 SEATS NOW.
SOME OF THEM HAVE JUST NOT BEEN FILLED.
SO THAT'S WHY I SAY IN NOVEMBER THINGS WILL CHANGE AND THERE'S NO REASON THAT WE CANNOT BRING THIS UP AGAIN.
UM, IT JUST WILL BE A LITTLE BIT ON THE WIRE IN TERMS OF EFFECTIVENESS WITH COUNCIL.
UM, WITH THAT IN MIND, WHY DON'T WE JUST NOT EVEN WASTE OUR TIME SINCE WE, WE KNOW THAT ONE OF OUR 10 IS GONNA NEED TO ABSTAIN AND WE CANNOT PASS THE OTHER RESOLUTION EITHER.
AND, AND FRANKLY, AS TIM ALLUDED TO AUSTIN ENERGY, I THINK, UH, YOU KNOW, IS IS WORKING WITH THE PARTIES ON A SETTLEMENT ON THAT ONE.
SO I THINK IT'S, IT'S NOT TOO CRITICAL.
UM, WE, AND FOR THE RECORD, I WOULD'VE VOTED YES ON THE SECOND ONE.
WELL, I DON'T KNOW IF THAT, I GUESS, I GUESS IT'S IN THE VIDEO RECORD, BUT, UH,
UM,
SO WE HAVE, WE HAVE TWO ITEMS, UH, WELL TECHNICALLY WE HAVE THREE ITEMS. WE HAVE OUR MEETINGS SCHEDULE, WHICH I THINK WE PROBABLY COULD JUST MOVE TO OUR NEXT AGENDA.
[7. Resolution on Texas Gas Service Conservation Programs from Resource Management Commission (No. 20220816-005) (Discussion and/or possible action)]
IS A RESOLUTION ON THE TEXAS GAS SERVICE CONSERVATION PROGRAMS. THIS ONE IS POTENTIALLY COMING UP AT COUNCIL.SO IF FOLKS HAVE LOOKED AT IT AND FEEL COMFORTABLE TAKING IT UP IN A KIND OF EXPEDITED FASHION, WE CAN DO THAT.
UM, BUT I, YOU KNOW, DON'T WANNA KEEP US HERE FOR A LONG TIME.
SO WHY DON'T, IF, WHY DON'T WE PUT IT ON THE SCREEN BRIEFLY?
I CAN GO AHEAD AND MOVE ON IT.
AND IF WE GET A SECOND AND HAVE THE DISCUSSION, YOU CAN CALL THEM FOR THE VOTE.
SO I, I GO AHEAD AND, AND MOVE THAT.
UM, HOW VOTE, HOW CAN WE VOTE IF WE DON'T HAVE THE QUORUM? WE DO HAVE A QUO.
UH, WE DON'T, DON'T HAVE AN OFFICER WATER EMPLOYEE THAT HAS TO ABSTAIN.
THIS IS TEXAS GAS, BUT, UM, YEAH, SO, I'M SORRY.
UM, YEAH, LARRY'S NOT HERE, SO, BUT, UH, SO YEAH.
SO WE HAVE A MOTION, WE HAVE A SECOND.
UM, I DO WANT FOLKS TO SEE WHAT WE'RE VOTING ON.
THE, WHEREAS IS YOU CAN RATE IT YOUR LEISURER, IT'S ESSENTIALLY BACKING UP THAT
[6. Update on Austin Climate Equity Plan Implementation –Zach Baumer, Office of Sustainability (Discussion and/or possible action)]
[02:20:01]
THE, THE CLIMATE EQUITY PLAN INCLUDES GOALS FOR MOVING AWAY FROM, FROM NATURAL GAS AND, UH, NET ZERO ENERGY BUILDINGS.AND AGAIN, THIS WAS PASSED BY THE RESOURCE MANAGEMENT COMMISSION.
SO ANYWHERE YOU SEE RESOURCE MANAGEMENT COMMISSION WILL JUST FILL IN, UH, JOINT SUSTAINABILITY COMMITTEE AND OTHERWISE IT'LL BE IDENTICAL.
UM, THE POINT OF THIS IS TO STOP ENCOURAGING THE USE OF NATURAL GAS EQUIPMENT IN NEW BUILDINGS, WHICH THEN LOCKS IN THAT TECHNOLOGY FOR DECADES TO COME.
SO IF ANYBODY HAS QUESTIONS ON THAT, UH, PLEASE SPEAK UP CUZ I CAN'T SEE ALL YOUR FACES.
COULD YOU READ THE BE IT RESOLVE, PLEASE? YES.
NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED THAT THE JOINT SUSTAINABILITY COMMITTEE COMMITTEE RECOMMENDS THAT THE AUSTIN CITY COUNCIL MAKE THE FOLLOWING MODIFICATIONS TO THE TEXAS GAS SERVICE CONSERVATION TARIFF FOR THE BUDGET YEAR, UH, 2023 AND THEREAFTER EXCLUDE REBATES FOR NATURAL GAS EQUIPMENT AND NEW CONSTRUCTION.
EXCLUDE REBATES IN EXISTING RESIDENTIAL BUILDING FOR INSTALLATION OF NEW GAS STUBS FOR CLOSED DRYERS.
A STUB IS JUST BASICALLY THE PLUMBING TO BRING NEW NATURAL GAS, UH, INTO THAT PART OF THE HOME.
UH, NUMBER THREE, UP TO THE POINT THAT SUCH REBATE PRO PROGRAMS ARE COST EFFECTIVE DIRECT FUNDS, UH, REDIRECT FUNDS FROM THE ELIMINATED APPLIANCE REBATE PROGRAMS. THAT'S WHAT WAS IN NUMBER ONE AND TWO TO REBATES FOR DUCK CEILING, CEILING INSULATION, WATER CONSERVATION, METH MEASURES, AND OTHER WEATHERIZATION MEASURES.
NUMBER FOUR, ENCOURAGE TEXAS GAS SERVICE TO SEEK COOPERATION WITH AND CO-FUNDING FROM LOCAL WATER UTILITIES FOR GAS CONSERVATION PRO PROGRAMS FOCUSED ON WATER SAVING TECHNOLOGIES SUCH AS LOW FLOW SHOWER HEADS, AERATORS AND COMMERCIAL DISH DISH RINSERS.
QUESTIONS, COMMENTS, CONCERNS? AGAIN, REMEMBER I CANNOT SEE YOU, ANNA.
