[00:00:05]
THIS IS THE ELECTRIC UTILITY COMMISSION MEETING FOR AUGUST 14TH, 2023.
UH, LET'S CALL THE MEETING TO ORDER ANY
[CALL MEETING TO ORDER]
PUBLIC COMMUNICATION.[PUBLIC COMMUNICATION: GENERAL]
WE HAVE ONE SPEAKER, AL BRADEN.GOOD EVENING, UH, CHAIRMAN TUTTLE COMMISSIONERS IN AUSTIN ENERGY.
I'M AL BRADEN FROM DISTRICT SEVEN, AN AUSTIN CITIZEN AND SHAREHOLDER OF AUSTIN ENERGY ENERGY WITH CYRUS AND KABA.
I WORKED ON THE 2020 GENERATION PLAN, AND I'M HERE TO STRESS THE IMPORTANCE OF A ROBUST REVISION TO THAT PLAN WITH A NEW E U C WORKING GROUP.
OUR 2020 GROUP CALLED FOR A REVIEW IN THREE YEARS IF SIGNIFICANT ISSUES WARRANTED IT.
I CAN TELL YOU RIGHT NOW THAT SIGNIFICANT ISSUES DO WARRANT A FULL REVIEW WITH A THREE MINUTE LIMIT.
I CAN'T READ ALL MY CHARTS, BUT I'LL ASK YOU TO DO THAT LATER.
FIRST, WE COMMITTED TO EXIT FAYETTE IN 2022 AND BELIEVE THAT AUSTIN ENERGY'S NEGOTIATORS AND CITY COUNCIL WOULD ACHIEVE THAT.
THAT CLEAR FAILURE MAKES IT EVEN MORE URGENT TO FIND OTHER WAYS TO REDUCE AUSTIN'S MASSIVE COAL CARBON FOOTPRINT, WE'VE GOTTA STOP THOSE COAL TRAINS FROM GOING TO FAYETTE WITH OUR NAME ON THEM.
SECONDLY, WE WERE TOLD THAT RETIREMENTS OF OUR REMAINING GAS UNITS REQUIRED A FULL STUDY OF THE TRANSMISSION SYSTEM.
THAT REPORT JUST LANDED AT E U C LAST MONTH.
IT'S VERY COMPLEX TO BE SURE, BUT SEVERAL THINGS IMMEDIATELY STAND OUT.
MANY OF THE TECHNICAL OPTIONS DISCUSSED INVOLVE LONG LEAD TIME ITEMS THAT AUSTIN ENERGY NEEDS TO BE DOING ANYWAY AND WOULD NORMALLY DO AS PART OF THE ROUTINE BUSINESS.
SO I THINK WE NEED TO DO THAT RIGHT AWAY.
BUT THE ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM IS THAT OUR ENTIRE DISTRIBUTION NETWORK IS BUILT ON HISTORIC RELIANCE ON COAL, NUCLEAR AND GAS IMPORTS FROM THE EAST.
THESE CONDUCTORS AND TRANSFORMERS ARE HEAVILY LOADED NOW WHILE THE WESTERN POWER, WHILE THE POWER FOR THE WESTERN HALF OF TOWN IS FED BACKWARDS INTO IT, YET ONLY THE EASTERN TRANSMISSION UPGRADES WERE STUDIED.
WE MUST UPGRADE OUR DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM TO A TRUE ENERGY BELTWAY AROUND AUSTIN WITH ROBUST FEEDS FROM THE WEST WHERE VAST AMOUNTS OF OUR RENEWABLE ENERGY ARE.
LOOK AT SAN ANTONIO OR D F W 345 K LOOPS FOR COMPARISON.
UPGRADING A COUPLE WESTERN LINES FROM 1 38 TO 3 45.
KV COULD PROVIDE THAT DIRECT POWER INTO THE BELTWAY BUILDING.
NEW WESTERN SUBSTATIONS COULD REDUCE CONGESTION AND OVERLOADING IN THE EAST.
AND THIRDLY, REPLACING REMAINING GAS UNITS OF DECKER AND SANDHILL WITH BATTERIES WAS DISMISSED BY THE TRANSMISSION STUDY AS NOT BEING VIABLE WHEN MODELED UNDER CHARGING CONDITIONS.
I CAN ONLY SAY, OF COURSE NOT, THAT'S NOT HOW THEY WOULD BE USED.
THEY WOULD DISCHARGE DIRECTLY INTO OUR LOAD ZONE DURING PEAK HOURS, RECHARGING AT NIGHT WITH LOW COST WIND THAT WOULD SAVE AUSTIN RATE PARIS MONEY AND REDUCE DAYTIME CONGESTION.
HERE'S A CHART OF THE BATTERY BUILDUP IN ERCOT FOR THE NEXT 18 MONTHS.
WE SHOULD BE ADDING DISPATCHABLE A HUNDRED MEGAWATT BATTERY BLOCKS AT DECKER AND SANDHILL UNTIL WE REACH THE CAPACITY OF THOSE GAS UNITS AND THEN RETIRE THEM.
LOCALS LOAD ZONE SOLAR COULD ALSO BE ADDED ON THIS LAND THAT WE ALREADY OWN.
SO PLEASE CREATE A ROBUST E U C WORKING GROUP TO MAKE THAT HAPPEN.
ANY OTHER PUBLIC COMMENTS? OKAY.
UH, NEXT, I'D JUST LIKE TO, I'VE HEARD THAT ERICA BIBA IS RETIRING.
I'D JUST LIKE TO THANK HER FOR HER YEARS OF SERVICE TO AUSTIN ENERGY AND THE COMMUNITY, AND WE'LL SHARE THE BEST OF LUCK IN THE FUTURE.
UH, NEXT IS APPROVAL OF MINUTES.
[APPROVAL OF MINUTES]
SO MOVE APPROVE OF MINUTES FROM THE JULY MEETING.[00:05:01]
OKAY.WE NEED, WE GET, I SAW TWO HANDS OUT OF, CAN Y'ALL, COMMISSIONER BLACKBURN, CAN YOU TURN ON YOUR CAMERA SO WE CAN CAPTURE YOUR MOTION? I MEAN, YOUR VOTE? YES.
DID YOU VOTE YES TO APPROVE THE MINUTES? UH, YES.
CAN WE MOVE ON ON THAT ONE? OKAY.
WE HAVE ITEMS FOR DISCUSSION TWO THROUGH SIX, ACTUALLY.
ANYONE WANT TO DISCUSS THOSE FURTHER ONLINE? RAUL, JEREMY, JONATHAN, I HAD A VERY QUICK QUESTION ON NUMBER TWO.
AND, UM, A COMMENT ON THE OTHER IS JUST I DO APPRECIATE THE PUTTING CONTINUOUS SUBMISSION MONITORING, WHICH IS BY FAR THE BEST EMISSIONS MONITORING YOU CAN DO.
I DON'T, I DON'T NEED TO ASK A QUESTION ABOUT WHICHEVER ONE THAT IS, BUT THAT'S GOOD.
ANY OTHER QUESTIONS ON 2, 3, 6 FROM THOSE ONLINE? OKAY.
WE'LL JUST GO WITH NUMBER TWO FROM CYRUS.
[Items 2 - 6]
IS THAT MINE?RICHARD GENESEE, VICE PRESIDENT OF CUSTOMER ENERGY SOLUTIONS.
SO THIS, THIS HAS ALREADY BEEN, THEY'VE ALREADY APPROVED THIS FELLOW? YEAH.
THE, THE PROCESSOR HAD ALREADY BEEN APPROVED.
THEIR FELLOW HAS NOT BEEN SELECTED.
BUT JUST FOR CLARIFICATION, THIS IS A ZERO COST TO AUSTIN ENERGY AND TO THE CITY OF AUSTIN.
AND THIS, UH, FELLOW WILL WORK ON EQUITY ISSUES AND, AND THAT SEEMS REALLY GOOD.
DO YOU KNOW THE, THE APPROXIMATE TIMING? WHEN WOULD THEIR ONE YEAR FELLOWSHIP BE START? IF THEY WOULD BE SELECTED, SAY SEPTEMBER, OCTOBER, THEN THE YEAR WOULD BE OKAY.
SO IT'S PROBABLY THE WORK THEY DO IS PROBABLY TOO LATE TO GO INTO ANY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS FOR THE UPDATE TO THE RESOURCE PLAN, BUT IT COULD HELP INFORM THE WORK, BASICALLY.
ANY OTHER QUESTIONS ON TOO? NO.
UH, THE INFORMATION DEVELOPED, WILL THERE BE, WILL THE FELLOW DEVELOP A REPORT? YEAH, THE FELLOW WOULD BE WORKING ON BASELINING, ESTABLISHING GOALS AND KPIS AND DEVELOPING OUTREACH AND PROGRAM STRATEGIES TO HELP MEET THE GOALS AND ALSO TO HELP US ON OTHER GRANTS THAT MIGHT HAVE AN EQUITY COMPONENT THAT MIGHT BE HELPING TO WRITE THOSE.
LOOK FORWARD TO SEEING THAT DATA.
CAN WE JUST VOTE STRAIGHT THROUGH TWO THROUGH SIX, THEN ALL IN, DO I HAVE A, A MOTION? SO, MOVE.
JONATHAN, YOU WANT TO, WE CAN'T STEAL YOU.
[9. Discussion and possible action on the Annual Internal Review of the Electric Utility Commission for July 2022 through June 2023.]
ANNUAL INTERNAL AUDIT.IS THERE ANY DISCUSSION WE NEED TO HAVE ON THAT? THE E U C DOES NOT NEED TO TAKE ACTION ON THE, UM, ANNUAL INTERNAL REVIEW.
IT, IT'S POSTED IF THEY, UM, WANT TO TAKE ACTION TO FORMALLY APPROVE IT, BUT IT HAS ALREADY BEEN SUBMITTED TO THE CITY CLERK'S OFFICE.
I I THINK WE'RE GOOD TO GO ON THAT ONE.
[10. Staff briefing on the Third Quarter Operations Report by Lisa Martin, Acting Deputy General Manager and Chief Operating Officer.]
BREEDING BRIEFINGS NUMBER 10, MS. MARTIN,[00:10:04]
GOOD EVENING COMMISSIONERS.LISA MARTIN, ACTING DEPUTY GENERAL MANAGER AND CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER.
AND I'M HERE TONIGHT TO PRESENT TO YOU THE QUARTERLY OPERATIONS UPDATE THAT COVERS APRIL, MAY, AND JUNE OF 2023.
WE'LL FOLLOW THE STANDARD AGENDA.
AND THIS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY IS SIMILAR TO WHAT WE SEE EVERY QUARTER.
UM, BUT I DO WANNA POINT OUT THAT FOR THIS QUARTER, UH, WE WERE AT 49% AGGREGATE RENEWABLE PRODUCTION AS A PERCENTAGE OF LOAD AND 71% CARBON FREE PRODUCTION AS A PERCENTAGE OF LOAD.
WE'LL SHOW THOSE NUMBERS IN A LITTLE BIT MORE DETAIL IN THE NEXT COUPLE OF SLIDES.
IN TERMS OF OUR GENERATOR AVAILABILITY, AGAIN, WE'RE COVERING SOME OF THE SHOULDER MONTHS, AND SO THERE WERE TYPICAL OUTAGES, UM, FOR MAINTENANCE PURPOSES, BUT YOU MAY ALSO NOTICE THAT THE SANDHILL ENERGY, UH, CENTER COMBINED CYCLE UNIT SHOWS 47% ACTUAL AVAILABILITY DURING THIS TIME PERIOD.
