Jul 10, 2023 Electric Utility Commission

UM, HI EVERYONE.

UH, MY NAME IS SOPHIE BEASLEY AND I'M A BORN AND RAISED AUSTINITE AND AN INTERN WITH PUBLIC CITIZEN THIS SUMMER.

I'M HERE TODAY TO STRESS THE IMPORTANCE OF HAVING A COMMUNITY LED WORKING GROUP INVOLVED IN AUSTIN ENERGY'S RESOURCE PLANNING PROCESS, AS WELL AS A FULL UPDATE TO THE AUSTIN ENERGY RESOURCE GENERATION AND CLIMATE PROTECTION PLAN ITSELF.

HAVING A FULL UPDATE WITH A RESOURCE PLANNING WORKING GROUP IS THE BEST WAY TO ENSURE A MULTITUDE OF OPINIONS, PERSPECTIVES, AND BACKGROUNDS THAT REPRESENT THE AUSTIN COMMUNITY ARE TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT.

AUSTIN ENERGY HAS STATED THAT IT DOES NOT BELIEVE FORMING A WORKING GROUP IS NECESSARY BECAUSE IT HAS ADEQUATE IN-HOUSE EXPERTISE AND BECAUSE THE COMMUNITY'S OVERARCHING POLICY GOALS REGARDING THE RESOURCE PLAN HAVE NOT CHANGED.

UM, WHILE THIS MAY BE TRUE, A WORKING GROUP WOULD STILL BE EXTREMELY HELPFUL AS IT WOULD BETTER REPRESENT THE WHOLE AUSTIN COMMUNITY AND BRING TO LIGHT OTHER PERSPECTIVES THAT AUSTIN ENERGY MAY NOT POSSESS.

UM, AUSTIN ENERGY HAS STATED THAT IT IS COMMITTED TO ENGAGING ITS CUSTOMERS THROUGH COMMUNITY MEETINGS, BUT I THINK THAT THE FORMATION OF A WORKING GROUP IS THE BEST WAY TO TRULY ENGAGE AND RECEIVE INPUT FROM COMMUNITY MEMBERS AS WELL AS PRACTICE RACIAL EQUITY.

A WORKING GROUP ENSURES COMMITTED ENGAGEMENT AND INPUT FROM A DIVERSE GROUP WITH VARIOUS INTERESTS IN THE UPDATE.

SIMPLY HOSTING COMMUNITY MEETINGS FOR CUSTOMERS AND SPECIAL CALLED EUC MEETINGS DOES NOT ALLOW FOR THE EXTENT OF ENGAGEMENT NEEDED TO GET AUSTIN BACK ON TRACK TO MEET ITS OVERARCHING CITYWIDE CLIMATE GOALS.

AUSTIN ENERGY SHOULD TAKE AN ACTIVE ROLE AND COMMIT TO ITS VALUE OF CUSTOMER ENGAGEMENT BY USING THE UNIQUE PERSPECTIVE OF AN OUTSIDE WORKING GROUP.

FURTHER, I WANT TO EMPHASIZE THAT A FULL UPDATE OF THE RESOURCE PLAN WITH DETAILED STRATEGIES TO, UH, MEET THE GOALS AS NEEDED.

A LOT HAS CHANGED IN THE PAST THREE YEARS, AND THERE ARE NEW OPPORTUNITIES THAT SHOULD BE TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT SUCH AS NEW OPPORTUNITIES WITH FEDERAL FUNDING.

THE FAILURE OF AUSTIN ENERGY TO RETIRE ITS PORTION OF THE FAYETTE POWER PROJECT COAL PLANT ONLY HIGHLIGHTS THE NEED FOR MORE SPECIFIC STRATEGIES IN THE RESOURCE PLAN SO THAT THE GOALS CAN REALISTICALLY BE MET.

AND AGAIN, A WORKING GROUP WOULD BE EXTREMELY BENEFICIAL TO HELPING OUTLINE THESE SPECIFIC STEPS AND STRATEGIES WITHIN THE PLAN.

THE NEXT SPEAKER IS CHRISTIAN BOGARTY.

[00:10:02]

HELLO, SORRY.

UH, MY NAME IS CHRISTIAN FOGARTY.

I'M HERE ON BEHALF OF THE AUSTIN HUB OF THE SUNRISE MOVEMENT.

I ALSO HERE TO, YOU CAN KEEP THE MIC RIGHT HERE.

YOU'RE GOOD.

GONNA GO AHEAD AND START OVER.

UM, MY NAME IS CHRISTIAN FOGARTY.

I'M HERE WITH ON BEHALF OF THIS AUSTIN HUB OF THE SUNRISE MOVEMENT, UM, ALSO TO EXPRESS SUPPORT FOR ITEM 13.

UM, SO IN, IN OUR OPINION, THE WORKING GROUP FOR A FULL UPDATE OF THE ENERGY RESOURCE FURTHER FROM THE MIC.

IS THAT GOOD? OKAY.

SORRY.

UM, IN OUR OPINION, A FULL UPDATE OF THE ENERGY RESOURCE GENERATION PLAN WOULD, UM, BE IN THE BEST INTEREST OF AUSTINITES AND TO ACHIEVE THAT, UM, THROUGH A A WORKING GROUP WOULD BE, UM, THE BEST OPTION.

UM, IN ADDITION TO THE MANY REASONS OUTLINED IN THE ORIGINAL RESOLUTION FROM CITY COUNCIL TO UPDATE THE PLAN SUCH AS THE FAILED AGREEMENT TO SHUT DOWN FAITH POWER PROJECT AND THE RECENT PASSING OF MAJOR FEDERAL CLIMATE LEGISLATION THAT I DON'T NEED TO TALK ABOUT CUZ I'M SURE MOST PEOPLE ARE AWARE OF.

UM, THERE ARE MORE CIVIC REASONS TO GO THROUGH A RESOURCE WORKING GROUP.

UM, THERE IN AUSTIN SPECIFICALLY, THE PAST FEW YEARS HAVE SEEN A MAJOR SHIFT IN THE PUBLIC CONSCIOUSNESS SURROUNDING THE ROLE OF LOCAL PUBLIC UTILITIES.

EVERYBODY HAS AN OPINION ABOUT AUSTIN WATER OR AUSTIN ENERGY FROM MULTIPLE BOIL WATER NOTICES TO WIDESPREAD POWER OUTAGES.

SEEMS LIKE EVERYBODY HAS AN OPINION, UM, AND MOST ARE NOT POSITIVE ON THE NATIONAL LEVEL.

THE AWARENESS AROUND ISSUES LIKE ENVIRONMENTAL AND CLIMATE JUSTICE HAVE AND SYSTEMIC RACISM HAVE EXPLODED IN RECENT YEARS.

MUCH WORK REMAINS TO ADDRESS THESE ISSUES, BUT A DEDICATED RESOURCE PLANNING WORKING GROUP IS A STEP IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION.

AND EVEN MANY RENEWABLE ENERGY COMPANIES ARE BEGINNING TO UNDERSTAND THAT CONSULTING WITH COMMUNITIES BEFORE THEY BEGIN CONSTRUCTION IS THE RIGHT WAY TO GO ABOUT DEVELOPMENT.

DEVELOPMENT WITHOUT AVOIDING, UH, TO AVOID COSTLY BACKLASH, IT DOES NOT SEEM FARFETCHED FOR AUSTIN ENERGY, A PUBLICLY OWNED UTILITY WITH THE MOTTO CU CUSTOMER DRIVEN AND COMMUNITY FOCUSED TO MAKE SIMILAR EFFORTS.

THE TECHNICAL EXPERTISE AT AUSTIN, AUSTIN ENERGY IS NOT THE ISSUE.

I BELIEVE THAT THE FULL TECHNICAL EXPERTISE IS AVAILABLE, BUT THIS IS A CRUCIAL WINDOW TO FULLY ENGAGE AND BUILD TRUST WITH THE COMMUNITY.

IF WE MISS IT, THEN WE WILL ALMOST CERTAINLY MISS THE GOALS OUTLINED IN THE AUSTIN CLIMATE EQUITY.

UH, THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME.

THE NEXT SPEAKER IS CAMILLE COOK ALL.

HI, MY NAME IS CAMILLE COOK AND I'M WITH PUBLIC CITIZEN AND I'M SPEAKING HERE IN SUPPORT OF THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A RESOURCE PLANNING WORKING GROUP.

AS A PUBLIC UTILITY, AUSTIN ENERGY SHOULD LOOK TO WORK SH SHOULD LOOK TO AND WORK WITH COMMUNITY MEMBERS IN ORDER TO FIND A SOLUTION TO THE ENERGY AND CLIMATE PROBLEMS WE FACE.

THIS WOULD BE A MORE MUTUALLY BENEFICIAL RELATIONSHIP.

COMMUNITY MEMBERS WOULD GAIN A BETTER KNOWLEDGE OF THE ENERGY SYSTEM WE USE.

AND AUSTIN ENERGY WOULD GAIN A BE BETTER PUBLIC STANDING AS A UTILITY THAT LISTENS AND WORKS WITH THE PEOPLE IT SERVES.

THE INVOLVEMENT OF A COMMUNITY LED WORKING GROUP IS ESSENTIAL TO THE RESOURCE PLANNING PROCESS.

WE NEED TO APPLY SOME BEST PRACTICES LEARNED FROM SUCCESSES.

UH, WITH THE CLIMATE EQUITY PLAN, CITY PLANS NEED TO PRIORITIZE RACIAL EQUITY, AND THE ONLY WAY TO DO SO IS THROUGH A PROCESS BASED ON COMMUNITY LEADERSHIP.

A FULL UPDATE OF THE AUSTIN RESOURCE GENERATION AND CLIMATE PROTECTION PLAN.

THE RESOURCE PLAN WITH DETAILED STRATEGIES TO MEET GOALS IS NEEDED GIVEN THE SIGNIFICANT CHANGE IN POLITICS AND FUNDING LANDSCAPE IN THE LAST FEW YEARS, AS WELL AS TO ENSURE AUSTIN ENERGY FOLLOWS THROUGH ON NEW COMMITMENTS.

TO RETIRE OUR PORTION OF THE FAYETTE POWER PROJECT, PLEASE SUPPORT CENTERING EQUITY AND ENSURING AUSTIN DOES ALL IT CAN TO FIGHT THE CLIMATE CLI THE CLIMATE CRISIS THROUGH A COMMUNITY-CENTERED RESOURCE PLAN.

I GREW UP IN EASTERN KENTUCKY BEFORE MOVING HERE.

AS Y'ALL MAY KNOW, COAL HAS KEPT THE LIGHTS ON, BUT COAL IS ALSO DYING.

MANY PEOPLE FROM APPALACHIA, LIKE MYSELF, FEEL HEARD ABOUT ITS DECLINE, BUT KNOW IT'S INEVITABLE, INCLUDING PEOPLE IN THE DECISIONS ABOUT WHERE, SORRY.

DO I NEED TO LIKE MOVE BACK? YEAH, BACK A LITTLE BIT.

SHOULD BE GOOD.

SO MANY PEOPLE FROM APPALACHIA, LIKE MYSELF FEEL HEARD ABOUT THE DECLINE, BUT KNOW IT'S INEVITABLE, INCLUDING PEOPLE IN THE DECISIONS ABOUT WHERE WE'RE GETTING OUR ENERGY FROM AND WHAT WE WANT OUR FUTURE TO LOOK LIKE.

IS VITAL FOR A JUST AND SUSTAINABLE FUTURE VOTE IN FAVOR OF ITEM 13 AND OPPOSED AU AND OPPOSED AUSTIN AND ENERGY'S PROPOSED AMENDMENT PROCESS.

THE NEXT SPEAKER IS CRAIG NASER.

[00:15:05]

HELLO, MY NAME IS CRAIG NASER.

I'M THE CONSERVATION CHAIR OF THE LONE STAR CHAPTER OF THE SIERRA CLUB.

AND THIS SPRING I HAD THE PLEASURE WITH WORKING WITH CYRUS REED AT THE STATE CAPITOL AND IT WAS HORRIBLE.

SERIOUSLY, NO ONE CAN SAY CLIMATE CHANGE.

CAN'T SAY IT.

AND YOU'LL GET A LOT OF PEOPLE GOING IN AND EVERYBODY WILL TESTIFY AGAINST SOMETHING.

EVERYBODY IN THE MEETING AND THEY VOTE FOR IT.

YOU WONDER WHAT'S GOING ON.

WELL, WE KIND OF KNOW WHAT'S GOING ON AND IT WOULD TAKE A LONG TIME TO EXPLAIN IT, BUT WE GOTTA DO SOMETHING NOW.

IT'S HOT OUT TODAY.

IT WAS HOT OUT YESTERDAY.

IT'S BEEN HOT FOR THE PAST FEW DAYS NOW.

US SYNERGY IS DOING PRETTY GOOD.

I GOT SOLAR CELLS ON MY HOUSE.

MY ELECTRIC BILL IS ABOUT $15 A MONTH.

UH, THAT SHOCKED ME.

I THINK THAT'S PRETTY GOOD.

BUT I HAD THE WHEREWITHAL JUST KIND OF BY LUCK TO PUT THOSE SOLAR CELLS UP THERE.

NOT EVERYBODY CAN DO THAT, BUT EVERYBODY NEEDS TO DO THAT.

WE HAVE TO HELP PEOPLE DO THAT.

WE REALLY HAVE TO.

AND IN ORDER TO DO THIS, WE NEED THE WHOLE COMMUNITY BEHIND YOU.

WE CAN MOVE IF YOU WILL, GET THE WHOLE COMMUNITY BEHIND YOU.

AND THE WAY YOU DO THAT IS BY BEING OPEN TO THE COMMUNITY, COMING TO TESTIFY, COMING TO A WORKING GROUP, MAYBE GET A LITTLE, YOU KNOW, AZZ GOING WITH IT.

YOU KNOW, JU BECAUSE WE GOTTA REACH OUT, IT'S GOTTA HAPPEN AND WE NEED MORE PEOPLE.

WHAT WORKED AT THE, AT THE FEW THINGS THAT WORKED AT THE STATE CAPITOL, WHAT REALLY WORKED WAS WHEN YOU GOT A WHOLE LOT OF PEOPLE CALLING AND JUST RAISING, UH, THAT ACTUALLY SEEMED TO HAVE AN IMPACT.

SURPRISE DEMOCRACY.

OKAY, BUT WE NEED TO START HERE WITH AUSTIN ENERGY.

YOU GOT A GREAT START.

AUSTIN ENERGY.

I REALLY, I'M VERY HAPPY.

I LOVE MY SOCIALIST ELECTRICITY, BUT WE GOT TO DO MORE AND WE GOTTA DO IT REALLY FAST.

AND YOU GOTTA DO IT BY WORKING WITH THE COMMUNITY, BY WORKING WITH PEOPLE, REACHING OUT TO PEOPLE, LETTING PEOPLE KNOW, YEAH, YOU CAN GET SOLAR, COMMUNITY SOLAR.

HOW DO YOU MAKE THIS WORK FROM A, FROM, YOU KNOW, A, A A DOLLAR AND CENTS POINT OF VIEW? WELL, YOU GOTTA FIGURE THAT OUT.

AND SOMEONE MAY COME UP WITH A REALLY GOOD IDEA THAT YOU'D NEVER THOUGHT OF.

YOU KNOW, JUST, UH, OR SOMEONE MAY COME TO ME AND GET EXCITED AND HELP YOU MAKE IT HAPPEN WITHIN THE COMMUNITY.

THAT'S WHAT'S GOTTA HAPPEN.

IF YOU JUST KEEP IT WITHIN US ENERGY, IT'S GONNA BE REALLY HARD TO CONVINCE ANYBODY OF ANYTHING CUZ THAT STATE CAPITAL, THERE'S SOME PEOPLE THERE WHO REALLY HATE YOU, WHICH IS RIDICULOUS.

BUT ANYWAY, BUT I'M ON YOUR SIDE.

THANKS A LOT.

VOTE.

LET, LET GET THE WORKING GROUP.

AND THE FINAL SPEAKER IS SHANE JOHNSON.

UM, FOR THOSE WHO DON'T KNOW ME, UH, I ALSO WAS, UH, CO-CHAIR OF THE CLIMATE EQUITY PLAN STEERING COMMITTEE.

CAN Y'ALL HEAR ME OKAY? NO ECHOES.

GREAT.

I'LL JUST BE STANDOFFISH.

UM, HEY Y'ALL.

SHANE JOHNSON IS HERE.

AND PRONOUNS I AM, UH, HERE TODAY TO SPEAK AS A COMMUNITY COMMUNITY MEMBER.

I'M, I'M A RESIDENT OF DISTRICT SEVEN.

UH, ALSO JUST WANTED TO SAY, GOT SOME, ANOTHER, UH, A COLLEAGUE OF MINE AND COMMUNITY MEMBER FROM D NINE WHO WASN'T ABLE TO SIGN UP IN TIME TO SPEAK, BUT JUST WANNA MAKE SURE THAT WE UNDERSTAND THAT WE HAVE SOME REPRESENTATION FROM ACROSS AUSTIN, UM, HERE TO SPEAK TODAY IN FAVOR OF ITEM 13 AND ESTABLISHING A FULL RESOURCE PLAN UPDATE, WORKING GROUP AND RESOURCE PLANNING PROCESS LIKE WE HAVE IN PAST YEARS.

UM, I DON'T WANT TO BE TOO REPETITIVE.

AND OF COURSE WE, WE ALL KNOW THE IRA PASSED AND THERE'S IJA FUNDING.

UH, AND SO THE POLITICAL LANDSCAPE, UH, LIKE FOLKS HAVE MENTIONED BEFORE, IS SO DIFFERENT THAT IT REALLY DOES WARRANT, UH, REEVALUATING OUR GOALS AND NOT JUST A SMALL AMENDMENT PROCESS, UH, AS OUTLINED IN SOME OF THE BACKUPS.

[00:20:01]

AND THAT WAS A REALLY BOTH POWERFUL EXPERIENCE AND, UH, A BIG LEARNING EXPERIENCE.

AND I WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT WE AREN'T REINVENTING THE WHEEL IN SOME WAYS, AND THAT WE TAKE SOME OF THOSE BEST PRACTICES.

WE LEARNED FROM WHAT, 18 MONTHS OF CITY PLANNING, UM, THAT I THINK I'VE HEARD FROM STAFF IN ALMOST EVERY CITY DEPARTMENT, INCLUDING AUSTIN ENERGY LOTTING, HOW THAT'S WAS SUCH A HUGE, UM, ACCOMPLISHMENT AND DONE THE RIGHT WAY.

AND WE WANNA MAKE SURE THAT WE GOING FORWARD, CONTINUE TO CENTER EQUITY IN HOW WE DO CITY PLANNING.

UM, SO IN ADDITION TO LEVERAGING THE FUNDING, WHICH ALSO THAT THERE ARE SOME FUNDS SPECIFICALLY FOR EQUITY WORK AND FOR E ESTABLISHING AND CARRYING OUT EJ GOALS, O ENERGY WILL NOT BE ABLE TO PROPERLY IDENTIFY THOSE NEEDS IN THE COMMUNITY AND THEN ESTABLISH GOALS AND CARRY OUT THE WORK WITHOUT A COMMUNITY CENTERED PROCESS.

IT'S JUST NOT POSSIBLE, UH, FOR ANY LARGE INSTITUTION TO DO THAT WITHOUT CENTERING THE COMMUNITY.

IN ADDITION TO THAT, I WANNA POINT OUT THAT WITH ALL DUE RESPECT TO EVERYONE HERE, EVERY RESOURCE PLANNING PROCESS SO FAR HAS HAD VERY SERIOUS PROBLEMS WITH LACK OF EQUITY, LACK OF GENDER AND RACIAL DIVERSITY, AND THE WORKING GROUPS.

AND ONE OF THE BIG THINGS WE LEARNED ABOUT CENTERING EQUITY AND CLIMATE PLAN IS THAT WE NEED TO MAKE UP FOR, FOR RECENT TIME, RECENT PAST HISTORY AND MISTAKES IN CITY PLANNING.

AND THE ONLY WAY WE CAN DO THAT IS IF WE HAVE A COMMUNITY LED PROCESS.

AND, UH, CRAIG DID A BETTER JOB THAN I CAN OF EXPLAINING WHY THAT'S SO IMPORTANT AND WHY WE HAVE TO DO THAT.

BUT I JUST WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT EVERYONE UNDERSTANDS THAT, UM, ONE, IN ORDER TO ACTUALLY BE ABLE TO CENTER AND PRACTICE EQUITY, YOU HAVE TO HAVE COMMUNITY LEADERSHIP.

IF YOU DON'T, THEN YOU'RE NOT CENTERING EQUITY AND YOU'RE MISUNDERSTANDING WHAT EQUITY IS.

AND TWO, THAT, UH, WHAT THAT LOOKS LIKE HERE IS A, IS A RESOURCE PLANNING WORKING GROUP.

AND THAT'S ALL THE SPEAKERS TONIGHT.

I'D LIKE TO THANK ALL THE SPEAKERS VERY MUCH.

SO THE NEXT THING WOULD BE APPROVAL OF MINUTES, BUT BEFORE WE DO THAT, UM, LET ME JUST MAKE A FEW ANNOUNCEMENTS.

WE GOT AN EMAIL FROM FORMER CHAIR MARTY HOPKINS.

JUST WANTED TO LET EVERYBODY KNOW THAT SHE'S RESIGNED TO BE ABLE TO FOCUS ON HER NEW BABY AND FAMILY.

WE'D LIKE TO THANK HER FOR HER CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE E U C AND, AND THE CITY SINCE 2017.

AND THEN SECONDLY, WE HAVE THE NEW GENERAL MANAGER HERE, BOB CONN, AND WE'D LIKE TO WELCOME HIM AND WE LOOK FORWARD TO WORKING WITH YOU.

SO WITH THAT, LET'S

[1. Approve the minutes of the Electric Utility Commission Regular meeting on June 12, 2023. ]

GO TO THE MINUTES.

DO I HAVE A MOTION TO APPROVE? ALSO MOVE.

YOU MAY UNANIM US VOTE ON THAT.

LET'S GO TO ITEMS

[Items 2, 4, 5 & 7]

TWO THROUGH SEVEN.

ANY FURTHER DISCUSSION ON ANY OF THESE? UM, I DID WANNA ASK SOME QUESTIONS ABOUT THE, I THINK IT'S THE SECOND ONE ABOUT THE L CCRA, THE JOINT AGREEMENT PROJECT.

UM, SORRY, I'M NOT IN MY AGENDA, SO I'M YES, NUMBER THREE.

YEAH, GO CYRUS ON NUMBER THREE.

ANY OTHER ONES? JEREMY? RAUL, THIS IS FOR, UH, IS THIS FOR A, UH, WHAT DO YOU CALL A CONSENT AGENDA OR WHAT WILL WE CONTEMPLATE? UH, ARE THERE ANY FURTHER DISCUSSIONS YOU'D LIKE TO GO DEEP DIVE INTO FROM 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7? NOT FROM MY END, NO.

SO WE HAVE TWO.

SIX WAS, UM, SOME MAINTENANCE FOR GAS TURBINES.

YEAH, I WAS CURIOUS ABOUT ONE OF THOSE.

UM, MY COMPUTER'S KIND OF SLOW, SIR.

UM, LET'S SEE.

JUST GIMME A SECOND.

I'M TRYING TO FIND IT, BUT, BUT ANYWAY, IT WAS ABOUT ONE OF THE CONTRACTS, BUT IT WAS, IT WAS A MINOR ISSUE.

SO WE CAN PROCEED.

WELL, IF IT HELPS RAUL, IT WAS THE, THE NUMBER TWO WAS ABOUT A SOLAR ELECTRIC SYSTEM ON A CHURCH.

NUMBER THREE WAS ABOUT L C R A.

NUMBER FOUR WAS ABOUT, UH, EVS AND CHARGEPOINT.

NUMBER FIVE WAS INFOBLOX.

NUMBER

[00:25:01]

UH, AND NUMBER SEVEN WAS, WAS SOFTWARE FOR AUSTIN ENERGY'S ENERGY PORTFOLIO.

SO I DON'T KNOW IF ONE OF THOSE, I MEAN, AT SOME POINT IT WAS AN ISSUE, BUT I THINK IT'S NOT AN ISSUE ANYMORE.

IT'S NOT RINGING A BE.

SO WHY DON'T WE VOTE ON 2, 4, 5, 6, AND SEVEN? DO I HAVE A MOTION? CAN WE PULL SIX AS WELL? SURE.

OKAY, LET'S REVISE THAT.

2, 4, 5, AND SEVEN.

DO I HAVE A MOTION? SO MOVED.

ON, SO WE'RE VOTING ON APPROVING 2, 4, 5, AND SEVEN.

RAUL, JEREMY, EVERYBODY ELSE.

WHO IS REPRESENTING AE? UM, NUMBER THREE.

I CALL.

OKAY, LET'S START WITH NUMBER THREE.

[3. Recommend authorizing negotiation and execution of an interlocal agreement with the Lower Colorado River Authority and the Lower Colorado River Authority Transmission Services Corporation for construction projects involving jointly owned transmission infrastructure projects, in an amount not to exceed $24,000,000. ]

HI.

HELLO.

ELAINE SALKA, ACTING VICE PRESIDENT OF ELECTRIC SYSTEM ENGINEERING AND TECHNICAL SERVICES.

SO, SO JUST SO WE CAN, UM, GET EVERYONE ON THE SAME PAGE, THIS PROPOSAL IS FOR THREE DIFFERENT PROJECTS.

IS THAT CORRECT? ALL INVOLVING JOINT PROJECTS WITH L CCRA, JOINT PROJECTS WITH L CCRA, YES.

ON THE TRANSMISSION.

AND, UM, ONE IS SEEMS LIKE A PRETTY MAJOR PROJECT, RIGHT? THE FIRST ONE IS, IS THE, UM, THE FAYETTE TO LITTON SPRINGS.

SO IS THAT, ARE YOU ACTUALLY REBUILDING THAT 3 45 KILOVOLT TRANSMISSION LINE, OR, I DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU MEAN BY UPGRADE, I GUESS IS WHAT I'M ASKING.

UM, PART OF THE UPGRADES WILL BE TO INSTALL DEAD ENDS.

AND SO WHERE YOU HAVE LONGER SPANS OF TRANSMISSION, UM, THEY'RE INSTALLING SOME DEAD ENDS IN THE MIDDLE.

SO YOU HAVE SHORTER SPANS.

SO IF SOMETHING HAPPENS, THE EFFECT ISN'T AS GREAT, YOU CAN ALSO LOCATE FAULTS QUICKER, THOSE TYPES OF THINGS.

AND THEN, UM, AND, AND THAT'S PROBABLY TYPICAL OF, OF ALL THE PROJECTS COVERED UNDER THIS JOINT FUNDING.

AND SO I GUESS MY QUESTION IS, UM, IF WE AS A COMMUNITY AT SOME POINT, UM, THERE'S GONNA BE A RESOURCE PLAN, AN UPDATE, AND AT, AT SOME POINT AS A COMMUNITY, WE'RE TRYING TO MOVE AWAY FROM THE USE OF COAL.

WHY IS IT IN OUR INTEREST TO SPEND AN ADDITIONAL 24 MILLION ON TRANSMISSION? OR ARE THESE THINGS THAT YOU WOULD NEED, WHETHER OR NOT YOU HAD COAL OUT THERE, I GUESS IS MY QUESTION, WE WOULD NEED THEM WHETHER WE HAD COAL OR NOT.

SO IT'S SEPARATE FROM THE, THE GENERATING FACILITY.

IT'S, IT IS THE TRANSMISSION LINES AND THE INFRASTRUCTURE THAT IS, IS BRINGING THE POWER INTO OUR SERVICE TERRITORY.

SO WE WOULD NEED IT SEPARATE FROM, FROM THAT.

AND ARE THESE SHORT TERM NEEDS OR LONGER TERM NEEDS? I MEAN, UM, SO IF WE WERE TO IN SOME WAYS DELAY THIS, WELL, WE LOOKED AT THAT WHOLE AT, AT TRANSMISSION, THE RESOURCE PLAN.

WHAT, WHAT DOES THAT DO FOR YOU GUYS? OR WHAT I, I I THINK IT'S, IT'S, UM, MAYBE SEPARATE ISSUES AND I'LL LOOK TO LISA IF THERE'S A ADDITIONAL INFORMATION TO ADD.

BUT, UM, THIS IS FOR, UM, THE INFRASTRUCTURE HARDENING.

UM, AND SO IT DOES, DOES, DOES THAT HELP? IT'S, IT'S, OKAY.

SO IT'S NOT YOU, YOU'RE NOT ADDING TO THE CAPABILITY, YOU'RE, YOU'RE MAKING IT MORE RESILIENT YES.

TO CLIMATE FUTURE CLIMATE WEATHER IMPACTS EXTREMES.

I DON'T KNOW IF YOU HAVE ANYBODY ELSE HAS QUESTIONS.

MM-HMM.

UM, I GUESS I'M, I'M JUST TRYING TO UNDERSTAND THE, UM, THESE ARE ALL, THESE ARE ALL CO-OWNED FACILITIES WITH L CCRA, BUT YOU CO CO-OWN THEM SEPARATE FROM THE FAYETTE POWER PROJECT.

IS THAT A, ITS SEPARATE AGREEMENT THAT GOVERNS THESE? IT'S OUR TRANSMISSION INFRASTRUCTURE, AND SO THAT'S JUST ONE OF THE LINES THAT, UM, IS PART OF THIS, THIS, UH, RESILIENCY EFFORT.

WE HAVE OURS, THEY HAVE THEIRS.