SO ESSENTIALLY THIS IS DISINCENTIVIZING DEVELOPERS FROM INSTALLING GAS, NATURAL GAS PIPELINES INTO NEW, INTO NEW CONSTRUCTION.
WELL, I WOULDN'T SAY IT'S DISINCENTIVIZING THEM.
I'D SAY IT'S REMOVING AN INCENTIVE.
SO IT'S, THEY, YOU KNOW, THEY CAN DO IT MM-HMM.
LET'S, UH, LET'S CALL THE VOTE.
HAVE YOUR VIDEO ON IF YOU'RE VOTING.
WE HAVE 10 VOTES ON THAT ONE, SO THAT ONE DOES PASS.
THANKS Y'ALL, AND THANKS FOR DOING IT QUICKLY.
SO WE ALSO HAVE AN UPDATE FROM ZACH WHO HAS BEEN WAITING SO PATIENTLY, SORRY, ZACH.
TELL US, TELL US WHAT YOU'VE BEEN DOING.
UH, AND I'LL GO QUICKLY THROUGH THIS.
UM, AND I WAS GONNA HAVE, I WAS GONNA BE HERE WHOLE A COUPLE TIME ANYWAY.
IT'S JUST AN UPDATE ON SOME OF OUR ACTIVITIES.
UM, SO IN CASE YOU DIDN'T SEE IT, UH, BACK IN LIKE JULY, AUGUST, UM, I WANTED TO HIGHLIGHT THAT THERE, WE PUT A LOT OF WORK INTO THIS.
UM, THERE WAS A NET ZERO SECTION IN THE F Y 23 BUDGET PROPOSAL, WHICH GAVE NUMEROUS PAGES OF PROJECTS AND PROGRAMS THAT ARE BEING FUNDED IN THE BUDGET, UM, THAT, THAT WAS ADOPTED, UH, BACK IN AUGUST.
UM, AND THAT NOW WE'RE IN THE CURRENT BUDGET YEAR FOUR.
UM, SO THERE'S A TON OF INFORMATION THERE, UM, ON PROJECTS RELATED TO THE CLIMATE EQUITY PLAN THAT WERE IN THE BUDGET.
UM, SO IF YOU WANNA SEE THAT, GO CHECK IT OUT THERE.
UM, THIS, THIS WAS, THESE SLIDES ARE FROM LAST MONTH, UM, BUT WE ARE NOW INTO THE GROOVE OF DOING QUARTERLY UPDATE PRESENTATIONS TO CITY COUNCIL AT WORK SESSIONS.
UH, WE COMPLETED THE FIRST UPDATE IN JUNE, UH, WHERE I GAVE JUST AN OVERVIEW ON OUR GENERAL APPROACH AND IMPLEMENTATION OF THE PLAN.
IN SEPTEMBER, WE GAVE, UM, AN UPDATE ON THE TRANSPORTATION ELECTRIFICATION SECTION OF THE, OF THE PLAN.
AND THEN, UH, SO WE'RE JUST GONNA, WE'RE GONNA KEEP ON THE SCHEDULE OF, UH, EVERY QUARTER NOW GOING FORWARD,
[02:25:01]
UM, UPDATING COUNCIL AT WORK SESSION.UM, THE NEXT ONE'S IN JANUARY, I HAVE SUSTAINABLE BUILDINGS THERE.
I'M NOT ACTUALLY SURE IF THAT'S GONNA BE THE ONE, BUT ONE OF THE SECTIONS WE WILL GIVE AN UPDATE TO COUNSEL, UM, IN JANUARY.
UM, THE NEXT THING IS THAT THE IMPLEMENTATION DASHBOARD THAT, UM, THAT COOL KITTEN FROM ATD WAS TALKING ABOUT EARLIER.
THE IMPLEMENTATION DASHBOARD IS LIVE, ALL THE UPDATES ON STRATEGIES AND ALL THE INFORMATION WE, UM, COLLECTED OVER THE LAST NINE MONTHS IS ALL, UH, THERE ON THAT WEBSITE NOW, WHICH YOU CAN CLICK TO AND CHECK IT OUT.
UM, AND THEN, UM, OUR SECOND, SECOND COHORT OF COMMUNITY CLIMATE AMBASSADORS WAS LAUNCHED IN AUGUST AND IS NOW FULLY UNDERWAY.
AND, UM, I'VE GOT SOME MORE SLIDES ABOUT THIS, BUT WE ARE NOW SORT OF IN PLANNING PHASE AND SORT OF MOVING TOWARDS, TRYING TO GET THIS OFF THE GROUND.
THIS NEW CLIMATE EQUITY PLANNING COMMUNITY TASK FORCE.
THIS IS JUST, UH, A SNAPSHOT OF THE DASHBOARD.
IF YOU CLICK ON THAT LINK IN THOSE SLIDES, UM, AND WE'LL SEND, WE CAN JUST SEND YOU THE DIRECT LINK.
UM, YOU ESSENTIALLY GO TO THIS WEBSITE, WHICH IS HOSTED ON THE CITY WEBSITE, AND YOU CAN CLICK THROUGH AND SEE, UM, ALL THE DIFFERENT SECTIONS OF THE PLAN, QUANTITATIVE DATA, QUALITATIVE DATA, UM, ESSENTIALLY, UM, DETAILED INFORMATION ON ALMOST EVERY STRATEGY OF THE PLAN SLIDE.
UM, SO WHAT'S IN THE DASHBOARD, UM, UH, OUR QUANTITATIVE PROGRESS ON OUR GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS INVENTORY.
UM, A SUMMARY OF EFFORTS ON THE OVERARCHING STRATEGIES.
AND THEN A WORKSHOP, A WORK STATUS FOR ALL 74 OF THE STRATEGIES.
AND THEN HOPEFULLY, YOU KNOW, WITHIN THE COMING, YOU KNOW, MONTHS, WE'LL ACTUALLY HAVE BASELINE DATA AND REPORTING ON ALL 17 OF THE QUANTITATIVE TARGETS IN THE PLAN, AND ALSO HAVE THIS UP ON THE, THE PUBLIC DASHBOARD.
UM, THIS IS JUST A, JUST A SNAPSHOT OF THE KIND OF GRAPHICS YOU'LL SEE ON THE WEBSITE.