THEY HAD A PLANNED OUTAGE, UM, AT THAT GENERATING UNIT, BUT THEN IT WAS FORCED INTO AN EXTENDED FORCED OUTAGE.
UM, SO IT WAS OUT FOR PART OF MAY AND MOST OF JUNE.
SO THAT'S WHY THOSE NUMBERS ARE A LITTLE BIT LOWER.
IN THE TOP, UH, LEFT HERE, YOU SEE OUR POWER GENERATION COST BY FUEL TYPE.
AGAIN, OUR TYPICAL PIE CHART AND MOVING ACROSS THE SLIDE IN TERMS OF OUR CONSUMPTION VERSUS GENERATION, YOU'LL NOTICE HERE THAT OUR, UH, GENERATION WAS LESS THAN OUR OVERALL CONSUMPTION DURING THIS QUARTER, PARTLY DUE TO, UH, THE OUTAGES, UH, THAT WE TALKED ABOUT DURING THE, UH, SHOULDER MONTHS ON THE LAST SLIDE.
AND ALSO PARTLY JUST IN GENERAL, THERE WAS LESS WIND IN ERCOT.
UM, DURING THIS QUARTER MOVING DOWN, UM, YOU'LL SEE NUCLEAR PLUS RENEWABLE GETS TO BE THE 71% CARBON FREE AS A PERCENTAGE OF OUR CONSUMPTION.
AND THEN, UH, IN THE BLUE LINE GRAPH, UM, IN THE BOTTOM LEFT, I THINK IS PARTICULARLY INTERESTING.
THIS IS SHOWING THE SYSTEM PEAK DURING THIS QUARTER, UM, YEAR OVER YEAR.
AND SO YOU'LL SEE THERE'S A SIGNIFICANT TRENDING UPWARDS.
UM, AND I THINK THIS IS PARTLY INDICATIVE THE FACT THAT WHAT I FEEL IS THERE'S LIKE LONGER SUMMERS HAPPENING, SO WE'RE GETTING WARMER EARLIER.
AND SO OUR, OUR, UM, OUR LOAD IS GOING UP.
ALSO, I THINK SOME OF THIS IS RELATED TO ELECTRIFICATION.
SO TYPICALLY OVER THE YEARS, AE HAS BEEN A LITTLE BIT LONG.
SO THIS TIME WHEN YOU'RE SHORT, DID THAT BY LUCK OR SOME OTHER SITUATION ACTUALLY SAVE MONEY BECAUSE YOU COULD PROCURE ON THE MARKET AT A LOW ENOUGH PRICE? IT ACTUALLY, UM, IT DEPENDS ON THE MONTH, BUT, UH, DURING JUNE WE ACTUALLY SAW, UM, SIGNIFICANT HIGH PRICES.
UM, YOU'LL PROBABLY REMEMBER THAT WE HAD A MUCH WARMER TEMPERATURES EARLIER IN THE SUMMER, AND SO WE SAW A LOT OF PEAKS BUYING ON THE MARKET WAS VERY EXPENSIVE IN JUNE, SO NO, IT DID NOT HELP US.
COULD COULD YOU JUST REMIND US WHICH THE THIRD QUARTER OR WHICH MONTHS, YOU SAID MAY, JUNE, UH, APRIL, MAY AND JUNE.
SO HERE YOU SEE OUR RELIABILITY ME METRICS IN TERMS OF DURATION AND FREQUENCY OF OUTAGES.
UM, EACH BAR CHART, UH, IS, UH, ROLLING 12 MONTH AVERAGE FROM THAT QUARTER AND AND BEYOND.
UM, AND YOU SEE, UH, THE TREND SHOWING THOSE QUARTERLY ROLLING 12 MONTH AVERAGES, UM, FOR THREE YEARS HERE.
SO YOU CAN SEE OUR NUMBERS ARE TRENDING UP, WHICH IS NOT A POSITIVE THING.
UM, AND YOU CAN SEE, UM, UH, THE OTHER THING I WANNA POINT OUT IS THAT, UM, IN Q TWO, UH, WHICH IS WHAT I REPORTED OUT LAST QUARTER, THE NUMBERS SHOWN HERE ARE HIGHER THAN WHAT I PRESENTED LAST QUARTER.
AND LARGELY THAT'S BECAUSE THE QUALITY ANALYSIS ASSOCIATED WITH THE OUTAGE DATA FOR WINTER STORM MARA WAS NOT COMPLETE.
WHEN I PREVIOUSLY PRESENTED IT TURNED OUT THAT ONLY THE FIRST SIX DAYS OF THE WINTER STORM MARA HITS THE THRESHOLD FOR A MAJOR EVENT DAY.
AND SO ALL THE OTHER OUTAGES THAT BEYOND THAT GET BAKED INTO THESE NUMBERS.
AND SO THAT'S WHY YOU START TO SEE A PRETTY SIGNIFICANT INCREASE.
UM, ESSENTIALLY IT'S A POINTING TOWARDS MORE EXTREME, UH, WEATHER, CREATING MORE STORMS, AND, UH, OVERALL THE AVERAGE THRESHOLD GETS HIGHER.
AND SO MORE DATA GETS SHOWN, SHOWN IN HERE.
BUT AS WE, UM, HAVE DISCUSSED FOR THE LAST SEVERAL QUARTERS, UM, WE ARE HAVE CONCERTED EFFORTS TO, UH, GET THESE TO TREND IN THE OPPOSITE DIRECTION.
AND WHEN I GET TO THE FINAL SLIDE, I'LL, I'LL REPEAT SOME OF THOSE EFFORTS THAT WE HAVE ON UNDERWAY.
SO WHAT, WHAT BEYOND AND VEGETATION MANAGEMENT ARE YOU GONNA DO? SO, UH, PART OF THIS IS, UH, GETTING CONTRACTOR RESOURCES SO THAT WE HAVE ENOUGH TO COVER BOTH THE EXTREME GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT WORK, UM, ALONG WITH THE MAINTENANCE AND RELIABILITY EFFORTS.
[00:15:01]
WORKING THROUGH SOME MATERIAL AVAILABILITY SHORTAGES, SO SUPPLY CHAIN ISSUES.UM, BUT ALSO THIS IS THE AREA WHERE WE'RE FOCUSING SOME OF OUR GRANT APPLICATIONS.
WE DID RECEIVE, UM, UH, SOME GRANT FUNDING THAT WE TALKED ABOUT BEFORE THE BRICK GRANT.
AND SO WE'RE WORKING ON THAT ANALYSIS TO SEE WHAT WE CAN DO, UM, HOW TO BEST SPEND THOSE DOLLARS, UH, OR HOW TO BEST SPEND DOLLARS MOVING FORWARD FOR OVERHEAD RELIABILITY.
AND THEN OF COURSE THERE'S ALSO THE UNDERGROUNDING, UM, UH, FEASIBILITY STUDY AS WELL.
UM, CAN YOU GIVE US A TIMELINE ON THAT? UNDERGROUND FEASIBILITY STUDY? YES.
UM, AND, AND YOU'RE, UH, STEALING ALL MY THUNDER, BUT THAT'S PERFECTLY FINE.
SO, UM, THE, UH, SCOPE OF WORK IS UNDER FINAL REVIEW AND WE SHOULD BE ABLE TO PUT OUT OUR R F P ON THE STREET, UM, IN THE NEXT QUARTER.
AND THEN, UH, RIGHT, IF ALL GOES WELL WITH BUDGET, THAT'S FUNDED FOR FISCAL YEAR 24.
AND SO THEN THE TIMELINE IS TO TRY TO GET THAT ACCOMPLISHED DURING FISCAL YEAR 24 SO THAT WE CAN THEN TAKE ACTION, UH, IN FISCAL YEAR 25.
CAN YOU, UH, ONE OF THE THINGS I, A NEWS REPORT I SAW, UH, ONE OF THE ALTERNATIVES IS IN ESSENCE WRAPPING, UH, EXISTING WIRES INSTEAD OF PLACE IN, IN, IN LIEU OF UNDERGROUND.
HOW DOES THAT WORK? HOW DOES THAT WORK? AND WOULD THAT, WHICH WOULD THAT BE LIKE FOR RESIDENTIAL OR, OR AT, AT WHAT VOLTAGE LEVEL OR DO YOU KNOW? YEAH, SO IT IS FOR DISTRIBUTION, IT'S, UM, OFTEN REFERRED TO AS COVERED CONDUCTOR.
IT'S ESSENTIALLY, UM, INSULATED WIRE THAT IS INSULATED ENOUGH SO THAT IF YOU HAD, FOR EXAMPLE, A TREE BRANCH OR A MYLAR BALLOON HIT INTO THE PHASE, IT WOULDN'T, UM, BE ABLE TO CREATE A, A PATH BETWEEN, UM, THE WIRES.
AND SO, UM, IT DOES INCREASE YOUR RELIABILITY METRICS.
IT'S ESPECIALLY, UM, HELPFUL IN AREAS WITH HIGH VEGETATION.
UM, OTHER UTILITIES THAT WE'VE SEEN USE IT HAVE, UM, PUT IT INTO A PLACE WHERE THERE'S WI HIGH WILDFIRE RISK.
AND SO WE ARE, UM, LOOKING TO DEVELOP CONSTRUCTION STANDARDS, UM, ALSO ASSESSING, YOU KNOW, WHAT THE COST OF THAT WOULD BE AND LOOKING AT THAT AS AN ALTERNATIVE TO UNDERGROUNDING.
AND I THINK IN A SENSE, THE SCOPE OF WORK AND THE, THE RESULTS FROM THE OUR THIRD PARTY ANALYSIS WILL ULTIMATELY TELL US, UM, WHAT RIGHT COMBINATION OF UNDERGROUNDING AND OTHER RELIABILITY METRICS LIKE YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT, UM, COMBINED TO, TO, TO, YOU KNOW, BE MOST COST EFFECTIVE AND, UM, IMPACTFUL ON OUR METRICS.
UH, WHAT WE'VE WATCHED JUST THIS WEEK IN HAWAII AND LENA, UH, IS A GOOD REMINDER OF THE IMPORTANCE OF YES, ABSOLUTELY.
AND SO THIS SHOWS, UM, EVERY QUARTER THE CARBON FREE GENERATION HAS A PERCENTAGE OF LOAD.
SO WHEN YOU TAKE THOSE LAST THREE, UM, MONTHS ON THE FAR RIGHT AND AVERAGE THEM, THAT'S WHERE YOU GET 71%.
UM, ALTHOUGH THEY DON'T SHOW UP HERE, UH, THIS QUARTER THAT WE'RE REPORTING ON LAST YEAR, UH, WAS HIGHER.
AND AGAIN, I MENTIONED THAT THERE WAS JUST OVERALL LESS WIND, UM, IN ERCOT THIS QUARTER.
AND THIS SUMMARIZES WHAT I, UM, WAS MENTIONING ON THE SADIE SAFETY AND KATIE SLIDE.
UM, AND THE OTHER THING I'LL JUST MENTION IS THAT, UM, THE TRANSMISSION SYSTEM ASSESSMENT, OF COURSE, WE PRESENTED THAT TO YOU, UM, LAST, UH, MONTH.
UM, AND WE WILL BE TAKING THOSE RESULTS AND INCORPORATING THEM INTO THE RESOURCE PLAN UPDATE.
AND THAT CONCLUDES THE QUARTERLY OPERATIONS UPDATE.