AND I'M JUST, SORRY, I'M NOT AS FAMILIAR WITH YOUR TRANSMISSION INFRASTRUCTURE.

AND IS IT COMMON THAT YOU CO-OWN THOSE WITH OTHER ENTITIES? UM, AND DO YOU CO-OWN OTHERS WITH L CCRA OR IS IT JUST SHARED, SHARED STRUCTURES? SO MAYBE NOT CO-OWN SHARED, SHARED STRUCTURES, IF THAT MAKES SENSE.

CAN YOU, CAN YOU TELL ME WHAT THAT MEANS? UM, SO, UH, A TRANSMISSION TOWER WITH CONTAINING LINES FOR BOTH AUSTIN ENERGY AND L C R A.

SO WE, THE, THE STRUCTURE THAT THE LINES ARE ON ARE SHARED, THE INFRASTRUCTURE, THE LINES THEMSELVES,

[00:30:01]

SO IT'S A DUAL CIRCUIT.

SO THERE'S A SEPARATE CIRCUIT THAT'S L CCRA AND YES.

AE CIRCUIT.

I HAD TO, TO, TO ASK, UH, ASK THE EXPERT.

YES, THANKS.

SO YOU, YOU'RE SHARING SOME OF THE INFRASTRUCTURE AND THEN SOME OF IT YOU OWN SEPARATELY, AND YOU'RE SAYING THAT YOU SHARE THOSE PIECES OF INFRASTRUCTURE TOTALLY SEPARATE FROM FAYETTE, OR IS THAT PART OF THE FAYETTE INFRASTRUCTURE AND THE FAYETTE, UM, AGREEMENT? I'LL GET SOME MORE LAWYERS.

ALWAYS GOOD TO PHONE A FRIEND.

LISA MARTIN, ACTING DEPUTY GENERAL MANAGER AND CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER.

SO THE TRANSMISSION SYSTEM, RIGHT? THIS IS THE, THE BACKBONE OF THE BULK ELECTRIC SYSTEM, WHICH WE NEED TO BE ABLE TO TRANSMIT POWER ACROSS OUR SYSTEM AND INTO AUSTIN ENERGY.

WHAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT HERE IS WE HAVE TRANSMISSION LINES.

L C R A HAS TRANSMISSION LINES.

THEY RUN ALONG SHARED STRUCTURES, WHICH IS WHAT ELAINE WAS JUST SAYING.

AND WHEN YOU'RE DOING MAINTENANCE ON ONE OF THEM, YOU HAVE TO TAKE THE OTHER ONE OUT ANYWAY, SO YOU MIGHT AS WELL DO THE WORK TOGETHER AT THE SAME TIME.

IN THIS CASE, LCR A HAS SAID WE'LL DO THE WORK AND WE JUST HAVE TO HAVE, GO ENTER INTO AN AGREEMENT WITH THEM SO THAT WE CAN PAY OUR SHARE.

AND THEN ULTIMATELY, UH, PUT IT INTO TCOS.

IT IS SEPARATE AND APART FROM FAYETTE POWER PLANT, I'M JUST SEEING THE ONE OF THEM SAYS FAYETTE POWER PLANT YARD TWO, THAT'S THE NAME OF THE SUBSTATION.

THE LINE GOES FROM ONE SUBSTATION TO THE OTHER SUBSTATION.

IT HAPPENS TO ALSO BE A SWITCH YARD FOR FAYETTE.

BUT THIS, THIS WORK AS, UH, WAS PREVIOUSLY DISCUSSED WITH COMMISSIONER REED, IS NOT TO INCREASE THE CAPABILITY TO, YOU KNOW, BOLSTER OUTPUT FROM THAT GENERATION PLANT.

IT'S MORE FOR A HARDENING, UM, AND RESILIENCY.

AND SO IF FAA WERE SHUT DOWN, YOU WOULD STILL NEED THESE EXACT SAME UPGRADES TO THAT LINE? YES.

OKAY, THANKS.

BECAUSE ELECTRONS ARE RUNNING ACROSS THESE LINES FROM WHEREVER THEY'RE COMING FROM.

ANY OTHER QUESTIONS ON NUMBER THREE? OKAY.

SO DO WE HAVE A MOTION? YEAH, I'M WITH THAT CLARIFICATION.

I'LL MAKE THE MOTION.

I'M GONNA ABST STAND.

OKAY, WELL, WE HAVE, OKAY, SO WE HAVE ENOUGH THERE.

NOW LET'S TALK ABOUT

[6. Recommend authorizing amendments to three contracts for gas turbine maintenance with MTU Maintenance Berlin-Brandenburg GmbH d/b/a MTU Maintenance, Transcanada Turbines Inc. d/b/a Transcanada Turbines Ltd, and Wood Group Pratt & Whitney Industrial Turbine Services LLC, to increase the amount by $11,000,000 and to extend the term by one year for revised total contract amounts not to exceed $45,000,000, divided among the contractors]

NUMBER SIX.

HI COMMISSIONERS.

PAT SWINNEY, VICE PRESIDENT FOR POWER PRODUCTION.

SO HAVE A QUESTION.

YEAH, THANKS.

UM, SO I JUST SEE THAT THIS IS, IT SEEMS LIKE INVESTING IN THE, AND I'M JUST, SORRY, I'M JUST SCROLLING ON THIS MASSIVE DOCUMENT TO GET BACK TO THAT ITEM.

UM, BUT THAT THESE ARE, UM, MAINTENANCE AND I, I'M NOT SURE WHAT ALL FOR THE DECKER UNITS, AND SO JUST HAD A FEW QUESTIONS ABOUT THAT.

I MEAN, I KNOW THOSE, THOSE ARE PRETTY OLD, RIGHT? COULD YOU SH SHARE WITH US THE, THE VINTAGE ON THOSE, THOSE UNITS THAT THE SERVICE AGREEMENT IS FOR? SO THE DECKER, SO WE HAVE FOUR GAS TURBINES THAT DECKER MM-HMM.

, THOSE UNITS WERE MANUFACTURED IN THE LATE, I'M SORRY, THE EARLY EIGHTIES.

AND WE, WE RECEIVED THEM ACTUALLY FROM ANOTHER UTILITY IN THE LATE EIGHTIES AND INSTALLED THEM THERE AT DECKER.

UH, THE, UH, UNITS AT SANDHILL, THERE ARE SIX, UH, QUICK START GAS TURBINES, UH, ALSO A, A, A GAS TURBINE ON OUR COMBINED CYCLE.

SO THERE'S SEVEN OF THEM THERE.

UH, THE, UH, FOUR UNITS OF THE GAS TURBINES WERE INSTALLED IN THE EARLY TWO, 2001 CIRCA TIMEFRAME.

UH, THE GAS, THE COMBINED CYCLES AROUND 2003, AND THEN THE LAST TWO GAS TURBINES THERE WERE INSTALLED IN 2010.

SO YOU DON'T HAVE ANY INFORMATION ON LIKE HOW MUCH OF THE MAINTENANCE IN THE PAST HAS BEEN FOR DECKER VERSUS SANDHILL? UH, NO, NOT WITH ME.

UM, I KNOW, I KNOW THE SANDHILL ONES ARE, ARE NEWER AND, AND PLANNED TO BE IN SERVICE FOR LONGER.

I GUESS I'M JUST WONDERING, I DON'T KNOW WHAT THE THINKING IS BEHIND CONTINUING TO MAINTAIN THOSE UNITS FROM THE 1980S AT DECKER.

AND I'M JUST WONDERING HOW MUCH OF THIS MONEY IS GOING TO THEM VERSUS THE NEWER UNITS.

IF THERE'S ANY WAY TO, UH, I DON'T HAVE THE BREAKDOWN.

I TO THE BULK OF THE DOLLARS WILL, WILL, WILL BE FOR THE, THE SANDHILL UNITS BECAUSE OF THE SIZE AND NUMBER OF THEM.

UM, BUT, UH, UH, THE, THE, THE GAS TURBINES AT DECKER ARE STILL QUITE USEFUL IN THE MARKET THAT WE'VE GOT.

[00:35:02]

BUT, UH, ARE YOU, SORRY, ARE YOU, YOU CAN GO AHEAD.

UM, TO BE CLEAR, THIS IS WHAT YOU'RE DOING HERE IS YOU'RE EXTENDING AN EXISTING CONTRACT BY ONE YEAR? CORRECT.

AND WHY, WHY IS IT NOT GOING UP BY 6.8 MILLION? WHY IS IT GOING UP BY 11? WHY IS IT MORE EXPENSIVE? SO WE'RE, WE'RE ADDING SOME TIME HERE SO THAT WE CAN GO OUT AGAIN TO THE MARKET.

UH, WE NEED MULTIPLE VENDORS SO THAT WE CAN GET FOLKS IN AT THE RIGHT TIMES.

YOU MAY KNOW THAT ERCOT HAS COMPRESSED THE WINDOWS WHERE WE DO MAINTENANCE.

AND SO, UH, IT'S IMPORTANT TO HAVE MORE MULTIPLE VENDORS.

SO IF ONE'S NOT AVAILABLE, ANOTHER ONE CAN COME IN.

UH, THESE ARE DIFFERENT TYPES OF MACHINES.

UH, THE, THE GAS TURBINES OUT AT, UH, DECKER, FOR EXAMPLE, ARE MADE BY PRATT AND WHITNEY.

UH, THE ONES AT SANDHILL ARE MADE BY GE.

UH, GE DOES DOES THIS TYPE OF WORK, BUT ALSO THERE ARE FOLKS LICENSED TO SERVICE THEM FROM DIFFERENT, UH, COMPANIES.

AND SO WE'RE TAKING STEPS TO MAKE SURE WE HAVE, UH, AS MANY VENDORS IN AS POSSIBLE.

SO TO MAXIMIZE COMPETITION, MAXIMIZE AVAILABILITY WHEN WE NEED IT.

IT'S NOT ONLY SCHEDULED OUTAGES, BUT SOMETIMES WHEN THINGS BREAK UNEXPECTEDLY, WE REALLY NEED THEM THERE QUICKLY TO HELP US OUT IF, IF THAT HAPPENS.

AND SO, AGAIN, GETTING AS MANY IN AS POSSIBLE, THE DOLLARS ALSO REFLECT THAT, UH, FOR THIS NEXT YEAR, WHAT WE EXPECT IN TERMS OF, OF JUST OUT OUTAGES, UH, PLANNED MAINTENANCE OUTAGES THAT ARE IN THE PICTURE.

UH, BECAUSE SOME YEARS WE'RE DOING MORE WORK THAN OTHERS, AS WELL AS THE FACT THAT WE'VE SEEN HIGHER COST IN RECENT YEARS.

AND SO WE'RE LEAVING SOME HEADROOM THERE SO THAT WE CAN MAKE SURE WE GET THROUGH THE YEAR WITH APPROPRIATE, UH, AUTHORIZATION.

DOESN'T MEAN WE'RE GONNA SPEND IT ALL, BUT WE'RE JUST A, IT'S ALLOWING SO THAT WE DON'T HAVE TO SCRAMBLE AT THE LAST MOMENT IF MOMENT IF SOMETHING CAME UP.

I JUST WANNA MAKE SURE I'M UNDERSTANDING THIS CORRECTLY.

SO THE, THE ITEM IS PROPOSING TO EXTEND IT BY A YEAR, BUT ALSO ADD TO THE CURRENT AUTHORIZATION BY, BY YEAR THE AMOUNT, CORRECT? RIGHT.

JUST WANTED TO MAKE SURE.

AND YOU'RE LEAVING THIS, I, I THOUGHT THAT A LOT OF THESE WERE GONNA BE SHUT DOWN FAIRLY SOON.

UH, NOT, NOT, NOT THIS SOON.

NOT, NOT WITHIN A YEAR.

UH, OF COURSE YOU HAVE A RESOURCE PLAN THAT, UH, HAS A PLAN FOR 2035 FOR THE SANDHILL UNITS AND NO, NO DESIGNATED TIME YET FOR THE DECKER UNITS.

I GUESS I'M CONFUSED.

ARE YOU SAYING THAT, THAT YOU'RE AT THE END OF THE CONTRACT NOW? BECAUSE YOU SAID NOT IN THE NEXT YEAR.

WE'RE CLO WE'RE CLOSING IN ON THE CURRENT AUTHORIZATION FOR DISTRICT TA A YEAR ONTO IT.

THE, THE ORIGINAL WAS 2017 AND THEY'RE ADDING A YEAR TO IT.

I'M JUST SEEING THESE EXTENSION OPTION 1, 2, 3, AND FOUR.

ARE THOSE, I I, I DON'T REALLY, I GUESS I'M GETTING CONFUSED.

ARE THOSE NOT BY YEAR? ARE THAT'S NOT REPRESENTING FOUR YEARS? THEY DON'T NECESSARILY FOLLOW A CALENDAR YEAR.

THEY CONTRACT YEARS, BUT WE'RE IN AND ARE WE INCREASING THE AMOUNT IN THOSE YEARS, OR NO, WE'RE, WE'RE ADDING ANOTHER YEAR AND ADDING A GOT YOU TOTAL DOLLARS TO THE, SO THE NEW YEAR WILL COST MORE, BUT THIS CORRECT, CORRECT.

PAST CONTRACT WILL.

CORRECT.

WELL, I GUESS I, I DO REMAIN CONCERNED ABOUT SPENDING THIS KIND OF MONEY ON, ON DECKER IN PARTICULAR.

ANY FURTHER QUESTIONS ON THIS ONLINE? OKAY.

SO DO WE HAVE A MOTION? OKAY, WE HAVE A SECOND.

WE HAVE SIX ONE ON THAT STANDING OR ARE YOU? NO, I'M VOTING OPPOSED.

BRIEFINGS AND REPORTS NUMBER EIGHT, IT'S YOUR TRANSMISSION STUDY.

SO SIX ONE OPPOSED? OKAY, I THINK WE'RE THROUGH THAT ORDER OF BUSINESS.

NEXT IS STAFF

[8. Staff briefing on the Transmission Study by Lisa Martin, Acting Deputy General Manager and Chief Operations Officer and Ravikanth Varanasi, PE, Managing Director, 1898 & Co. (part of Burns & McDonnell).]

GOOD EVENING

[00:40:01]

AGAIN, I'M LISA MARTIN, DEPUTY GENERAL MANAGER AND CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER, AND AUSTIN ENERGY'S GENERATION RESOURCE AND CLIMATE PROTECTION PLAN TO 2030, AS YOU KNOW, CALLS FOR A TRANSMISSION STUDY TO ASSESS THE IMPACT TO OUR TRANSMISSION SYSTEM AND OUR ELECTRIC GRID IF WE RETIRE OUR LOCAL GENERATION.

SO TONIGHT WE'RE PLEASED TO SHARE WITH YOU THE RESULTS OF THAT STUDY.

WE FIRST CONDUCTED A COMPETITIVE SOLICITATION TO HIRE A THIRD PARTY ENGINEERING FIRM TO PERFORM THAT ANALYSIS WITH SUPPORT FROM A CROSS-FUNCTIONAL AUSTIN ENERGY TEAM, 1898 AND CO, WHICH IS PART OF BURNS AND MCDONALD IS THE SELECTED FIRM AND REPRESENTATIVES FROM 1898.

RAVI AND PRADEEP ARE HERE TONIGHT TO SHARE THE DETAILS OF THEIR WORK.

RAVI'S GONNA START OUT WITH FOUNDATIONAL INFORMATION AND THEN HE'S GONNA SHARE THE RESULTS OF THIS STUDY.

NOTE THAT THE STUDY WORK IS BASED ON ESTABLISHED METHODS AND CRITERIA PUT FORTH IN THE NARC RELIABILITY STANDARDS, ERCOT PROTOCOLS AND GUIDES, AND AUSTIN ENERGY PLANNING CRITERIA.

AFTER ASSESSING THOSE INITIAL IMPACTS TO THE STUDY, UH, UH, TO, TO THE SYSTEM, THE ANALYSIS CONTINUES BY REVIEWING PROPOSED MITIGATIONS TO DETERMINE IF THAT ALLEVIATES ANY OF THE ISSUES.

SO RAVI HAS A LOT TO SHARE WITH YOU TONIGHT IF YOU SAW THE PREP MATERIAL.

UM, AND SO AS SUCH TO EFFECTIVELY, UH, MANAGE THE TIME, I ASK THAT YOU WOULD, UH, WRITE DOWN YOUR QUESTIONS AND KEEP THEM UNTIL THE END.

AND THEN RAVI AND THE TEAM WILL BE HAPPY TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS YOU HAVE.

SO WITHOUT, I THINK WITH 44 PAGES, I DON'T THINK WE CAN DO THAT.

LISA, YOU DON'T THINK YOU CAN DO THAT? NO, I DON'T THINK WE CAN WRITE DOWN ALL THESE, BUT LET'S JUST ROLL AND SEE HOW IT GOES.

WELL, I'M LOOKING TO YOU CHAIR TO KEEP US ON TARGET.

ALL RIGHT, THANK YOU.

WITHOUT FURTHER ADO, WE'LL HAVE RAVI COME UP HERE.

AND IF I SIT HERE, AM I GONNA BLOCK YOU FROM, IF I SIT HERE? AM I GONNA BLOCK YOU? YOU'RE GOOD.

WELL, GOOD EVENING EVERYBODY.

UH, LIKE LISA ALLUDED TO, MY NAME IS RAVI, RAVI KAZI.

YOU CAN CALL ME RAVI.

I'M, I'M A MANAGING DIRECTOR FOR OUR CONSULTING GROUP OUT OF OUR HOUSTON REGIONAL OFFICE.

MY BACKGROUND IS, UH, UH, TRANSMISSION PLANNING AND I'VE BEEN DOING THIS FOR OVER 20 YEARS.

AND, UH, HAPPY TO PRESENT THIS TECHNICAL STUDY AND WHAT WE FOUND, AND KEEP IN MIND THAT THIS IS A PLANNING STUDY WHERE WE ARE LOOKING AS OF TODAY, WHAT IS THAT YOU'RE GONNA LOOK INTO THE FUTURE BASED ON DIFFERENT CHANGES THAT WE ARE TRYING TO MODEL AND TRYING TO SEE THE CAUSE AND EFFECTS OF THOSE CHANGES INTO THE TRANSMISSION PLANNING SYSTEM.

STABILITY IS, YOU'RE GONNA SUBJECT THE MODEL WITH A LOT OF FAULT AND YOU ARE LOOKING FOR VOLTAGE RECOVERY AND IT IS OVER A CERTAIN TIME HORIZON.

AND, AND THE GOAL FOR THIS STUDY IS TO ASSESS RELIABILITY BASED ON LOAD CHANGES BASED ON GENERATION CHANGES.

AS YOU KNOW, UH, WE REVIEWED THE, UH, CLIMATE PROTECTION PLAN AND WE WANTED TO CAPTURE SOME OF THESE GENERATION RETIREMENTS AND SEE WHAT IS IT GONNA DO TO THE RELIABILITY OF THE TRANSMISSION SYSTEM.

SO THE FOLLOWING SLIDES ARE BASED ON, YOU KNOW, ALL THE FINDINGS THAT WE HAVE FOUND AS PART OF THIS STUDY.

YOU KNOW, ANY, ANY, ANY TIME WE WANT TO DO A STUDY LIKE THIS.

I MEAN, IT'S, IT'S VERY COMPLEX.

SO WE WANTED TO START OFF BY SAYING, OKAY, WHAT HAS BEEN DONE YEAR TO DATE? WHAT IS IT WE CAN LEARN FROM THE STATE OF THE SYSTEM CONDUCTED YEAR TO DATE? SO WE REVIEWED ALL THE PREVIOUS, UH, PLANNING ASSIGNMENTS, YOU KNOW, GOT HOLD OF AIRCO DOCUMENTS.

A LOT OF STUFF HAS HAPPENED IN THE FIRST PHASE, YOU KNOW, AND BASED ON ALL OF THAT REVIEW, WE CAME UP WITH A PROPOSED METHODOLOGY ON WHAT IS THAT WE WANT TO STUDY AND HOW DO WE WANT TO STUDY? AND WE PRESENTED THAT TO THE OCEAN ENERGY TEAM.

UH, THEY WERE OKAY WITH OUR PROPOSED METHODOLOGY AND WE STARTED CONDUCTING ANALYSIS THAT TAKES US INTO PHASE THREE.

SO WHERE WE DID, UH, FULL BLOWN TRANSMISSION PLANNING ANALYSIS, AND THAT'S WHY YOU SEE 40 DIFFERENT SLIDES, UH, WHERE WE WERE, THE GOAL OF THAT STUDY IS TO FIND OUT WHAT ARE THE NEEDS IN THE TRANSMISSION SYSTEM IF YOU RETIRE A CERTAIN GENERATION, IF YOU MARK THE LOAD IN THIS WAY, IF THERE IS A HIGH E V D R PENETRATION, WHAT ARE THE CHALLENGES OF THE TRANSMISSION SYSTEM WOULD FACE? AND WHAT ARE THE NEEDS? UM, AND AFTER WE LOOKED AT ALL THE RESULTS THAT PRECIPITATED FROM THAT KIND OF A STUDY, WE DID A WHITEBOARD EXERCISE AND CAME UP WITH VIABLE MITIGATION OPTIONS TO TEST WHAT IS, WHAT ARE THE KIND OF FIXES THAT YOU SHOULD FORESEE IN THE FUTURE IF THE CHOICE IS TO RETIRE CERTAIN GENERATION OR THE LOAD GROWTH HITS OF THE VALUE THAT WE ARE FORECASTING AS A PART OF OUR ANALYSIS.

AND THEN THE PHASE FIVE IS THE RESULTS, AND THAT'S WHAT WE ARE PRESENTING TODAY.

SO I, I TALKED ABOUT A LOT OF DIFFERENT SCENARIO SCENARIOS.

SO THIS IS A SUMMARY TABLE THAT ACTUALLY CAPTURES THE ESSENCE OF ALL THE DIFFERENT VARIATIONS OF STUDIES AND THE MODELS THAT WE HAVE CREATED AS A PART OF THE STUDY.

AS YOU CAN SEE, WE HAVE, UH, YOU KNOW, THE BASE CASES.

SO ENERGY IS A PART OF THE AIRCO TRANSMISSION SYSTEM WHERE EVERY TRANSMISSION SERVICE PROVIDER IS GONNA SUBMIT THEIR FORECASTED LOAD AND GENERATION RETIREMENTS AND GENERATION ADDITIONS AND TRANSMISSION LINES INTO THE SYSTEM.

AND ERCOT ACTUALLY MAKES A CASE.

SO THAT IS CALLED THE BASE CASE.

AND WE TOOK THAT AS A STARTING POINT BECAUSE ERCOT WILL HAVE A PRETTY GOOD VIEW OF THE WHOLE SYSTEM.

AND WE SAID, OKAY, LET'S REVIEW THE NEAR TERM AND LONG TERM, WHICH IS THE 20 23, 20 24 AS A NEAR TERM, THE 2020 NINES AND 30 TWOS ARE LONG TERM.

AND WE DID STEADY STATE ANALYSIS AND STABILITY ANALYSIS.

STEADY STATE IS A A, A TYPE OF ANALYSIS.

[00:45:01]

SO 2023 WINTER PEAK, IS THAT LIKE SECOND WEEK IN FEBRUARY, MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT? WHAT'S THE TIME? PROBABLY, PROBABLY, I DON'T KNOW EXACTLY.

DON'T, DON'T KNOW THE SNAPSHOT THAT AIRCRAFT HAS USED TO BUILD THE WINTER PEAK CASE, BUT IT IS A FORECAST OFF OF THE 2022 WINTER 20 21, 20 22 WINTER PEAK, AND THEY MAKE A 2023 WINTER PEAK.

AND SUMMER PEAK IS SECOND WEEK IN AUGUST 4:00 PM TO SEVEN.

IS THAT BECAUSE OF WIND, SO EARTH WIND VARIABILITY OR IS THAT BECAUSE OF LOW INERTIA? YES, BOTH.

SO BECAUSE LET'S SAY IF YOU HAVE A SPRING TIMEFRAME WHERE THE LOADS ARE PRETTY MODERATELY LOW, UH, LOWEST PART OF THE UH, YEAR, AND THEN THERE'S A LOT OF WIND BLOWING IN THE WEST TEXAS AND THE PANHANDLE.

SO YOU WANT TO CAPTURE THAT SCENARIO WHERE THERE'S MORE GENERATION COMING FROM WIND THAT DISPLACES A LOT OF THOSE THERMAL UNITS AND IT'S A LOWER INERTIA SYSTEM.

IT POSES ITS OWN SET OF STABILITY CHALLENGES THAT WE WANTED TO STUDY AS A PART OF THIS AS WELL.

MM-HMM.

AND THERE WAS A CONCEPT CALLED DYNAMIC LINE LOADING.

DOES THIS INCORPORATE THAT IN ANY WAY? NO, THIS IS NOT AN OPERATIONAL STUDY, IT'S A PLANNING STUDY.

SO IT'S AT A GIVEN INSTANT IS WHAT WE ARE MODELING, YOU KNOW, WE ARE NOT MODELING LIKE THE DAY-TO-DAY OPERATIONS OR THINGS LIKE THAT OR OVER TO OUR OPERATIONS, BUT THIS IS MOSTLY EVALUATING RELIABILITY AT A CERTAIN LOADING CONDITION.

I HAVE A REALLY EASY QUESTIONS.

WHAT ARE THE BLACK DOTS AND WHAT ARE THE PERFECT, SO BLACK.IS ME, OH, SORRY.

BLACK DOT IMPLIES WE STUDIED THAT CASE.

I'M SORRY, THIS WAS TOO FAST.

YEAH, BLACK DOT IMPLIES WE HAVE STUDIED THE CASE.

THIS IMPLIES, LET'S SAY FOR EXAMPLE, IN THE HIGH WIND LIGHT LOAD DOESN'T HAPPEN IN THE WINTER PEAK.

SO THERE'S, WE DIDN'T STUDY THAT DASH MEANS IT'S NOT APPLICABLE OR IT'S NOT UNAVAILABLE.

THAT'S ALL.

SO THERE WERE 50 ISH KIND OF CASES IN THIS TABLE.

SO THAT'S THE FULL VARIATION OF BOUNDARY CONDITIONS THAT WE HAVE STUDIED.

AND COULD YOU EXPLAIN JUST A LITTLE BIT, WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE STEADY STATE AND THE STABILITY? SURE.

SO STEADY STATE IS MOSTLY, LET'S SAY, UM, THERE'S A CERTAIN OUTREACH THAT HAPPENS ON THE TRANSMISSION SYSTEM AND WHAT IS IT GOING TO DO TO THE THERMAL OVERLOADS ON THE SYSTEM.

LET'S SAY YOU HAVE TWO LINES CARRYING LET'S A THOUSAND MEGAWATTS, AND BOTH OF THEM ARE RATED AT 600 MEGAWATTS.

LET'S SAY IF YOU LOSE ONE OF THE LINE FOR, BECAUSE OF AN OUTAGE, THEN YOUR OTHER LINE IS CARRYING THOUSAND MEGAWATTS.

THERE'S GONNA BE A LOT MORE LOADING ON THAT LINE THAN 600 MEGAWATTS, RIGHT? SO THOSE ARE THE KIND OF THINGS THAT WE WANT TO CAPTURE AS A PART OF THE STEADY STATE.

STABILITY IS MORE, UH, TIME DOMAIN SIMULATION WHERE WE ARE TRYING TO PUT A FAULT AND CLEAR THE FAULT AND CYCLES AND WE WANTED TO SEE HOW THE VOLTAGE IS RECOVER, UH, WHAT THE FREQUENCY, YOU KNOW, HOW STABLE THE GRID IS, EVALUATE PROTECTION, YOU KNOW, THINGS OF THAT NATURE, WHICH IS VERY DIFFERENT TYPE OF ANALYSIS, BUT YOU HAVE TO DO BOTH TO HAVE A GOOD UNDERSTANDING OF THE SYSTEM BEHAVIOR TOGETHER.

OKAY, THANK YOU.

SO MOVING ALONG THIS TABLE IS, IS FOR YOU ALL TO UNDERSTAND, YOU KNOW, WHAT IS A TYPICAL GENERATION WITHIN OXYGEN ENERGY IN THESE CASES? WHERE IS IT LOAD IN THE OXYGEN ENERGY SYSTEM? AND, AND SIMILARLY IN THE AIRCO, WHAT, WHAT IS THE REST OF THE SYSTEM LOOK LOOKS LIKE? SO WE HAVE CAPTURED SOME KEY PARAMETERS FOR YOU ALL TO TAKE A NOTE, BUT THIS IS THE SAME TABLE, BUT WITH VALUE SOFT LOAD IN GENERATION ACROSS THE, THE PORTFOLIO OF CASES WE STUDIED.

AND THIS IS THE CONTINUATION OF THAT TABLE.

AND THE NUMBER SCENARIO THREE EXTERNAL GEN RETIREMENT IS THAT FAYETTE THAT INCLUDES A LOT OF RETIREMENTS THAT WERE MODELED IN THE, THAT, THAT WE HAVE STUDIED.

YEAH, IT'S LOT OF GENERATION ACROSS THE TEXAS SYSTEM, NOT JUST FA OIL POWER PLANT.

I DON'T THINK WE HAVE RETIRED FAYE OIL, THOUGH NOT, NOT AS A PART OF THE SCENARIO THREE, BUT THESE EXTERNAL RETIREMENTS INCLUDE A LOT OF ADDITION OF, UH, WIND AND SOLAR THAT YOU SEE IN THE AIRCO Q PROCESS AND HOW MUCH PRESSURE THEY PUT ON THE THERMAL GENERATION AND HOW WE ARE RETIRING ACROSS THE SYSTEM.