UH, WE WENT THROUGH A, A MASSIVE DATA COLLECTION PROCESS TO COLLECT ALL THIS INFORMATION.
SO THERE'S OVER A HUNDRED UPDATES FROM INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL PARTNERS ON STRATEGIES, UM, UH, AND WORKED TO IMPLEMENT THE PLAN.
UM, ABOUT 70% OF THE STRATEGIES, UM, ARE UNDERWAY OR ARE STARTING SOON, WHICH IS GREAT NEWS.
UM, AND THIS WORK IS GONNA SERVE AS A LAUNCHPAD FOR NEXT STEPS AND WHERE WE GO FROM HERE.
UM, AND LIKE I SAID, IT'S ALL PUBLIC, SO THE HOPE WILL BE THAT WE WILL NOT THE HOPE, BUT THE COMMITMENT IS THAT WE WILL UPDATE THIS AT LEAST ANNUALLY, SO YOU'LL BE ABLE TO SEE CHANGES OVER TIME.
UM, SO NEXT, CLIMATE AMBASSADORS.
UH, WE, UH, WENT THROUGH A RECRUITING PROCESS THIS SUMMER AND, UM, THE, AND YOU HEARD ABOUT THE, UH, THE SUMMARY OF THE PROGRAM FROM SYDNEY, WHO'S THE, IN THE UPPER LEFT HAND WITH THE DARK BLUE SHIRT ON.
UM, SYDNEY IS A, UH, STAFF MEMBER IN OUR OFFICE WHO IS WORKING, UH, TO BASICALLY MANAGE THE CLIMATE AMBASSADOR PROGRAM.
UH, MANY OF THE FACES HERE ARE FACES WHO ARE, ARE CLIMATE AMBASSADORS THIS TIME AROUND.
UH, SO WE HAVE NINE COMMUNITY CLIMATE AMBASSADORS THAT ARE PART OF THIS COHORT.
UM, THEY HAVE GONE THROUGH AN EQUITY TRAINING AS A GROUP AND A CIVIC ENGAGEMENT WORKSHOP AS A GROUP TO SORT OF GET UP TO SPEED ON KIND OF ALL THINGS CITY AND ALL THINGS SORT OF, UH, EQUITY AND CLIMATE PLAN.
UM, THEY HAVE NOW IDENTIFIED STRATEGIES FROM THE CLIMATE EQUITY PLAN, AND THEY'RE STARTING, AND THIS TIME THEY'RE ORIENTED ON COMMUNITY ACTION PROJECTS, WHICH ARE, UM, YOU KNOW, WE'RE NOT CREATING A PLAN THIS TIME, SO WE DON'T NEED INPUT ON WHAT SHOULD BE IN THE PLAN.
UM, THIS TIME THE PROGRAM IS A LITTLE BIT MORE ORIENTED AT IMPLEMENTING THE PLAN AND, UH, PROJECTS THAT COULD BE CREATED IN THE COMMUNITY, WHICH WOULD SPUR MORE ACTION AND SUPPORT AND ENGAGEMENT FROM THE COMMUNITY WITH THE CITY ON IMPLEMENTING PLAN.
UM, AND SO WE ARE ACTUALLY GOING THROUGH THE PROCESS NOW OF HAVING, UM, WE FIRST WORKED ON WHAT KIND OF TOPICS ARE THEY AMBASSADORS INDIVIDUALLY INTERESTED IN, AND THEY'RE, THEY'RE NOW GETTING CLOSER AND CLOSER TO PROJECTS THAT THEY WANT TO FOCUS ON.
AND NOW WE'RE GETTING THE AMBASSADORS CONNECTED WITH EXPERTS IN CITY DEPARTMENTS TO TALK LIKE ONE-ON-ONE IN SMALL GROUPS ABOUT THEIR IDEAS AND ABOUT CITY PROGRESS ON DIFFERENT THINGS, UM, AND TRY TO SORT OF C CULTIVATE AND FOCUS THOSE IDEAS, UM, INTO THE NEXT STEPS.
UM, THESE ARE JUST SOME OF THE IDEAS, UH, THAT THE, THE AMBASSADORS HAVE COME UP WITH.
UM, SO THE THREE AREAS THAT THEY SORT OF HAVE IDEAS ON ARE SUSTAINABLE BUILDINGS, TRANSPORTATIONAL, LAND USE, AND NATURAL SYSTEMS. UM, AND I'M NOT GONNA GO THROUGH THESE IN DETAIL, BUT THESE ARE JUST KIND OF THEIR INITIAL KIND OF PROJECT CONCEPTS.
SO AS YOU CAN SEE, THEY'RE FOCUSED ON, UM, COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT RELATED TO EQUITY ISSUES, CONNECTED BACK TO THE CLIMATE PLAN AND TRYING TO MAKE MORE PROGRESS, UM, AND IMPLEMENT THINGS BETTER AND FASTER.
UH, SO I GUESS JUST THE, THE LAST THING TO WRAP THAT UP.
[02:30:01]
CONTINUE TO, UM, MOVE FORWARD IN THE COMING MONTHS AND IMPLEMENT THESE PROJECTS, AND WE'RE TRACKING IT.AND, UM, YEAH, IT'S, IT, IT'S EXCITING AND IT'S EXCITING TO SEE A SORT OF NEW SPIN ON THE, UM, ON THE PROGRAM AND NOT BE JUST FOCUSED ON JUST INPUT.
UH, SO THE NEXT THING, UH, WE ARE WORKING ON THIS COMMUNITY TASK FORCE.
SO WHERE WE'VE BEEN, WE PUT A LOT OF TIME AND ENERGY WHEN WE CREATED THE CLIMATE PLAN, UH, CLIMATE EQUITY PLAN, UH, TO FOCUS ON THE STEERING COMMITTEE.
WE REALLY TRIED TO HAVE THIS COMMUNITY OWNERSHIP MODEL OF THAT STEERING COMMITTEE AND THE PLAN, UM, OBVIOUSLY THE PLAN WAS ADOPTED, IT WAS SUPPORTED BY STAFF, COMMUNITY COUNCIL ALL SUPPORTED IT.
UM, WE ADDED THESE FIVED MEMBERS TO THE JSC, WHICH AS KIBO'S ALLUDED TO, I THINK THE FIVE NEW MEMBERS ARE, HAVE NOW BEEN NOMINATED, AND THEY'RE NOW WORKING THROUGH THE PROCESS OF GETTING THEM APPROVED OVER THE COURSE OF THE NEXT MONTH.