DO YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS FOR ME? CAN YOU REMIND US HOW MUCH THAT GRANT WAS FOR THE BRICK? JUST UNDER A MILLION DOLLARS.
[11. Staff briefing on the Third Quarter Financial Report by Stephanie Koudelka, Finance Director]
STAFF BRIEFING ON THE THIRD QUARTER FINANCIAL REPORT.I AM PRESENTING TO YOU ONCE IT'S UP THERE, OUR THIRD QUARTER FINANCIAL RESULTS FOR, UM, THE PERIOD APRIL, MAY, AND JUNE OF OUR F Y 23.
UH, THE RESULTS I'M PRESENTING TO YOU THIS EVENING ARE UNAUDITED AND PRELIMINARY RESULTS.
THE AGENDA FOR THIS EVENING FOR THE QUARTERLY REPORT INCLUDES AN EXECUTIVE SUMMARY OF OUR FINANCIAL, UH, RESULTS FOR THE QUARTER.
I WILL ALSO BRIEF YOU ON OUR FINANCIAL HEALTH STRATEGIC GOAL, WHICH IS A DOUBLE A BOND RATING FROM STANDARD AND POORS.
AND THEN I'LL PRESENT TO YOU OUR FINANCIAL RESULTS ON A BUDGET BASIS AS WELL AS A GAP BASIS.
AND I WILL ALSO GIVE YOU AN EXPANDED VIEW ON OUR CASH AND RESERVES POSITION AS OF THE END OF THE QUARTER.
[00:20:01]
NEXT SLIDE.I'LL START WITH THE EXECUTIVE SUMMARY OF OUR FINANCIAL RESULTS.
WE ARE IMPARTIAL COMPLIANCE OF OUR FINANCIAL POLICIES, WHICH ARE MEMORIALIZED DURING OUR BUDGET, UH, PROCESS.
EACH YEAR WE HAVE, UH, DEBT AND OPERATING POLICIES, WHICH WE'RE IN FULL COMPLIANCE OF, AND OUR CASH AND RESERVES TOTALS 369 MILLION, UM, AGAINST A TARGET OF 520 MILLION.
THAT 520 MILLION NUMBER IS BASED ON A BUDGET, UH, FOR THE UPCOMING YEAR.
SO IT DOES NOT TAKE INTO CONSIDERATION ANY EXTRAORDINARY COSTS THAT WE'D HAVE TO INCUR IN THE FISCAL YEAR.
OUR WORKING CAPITAL IS SEEING A DECREASE OF 136 MILLION OVER THE YEAR, WHICH IS A MATERIAL DECREASE.
THAT'S PRIMARILY DUE TO THE IMPACTS OF THE POWER SUPPLY MARKET, AS WELL AS COSTS THAT WE EXPENDED RELATED TO THE WINTER STORM.
OUR OPERATING REVENUE IS SITTING AT 1.2 BILLION FOR THE QUARTER.
UM, THAT'S ABOUT 1% LESS THAN BUDGET.
AND OUR OPERATING EXPENSES AND INCLUDING TRANSFERS ARE 4% OVER BUDGET.
THAT'S PRIMARILY DUE AGAIN TO THE WINTER STORM, MORE COST THAT WE INCURRED, AS WELL AS THE IMPACT OF THE POWER SUPPLY COST.
OUR BOND RATING WAS REAFFIRMED IN MAY WHEN WE ISSUED LONG-TERM DEBT BY ALL THREE RATING AGENCIES.
JUST AS A REMINDER, WE'RE SITTING AT AA MINUS PER S AND P AGAINST THAT GOAL OF AA.
AND FINALLY, IN THE SUMMARY, OUR POWER SUPPLY ADJUSTMENT WERE UNDER RECOVERED BY 54 MILLION AS OF THE END OF THE QUARTER.
UM, AS YOU KNOW, WE RESET THAT RATE IN NOVEMBER TO RECOVER VERY HIGH COMMODITY AND MARKET COSTS, INCLUDING CONGESTION THAT WE EXPERIENCED IN 2022.
UM, THE RATE HAS BEEN OVER RECOVERING AS EXPECTED WITH THE EXCEPTION OF DECEMBER.
AS I HAVE PRESENTED TO YOU IN A PRIOR QUARTER AND JUNE, WHICH SAW A $23 MILLION UNDER RECOVERY FOR THE MONTH.
I HAVE AN UPCOMING SLIDE THAT'LL GIVE YOU SOME MORE INFORMATION ON THE POWER SUPPLY ADJUSTMENT RATE AND HOW THAT RATE HAS BEEN, UM, KIND OF PERFORMING OVER THE, THE FISCAL YEAR.
FOR OUR STANDARD AND POORS BOND RATING, AS I MENTIONED, WE'RE SITTING AT AA MINUS AGAINST OUR TARGET OF AA.
I'LL RUN THROUGH SOME, UM, KPIS THAT WE USE TO BENCHMARK OURSELVES AGAINST, UH, FOR THAT RATING.
OUR DAYS CASH ON HAND, WE'RE AT 93 DAYS.
UM, OUR TARGET IS 150 DAYS MINIMUM.
UM, ON HAND OUR COVERAGE RATIO, WE ARE AT 2.1 TIMES AGAINST THAT MINIMUM OF 2.5.
WE ARE, UM, ABOVE OUR FINANCIAL POLICY, WHICH IS 2.0.
WE DO SET THE INTERNAL TARGET A LITTLE HIGHER JUST GIVEN THE BOND RATING.
UM, EXPECTATION FOR OPERATING MARGIN, WE ARE BELOW THE TARGET.
THAT'S MOSTLY DUE TO, UM, INCREASED COST THAT WE'VE SEEN, AS WELL AS THE DELAY IN THE BASE RATE IMPLEMENTATION FOR DEBT TO CAPITALIZATION.
WE HAVEN'T SEEN MUCH MOVEMENT THERE.
WE'VE BEEN SITTING AT AROUND 56% FOR THE PAST FEW QUARTERS.
I'LL NOW LET MOVE INTO THE BUDGET TO ACTUAL RESULTS.
I'LL START WITH OUR FUND SUMMARY.
AGAIN, THIS IS A BUDGET BASIS OF ACCOUNTING.
UM, WE DO SEE POSITIVE RESULTS THAT YOU SEE HERE, UM, ON INCOME BEFORE TRANSFERS WE'RE AT 95, BUT THAT'S AGAINST A TARGET OF 164 MILLION.
I DID HIGHLIGHT AT THE BOTTOM THAT WE ARE AT A DEFICIENCY OF 93 MILLION COMPARED TO A FORECASTED DEFICIENCY OF 32 MILLION.
WHILE WE DO NORMALLY SEE A DEFICIENCY GIVEN, UM, THIS TIME OF YEAR THAT WE'RE IN, WE'RE OBVIOUSLY WELL BELOW THAT TARGET.
UM, THIS IS MOSTLY DRIVEN BY SOME COST INCREASES THAT I'VE MENTIONED EARLIER, AS WELL AS, UM, ACCELERATED ENCUMBRANCES THAT ARE SHOWING UP IN THE ACTUAL NUMBERS.
WHILE WE ARE SHOWING OVER BUDGET AT THIS POINT IN THE FISCAL YEAR, WE DO EXPECT, EXPECT SOME OF THIS TO SMOOTH OUT AS WE PAY OUT THOSE ENCUMBRANCES.
UM, WE DO EXPECT TO MAKE UP SOME OF THAT DIFFERENCE IN INTEREST INCOME.
WE'VE SEEN MUCH HIGHER INCOME THAN SURE JUST THAT QUARTER ACCELERATED INCOME.
SO, UM, AT THE BEGINNING OF THE FISCAL YEAR, YOU CAN RESERVE ALL OF YOUR ACTUALS WITH AN ENCUMBRANCE.
LET'S SAY YOU HAVE A CONTRACT FOR A MILLION DOLLARS, YOU CAN ENCUMBER THAT AND ON A BUDGET BASIS IT WOULD SHOW UP IN ACTUALS BEFORE YOU'VE ACTUALLY SPENT THE CASH.
UM, AGAIN, JUST TO POINT OUT THAT INTEREST INCOME, IT IS WELL ABOVE THE BUDGET.
WE DO EXPECT TO SEE EVEN MORE MAKE IN THAT, UM, AREA TO OFFSET SOME OF THE INCREASED COSTS THAT WE'VE SEEN.
WE ALSO EXPECT TO TRANSFER LESS ON THE INTERNAL, UH, TRANSFERS.
FOR C I P, WE HAVE A LOWER CAPITAL, UH, PLAN FOR THE FISCAL YEAR, WHICH MEANS WE'LL HAVE TO SEND LESS CASH OVER TO FUND THOSE COSTS.
[00:25:03]
I'LL NOW TALK ABOUT REVENUE AND EXPENSE.AT A HIGH LEVEL, AGAIN, OUR REVENUES ARE ABOUT 1% BELOW OUR FORECASTED BUDGET.
UM, OUR BASE REVENUE DID COME IN AT 4% BELOW BUDGET, WHICH AGAIN INCLUDED THAT ASSUMPTION THAT THEY'D GO INTO EFFECT IN JANUARY.
UM, VERSUS THE MARCH IMPLEMENTATION DATE, OUR POWER SUPPLY, WHICH IS THE NEXT BAR OVER, IS OVER BUDGET.
AGAIN, THAT'S DUE TO INCREASED MARKET COSTS THAT WE'VE SEEN.
AS THOSE POWER SUPPLY COSTS ARE OVER BUDGET, THE REVENUES WILL BE OVER BUDGET AS WELL.
ON THE EXPENSE SIDE, THESE ARE, UM, EXPENSES INCLUDE OR BEFORE TRANSFERS, EXCUSE ME.
WE DID COME IN ABOVE OUR FORECAST BY 7%.
AGAIN, MOSTLY DRIVEN BY WINTER STORM COST.
WE'VE SEEN A LOT OF INFLATION IN OUR GOODS AND SERVICES AND CONTRACTS.
AND, UM, WE HAVE SEEN THE IMPACT FROM THE POWER SUPPLY MARKET.
UM, AGAIN, SOME OF THOSE OVERAGES ARE TIMING RELATED AND WE'LL SEE SOME SMOOTHING OUT AS THOSE ENCUMBRANCES ARE PAID OUT.
THIS IS THE DEPICTION OF THE POWER SUPPLY ADJUSTMENT.
I MENTIONED EARLIER THAT BLUE LINE, UM, AT THE TOP REPRESENTS OUR BUILD P S A REVENUE, WHICH IS SET TO RECOVER COST IN ANY OVER OR UNDER THAT WE'VE HAD.
UM, YOU'LL SEE THAT COST EXCEEDED BUDGET AGAIN IN DECEMBER AND JUNE, WHICH WAS MUCH MORE PRONOUNCED.
UM, AND WITH THAT RATE INCREASE, WE STILL WERE UNDER COLLECTED DUE TO MARKET, UM, PRICES AND WEATHER.
JUNE DID SEE VERY MATERIAL INCREASES IN COSTS FOR CONGESTION.
AS WE ALL KNOW, VERY HOT TEMPERATURES CONTRIBUTED TO THAT.
AS LISA MENTIONED AND PUT PRESSURE ON MARKET COSTS THAT WE INCURRED.
UM, WE WERE 23 MILLION JUST UNDER RECOVERED JUST FOR THE MONTH OF JUNE.