SO JUST TO JUMP IN WITH A POINT OF CLARITY, UM, SO THE MODELS THAT, THAT RAVI AND THE TEAM USED ARE START BASED OFF OF, UM, ERCOT WORKING GROUPS THAT PULL TOGETHER WHAT THE CURRENT STATE OF THE SYSTEM LOOKS LIKE, UM, AND NOT JUST WITHIN AUSTIN ENERGY ACROSS ALL OF ERCOT.

AND THEN WHAT DOES THAT LOOK LIKE OVER TIME? SO IT'S INCLUDING PROJECTIONS OF, UH, NEW GENERATION BEING ADDED THROUGH THE INTERCONNECTION QUEUE, NEW TRANSMISSION PROJECTS BEING ADDED, AND THEN ALSO CHANGES IN THE OPPOSITE DIRECTION.

UM, AND THEN, SO THAT'S THE DIFFERENT CASES THAT YOU SAW ACROSS THE TOP OF, UM, THAT MATRIX AND THEN THE VARIOUS SCENARIOS, UM, SHOW, YOU KNOW, DIFFERENT, UM, SITUATIONS THAT COULD BE MODELED WITHIN, YOU KNOW, THAT WOULD IMPACT THE AUSTIN ENERGY, UM, SERVICE TERRITORY.

AND I JUST WANNA BRING TO YOUR ATTENTION SCENARIO TWO, UM, WHICH RETIRES BOTH, UH, DECKER AND SANDHILL, SO ALL THE FOSSIL FUEL GENERATION, UM, WITHIN AUSTIN ENERGY'S, UM, SERVICE

[00:50:01]

TERRITORY.

AND THEN, UM, SCENARIO FOUR, WHICH IS THE SAME, BUT PROJECTING A FUTURE HIGH LOAD GROWTH.

AND SO AS RAVI CONTINUES AND LOOKS AT THE RESULTS THERE, THERE'S I THINK 60 DIFFERENT DOTS ON THE PREVIOUS SLIDE.

UM, THERE'S A TON OF ANALYSIS THAT WAS DONE HERE TO BRING IT HOME AND TO MAKE IT MOST RELEVANT, WE'RE LOOKING AT SCENARIO TWO AND SCENARIO FOUR AND LOOKING AT A FUTURE CASE AROUND 2029.

YEAH, THANK YOU LISA.

YEAH, I TALKED ABOUT A LOT OF THESE DIFFERENT TYPES OF ANALYSIS, BUT YOU KNOW, WHEN WE SAY, HEY, THIS SYSTEM IS LACKS THIS CAPABILITY, WE ARE COMPARING IT AGAINST A CERTAIN CRITERIA.

SO THIS SLIDE CAPTURES, YOU KNOW, WHAT CRITERIA WE HAVE USED TO SCREEN OUR STUDY AND THE RESULTS.

UM, LET'S START OFF WITH NERC, WHICH IS, UH, NORTH AMERICAN ELECTRIC RELIABILITY CORPORATION.

SO NERC HAS CERTAIN SET OF GUIDELINES, UH, THEY CALL IT TPL ONE N TPL ONE DASH FOUR AND ONE DASH FIVE ONE DASH FOUR WAS THE PREVIOUS, UH, TRANSMISSION PLANNING KIND OF, UH, COMPLIANCE METHODOLOGY AND PAR UH, CRITERIA.

TPL FIVE IS A NEWER VERSION.

SO WE APPLIED BOTH OF THEM.

UM, ON TOP OF THAT, AIRCO SPECIFICALLY HAS LIKE A PLANNING GUIDELINES.

SO WE APPLIED THE KNOW SECTION FOUR, UH, SECTION 6.9.

SO SECTION FOUR IS ON HOW TO MODEL OUTAGES.

AND SECTION 6.9 IS TO HOW TO MODEL GENERATION AND THINGS LIKE THAT.

AND THEN OCEAN ENERGY ALSO HAS A CERTAIN CRITERIA, THEY OPERATE THEIR SYSTEM.

SO WE HAVE ALSO APPLIED THEIR METHODOLOGY AND SCREENING ALL OF THESE.

AND THIS IS A, A LOT OF TABLES AND THINGS THAT FOLKS WANT TO GET INTO A LITTLE BIT MORE UNDERSTANDING AND REVIEW THIS, YOU KNOW, I MEAN, I WANTED TO CAPTURE CERTAIN SNAPSHOTS HERE.

FOR EXAMPLE, WHEN YOU HAVE A FAULT AND YOU CLEAR THE FAULT BECAUSE OF THE PROTECTION, YOU ARE ALSO TESTING HOW SOON THE VOLTAGE CAN RECORD BACK TO THE PRE-FALL CONDITION, RIGHT? SO THOSE ARE THE KIND OF PARAMETERS THAT WE ALSO APPLIED.

AND I HAVE SLIDES THAT ACTUALLY EXPLAINED A LITTLE BIT AND SHOW AND TELL, UH, THREE EXAMPLES WHAT THIS CRITERIA IS.

JUMP IN FOR ONE MORE TIME.

UM, I WAS GONNA JUST SAY ON THIS SLIDE, I THINK IT'S IMPORTANT, UM, ROBBIE'S GONNA START TALKING ABOUT CONTINGENCIES.

HE'S GONNA START TALKING ABOUT FAULTS AND PEOPLE USE DIFFERENT TERMINOLOGY TO UNDERSTAND WHAT THIS MEANS.

SOMETIMES WE'LL CALL IT N MINUS ONE CRITERIA, UM, THAT'S KIND OF FAIRLY COMMON KNOWN HERE.

THAT'S, UM, SHOWN AS A, AS A P ONE CONTINGENCY.

SO, SO WHAT I WANNA EXPLAIN IS THAT YOU'VE GOT A MODEL AND UM, AND YOU'VE GOT, YOU KNOW, THE LOAD AND THE GENERATION BUILT IN THAT.

AND THEN THE ANALYSIS SAYS HOW DO, HOW DOES THE POWER FLOW UNDER NORMAL CONDITIONS? UM, AND WHAT IS THE VOLTAGE AND WHAT IS THE CURRENT IN VARIOUS PLACES? AND THEN, UH, THEY STUDY TAKING A SINGLE TRANSMISSION ELEMENT OUT OF SERVICE.

UM, WHAT, WHAT, HOW DOES THAT DO TO CH WHAT DOES THAT DO TO CHANGE THE FLOW? WHAT DOES THAT DO TO CHANGE THE VOLTAGE? WHAT IF YOU TOOK A DIFFERENT TRANSMISSION ELEMENT OUT OF SERVICE? WELL, IF YOU TOOK A THIRD INDIVIDUALLY AT FIRST AND THEN, UM, AND THAT'S, YOU KNOW, FOR EVERY TRANSMISSION ELEMENT WITHIN OUR SYSTEM.

UM, SO YOU CAN IMAGINE THE TYPE OF ANALYSIS THAT'S DONE THERE AND THEN THEY GRADUALLY MAKE THOSE, UM, CONDITIONS WORSE AND WORSE.

UM, GOING ALL THE WAY UP FROM P ONE TO P SEVEN TYPE CONTINGENCIES, THAT DOESN'T MEAN SEVEN ELEMENTS OUT AT ONE TIME, BUT IT MEANS DIFFERENT COMBINATIONS OF MORE MAJOR, UM, ELEMENTS THAT ARE OUT.

AND SO EACH TIME THEY'RE ASSESSING TO FIGURE OUT WHAT'S THE WORST CASE SCENARIO IN TERMS OF THE IMPACTS TO VOLTAGE AND THE IMPACTS TO CURRENT.

AND RAVI WILL GO INTO ALL THAT DETAIL IN A MOMENT.

SO ALL OF THESE ARE N MINUS ONE, NONE OF THEM ARE N MINUS TWO.

NO, NO, THEY GO FURTHER.

YEAH, THE NERVE CRITERIA INCLUDES N MINUS TWO AND EXTREME EVENTS AND ALL THOSE KINDS OF THINGS.

YEAH, WE, WE DO HAVE MORE SLIDES TO EXPLAIN THAT.

THANK YOU LISA.

ALRIGHT, SO, SO BEFORE WE GET INTO THE ANALYSIS, I WANT TO AT LEAST ASSESS THE FACE VALUE OF THE STATE OF THE AUSTIN ENERGY SYSTEM.

LET ME CALL IT LIKE THAT.

SO I SAID TODAY'S SYSTEM OR YOU KNOW, VERY CLOSE, RIGHT, 2024 SUMMER PEAK.

WE WANTED TO TEST AND SEE, YOU KNOW, WHAT IS THE BEHAVIOR OF THE AUSTIN SYSTEM IF YOU CHOOSE TO RETIRE THE SANDHILL AND DECKER GENERATING UNITS AS AS A TEST TO MEASURE, YOU KNOW, THE IMPACTS OF THESE.

YOU MEAN IF WE CHOSE TO RETIRE 'EM RIGHT NOW IN 2024, JUST TO SEE, JUST TO CHECK, UH, JUST TO CHECK.

AND WHAT DO YOU SEE IS, SO WHAT WHAT THIS ANALYSIS CAPTURES IS WE ARE KIND OF INCREASING THE LOAD WITHIN THE AUSTIN ENERGY SYSTEM AND TRYING TO MEASURE THE VOLTAGES AT DIFFERENT POINTS IN THE SYSTEM.

SO THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE LOAD IN AUSTIN ENERGY SYSTEM AND THE VOLTAGES IS WHAT THIS CURVE IS.

SO AS, AND WHEN THE LOAD INCREASES, YOU CAN SEE THE VOLTAGE KEEPS DROPPING AND YOU KNOW THE RIGHT NOW THERE IS 2,900 MEGAWATTS OF LOAD, IT IS IN ONE OF THE TABLES IN THE MATRIX.

AND THEN IF THE LOAD ACTUALLY GOES TO LIKE 200, 200 OR 300 MEGAWATTS AND YOU WILL SEE THE VOLTAGE ACTUALLY COLLAPSING TO, UH, LIKE A VALUE, UH, BELOW 0.95 PER UNIT, WHICH IS PRETTY SERIOUS.

SO THIS IS JUST A, TO UNDERSTAND WHAT, WHAT IS HAPPENING, YOU KNOW, AT WHAT STAGE YOU ARE WITHIN THE OXYGEN ENERGY TRANSMISSION SYSTEM AND YOU CAN SEE ALL THESE DIFFERENT ARROWS IS AS SOON AS YOU RETIRED THE TWO GENERATING UNITS, ALL THIS LOAD WITHIN THE ENERGY SYSTEM THAT YOU'RE SEEING HERE IS GONNA IMPORT MORE POWER FROM OUTSIDE OF

[00:55:01]

ENERGY SYSTEM.

SO IT IS VERY IMPORTANT TO SS HOW CAPABLE IS THE SYSTEM OUTSIDE TO PROVIDE MORE POWER INSIDE.

AND THE ONE ADDITIONAL THING TO ALSO CONSIDER HERE IS IF YOUR LOAD IS MUCH FAR AWAY FROM YOUR SOURCE, YOU'LL SEE MORE VOLTAGE DEGRADATIONS.

SO THAT IS VERY IMPORTANT.

SO THESE ARE THE KEY PARAMETERS THAT WE OBSERVED.

AND MOVING ALONG I WANTED TO, I'M SORRY, CAN YOU SAY THAT ONE MORE TIME? YOU'LL SEE MORE WHAT, SO IF THE LOAD IS TOO FAR AWAY FROM THE SOURCE, YOU'LL SEE MORE VOLTAGE DEGRADATION.

AND I WANT TO SHOW YOU, UH, 2029 A SAME TEST ON A 2029 CASE.

THE LOAD IN THE SYSTEM IS 29 88 MEGAWATTS, LIKE 88 MEGAWATTS MORE THAN 2029.

AND YOU SEE THERE IS BARELY ANY HEADROOM FOR THE LOAD TO INCREASE.

AND IN THE 2029, IF AUSTIN ENERGY CHOOSES TO RETIRE THESE TWO GENERATING UNITS, THERE ARE LOTS OF PROBLEMS JUST ON THE FACE VALUE OF IT.

BUT IN ORDER FOR THIS CASE TO SOLVE, WHEN WE REMOVE THESE TWO GENERATING UNITS, WE HAD TO ADD 800 MEGAWATTS OF REACTIVE COMPENSATION.

IT'S A MECHANISM TO PROVIDE VOLTAGE SUPPORT TO THE SYSTEM BECAUSE RIGHT NOW THE VOLTAGE SUPPORT IS BEING GIVEN BY THE GENERATING UNITS.

SO WHEN AS SOON AS YOU RETIRED THEM, YOU'RE, YOU'RE LOSING THAT VOLTAGE SUPPORT.

SO YOU HAVE TO ADD CERTAIN AMOUNT OF VOLTAGE SUPPORT.

SO YOU DO, YOU DO YOU JUST CONVERT THE GENERATORS THAT ARE SAND HILL OR WHATEVER INTO SYNCHRONOUS CONDENSERS OR SOMETHING.

SO IN THIS UH, SCENARIO WE ADDED LIKE A CAB BANK BECAUSE IT'S A STEADY STATE TYPE OF ANALYSIS.

WE ARE NOT DOING TRANSIENT, BUT WHEN YOU DID IT TRANS STABILITY, I HAVE A SLIDE THAT SHOWS YOU THE BEHAVIOR ON VARIOUS TECHNOLOGIES.

AND THIS IS JUST TECHNICAL, IT'S NOT TALKING ABOUT BASIS RISK IN TERMS OF WHAT IT COULD DO FINANCIALLY.

RIGHT? RIGHT.

WELL THIS IS JUST TECHNICAL STUDIES.

CORRECT.

OKAY, SO, SO THIS IS LIKE A KEY OBSERVATION SLIDE, JUST A SUMMARY, UH, FOR FOLKS THAT ARE INTERESTED.

I MEAN, YOU KNOW, OVERALL LOAD IS AROUND THE 2,900 MEGAWATTS.

YOU'RE GOOD.

UM, THE OVERALL LOAD IN AUSTIN ENERGY SYSTEM IS AROUND 2,900 MEGAWATTS.

YOU KNOW, AS I POINTED OUT, THERE IS A LOT, LOT OF WESTERN PART OF AUSTIN ENERGY THAT IS MUCH FARTHER AWAY FROM THE 3 45 1 38 KV SUBSTATIONS, WHICH IS WHERE YOU'RE GETTING POWER FROM OUTSIDE OF THE SYSTEM, WHICH IS IMPORTANT CONSIDERATION HERE.

YOU KNOW, WHEN WHEN YOU HAVE A, A CLOSED SYSTEM AND YOU HAVE GENERATION WITHIN THE POCKET AND CERTAINLY YOU CHOOSE TO RETIRE TO THE GENERATION, AND THAT'S CERTAINLY LIKE A LARGE LOADING GREASE THAT'S PUTTING A BURDEN ON THE EXTERNAL SYSTEM.

AND THAT IS IMPORTANT TO CONSIDER BECAUSE YOU'LL SEE ME TALKING ABOUT THAT POINT THROUGH FURTHER ANALYSIS AND DOCUMENTS, RIGHT? UM, IN THE SAME TIME, IN THE 2029 KIND OF CASES, THERE ARE A LOT OF CHANGES HAPPENING ACROSS THE TEXAS SYSTEM, RIGHT? LIKE SAN ANTONIO IS RETURNING CERTAIN GENERATION, THERE'S MORE WIND AND UH, SOLAR ADDITIONS COMING AROUND ON THE SYSTEM.

SO THAT PUTS A LOT OF STRESS ON THE TRANSMISSION SYSTEM BETWEEN THE LARGE LOAD CENTERS, DALLAS, AUSTIN, SAN ANTONIO AND CENTER POINT, OR IN THE HOUSTON AREA, RIGHT? SO IF YOU ARE TRYING TO SQUEEZE MORE POWER GETTING SERVED FROM THESE ALREADY STRESS TRANSMISSION SYSTEM, YOU KNOW, IT IS GONNA BE VERY DIFFICULT.

SO I, I THINK THE RESULTS THAT WE ARE GONNA PRESENT, YOU KNOW, IN THE FOLLOWING SLIDES KIND OF SUPPORT THIS KIND OF STATEMENT AND THE CONCLUSION.

SORRY, I SHOULD HAVE ASKED THIS ON THE LAST SIDE, BUT CAN YOU EXPLAIN WHAT THE DIRECTION OF THE ARROWS YEAH.

MEANS? THE DIRECTION IN THE ARROWS IS, UH, THIS IS ALL THE AUSTIN ENERGY LOWER, THESE ARE THE MAIN 3 45, 1 38 CABLE SUBSTATIONS WHERE AUSTIN ENERGY IS IMPORTING POWER FROM THE OUTSIDE SYSTEM AND THIS SIDE OF THE SYSTEM THERE, THERE ARE NO THREE 40 FIVES, SAY IT'S ALL 1 38 KV.

THIS SLIDE, THE LOWER VOLTAGE INTERCHANGE.

SO IT'S A MAP THAT SHOWS YOU WHERE IS MY POWER COMING FROM AND WHY IS IT IMPORTANT? BECAUSE WHEN WE ARE TRYING TO DO OUTAGES, AND I'M PROBABLY JUMPING AHEAD A LITTLE BIT, IS IF I HAVE TWO TRANSFORMERS AND I HAVE THOUSAND MEGAWATTS COMING IN AND THERE'S A FAULT HAPPENS OR SOMETHING HAPPENS AND I LOSE ONE OF THE TRANSFORMERS, THEN THE OTHER TRANSFORMER WILL GET OVERLOADED.

OR IF I MAKE A MODIFICATION IN THE SYSTEM SUCH A WAY THAT I'M PULLING MORE POWER FROM A SUBSTATION, THEN I ONLY HAVE 2 1 38 KV LINES AND THEY'RE NOT FITTED HIGH ENOUGH, THEN I'M GONNA SEE THERMAL OVERLOADS.

SO THAT IS WHAT WE ARE TRYING TO TEST AS A PART OF THE STEADY STATE ANALYSIS.

OKAY, THANKS.

AND SO WHAT'S, CAN YOU EXPLAIN THE ARROWS THAT ARE HEADING OUT OF THE SERVICE AREA THEN? RIGHT.

SO THERE ARE, UH, I MEAN THIS IS AN INTERCONNECTED SYSTEM.

SO THERE ARE TWO FLOWS THROUGH THE AUSTIN ENERGY SYSTEM TO OTHER AREAS.

THERE ARE A COUPLE TIMES TO L CCRA, A COUPLE TIES TO OUTSIDE OF THE SYSTEM, UH, WHERE SOME MEMBER OF POWER ACTUALLY IS GOING OUT THROUGH THE ONE 30 K LINES.

CASES IS THERE ARE A COUPLE OF 1 38 KV LINES THAT WERE BUILT, YOU KNOW, UH, QUITE A FEW YEARS AGO.

NO, JUST, JUST CONCLUDING THIS KIND OF KEY OBSERVATIONS.

YOU KNOW, WHAT WE SAW IN THE

[01:00:01]

AND IT'S A SYSTEM THAT HAS EVOLVED OVER TIME.

UH, THE CURRENT STANDARDS HAVE A MUCH HIGHER RATING THAN THE LINES WHEN THEY WERE BUILT, THEY WERE, THEY HAD A SMALLER LOWER RATING.

AND THAT IS IMPORTANT TO LEARN, ESPECIALLY WHEN YOU'RE TRYING TO LEAN ON GETTING MORE POWER FROM OUTSIDE OF THE SYSTEM INTO THE AUSTIN ENERGY SYSTEM.

YOU WANT TO HAVE A, A ROBUST 1 38 KV SYSTEM AND NOT HAVE WEAKER RATINGS.

UM, AND THERE ARE ALSO SIMILARLY OUT SLIGHTLY OUTSIDE THE AUSTIN ENERGY'S FOOTPRINT, THERE ARE 3 45 KV LINES THAT YOU'RE LEANING ON TO GET POWER.

THEY ARE ALSO RATED LOWER THAN WHAT ANY UTILITY WOULD BUILD, UH, BASED ON TODAY'S TECHNOLOGY.

SO JUST TO START OFF FROM OUR ANALYSIS SLIDE, YOU CAN SEE THIS IS THE AUSTIN ENERGY.

ALL THE RED, UH, STUFF THAT YOU SEE HERE IS A HYBRID H 3 45 KV TRANSMISSION NETWORK WITHIN, UH, TEXAS AND OURS.

THE, THE GREEN CIRCLE YOU SEE HERE IS OUR STUDY BOUNDARY.

SO WE WANTED TO, WE WANTED TO MAKE SURE OUR STUDY HAS LITTLE BIT OF ROBUSTNESS WHERE WE WANTED TO TAKE OUTAGES WITHIN THE OXYGEN ENERGY SYSTEM TEST WHAT IT DOES TO THE EXTERNAL SYSTEM, ALSO TAKE OUT OUTAGES ON THE EXTERNAL SYSTEM AND WHAT IT DOES TO THE OXYGEN ENERGY SYSTEM.

SO THIS IS A PRETTY COMPREHENSIVE STUDY.

I THINK WE RAN AROUND 2,500 PLUS OUTAGES ON EACH SCENARIO.

SO THIS IS A LOT OF RESULTS THAT WE HAVE PROCESSED AS A PART OF THIS STUDY EFFORT.

OF OUR TRANSIENT STABILITY ANALYSIS.

SO, UM, AND JUST TO RECAP, SO THIS IS A TPL ONE DASH FIVE, WHICH IS ANNER GUIDELINE, WHICH CAPTURES ALL THE SINGLE ELEMENT OUTAGE, MULTI-ELEMENT OUTAGE WHERE YOU CAN HAVE A FAULT ON A, A BUS OF A SUBSTATION WHERE YOU'RE LOSING THE ENTIRE SUBSTATION OR YOU'RE HAVING JUST A SINGLE FAULT ON A LINE WHERE YOU'RE LOSING, LOSING JUST ONE LINE, YOU KNOW, THINGS OF THAT NATURE.

SO WE HAVE STUDIED THE FULL, UH, SET OF CONTINGENCIES, UH, THAT'S WHAT LISA WAS EXPLAINING, OR OUTAGES, YOU KNOW, HOWEVER YOU MAY WANT TO CALL IT.

WHAT YOU SAW IN THE PLOTS BEFORE IS THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN POWER AND VOLTAGE.

I WANNA MAKE SURE I'M GOING TO CALL THAT AS A PV ANALYSIS.

SO WE WANT TO MEASURE REACTIVE POWER AGAINST VOLTAGE.

AND I DO HAVE SOME INFORMATION THAT I'M GOING TO GET INTO.

IT'S KIND OF LIKE A QV ANALYSIS, IT'S A VERY TECHNICAL TERM.

UH, BUT THIS IS, IS EASY TO UNDERSTAND THE STATE OF THE SYSTEM BY THESE KIND OF TOOLS TO, AND, AND FIND OUT WHAT THE NEEDS IN THE SYSTEM ARE.

OKAY, SO WE, THIS IS JUST A SUMMARY OF OUR PRESENTATION, RIGHT? SO THIS IS A 2024 SUMMARY B UH, STEADY STATE SUMMARY.

SO AS YOU CAN SEE, WE HAVE LISTED ALL THE DIFFERENT SCENARIOS.

WE HAVE RUN A VARIETY OF OUTAGES, AND HERE IS A SNAPSHOT OF THE KEY OUTAGES THAT CAUSE OVERLOADS AND A BUNCH OF ELEMENTS.

AND WHAT DO YOU SEE HERE IS YELLOW MEANS IT IS BETWEEN 90 TO A HUNDRED PERCENT OF THE LOADING OF THE RATING OF THE FACILITY.

A HUNDRED MEANS IT ALREADY IS ABOVE THE FACILITY RATING.

GREEN MEANS IT IS BELOW THE 90% OF THE FACILITY RATING.

SO WE CAN, AND YOU CAN SEE OVER THE TREND OF SCENARIOS, YOU'RE BUILDING YOURSELF INTO MORE AND MORE STRESS SCENARIOS GOING FORWARD.

BECAUSE LET'S SAY FOR EXAMPLE, THE SCENARIO TWO, WHICH IS THE, UM, RETIRED RETIREMENT KIND OF CASE WITH A NORMAL LOAD GROWTH SCENARIO VERSUS SCENARIO FOUR, WHICH IS A LOT MORE RED.

AND IF YOU GO TO THE 2029, THAT'S A MUCH BIGGER LIST AND A LOT MORE PROBLEMS, YOU KNOW, A LOT MORE OUTAGES SHOW A LOT MORE VIOLATIONS.

AND IF YOU EXTRAPOLATE THESE RESULTS AND CONDUCT THE SAME KIND OF ANALYSIS ON DIFFERENT SCENARIOS FOR LET'S SAY EVEN GOING FURTHER, 2032, AND THIS IS THE FARTHEST CASE THAT ERCOT PUTS OUT A 10 YEAR CASE.

YOU SEE THE LIST GOING MUCH BIGGER.

UM, AND WE TALKED ABOUT STEADY STATE ANALYSIS.

I WANNA SPEND MAYBE A FEW MINUTES ON THE TRANSIENT STABILITY ANALYSIS.

AND THIS IS IMPORTANT BECAUSE, YOU KNOW, ON A HOT DAY LIKE TODAY, YOU KNOW, IT, IT'S VERY EASY TO UNDERSTAND EVERY RESIDENTIAL, EVERY COMMERCIAL, EVERY INDUSTRIAL HOME, UH, OR YOU KNOW, HAS AIR CONDITIONING ON, RIGHT? IT IS GONNA BE VERY DIFFERENT SET OF LIKE A LOADING PATTERN COMPARED TO LIKE THE SAME LOAD ON A DIFFERENT KIND OF, UH, TEMPERA TEMPERATURE CONDITIONS, RIGHT? SO THIS LOAD BEHAVIOR IS VERY IMPORTANT FOR US TO MODEL.

AND I'LL GET INTO A LITTLE BIT OF SLICE TO SHOW YOU WHAT WHAT DOES IT MEAN, UH, FROM A VOLTAGE, UH, STABILITY POINT OF VIEW AND WHY LOAD MODEL IS VERY IMPORTANT.

SO IF YOU HAVE A SORT OF LOAD BEHAVIOR, UH, WHERE YOU HAVE LOT OF SINGLE FACE AC LOAD THREE FACE AC LOAD AC LOADS BEHAVE IN A CERTAIN WAY WHERE YOU CAN SEE WHEN YOU HAVE A FAULT AND YOU'RE TRY TO CLEAR THE FAULT WHEN YOU VOLTAGE ACTUALLY IS RECOVERING, YOU CAN SEE A DELAYED VOLTAGE RECOVERY.

AND THIS CAN TAKE ANYWHERE FROM, UH, TWO SECONDS TO 10 SECONDS DEPENDING ON THE TYPE OF FAULT AND DEPENDING ON THE TYPE OF LOAD.

SO OUR GOAL IS TO CAPTURE THE LOAD BEHAVIOR AS A PART

[01:05:01]

AND THIS IS CALLED, IT'S A, IT'S A TECHNICAL TERM AGAIN, IT'S CALLED FAULT INDUCED DELAYED VOLTAGE RECOVERY.

SO I HAVE A FAULT AND I CLEAR THE FAULT AND THE VOLTAGES RECOVERS VERY SLOWLY.

OKAY? SO THIS IS JUST A SNAPSHOT ON WHY THIS IS IMPORTANT.

FOR EXAMPLE, IF YOU DON'T MODEL YOUR LOAD BEHAVIOR ACCURATELY, YOU WOULD ACTUALLY SEE A FAULT AND RECOVERY JUST LIKE THIS ON THE HIGH VOLTAGE TRANSMISSION LINES, WHICH IS WHAT ARE TRANSMISSION MODELS THAT COME FROM ERCOT SHOW, BUT YOU WANTED TO ACTUALLY HAVE A CERTAIN AMOUNT OF LOAD MODEL BEHIND IT.

SO IF YOU HAVE THE SAME FAULT, YOU CAN ACTUALLY SEE THE DELAYED VOLTAGE RECOVERY LIKE THIS.

AND THIS IS JUST AN EXAMPLE, UH, FROM SOME PAPER, A UTILITY IN CALIFORNIA EXPERIENCED IT AND THEY WERE ABLE TO CAPTURE IT.

SO WHAT WE DID WAS WE PAID LIKE 10 DIFFERENT REMOTE PORTIONS OF, UH, SUBSTATIONS ON THE OXYGEN ENERGY GRID.

I'M GOING CALL, GOING TO CALL IT A WEAK GRID BECAUSE THAT'S A, A TECHNICAL TERM AGAIN, BECAUSE IT HAS A LOWER SHORT CIRCUIT RATIO.

AND WE REVIEWED ALL THE DISTRIBUTION MODEL FEEDER BY FEEDER AT EVERY OF THOSE SUBSTATIONS.

WE UNDERSTOOD HOW MUCH RESIDENTIAL WAS THERE, HOW MUCH COMMERCIAL LOAD WAS THERE, HOW MUCH INDUSTRIAL LOAD WAS THERE, WHAT SIZE OF LOADS WERE ON THOSE FEEDERS.

AND WE DEVELOPED A REALISTIC MODEL IN A SOFTWARE CALLED PSCA, WHICH IS VERY DIFFERENT AS A TRANSIENT MODEL, VERY ACCURATE MODEL.

UM, AND THEN WHAT WE DID WAS WE KIND OF CLUBBED ALL THOSE DIFFERENT LOADS INTO RESIDENTIAL, COMMERCIAL, INDUSTRIAL.