UM, THERE WAS INTEREST, YOU KNOW, LIKE NINE, 10 MONTHS AGO FOR, FOR MULTIPLE MONTHS ABOUT CREATING A WORKING GROUP OF THE JSE.
UM, BUT WE KIND OF BLACKED FOCUS.
WE DIDN'T ACTUALLY HAVE, WE DIDN'T REALLY HAVE DEDICATED SUPPORT FROM US.
WE DIDN'T GET A LOT OF TRACTION WITH THAT WORKING GROUP.
UM, THIS PAST SUMMER WE HELD TWO WORKSHOPS OF STAKEHOLDERS TO GET INPUT ON WHAT ELSE COULD WE BE DOING WITH IMPLEMENTATION.
SO WE'VE BEEN, YOU KNOW, WHILE OBVIOUSLY IMPLEMENTATION HAS BEEN HAPPENING, BUT BEHIND THE SCENES WITH DEPARTMENTS, WE HAVEN'T BEEN DOING A TON OF SORT OF COMMUNITY OWNERSHIP, UH, AND IMPLEMENTATION OF THE PLAN AS OF LATE.
SO THIS GOES BACK TO THIS SUMMER, WHAT WE HEARD IN THE WORKSHOPS FROM, UH, THOSE WHO PARTICIPATED IN THOSE WORKSHOPS, UM, THAT THERE WAS THE DESIRE TO HAVE A COMMUNITY INPUT WORKING GROUP OR SOME SORT OF PLACE WHERE THE COMMUNITY COULD PROVIDE INPUT AND SUPPORT TO THE CLIMATE EQUITY PLAN, UH, TO SUPPORT ACCOUNTABILITY, ASSIST WITH COLLABORATION PARTNERSHIPS, UM, SUPPORT PROJECTS, POTENTIALLY READS OUTSIDE FUNDING.
UM, WE TALKED ABOUT WHO WOULD BE IN THE GROUP, UH, COMMUNITY LEADERS, COMMUNITY MEMBERS, FOLK FOLKS IMPACTED BY CLIMATE CHANGE, PEOPLE WITH EXPERTISE, CITY LEADERSHIP, POTENTIALLY BUSINESS PARTNERS.
UM, AND THEN WHAT WOULD THEY WORK ON? UM, WE TALKED ABOUT GUIDING COMMUNITY LED IMPLEMENTATION.
WE TALKED ABOUT ASSISTING WITH IDENTIFYING AND BUILDING UP MORE COMMUNITY LEADERS IN THE COMMUNITY.
AND THEN, UM, TRYING TO WORK, POTENTIALLY WORK ON SHOVEL READY PROJECTS THAT WERE ACTUALLY READY TO GO SLIDE.
UM, SO, UM, OUR, OUR ME AND MY TEAM, UH, PHOEBE, ACTUALLY, PHOEBE BROME, WHO'S AN NOW LEFT OUR OFFICE, UH, AND I SPENT A LOT OF TIME DISCUSSING THIS AND DISCUSSING OPTIONS.
UM, AND SO THESE WERE SORT OF SOME OF OUR TAKEAWAYS IN TERMS OF WHAT WE NEED AND WHAT WE HEARD IN THE WORKSHOPS AND WHERE WE THINK WE CAN MOVE FORWARD.
SO, UM, THE FIRST ITEM WAS THAT THERE'S NOT A CLEAR MECHANISM FOR VOLUNTEER GROUPS OR IF IT'S A, YOU KNOW, LIKE A, LIKE A TASK FORCE OR SOMETHING WE JUST SET UP, UM, TO KEEP A GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABLE.
LIKE BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS HAVE A ROLE IN ACCOUNTABILITY.
UM, CITY COUNCIL HAS A ROLE IN ACCOUNTABILITY, BUT VOLUNTEER GROUPS DON'T REALLY HAVE, UM, LIKE A TRUE MECHANISM TO DRIVE ACCOUNTABILITY.
UM, THE, ANOTHER OPTION THAT WE SORT OF PURSUED WAS THAT THE COMMUNITY WOULD JUST SELF-ORGANIZE AND ORGANIZE THEIR OWN GROUP.
UM, IT DOESN'T SEEM LIKE THERE'S MOMENTUM FROM THAT.
WE'VE NOT BEEN HEARING, YOU KNOW, MOMENTUM TO START, UH, THE COMMUNITY'S OWN DRIVEN GROUP.
UM, SO IF STAFF ARE GONNA RUN THIS GROUP, IF ME AND MY TEAM ARE GONNA SUPPORT THIS GROUP, UM, IT NEEDS TO ALIGN WITH OUR STRUCTURE, OUR GOALS, PROCESS OBJECTIVES, SOMETHING, UM, TO HELP SORT OF ALIGN OUR WORK WITH THEIR DESIRES.
UM, ANOTHER ONE WAS THAT ANOTHER GROUP TO JUST REVIEW AND COMMENT ON CITY WORK, UM, DOESN'T CREATE A WHOLE LOT OF VALUE, UM, ESPECIALLY WHEN WE ALREADY HAVE BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS THAT DO THAT.
UM, AND, BUT AT THE SAME TIME, THE COMMUNITY OWNERSHIP MODEL, WHICH WE HAD DURING THE CLIMATE EQUITY PLAN, DOES CREATE A TON OF VALUE.
IT CREATES TRUST, IT CREATES ALIGNMENT, IT CREATES BENEFITS WHERE WE CAN, UM, REALLY MOVE THINGS FORWARD IN WHICH WE WANT, UM, WHEN, IF WE DO IT RIGHT.
SO, SO THE BOTTOM LINE WITH ALL THIS WE CAME TO IS THAT IF WE CAN CLE, CREATE A CLEARLY DEFINED GROUP THAT HAS A CLEAR SCOPE, A CLEAR TASK, AND HAS AN ACTUAL PRODUCT THAT IT'S GONNA WORK ON, UM, THAT WE CAN WORK TOGETHER, BUILD TRUST, SOLVE PROBLEMS, AND ACTUALLY MOVE FORWARD.
SO THAT'S WHAT WE'RE GONNA IN TRYING TO ENVISION HERE.
SO HERE'S WHAT WE CAME UP WITH, AND THIS IS NOT FINAL.