OVERALL FROM THE RATE YEAR PERSPECTIVE, UM, AS YOU KNOW, WE STARTED OUT WITH ABOUT A HUNDRED MILLION DOLLARS UNDER RECOVERED.
WE'VE RECOVERED 48 MILLION OF THAT UNDER RECOVERY BALANCE.
UM, THAT DOES INCLUDE 22 MILLION FROM THE RECEIPT OF THE BRAZOS BANKRUPTCY CLAIM.
UM, AS, AS YOU CAN SEE HERE FROM THIS GRAPH, THE PACE OF THAT OVER RECOVERY IS, HAS COME TO A HALT THIS MONTH WITH THOSE RISING COSTS.
JUST A CLARIFYING QUESTION IS MM-HMM.
SO CAN YOU JUST EXPLAIN WHAT THAT MEANS FOR A LAY PERSON? LIKE, UH, 'CAUSE OBVIOUSLY THERE'S A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN BUDGETED AND ACTUAL.
UM, SO YOU CAN JUST EXPLAIN WHAT WE'RE USING TO DETERMINE HOW TO DO THE ADJUSTMENT.
SO, UM, WHAT THIS GRAPH IS SHOWING YOU IS, UM, THE YELLOW BAR BEING THE ACTUAL COST WE INCURRED ON THE EXPENSE SIDE AGAINST THE BUDGET.
JUST TO SHOW YOU HOW WELL WE'VE PERFORMED AGAINST WHAT WE'RE FORECASTING FOR POWER SUPPLY COST, THAT BLUE LINE THAT'S HOVERING OVER THE TOP IS SHOWING YOU WHAT WE'RE ACTUALLY BILLING THE CUSTOMER FOR THE POWER SUPPLY ADJUSTMENT.
AND SO ANY DELTA BETWEEN THAT, THAT YELLOW BAR AND THAT BLUE BAR WOULD BE OVER UNDER RECOVERY.
SO BUILD REVENUE VERSUS EXPENSES PAID FOR POWER SUPPLY.
AND SO FOR JUNE, THE REASON THERE, THERE WAS A BIG SPIKE IN THE ACTUAL COST WAS THE EXTENDED OUTAGES OF A E OWN GENERATION.
SO YOU HAD TO GET, YOU WERE SHORT, SO YOU WENT OUT IN THE MARKET AND IT WAS MORE EXPENSIVE, CERTAINLY CONTRIBUTED TO IT, BUT THE CONGESTION AS WELL AS THE HEAT, UM, ALSO PLAYED A FACTOR IN, IN WHAT WE ENDED UP, UH, PAYING THE MARKET FOR COST.
UM, THIS IS, UH, SHOWS OUR CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PLAN FOR THE FISCAL YEAR.
ON THE LEFT, WE SHOW THAT WE SPENT AROUND 60% OF THE PLAN FOR THE FISCAL YEAR.
THAT IS BASED ON OUR BUDGET, WHICH WAS ABOUT 280 MILLION.
WE HAVE BUILT A CURRENT YEAR ESTIMATE, UM, THAT SHOWS THAT WE'LL SPEND CLOSER TO 240 MILLION, ALTHOUGH WE DO EXPECT SPENDING TO RAMP UP IN TRANSMISSION AND DISTRICT COOLING THIS FISCAL YEAR.
THE, UH, CHART ON THE RIGHT SHOWS HOW WE FINANCE THOSE ASSETS.
WE, UH, FUNDED OUR CAPITAL PLAN WITH AROUND 63% CASH.
THAT DOES INCLUDE CONTRIBUTIONS FROM OUR CUSTOMERS, WHICH TRANSLATED TO 42 MILLION SO FAR THIS FISCAL YEAR.
SO HELPED US FUND THOSE ASSETS.
UM, OF COURSE, OUR INTERNAL STRATEGY IS TO KEEP THAT DEBT, UM, FINANCING AROUND 50%.
THE NEXT COUPLE OF SLIDES ARE OUR GAP BASED FINANCIAL REPORTS.
I'LL START WITH THE INCOME STATEMENT.
[00:30:01]
ROW THERE IS OUR NON-POWER SUPPLY OPERATING REVENUES.WE SAW AN INCREASE OVER THE FISCAL YEAR, MOSTLY DUE TO AN INCREASE IN OUR TRANSMISSION RATE AND REGULATORY REVENUE, WHICH WAS DRIVEN BY TRANSMISSION.
COST OF SERVICE EXPENSE INCREASES OUR NON P SS A COSTS, WHICH IS THE 613 MILLION.
QUITE A MATERIAL JUMP FROM LAST YEAR MA, MAINLY DUE TO THE MARA COST AS WELL AS INCREASED TRANSMISSION.
LIKE I MENTIONED, THE BAR CHARTS ON THE RIGHT REPRESENT OUR CUSTOMER INCREASES.
WE SAW A 2% YEAR OVER YEAR CHANGE, WHICH IS IN LINE WITH OUR FORECAST PROJECTIONS.
WHILE SALES WERE DOWN 2% OVER THE FISCAL YEAR, JUST GIVEN THAT IT WAS JUST AS HOT, BUT GOT HOT EARLIER LAST YEAR.
THE BALANCE SHEET HERE IS SHOWN ON THE LEFT.
UM, LOTS OF INFORMATION HERE, BUT THE MAIN POINT TO MAKE IS OUR CASH BALANCE IS SITTING AT 86 MILLION.
UM, THAT'S A MATERIAL DECREASE, AS YOU CAN SEE, UM, AS DESCRIBED EARLIER.
WE'RE SEEING DECLINES IN THAT, IN THAT CASH BALANCE DUE TO INFLATION OF COST, THE WINTER STORM, WHICH HAS NOT YET BEEN RECOVERED, AS WELL AS THE IMPACT FROM THE POWER SUPPLY ADJUSTMENT.
THE GRAPH GRAPH ON THE RIGHT, WHICH WILL LEAD INTO MY NEXT SLIDE, IS A DEPICTION OF OUR CASH AND RESERVE BALANCES.
SO I'VE KIND OF PRESENTED, UH, JUST BY BUCKET OR HOW WE, UM, CLASSIFY THESE RESERVES COMPARED TO THEIR TARGETS, WHICH ARE SET BY THE BUDGET.
UM, WE'RE UNDER, AS YOU CAN SEE IN EACH OF THESE BUCKETS DUE TO THOSE RISING COST.
UM, MORE ON THESE BALANCES IN THE NEXT SLIDE, BUT JUST TO GIVE YOU A PICTURE OF WHERE IT'S SITTING.
AND FINALLY, JUST GIVEN THE PRESENTATION, HAS LOTS OF INFORMATION ABOUT CASH RESERVES, TARGETS, WHERE EVERYTHING IS SITTING.
I THINK IT'S IMPORTANT PICTURE TO SHOW YOU WHERE OUR DAYS CASH ON HAND IS SITTING BY FISCAL YEAR, UM, DAYS.
CASH ON HAND REPRESENTS THE NUMBER OF DAYS THAT AN OPERATION CAN SUSTAIN ITS OPERATIONS BY PAYING ITS EXPENSES, UM, AND CONTINUE TO FUND ITS OPERATIONS.
I AM SHOWING YOU A TREND OF OUR CASH BALANCES SINCE 2020, WHICH AS YOU CAN SEE, HAS A PRETTY SHARP DECLINE FROM 21 TO 22.
AND JUST AS A REMINDER, THAT F Y 21 NUMBER HAS THAT WHOLESALE, UM, OVER RECOVERY RELATED TO WINTER STORM URI.
SO IT'S INFLATED BY ABOUT A HUNDRED MILLION DOLLARS IN WHOLESALE REVENUE.
SO, UM, THAT, THAT KIND OF TIMEFRAME IS WHEN THAT BASE RATE, UM, INCREASE, UH, NEED WAS UPON US.
AND THEN FURTHER EROSION OF CASH AT THE END OF 22, WHERE WE ENDED UNDER OUR POLICY MINIMUMS. UM, JUST AS A NOTE, WE'VE SEEN AN OVERALL INCREASE IN OUR DAILY OPERATING COSTS OF 8% THAT GOES INTO THIS CALCULATION TO, UM, REFILL OR REMEDY THIS.
OUR BASE RATES ULTIMATELY FUND OUR CASH AND RESERVES POSITION.
UM, JOHN AND RUSTY WILL PRESENT A 2024 BUDGET THAT SUPPORTS, UM, FILLING THESE BUCKETS BACK UP WITH BASE RATES, BEGINNING AN F Y 24, WHICH WILL OF COURSE SUPPORT THE FINANCIAL HEALTH OF THE UTILITY AND OUR STRATEGIC GOAL.
ANY QUESTIONS? THAT CONCLUDES MY PRESENTATION.
I'LL TAKE ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS.
I DON'T HAVE ANY QUESTIONS, BUT THANKS FOR GIVING US BAD NEWS,
LOVE TO BE THE BEARER OF THAT.
CAN WE GO BACK TO THE BALANCE SHEET REAL QUICK? SURE.
UM, AGAIN, JUST TRYING TO DO A REFRESHER ON, UH, WHAT ALL THESE THINGS MEAN FOR US ENERGY, BUT ON THAT, ON THE BAR CHART WITH CASH IN RESERVES MM-HMM.
IF THERE'S HAD ANY EASY, THAT'S FINE.
I CAN HAVE A ONE-ON-ONE ON IT.
JUST CURIOUS IF, UH, AGAIN, THERE'S LIKE SOMETHING FORMULAIC THAT TELLS US WHAT WE WOULD EXPECT OR WANT THOSE NUMBERS TO BE.
SO THEY ARE SET DURING THE BUDGET PROCESS.
SO WE LOOK AT, UM, OPERATING COSTS THAT WE EXPECT TO SPEND IN THE FISCAL YEAR, UPCOMING FISCAL YEAR, AND EACH OF THESE RESERVES HAS THEIR OWN TARGET SET.
SO, UM, CONTINGENCY RESERVE IS SET AT 60 DAYS OF NON-POWER SUPPLY COSTS.
THE POWER SUPPLY STABILIZATION IS 90 DAYS OF POWER SUPPLY COST,
[00:35:01]
AND THE CAPITAL RESERVE IS 50% OF THE PRIOR YEAR'S, UH, DEPRECIATION EXPENSE.AND ALL OF THESE ARE SET OUT IN OUR, OUR BUDGET, UH, DOCUMENT FOR FINANCIAL POLICIES.
DO THOSE ADD UP TO THE 560 MILLION? I'M, I'M CONFUSED ABOUT THE CASH ON HAND VERSUS THESE NUMBERS.
ARE THOSE RELATED OR THERE'S, THOSE ARE SEPARATE.
THE CASH ON HAND AND THE DAY OH DAY'S CASH.
SO DAY'S CASH ON HAND USES THE BALANCE SITTING AT JUNE, SO THIS IS JUNE, CASH AND RESERVES AND THE DAYS CASH ON HAND USES THE TOTAL IN THE BLUE BARS TO CALCULATE HOW MUCH YOU ACTUALLY HAVE AGAINST THOSE OPERATING COSTS.
THESE FOUR BUCKETS CORRESPOND TO THE, OKAY.
SO THAT LAST SLIDE OF DAYS, CASH ON HAND IS OUR OPERATING CASH OR WE REFER TO AS WORKING CAPITAL.