AND WE GAVE THIS SORT OF LIKE A BREAKDOWN BASED ON, HEY, THIS IS A LOAD WHICH HAS A THREE FACE MOTOR THAT'S SO MUCH HARD POWER.

THIS IS A SINGLE FACE MOTOR.

THIS HAS SO MUCH HARD POWER.

SO WE LOOKED AT ALL THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF LOADS, THE SIZES OF LOADS, AND WE CAME UP WITH A COMPOSITE LOAD MODEL.

SO WE DID ALL THAT EFFORT IN PS CAD WITH THE GOAL TO HAVE AN EQUAL AND MODEL IN OUR TRANSIENT STABILITY ANALYSIS.

SO WHAT THAT MEANS, AND THIS IS A PLOT THAT SHOWS THAT THE ORANGE ONE IS WHAT WE THINK IS A REALISTIC BEHAVIOR IF AND IF, IF THERE'S A FAULT IN THE LOAD COMPOSITION.

AND WE DERIVED AN EQUIVALENT MODEL, WHICH IS THE BLUE LINE, WHICH ACTUALLY TRACES THE PSCA MODEL.

SO WE WERE VERY CONFIDENT OF THE MODEL THAT WE WERE APPLYING AS A PART OF THE STABILITY ANALYSIS.

AND THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT BECAUSE, UH, YOU KNOW, WHEN YOU LOSE GENERATION AND YOU ARE COMPLETELY SURROUNDED BY TRANSMISSION LINES AND YOU'RE LEANING ON THE TRANSMISSION TO SERVE YOUR LOADS, IT IS IMPORTANT TO CAPTURE THE LOAD BEHAVIOR.

THAT'S WHY THIS WAS, THIS EFFORT WAS DONE.

NOW, YOU KNOW, ONCE WE HAVE DONE ALL OF THAT, DID WE SEE FOR DELAYED VOLTAGE RECOVERY? AND THIS IS A SAMPLE SIMULATION, AS YOU CAN SEE, THERE IS QUITE A BIT OF DELAYED VOLTAGE RECOVERY.

IT PASSES THE CRITERIA, BUT YOU KNOW, THERE ARE CERTAIN AREAS IN THE SYSTEM THAT ARE PRETTY CLOSE TO FAILING CRITERIA WHERE THE VOLTAGE DROPS TO, YOU KNOW, LET'S SAY IN THIS CASE, YOU KNOW, 0.6, 0.7 PER UNIT AND THEN IT RECOVERS SLOWLY, QUITE SLOWLY.

SO YOU WANTED TO UNDERSTAND THAT THIS IS IMPORTANT FOR YOU TO CONSIDER ON, YOU KNOW, THE CONSEQUENCES OF RETIRING GENERATION IN A LOWER POCKET.

SO THIS IS THE 2028, THE PREVIOUS SLIDE WAS 2024, AND THIS IS 2028.

SCENARIO FOUR, WHICH IS A LOAD GROWTH.

FOR EXAMPLE, IF YOU SAY THIS IS A NORM NOMINAL LOAD GROWTH AFTER RETIREMENTS AND IT HAS A CERTAIN PROFILE, IT'S PROBABLY 1.9 0.8 0.75 IS WHAT THE LOWEST IS.

BUT IF YOU GO TO THE ACCELERATED OR HIGH LOAD GROWTH KIND OF SCENARIO, IT DIPS EVEN FURTHER.

YOU KNOW, 0.9, 0.8 0.7, IT GOES AROUND 0.7 FROM 0.75.

SO THESE THINGS HAVE AN IMPACT ON VOLTAGE RECOVERY.

SO IN A NUTSHELL, THE SLIDES THAT I HAVE PRESENTED SO FAR, YOU KNOW, WE HAVE STEADY STATE ANALYSIS, TRANSIENT ANALYSIS, RIGHT? SO WE PUT ALL THE RESULTS TOGETHER AND WE HAD A VERY THOROUGH WHITEBOARD SESSION WITH THE AUSTIN ENERGY PLANNING TEAM TO COME UP WITH THE MITIGATIONS.

AND WHAT SORT OF MITIGATIONS DID WE COME IN? AS WE SAID, ONCE YOU'RE RETIRING, SO SORRY, I KEEP DOING THIS, OKAY? UM, YOU KNOW, SO WHEN WE ARE RETURN GENERATION, YOU KNOW, THE, OUR IDEAL MAYBE, MAYBE STEP ONE STRATEGY IS LET'S TRY TO BRING IN A NEW TRANSMISSION LINE TO REPLACE THAT POWER INTO THE SYSTEM, RIGHT? SO WE CONSIDERED A NEW 3 45 KV LINE FROM AN EXTERNAL SYSTEM AND OXYGEN ENERGY TO CONNECT TO AN EXISTING THREE 40, UH, 1 38 KV SUBSTATION WITH THE AUTO TRANSFORMER.

AND, YOU KNOW, WE TALKED ABOUT SOME, I TALKED SO MUCH ABOUT THE VOLTAGE STABILITY ISSUES AND THE REACTIVE POWER CHALLENGES WITH AN ENERGY SYSTEM.

SO THE TWO AND THREE ARE DELIVERING THE SIZE AND THE LOCATION AND TRYING TO OPTIMIZE, YOU KNOW, WHAT ACTUALLY WORKS FOR THE ENERGY SYSTEM.

AND WHEN WE WERE REVIEWING THE PLANNING CASES,

[01:10:01]

I TALKED ABOUT 1 38 KV LINES BEING, YOU KNOW, I HAVE SMALLER RATINGS.

THERE ARE A COUPLE OF AUTO TRANSFORMERS IN AND AROUND OXYGEN ENERGY 3 45, 1 38 THAT ARE LOWER SIZE.

AND WITH THE LOW GROWTH YOU WANT TO CONSIDER REPLACING THEM TO A LARGER SIZE.

SO IN OUR STUDY, WE UH, CONSIDERED REPLACING WHEREVER POSSIBLE, UH, TO A THOUSAND MBA, 3 45 TO 1 38 TRANSFORMERS, AND THEN REPLACE SOME EXISTING HEALTHY TRANSFORMERS INTO AN SUBSTATION WHERE THERE ARE MUCH MORE LOWER RATED TRANSFORMERS.

AND ALSO WE THOUGHT ABOUT, YOU KNOW, MAYBE CAN, HOW CAN WE OPTIMIZE FURTHER, YOU KNOW, IF WE CAN, UH, RECONDUCT OUR A CERTAIN 1 38 KV LINES, YOU KNOW, UH, CAN WE BETTER BALANCE THE SYSTEM IS WHAT THAT SOLUTION FIVE WAS.

UM, SOLUTION SIX, YOU KNOW, UH, FOLKS WHO UNDERSTAND TRANSFORMERS AND HOW THEY OPERATE, THEY HAVE TRANSFORMER TAPS.

NOW SOMETIMES THE LOWER VOLTAGE SIDE TAPS ARE THERE TO REGULATE.

THE VOLTAGE IS ON 1 38 AND WE WANTED TO TEST AND SEE IF YOU MOVE THEM AND PUT THE TAPS ON THE HIGH VOLTAGE SIDE, MAYBE THERE'S GONNA BE SOME BENEFIT, YOU KNOW.

UM, AND NUMBER SEVEN IS, UH, CONSIDERING REPLACING OR REBUILDING 1 38 KV LINES TO 3 45 KV LINES IN EXISTING CORRIDORS.

AND I DO HAVE A SLIDE THAT DISCUSSES WHAT THAT IS.

AND THEN WE ALSO, UH, STUDY LIKE NON-VIRAL ALTERNATIVES LIKE BATTERY STORAGE AND WE REPLACED, UH, AT THE GENERATING STATIONS WITH BATTERIES.

SO I'LL ALSO TALK ABOUT IT NOW, MANY DI HOW MANY HOUR DURATION IS THAT? 200 MEGABYTES.

SO THIS IS A PLANNING STUDY, NOT A, LIKE A PRODUCTION COST STUDY WHERE WE WANNA MODEL STORAGE, BUT FOR A PLANNING STUDY WE DO MODEL BATTERIES AS A GENERATION AS WELL AS A LOAD BECAUSE YOU WANT TO BE ABLE TO, UH, SURVIVE BECAUSE YOU CANNOT CONTROL THE BEHAVIOR OF THE BATTERY.

THE ECONOMICS WILL AUTOMATICALLY SAY IT'S GONNA GENERATE OR, UH, IT'S GONNA CHARGE.

AND WE WANTED TO TEST.

SO I DO HAVE, I WILL TALK ABOUT THAT.

SO THIS IS JUST A RE RECAP OF THE 2029 SUMMER PEAK.

YOU KNOW, UM, THE ARROWS ARE IMPORTANT FOR FOLKS WHO WANTED TO GET A LITTLE BIT MORE INSIGHT INTO THIS IS HOW THE SHIFT, HOW THE POWER IS GETTING IMPORTED.

IF I ADD A NEW LINE INTO THE SYSTEM, HOW IS IT GOING TO CHANGE? SO THAT IS THE GOAL.

THIS IS LIKE A REFERENCE.

AND LET'S SAY FOR EXAMPLE, THIS IS THE SOLUTION ONE WHERE WE ADDED A NEW TRANSMISSION LINE INTO THE OPTION ENERGY SYSTEM.

AND AS YOU CAN SEE, AUTOMATICALLY THE 3 45 IS PUSHING 760 MEGAWATTS INTO THE AUCTIONER.

YOU WANT THAT EIGHT KV SYSTEM, THAT MEANS IT OFFLOADED ALL THESE EXISTING SUBSTATION TRANSFORMERS.

THE SYSTEM IS GOING TO BE HELD BETTER, BETTER.

SO LET'S SAY WITHOUT THIS LINE, IF I LOSE ONE TRANSFORMER, THE OTHER TRANSFORMER GETS OVERLOADED.

NOW WITH THIS NEW LINE COMING IN, IT'S GONNA, IT'S GONNA RELIEVE THE BURDEN ON ALL OF THESE TRANSFORMERS.

SO IT'S ONE WAY TO SAY, OKAY, I CAN BUY A COUPLE MORE YEARS AND THIS IS ONE WAY TO CONSIDER RE YOU KNOW, RETIREMENT OF GENERATION BECAUSE I'M GETTING POWER FROM OUTSIDE SYSTEM.

SO THE, SO THE SCENARIO TWO AND THREE, OR PROJECT TWO AND THREE MITIGATIONS ARE REACTIVE POWER RELATED.

SO WHAT WE DID WAS WE DID A, ORIGINALLY WE UTILIZED THE GENERATING STATIONS WITH, UH, 400 MEGAWATT LAB BANKS AT BOTH OF THESE LOCATIONS.

AND WE WANTED TO SAY, OKAY, IF THE GENERATION STATIONS HAVE TO BE, UM, YOU KNOW, THE LAND NEEDS TO BE FOR SOMETHING ELSE, IF THE GENERATION NEED TO BE REPOWERED BY SOME OTHER TECHNOLOGY, WHAT IF, WHAT IF SCENARIOS, RIGHT? SO WHERE ELSE CAN YOU ADD THE REACTIVE POWER COMPENSATION TO GET THE SAME KIND OF, UH, PERFORMANCE? SO WE DID AN ANALYSIS AND WE FOUND FOUR DIFFERENT SITES WHERE WE FEEL YOU'RE GONNA GET AN EQUIVALENT PERFORMANCE IF YOU CHOOSE NOT TO PUT REACTIVE POWER IN THESE STATIONS.

AND THIS IS THE SAME, UH, PLOT.

LET ME GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE.

SO HOW WE DETERMINE IS, YOU KNOW, WE PICKED THESE FOUR STATIONS, LIKE I SAID, YOU KNOW, WE DID A REACTIVE POWER VERSUS VOLTAGE KIND OF ANALYSIS AND ALL, AND THESE ARE LIKE THE WEAKEST PORTIONS OF THE USE SYSTEM WHERE YOU CAN SEE THERE'S 150 MEGAWATT DEFICIT, 150 MEGAWATT DEFICIT, YOU KNOW, AND SO AND SO FORTH AT FOUR DIFFERENT LOCATIONS.

THAT MEANS THE SYSTEM NEEDS SO MUCH REACTIVE POWER.

AND THIS IS RIGHT AFTER THE REPLACEMENTS ON THE 2029, UH, SUMMER PEAK SCENARIO.

SO OUR RECOMMENDATION IS TO LEAVE A LITTLE BIT OF HEADROOM, UH, FOR THE REACTIVE POWER FOR WATER CHANGES.

SO WE ARE RECOMMENDING A 200 MEGA BAR AT EACH OF THESE FOUR SUBSTATIONS.

SO NOW THAT, LET'S SAY ON THIS ANALYSIS, IF YOU PUT THESE REACTOR POWER DEVICES ON THESE LOCATIONS, YOU KNOW, WHERE, WHERE IS THE VOLTAGE THAT'S GONNA DETERIORATE? NEXT IS, IS WHAT THIS PLOT IS SHOWING.

SO WE FOUND OUT A COUPLE HOTSPOTS WHERE IF YOU, IF YOU HAVE A TRANSMISSION LINE THAT'S, THAT HAS LOAD EVERYWHERE, YOU KNOW, TYPICALLY THE LOWEST VOLTAGE PERFORMANCE IS AT THE MIDDLE OF THE TRANSMISSION LINE.

NOT ASCENDING END, NOT A RECEIVING END, BECAUSE AT BOTH ENDS THERE ARE SYSTEMS THAT ARE GONNA

[01:15:01]

SUPPORT IT, BUT IN THE MIDDLE THERE IS NO EXTERNAL SYSTEM SUPPORTING THE VOLTAGE.

SO YOU WOULD SEE THAT.

SO, UM, SO WE PICKED THESE AND WE SAID, OKAY, NOW WE USE THOSE HOTSPOTS TO SAY, NOW THAT WE ADDED REACTOR POWER, IF I REPEAT MY POWER VERSUS VOLTAGE, HOW MUCH HEADROOM AM I GETTING FOR THESE TRANSMISSION SOLUTIONS? WIRED SOLUTIONS, JUST WITH THE REACTOR POWER, A COMBINATION OF REACTIVE POWER CLASSIFIED SOLUTION IS, IS IS A SUMMARY OF THIS.

SO THIS IS THE 2029 SUMMER PEAK SCENARIO, AND WE DID, UM, WITH A N MINUS TWO, THERE'S LOSS OF TWO AUTO TRANSFORMERS.

UM, IN THE AUSTIN ENERGY SYSTEM, IF YOU RECALL, YOU KNOW, THERE WAS, THIS WAS, I SAID IN THE 2029 SUMMER PEAK AFTER TOURNAMENTS, THERE WAS BARELY ANY HEADROOM.

SO THAT WAS THIS CURVE.

AND THEN THERE ARE A BUNCH OF MITIGATIONS THAT ARE DESCRIBED HERE ON HOW YOU ARE GETTING ADDITIONAL CAPABILITY IN THE SYSTEM FOR SERVING LOAD BASED ON THESE TYPE OF ANALYSIS.

AND I DID TALK ABOUT TECHNOLOGY, RIGHT? UM, ABOUT REACTIVE POWER, YOU KNOW, IS, IS CAPTOR BANK GOOD ENOUGH? IS STAT COM, WHICH IS LIKE A CAPTOR BANK WITH VERY EXPENSIVE POWER ELECTRONICS AROUND IT, OR A SYNCHRONOUS CONDENSER? WHAT KIND OF SYSTEM IS ACTUALLY BENEFICIAL FOR THEARY SYSTEM? SO THIS IS A SAMPLE, LET'S SAY, WHERE YOU HAVE A THREE PHASE FAULT AND YOU'RE TRIPPING, UH, A 3 45 K V LINE.

AS YOU CAN SEE, THE BLUE LINE IS WITH A CAT BAG, THE ORANGE LINE IS WITH THE STAT COM, AND THE GREEN LINE IS WITH A SYNCHRONOUS CONDENSERS.

IT IS PROBABLY OBVIOUS EVEN BEFORE YOU DO THAT, BECAUSE YOU HAVE NO GENERATION IN A LOAD POCKET AND YOU'RE LOSING SYSTEM STRENGTH.

A SYNCHRONOUS CONDENSER WOULD PROVIDE THE INNER INITIAL STRENGTH AND SHORT CIRCUIT STRENGTH TO HELP, UH, BOOST THE VOLTAGE VERY FAST COMPARED TO EVEN STAT COM.

BUT YOU CAN ALSO PLAY AROUND WITH STAT COM ORCS TO FURTHER OPTIMIZE AND CLOSE THIS GAP.

BUT IF YOU HAD A BIG BATTERY, COULDN'T IT ALSO COMPENSATE AND HAVE RECOVERY? YEAH, A A BIG BATTERY NEEDS TO BE VERY BIG AND IT'LL HAVE ITS OWN SET OF CHALLENGES.

YOU KNOW, WOODED SUPPORT, YES, YOU CAN GET SOME AMOUNT OF WOODED SUPPORT, BUT THE BATTERY ALSO IS A LOAD AND IT NEEDS TO GET CHARGED AND THAT MIGHT BE A BIG ISSUE AND A DEAL BREAKER.

SO THOSE ARE PROBABLY CHEAPER ALTERNATIVES THAN A HUGE BATTERY ALWAYS.

YOU KNOW, THIS, THE PROJECT ONE, WHICH IS A NEW 3 45 K, WE ALIGN INTO THE OCEAN ENERGY SYSTEM, PROVIDES BETTER BALANCING, IMPROVES THE SYSTEM READINESS FLOWS, UM, AND HELPS WITH A LOT OF OUTAGES.

SO THIS IS, UH, A PROJECT FOUR, UM, AND FOLKS INTERESTED HERE, YOU CAN LOOK AT THE, HOW THE FLOWS ARE CHANGING BASED ON DIFFERENT SOLUTIONS.

SO WE DID DESCRIBE THE SOLUTION HERE AND HOW THE FLOWS ARE SHIFTING.

UM, PROJECT FIVE WHERE WE ARE TRYING TO RAINFOREST CERTAIN 1 38 KV LINES BECAUSE THERE ARE PORTIONS OF THE SYSTEM THAT ARE BRINGING IN MORE POWER, BUT THE LINES COMING OUT OF THE STATIONS ARE, HAVE A POOR RATING.

SO IF YOU REPLACE THOSE LINES TO A HIGHER RATING LINES, UM, YOU CAN, YOU'RE GETTING A LITTLE BIT MORE CAPABILITY TO PUSH POWER BACK INTO THE AUSTIN ALREADY SYSTEM.

AND THIS IS PROJECT SEVEN WHERE WE MOVE THE TAPS FROM 1 38 TO 3 45 KV SITE.

I DON'T THINK WE HAVE SEEN A LOT OF BENEFIT.

UM, AND THIS IS PROJECT EIGHT WHERE WHAT WE SAID IS, OKAY, NOW ONE LINE, WE KNOW IT'S, IT'S GOING TO SHOW SOME BENEFIT.

SO WHAT IF WE HAVE, UM, A NORTH LINE, A NEW LINE COMING 3 45 COMING INTO, LET'S SAY ONE OF THE SUBSTATIONS AND CONVERT ONE OF THE 3 1 30 EIGHTS INTO THREE 40 FIVES EVEN AT SOUTH.

SO YOU HAVE TWO LINES COMING IN AND IF YOU LOOK CLOSELY, YOU KNOW, YOU'RE GETTING ALMOST 1200 MEGAWATTS OF POWER FROM EXTERNAL SYSTEM INTO ENERGY SYSTEM IN THE 2029 CASE.

YOU KNOW, NOW THAT WE HAVE, YOU KNOW, DISCUSSED, YOU KNOW, HOW THE CASES ARE BUILT AND WHAT WE HAVE STUDIED.

SO WE HAVE PUT EACH OF THOSE SCENARIOS ON EACH OF THOSE PROJECT CASES AND WE DID A FULL BLOWN STEADY STATE ANALYSIS AND STABILITY ANALYSIS.

SO THIS IS A TABLE THAT IS SHOWING THE P ONE EVENTS, WHICH IS JUST LOSS OF SINGLE ELEMENT.

UH, LET'S SAY THE PROJECT 1 3 45 KV SOURCE IS PRETTY GOOD, UH, FROM A P ONE POINT OF VIEW.

UH, AND WE ARE ALSO LOOKING AT IT FROM A SCENARIO FOUR WITH AN AGGRESSIVE LOAD GROWTH.

UH, THAT KIND OF IS A, IS A MIMICKING, UH, THE HEADROOM KIND OF SCENARIO.

AND THEN THIS IS A SIMILAR TABLE WITH THE P TWO TO P SEVEN, WHICH IS DIFFERENT VARIETIES OF, YOU KNOW, STOCK BREAK OR BUS FALLS, BUS SECTION FALLS, YOU KNOW, COMMON CORRIDOR OUTAGES, THINGS LIKE THAT, THAT ARE GOING TO TEST THE SYSTEM A LOT MORE.

I THINK EVEN IN THIS SITUATION, WE ARE SEEING THERE ARE A COUPLE OUTAGES THAT STILL DON'T GET SOLVED BECAUSE OF A NEW LINE AND THE SOURCE COMING IN THE SYSTEM, BUT THEY DO HAVE QUITE A BIT COMPARED TO THE OTHER SOLUTIONS.

NOW.

NOW THIS IS SORT OF LIKE A HIGH LEVEL SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATION.

AND KEEP IN MIND THIS IS A PLANNING CITY.

SO THIS IS SUMMARIZED EXACTLY WHAT I DESCRIBED OVER THE LAST COUPLE SLIDES.

[01:20:01]

PROJECT TWO AND THREE, I THINK THEY'RE VERY EFFECTIVE.

UM, AND THEY DO PROVIDE A LITTLE BIT OF HEADROOM, BUT ESPECIALLY, YOU KNOW, WHEN YOU'RE THINKING ABOUT GENERATION RETIREMENTS, THINKING ABOUT REPLACING THOSE REACTIVE POWER WITH NEW DEVICES IS ALMOST ESSENTIAL.

UH, PROJECT FOUR IS REPLACING TRANSFORMERS.

I THINK THEY ARE EFFECTIVE, BUT IT NEED TO BE COUPLED WITH A LOT OF OTHER SOLUTIONS BECAUSE ONCE YOU OPEN UP BIGGER TRANSFORMERS, BUT YOU HAVE YOUR 1 38 SYSTEM AS HAS BAD RATINGS, YOU'RE HURTING YOUR SYSTEM MORE.

SO YOU HAVE TO COUPLE THOSE UPGRADES WITH 1 38 KV RE CONDUCTOR.

UH, CAN WE, CAN WE STAY ON THAT PLEASE? SORRY.

SO THIS MIGHT BE MORE FOR LISA.

UM, SO GIVEN WE SOCIALIZE TRANSMISSION COSTS, RIGHT? AUSTIN ENERGY CUSTOMERS ARE PAYING FOR HOUSTON IMPORT AND RIO GRANDE VALLEY UPGRADES THAT HAVE BEEN HAPPENING, RIGHT? SO IF YOU DO, I GUESS THE GREENS OR WHAT YOU'D LIKE TO DO, HOW MUCH OF THAT DO AE UH, RATE PAYERS ACTUALLY PAY VERSUS IT GETTING UPLIFTED TO THE OVERALL TRANSMISSION COSTS AND POSTAGE STAMPS ACROSS ALL OF ERCOT CUSTOMERS? YEAH, SO, UM, IT DEPENDS ON WHICH, WHAT THE PROJECT IS.

IF THE PROJECT IS COMPLETELY TRANSMISSION, UM, AND IT IS, UH, JUSTIFIED THROUGH THE ERCOT, UH, RP TRANSMISSION RP YEAH, RPG, UH, UH, UH, RE UH, PLANNING GROUP TO ASSESS THAT IT IS NEEDED FOR RELIABILITY, THEN IT CAN GET INCORPORATED INTO OUR TRANSMISSION COST OF SERVICE.

THERE ARE SOME PROJECTS UP HERE THAT THE PROJECT ONE, THE NEW 3 45 KV SOURCE, UM, RIGHT IN INVOLVES, UM, WELL I ACTUALLY JUST MODELED THE TRANSMISSION PORTION OF IT.

OKAY, I WAS GONNA SAY IF THERE WAS A DISTRIBUTION PORTION MODELED THEN THAT WOULD GO INTO BASE RATES, BUT THAT'S NOT PART OF WHAT THIS IS.

SO, UH, SO FOR THE MOST PART, ALL OF THESE, UH, WOULD BE BAKED INTO TRANSMISSION COST OF SERVICE.

BUT AGAIN, THEY HAVE TO BE, WE CAN'T JUST, WE CAN'T JUST SAY THEY'RE NEEDED.

THEY HAVE TO GO THROUGH THE FULL ERCOT PROCESS AND JUSTIFY IT IN THAT SENSE AS RELIABILITY PROJECTS CAN, CAN WE, IS THIS STUDY PROJECTABLE, IN OTHER WORDS, UM, THIS IS ASSUMING GENERATION COMES OFF IN LINE IN 2029, BUT WE KNOW THAT ACTUALLY THE RESOURCE PLAN TALKS ABOUT A WINDOW BETWEEN NOW AND 2035.

SO WOULD THESE TRUTHS STILL BE SELF-EVIDENT? WOULD THESE, WOULD THESE WOULD, WOULD YOU HAVE THE SAME RESULTS IF WE WERE TO GO OUT TO 2032 OR 2034? IS IT BASICALLY WE'RE JUST BUYING TIME MM-HMM.

, BUT AT SOME POINT YOU'RE GONNA NEED TO DO CORRECT.

A BUNCH OF THESE PROJECTS? YEAH.

I THINK THAT'S, I'VE GOT TWO MORE QUESTIONS.

YES, GO AHEAD.

SO THAT WAS, YOU ANSWERED YES, THAT WAS GOOD.

UM, UH, NUMBER TWO IS DID YOU MODEL WHAT THE IMPACT OF HAVING A LOT OF, UM, ONSITE SOLAR OR COMMUNITY SOLAR, DOES THAT CHANGE ANYTHING BECAUSE YOU'RE LOWERING MAYBE LOADS AT PEAK, OR DID YOU GUYS LOOK AT THAT ISSUE? YEAH, SO WE HAVE A HIGH D E R HIGH EV KIND OF PENETRATION SCENARIO.

AND THOSE NUMBERS ARE ON THE TABLES IN THE PREVIOUS SLIDES.

DOES IT CHANGE THE BASIC FACTS OR PROBABLY NOT IS WHAT MIGHT GET, BECAUSE YOU ARE SHORT OF COUPLE HUNDRED MEGAWATTS.

THAT'S WHY WE ARE PROJECTING, YOU KNOW, PROPOSING A NEW TRANSMISSION LINE MM-HMM.

, YOU KNOW, UH, DERS WITH EV PENETRATION, YOU KNOW, LET'S SAY FOR EXAMPLE THAT COMBINATION, RIGHT? SO EV IS A LOW, D R IS SOME SORT OF GENERATION, BUT IT'S NOT GONNA REPLACE HUNDREDS OF MEGAWATTS.

I THINK WE LOOKED AT A VERY DETAILED FORECAST AND WE ADDED IT IN THE TABLE, AND THAT'S WHY I INCLUDED ALL THOSE VALUES.

YOU CAN TAKE A LOOK AT IT, BUT IT'S REALLY NOT AS MUCH AS YOU THINK.

OKAY, MY THIRD IT IS, IT IS, OR A FIVE YEAR WINDOW OR 10 YEAR WINDOW.

THE LONGER YOU GO, THE NUMBER MIGHT BE A LITTLE BIT BIGGER AND MIGHT PROVIDE SOME RELIEF.

BUT I THINK IN OUR ANALYSIS, YOU KNOW, WE ARE STILL HITTING THE BOUNDARY CONDITION VERY SERIOUSLY AND THESE MITIGATIONS, YOU KNOW, ON ITS FACE VALUE ARE.

SOME OF THIS NO MATTER WHAT YES.

AND THEN FINAL QUESTION, IF WE WERE TO, IF WE WERE TO FIND A, UM, NON-CARBON RESOURCE TO PUT AT DECKER AND SANDHILL, SO WHETHER IT'S GREEN HYDROGEN OR BATTERIES PLUS SOLAR, YOU'RE, YOU'RE PROBABLY STILL GONNA NEED TO DO SOME OF THIS, OR WOULD THAT TAKE CARE OF THE PROBLEM JUST BY PUTTING LOCAL GENERATION AT THOSE SAME SITES? OR DID YOU NOT MODEL THAT? YEAH, UH, WE, WE DID MODEL THAT BECAUSE, UM, BECAUSE THERE IS, I MEAN, FROM ELECTRICAL STUDY POINT OF VIEW, MEGAWATTS OR MEGAWATTS FROM A GENERATION, BUT YES, THERE ARE SOME CONTROLS AND THE BEHAVIOR AND THE SYSTEM STRENGTH WILL SHIFT AND CHANGE A LITTLE BIT.

BUT I THINK FROM WHAT I CAN SAY AT LEAST, UH, TO QUALIFY AN ANSWER HERE IS YEAH, REPLACING THE GENERATION WITH AN ALTERNATOR TECHNOLOGY IS GOOD, BUT I THINK, BUT STILL IN THE FUTURE, YOU KNOW, BASED ON THE LOAD GROWTH AND BASED ON OTHER CHALLENGES IN THE SYSTEM THAT ARE CHANGING, YOU STILL MAY WANT TO CONSIDER SOME OF THESE SOLUTIONS.

WE'RE STILL GONNA NEED TO DO

[01:25:01]

ON THOSE OTHER THINGS.

UM, 1 38 K REINFORCEMENTS, IT'S CONTINUING ALONG.