UM, YOU KNOW, WE'VE BEEN TRYING TO GET, UH, THE JSCS INPUT AND ANY, ANY PERSON WHO'S INTERESTED FROM THIS CALL, WE CAN FOLLOW UP AND DISCUSS MORE AFTER THIS, UH, BECAUSE WE WANT MORE INPUT AND SUPPORT ON THIS.
SO, UH, WHAT OUR SORT OF STRAW, STRAW PROPOSAL RIGHT NOW IS THAT WE WOULD HAVE CREATE THIS CLIMATE EQUITY PLAN IMPLEMENTATION TASK FORCE.
IT'D BE ONE YEAR LONG, UH, SO LIKELY CALENDAR YEAR 2023, UM, IT'D BE ONE TWO HOUR MEETING A MONTH.
UH, THERE'D PROBABLY BE WORKING BETWEEN THE MEETINGS.
[02:35:01]
WE WOULD OFFER TO PAY PARTICIPANTS, COMMUNITY MEMBERS BETWEEN 500, A THOUSAND DOLLARS.SO WE WOULD ESSENTIALLY, YOU KNOW, TWO HOURS TIMES 12 MEETINGS, THAT'S LIKE 24 HOURS PLUS SOME EXTRA TIME.
UM, SO THEY WOULD GET PAID FOR THEIR TIME TO PARTICIPATE.
UM, WE'D HAVE A FOCUSED PROJECT OR TASK THAT WE WERE GONNA WORK ON.
EQUITY IS OBVIOUSLY GONNA BE AT THE CORE OF THAT.
UM, AND TRA REALLY TRIED TO BE AT THIS PLACE OF COMMUNITY OWNERSHIP MODEL DECISION MAKING, WHERE WE HAVE, YOU KNOW, A CHAIR OR CO-CHAIR AND THEY COLLABORATE WITH ME AND MY TEAM TO ACTUALLY LIKE DRIVE THE GROUP FORWARD.
UM, UH, THE BENEFITS OF THIS IS THAT, YOU KNOW, IT'S CLEAR WE BUILD TRUST FROM RELATIONSHIPS, AND AT THE END WE HAVE A DISTINCT PRODUCT, SOMETHING THAT WE ACTUALLY CREATED TOGETHER, SIMILAR TO THE CLIMATE EQUITY PLAN, WHERE WE HAD THE PLAN DONE AT THE END.
UM, OUR THOUGHTS ON PARTICIPANTS IS THAT OBVIOUSLY ME AND MY STAFF WOULD BE HELPING LEAD THIS AND, AND SUPPORT IT WITH OUR, OUR WORK AND EFFORTS.
UM, WE WOULD INVOLVE, LIKELY INVOLVE FOUR TO FIVE, UH, EITHER EQUITY OFFICE MEMBERS OR, UH, EQUITY DIVERSION, INCLUSION PROJECT MANAGERS FOR OTHER DEPARTMENTS.
SO WE WOULD HAVE SORT OF MORE EQUITY SUPPORT, UM, WITHIN THE CITY ORGANIZATION.
UM, PROBABLY TWO TO THREE JSE MEMBERS, UM, POTENTIALLY TWO TO THREE FORMER STEERING COMMITTEE MEMBERS WHO ARE JUST, UM, UM, RESIDENT, YOU KNOW, PARTICIPANTS RIGHT NOW.
AND THEN WE WOULD TRY TO FIND FIVE TO 10 NEW INTERESTED COMMUNITY MEMBERS TO, TO PARTICIPATE IN THIS, TO HELP BUILD MORE CAPACITY AND BUILD MORE SUPPORT IN THE COMMUNITY.
SO IF YOU TOTAL THAT UP, IT ENDS UP BEING 20 OR SO.
SO FOLKS THAT WE WOULD GET TOGETHER.
UM, SO WHAT WE'RE AIMING TO DO IS FINISH SORT OF SCOPING THIS OUT AND DEFINING THIS BROADLY INTO NEXT MONTH.
AND THEN START THINKING ABOUT RECRUITING AND PLANNING, YOU KNOW, TO KIND OF END THE END THE YEAR, UM, AND THEN HOPEFULLY, UH, RECRUIT MEMBERS AND KICK THIS OFF, UM, IN JANUARY OR EARLY 2023.
SO, UH, WE'RE COMMITTED TO A YEAR, SO IF THIS TIMELINE SLIPS, WE JUST START IT LATER AND JUST, UM, STICK TO THE YEAR SLIDE.
SO, UM, SO OUR INITIAL IDEA ON WHAT THE PROJECT THAT WE WOULD FOCUS ON IS MEASURING EQUITY.
UM, UM, OBVIOUSLY THERE'S A LOT OF CHALLENGES WITH MEASURING EQUITY, MEASURING EQUITY OF IMPLEMENTATION OF SPECIFIC GOALS AND STRATEGIES IN THE PLAN.
UM, WE KNOW THAT WE'LL GET SUPPORT ON THIS EFFORT.
WE KNOW THAT OTHER DEPARTMENTS ARE STRUGGLING WITH A SIMILAR PROBLEM.
UM, SO WE NEED SOME, UH, COMMUNITY INPUT, OBVIOUSLY, TO MAKE DECISIONS ABOUT THIS.
UM, WE'VE ALSO HAD SOME TEAM DISCUSSIONS THAT WE WOULDN'T JUST FOCUS ON JUST MEASURING EQUITY THAT, BUT WE WOULD ALSO FOCUS ON COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT, UM, AND COMMUNICATIONS RELATED TO EQUITY.
SO I THINK THE BOTTOM LINE IS THAT WE'RE, WE'RE GONNA TRY TO ZERO IN ON, UM, IMPLEMENTATION AS IT RELATES TO EQUITY IN THE COMMUNITY, AND THEN THINK ABOUT PROBABLY MEASURING PROGRESS, COMMUNICATIONS ENGAGEMENT, UM, AND, UH, TELLING THE STORY OF IMPLEMENTATION OF THE PLAN AS IT RELATES BACK TO EQUITY AND DEPARTMENTS.
SO IF THERE'S ANY THOUGHTS OR FEEDBACK ON, UM, ON THAT, THOSE IDEAS, LET ME KNOW.
AND I REALIZE IT'S 8 48, AND IF FOLKS JUST WANNA VOLUNTEER TO FOLLOW UP WITH ME, I'M GLAD TO FOLLOW UP AND HAVE MORE DISCUSSIONS ABOUT THIS.