AND EACH OF THOSE RESERVE BUCKETS YOU HAVE PAID, DO YOU HAVE PAID SOME IDEA? WE, UM, CLOSED THE BOOKS, UM, A FEW DAYS AGO AND WE'RE WORKING ON REPORTS, SO I DON'T HAVE ANYTHING TO SHOW YOU TODAY, BUT I DO KNOW THAT OUR CASH BALANCE HAS DECREASED SINCE JUNE.
UM, WE'RE ALSO SENDING MATERIAL AMOUNTS TO ERCOT TO COVER COLLATERAL REQUIREMENTS.
AND SO, UM, WE HAVE SEEN A DEC DECREASE IN THAT CASH BALANCE EVEN SINCE THIS PERIOD NOT GETTING BETTER,
DOES, DOES THE P SS A, THE COST OF THE ANCILLARY SERVICES AND THE ADDITIONAL SERVICES THAT, THAT ARE BEING POSED WITHIN ERCOT, THOSE, THOSE ARE PART OF THE P SS A? CORRECT.
THOSE ARE RECOVERED BY THE P S A? CORRECT.
[12. Staff briefing on the FY 2023/24 Austin Energy Budget by John Davis, Finance Director. ]
12, AE BUDGET.I'M JOHN DAVIS AND WE'RE GONNA SIT UP HERE AT THE TABLE BECAUSE WE'RE GONNA HAVE REPRESENTATIVES FROM THE, THE MAJOR BUSINESS UNIT STEPPING UP TO SPEAK TO THEIR BUDGET.
SO WITH THAT, I'D LIKE TO GO AHEAD AND START PRESENTING FOR YOU THE 2024 BUDGET.
NEXT, UH, HERE'S THE DISCLAIMER.
IT'S SIMPLY A REMINDER THAT THIS IS A BUDGET.
ACTUAL RESULTS ARE GONNA VARY FROM WHAT WE'RE PRESENTING HERE TONIGHT.
NEXT I'M GONNA BE COVERING THE FIRST THREE TOPICS IN OUR AGENDA, AND THEN WE'RE GONNA ASK REPRESENTATIVES FROM THE MAJOR BUSINESS UNITS TO STEP UP AND SPEAK TO THEIR BUDGETS.
NEXT, NEXT, AS YOU'RE AWARE, THE CITY COUNCIL HAS HAD SEVERAL WORKING SESSIONS OVER THE PAST COUPLE OF WEEKS.
UM, UH, LATER THIS WEEK, WEDNESDAY THROUGH FRIDAY, THEY'LL BE GOING THROUGH THE FINAL REVIEW OF THE BUDGET AND HOPEFULLY ADOPTING THE BUDGET BETWEEN WEDNESDAY AND FRIDAY.
IN THE MONTH OF SEPTEMBER, WE'RE GONNA PRESENT TO CITY COUNCIL UPDATES ON THE PSAS THAT'LL BE PROPOSED.
UM, AT THIS POINT IN TIME, THERE'S NOT ENOUGH INFORMATION ON THE HIGH VOLATILITY MONTHS IN THE SUMMER TO BE ABLE TO PROPOSE A NEW P S A FOR 2024.
WILL, UM, WILL THE E U C, UH, ROBERT AND AMY GET A CHANCE TO LOOK AT THOSE PROPOSALS ON THE P S A BEFORE THEY GO TO COUNCIL? OR DO THOSE JUST GO STRAIGHT TO COUNCIL? SO THEY'RE SAYING THEY'RE GONNA SET THE SEPTEMBER 21ST, IS THE CITY COUNCIL MEETING DATE, DO THOSE NORMALLY COME TO E U C FOR REVIEW OR NO? NO, NO.
YOU, YOU COULD THOUGH PROVIDE THE E U C WITH A COPY OF THAT, CORRECT? JUST FOR OUR EDIFICATION.
NEXT, THIS IS JUST A PIE CHART, PIE CHART TO SHOW YOU.
AUSTIN ENERGY'S RELATIVE PROPORTION OF THE OVERALL CITY BUDGET.
AND AUSTIN ENERGY'S BUDGET IS ABOUT 28% OF THE OVERALL CITY BUDGET.
NEXT, THIS ITEM I'M GONNA SPEND A LITTLE BIT MORE TIME ON.
THESE ARE SOME OF THE CRITICAL ASSUMPTIONS FOR THE 2024 BUDGET.
UH, 2024 WILL BE THE FIRST FULL YEAR THAT THE COUNCIL APPROVED BASE RATES ARE IN EFFECT.
ADDITIONALLY, THE BUDGET INCLUDES A 2% BASE RATE INCREASE FOR ALL CLASSES TO REBUILD THE OPERATING CASH AND RESERVES THAT STEPHANIE JUST SPOKE ABOUT.
[00:40:01]
A 2% GROWTH IN CUSTOMER COUNT AS WELL AS A 1% INCREASE IN OVERALL CONSUMPTION REGARDING THE PASS THROUGH REVENUES.UH, AGAIN, THE RATES FOR THE P SS A AND THE REGULATORY CHARGES, THOSE WILL BE SET LATER IN THE MONTH OF SEPTEMBER.
OVER THE RIGHT HAND SIDE O AND M EXPENSES.
UH, YOU'RE GONNA NOTICE THAT POWER SUPPLY COSTS ARE BUDGETED TO GO DOWN BY A HUNDRED MILLION DOLLARS, AND THAT'S BASED UPON ESTIMATED DROP IN NATURAL GAS PRICES IN THE FUTURE.
YOU'LL ALSO NOTICE THAT THE NON-POWER SUPPLY EXPENSES ARE GONNA INCREASE BY 5%.
AND I'M GONNA GO INTO A LITTLE BIT MORE DETAIL ON THAT A LITTLE BIT LATER IN THE PRESENTATION.
MOVING ON DOWN WITH THIS BUDGET, UH, WE'RE PROJECTING THAT WE'RE GONNA BE ABLE TO FUND $20 MILLION TO START IMPROVING THE RESERVES.
AND THEN LASTLY, FROM A PERSONNEL COUNT, UH, WE'RE GOING TO, UH, INCLUDE IN THIS BUDGET AN INCREASE OF A NET 27 FTES.
HOWEVER, THIS RESULTS IN A NET SAVINGS BECAUSE THESE ARE CONVERSIONS FROM CONTRACT EMPLOYEES TO FULL-TIME EMPLOYEES.
AND WE'LL COVER THAT IN A LITTLE BIT MORE DETAIL AS WELL.
THE PURPOSE FOR THE 2% BASE RATE INCREASE IS TO RESTORE THE RESERVES, WHICH ARE AT CRITICAL LEVELS.
AT THIS POINT, AS I JUST MENTIONED, WE'RE ANTICIPATING THAT WE'RE GONNA INCREASE THE RESERVES.
WE'RE GONNA INCREASE THE RESERVES BY $20 MILLION AND 2024.
THE 2% BASE RATE INCREASE IS ROUGHLY 1% OF THE OVERALL, UH, CUSTOMER'S BILL.
AND SO WE'RE PROJECTING ABOUT A DOLLAR AN INCREASE PER MONTH IN THE, UH, CUSTOMER'S BILLS.
WITH THAT AUSTIN ENERGY'S RESIDENTIAL BILL STILL REMAINS SOME OF THE LOWEST IN THE STATE.
WHAT IS, WHAT IS THE, WHAT WILL THAT PROVIDE MILLIONS OF DOLLARS IN REVENUE.
UH, IT'S 13 MILLION ROUGHLY IN, YEAH.
UM, NEXT, NEXT, THIS SLIDE IS JUST TO GIVE YOU PERSPECTIVE ON THE SOURCES OF REVENUES AND THE DIFFERENT COMPONENTS.
SO YOU'LL SEE THAT, UH, THE HIGHEST TWO CATEGORIES ARE THE BASE REVENUES AT 697 MILLION, AND THEN THE POWER SUPPLY, UH, REVENUES THAT COME IN AT 480 MILLION.
AND THE PIE CHART ON THE RIGHT IS JUST TO GIVE YOU FURTHER DETAIL ON WHAT MAKES UP OTHER REVENUES.
NEXT, THIS SLIDE PORTRAYS THE USES OF FUNDS.
AGAIN, THE LARGEST TWO CATEGORIES HERE ARE ON THE LOWER LEFT HAND SIDE, POWER SUPPLY EXPENSES OF 419 MILLION, FOLLOWED BY TRANSMISSION AND ERCOT RELATED EXPENSES AT 198 MILLION.
AND THEN AGAIN, THE PIE CHART ON THE RIGHT IS THERE TO PROVIDE YOU FURTHER BREAKOUT OF THE OPERATING OF MAINTENANCE EXPENSES.
NEXT, THIS SLIDE IS A FUND SUMMARY DEPICTION OF THE 2024 BUDGET.
AND AS I ALLUDED TO BEFORE, UH, YOU'LL SEE A PROPOSED, UH, DECREASE IN REVENUES OF 2.2%.
THAT IS PRIMARILY DRIVEN BY THE PROJECTED DECREASE IN PURCHASE POWER EXPENSES.
IF YOU MOVE ON DOWN ON THE SECOND, UH, TO THE LAST COLUMN, YOU'LL NOTICE THAT THERE'S A HUNDRED MILLION DOLLAR DECREASE IN POWER SUPPLY EXPENSES.
THAT HAS A DIRECT IMPACT ON OUR REVENUES 'CAUSE IT'S A PASS THROUGH.
YOU'LL ALSO SEE THAT OPERATING EXPENSES ARE BUDGETED TO GO UP BY ABOUT 35.9 MILLION OR 4.8%.
HOWEVER, 15 MILLION OF THAT INCREASE IS RELATED TO AN INCREASE IN WHOLESALE TRANSMISSION EXPENSES.
AND 12 MILLION OF THAT IS RELATED TO THE 4% PROPOSED COST OF LIVING INCREASE BY CITY COUNCIL.
SO CAN YOU STOP ON THAT A LITTLE BIT? SURE.
SO THE A HUNDRED MILLION REDUCTION IN P S A, THAT'S MOSTLY A GAIN A, A GOOD THING FROM LOWER GAS PRICES.
BUT THAT'S NET OF CONGESTION COST ALSO, OR WHAT OTHER THINGS MIGHT BE INVOLVED WITH THAT? A HUNDRED MILLION DOLLARS.
THE, THE PRIMARY, SO THE, THE PURCHASE POWER EXPENSE INCLUDES ALL THE COMPONENTS.
UM, BUT THE A HUNDRED MILLION DOLLAR DECREASE IS PRIMARILY DRIVEN BY COMMODITY COSTS GOING DOWN IN THE FUTURE.
SO AFTER WE TAKE INTO ACCOUNT THE $15 MILLION INCREASE IN WHOLESALE TRANSMISSION EXPENSES AS WELL AS THE COST OF LIVING ADJUSTMENT, THE OVERALL INCREASE IN O AND M IS LESS THAN 1%, WHICH IS LOWER THAN THE INFLATION RATE.
OVERALL, THE BUDGET IS PRODUCING ABOUT A HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS SURPLUS.
UM, SO THE GENERAL FUND TRANSFER WOULD, WOULD STAY THE SAME AT 115 MILLION.
WHY DOES IT SHOW AN ESTIMATE OF 105 MILLION ON GENERAL FUND TRANSFER FOR 23? AFTER THE CITY COUNCIL APPROVED 115 MILLION LAST YEAR, SO 10 MILLION OF THE GENERAL FUND TRANSFER WAS, UM, UM, RECLASSIFIED AS A TRANSFER TO THE BILLING SERVICES DIVISION TO HELP COVER THE COST OF THE GENERATORS
[00:45:01]
THAT THE CITY WANTED TO PURCHASE.SO AUSTIN ENERGY HELPED FUND THAT THROUGH THE REDUCTION IN THE GENERAL FUNDS TRANSFER.