YOU KNOW, YOU CAN, YOU, YOU NEED TO DO SOME REINFORCEMENT, BUT IT'S NOT GONNA ADD MORE CAPACITY.

THERE'S NO ABILITY FOR YOU TO BRING MORE POWER FROM OUTSIDE OF THE SYSTEM.

UH, PROJECT SEVEN, TAP 10, IT'S NOT VERY EFFECTIVE.

YOU KNOW, CONVERTING THOSE 1 38 TO THREE 40 FIVES ON THE NORTH SIDE AND THE SOUTH SIDE, EVEN THOUGH WE STUDIED IT, I THINK, UH, IT IS VERY, VERY HARD TO PERMIT.

IT IS VERY HARD TO TAKE, UH, AND, AND FIND A CORRIDOR WHERE YOU CAN SQUEEZE IN A 3 45 K V LINE, BUT AT LEAST WE WANTED TO FINISH THE STUDY TO CONSIDER ALL THE DIFFERENT VIABLE OPTIONS.

EVEN THOUGH THIS IS NOT ON A VIABILITY SCALE, IT'S NOT AS VIABLE AS THE OTHER SOLUTION.

YOU KNOW, BATTERY STORAGE IS IMPORTANT BECAUSE, YOU KNOW, WHEN, ON A, ON A PEAK DAY, IF A BATTERY IS ACTUALLY GENERATING, IT'LL PROVIDE SOME RELIEF, AND THAT DEPENDS ON THE SIZE OF THE BATTERY.

BUT WHEN YOU GO TO AIRHART, UH, FULL INTERCONNECTION STUDY PROCESS, IT'LL HAVE TO BE STUDIED AS A LOAD AND YOU'RE ALREADY CONSTRAINED WITH LOAD.

ADDING MORE LOAD AS A A BATTERY IS REALLY NOT GONNA SOLVE THAT PROBLEM.

SO THIS IS A NUTSHELL, YOU KNOW, A SUMMARY OF KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM, FROM OUR PLANNING STUDY TYPE ASSESSMENT, YOU KNOW, UNIT THREE THREE, NEW 3 45 K RESOURCE, AT LEAST IN WHEN, IF YOU WANT TO THINK ABOUT RETIREMENT OF SANDHILL AND CONVERTING UNITS, GET READY FOR 800 MEGAWATT RULE OF THUMB SORT OF, UH, REACTIVE, UH, SUPPORT THAT IS NEEDED IN THE SYSTEM.

YOU KNOW, THERE ARE 1 38 KV LINES THAT NEED TO BE RE CONDUCTOR TO HAVE BETTER ABILITY TO PUSH POWER AROUND AUSTIN ENERGY SYSTEM.

AND IF THE LOAD GROWTH MATERIALIZES AS AGGRESSIVELY AS WE HAVE PLANNED IN THE SCENARIO FOUR, THEN THERE'S A LOT MORE SYSTEM REINFORCEMENT UPGRADES THAT YOU NEED TO THINK OF MORE THAN WHAT I'VE LISTED HERE IN THE THREE BULLET POINTS.

AND THAT IS KIND OF LIKE OUR SUMMARY OF OUR TECHNICAL STUDY.

IF YOU WOULDN'T MIND, CAN WE GO BACK TO TWO SLIDES? I JUST HAVE A QUESTION WITH CLARIFYING QUESTION.

SO THE RECOMMENDATION HERE IS ALL OF THE GREEN OPTIONS, OR IS IT ONE, OR IS IT A SUBSET OF THE GREEN OPTIONS? ACTUALLY, THAT'S A GOOD QUESTION.

SO THESE ARE ALL, IF, IF, I MEAN, I WOULD SAY AT LEAST THE SUBSET IS A MINIMUM REQUIREMENT, BUT I WOULD SAY, LET'S SAY IF YOU WANT TO BUILD A NEW 3 45 KV LINE, YES, IT HELPS THE SYSTEM, BUT YOU STILL HAVE TO REINFORCE YOUR 1 38.

SO AUTOMATICALLY YOUR 1 38 REINFORCEMENT HAVE TO GO INTO THE SYSTEM.

AND THEN IF YOU'RE DOING THAT AND YOU'RE LIMITED BY TRANSFORMERS, YOU WANT TO REPLACE CERTAIN AMOUNT OF TRANSFORMERS, IF NOT ALL OF IT.

I THINK WE STUDIED INDIVIDUAL SCENARIOS, BUT NOT AS A COMBINATION SCENARIO.

UM, AND THEN BASED ON HOW THE SYSTEM PERFORMS, YOU WILL NEED CERTAIN AMOUNT OF REACTIVE POWER.

SO THESE ARE MUTUALLY EXCLUSIVE SCENARIOS THAT WE STUDIED, BUT WE CAN, WE HAVEN'T REALLY STUDIED A AGGREGATED VERSION OF THESE, OR A PORTION OF THESE SOLUTIONS TO SEE WHAT IS THE BEST PLAN SCENARIO.

BUT THIS IS AS A PLANNING STUDY, IT'S AN ITERATIVE PROCESS, YOU KNOW, LIKE I START SAID AT THE BEGINNING OF THE PRESENTATION, WE ARE LOOKING AT TWO, TODAY'S VIEW OF THE FUTURE AND NEXT YEAR, YOU KNOW, THAT VIEW OF THE FUTURE MIGHT SHIFT A LITTLE BIT AND YOU WANT TO BE READY WITH THIS SORT OF CONCLUSIONS AND UNDERSTAND YOUR SYSTEM BEHAVIOR AND LIMITATIONS SO YOU CAN BE READY FOR, UM, PLANNING THE BETTER SYSTEM THAT'S RELIABLE AND RESILIENT.

UNDERSTOOD.

HOW LONG DO THESE, UM, FOR THAT YOUR PROPOSED OR RECOMMENDING TAKE TO IMPLEMENT? I THINK THE, LIKE SAY TRANSFORMERS HAVE A VERY LONG LEAD, SO I WOULD SAY AT LEAST TWO TO THREE YEARS, AND THEY HAVE ENOUGH, OR EVEN LONGER THAN THAT, BECAUSE THESE ARE VERY SPECIALIZED THOUSAND MBA.

EACH BANK, EACH PHASE IS 350 OR THREE 30 MBA.

THEY'RE VERY SCARCE.

SO YOU GOTTA DO A PULL YOUR HAIR IN PROCUREMENT DEPARTMENT TO GET HANDS ON THESE TRANSFORMERS.

BUT EVEN IF YOU GET THEM, UM, YOU KNOW, UH, GETTING AN OUTAGE IN A SWITCH YARD, YOU KNOW, REPLACING TRANSFORMERS WITH THE NEW TRANSFORMERS AND SIZING YOUR, UH, IMPACT OF THE EXIT, YOU KNOW, IF YOU'RE REPLACING A 500 M MBA WITH A THOUSAND MVA, YOUR SHORT CIRCUIT IS VERY DIFFERENT.

YOUR BREAKERS NEED TO BE REPLACED.

YOUR, UH, ADJACENT AND SUBSTATION EQUIPMENT NEEDS TO BE EVALUATED AND YOU'VE GOTTA REBUILD A LOT OF STUFF.

THESE ARE BIG CHANGES, I WOULD SAY AT LEAST FIVE YEARS.

BUT WE DO HAVE TO LOOK AT WHAT, YOU KNOW, WHAT IS THE RELIABILITY OF OUR SYSTEM, UH, YEAR OVER YEAR AS CHANGES COME TO FRUITION OR NOT.

IF I COULD JUST JUMP IN AND, AND ADD TO THAT.

SO, UM, UH, ROBBIE TALKED ABOUT HOW PLANNING IS AN ITERATIVE PROCESS AND REALLY IT'S, IT'S MORE OF LIKE A DANCE BETWEEN PLANNING AND THEN ENGINEERING AND THE PROJECT MANAGEMENT TEAM BECAUSE, UH, ESSENTIALLY YOU'RE LOOKING AT TODAY'S VIEW OF THE FUTURE.

SO WHAT IS, WHAT DO WE THINK THE MODEL MIGHT LOOK LIKE IN 2029? UM, AND, AND A PLANNING ASSESSMENT IS DONE EVERY YEAR.

IT'S REQUIRED BY NERC RELIABILITY STANDARDS.

UM, YOU KNOW, THE SCENARIOS THAT WE LOOKED AT, IN THIS CASE, WERE VERY SPECIFIC TO RETIRING LOCAL GENERATION,

[01:30:01]

AND, UM, SO WHEN THOSE RESULTS COME OUT, YOU GET THESE TABLES FULL OF THE GREEN, YELLOW, RED RIGHT? SAYING, WHAT IS IT GONNA SHOW? YOU KNOW, WHAT ARE THE CHANCES OF, IT TELLS YOU ALL THE POSSIBILITIES OF THINGS THAT COULD HAPPEN, UM, UNDER, YOU KNOW, BAD SCENARIOS OF, OF CERTAIN OUTAGES ON YOUR SYSTEM.

UM, THEN THERE'S A WHOLE ASPECT OF WHAT'S THE PROBABILITY OF THAT HAPPENING AND HOW ARE WE GONNA MITIGATE THAT AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE? RECOGNIZING THAT, THEN IT HAS TO GO INTO THE ENGINEERING QUEUE TO SAY, WHAT'S THE COST OF IT? WHERE CAN WE FIT IT INTO OUR CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PLAN BUDGET OVER THE NEXT FIVE PLUS YEARS? UM, WHAT'S THE LEAD TIME FOR, UH, PROCURING THAT EQUIPMENT, THE ASPECT OF DESIGN? SO I'M REALLY JUST REPEATING A LOT OF THE THINGS THAT ROBBIE JUST SAID.

UM, SPECIFICALLY FOR THESE AUTO TRANSFORMERS, UM, WE'VE DONE SOME ANALYSIS AND I MEAN SOME, SOME CHECKING.

AND THE LEAD TIME RIGHT NOW IS FOUR AND A HALF YEARS.

UM, THIS, THIS PROJECT FOUR, UM, IS IT PROJECT FOUR THAT'S THE, UH, YEAH, IT'S THE AUTO TRANSFORMERS.

I THINK IT INCLUDES, UM, REPLACING EIGHT AUTO TRANSFORMERS.

UM, ROBBIE TALKED ABOUT THE ERCOT OUTAGE PROCESS, AND SO WE CAN'T JUST TAKE ALL THOSE OUTAGES AT ONE PARTICULAR POINT IN TIME.

WE'D HAVE TO PUT THEM INTO THE SYSTEM WELL IN ADVANCE AND MAKE SURE THAT, YOU KNOW, THAT WAS, UM, COORDINATED WITH OTHER OUTAGES IN THE AREA.

UM, AND, UM, AND SO, AND, AND EACH, YOU HAVE TO DO AUTO TRANSFORMERS IN PAIRS.

UM, AND SO EACH PAIR, OUR CURRENT COST ESTIMATE IS ABOUT 25 MILLION.

SO THERE'S A LOT OF COORDINATION AND PLANNING THAT TAKES PLACE, AND WE WOULDN'T REPLACE ALL EIGHT AT ONCE.

SO MAYBE IN, UH, AS WE LOOK OUT, WE'VE GOT, UH, ONE SET OF AUTO TRANSFORMERS, UM, INTO, WELL INTO THE FUTURE, BUT, UH, TO CONSIDER ALL OF THEM TAKES A LOT OF, UM, ENGINEERING ANALYSIS.

AND AGAIN, THEN IT FEEDS RIGHT BACK INTO THE PLANNING ANALYSIS.

DO THE STUDY AGAIN, NOT THE FULL TRANSMISSION, UH, STUDY THAT RAVI JUST DID WITH THE ANNUAL PLANNING ASSESSMENT AND THEN THE ITERATIVE, UM, UH, UM, TWEAKING OF YOUR CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PROJECT.

DOES THAT HELP? YEAH.

SO IT SOUNDS LIKE, I MEAN, IF YOU WERE TRYING TO REMOVE THOSE TWO GENERATING SOURCES BY 2029 YEAH.

YOU BASICALLY NEED TO LIKE START PROCUREMENT PRETTY SOON CORRECT.

TO, TO MAKE THIS STUFF HAPPEN.

IS THAT RIGHT? THAT'S CORRECT, YES.

AND AND YOU, THE TRANSFORMERS, THAT WOULD BE AN AUSTIN ENERGY, CORRECT? COST, THAT WOULD BE AUSTIN ENERGY COST, BECAUSE IT HAS A, IT'S A 3 45 TO 1 38 TO SERVE THE 1 38.

AND YOU SAID 25 MILLION EACH AND EIGHT WOULD NEED TO REPLACING, UH, 25 MILLION FOR A PAIR.

FOR A PAIR.

AND IS THERE AN ADDITIONAL LEAD TIME TO GO THROUGH THE ERCOT PROCESS AND GET, TO GET CCNS FOR THESE, I GUESS, OR FOR THAT NEW LINE AT LEAST? I, I, I HAVE TO LOOK BACK AT IT, BUT I DO THINK THAT THE, UM, THE NEW SOURCE DOES INVOLVE SOME ASPECT OF CCNS.

GREAT.

ONCE, ONCE THESE PROJECTS ARE IDENTIFIED AND THERE'S A PREFERRED ALTERNATIVE, IT'LL TAKE CERTAIN AMOUNT OF, UH, DUE DILIGENCE AND CHECKING BEFORE WE CAN GET IN FRONT OF OUR COURT TO ASK FOR SCHEDULES AND A LOT OF OTHER THINGS.

YOU KNOW, WE KIND OF EVALUATED THE BOUNDARY CONDITIONS BASED ON THE MUL IN SO MANY SCENARIOS AND THAT, AND THIS IS A LOT OF WORK, BUT WE DIDN'T DO ANY KIND OF A PHASED APPROACH.

CAN I JUST HAVE ONE QUESTION? AND IT'S NOT AS TECHNICAL AS, AS SOME OF THESE OTHER THINGS THAT, UM, BUT I WAS LOOKING AT, UM, THE IMPACT, UM, WAS THE CHARTS THAT, UM, THAT COMPARED, UM, AT THE PEAK LOADS, RIGHT? IN THE THREE YEARS, WE'RE LOOKING AT 20, 24, 20 29, 20 32, HOW THE TRANSMISSION SYSTEM OPERATES MM-HMM.

, AND I NOTICED THERE WASN'T THAT VIDEO DIFFERENCE BETWEEN, UM, TRUE, I'LL CALL IT SCENARIO ONE CAUSE I DON'T REMEMBER WHAT THEY'RE CALLED, BUT SCENARIO ONE, WHICH IS THE AIRCRAFT, RIGHT? COMPARED TO SCENARIO TWO A, RIGHT? YEAH.

SO I'M JUST KIND OF CURIOUS WHAT, WHAT IN OUR SYSTEM, IF YOU TAKE OFF FOUR UNITS AT DECK OR, RIGHT MM-HMM.

, SO IT'S A, I ASSUME THAT MEANS WE NEED TO RIGHT.

TRANS TRANSMIT MORE ENERGY FROM EXTERNAL, RIGHT? SO, CORRECT.

UM, SO I GUESS WHAT, WHAT IS IT WITH OUR SYSTEM THAT, THAT SHOWS THOSE TWO SCENARIOS AND A VERY SIMILAR OUTCOME? UM, DO WE HAVE JUST SOME FLEXIBILITY WITHIN THE SYSTEM, RIGHT, IN TERMS OF OUR GENERATION? UM, OR WHAT'S GOING ON? YEAH, NO, I THINK THAT'S A GOOD QUESTION.

[01:35:01]

BUT I THINK YOU ALREADY ANSWERED IN YOUR QUESTION, UH, BUT THERE IS SOME AMOUNT OF, UM, HAPPENINGS WITHIN THE OCEAN ENERGY SYSTEM THAT PUT A PRESSURE AND RELIABILITY CHALLENGES.

BUT THERE'S A LOT OF THINGS THAT ARE HAPPENING EXTERNAL TO OCEAN ENERGY SYSTEM THAT'LL ALSO MAKE IT DIFFICULT FOR YOU TO BRING POWER, EVEN THOUGH YOU HAVE THE SAME LOAD LEVEL, LET'S SAY IN THE 2024, THE SCENARIO TWO, YOU HAVE 2,900 MEGAWATTS OF LOAD IN 2029, YOU HAVE 29 88 MEGAWATT OF LOAD, EVEN THOUGH THE LOAD INCREASE IS ONLY 88 MEGAWATTS IN, IN OUR MODELS, BUT THE EXTERNAL SYSTEM HAS DEPLETED ITS ABILITY TO SERVE , RIGHT? SO THAT IS GOING TO POSE A CHALLENGE.

SO, UM, YOU, YOU WANT TO, AND, AND LIKE I SAID, YOU KNOW, THIS IS LIKE A DIFFERENT BOUNDARY CONDITIONS TO PLAY AROUND WITH IT AND SAY, OKAY, IF I DO THIS, YOU KNOW, WHAT IS THAT I CAN EXTRAPOLATE FROM WHAT WE HAVE ALREADY DONE.

SO YOU CAN FIND COMFORT IN SAYING, OKAY, I'M MIGHT BE OKAY HERE, AND YOU CAN TEST THAT SCENARIO.

IS IT, AND THIS MIGHT BE A QUESTION FOR YOU, I'M NOT SURE WHO THE QUESTION'S FOR, IS IT EASY TO TAKE THIS STUDY AND AS, AS WE ALL ENGAGE IN RESOURCE PLANNING, SAY, UM, OKAY, WE'RE GONNA TRY TO AIM TO RETIRE THE DECKER UNITS, WHICH AREN'T USED THAT MUCH IN 2030 AND SAND HILL A COUPLE YEARS LATER.

IS IT EASY TO TAKE THIS STUDY AND KIND OF EXTRAPOLATE IN THAT WAY? OR DO YOU KINDA HAVE TO REDO THE STUDY EVERY TIME YOU LOOK AT NEW YEARS? OR IS IT YEAH.

UM, I WANNA KNOW HOW MUCH, HOW USEFUL THE STUDY IS, RIGHT? IF WE CHANGE SOME PARAMETERS, I MEAN, LIKE, LIKE LISA ALLUDED TO BEFORE, YOU HAVE TO DO ANNUAL TRANSMISSION PLANNING ASSESSMENT REGARDLESS, RIGHT? SO YOU CAN CAPTURE A CERTAIN PORTION OF THE WORK IN THOSE ANNUAL STUDY PROCESSES, BUT ON THE OTHER HAND, YOU ALSO KNOW THERE ARE CERTAIN OUTAGES THAT ARE GOING TO CHALLENGE YOUR DECISIONS.

SO YOU CAN EVALUATE A SUBSET OF THOSE OUTAGES BEFORE YOU CAN SAY, DO I WANNA PROCEED THIS PATH? OR IS IT AN EARLY INDICATION WHERE I DON'T WANT TO GO THIS PATH? RIGHT? UH, AND THERE ARE A LOT OF THE SUPPORT FILES AND THINGS LIKE THAT THAT WE HAVE ALREADY GIVEN HANDED OVER TO AUSTIN ENERGY TEAM.

SO IF THERE IS A, YOU KNOW, LIKE A SUBSET OF A REPEAT OF A SMALL PORTION OF ANALYSIS, I THINK THEY'RE VERY CAPABLE OF DOING IT.

IN OTHER WORDS, YOU CAN TAKE RAVI'S ANALYSIS AND YOU CAN USE IT FOR BUILDING SCENARIOS AND LOOKING AT DIFFERENT TIMINGS YEAH.

WITHOUT, WITHOUT HAVING TO HIRE THEM AGAIN.

IT'S, IT'S, IT'S VERY USEFUL.

IT'S, YOU JUST HAVE TO KNOW WHAT THE LIMITATIONS ARE, RIGHT? YOU HAVE TO KNOW WHAT THE ASSUMPTIONS AND ESTIMATES ARE.

BUT YES, THAT WASN'T PERSONAL, BY THE WAY.

I'D LOVE TO HIRE YOU AGAIN, I'M JUST THINKING ABOUT, YOU KNOW, HOW MUCH, HOW MUCH WORK THIS WAS AND HOW EASY IT WOULD BE TO CHANGE, TO USE THE INFORMATION.

CERTAINLY A LOT TO ABSORB MM-HMM.

THESE, THESE STUDIES TAKE A LOT OF TIME, A LOT OF COORDINATION, UM, LOT OF, LOT OF HARD WORK.

DO WE HAVE ANY MORE QUESTIONS ONLINE? I, I JUST WANTED TO FOLLOW UP.

UM, SO I KNOW THE TRANS, THE TRANSFORMERS, THAT WOULD BE AN AE RESPONSIBILITY.

WERE, WERE THERE ANY OTHER PIECES THAT WOULD BE, UH, AN AE COST THAT WOULD GO INTO BASE RATES AS OPPOSED TO, OR CUT TRANSMISSION COST? I THINK MAYBE WE MISUNDERSTOOD THE QUESTION THEN THE TRANSFORMERS WOULD ALSO BE PART OF THE TRANSMISSION SYSTEM.

OH, OKAY.

SO ALL OF THAT WOULD MM-HMM.

SO ALL, EVERYTHING IN THE GREEN WOULD IN, UH, YES.

POWER TOO.

IF IT'S, IF IT'S BOLSTERING THE TRANSMISSION SYSTEM.

I MEAN, OF COURSE, AGAIN, REMEMBER WE SAID YOU HAVE TO DO, GO THROUGH THE CRITERIA OF MAKING SURE THAT ER CUTT APPROVED, RIGHT? YEAH.

AND THERE'S AN RPG PROCESS WHERE YOU HAVE TO PROVE THAT THIS IS A, IT'S GONNA HELP THE REGIONAL PLAYERS.

I GUESS THAT WAS ANOTHER QUESTION I HAD THEN.

UM, SO WHERE IN THE PROCESS DO YOU GO, WHEN, WHEN DO YOU MAKE THAT REQUEST OR CUT FOR THAT ANALYSIS ON THEIR END? ACTUALLY, LET ME JUMP IN A SECOND I'S A GOOD QUESTION.

I THINK YOU COULD TALK ABOUT THE PROCESS AND TIMING.

IN OTHER WORDS, WE DON'T ORDER THEM AND GIVE WORK A BILL AND SAY, PAY FOR THIS.

CAUSE WE'RE GONNA PUT IN SOON TALK, TALK TO THEM ABOUT THE TIMING, HOW IT WORKS, A, B, C B, I'LL DO MY BEST.

YOU'LL SEE IF YOU'RE TESTING ME HERE.

SO, UM, FIRST WE DO A PLANNING STUDY TO DETERMINE A PROPOSED MITIGATION, AND WE WILL BUILD IT INTO OUR CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT, UH, PROJECT BUDGET, WHICH IS A FIVE YEAR

[01:40:01]

OUT BUDGET.

UM, AT THAT POINT IN TIME, UH, WE WILL INITIATE A PROJECT TO DO THE DESIGN AND, UM, SUBMIT IT TO ERCOT AS PART OF THE, UH, THE, UH, REGIONAL PLANNING GROUP, UH, PROCESS TO ASSESS WHETHER OR NOT THEY AGREE THAT IT'S RIGHT AS, AS ROBBIE MENTIONED, BENEFICIAL TO THE ENTIRE, UM, BULK ELECTRIC SYSTEM AND A NECESSITY.

UM, AND, AND ALONG THAT WAY, RIGHT, AS YOU'RE DOING THAT DESIGN, THEN YOU'RE STARTING TO PUT IN YOUR, YOUR ORDERS FOR YOUR LONG LEAD TIME EQUIPMENT, UM, AND PUTTING IN YOUR REQUESTS HOPEFULLY EARLY ENOUGH, YOUR REQUESTS FOR ERCOT OUTAGES SO THAT THOSE CAN GET APPROVED AND THEY DON'T GET BUMPED.

UM, AND THEN WHEN ALL THAT PLANNING, RIGHT, UH, YOU'VE GOT ER, CUTTS AGREEMENT, YOU'VE GOT, UH, YOUR DESIGN COMPLETE, YOU'VE GOT YOUR EQUIPMENT ON HAND AND YOUR OUTAGE SCHEDULED, THEN WE WOULD SCHEDULE OUR TRANSMISSION CREWS TO AND SUBSTATION CREWS TO GO OUT THERE AND DO THE WORK.

NO, GO AHEAD.

BUT THEN, AND I THINK THIS GETS BACK TO PART OF THE QUESTION SHE HAD IS THEN WE'LL BUY THIS STUFF, WE'LL PAY FOR IT, AND THEN AT SOME POINT AFTER WE PAY FOR IT, WE'LL GO BACK TO HER COMPUTER FULL RATE FEE COSTS FOR AN INTERIM UPDATE PC THROUGH THE PC FEE, NOT, YES.

YEAH, NOT, YES.

SO WE HAVE TO PAY FOR THE COST.

SO WE'LL PAY FOR UPFRONT, UPFRONT AND THEN WE'LL GO TO THE PC WITH EITHER AN INTERIM KEY COST UPDATE OR A FULL RATE CASE TO RECOVER THOSE COSTS.

YES SIR.

THANKS, THAT'S ALL REALLY HELPFUL TO UNDERSTAND THE PROCESS.

ANY OTHER QUESTIONS? WELL, THANK YOU VERY MUCH.

THANK YOU FOR HELPING GUIDE US THROUGH A VERY COMPLEX TOPIC.

THANK YOU VERY MUCH.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME.

NINE, STAFF BRIEFING ON THE 2030 AUSTIN ENERGY RESEARCH GENERATION AND CLIMATE PROTECTION PLAN.

SO NEXT ISN'T NUMBER

[9. Staff briefing on the process of the 2030 Austin Energy Resource, Generation, and Climate Protection Plan by Michael Enger, Director of Energy & Market Operations. ]

EXCELLENT.

WELL, GOOD EVENING COMMISSIONERS.

UH, MY NAME IS MICHAEL GER.

I'M THE DIRECTOR OF ENERGY MARKET OPERATIONS AND ASHLEY, OVER THIS WEEKEND I CELEBRATED MY 22ND ANNIVERSARY WORKING FOR AUSTIN ENERGY.

AND AS WE SPEAK RIGHT NOW OUR LOW ZONE HAS JUST GONE TO $4,000 A MEGAWATT HOUR.

SO THE MARKET'S A LITTLE BIT STRESSED AS THE SUN GOES DOWN.

UH, I'M HERE TO TALK ABOUT OUR, UH, AMENDMENT PROCESS, UH, TO THE AUSTIN ENERGY RESOURCE GENERATION AND CLIMATE PROTECTION PLAN IN 2030.

UH, THE FIRST PART I WANNA TALK ABOUT, AND JUST TO REAFFIRM IS OR TO DISCUSS, IS WE ARE REAFFIRMING OUR COMMUNITY VALUES AND PRIORITIES.

THOSE ARE THE VALUES AND PRIORITIES THAT REALLY CAME OUT OF OUR LAST RESOURCE PLANNING PROCESS BACK IN 2019.

AND THEN WITH THAT, THAT PLAN APPROVED IN MARCH OF 2020.

UH, AND THOSE ARE AFFORDABILITY, RATE, STABILITY, RELIABILITY, AS WELL AS CARBON FREE.

AND THAT'S CARBON FREE ELECTRICITY MEET OUR LOAD AS WELL AS CARBON FREE, UH, FROM OUR STACK EMISSIONS BY 2035.

SO SINCE WE MET IN 2019 AND AND APPROVED A PLAN IN 2020, UH, A LOT HAS CHANGED OVER THE LAST THREE YEARS.

I BELIEVE THAT WAS DISCUSSED BY SOME OF THE, UH, THE SPEAKERS EARLIER.

UH, AND SO THERE'S A NUMBER OF OPPORTUNITIES FOR US TO LOOK AT.

UH, ONE OF THOSE THAT WE JUST HAD A PRESENTATION ON IS THE TRANSMISSION STUDY THAT HAS GIVEN US MORE INSIGHT INTO WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE IN ORDER TO MAINTAIN THAT RELIABILITY, ONE OF THOSE VALUES AND PRIORITIES OF OUR COMMUNITY AND OUR NEIGHBORS.

ANOTHER IS SENATE BILL 3 98, WHICH IS REFERRED TO SOMETIMES AS THE HEB BILL.

BUT THAT HAS PROVIDED AN OPPORTUNITY FOR US TO STRATEGICALLY PARTNER WITH SOME OF OUR LARGER CUSTOMERS IN ORDER TO CREATE MORE RESILIENCY AND RELIABILITY THROUGHOUT THE SYSTEM OR THROUGHOUT OUR SYSTEM, AS WELL AS SOME OPPORTUNITIES FOR RATE STABILITY AND AFFORDABILITY.

UH, THE INFLATION REDUCTION ACT HAS BEEN TALKED ABOUT A FEW TIMES AS WELL.

UH, THERE ARE A LOT OF GOOD OPPORTUNITIES IN INFLATION REDUCTION ACT, UH, THAT MAY CHANGE.

AND, AND YOU KNOW THIS, BUT, UM, FOR FUTURE SLIDES I WOULD ADD IA I I J A AS WELL.

CAUSE OBVIOUSLY THERE'RE YES THAT THAT'S ANOTHER ONE AS WELL.

NOT QUITE AS MUCH MONEY, BUT YES, CERTAINLY AS WELL.

UH, REALLY EXCITED ABOUT THE INFLATION REDUCTION ACT.

IT ACTUALLY GIVES US A PATHWAY TO ECONOMICALLY OWN OUR RENEWABLE ASSETS AS OPPOSED TO MOVING THROUGH PPAS.