WE WANT TO DO SOMETHING THAT WORKS FOR EVERYBODY.
ZACH, DOES ANYBODY HAVE QUESTIONS FOR ZACH? UH, I JUST WANTED TO SAY THAT, UH, THIS ALL SOUNDS REALLY COOL AND, UH, GLAD TO SEE IT SORT OF FOR ME.
AND, UM, BEFORE WE CLOSE UP, I DO WANNA, UM, RAISE ONE COMMENT, UH, RELATED TO EARLIER BUSINESS, IF I COULD PLEASE.
YEAH, WE'LL, WE'LL COME BACK AROUND TO, UH, GREAT, GREAT TO UPDATES.
UM, ZACH, SO I, I, I GUESS I'M JUST WONDERING IF YOU COULD ELABORATE JUST A LITTLE MORE.
UM, YOU SAID IT WOULDN'T JUST BE MEASURING, UM, THAT, THAT THERE COULD, I DON'T KNOW.
CAN, CAN YOU JUST ELABORATE A LITTLE BIT ON THIS PROJECT? YEAH, YEAH.
AND I GUESS I'LL JUST SHARE THAT, LIKE, WELL, I THINK IT'S IMPORTANT TO MEASURE EQUITY.
I THINK, UM, I DON'T KNOW, AT, AT THIS STAGE, WE ALSO NEED TO LIKE BE IN THE, LIKE THE DO THE DOING PHASE SIMULTANEOUSLY WHILE WE FIGURE OUT THE PERFECT WAY TO, TO MEASURE IT.
BUT I, YEAH, I WANNA HEAR MORE.
UH, WELL, I THINK I'LL JUST ADD THAT THE, THE OTHER IDEAS THAT WE'VE BEEN HAVING RECENTLY IN RECENT DISCUSSIONS THAT WE WOULD ADD A COMPONENT ON COMMUNITY
[02:40:01]
ENGAGEMENT AND COMMUNICATIONS AND OUTREACH AND REPORTING AS IT RELATES TO EQUITY IN THE PLAN.UM, BUT WE COULD ALSO, WE COULD COVER MORE TOPICS.
I MEAN, WE JUST WANT TO CREATE SOMETHING THAT RESULTS IN LIKE ACTION AND ACTIVITY AND LIKE BUY IN FROM DEPARTMENTS AND, AND FROM THE COMMUNITY TOGETHER.
SO, UM, AGAIN, THIS, IF IT DOESN'T SOUND COMPLETELY FULLY FORMED, IT'S BECAUSE IT'S NOT.
SO ANYBODY WANTS TO FOLLOW UP AND DISCUSS THIS MORE HOW YOU BEEN GLAD EVOLV YOU OR OTHERS.
I, I DO APPRECIATE THE, THE WORK THAT Y'ALL ARE, ARE DOING HERE TO, TO GET THIS SET UP.
I, I, I THINK THE, THE BASIC STRUCTURE LOOKED GOOD.
I THINK THE SCOPE OF WORK IS WHERE, UM, YEAH, I GUESS I JUST HAVE QUESTIONS STILL, BUT YEAH, I THINK THAT'S GOOD.
SO I THINK, WE'LL PROBABLY THE NEXT STEP WE'LL PROBABLY DO IS GO SORT OF WITH THIS DIRECTION AND THE STRUCTURE.
WE'LL PROBABLY JUST WORK ON LIKE A SCOPE OF WORK DOCUMENT AND TRY TO GET SOME STAKEHOLDERS GETTING SOME FEEDBACK ON WHAT THAT SCOPE WOULD BE AND THE TIMELINE OF THE PROCESS.
I'M GLAD TO JUST SEE SUB SUB MOVEMENT ON IT.
I MEAN, IT, IT WAS REALLY FRUSTRATING WHEN WE ORIGINALLY AND ACTUALLY KIND OF TOOK THE WIND OUT OF MY, MY SALES WITH THIS PARTICULAR COMMITTEE ABOUT TRYING TO GET THIS ORIGINALLY DONE.
UM, AND SO I, I'M AT LEAST HAPPY TO SEE SOMETHING.
I DON'T THINK IT WAS THE VISION ON WHAT WE WANTED ON THE COMMITTEE.
IT SEEMED LIKE THERE WAS SOME STRONG IDEAS ON WHAT, YOU KNOW, FRANKLY WHAT THE CITY WANTED TO SEE.
AND, UM, AND SO I THINK, UH, AT LEAST SOMEBODY'S GETTING WHAT THEY WANT.
I LOVE THE, THE WORK THAT'S BEEN HAPPEN THAT'S HAPPENING THERE.
UM, I LOOK SEEING TO FLUSH OUT.
I, I AGREE WITH THE ALIGNMENT WITH THE OTHER, UH, DEPARTMENTS AND, AND I KNOW THEY'RE STRUGGLING.
THEY'RE STRUGGLING ACROSS THE BOARD ON EQUITY.
ARE THERE ANY OTHER QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS? UM, OBVIOUSLY WE CAN REVISIT THIS AT OUR NEXT MEETING, AND ZACH HAS INDICATED AN OPEN DOOR TO DISCUSS, SO TAKE HIM UP ON THAT IF YOU'RE INTERESTED.
AND, AND KEEP IN MIND THAT HE IS GONNA BE COMING BACK TO US ASKING FOR TWO TO THREE VOLUNTEERS.
SO THINK ABOUT IF THAT MIGHT BE YOU.
[3. 2023 meeting schedule]
ARE FOLKS UP FOR TAKING UP OUR MEETING SCHEDULE SO WE CAN KNOCK THAT OFF OUR LIST? OR SHOULD WE MOVE ON? WE CAN KNOCK IT OUT REAL QUICK.CAN WE SEE THAT ON THE SCREEN, PLEASE? IS THIS IS BACK UP, BACK UP TO THE TOP, OR SORT OF THE TOP ITEM TWO, THREE.
SO JUST AS A REMINDER, OUR MEETINGS ARE THE FOURTH WEDNESDAY OF THE MONTH, BUT AT THE END OF THE YEAR, NOVEMBER, DECEMBER THE FOURTH WEDNESDAYS ARE IN CONFLICT WITH HOLIDAYS.
SO THAT'S WHY THOSE DATES ARE DIFFERENT.
SO I MOVE ON THE NEW SCHEDULE AS PROPOSED.