NEXT, THIS SLIDE IS JUST TO PROVIDE YOU A FURTHER BREAKOUT OF THOSE TRANSFERS SARS, TO YOUR POINT.
AND IT ALSO PROVIDES ON THE RIGHT HAND SIDE, UH, A FIVE-YEAR HISTORY OF THOSE CITY TRANSFERS.
AND WE'RE SHOWING $178 MILLION IN TOTAL TRANSFERS TO THE CITY FOR 2024.
NEXT, THIS SLIDE DEPICTS THE C I P UH, CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PLAN.
AND OVERALL WE'RE PROJECTING ABOUT A $20 MILLION DECREASE IN BUDGETED C I P.
AND THIS IS COMPARING BUDGET TO BUDGET, NOT ACTUAL TO BUDGET.
SO FROM THE 23 BUDGET TO THE 24 BUDGET, WE'RE PROJECTING A $20 MILLION DECREASE.
THE ELECTRIC SERVICE DELIVERY BUDGET IS SHOWING A SMALL DECLINE FROM 23 TO 24, AND THEN IT RAMPS UP.
AND THE OUTER YEAR IS PRIMARILY DUE TO C I P EXPENDITURES RELATED TO TRANSMISSION PROJECTS AND THE GENERAL CATEGORY, YOU'RE GONNA SEE THAT, UH, THERE'S A INCREASE FROM 23 THROUGH 25.
A GOOD BIT OF THAT EXPENDITURE IS RELATED TO THE BUILD OUT OF THE CAMERON SERVICE CENTER AND DISTRICT COOLING EXPENSE.
YOU'LL SEE THAT YOU SHOW AN INCREASE IN 24 AND 25, BUT THEN IT DECLINES, UH, SUBSTANTIALLY.
AND THAT MAIN COST DRIVER BETWEEN BETWEEN THE 24 25 EXPENDITURES IS THE $15 MILLION EXPECTED TO BE SPENT ON THE SIXTH STREET PIPE EXPANSION, WHICH IS FOR THE NEW CONVENTION CENTER.
AND AS A REMINDER, THE FOOTNOTE RECOVER THE CAPITAL EXPENDITURES ON BOTH DISTRICT COOLING AND TRANSMISSION PROJECTS IS NOT A COMPONENT OF THE ELECTRIC RETAIL RATES.
QUICK, QUICK QUESTION ON THAT TRANSMISSION.
UM, WE HAD A SPEAKER EARLIER WHO MENTIONED THE TRANSMISSION STUDY.
UM, ARE ANY OF THE EXPENSES THAT WOULD BE RELATED TO THE BUILD OUT OF TRANSMISSION THAT WOULD BE NEEDED IDENTIFIED IN THAT STUDY? ARE THEY ANYWHERE IN THIS PLAN OR THOSE ARE THINGS THAT WOULD BE IN THE FUTURE? YES.
THEY, YES, SOME OF THEM ARE IN THIS PLAN.
MY UNDERSTANDING, BUT NOT FOR FISCAL YEAR 24.
AND IT'S A FLUID, UH, STUDY RIGHT NOW.
SO NOT EVERYTHING IN THE STUDY'S IN THE BUDGET, BUT SOME, SO YOU HAVE INCORPORATED INTO YOUR CAP TO SAY IT ANOTHER WAY IN YOUR CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM.
IT INCLUDES SOME OF THE THINGS THAT WERE IDENTIFIED IN THE TRANSMISSION STUDY AS BEING NEEDED EVENTUALLY.
IN THE OUTER YEARS, YES, IN THE OUTER YEARS.
NEXT, THIS SLIDE IS TO GIVE YOU AN OVERALL PERSPECTIVE ON HOW WE GO ABOUT FUNDING THE C I P PLAN.
UM, WE STILL STRIVE TO FUND THE C I P PLAN WITH 50% CASH, 50% DEBT.
SORRY, YOU GO BACK TO THE SLIDE BEFORE THE C I P SLIDE, SO, OKAY.
AND THEN SLIDE AND THEN ON POWER PRODUCTION.
SO DOES, DOES THAT MEAN ACTUAL CAPITAL AT THE, AT THE UNITS? DOES THAT INCLUDE BOTH JOINT, UH, THE JOINT PROJECT AND THE DECKER AND SANDHILL? YES.
AND DO WE HAVE ANYWHERE, MAYBE IT'S IN THE, A LATER SLIDE AND IF IT'S A LATER SLIDE, I CAN LET SOMEBODY ELSE ANSWER IT.
DO WE HAVE A BREAKDOWN OF, UM, HOW MUCH WE'RE SPENDING AT ONE, UH, PLANT VERSUS ANOTHER? I THINK PAT'S GONNA SPEAK TO THAT.
SO THE INCREASE OVER TIME IN THE TRANSMISSION, THAT'S INVESTMENT THAT YOU ALREADY WANT TO MAKE AND KNOW ABOUT FROM THE TRANSMISSION STUDY AND THAT'S WHY IT'S GOING UP FROM 64.9 TO SAY 81.4 AND THEN 84.2 OR I'LL LET, UH, THAT BE SPOKEN A LITTLE BIT LATER.
BUT I GUESS THE BEST WAY I THINK TO DEPICT IT IS THE TRANSMISSION STUDY RELATED PROJECTS ARE INCLUDED IN THIS, BUT THAT THE INCREASE ISN'T SOLELY RELATED TO THE TRANSMISSION STUDY.
SOME OF THESE PROJECTS WERE ALREADY KNOWN ABOUT BEFORE THE TRANSMISSION STUDY WAS UNDERTAKEN.
YEAH, I, I'LL JUST DOUBLE DOWN ON THAT AS FAR AS THAT'S CONCERNED.
SO WE HAVE TRANSMISSION NEEDS THAT WE KNOW ABOUT THE IMMEDIATE FIVE YEAR FUTURE.
SOME OF THEM DO CORRESPOND TO THE FIVE-YEAR PLAN, BUT CERTAINLY DON'T CAPTURE ALL OF THE FIVE-YEAR PLAN.
AND THIS TEMPORARY REDUCTION IN FISCAL YEAR 2024, IS THAT JUST TRYING TO SQUEEZE SOME MORE CASH TO REBUILD THE DAYS ON DAYS CASH? NO.
ARE ARE THE THINGS THAT YOU'D WANT TO DO, BUT YOU JUST DON'T HAVE THE BUDGET TO DO THAT? THAT C I P PLAN, UM, UH, REFLECTS WHAT WE NEED TO SPEND ON TRANSMISSION ASSETS AND, AND IS NOT CORRELATED TO NECESSARILY A REDUCTION IN C I P TO FUND FUND CASH ON HAND.
[00:50:01]
AND DON'T FORGET IT'S BUDGET TO BUDGET.SO THAT WAS THE 23 BUDGET THAT WAS PUT TOGETHER.
I THINK WE'RE ON SLIDE 16 FTES.
THE BUDGET ANTICIPATES ADDING 33 POSITIONS, HOWEVER, IT ALSO ANTICIPATES THAT SIX OF THOSE POSITIONS ARE GONNA BE TRANSFERRED OVER TO BILLING SERVICES.
SO WE'RE SHOWING A NET INCREASE OF 27 POSITIONS, WHICH IS WHAT I LED OFF WITH IN THE EARLIER SLIDE ON OUR ASSUMPTIONS.
OVERALL WITH THE FT ADDITIONS, WE'RE GONNA BE, UM, FACTORING IN A $791,000 OF SAVINGS BECAUSE THOSE POSITIONS WERE CONVERSIONS FROM CONTRACT EMPLOYEES TO FULL-TIME EMPLOYEES.
NEXT AND NEXT, THIS SLIDE SHOWS THE TYPICAL RESIDENTIAL CUSTOMER BILL IMPACT AND WITH THESE ASSUMPTIONS THAT WE'VE INCLUDED IN THE BUDGET, WE'RE, UH, INDICATING THAT THERE'S GONNA BE ABOUT A DOLLAR AN INCREASE PER MONTH AND THE AVERAGE RESIDENTIAL, UH, CUSTOMER BILL NEXT.
WITH THAT, WE STILL, BUT THAT, AGAIN, THAT DOESN'T SUBJECT TO WHAT WILL HAPPEN NEXT MONTH WITH YOUR PROPOSAL ON THE REGULATORY CHARGE AND THE C B C, CORRECT? CORRECT.
AND THE P S A, DO YOU, I KNOW YOU DON'T HAVE THE EXACT ANSWER, BUT DO YOU ANTICIPATE A BIG CHANGE IN THOSE RUSTY MANUELS VICE PRESIDENT OF FINANCE? UM, YOU KNOW, I, I DON'T KNOW.
I TELL YOU THE TRUTH, THE, THE SUMMER MONTHS, UM, UM, UH, THERE'S SO MUCH VARIANCE IN THERE THAT IT'S REALLY HARD TO TELL, FOR EXAMPLE.
UH, AND, AND IT'S ALSO A SPENDING PATTERN.
I WAS LOOKING AT A, REVIEWING THOSE NUMBERS EARLIER TODAY, AND IT'S LIKE ENERGY EFFICIENCY.
UH, WHAT WE DO WITH THAT CHARGE REALLY DEPENDS ON THE SPEND RATE THAT THEY HAVE IN THESE, IN THESE NEXT COUPLE OF MONTHS.
SO IT'S REVENUE AND, AND EXPENSES THAT COME IN AND IT'S JUST REALLY TOO EARLY TO TELL.
BUT JUST THINKING, THINKING OUT LOUD, UM, IF YOU GUYS HAVE A DIRECTOR FROM CITY COUNCIL TO INCREASE THE NUMBER OF FOLKS COVERED, UM, WITH THE DISCOUNT PROGRAM.
SO THAT MEANS OBVIOUSLY IF EXPENSES GO UP, THEN, THEN AT SOME POINT IN TIME, MAYBE NEXT YEAR, MAYBE NOT, THEY WILL GO UP.
FOR EXAMPLE, IF CAP MEETS THE NEEDS, UH, UH, MEETS, UM, UH, THE SCOPE THAT THE AGENDA, UH, THAT THE CITY COUNCIL HAS LAID OUT, CERTAINLY CAP CHARGES WILL GO UP.
IT'S JUST A MATTER OF WHEN, BUT CORRESPONDINGLY, P SS A MIGHT GO DOWN IF THE PRICE OF GAS HAS GONE DOWN AND YOU'RE SPENDING LESS, LESS.
SO THERE MIGHT BE A, THERE'S A LOT OF VARIATIONS THAT PLAY WELL.
WE'LL, WE'LL, I'M SURE WE'LL GET THAT INFORMATION LATER.
SO WITH THAT AVERAGE OF A DOLLAR INCREASE PER MONTH ON A RESIDENTIAL BILL, UH, WE STILL REMAIN COMPETITIVE, UH, IN COMPARISON TO THE ADJACENT UTILITIES.
THIS CHART SHOWS LOST ENERGY AT 110 ROUGHLY PER MONTH, AND YOU CAN SEE THAT THE UTILITIES LISTED.
THIS SLIDE PRESENTS OUR CORE METRICS AND, UM, AS IN THE PAST, UH, THOSE THAT ARE IN RED INDICATE THAT WE'RE FALLING BELOW THE MINIMUM TARGETS.