UH, IT ALSO OPENS UP WHERE WE MAY BE ABLE TO CITE THOSE RENEWABLE ASSETS AND THE SIZE OF THOSE RENEWABLE ASSETS TO STILL MAKE THEM AFFORDABLE.

SO THERE'S CERTAINLY THE OPPORTUNITY TO LOOK TO BUILD A LITTLE BIT MORE LOCAL SOLAR, FOR EXAMPLE, AT MORE COST EFFECTIVE, UH, PRICES IF YOU PUT IT IN THE RIGHT AREA.

UM, WE'RE ALSO LOOKING AT THE POSSIBILITY OF UTILITY SCALE BATTERIES AT DECKER.

I KNOW WE'VE TALKED ABOUT BATTERIES ALREADY AS WELL AND LOOKING AT HOW THAT MIGHT SUPPORT RELIABILITY, RATE STABILITY, UH, AND AFFORDABILITY.

[01:45:01]

UM, EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES CONTINUE TO MATURE AND SOME OF THEM MATURING FASTER THAN WHAT WE ORIGINALLY ANTICIPATED WHEN WE WERE DOING THE RESOURCE PLAN.

UH, AND THE INFLATION REDUCTION ACT IS CERTAINLY, UH, HELPING THAT AND STIMULATING SOME OF THAT.

BUT THERE ARE SOME TECHNOLOGIES THAT WE MAY BE ABLE TO CAPTURE EARLIER THAN WE HAD ORIGINALLY ANTICIPATED.

UH, AND THEN THERE'S ALSO THE OPPORTUNITY TO MAYBE ALIGN OUR GOALS A LITTLE BIT WITH THE CITY CLIMATE EQUITY PLAN.

AND SO WE'RE TRYING TO MEET TARGETS AT SIMILAR TIMES AND LOOK FOR SYNERGIES BETWEEN DEPARTMENTS IN ORDER TO MEET SOME OF THOSE OBJECTIVES.

ON THE OTHER SIDE, THERE ARE SOME CHALLENGES SINCE WE LAST MET AS WELL.

UH, YOU GUYS ARE PROBABLY FAMILIAR WITH THE LAST LEGISLATIVE SESSION.

UH, ERCOT WAS KIND OF IN THE CROSSHAIRS AND THERE HAS BEEN SOME ERCOT MARKET, UH, REDESIGN OR DESIGN LEGISLATION, UH, MAINLY COMING THROUGH WITH THE PCM, THE PERFORMANCE CREDIT MECHANISM AND HOW THAT MAY IMPACT AFFORDABILITY AND RATES MOVING FORWARD.

UH, WE ARE SEEING A SIGNIFICANT RISK IN LOAD ZONE PRICE SEPARATION.

IT'S OCCURRING RIGHT NOW, IN FACT.

UM, AND WE, WE HAVE STARTED TO SEE THIS RISK.

COULD YOU, I'M, I'M SORRY.

COULD YOU LOAD ZONE PRICE SEPARATION? I THINK I KNOW WHAT IT IS, CERTAINLY, BUT WE HAVE A LOT OF NEW COMMISSIONERS.

I UNDERSTAND IT COMPLETELY 100%.

BUT FOR THOSE COMMISSIONERS WHO MIGHT NOT UNDERSTAND IT, CERTAINLY, UM, IF YOU COULD JUST SAY WHAT THAT IS.

CERTAINLY.

SO, UH, SO THE, I GUESS THE ANALOGY I I WOULD GIVE IS ERCOT IS MONITORING ALL OF THE TRANSMISSION LINES.

THINK OF THAT AS AS ROADS LIKE MOPAC AND I 35 AND ENSURING IF THERE IS A WRECK ON ONE OF THOSE ROADS THAT WE COULD DIVERT THE TRAFFIC WITHOUT GRIDLOCK, GRIDLOCK WOULD BE LIKE A BLACKOUT AND THAT WOULD BE UNSAFE FOR EVERYBODY.

AND SO THAT'S MORE CONGESTION MONITORING THE LARGE ROADS AND GIVING DIFFERENT PRICE SIGNALS TO ENSURE THAT YOU DON'T HAVE TOO MUCH TRAFFIC FLOWING ON, ON ONE OF THOSE ROADS.

OR IN THIS CASE A TRANSMISSION LINE LOAD ZONE PRICE SEPARATION IS A LITTLE BIT DIFFERENT CAUSE IT'S LOCALIZED.

SO AUSTIN IS IMPORTING A LOT OF POWER INTO OUR LOAD ZONE, ESPECIALLY WHEN IT'S VERY HOT.

WE HIT 2800, 2900 MEGAWATTS.

AND SO I WOULD LIKEN THAT A LITTLE BIT MORE OF THINK ABOUT, UH, THAT CHICKEN FAST FOOD RESTAURANT WHERE YOU SEE THOSE CARS BACKED UP ONTO THE, ONTO THE ACCESS ROAD FOR EXAMPLE.

AND HOW DO YOU GET THOSE CARS MOVING? UM, SO THAT'S LOAD ZONE PRICE SEPARATION.

WHEN THOSE CARS ARE BACKED UP, YOU CAN EITHER ADD MORE DRIVE THROUGH LINES RIGHT, TO GET THOSE CARS MOVING.

BUT AT SOME POINT YOU MAY NOT BE ABLE TO ADD ENOUGH DRIVE THROUGH LINES CUZ THE KITCHEN CAN'T KEEP UP WITH THE DEMAND AND YOU MAY HAVE TO BUILD ANOTHER FAST FOOD RESTAURANT.

AND SO WHEN WE TALK ABOUT LOAD ZONE PRICE SEPARATION, WE'RE, WE'RE REALLY TALKING ABOUT IMPORTING POWER TO, TO A LIMITATION THAT CAUSES OUR PRICE TO SEPARATE FROM THE REST OF THE MARKET.

SO OUR LOAD IS PAYING ONE PRICE, BUT OUR GENERATORS ARE GETTING PAID A MUCH LOWER PRICE.

SO EVEN IF WE HAVE MORE MEGAWATTS OF GENERATION THAN LOAD, WE STILL MAY BE INCURRING A FINANCIAL LOSS OR FINANCIAL COST BECAUSE YOU'RE PAYING A LOAD ZONE PRICE, RIGHT? ALL OF YOUR LOADS, BUT YOUR GENERATORS ARE ONLY EARNING A MUCH SMALLER PRICE.

UH, WHICH WE WILL THEN BE BRINGING BACK TO THE EUC FOR INPUT.

THAT'S CORRECT.

AND WE'RE REALLY SEEING THAT MATERIALIZED AFTER WE SHUT DOWN DECKER TWO CUZ NOW WE DO NOT HAVE THE CAPABILITY TO GENERATE AS MUCH INTERNALLY AND SO WE'RE IMPORTING MORE POWER.

AND SO AS SOON AS DECKER TWO RETIRED, UH, THAT WAS A LARGE DRIVER TO THE PSA, UH, INCREASE THAT WE SAW LAST YEAR.

UM, A CHALLENGE IS ALSO THE TRANSMISSION STUDY.

I KNOW I LISTED AS AN OPPORTUNITY, BUT AS WAS DISCUSSED A LITTLE BIT EARLIER, UH, THERE'S LARGE CAPITAL OUTLAYS IN ORDER TO MEET SOME OF OUR NEEDS AS WELL AS SUPPLY CHAIN ISSUES, UH, THAT WE'RE DEALING WITH WITH FOUR AND A HALF YEAR LEAD TIMES ON TRANSFORMERS.

AND THEN ANOTHER CHALLENGE HAS BEEN THE, THE FAYETTE POWER PROJECT AND OUR INABILITY TO FIND A VIABLE OR ECONOMIC WAY TO EXIT THAT PROJECT.

SO CAN YOU DESCRIBE SOME OF THE NEW, UH, LAWS PASSED IN THE LAST EITHER THIS SESSION OR THE PREVIOUS ONE AS FAR AS CONGESTION COSTS, AN ECONOMIC TRANSMISSION BILL THAT MAY HELP THIS, YOU KNOW, AND, AND WHAT'S REALLY GOING ON WITH ERCOT? ARE THEY BUILT, WHEN YOU LOOK AT THE STATE OF THE, THE GRID REPORT AND YOU SEE THE CONGESTION COSTS GOING WAY UP MM-HMM.

YEAH, WELL YOU HAVE A, WELL WE START SEEING MORE TRANSMISSION BUILDS TO ADDRESS THAT HUGE INCREASE IN CONGESTION COSTS, WHICH IS PART OF WHAT'S AGGRAVATING THAT DIVERSIONS RIGHT, OF THE SEPARATION.

SO NOT FOR BLOW ZONE PRICE SEPARATION, THAT'S LOCALIZED, BUT CONGESTION IN THE SYSTEM YES, DOES EXIST.

IN FACT, IF YOU LOOK@ERCOT.COM RIGHT NOW, YOU CAN SEE A MAP WHERE MOST OF THE STATE IS AT 4,000, THE $3,800 MM-HMM .

BUT DOWN SOUTH WHERE WE HAVE A LOT OF COASTAL WIND THAT'S ACTUALLY SITTING AT ZERO TO, TO MAYBE 10 OR $15.

AND SO THOSE ASSETS ARE GETTING PAID A LOT LESS.

THAT IS A TRANSMISSION ISSUE, UH, THAT WE CAN ADDRESS.

ONE OF THE THINGS YOU SEE IN ERCOT THOUGH IS YOU DON'T HAVE INTEGRATED PLANNING BETWEEN TRANSMISSION AS WELL AS GENERATION.

SO ERCOT IS AN OPEN ACCESS SYSTEM WHERE A GENERATOR CAN CITE, GO THROUGH A TRANSMISSION STUDY, LOOKING AT THAT INDEPENDENTLY AND THEN CAN, CAN ADD ONTO A LINE, RIGHT? AND, AND BE ABLE TO HIT THE WHOLESALE MARKET AND PRODUCE ENERGY.

AND SO WHEN YOU HAVE A LOT OF NON DISPATCHABLE GENERATORS, UH, TYING INTO SOME OF THESE BIG 3 45 KV LINES, DEPENDING ON HOW THE WIND IS BLOWING OR THE SUN IS SHINING, CAN

[01:50:01]

IMPACT THE CONGESTION.

CUZ YOU MIGHT HAVE AN AREA WHERE SOMETIMES IT'S PRODUCING A THOUSAND MEGAWATTS AND SOMETIMES IT'S PRODUCING ZERO MEGAWATTS, BUT YOU NEED TO HAVE THE TRANSMISSION SYSTEM IN ORDER TO SUPPORT THAT REGARDLESS OF WHAT'S OCCURRING ON THAT SYSTEM.

SO MY POINT IS HOW IS THIS NEW PROCESS OR THESE NEW LAWS HELPING THIS SITUATION? DO YOU SEE, YOU'RE DEEPLY TIED INTO THIS, RIGHT? THEY, THEY MAY, THEY MAY SPEED UP THE APPROVAL PROCESS, BUT THAT DOESN'T SPEED UP SOME OF THE SUPPLY CHAIN CONSTRAINTS WE HAVE.

AND IT DOESN'T STOP NEW GENERATION FROM TYING INTO A LINE.

IT'S KINDA LIKE BUILDING A NEW ROAD.

WE'VE ALL SEEN I 35, IT'S BEEN UNDER CONSTRUCTION EVER SINCE I MOVED TO TEXAS 30 YEARS OR SO AGO.

UM, IT'S AS WE'RE PLANNING FOR THE NEXT YEAR, BUT AS SOON AS WE GET THAT BUILT, THERE'S ALREADY A BUNCH OF NEIGHBORHOODS THAT HAVE BEEN BUILT AND WE'RE ALREADY BACK TO CONGESTION.

AND SO IT SEEMS LIKE EVERY TIME A NEW LINE COMES IN TO ALLEVIATE CONGESTION, THERE ARE ADDITIONAL GENERATORS TYING INTO THAT LINE, UH, FURTHER EXACERBATING THAT CONGESTION.

SO IT'S A, IT'S A MOVING TARGET THAT WE'VE SEEN, UH, BUT WE CONTINUE TO SEE IT SIGNIFICANT IN THE WEST TEXAS PANHANDLE AREA, UH, MORE AND MORE DOWN IN THE SOUTH TEXAS AREA.

AND NOW WE'RE ACTUALLY STARTING TO SEE IT, UH, REALLY MATERIALIZED OUT AROUND OUR, OUR NUCLEAR POWER PLANT.

TO BE HONEST WITH YOU.

THERE'S A LOT OF LARGE SOLAR TYING INTO THOSE 3 45 KV LINES.

THOSE ARE GENERATIONAL.

CAN I HAVE READ SOMETHING ABOUT 27 GIGAWATTS OF CRYPTO MINING THAT WAS LARGE FLEXIBLE LOAD? IS THAT, IS THAT STILL REALITY OR IS THAT IMPLODING? SO THAT MIGHT AGGRAVATE OR HELP THAT HAS SLOWED DOWN.

I THINK IN GENERAL IT TENDS TO HELP CUZ IT IS LARGE FLEXIBLE LOAD.

SO A LOT OF TIMES THERE'S CITED BEHIND THE METER AND SO LESS POWER IS EXPORTING OUT ONTO THE GRID.

UM, FROM THAT WIND OR SOLAR RESOURCE, A LOT OF 'EM WANT TO USE RENEWABLE ASSETS AND TRY TO CAPTURE SOME OF THAT CURTAILED ENERGY, FOR EXAMPLE.

UM, BUT A LOT OF THOSE LARGE FLEXIBLE LOADS WILL SHUT DOWN WHEN POWER PRICES REACH, SAY 75 TO A HUNDRED DOLLARS.

SO IF THEY HAVE THE SIGNAL IN THE DAY AHEAD MARKET THAT IT'S GONNA BE EXPENSIVE, UH, THEY'LL ACTUALLY SHUT DOWN AND AND NOT CONSUME LOAD AT THAT TIME.

A LOT OF TIMES THEY BOUGHT A HEDGE AND SO THEY'RE JUST SELLING THAT POWER BACK TO THE MARKET TO MAKE MONEY WHILE THEY'RE NOT, UH, PRODUCING MORE CRYPTOCURRENCY.

SO THEY, THEY KIND OF ACT AS A A BALANCING, IF YOU WILL, NOT QUITE LIKE A BATTERY CUZ THEY'RE ONLY LOAD ONLY ONE DIRECTION, BUT THEY DO HAVE THE ABILITY TO SHUT DOWN RELATIVELY QUICKLY AND SO THEY CAN SHUT DOWN WHENEVER THE SYSTEM BECOMES VERY CONSTRAINED TYPICALLY.

LET ME SEE.

UM, SO WE ARE LOOKING FOR PUBLIC PARTICIPATION AND COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT AS WE GO THROUGH THIS AMENDMENT.

UH, YOU KNOW, WE ARE, UM, COMMUNITY FOCUSED AND CUSTOMER DRIVEN AND COMMUNITY FOCUSED.

UM, AND SO WE PLAN ON DOING A NUMBER OF COMMUNITY MEETINGS.

WE'D LIKE TO MEET WITH ALL CUSTOMER CLASSES, UH, BOTH VIRTUALLY AND IN PERSON IF POSSIBLE.

WE'D LIKE TO UTILIZE EDUCATION SESSIONS TO TALK ABOUT SOME OF THE CHALLENGES, UH, THAT WE SEE IN THE ERCOT MARKET AND DIFFERENT WAYS THAT WE CAN MITIGATE THOSE CHALLENGES AND STILL MEET OUR GOALS THROUGH OUR PLAN TO 2030.

UH, AND THEN WE'D ALSO LIKE TO SOLICIT FEEDBACK THROUGH A SURVEY FROM OUR RESIDENTIAL AND COMMERCIAL CUSTOMERS, UH, THAT, THAT WOULD BE OUR SMALL BUSINESSES AND THAT'S TO HOPEFULLY SPREAD A, A WIDER NET AND GET MORE FEEDBACK THAN WHAT WE MIGHT GET FROM A SMALLER WORKING GROUP.

SO RESOURCE PLANNING IS A PROCESS.

UM, AND SO YOU'LL SEE A LOT OF DIFFERENT, UH, INPUTS OR AREAS HERE THAT WE NEED TO FOCUS ON.

FIRST IS CUSTOMERS.

WE, WE ARE OWNED BY OUR CUSTOMERS.

WE WANNA UNDERSTAND, UH, WHAT OUR CUSTOMERS ARE LOOKING FOR US TO ACCOMPLISH.

SOME OF THAT HAS COME THROUGH IN THAT 2030 PLAN, BUT AS WE MOVE FORWARD, WE WANT TO KEEP TOUCHING BASE WITH OUR CUSTOMERS, UNDERSTAND FOR THEIR FEEDBACK, UH, THEIR VISION AND WHAT THEY'RE LOOKING FOR, UH, LOAD OR OUR DEMAND.

I IS ANOTHER KEY COMPONENT.

WE NEED TO MAKE ASSUMPTIONS AROUND HOW OUR LOAD IS GROWING.

IT CERTAINLY HAS CHANGED OVER THE LAST THREE YEARS FROM WHAT WE THOUGHT THREE YEARS AGO AND HOW QUICKLY IT IS GROWING.

UH, CUSTOMER PROGRAMS, THAT'S ENERGY EFFICIENCY, DEMAND RESPONSE.

HOW DO THOSE IMPACT THE OVERALL LOW GROWTH OR SLOW LOW GROWTH IN GENERAL, UH, SUPPLY THAT WOULD BE GENERATION ASSETS, UH, PPAS AS WELL AS MARKET PURCHASES IN ORDER TO MITIGATE, UH, THE RISK TO OUR PRICE.

UM, ENVIRONMENTAL, THOSE ARE SOME OF NOT ONLY OUR GOALS TO BE CARBON FREE FOR OUR LOAD AS WELL AS CARBON FREE FROM STACK EMISSIONS, BUT ALSO EXTERNAL.

WHAT KIND OF ENVIRONMENTAL REGULATIONS ARE HAPPENING AT THE FEDERAL LEVEL AND HOW CAN THAT IMPACT EXISTING ASSETS OR NEW ASSETS.

UH, THEN RELIABILITY.

WE, WE SPENT SOME TIME WITH A PRESENTATION ON THAT FOR LOOKING AT TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION AND THEN ULTIMATELY FINANCIAL.

HOW DOES ALL OF THESE THINGS IMPACT RATES? AND SO WE UTILIZE ALL OF THESE DIFFERENT INPUTS, CREATE ASSUMPTIONS IN ORDER TO SET A SCOPE AND OBJECTIVES.

UH, FROM THERE WE DEVELOP THOSE INPUTS, THOSE ASSUMPTIONS.

WE WILL THEN DO MODELING THE SCENARIO ANALYSIS ON THOSE.

BUT THEN WE'RE ALSO GONNA DO SOME RISK AND FINANCIAL ANALYSIS OUTSIDE OF MODELS.

TYPICALLY MODELS CAPTURE A 90 TO 95% CONFIDENCE INTERVAL.

WHAT HAPPENED DURING URI FELL OUTSIDE OF MODELS.

SO WE NEED TO UNDERSTAND HOW DOES AUSTIN ENERGY PERFORM AND PROTECT OUR CUSTOMERS IN EVENTS SUCH AS A YURI EVENT.

AND THEN FROM ALL OF THAT WE'LL COME UP WITH SELECTED AND PREFERRED STRATEGIES,

[01:55:01]

SO JUST A LITTLE BIT OF A TIMELINE OF WHAT, WHAT WE'RE LOOKING AT DOING HERE.

AND IT'S A LITTLE BIT QUICKER TIMELINE THAN THE LAST TIME AROUND SINCE WE'RE ONLY LOOKING AT AMENDMENT HERE.

BUT WE WOULD LIKE TO START THE COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT HERE IN AUGUST OF VERY QUICKLY AND START THOSE MEETINGS WITH THE EDUCATION SESSIONS AND GET THE SURVEY READY.

UH, WE WILL HAVE A SPECIAL E U C MEETING IN SEPTEMBER TO GO OVER SOME OF THE PROC TO GIVE YOU AN UPDATE ON PROCESS, GIVE SOME MORE ERCOT MARKET VIEW INFORMATION, AS WELL AS REVIEW SOME OF THE RECENT MARKET EVENTS THAT HAVE MATERIALIZED AND SHOW HOW DIFFERENT PORTFOLIOS PERFORM IN THOSE EVENTS.

UH, THEN IN OCTOBER WE'D LIKE TO COME BACK AND DO ANOTHER SPECIAL EUC MEETING TO LOOK AT, UH, ANOTHER PROCESS UPDATE, RECEIVE EUC INPUT, UH, IN JANUARY OF 2024.

SO AFTER WE GET THROUGH THE HOLIDAYS, THANKSGIVING AND CHRISTMAS, WE'D THEN LIKE TO COME BACK WITH OUR FINAL RECOMMENDATION TO E U C, WHICH WE WOULD THEN LIKE TO TAKE THE CITY COUNCIL IN FEBRUARY FOR ADOPTION.

AND THAT IS ALL.

SO I'M, YES, I HAVE SOME QUESTIONS ABOUT THAT SLIDE AND I'M NOT SURE IF MICHAEL, YOU'RE THE RIGHT PERSON TO ASK OR MAYBE I GUESS IF ANYONE ELSE FROM AUSTIN ENERGY WANTS TO ANSWER IT.

UM, UH, I I'LL SAY BASED ON BOTH, ON BOTH ON, UM, YOU KNOW, SOME FEEDBACK WE'VE GIVEN, BUT ALSO SOME OF THE MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC, THERE'S CONCERN.

I MEAN, I HAVE A CONCERN THAT ONLY HAVING TWO SPECIAL EUC MEETINGS IS NOT GONNA GET THE KIND OF ROBUST QUESTIONS OR MODELING THAT'S GONNA BE NEEDED.

AND WHETHER YOU CALL IT AN UPDATE OR AMENDMENT, YOU KNOW, I DON'T REALLY CARE ABOUT THE WORDS, WHETHER YOU CALL IT AN UPDATE OR AMENDMENTS TO THE PLAN, I'M JUST CONCERNED THAT THIS WON'T BE THE SUFFICIENT, YOU WON'T HAVE THE SUFFICIENT INPUT THAT'S NEEDED TO GET TO THAT RECOMMENDATION GOING TO CITY COUNCIL IN FEBRUARY OF 2024.

AND SO I GUESS MY QUESTION IS, HOW OPEN IS AUSTIN ENERGY TO HAVING ADDITIONAL MEETINGS, HAVING A, A ADDITIONAL PROCESS TO, TO GET MORE INPUT? ABSOLUTELY.

WHETHER FROM THE EUC OR WHETHER FROM OTHER STAKEHOLDERS.

YEAH, WE COULD HAVE, YES, WE COULD HAVE MORE MEETINGS WITH DUC AND, UH, AS MICHAEL SAID, WE'RE TALKING ABOUT, YOU KNOW, RIGHT NOW MY LITTLE LIST HERE, WE GOT, YOU KNOW, AN IN-PERSON MEETING HERE WITH ALL CUSTOMER CLASSES, A VIRTUAL RESIDENTIAL MEETING, A VIRTUAL SMALL, MID-SIZED BUSINESS CUSTOMER MEETING, A VIRTUAL INDUSTRIAL CUSTOMER MEETING.

SO WE'RE OPEN TO MORE EUC MEETINGS.

WE'RE OPEN TO, YOU KNOW, MORE MEETINGS.

YOU KNOW, THAT'S FOUR THAT I'VE LISTED WITH CUSTOMERS.

BUT IF YOU FEEL LIKE YOU NEED MORE, WE WANT TO WORK WITH YOU, UH, GO THROUGH FEEDBACK.

CAUSE LATER IN THE AGENDA WE HAVE GET FEEDBACK LATER IN THE AGENDA.

WE HAVE AN ITEM TO, TO FORM A RESOURCE PLAN, A RESOURCE WORKING GROUP.

I WANNA SEE IF MAYBE THERE'S A WAY TO, YOU KNOW, DO DO SOME SORT OF A HYBRID IF POSSIBLE.

UM, I THINK THE VISION THAT, THAT, YOU KNOW, AND, AND, UH, COMMISSIONER, WE AND I PUT SOMETHING FORWARD, UH, MAYBE WAS, UH, I THINK WE WE'RE OVER HERE AND YOU'RE THERE, AND I'M TRYING TO SEE IF THERE'S SOME SPACE IN THE MIDDLE TO DO, UM, MORE MEETINGS THAN YOU'RE SUGGESTING, BUT MAYBE NOT QUITE AS MU AS MUCH AS, AS, AS WE THINK IS NEEDED.

UH, SO I'M TRYING TO SEE IF WE CAN, I DON'T KNOW IF YOU'RE GONNA BE AROUND FOR THAT DISCUSSION, BUT IT'D BE HELPFUL TO GET YOUR GUYS INPUT.

UH, I MIGHT STICK AROUND.

UH, OKAY.

NO, WELL, I'LL, I'LL BE HERE.

AND IF YOU FEEL THAT YOU WANT US TO HAVE MORE MEETINGS WITH YOU TO RECEIVE MORE FEEDBACK FROM YOU, WE'RE VERY OPEN TO THAT.

AND IT'S NOT JUST ME, I THINK IT'S MORE, UH, COMMU COMMUNITY-WIDE.

I DON'T, I DON'T, I DON'T KNOW THAT I NEED MORE MEETINGS.

IT'S MORE TO SET UP A PROCESS BECAUSE, UM, AGAIN, WHETHER YOU CALL IT UPDATE OR AMENDMENTS, I'M NOT SO WORRIED ABOUT THE, THE WORDS, BUT WHEN I THINK ABOUT AMENDMENTS, I THINK WE HAVE TO DEAL WITH FAYETTE.

WE GOTTA SEE WHAT CAN WE DO FROM ALL THIS FEDERAL MONEY.

WE'VE GOT THESE CHANGES.

UM, YOU KNOW, THEY'RE GONNA ADD A D R R S AND ERCOT.

HOW ARE WE GONNA DEAL WITH THAT? LIKE, I THINK I CAN THINK OF FOUR OR FIVE AMENDMENTS.

WHAT THE TIMELINE FOR THE FAYETTE AND DECKER RETIREMENT, THAT WAS THE WHOLE PURPOSE OF THE YEAH.

THE TIME, THE TIMELINE FOR RETIREMENT.

WHAT, WHAT THAT TIMELINE MIGHT LOOK LIKE.

MAYBE IT'S A RANGE, YOU KNOW, THAT.

SO, AND, AND OUR STAFF WILL LOOK AT ALL OF THAT WHEN THEY COME UP WITH A RESOURCE PLAN AND THEY RUN ALL THE SCENARIOS ON THE TIMING.

AND MY CONCERN IS, IF KNOW, WE BOTH, WE ARE BOTH ARE, WE BOTH HAVE THE SAME GOAL AGREE.

AND US WE WANNA GET TO THE 2035 CARBON FREE.

CUSTOMERS AND THE SURVEY AND, AND OR SURVEYS, I THINK THAT IS ALL REALLY GOOD.

AND WE ARE GONNA LOOK AT THAT RUN SCENARIOS AND, AND WE HAVE NO PROBLEM COMING BACK TO YOU.

I'VE MENTIONED FOUR MEETINGS WITH CUSTOMERS AT VARIOUS LOCATIONS OR VIRTUAL, WE CAN HAVE MORE MEETINGS.

SO DO YOU MIND IF I JUMP IN THERE? I, I ACTUALLY THINK THAT WHAT YOU'VE PROPOSED IN TERMS OF THE, UM, THE, THE MEETINGS WITH THE

[02:00:01]

AND I, I DON'T KNOW THAT THAT HAS HAPPENED IN THE OTHER ITERATIONS.

SO LIKE, WANT TO SAY THAT IS, I THINK POSITIVE.

HOWEVER, IF YOU SEND SOMEBODY A SURVEY OR EVEN IF YOU HAVE, YOU KNOW, A ONE-OFF MEETING WITH A GROUP OF CUSTOMERS, YOU'RE GONNA GET SOME LEVEL OF FEEDBACK.

AND I THINK THAT WAS A WORD THAT I SAW UP THERE, YOU KNOW, CUSTOMER FEEDBACK AND ALSO THAT YOU WANTED TO EDUCATE CUSTOMERS.

SO I THINK THAT'S IMPORTANT.

BUT WHAT YOU DON'T GET IS WHAT WE'VE HAD IN THE PAST ITERATIONS WITH THE WORKING GROUP, WHICH IS AN ONGOING CONVERSATION THAT THAT CARRIES ON FROM ONE MEETING TO ANOTHER, WHERE DIFFERENT PARTIES CAN BRING THEIR THOUGHTS, IDEAS, PRIORITIES, AND THEN THAT CAN BE DISCUSSED AND THEN, YOU KNOW, MAYBE MASSAGED AND CHANGED AND DISCUSSED AGAIN AND COME OUT WITH SOMETHING THAT MAYBE ISN'T ANY ONE PERSON'S IDEA, BUT IS SOMETHING THAT COLLECTIVELY REPRESENTS, YOU KNOW, THE BEST INTEREST OF THE COMMUNITY, INCLUDING AUSTIN ENERGY.

SO I THINK THAT'S WHY WE'RE, WE'RE ADVOCATING FOR, FOR, FOR THAT NOT AS, INSTEAD OF WHAT Y'ALL HAVE PROPOSED IN TERMS OF THAT KIND OF COMMUNITY OUTREACH.

AND I'D SAY MORE BROAD INPUT, BUT ALSO HAVING THE DEEPER ENGAGE ENGAGEMENT THROUGH I THINK A WORKING GROUP.