I'VE GOT A MOTION FROM RICH, A SECOND FROM MELISSA.
ALL IN FAVOR? TURN ON YOUR CAMERA.
DIANA, KAREN? YEAH, IF YOU CAN'T MEET, SEE ME? I SAY I, I SAY I TOO.
UNFORTUNATELY I CAN'T GET IT OPEN RIGHT NOW.
ALL RIGHT, THEN WE'LL HAVE TO TAKE THIS ONE UP AGAIN NEXT MONTH CUZ I DON'T THINK, OKAY.
AND ALBERTA, I I NEED TO SEE YOU TOO IF WE'RE GONNA PASS THIS.
IS THIS A NEW POLICY? UM, WHAT NOT EXACTLY.
[02:45:01]
IT'S JUST BEING ENFORCED.THEY'VE GIVEN NOTICE THAT WE LIKE NEED TO ACTUALLY DO THIS.
THEY'VE BEEN, IS IT SAYING IT CITY LEGAL OR WHAT? WHAT'S THAT? YES, YES.
SO ALL THE BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS HAVE BEEN KIND OF GETTING THIS REPEATED NOTICE THAT LIKE, YOU REALLY NEED TO DO THIS AND NOW IT'S LIKE YOU NEED TO DO THIS.
UM, OKAY, SO WE HAVE 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 ALBERTA.
IF YOU CAN TURN ON YOUR CAMERA, PLEASE DO.
UH, SHE MIGHT HAVE STEPPED AWAY.
OR MAYBE SHE JUST CAN'T TURN THINGS ON AT THE MOMENT.
[8. Commission members report back on any relevant discussions from their respective boards and commissions – (Discussion and/or possible action)]
WE MOVE ON, UH, TO, UH, ITEM EIGHT, IF COMMISSIONERS HAVE ANY REPORT BACKS, OBVIOUSLY I BROUGHT A FEW THINGS HERE FROM THE RESOURCE MANAGEMENT COMMISSION TODAY.I ENCOURAGE Y'ALL TO DO THE SAME.
IF ANYBODY HAS UPDATES YOU CAN GIVE THEM NOW AND ALSO SEND ME AGENDA ITEMS. YEAH, GO AHEAD.
I HAD, I, SORRY, KAREN, I HADN'T EVEN SEEN YOUR HAND THERE.
UM, I'M FROM THE FOOD POLICY BOARD.
UM, JUST A QUICK UPDATE FOR THIS LAST MONTH WE DID OUR STRATEGIC PLANNING SESSION FOR THE FOOD POLICY BOARD.
AND, UM, ONE OF THE PRIMARY THINGS I WANTED TO SHARE WITH Y'ALL WAS WE DISCUSSED MANY DIFFERENT STRATEGIES THAT WERE BROUGHT UP BY THE FOOD POLICY BOARD MEMBERS AS THINGS WE WOULD LIKE TO TAKE ON IN THE NEXT YEAR.
UM, I THINK IT'S ALL FILTER DETERMINED WHAT EXACTLY THOSE TASKS WILL LOOK LIKE, BUT ONE OF THEM THAT WE DISCUSSED WAS CONNECTING THE FOOD POLICY BOARD RECOMMENDATIONS TO EXISTING RECOMMENDATIONS IN THE CLIMATE EQUITY PLAN.
AND THERE WAS A LOT OF DISCUSSION AROUND, UM, WHAT THAT WOULD LOOK LIKE, UM, HOW WE WOULD ALIGN OUR WORKING GROUPS WITH THE WORKING, UM, OTHER WORKING GROUPS IN THE COMMISSION.
UM, THINKING ABOUT CLIMATE IMPACTS ON FOOD AND INFLATION, UM, AND, UH, MAKING SURE THAT THE CLIMATE PLAN PRIORITIES ARE REFLECTED IN THE FOOD AND PLAN PRIORITIES AS WELL.
SO ANYWAY, NOTHING'S COME OF THOSE DISCUSSIONS.
I JUST WANTED Y'ALL TO BE AWARE THAT WE WERE HAVING THOSE DECISIONS.
SO ANYWAY, HAPPY TO ANSWER QUESTIONS.
UM, THIS REMINDS ME THAT I, A COUPLE MONTHS AGO, I THINK IT WAS NOW, UM, SAW SOME REPORTING ON SOME RESEARCH THAT LOOKED AT THE COST EFFECTIVENESS OF INVESTMENT IN DIFFERENT KIND OF CLIMATE, UH, AREAS AND, UM, INCLUDING, YOU KNOW, RENEWABLE ENERGY, ELECTRIC VEHICLES, YOU KNOW, ALL THE KIND OF STANDARD THINGS THAT YOU THINK ABOUT.
AND WHAT IT, WHAT IT FOUND WAS THE INVESTMENT IN PLA PLANT-BASED MEAT ALTERNATIVES WAS BY FAR THE MOST COST EFFECTIVE, UH, THING TO INVEST A DOLLAR IN, UH, AS IT RELATES TO CLIMATE CHANGE.
AND IT, AND IT WAS A SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCE.
I MEAN, IT WAS LIKE 10 TO 15 TIMES MORE EFFECTIVE THAN THINGS LIKE INVESTING IN ELECTRIC VEHICLES.
AND THAT WASN'T TO SAY, OBVIOUSLY WE NEED TO DO ALL THESE THINGS AT THIS POINT, LIKE WE'RE ON THE BRINK OF PLANETARY DESTRUCTION HERE.
BUT, UM, JUST THAT THIS IS AN AREA THAT, THAT IT SEEMS LIKE WE SHOULD BE DOING A LOT MORE ON.
SO IT, YEAH, I DON'T KNOW IF Y'ALL HAVE, HAVE KIND OF LOOKED AT POSSIBILITY OF INCENTIVES OR ANYTHING, UH, THAT THE CITY COULD PROVIDE.
I THINK WE'RE REALLY, BECAUSE WE'RE TRYING TO PUT TOGETHER A FOOD SYSTEM PLAN FOR AUSTIN AND TRAVIS COUNTY, AND THAT'S GONNA INVOLVE OUR OWN COMMUNITY ADVISORY COMMITTEE AND DEVELOPING THAT OVER.
AND THE COMMUNITY ADVISORY COMMITTEE IS GONNA BE HELPING TO MOVE FORWARD THOSE RECOMMENDATIONS OVER THE NEXT COUPLE OF YEARS.