THOSE IN GREEN SHOW THAT WE'RE MEETING THE TARGETS, UM, AGAIN, THIS WAS BASED UPON THE FORECAST.
SO THE 2024 COLUMN IS THE FORECASTED NUMBER.
OBVIOUSLY BASED UPON STEPHANIE'S PRESENTATION.
THERE'S BEEN SOME CHANGE IN THOSE NUMBERS.
HOWEVER, CASH STILL REMAINS AT CRITICAL LEVELS, UH, WHICH IS THE REASON FOR THE BUDGET THAT WE PROPOSED.
THIS SLIDE PRESENTS THE VARIOUS RESERVE TARGETS AND AGAIN, UNDERSCORES THAT STEPHANIE JUST MENTIONED.
UM, ALL RESERVES CONTINUE TO BE UNDERFUNDED AND WE DON'T REALLY SHOW IMPROVEMENT UNTIL 2026 WHEN WE'RE PROJECTING, UH, THE RESERVES TO COME BACK INTO LINE.
NEXT, I'D LIKE TO INVITE, UM, MEMBERS OF THE MAJOR BUSINESS UNITS TO CON JUST, I'M SORRY, CON, CONFIRM WHAT YOU SAY YOU EXPECT IN 2026.
UH, WE WILL BE, WE WILL BE MEETING OUR RESERVE REQUIREMENTS.
WE'RE PROJECTING THAT THEY'RE GONNA COME BACK INTO LINE BY 2026.
I'D LIKE TO ASK, UH, JERRY GALVAN AND RICHARD TO COME UP.
SO, CUSTOMER CARE, CUSTOMER ACCOUNT MANAGEMENT.
UM, UH, AS YOU CAN SEE ON THE LEFT SIDE OF THE SLIDE, O AND M INCREASES, UH, THREE
[00:55:01]
OF THE FOUR ITEMS THERE, UH, HAVE TO DO WITH INCREASES WITH CONTRACTUAL OBLIGATIONS.UM, AND, UH, WE SAW THAT POST PANDEMIC, SOME OF OUR CONTRACTS, UM, REQUIRED INCREASES IN SPEND.
AND THEN THE LAST ITEM, UH, IS THE CUSTOMER ASSISTANCE PROGRAM SERVICES, AND THAT ONE IS RELATED TO OUR ITEM FROM COUNCIL TO EXPAND OUR CUSTOMER ASSISTANCE DISCOUNT PROGRAM.
ANY QUESTIONS? SO THIS IS WHAT, THESE ARE ALL INCREASES AND THEY'RE RECOMMENDED IN THE BUDGET OR? YES.
AND, AND AGAIN, JUST SO WE MIGHT EXPECT A SLIGHT INCREASE IN THE C B C TO COVER THIS, BUT THEN WE DO HAVE MORE, WE DO HAVE MORE PEOPLE THAN WE DID A YEAR AGO.
WE, WE'VE EXCEEDED THE EXPECTATION ON THE FIRST OF THREE TARGETS.
THIS YEAR WE'RE AT OVER 53,000 IN JULY, CUSTOMERS IN THE DISCOUNT PROGRAM.
SO THAT'S FANTASTIC, BUT WE WON'T SEE THOSE INCREASES UNTIL, UNTIL NEXT YEAR.
IN CUSTOMER ENERGY SOLUTIONS, WE HAVE A $2.5 MILLION INCREASE, UM, DUE TO SOLAR AND ENERGY EFFICIENCY SERVICES THAT WE'RE BUDGETING FOR.
UH, SOME OTHER NOTABLE ITEMS ON THE O AND M SIDE INCLUDE, UM, $400,000 TO CARGO EGO BIKES OR FOR E-BIKES DUE TO CARGO AND OTHERS, UM, UH, D E R CONSULTING EXPENSE AND THEN $175,000.
UH, IF YOU'LL REMEMBER AFTER MARA, WE, UH, GOT INVOLVED IN EMERGENCY RESPONSE AND THERE WAS A EMERGENCY RESPONSE VEHICLE THAT WE ARE STARTING TO PLAN FOR NOW.
THE 175,000 WON'T PAY FOR ALL OF IT, BUT IT WILL PAY FOR THE DESIGN SERVICES AND START THE PROJECT SO THAT, UH, BY THE TIME WE HAVE THE NEXT, UH, EMERGENCY EVENT, WE'LL HAVE SOME SOMETHING, UH, PREPARED IN TERMS OF A VEHICLE THAT WILL BE ABLE TO RESPOND.
HERE'S THE BREAKDOWN OF THAT $2.5 MILLION INCREASE.
UM, AS YOU CAN SEE, ALL ITEMS ARE INCREASE.
THE ONLY THING THAT I WILL DRAW YOUR ATTENTION TO THAT IS NOT A DECREASE ON, ON THE SOLAR SIDE.
THAT ACTUALLY JUST REFLECTS A DROP IN DEMAND.
UH, WE EXPECTED THAT TO, UM, INCREASE I ALL THE WAY UP TO 6 MILLION, AND IT DID NOT, UH, SO THE, THE, UH, IN THE EXPECTED INCREASE DID NOT MATERIALIZE.
SO I HAVE THE ACTUAL SPEND FROM, UH, THE PREVIOUS YEARS AND EVEN THIS YEAR WE'RE GONNA HIT MORE LIKE 2.3, $2.5 MILLION.
SO WE'RE ADJUSTING TO 4.4, UH, JUST TO BE MORE PRECISE IN OUR BUDGET, UM, AND NOT REFLECT, UM, YOU KNOW, SUCH A VARIANCE IN TERMS OF BUDGET VERSUS ACTUAL SPEND.
AND AS YOU CAN SEE, THE OTHER ITEMS ARE INCREASING.
CAN YOU DESCRIBE WHAT THE SMART DEVICE AND CONTROLS PROGRAM IS? IS THAT A COMMERCIAL? A RESIDENTIAL? WHAT IS IT? WHAT DOES IT INVOLVE? YES.
UH, THAT IS A CONVERSION OF, UH, APPROXIMATELY 11,000 FIELD DEVICES THAT ARE CURRENTLY ONE-WAY LEGACY DEVICES THAT ARE RF THERMOSTATS AND WATER HEATER, WATER HEATER TIMERS.
UH, CURRENTLY, THOSE ARE LEGACY DEVICES THAT, UH, DO NOT INCLUDE CUSTOMER OVERRIDES.
SO THAT LINE ITEM IS ABOUT REPLACING THOSE WITH TWO-WAY DEVICES THAT WOULD ENABLE, UH, CUSTOMER OVERRIDES AND ALSO A, A BETTER CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE TO, TO BE ABLE TO, YES.
DEMAND RESPONSE, USE DEMAND RESPONSE.
AND, UM, THE OTHER QUESTION I HAD, UM, I KNOW THERE'S A LOT OF, UH, FEDERAL MONEY AVAILABLE AND THERE'S THE ENERGY EFFICIENCY, UM, BLOCK GRANTS, ET CETERA, THE SOLAR FOR ALL PROGRAM.
THERE'S A LOT OF THINGS YOU GUYS ARE INVOLVED IN.
IS ANY OF THIS BUDGET ASSUME ANY MONEY FROM THE FEDS OR THAT WOULD BE SEPARATE? IT WOULD BE SEPARATE.
AND IT WOULD IMPACT IN A POSITIVE WAY WHAT WE'VE PLANNED, BECAUSE WE WOULDN'T HAVE TO SPEND THE DOLLARS, SOME OF THE DOLLARS THAT ARE REFLECTED THERE.
LIKE FOR EXAMPLE, ON THE C I P SIDE, YOU SAW THE EV UM, UH, CHARGING INFRASTRUCTURE WHILE WE'VE APPLIED FOR THE $15 MILLION, UH, C I F, UH, CHARGING INFRASTRUCTURE GRANT.
IF THAT, IF WE DO RECEIVE THAT MONEY, THEN WE WOULDN'T HAVE TO SPEND THE 500,000 THAT WE'VE ALLOCATED, BUT THAT DOESN'T MEAN WE COULDN'T TAKE THAT MONEY AND USE IT IN ANOTHER PROGRAM IF THERE WERE DEMAND POSSIBLY.
SO
[01:00:01]
DEMAND VERSUS REPLACING STUFF YOU'RE ALREADY DOING.I MEAN, THAT WOULD BE MY, I I WOULD URGE YOU GUYS TO, YOU KNOW, THINK BIG.
LET ME ASK, UH, UH, AND I CERTAINLY AGREE THAT THE NEW FEDERAL MONEY IS SUPPOSED TO BE SUPPLEMENT, NOT A SWAP OUT THE, UH, AS I UNDERSTAND IT.
AND SO IN THAT EXAMPLE, I DON'T, I WOULD NOT OBJECT TO USING THE FEDERAL MONEY TO BUY THE CHARGING AND THEN WE COULD USE THAT MONEY FOR MORE WEATHERIZATION OR SOMETHING ELSE.
I'M JUST SAYING THAT, YOU KNOW, WE HAVE TO SEE WHERE WE LAND ON ALL OF THOSE GRANT, UM, APPLICATIONS.
WE, WE DON'T, WE CAN'T, WE'RE, WE'RE OPTIMISTIC, OF COURSE, BUT WE CAN'T REASONABLY PREDICT THAT WE'RE GONNA GET, UH, ALL THAT GRANT MONEY WE'VE APPLIED FOR.
UH, MY, MY MAIN, MAIN, AND WE TALKED ABOUT THIS A LITTLE BIT IN THE WORK GROUP TODAY, UH, MEETING TODAY, UH, IS I'M TRYING TO IDENTIFY PROGRAMS THAT DIRECTLY IMPACT BILLS FOR RENTERS AND LOW AND, AND LOW INCOME.
AND OF THE $27 MILLION PROPOSED DOLLARS FOR ENERGY EFFICIENCY, I SEE WEATHERIZATION IS, IS FLAT AT 1.5.
UH, MULTIFAMILY WEATHER IS A, THAT'S, THAT'S FOR INDIVIDUAL HOMES, I PRESUME.
UH, MULTIFAMILY IS AT 2 MILLION MM-HMM.
UH, THEY'RE NOT OUT BUYING EXPENSIVE ENERGY EFFICIENCY APPLIANCES.
SO ARE THERE OTHER AREAS IN HERE? 'CAUSE THE NUMBERS, I DON'T, I DON'T HAVE A SPECIFIC BREAKOUT FOR RENTERS VERSUS NON RENTERS.
UM, IN REFLECTED IN THIS BUDGET.
BUT WHAT I WILL SAY IS THAT, YOU KNOW, WE HAVE A SIZABLE PORTION ALMOST ACROSS, YOU KNOW, SEVERAL OF THE PROGRAMS YOU SEE UP THERE THAT WOULD BE, UH, AVAILABLE TO RENTERS AS WELL AS, UM, TO, UH, IN SINGLE FAMILY HOMEOWNERS.
AND WE'RE ACTIVELY WORKING ON, YOU KNOW, UM, ADDRESSING PROBLEMS LIKE THE SPLIT INCENTIVE ACROSS, UH, MULTIPLE PROGRAMS LIKE SOLAR.
AND, UH, ONE OF THE D O E GRANTS THAT WE'RE PURSUING ADDRESSES THE SPLIT INCENTIVE PROBLEM.
SO WE'RE TRYING TO, UH, WORK ON THAT, UM, TO MAKE SURE THAT RENTERS ALWAYS HAVE ACCESS TO THE INCENTIVES AS WELL AS JUST SINGLE FAMILY HOMEOWNER.