BUT, YOU KNOW, I THINK IF A MAJORITY OF THE UC MEMBERSHIP, AT LEAST SIX OF US ARE WILLING TO SHOW UP, THEN WE CAN DO 'EM ALL AS SPECIAL EUC MEETINGS.

AND THAT'S GREAT, BUT THAT DOES, UM, CREATE AN ADDITIONAL RESTRICTION BECAUSE YOU NEED TO HAVE A QUORUM OF THE EUC COMMITTED TO THAT.

SO THAT MIGHT JUST BE A QUESTION TO PUT OUT TO EVERYBODY.

ARE THERE SIX OF US WHO ARE WILLING TO DO THAT? I, I, I DON'T KNOW .

UM, BUT WHAT I WOULD SAY IS, YOU KNOW, WHEN WE HAVE EACH OF THESE MEETINGS, WHETHER THEY'RE LIVE OR VIRTUAL, WE'LL BE MAKING A FULL BLOWN PRESENTATION TO THEM.

THEY COULD ASK QUESTIONS.

UM, AND I GUESS WE COULD LOOK AT DO WE NEED MORE MEETINGS? UH, BUT THE, THE MAIN POINT I WANNA MAKE IS WE HAVE LIMITED RESOURCES IN HOUSE.

AND WE'RE, WE WANT TO DO THIS IN HOUSE.

WE KNOW THE STUFF, YOU KNOW, WE'RE GONNA MESH RAVI'S WORK WITH OUR GENERATION RESOURCE PLAN TO MAKE SURE WE COME UP WITH SOMETHING THAT'S AFFORDABLE, RELIABLE, AND MEETS THE 2035 GOAL.

UM, AND WE'RE ON A TIGHT TIMELINE.

UM, SO YOU MENTIONED THE 2035 GOAL TWICE THERE.

AND I, I KNOW, I KNOW YOU'RE NEW.

SO JUST TO LIKE, GIVE YOU A LITTLE HISTORY, THE 2035 GOAL WAS THE GOAL SET, BUT THE WHOLE REASON THAT TRANSMISSION STUDY WAS PART OF THE LAST PLAN WAS SO THAT IN THE NEXT UPDATE WE COULD CONSIDER WHETHER MOVING THAT TIMELINE FORWARD NEARER IN TIME IS AT 2030 IT'S FEASIBLE, RIGHT? YEAH.

AND, AND 2035 IS WHAT'S THERE NOW, BUT IT MIGHT NOT BE WHAT COMES OUT YEAH.

OF THIS PROCESS.

I FULLY UNDERSTAND THAT.

AND ALONG THOSE LINES, I THINK THAT'S WHY I'M PUSHING BACK A LITTLE ON THIS RESOURCE PLANNING TIMELINE CUZ I FULLY GET THAT YOU GUYS HAVE LIMITED RESOURCE AND YOU WANNA DO THIS IN HOUSE.

I DON'T OBJECT TO THAT.

I JUST WANNA MAKE SURE THERE'S SOME ITERATION SO THAT IF YOU GUYS COME OUT IN SEPTEMBER, WHATEVER THE ME WHATEVER THE STRUCTURE LOOKS LIKE, HERE ARE SOME RECOMMENDATIONS.

I WANNA MAKE SURE THERE'S THE SPACE TO SAY, WELL, THIS IS AUSTIN ENERGY'S RECOMMENDATION, BUT HAVE YOU CONSIDERED DOING THIS? OR COULD, COULD WE LOOK AT, YOU KNOW, DOING THAT AS A DIFFERENT WAY TO GET THERE? UM, AND I'M CONCERNED IF YOU DO EVERYTHING IN-HOUSE AND DON'T HAVE THE ITERATIVE PROCESS, YOU WON'T GET THAT INPUT AND IT WILL BE SORT OF A YES OR NO VERSUS, UH, A COLLABORATIVE APPROACH, RIGHT? RIGHT.

AND WE WANT TO COLLABORATE.

WE'LL LISTEN TO OUR FEEDBACK AND I MEAN, AS YOU KNOW, RAVI, I DON'T KNOW HOW MANY HUNDREDS OF SCENARIOS HE'S RAN.

WE, WE THINK WE'VE PROBABLY COVERED THAT.

AND WE'LL BE RUNNING MANY, MANY SCENARIOS ON THE GENERATION RESOURCE PLAN, WHICH WILL HAVE TO MESH WITH THE, THE TRANSMISSION PLAN TO MAKE IT WORK.

SO I FEEL PRETTY COMFORTABLE THAT, UH, AND WE'VE TALKED ABOUT THIS IN-HOUSE, OH, WHAT IF THEY COME UP WITH OTHER SCENARIOS? CUZ WE WANNA MAKE SURE THAT YOU DON'T FEEL LIKE YOU'RE JUST GIVING US FEEDBACK AND WE JUST IGNORE IT.

BUT WE FEEL LIKE WE'VE RUN A LOT OF SCENARIOS THAT WE THINK ARE PROBABLE, UM, AND WE'LL, WE'LL DO OUR BEST TO RESPOND TO YOUR FEEDBACK, BUT WE JUST DON'T, I'LL JUST SAY THIS, THE CONCERN IS IF WE GET A BUNCH OF WHAT IFS THAT WE DON'T FEEL, I, I'M JUST BEING UPFRONT RIGHT NOW, IF WE GET A BUNCH OF SCENARIOS THAT WE FEEL LIKE

[02:05:01]

THIS DOESN'T REALLY MAYBE MAKE SENSE, IT MIGHT MAKE SENSE TO OTHER PEOPLE, BUT WE DO HAVE, I, I KNOW YOU DON'T WANT TO HEAR, WE HAVE THE IN-HOUSE EXPERTISE AND IF WE FEEL LIKE OTHER PEOPLE, MAYBE NOT YOU, BUT IF JUST A BUNCH OF PEOPLE FROM THE COMMUNITY COME IN AND SAY, WHAT ABOUT THIS AND THAT WE DON'T HAVE THE RESOURCES TO RUN A BUNCH OF SCENARIOS.

SO I HAVE A QUESTION RELATED TO THE SURVEY.

UM, SO WHEN WE LOOK AT THAT SLIDE, IS THIS PUBLIC PARTICIPATION AND COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT, THERE'S A MENTION OF CLASSES, EDUCATION SESSIONS, AND THEN THE SURVEY.

IS IT A FAIR ASSUMPTION THAT THE BULK OF THE FEEDBACK WILL BE COMING FROM THE SURVEY? OR DO YOU EXPECT, I, I GUESS, I GUESS, LET ME REPHRASE THAT QUESTION.

HOW MANY CUSTOMERS ARE YOU GOING TO BE SENDING THE SURVEY TOO? I'LL ADMIT, I'M A LITTLE SCARED OF THIS MICROPHONE.

SO , UM, WE WILL INTEND TO SEND, UH, THE SURVEY TO OUR RESIDENTIAL AND SMALL COMMERCIAL CUSTOMERS, SMALL BUSINESS CUSTOMERS FOR EVERY CUSTOMER WE HAVE AN EMAIL ADDRESS FOR.

AND AT THIS POINT, I THINK THAT'S ROUGHLY 250,000 OR SO.

UH, CUSTOMER EMAIL ADDRESSES.

I, I KEEP LOOKING THE YASMINE AS IF SHE'S GONNA KNOW THAT.

BUT, UM, THAT, THAT'S MY UNDERSTANDING IS, IS IT'S, IT'S A WIDE SWATH AND THAT'S ACTUALLY PART OF OUR INTENTION IS WE REALLY WANT TO OPEN THIS TO THE ENTIRE SET OF CUSTOMERS TO PROVIDE FEEDBACK.

SO THAT, THAT THEN LEADS INTO THE NEXT QUESTION, WHICH IS, IF YOU SEND A SURVEY TO 250,000 CUSTOMERS, AND EVEN IF YOU HAVE 10% OF THOSE FOLKS RESPOND TO THE SURVEY, HOW ARE YOU GOING TO GO THROUGH EACH OF THOSE RESPONSES AND MAKE SURE THAT YOU TAKE INTO CONSIDERATION ALL OF THAT FEEDBACK? WELL, SO IT'S NOT GONNA BE COMPLETELY OPEN-ENDED.

OBVIOUSLY.

THERE'S GONNA BE CERTAIN SET OF QUESTIONS THAT WOULD THEN BE COMPILED.

AND SO YOU'D HAVE, YOU KNOW, THE RESPONSES AND THEN, UM, YOU KNOW, WE HAVE THE ABILITY TO, YOU KNOW, HAVE A COMMENT SECTION AND, AND PUT THAT TOGETHER IN A, IN A SPREADSHEET OR SOMETHING.

WE, WE, WE WOULD BE ABLE TO MANAGE THAT.

WE HAVE A TEAM THAT, THAT WORKS.

UM, EXCELLENT.

AND THEN SO THE FOLLOW UP THEN TO THAT IS, IS THERE A FOLLOW UP TO THE CUSTOMERS? SO THEY PROVIDED FEEDBACK AND I THINK THIS ECHOES THE SAME SENTIMENT THAT WE WERE JUST TALKING ABOUT, BUT IS THERE GOING TO BE A FOLLOW UP? WE LISTENED TO YOU, WE HEARD YOU, YOU KNOW, HERE'S FEEDBACK THAT, THAT WE HAVE FOR YOU JUST ABOUT, YOU KNOW, YOU PROVIDING FEEDBACK OR WHAT'S THE FOLLOW UP TO CUSTOMERS ONCE YOU GET THAT FEEDBACK FROM CUSTOMERS? YEAH, I THINK WHEN WE GET THE ANSWERS, IT'S, IT'S NOT GONNA GO INTO A BLACK HOLE.

I THINK WE CAN COME BACK TO YOU AND SAY, HERE'S A FEEDBACK WE GOT AND GEE, HERE WERE SOME GOOD THOUGHTS.

WE'RE GONNA LOOK AT THAT.

OR HERE'S SOME THINGS THAT WERE SUGGESTED BUT THEY DON'T WORK AND HERE'S WHY NOT.

AND SHAME ON US IF WE CAN'T DEFEND IT.

PERFECT.

QUICK QUESTION, UH, UH, UH, AN ENTIRE ANOTHER CITY DEPARTMENT, UH, SENT OUT A SURVEY AND IN MY VIEW, THE QUESTIONS WERE LOADED, MEANING THE WAY THEY WERE ASKED WOULD GET YOU A ANSWER THAT THEY WERE HOPING FOR.

HOW, HOW ARE THESE, HOW ARE THE QUESTIONS? AND, AND ANOTHER CONCERN WITH IT WAS WHEN YOU WERE ASKED TO RATE OR RANK SOMETHING, YOU DIDN'T KNOW WHAT THE NEXT QUESTION DOWN THE LINE WAS.

YOU COULDN'T GO BACK.

YOU COULDN'T GO BACK AND, AND KNOW WHAT THE ENTIRE SURVEY QUESTIONS WERE FROM THE GET GO.

UH, COULD YOU SPEAK TO HOW YOU, IS THERE A REVIEW PROCESS OR IS THE EUC GONNA BE, UH, UH, PROVIDED THE OPPORTUNITY TO? WE WILL LET YOU COMMENT ON THAT.

WE WILL SHOW YOU THE SURVEY AND YOU CAN GIVE US FEEDBACK ON IT.

SOUNDS GOOD.

WERE KIND OF ALL ON THIS ANYWAY, THEY'RE SO RELATED, YOU KNOW.

THAT'S ALL WE HAVE FOR THE PRESENTATION.

WE'RE HAPPY TO ANSWER ANY ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS YOU GUYS MAY HAVE.

WELL, DO WE WANNA JUST BEAT THE CHRISTMAS RUSH HERE AND TALK ABOUT SORT OF 13 WHILE THEY'RE UP HERE? I MEAN, 13 WAS THE DISCUSSION.

I MEAN, CAN, CAN WE HAVE A SUBSET OF EUC ENGAGE CERTAIN EXECUTIVES FROM AE AND COME UP WITH SOME ADDITIONAL COMPROMISES OR, YOU KNOW, SINCE YOU'VE BEEN THROUGH THIS BEFORE, I DON'T DO, UM, SO ARE YOU BRINGING, ARE WE BRINGING UP 13 NOW OR, WELL, SINCE WE

[02:10:01]

OH, IS IT, ARE WE ALLOWED TO DO THAT? YEAH.

UM, YEAH, LET ME JUST SAY THIR 13, UH, WHICH IS THE PROPOSED, UH, WORK FORMING, A PROPOSED WORKING GROUP WAS REALLY MODELED ON WHAT WE DID THE LAST TIME.

UM, IT SEEMS FROM THE NEW GENERAL MANAGERS, WHAT HE'S SAYING IS YOU'RE PRETTY RESOURCE LIMITED IN TERMS OF DOING, UM, OUR VISION, WHICH WAS TO START IN, UH, UM, AUGUST AND HAVE TWO, TWO MEETINGS A MONTH THROUGH, I GUESS, THROUGH, YOU KNOW, TILL TILL WE CAME UP WITH A NEW PLAN THAT SEEMS GIVEN THAT, UM, AUSTIN ENERGY, AUSTIN ENERGY'S PLAN IS TO DO OUTREACH IN AUGUST, IT'S PROBABLY NOT REALISTIC TO SAY WE'LL START A WORKING GROUP IN AUGUST.

UM, SO I GUESS WHAT I WOULD SAY IS, I DON'T KNOW IF WE CAN DO THIS TONIGHT, BUT PROBABLY WE SHOULD, UH, UH, REWRITE THE RESOLUTION, UM, AND INCORPORATE SOME OF WHAT AUSTIN ENERGY WANTS TO DO, BUT ALSO, AND, BUT, BUT, SORRY, I'M GETTING ALL THESE BEEPS ON MY PHONE.

UM, BUT ALSO LOOK AT MAYBE SOME ADDITIONAL MEETINGS OR HAVING A WORKING GROUP THAT'S COMPOSED OF THE EUC AND NAMING SOME ADDITIONAL PEOPLE TO IT, LIKE SOMEONE REPRESENTING LOW INCOME OR SOME OF THE INDUSTRIAL CUSTOMERS.

UM, AND I DON'T KNOW IF WE CAN TRY TO DO THAT ON THE SPOT HERE OR WE COULD, UH, WORK WITH AUSTIN ENERGY TO COME UP WITH SOMETHING AND COME BACK IN IN AUGUST, BUT I KNOW YOU'RE NOT GONNA BE HERE IN AUGUST, RIGHT? SO YEAH, I'M NOT GONNA BE HERE IN AUGUST.

BUT I THINK MORE IMPORTANTLY, UM, THAT JUST KIND OF DELAYS RECRUITING PEOPLE TO THE WORKING GROUP.

UM, AND I THINK THAT EVEN IF WE CREATED A WORKING GROUP THAT DOESN'T HAVE TO BE, WE COULD STILL HAVE THE UC SPECIAL MEETINGS AND JUST INVITE THE OTHER WORKING GROUP MEMBERS TO PARTICIPATE IN THAT, RIGHT? THERE'S NO REASON THAT WE CAN MAKE THAT DECISION AS, AS A COMMISSION THAT, UM, THAT THOSE MEETINGS COULDN'T INCLUDE OTHER PEOPLE.

UM, SO IT SUGGESTS, I MEAN, WE COULD PAIR DOWN WHAT WE HAVE HERE AND JUST SAY WE'RE CREATING A WORKING GROUP AND WE'RE GOING TO DO THESE PIECES ON RECRUITMENT AND THEN TAKE THE TIME TO WORK WITH AUSTIN ENERGY STAFF ON EXACTLY HOW MANY MEETINGS AND WHAT THAT STRUCTURE IS GONNA BE.

BUT THEN THAT AT LEAST SETS US UP TO RECRUIT PEOPLE IN A TIMELY MANNER TO PARTICIPATE IN THIS PROCESS.

CUZ IN THE PAST SOME OF THAT HAS WHATEVER BEEN SLOW TO COME TOGETHER.

WOULD IT BE HELPFUL TO TAKE A FIVE MINUTE RECESS AND MAYBE MAKE SOME CHANGES IN THAT WORDING TO REFLECT THAT? WE CAN DO THAT REAL TIME? YOU COULD EDIT IT DOWN.

YEAH, WE ALREADY MADE A FEW EDITS.

WELL, I'LL TELL YOU WHAT, THEN WHY DON'T WE CONTINUE ON WITH THE LEGISLATIVE UPDATE.

AND THEN WE'LL TAKE, UM, I DON'T THINK WE HAVE A BUDGET AND AUDIT GROUP UPDATE THERE.

SO THERE WAS 10 MINUTES OR SO RIGHT THERE.

10, WHICH IS, UH, VICE PRESIDENT COOPER'S IMPORTANT LEGISLATIVE UPDATE.

SO LET'S GO THROUGH, WE'VE GOT AN IDEA ABOUT EDITING.

WE'LL PIVOT NOW TO ITEM

[10. Staff briefing on the 2023 Legislative Session by Tammy Cooper, Senior Vice President of Regulatory, Communications & Compliance. ]

GOOD EVENING AGAIN.

TAMMY COOPER.

I'M SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT OF REGULATORY COMMUNICATIONS AND COMPLIANCE, AND I'M HERE THIS EVENING TO PROVIDE YOU A HIGH LEVEL OVERVIEW OF THE MOST RECENT 88TH LEGISLATIVE REGULAR SESSION.

NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE.

SO WHAT WE'VE GOT HERE IS KIND OF A, BY THE NUMBERS, IT GIVES YOU A COMPARISON BETWEEN THE, UH, 2021 SESSION, THE 87 SESSION, AND THEN THE, THE MOST RECENT SESSION, REGULAR SESSION THAT ENDED AT THE END OF MAY.

AND YOU CAN SEE THERE WERE A LOT MORE BILLS FILED, UH, THIS PAST SESSION.

UH, INTERESTINGLY, THERE WAS, UH, A FAIR NUMBER OF ELECTRICITY RELATED BILLS FILED.

NOT QUITE AS MANY AS IN 2021, BUT YOU'LL RECALL THAT IN THE 2021 SESSION WE WERE DEALING WITH THE AFTERMATH OF YURI, WHICH IMPACTED, UH, THE WHOLE STATE.

AND SO THAT'S PROBABLY SOME OF THE EXPLANATION FOR WHY THERE WERE A FEW MORE BILLS IN 21, BUT FRANKLY THAT'S A LOT.

IT'S STILL 257 WAS A LOT OF BILLS, UH, TO TRACK THIS SESSION AS WELL.

BUT WHEN YOU LOOK AT THE PASSAGE RATE, UM, FOR THE VARIOUS BILLS WE'RE KIND OF SPOT ON, UH, IN TERMS OF OVERALL BILLS, NUMBER OF

[02:15:01]

BILLS THAT PASSED FROM A PERCENTAGE STANDPOINT.

NOW, THIS, UH, SESSION THOUGH, WE SAW A LOT MORE VETOES AND PART OF THAT WAS BECAUSE OF THE, UM, UH, FAILURE OF THE HOUSE AND SENATE TO AGREE ON THE GOVERNOR'S PRIORITIES RELATED TO PROPERTY TAX AND SCHOOL VOUCHERS.

UH, BUT I THINK IF YOU ALL SAW SOME OF THE NEWS TODAY, UH, WE ARE IN THE SPECIAL SECOND SESSION AND IT LOOKS LIKE THEY MIGHT BE WRAPPING THAT UP SOON, AT LEAST WITH RESPECT TO THE PROPERTY TAX ISSUE.

BUT I BELIEVE THERE'S PROBABLY STILL SOME OTHER THINGS THAT ARE ON THE TABLE FOR CONSIDERATION IN THE POTENTIAL THIRD SPECIAL SESSION.

SO WE'LL SEE ABOUT THAT.

UM, AS A REMINDER, IF, YOU KNOW, WHENEVER WE ARE IN A SPECIAL SESSION, EVEN THOUGH THEY, THEY HAVE SPECIFIC CALLED AGENDAS FOR SPECIFIC TOPICS, THE GOVERNOR CAN AMEND THAT AND CHANGE THAT AT ANY TIME.

SO CERTAINLY IF THERE WAS SOMETHING GOING ON IN THE ELECTRIC INDUSTRY THAT ALL OF A SUDDEN HAPPENED, UH, YOU KNOW, THAT IS SOMETHING THAT COULD BE ADDED TO A SPECIAL SESSION AGENDA.

SO THE THEMES, UH, THAT WERE RELATED TO ELECTRICITY THAT WE SAW IN THIS PAST SESSION REALLY FOCUSED ON RELIABILITY.

THAT IS STILL A TOPIC THAT'S COMING UP AFTER WINTER STORM MUI, ERCOT RESOURCE ADEQUACY, UH, THAT WAS ACTUALLY COUPLED WITH SOME ANTI RENEWABLE SENTIMENT.

THERE IS A SENTIMENT THAT WAS HEARD THAT WAS REALLY FOCUSING ON, UH, JUST WHAT, WHAT, WHAT FOLKS OVER THERE DEFINED AS A FASHIONABLE GENERATION.

AND WE'LL TALK ABOUT THAT MORE IN A MINUTE.

UH, AND LOOKING AT COST TO CONSUMERS.

AND IN THE SESSION IN GENERAL, THERE WAS A REAL THEME OF OF LOCAL PREEMPTION OVERALL.

YOU PROBABLY HEARD ABOUT SOME OF, KIND OF THE SUPER BILL THAT THAT WAS RELATED TO LOCAL PREEMPTION AND SOME OF THAT FED INTO CERTAINLY, UH, THE MUNICIPALLY OWNED UTILITY SPACE.

AND SO WE'RE GONNA TALK ABOUT, UH, THESE NEXT TWO BILLS LISTED HERE, UH, PRIMARILY THIS EVENING, WE'LL, WE'LL TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT A FEW MORE.

UH, BUT THAT WAS HOUSE BILL 1500, WHICH WAS THE OMNIBUS BILL, AND THEN 26 27, UH, WHICH IS THE LOAN PROGRAM.

NEXT SLIDE PLEASE.

SO, AS I MENTIONED, UH, HOUSE BILL 1500 STARTED AS THE PUC SUNSET BILL, AND, UH, AS IF YOU'LL RECALL, EACH STATE AGENCY MUST GO THROUGH A REVIEW PROCESS EVERY CERTAIN NUMBER OF YEARS TO SEE WHETHER, UH, THE AGENCY SHOULD STILL EXIST AS A STATE AGENCY.

AND THIS YEAR IT WAS TIME FOR THE SUNSET, UH, REVIEW FOR THE PUC ERCOT AND THE OFFICE OF PUBLIC UTILITY COUNCIL.

AND, UM, THAT BILL ULTIMATELY WAS PASSED.

IT EXTENDS THE PUCS LIFE UNTIL 2029.

TYPICALLY, THOSE ARE DONE A LITTLE BIT LONGER TIMEFRAME, BUT FOR THE LAST, UH, FEW TIMES, THE SUNSET BILL HAS BEEN SHORTER.

THE SUNSET EXTENSION HAS BEEN SHORTER FOR THE PUC AGAIN, BECAUSE I THINK OF JUST ALL THE ISSUES THAT THAT SEEM TO COME UP IN OUR INDUSTRY.

BUT AS THE SESSION WOUND DOWN AND OTHER BILLS WERE KIND OF DYING OFF, UH, MANY OF THOSE CONCEPTS WERE ADDED TO HOUSE BILL 1500 CUZ IT WAS KIND OF A MUST PASS BILL FOR THE PUC TO CONTINUE.

AND SO A LOT OF THOSE IDEAS WERE ADDED.

UM, AND, AND THE PRIMARY ONE THAT WE SAW WAS, WAS, UH, A BILL THAT WAS KNOWN KIND OF AS CYNICAL SEVEN, THE NEW SENATE BILL SEVEN, MANY OF YOU WHO GO BACK TO 1999 WILL REMEMBER A SENATE BILL SEVEN, UH, THAT THAT OPENED, UH, PORTIONS OF THE ERCOT MARKET TO RETAIL COMPETITION.

WE HAD ANOTHER SENATE BILL SEVEN THIS TIME, AND THAT SPECIFICALLY, UH, FOCUSED ON A LOT OF, UM, THE DESIRE TO INCREASE THE RESOURCE ADEQUACY AND AGAIN, THAT DISPATCHABLE GENERATION IN ERCOT.

AND SO A LOT OF THESE KEY PROVISIONS THAT ARE LISTED HERE ARE IDEAS THAT WERE CONTAINED IN CPE SEVEN AND, AND SOME OF THE OTHER COMPANION BILLS THAT WERE FILED, UH, BY THE SENATE.

THERE'S A LOT IN THIS BILL.

UH, THESE ARE JUST SOME OF THE, THE KEY PROVISIONS.

I THINK, AS MICHAEL MENTIONED EARLIER WHEN HE WAS TALKING IN HIS PRESENTATION REGARDING THE PERFORMANCE CREDIT MECHANISM MARKET DESIGN THAT THE PUC HAD DEVELOPED, UH, THIS BILL TALKS ABOUT VARIOUS GUARDRAILS AND THE COST CAP ADDED TO THAT, SPECIFICALLY THAT THE BILL CAPS THE NET COST AT $1 BILLION FOR THE PCM AND ALSO, UH, LESS THE, THE BRIDGE SOLUTIONS.

AND THERE WOULD BE PENALTIES FOR FAILURE TO MEET, UM, THOSE, THOSE REQUIREMENTS.

THERE'S ALSO AFFIRMING REQUIREMENT FOR NEW RENEWABLES THAT WOULD START IN 2027.

UH, REASONABLE INTERCONNECTION COST ALLOWANCE FOR GENERATORS STARTING IN 2026, A NEW ANCILLARY SERVICE, THE DISPATCHABLE RELIABILITY RESERVE SERVICE.

THERE'S THE CREATION OF A GRID RELIABILITY LEGISLATIVE OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE.

UH, THE RENEWABLE ENERGY CREDIT PROGRAM, WHICH HAS BEEN IN PLACE SINCE, I THINK PROBABLY BACK IN THAT ORIGINAL SENATE BILL SEVEN OF 99, OR MAYBE IT WAS A DIFFERENT BILL, BUT IT WAS IN THE 99 TIMEFRAME, UH, IS NOW MADE VOLUNTARY.

AND THERE ARE

[02:20:01]

A LOT OF STUDIES AND REPORTS THAT THE PUC IS GONNA HAVE TO LOOK AT.

I THINK THERE'S A LOT OF CONCERN THAT THE PCM COULD GET VERY EXPENSIVE FOR CUSTOMERS, AND THE LEGISLATURE WANTS TO MAKE SURE THAT THE P U C IS LOOKING AT THAT AND WEIGHING THAT.

UM, NEXT SLIDE.

LET'S, SO THERE WERE SOME NEW INVESTMENT INCENTIVES, UH, THAT WENT WITH THIS OMNIBUS BILL, AND THAT SPECIFICALLY IS SENATE BILL 26 27.

AND THEN, UH, THE JOINT RESOLUTION FOR A 93, WHICH WOULD INCLUDE A 5 BILLION, WHICH IS THE AMOUNT APPROPRIATED SO FAR FOR THREE PROGRAMS UNDER THE TEXAS ENERGY FUND.

AND THIS IS PENDING VOTER APPROVAL.

SO THAT'S WHEN YOU SEE THAT SJR 93, THAT MEANS THAT'S GONNA BE ONE OF THOSE CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS THAT YOU SEE ON THE BALLOT COME NOVEMBER.

UM, AND SO IF THAT PASSES, THEN THE 5 BILLION WILL BE AVAILABLE FOR THESE PROGRAMS. IF IT DOES NOT PASS, THEN THAT EVAPORATES AND, UM, THEY'LL BE PROBABLY LOOKING TO OTHER SOLUTIONS AT SOME POINT DOWN THE ROAD.

BUT ASSUMING THIS PASSES, UH, IT WOULD INCLUDE A PROGRAM TO BUILD, UH, 100 MEGAWATTS OR MORE OF NEW DISPATCHABLE POWER PLANTS IN ERCOT, UH, THAT WOULD MAKE OR MAKE A NECESSARY IMPROVEMENTS TO EXISTING GENERATION AS LONG AS IT INCREASED, UH, THE CAPACITY BY A HUNDRED MEGAWATTS.

AND AS I MENTIONED THAT TERM DISPATCHABLE KIND OF HAS NOW A, A DEFINITION, AND THAT, UH, IS NOW DEFINED AS MEANING THE FACILITY'S OUTPUT CAN BE CONTROLLED PRIMARILY BY FORCES UNDER HUMAN CONTROL.

SO THAT WAS REALLY KIND OF A DIRECT, UH, YOU KNOW, UH, I'M, I'M TRYING TO BE CAREFUL IN HOW I SAY THIS, BUT, BUT CERTAINLY, UH, SOMETHING THAT I THINK PEOPLE BELIEVE A RENEWABLE RESOURCE WILL NOT BE ABLE TO MEET.

THERE'S ALSO, UH, THE EXCLUSION OF ELECTRIC ENERGY STORAGE FACILITIES FROM THAT PARTICULAR PROGRAM AS WELL.

THERE'S A PROGRAM FOR MICROGRID RESILIENCY, AND THEN ALSO WITHIN THIS, THERE ARE GRANTS FOR THE NON ERCOT UTILITIES TO POTENTIALLY GET SOME MONEY, UM, FOR RESILIENCY.

LET ME, LET ME ASK, UH, DID PUBLIC POWER, UH, AUSTIN AND OTHER PUBLIC POWER ENTITIES, UH, SUPPORT THAT OR OPPOSE IT? UM, IT WAS COMPLICATED.

UM, WE, WE ULTIMATELY KIND OF AT THE END THERE WERE, THERE WAS SOME, SOME GENERAL SUPPORT, BUT I WOULD SAY PUBLIC POWER, UM, YOU KNOW, REALLY STAYED SILENT FOR A LOT OF THIS.