WE'RE JUST NOT AT THAT PHASE YET.
BUT I WOULD LOVE IT IF YOU COULD SEND ME, IF YOU HAVE EASY ACCESS TO THAT STUDY YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT, I'D LOVE TO BE ABLE TO SHARE IT WITH THE FOOD POLICY BOARD.
AND KAREN, YOU HAD YOUR HAND UP TOO.
UM, NOT AN UPDATE FROM THE EUC, BUT I'VE BEEN THINKING ABOUT, UM, EARLIER THIS EVENING WHEN WE WERE NOT ABLE TO, UH, GET A VOTE AND I JUST WANTED TO EXPRESS SOME CONCERNS I HAVE, THIS IS ABOUT THE POLICIES THAT WE ARE BEING ASKED TO ADHERE TO.
UH, IT SEEMS LIKE A UNIQUE CIRCUMSTANCE WHERE, UM, PEOPLE WHO HAVE NEVER BEEN APPOINTED TO THE BOARD, EVEN THOUGH IT'S A VACANT SEAT, WE'VE NEVER EVEN HAD AN APPOINTEE THERE.
UM, THAT, THAT SEEMS LIKE THAT'S HANDICAPPING
[02:50:01]
US WHILE THESE PEOPLE ARE STILL BEING NOMINATED.WHILE THE PROCESS IS STILL ONGOING AND I'M CONCERNED ABOUT IT, UM, NOT, NOT PAY CUZ OF WHAT YOU DID, BUT RATHER THE POLICY ITSELF THAT SEEMS LIKE REALLY UNFAIR TO THIS COMMISSION MOVING FORWARD.
AND, UM, I HOPE THAT AT LEAST CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS WILL BE AWARE OF WHAT RESOLUTIONS WE ARE AT LEAST LOOKING AT AND CONSIDERING, EVEN THOUGH WE CAN'T OFFICIALLY GET A VOTE AS OF YET WITH THIS VACANT SEATS SITUATION.
I JUST WANTED TO EXPRESS THAT CONCERN.
I UNDERSTAND AN ONGOING COMMITTEE THAT HAS VACANT SEATS THAT'S HAD SOMEBODY IN THERE, BUT THESE PEOPLE HAVE NEVER EVEN BEEN PUT INTO PLACE.
WITH ANY LUCK AT ALL, THIS WILL BE ADDRESSED BY OUR NOVEMBER MEETING, SO HOPEFULLY, BELIEVE ME, NO, NOBODY WANTS IT FIXED MORE THAN I DO
OTHER UPDATES? UM, FOR THE ENVIRONMENTAL, UH, COMMISSION, WE'VE, UH, I THINK ON OCTOBER 5TH, UH, FIRST OF THE FIRST MEETING OF THE MONTH, UM, WE PASSED, UH, A RESOLUTION.
UH, THERE ARE A BUNCH OF CHANGES IN, UM, YOU KNOW, THE NEW, I GUESS LAND DEVELOPMENT CODE, UM, WELL, I GUESS NOT NEW RIGHT? THAT THEY'RE MAKING TO THE LAND DEVELOPMENT CODE FOR, UM, YOU KNOW, SORT OF TO ADDRESS THE, THE MISSING MIDDLE, UH, YOU KNOW, FOUR TO 11 PLEXES ESSENTIALLY, UM, IN, IN RESIDENTIAL AREAS.
AND SO, UM, YOU KNOW, THERE WAS DEFINITE, UH, YOU KNOW, TRYING TO SPEED UP A LOT OF THE, UH, THE PROCESSES SINCE, YOU KNOW, IT'S DEFINITELY NO SECRET THAT AUSTIN, UM, BOTH FEE WISE, BOTH FEE WISE AND TIMEWISE, UH, IS MORE EXPENSIVE TO, UH, TO BUILD IN THAN CERTAINLY ANY OTHER MAJOR IN TEXAS CITY, ALONE IN THE UNITED STATES.
SO, UM, YOU KNOW, STAFF HAD SOME, UH, SUGGESTIONS ON FAR, YOU KNOW, TRYING TO STREAMLINE THE PROCESS.
UM, YOU KNOW, SOME PEOPLE IN THE ENVIRONMENTAL COMMISSION FELT LIKE, YOU KNOW, A LOT OF THINGS THAT WOULD BE, UH, YOU KNOW, SORT OF PUBLIC INPUT, UH, OR EVEN THE PUBLIC INPUT PROCESS WAS, UH, SORT OF BEING CUT DOWN AND REDUCED, WHICH, YOU KNOW, COULD LEAD TO, UM, I GUESS A LOT OF, UH, CONCERN TO SAY THE LEAST.
UM, SO BASICALLY LEE, WE PASSED, UH, A RESOLUTION THAT, UH, YOU KNOW, ASKED FOR, UH, YOU KNOW, A FEW MODIFICATIONS, UH, COMPARED TO WHAT STAFF HAD REQUESTED.
UM, YOU KNOW, ASKING THAT THERE IS A LOT MORE, UH, YOU KNOW, CITIZEN OVERSIGHT, UH, BOTH THROUGH THE PUBLIC INPUT PROCESS, YOU KNOW, UH, FROM NEIGHBORS AS WELL AS BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS FOR, YOU KNOW, NEW CONSTRUCTION.
UM, AND JUST REALLY A LOT OF STUFF.
I GUESS I CAN, YOU KNOW, EMAIL IT TO EVERYBODY, UH, CAUSE IT'S KIND OF A LOT TO GO THROUGH.
BUT, UH, YEAH, IT'S THE UPDATE FROM ENVIRONMENTAL COMMISSION.
UM, I ENCOURAGE YOU TO YEAH, TO, TO SEND THAT, UH, I THINK ROHAN COULD SEND THAT AROUND TO EVERYBODY IF YOU SEND IT TO HIM.
UM, AND YOU KNOW, MAYBE THAT'S THE KIND OF THING THAT WE SHOULD TAKE UP HERE, UH, AS WELL.
IF ANYBODY WANTS TO MOVE ADJOURNMENT, WE CAN GO TO SLEEP OR WHATEVER.
I APPRECIATE YOU STICKING WITH IT AND YOUR PARTICIPATION TONIGHT.
ZACH, DID YOU HAVE SOME? ARE YOU JUST SAYING GOODBYE? OKAY,