UM, YOU KNOW, SIMPLY BECAUSE THERE WERE, YOU KNOW, THERE WERE PORTIONS OF THESE BILLS THAT WERE ACCEPTABLE, UH, AND OTHERS THAT, YOU KNOW, WE, WE CERTAINLY WANTED TO SEE SOME MORE, UH, INCENTIVES PROVIDED TO RENEWABLE AND THE STORAGE.

SO, UM, YOU KNOW, IT'S, IT'S, WE DIDN'T REALLY TESTIFY ACTIVELY, UM, ON THOSE BILLS, BUT WE WERE CERTAINLY WATCHING MONITORING, MAKING SURE WE WERE INCLUDED IN MEETINGS.

SO HOUSE BILL FIVE IS A NEW PROPERTY TAX ABATEMENT INCENTIVE PROGRAM.

AND SO SOME OF YOU MAY RECALL THERE WAS THE, WHAT WAS KNOWN AS THE CHAPTER THREE 13 INCENTIVES AND THOSE INCENTIVES, UH, YOU KNOW, REALLY BASICALLY KIND OF GIVE, YOU KNOW, TAX ABATEMENTS FOR BUSINESSES TO LOCATE IN TEXAS.

THERE WAS A LOT OF CONTROVERSY AROUND THAT.

AND HOUSE BILL FIVE IS THE NEW PROGRAM THAT THEY'VE ADOPTED AGAIN, UH, KIND OF TARGETING RENEWABLES THERE BY EXCLUDING THEM AS WELL AS ENERGY STORAGE PRODUCTS, PROJECTS FROM RECEIVING THOSE ABATEMENTS.

AND YET IT DOES INCLUDE THOSE NEW DISPATCHABLE PRODUCTS.

PROJECTS.

EXCUSE ME.

NEXT SLIDE.

SO RIGHT HERE WE'VE JUST GOT A SUMMARY OF A VARIETY OF ENERGY EFFICIENCY AND EMERGING TECHNOLOGY BILLS, UH, SEVERAL PASSED RELATED TO ELECTRIC VEHICLES.

UH, SENATE BILL 5 0 5 IMPOSES NOW A $400 REGISTRATION FEE FOR ELECTRIC VEHICLES AS WELL AS THE $200, UH, RENEW ANNUAL RENEWAL FEE.

AND THIS IS SOMETHING THAT HAS BEEN DISCUSSED IN THE LAST SESSION, AND I THINK MAYBE EVEN BEFORE THAT, THERE'S SORT OF A RECOGNITION THAT ELECTRIC VEHICLES ARE NOT PAYING THE GAS TAX.

AND SO THERE WAS A THOUGHT THAT THERE NEEDED TO BE SOME WAY TO KIND OF RECOVER SOME OF THOSE COSTS FOR ROADS AND OTHER INFRASTRUCTURE.

AND SO THAT WAS WHAT HAS BEEN PASSED.

THERE'S ALSO NOW SOME LICENSING AUTHORITY OVER EV CHARGERS, AND THERE WAS SPECIFICALLY, UH, A PROHIBITION FOR THE, THE TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION UTILITIES, WHICH ARE THE, UH, PRIVATELY OWNED, UH, TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION UTILITIES IN THE, UH, COMPETITIVE AREAS OF ERCOT, UH, THAT THEY MAY NOT DIRECTLY OWN EV CHARGER.

NOW, THIS DOES NOT APPLY TO

[02:25:01]

AUSTIN ENERGY, UH, AS A MUNICIPALLY OWNED UTILITY, BUT CAN THEY OWN, LIKE, CAN THEY DO MAKE READY PROGRAMS OR THEY KNOW THE INFRASTRUCTURE UP TO THAT? YEAH, THEY, THEY WILL SERVE, THEY WILL SERVE THE, THE CHARGER.

I THINK THERE WAS A CONCERN BY THE RETAIL ELECTRIC PROVIDERS THAT YOU SHOULD NOT HAVE A TDU SELLING ELECTRICITY THROUGH THE CHARGING STATION.

A FEW BILLS PASSED, UH, RELATED TO DISTRIBUTED ENERGY RESOURCES.

AND THIS SENATE BILL 1699 RELATES TO, UH, AN AGGREGATED D E R PILOT AND REP DEMAND RESPONSE PROGRAM THAT THE, THE COMMISSION HAD BEEN WORKING ON.

AND ALSO THERE'S A BILL THAT'S GONNA REQUIRE ADDITIONAL DISTRIBUTED ENERGY RESOURCE INFORMATION TO BE SUBMITTED TO ERCOT.

A LOT OF, UH, THE ENERGY EFFICIENCY BILLS THOUGH, WE, WE LISTED SOME THAT THAT ACTUALLY FAILED.

UH, NOW THIS IS IMPORTANT TO REMEMBER.

THESE ARE ONES THAT WOULD APPLY IN THE ERCOT COMPETITIVE MARKET.

AGAIN, AUSTIN ENERGY IS ABLE TO DO, UH, ITS ENERGY EFFICIENCY PROGRAMS BECAUSE, UH, WE ARE MUNICIPALLY OWNED UTILITY.

AND I LISTED THERE'S SOME OTHER EMERGENT TECHNOLOGIES REGARDING GEOTHERMAL AND HYDROGEN AND THOSE, UH, BILLS SPECIFICALLY THAT PASSED ON THAT FRONT.

SO, I'M SORRY, JUST MAKE SURE MM-HMM.

SO IT'S DEFINED NOW THROUGH SP 7 85 SERVICE OWNER OR SUB-SERVICE OWNS THE, THE GEOTHERMAL RESOURCE THAT PASSED.

SO IF YOU SEE, WHEN YOU SEE, UM, AND THESE, THESE LINKS WILL TAKE YOU TO THE BILL MM-HMM.

, IF THEY'RE IN RED, THAT MEANS THEY FAILED.

THEY DID NOT PASS.

IF THEY'RE IN BLUE, 24 53 DID PASS THE GOVERNOR'S SPEECH OF IT, OH, WELL PASS.

YOU'RE, YOU'RE RIGHT, THERE'S A , THERE'S THINGS, THERE'S THINGS THAT QUALIFY AS PASSING BOTH THE HOUSE AND THIS SENATE, BUT THEY WERE NOT, UH, SIGNED INTO LAW.

NEXT SLIDE.

AND I THINK AS ONE OF THE, UH, THE COMMENTERS MENTIONED AT THE BEGINNING OF THE MEETING, IT WAS A ROUGH SESSION, UH, PARTICULARLY FOR AUSTIN ENERGY.

WE HAD A LOT OF BILLS SPECIFICALLY AIMED AT US, AND THERE WERE ALSO SOME THAT WERE SPECIFICALLY AIMED AT MUNICIPALLY OWNED UTILITIES.

UH, GENERALLY THE THEMES RELATED TO RATES, UH, THE GENERAL FUND TRANSFER, AND THEN, UH, YOU KNOW, KIND OF FALLOUT FROM THE STORM VEGETATION MANAGEMENT TYPE ISSUES.

SO, YOU KNOW, SOME OF THESE WE'VE SEEN IN THE PAST, UH, SOME WERE NEW, BUT, UH, IT CERTAINLY, UM, IS A REMINDER OF WHAT A MICROSCOPE WE ARE UNDER AND HOW, UH, WE ARE CLOSELY WATCHED.

WE SERVE THE CAPITAL COMPLEX.

AND SO THERE ARE A LOT OF, UH, FOLKS OVER THERE WHO ARE OUR CUSTOMERS, EVEN IF THEY'RE NOT OUR FULL-TIME CUSTOMERS.

AND SO, UM, THAT'S, THAT'S THE LIST.

LUCKILY, YOU SEE, THEY ARE ALL LISTED IN RED.

SO THAT IS A GREAT OUTCOME, UH, FOR US, BUT CERTAINLY SOMETHING THAT WE HAVE TO BE MINDFUL OF.

AND, AND PARTICULARLY AS WE ENTER A SESSION AGAIN, BEFORE WE KNOW IT, I MENTIONED A COUPLE OF, UH, BILLS HERE THAT RELATE TO LUBBOCK POWER AND LIGHT.

YOU MAY RECALL THAT LUBBOCK POWER AND LIGHT IS ACTUALLY, UH, A MUNICIPALLY OWNED UTILITY THAT HAS OPTED IN TO TRANSITION TO RETAIL COMPETITION IN ERCOT.

AND, UH, WHEN SENATE BILL SEVEN WAS WRITTEN 20 SOME ODD YEARS AGO, THE PROVISION IS IN CHAPTER 40 OF PURA, SPECIFICALLY TALKING ABOUT THE OPT-IN PROCESS.

YOU KNOW, IT'S, IT'S NEVER REALLY BEEN TESTED OUT.

AND IT, AND I THINK THAT WHEN LUBBOCK WAS LOOKING AT THEIR TRANSITION, THEY REALIZED SOME THINGS HAD CHANGED.

THE ERCOT MARKET HAS CHANGED SINCE THAT WAS WRITTEN, AND THEY REALLY KIND OF NEEDED SOME CLEANUP THERE, UH, IN CHAPTER 40 FOR THEIR TRANSITION.

NEXT SLIDE.

AND SO FINALLY, AGAIN, AS I MENTIONED, THIS IS JUST A HIGH LEVEL OVERVIEW.

I PUT SOME ADDITIONAL RESOURCES HERE.

UM, THE PUC, AGAIN, YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO CLICK ON THIS LINK, UH, TO THIS PROJECT 5 5 1 56, WHICH WILL, UH, TAKE YOU TO THIS PROJECT, THE IMPLEMENTATION OF LEGISLATIVE ACTIVITIES.

THAT PUC HAS A LITTLE SUMMARY THAT THEY PUT TOGETHER OF SOME BILLS THAT COULD BE HELPFUL IF YOU HAVE MAYBE SOME INTEREST IN SOME OTHER THINGS THAN WHAT I'VE HIGHLIGHTED HERE.

AND THERE'S ACTUALLY A WORKSHOP TOMORROW THAT IS GOING ON AT THE PUC WHERE THE COMMISSION STAFF IS GOING TO TALK ABOUT PRIORITIZING THE MULTITUDE OF, OF RULE MAKINGS THAT ARE GONNA COME OUT OF, OF, UH, THE LEGISLATION THAT PASSED, UH, THIS LAST SESSION.

AND ALSO I FOUND THAT INTERESTING, UH, AS WELL, THE LEGISLATIVE UPDATE THAT ERCOT GAVE TO ITS BOARD OF DIRECTORS, JUST TO KIND OF SEE WHAT, WHAT PERSPECTIVE,

[02:30:01]

UM, ERCOT HAS.

AND I FINALLY, UH, I, MY PRESENTATION WOULDN'T BE COMPLETE WITHOUT, UH, EXTENDING MY GREAT APPRECIATION AND THANKS.

AND I MAKE SURE I WANNA RECOGNIZE THE AUSTIN ENERGY GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS TEAM LED BY ALICIA LOVING.

UH, JAMIE MITCHELL IS A TEAM MEMBER AS WELL AS KRISTEN ABBOTT AND CAMERON ANDREWS.

AND SO, YOU KNOW, THEY WERE REALLY, THEY WERE REALLY, UH, DOING A LOT THIS SESSION AS I NOTED HOW BUSY IT WAS.

AND WE REALLY APPRECIATE ALL OF THE EFFORTS.

IT'S, UH, IT'S QUITE AN UNDERTAKING, UH, WHEN THE LEGISLATURE GOES IN SESSION.

SO THAT'S MY PRESENTATION.

THANK YOU VERY MUCH.

OKAY, SO IF WE GO TO 11, RANDY, YOU SAID THERE WAS NOTHING ON 11, NOTHING TO REPORT.

DO A QUICK UPDATE ON NUMBER 14? YEAH, LET'S GET THAT OUTTA THE WAY.

SO DO WE WANNA SORT OF RECESS FOR FIVE OR 10 MINUTES AND LET THAT CONVERSATION CONTINUE? UH, WE CERTAINLY CAN.

UM, OR DID YOU WANNA

[14. Discussion and possible action on the Annual Internal Review of the Electric Utility Commission for July 2022 through June 2023. ]

UM, SO WE HAVE TO WORK ON THAT AND WE'LL, WE'LL WALK AROUND IT OVER THE NEXT MONTH.

HOW'S THAT SOUND? SOUNDS FABULOUS.

GET THAT OUT OF THE WAY.

STANDARD OFFER.

WE NEED KIBA BACK FOR THAT, I THINK.

SO WHY DON'T WE PAUSE FOR FIVE TO 10 MINUTES.

OKAY, THANKS.

OKAY,

[13. Discussion and possible action for the creation of a Resource Planning Working Group to work with Austin Energy to develop recommendations for updating Austin Energy’s Resource, Generation and Climate Protection Plan. (Sponsors: White, Reed)]

SO WE'RE BACK.

SO HAVE JUST SOME DISCUSSION ON THIS.

SO WE NEED, WE WANT TO HAVE AT LEAST, WE WANNA HAVE QUORUM FOR THE EUC.

THE POINT IS WE HAVE MAYBE FIVE OF US HERE THAT WOULD, WE THINK ARE COMMITTED TO GO ATTEND THESE.

DO WE HAVE ANY MORE ONLINE THAT WOULD BE ATTENDING A, ATTENDING THE WORK GROUP OR ATTENDING THE SPECIAL COLLEGE UC MEETING? LET'S, LET'S THINK OF THEM AS ONE AND THE SAME FOR THE MOMENT.

DO YOU KNOW WHEN THEY WOULD BE? I, I, I MEAN, I CAN TELL YOU THAT IN THE PAST, THE WORKING GROUPS, UH, MEETINGS WERE DURING THE DAY, BUT I DON'T KNOW WHAT AUSTIN ENERGY HAS PLANNED.

MAYBE THEY CAN SPEAK TO THAT.

I MEANT MORE LIKE MONTH AND DAY.

I MEAN, IT LOOKS LIKE THIS'LL BE GOING ON THROUGHOUT THE FALL AND FIRST HALF OF IT, YOU KNOW, THROUGH JANUARY, SEPTEMBER TO JANUARY.

I MEAN, WE, WE, OKAY, WE, WE COULD BE FLEXIBLE AND YOU KNOW, I THINK WE NEED TO FIGURE OUT WHEN WE MEET, BUT WE CAN MEET DURING THE DAY, AT NIGHT, WHATEVER YOU WANT WITH THE EC.

SO IF THAT'S THE CASE, THEN I'D LIKE TO ATTEND.

I MEAN, IS ATTEMPT, SO I WOULD ASSUME WE WOULD NEED TO ATTEND ALL OF THE MEETINGS.

WITH COMMUNITY DIALOGUES OR COMMUNITY CONVERSATIONS, YOU KNOW, INSTEAD OF AN OFFICIAL EUC MEETING, THEN I CERTAINLY WILL SUPPORT EITHER THE WORKING GROUP OR THE COMMUNITY DIALOGUES, RIGHT? WHATEVER STRUCTURE IS ESTABLISHED.

AND, AND CAN YOU GIVE ME, YOU SAID FROM SEPTEMBER TO JANUARY, IF I HEARD CORRECTLY, HOW MANY ARE THERE? IS IT JUST EVERY MONTH OR WHAT'S THE CADENCE? THIS IS WHAT WE NEED TO STILL WORK OUT, SO, GOT IT.

WE GOT IT.

WE DID HAVE MORE DETAIL, UM, AS YOU PROBABLY SAW IN THE LAST VERSION OF THIS THAT WAS SENT AROUND WITH THE, THE FULL PACKET.

UM, BUT BECAUSE THERE SEEMED TO BE DIFFERENT VISIONS OF HOW THIS WOULD WORK, WE'RE TRYING TO RIGHT NOW JUST ESTABLISH A WORKING GROUP SO THAT WE CAN THEN HAVE THE, THE CONVERSATION WITH, WITH AUSTIN ENERGY LEADERSHIP ABOUT ALL THESE DETAILS.

HOW OFTEN WILL THEY MEET? WHO, WHAT IS THE BODY THAT'S MEETING, WHAT IS, WHAT DO THOSE MEETINGS LOOK LIKE? ALL OF THAT.

ANOTHER YES.

ANOTHER THOUGHT IS, YEAH, I THINK IF, IF WE HAVE A, WE HAVE A WORKING GROUP, I THINK THE SPECIAL COLLEAGUES, THE MEETINGS MAY NOT BE NECESSARY, BUT I KNOW IN THE EARLY CHILDHOOD COUNCIL, WE USED TO HAVE, AND THIS IS MORE AROUND THE BUDGET, BUT THREE PUBLIC, THREE BUDGET MEETINGS, COMMUNITY MEETINGS, RIGHT.

AND THEN THREE OF US WOULD BE ASSIGNED BE TO GO TO THOSE.

SO, UM, SO I THINK WORKING GROUP BY DEFINITION DOESN'T HAVE A FORM OF THE COMMISSION, BUT, UM, UM, BUT I DO THINK THAT IF THAT'S COUPLED

[02:35:01]

BUT, UH, I THINK HAVING, UH, YOU KNOW, THINGS LAYERED ON TOP OF EACH OTHER, YOU KNOW, I DON'T KNOW HOW USEFUL THAT IS.

BUT, UH, IF I THINK IF THERE'S SUPPORT FOR A WORKING GROUP, THEN WE SHOULD MAKE SURE WE, UH, WE PLAN AROUND THAT, RIGHT? SO THAT WE'RE NOT DOING THINGS THAT, UH, MAYBE ARE SPLITTING THE, THE MESSAGE OF WHERE WE WANT TO GET THE INPUT.

SO JUST A FEW THOUGHTS HERE.

YEAH, I, I AGREE WITH THAT.

I THINK, UH, WE NEED TO DO A LITTLE BIT OF RESEARCH ON WHETHER OR NOT WE CAN HAVE A SPECIAL CALL MEETING THAT SAY ALSO INCLUDES A WORKING GROUP.

SO THAT, LIKE I SAID, IT COULD BE ONE AND THE SAME.

CUZ I, I AGREE.

I DON'T THINK WE NEED PARALLEL PROCESSES.

IF THE GOAL RIGHT NOW IS TO KIND OF GAUGE COMMISSIONERS AVAILABILITY AND INTEREST IN WORKING GROUPS BETWEEN SEPTEMBER AND JANUARY I AND OR SPECIAL CALLED MEETINGS, I PROBABLY WOULD NOT BE, UH, AVAILABLE TO ATTEND THOSE.

SO DON'T COUNT ON ME IN YOUR CALCULATIONS.

SO WE STILL HAVE JEREMY AND RAUL IT LOOKS LIKE.

AND YOU COULD HAVE A SITUATION WHERE YOU ACTUALLY DON'T WANT TO QUORUM WHEN YOU ITERATE WITH THIS, WITH AUSTIN ENERGY, RIGHT? WITH WHAT, IF YOU HAVE COMBINED WORK GROUPS AND EUC MEETINGS ARE, IS THERE A CIRCUMSTANCE WHERE YOU ACTUALLY WANNA LIMIT IT TO FIVE? WELL, IF WE, IF WE'RE POSTING A SPECIAL CALL MEETING, THEN WE BOTH CAN AND MUST HAVE QUORUM.

SO I THINK THAT'S WHERE, YOU KNOW, WE NEED TO FIGURE OUT IF WE CAN, IF THAT'S A STRATEGY, IF WE DO HAVE MORE THAN FIVE OF US THAT WANNA PARTICIPATE IN THIS PROCESS, THEN THAT'S GREAT.

AND HOPEFULLY WE CAN HAVE LIKE A JOINT MEETING OF A WORKING GROUP IN THE UC.

YOU KNOW, I KNOW WE'VE HAD JOINT MEETINGS WITH THE UC AND RMC IN THE PAST, SO PERHAPS WE CAN JUST DO SOMETHING LIKE THAT.

YEAH, I THINK THAT, UH, YOU KNOW, IF YOU DON'T MAKE QUORUM THEN IT KIND OF THROWS YOUR WHOLE PROCESS OFF, YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN? FOR THAT PARTICULAR MEETING.

YOU CAN'T MEET IF YOU DON'T MAKE QUORUM.

UM, SO I DO THINK THERE'S VALUE IN BRINGING IN THE RMC RESOURCE MANAGEMENT COMMISSION.

SO I WOULD SUGGEST KIND OF KEEPING IT FIVE OR LESS RIGHT FROM THE EUC.

BUT, UH, UH, JUST, UH, TO GET DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVES, YOU KNOW, TO, UM, TO GIVE MORE ROBUST INPUT.

ALL IN FAVOR SAY AYE.

AYE.

I JUST WANNA CLARIFY THAT THE MOTION IS THE LANGUAGE POSTED? I YES, YES.

THE REVISED.

THE REVISED IS POSTED, NO DETAILS.

DISCREET THE RESOURCING GROUP, EXCUSE ME.

UH, REVISE WHAT WE'RE LOOKING AT NOW.

WELL, I NEED A MO, I NEED A MO, UM, ACTUAL MOTION MOVE TO ADOPT AS AMENDED.

AND WE HAVE THE AMENDMENTS IN FRONT OF US.

WELL, THE POSTING LANGUAGE IS, UM, THE, UH, THE CREATION OF A RESOURCE PLANNING WORK GROUP, WORKING GROUP TO WORK WITH AUSTIN ENERGY TO DEVELOP RECOMMENDATIONS FOR UPDATING AUSTIN ENERGY'S RESOURCE GENERATION AND CLIMATE PROTECTION PLAN.

SO I, SO I'M JUST UNCLEAR WHAT YOUR ACTUAL MOTION WAS.

IT APPEARS, IT APPEARS TO ME THAT THIS THING WE'RE LOOKING AT DEFINITELY FALLS UNDER THAT AGENDA ITEM LANGUAGE.

SO I DON'T KNOW WHAT THE CONFUSION THIS HERE, THIS IS WHAT WE WANNA PASS.

THERE WAS A MOTION.

IT WAS SECONDED AND IT WAS APPROVED.

THAT'S, THAT'S ALL I, I JUST WANTED TO CLARIFY.

THAT WAS WHAT WE'RE APPROVING AND WE'RE USING THE REVISED.

UM, I, I KNOW WE'RE USING THIS REVISED, UM, RES OR, UM, I KNOW WE'RE THIS BACKUP.

I GOT THAT.

PERFECT.

SO I, I DO THINK WE ALSO NEED TO, UM, APPOINT AT LEAST I THINK A WORKING GROUP.

I CAN'T REMEMBER IF IT'S AT LEAST THREE OF US.

IT CAN, IT CAN BE UP TO FOUR ON THE WORKING GROUP, BUT THERE NEEDS TO BE SOME OF US RAISING OUR HANDS TO BE ON

[02:40:01]

THE WORKING.

RECRUITING THE OTHER MEMBERSHIP.

SO LET'S GO THROUGH THIS WOULD LIKE TO BE ONE.

AND WHAT ABOUT, AND I'LL DROP OFF IF SOMEBODY, IF, IF, IF THEY'RE OKAY IF IT'S A QUORUM ISSUE.

RAUL, JEREMY, DO YOU WANNA BE PART OF THAT? I, I'M A LITTLE BIT UNSURE OF WHAT, WHAT WE'RE, WHAT WE'RE DISCUSSING.

THIS IS JUST WHO'S IN THE GROUP OR IS THIS HELP YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT WE'RE GOING ON HERE OR WHO, WHAT WE'RE DOING? SO TO, WE'VE CREATED A WORKING GROUP, WE HAVE TO POPULATE IT WITH SOME OF OUR MEMBERS.

WE CAN THEN MOVE FORWARD WITH UNDERSTOOD.

BUT WE NEED AT LEAST A FEW OF US TO BE REPRESENTATIVES OF THE UC.

SO WE HAVE , CYRUS, JEREMY, ME, AND RANDY.

YEP.

ANYTHING ELSE ON THIS? I, I THINK THE EXPECTATION WOULD BE WE'D USE THE NEXT MONTH TO RECRUIT AND WORK WITH AUSTIN ENERGY ON A TIMELINE.

SO PROBABLY THERE WOULDN'T BE ANY MEETINGS.

YOU KNOW, THERE WOULDN'T BE ANY MEETINGS FOR A WHILE.

PUT IT THAT WAY.

SO JUST TO, TO LAY SOME OF THE CONCERNS THAT WE'RE GONNA IMMEDIATELY START CALLING MEETINGS.

IT'S GONNA BE AT LEAST 30 DAYS OR SO, I WOULD THINK AT THE, AT LEAST.

YEAH, YOU USUALLY YOU NEED TO FOLLOW UP ON THIS, ON THE NEXT EUCS AGENDA.

YEAH, THANK YOU.

THAT SAID, I WOULD JUST INVITE, YOU KNOW, I THINK IF THE OTHERS THAT ARE ON THE WORKING GROUP WANNA BE PART OF THAT CONVERSATION WITH AUSTIN ENERGY LEADERSHIP, UM, I THINK IT WOULD BE GOOD FOR US TO ALL BE ON THE SAME PAGE, ALL OF WHICH IS WHAT DESIGNATE TWO CHAIRS HERE TO, TO HANDLE ALL THE LOGISTICAL DETAILS.

I THINK THEY'RE THE MOST EXPERIENCED.

, .

WE APPRECIATE THEIR TIME.

ANYTHING ELSE ON 13? AND THEN WE STILL HAVE NUMBER 12, WHICH IS THE STANDARD OFFER TO TALK TO, AND THEN WE'RE DONE WITH THE AGENDA.

YES, PLEASE.

WELL, I DON'T KNOW, UM, IF WE, YOU KNOW, WHAT, WHAT FOLKS APPETITE IS FOR THIS, UM, ADDITIONAL WORKING GROUP.

THIS WAS ACTUALLY ON OUR AGENDA LAST MONTH AND I THINK I DID MY LITTLE PRESENTATION AND THEN JUST LIKE, KIND OF FORGOT THAT WE WERE POSTED FOR AN ACTION ITEM.

SO I PUT IT BACK ON HERE.

UM, I DO THINK, UH, AUSTIN ENERGY, UH, TO MY KNOWLEDGE IT'S MOVING FORWARD WITH SCHEDULING AT LEAST ONE OF THE, UH, PROMISED STAKEHOLDER MEETINGS.

SO THAT IS GOOD.

UM, IT STILL SEEMS THOUGH THAT MOST OF THE QUESTIONS ABOUT THE DETAILS OF THE STANDARD OFFER FOR DISTRIBUTED SOLAR ARE STILL OPEN QUESTIONS.

UM, AND YOU KNOW, IT'S A SUBJECT THAT IT SEEMS LIKE OUR COMMISSION SHOULD, SHOULD BE WEIGHING IN ON, UM, SOMETHING THAT I'VE BEEN WORKING ON, BUT THAT I KNOW WE HAVEN'T REALLY HAD MUCH CONVERSATION HERE, SO THAT'S WHY I'M JUST PUTTING THIS OUT.

IF THERE ARE PEOPLE WHO WANT TO, YOU KNOW, WORK THROUGH COMING UP WITH, UM, AND, AND WORK WITH AUSTIN ENERGY ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF THAT PROGRAM AND, AND COME UP WITH ANY RECOMMENDATIONS THAT WE MIGHT WANT TO PRIORITIZE IN THIS NEW SOLAR OFFERING, UM, THEN WE COULD CREATE A WORKING GROUP FOR THAT.

IF THERE'S NOT APPETITE FOR THAT, THAT'S FINE AS WELL, BUT WE JUST DIDN'T ACTUALLY BRING IT UP LAST MEETING FOR DISCUSSION, SO THAT'S WHY IT'S BACK ON HERE.

SO FURTHER DISCUSSION.

HAVE WE, UM, HAS AUSTIN ENERGY TOLD US WHEN THEY MIGHT BE MAKING A PRESENTATION TO, THEY ALREADY MADE A PRESENTATION? NO, THAT'LL BE AUGUST MAYBE.

THAT WOULD BE HELPFUL TO KNOW.

YEAH, THEY, THEY SAID THEY DO IT IN AUGUST.

OH, THEY SAID THEY DO IT IN AUGUST.

MM-HMM.

, COULD WE WAIT UNTIL AFTER THE PRESENTATION TO SEE, TO CREATE THIS? TO CREATE THIS? YEAH.

BECAUSE WE MAY NOT NEED TO CREATE IT, LIKE DEPENDING ON SO WITHDRAW OR POSTPONE.

AND I THINK WE CAN TABLE THIS TILL THE NEXT MEETING.

SO I GUESS IF WE CAN PUT IT BACK ON THE NEXT AGENDA, THAT WOULD BE GOOD.

THAT'S WHAT WE'LL DO.

UH, THE, UH, BUDGET AND AUDIT WORKING GROUP WILL, UH, WE WILL HAVE SOME ACTUAL, AN ACTUAL BUDGET, UH, FROM, FROM THE, UH, CITY MANAGER.

SO I THINK THAT COMPLETES THE AGENDA, DOESN'T IT? FEW AGENDA ITEMS.

[02:45:01]

AND, UH, SO PLEASE LIST THAT AS AN ACTION ITEM FOR THE NEXT MEETING.

IT'S ALREADY ON THERE, IT SOUNDS LIKE.

SO ANYTHING ELSE ONLINE? ANY OTHER COMMENTS, FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS? NOPE.

THIS STORAGE, DO WE HAVE THAT ON? NO, WE'LL DO, WE'LL DEAL WITH THAT OVER THE COURSE TOO.

SO WITH THAT, IT'S NINE O'CLOCK ALMOST.

IT'S BEEN A LONG MEETING.