I MEAN, I, I, FOR EXAMPLE, I, I AS ONE EXAMPLE, IF I'M RENTING AN APARTMENT, UH, I'M GONNA GET IN TROUBLE WITH MY LANDLORD IF I PUT THAT NEW NEST THERMOSTAT IN THAT, THAT QUALIFIES ME FOR, FOR REBATE FOR REBATES.
AND IT, IT JUST SEEMS TO ME THERE'S, THERE'S A LOT IN HERE FOR BUILDERS.
THERE'S A LOT IN HERE FOR OWN, UH, APARTMENT OWNERS, BUT THERE'S, THE ACTUAL 27 MILLION IS A BIG NUM IS A BIG NUMBER.
I, I, I DON'T, ARE WE HAVING PROBLEMS SPENDING THE MONEY NOW? THE 1.5 MILLION, FOR EXAMPLE, I WOULDN'T SAY WE'RE HAVING PROBLEMS SPENDING THE MONEY.
UM, I THINK THAT, AND, AND AS YOU KNOW FROM PRE PRE PREVIOUS DISCUSSIONS, WE DON'T TURN AWAY, UM, YOU KNOW, UH, CUSTOMERS THAT, UH, PRESENT THEMSELVES TO TRY AND TAKE ADVANTAGE OF OUR REBATES AND INCENTIVES.
UH, WE, WE AFFORD THAT TO ALL COMING CUSTOMERS.
I I I'M JUST MAKING THE OBS OBSERVATION THAT IN TERMS OF EQUITY, 27 MILLION VERSUS, AND WE'VE TALKED ABOUT THIS BEFORE.
QUICK QUESTION, WHAT'S THE BEHAVIORAL DEMAND RESPONSE PILOT? UH, THE BEHAVIORAL DEMAND RESPONSE PILOT IS A NON, IT'S NOT AN AN INCENTIVE AMOUNT.
IT IS DELIVERING, UH, WHEN WE HAVE A NEED FOR IT.
IT'S DELIVERING MESSAGES TO, UH, A SET OF CUSTOMERS TO REDUCE DEMAND.
SO BEHA, VERY SIMPLE BEHAVIORAL TYPE MESSAGES.
LIKE, COULD YOU TURN DOWN YOUR THERMOSTAT BY A COUPLE OF DEGREES? COULD YOU DO THIS? COULD YOU DO THAT? AND THE, UH, THE, UM, THE OBJECTIVE IS TO MEASURE JUST BY, WE'RE NOT INCENTIVIZING THEM, WE'RE JUST SENDING MESSAGES WHETHER OR NOT WE CAN GET CUSTOMERS TO RESPOND.
AND SO YOU HAD THE PROGRAM THIS YEAR YEAH.
AND YOU'RE THINKING THAT IT WORKS AND YOU WANNA SPEND A LITTLE MORE MONEY ON IT? IT'S A, YEAH.
[01:05:01]
A PILOT, UH, PHASE NOW, SO YEAH, WE'RE TESTING IT, WE'RE MEASURING IT, WE'RE SEEING ITS EFFECTIVENESS, AND THEN WE WOULD SPEND MORE MONEY ON IT.ANY QUESTIONS FROM ONLINE? YEAH.
I HAD A JUST QUICK QUESTION ON THE, THE SMALL BUSINESS LINE ITEM.
I KNOW IT STAYED FLAT YEAR TO YEAR, BUT CAN YOU EXPLAIN KIND OF HOW WE WORK WITH SMALL BUSINESSES ON THE ENERGY EFFICIENCY? SO WHEN ON SMALL BUSINESSES HAVE ACCESS TO, UM, A NUMBER OF DIFFERENT ELEMENTS OF OUR PROGRAM FROM ENERGY ASSESSMENTS TO REBATES AND INCENTIVES AND OTHER THINGS THAT THEY CAN INSTALL IN THEIR SMALL BUSINESSES TO SAVE ENERGY AND SAVE MONEY.
AND DO WE USUALLY MAX THAT OUT? YOU, I MEAN, THE EXPENDITURES FOR SMALL BUSINESS THAT SOMETHING YEAH.
LIKE I, YOU KNOW, OFF THE TOP OF YOUR HEAD.
I, I, I'M NOT AWARE OF ANY CHALLENGES THAT WE HAVE, UH, SPENDING BUDGET W WITH THE EXCEPTION OF WHAT I TALKED ABOUT IN, UM, SOLAR EARLIER.
I'M NOT THE ONE LINE ITEM THAT YOU SEE UP THERE.
I'M NOT AWARE OF ANY OTHER CHALLENGES THAT WE HAVE EXPENDING THE FULL BUDGET.
ELAINE VIELKA, ACTING VICE PRESIDENT OF ELECTRIC SYSTEM ENGINEERING AND TECHNICAL SERVICES.
TONIGHT, I'LL PRESENT ON BOTH SIDES OF, UM, OR THE COMBINED ELECTRIC SERVICE DELIVERY O N M ON THE LEFT SIDE.
UH, FOR ENGINEERING AND TECHNICAL SERVICES.
WE HAVE A PROPOSED $5 MILLION INCREASE OVER, UH, F Y 23 AMENDED, MOSTLY DUE TO, UM, THE BULLET POINTS, INCLUDING THE STUDY TO CONVERT OR, UH, THE FEASIBILITY OF CONVERTING, UH, OVERHEAD LINES TO UNDERGROUND, AS WELL AS ENGINEERING SERVICES STAFF AUGMENTATION, UM, FOR IN TO, UH, UM, FOR INCREASED PROJECTS AND, AND GROWTH.
YOU WANT ME TO KEEP GOING? OKAY.
DID A GREAT JOB ON THE RIGHT SIDE FOR FIELD OPERATIONS, YOU CAN SEE WE HAVE A, UH, PROPOSED BUDGET INCREASE OF ABOUT $6 MILLION OF OVER F Y 23 AMENDED.
THAT INCLUDES INCREASES IN COMMODITIES AND LABOR ALLOCATION FOR SYSTEM MAINTENANCE RESTORATION AND TROUBLESHOOTING.
AND I KNOW THERE WAS A QUESTION ON VEGETATION MANAGEMENT AND THE YEAH.
IS THAT IN THIS PART OF THE BUDGET? I DIDN'T, I WASN'T SURE.
YEAH, I JUST WANTED TO KNOW, UM, I KNOW WE HAD THIS DISCUSSION BEFORE, UM, WHAT, WHAT IS THE BUDGET THIS YEAR AND WHAT WOULD BE THE BUDGET NEXT YEAR FOR, FOR THOSE TYPE OF SERVICES? UH, VEGETATION MANAGEMENT.
FIRST, FOR THE NEW MEMBERS, I'M ELTON RICHARDS.
I'M VICE PRESIDENT OF FIELD OPERATIONS.
UH, VEGETATION MANAGEMENT FALLS UNDER ME.
SO WE'RE, AND THE ORIGINAL BUDGET, WE'VE GOT 17.5 MILLION IN THE ORIGINAL ONE.
NOW WE'VE GOT AN ADDITIONAL 12 THAT'S COMING IN HALFWAY THROUGH THIS YEAR, AND THAT'D BE SPLIT UP OVER A FIVE YEAR PERIOD.
AND THEN OBVIOUSLY THAT'S FOR THE ADDITIONAL CONTRACTOR WE BROUGHT IN.
AND IF THAT BURN RATE GOES FASTER, THEN WE'LL ASK FOR MORE MONEY IF WE'RE ACTUALLY GETTING THE VEGETATION DONE ON IT.
SO, 17.5 AND ORIGINAL ONE, ANOTHER THREE AND THE SECOND ONE, SO ABOUT 20.5 TOTAL FOUR FISCAL YEAR 20, SORRY, FOR, FOR FISCAL YEAR 2024.
NOW WE'LL USE SOME OF THAT 12, OBVIOUSLY, SINCE THE CONTRACTORS WILL BE ON AT THE END OF THIS MONTH.
SO WE'LL HAVE ABOUT A QUARTER OF THEM IN THIS YEAR, BUT THE PREPONDERANCE OF IT WILL BE OVER THE NEXT FIVE YEARS.
THESE ARE SOME HIGHLIGHTS OF OUR, UH, PROPOSED 20, UH, 24 ELECTRIC SPEND, C I P UH, THE FIRST ONE IS BRECKENRIDGE.
WE'LL REBUILD THE BRECKENRIDGE SUB FOR A COMPLETE OPERATION AT 1 38 KV TO MEET THE DEMAND AND, UH, INCREASED ENTITY AND GROWTH.
IT'S A LIMITED SPACE, SO IT WILL BE REBUILT AS A GAS INSULATED SUBSTATION.
THAT PROJECT HAS RECENTLY KICKED OFF AND IS ON PLAN.
UH, THE SECOND LINE ITEM IS FOR OUR SOUTHEAST SUBSTATION, NOW FORMALLY NAMED TIMBER CREEK.
UM, IT'S A NEW SUBSTATION TO SERVE OUR GROWING LOAD AND AN EXISTING LARGE CUSTOMER, UH, AND DEVELOPMENT EXPANSION OUT NEAR THE AIRPORT IN THE SOUTHEAST PORTION OF OUR SERVICE TERRITORY.
THE THIRD I ITEM IS OUR DISTRIBUTION RESILIENCY PROGRAM.
AND LISA MARTIN GAVE YOU SOME HIGHLIGHTS ON THAT EARLIER.
IT'S A MULTI-YEAR ONGOING EFFORT TO IMPROVE RELIABILITY AND INFRASTRUCTURE RESILIENCY FOR EXTREME WEATHER EVENTS.
IT INCLUDES OVERHEAD DISTRIBUTION, MAINTENANCE, UPGRADE AND RESILIENCY THROUGH GRID TECHNOLOGY IMPROVEMENTS.
THE FOURTH ITEM IS, UH, CIRCUIT EIGHT 13 UPGRADE FROM JUSTIN LANE TO KIG
[01:10:01]
LANE.THIS IS PART OF A LARGER FIVE-YEAR UPGRADE PLAN, UH, TO CONVERT OUR 69 KV TO 1 38 KV.
AND FINALLY, UH, LITTEN SPRINGS AUTO TRANSFORMER UPGRADE.
IT'S AN EFFORT TO UPGRADE TO TRANSFORMERS TO IMPROVE OUR TRANSMISSION CAPACITY.
SO LET ME JUST JUMP IN ON A QUESTION THAT CAME UP, BUT IT WASN'T POSED AND THAT WAS ON THE WILDFIRE MITIGATION IN THE BUDGET.
SO WE DO NOT HAVE A SEPARATE LINE ITEM FOR WILDFIRE MITIGATION FOR 2024.
IT ROLLS UP INTO THE GRID RESILIENCY THAT ERIC, UH, ELAINE WAS JUST TALKING ABOUT, AND THAT LOOKS AT THE MAINTENANCE WITHIN IT.
NOW, IN THE LAST MONTH, I HAVE HIRED THE WILDFIRE MANAGER THAT WE'VE BEEN SPEAKING ABOUT FOR ABOUT A YEAR NOW, AND I WILL GO AHEAD AND PREP YOU FOR 2025.
EXPECT A LINE ITEM IN THERE SPECIFICALLY FOR WILDFIRE MITIGATION.
AND THAT'S ON THE CORRECTED MAINTENANCE POLE REPLACEMENT, EXACTLY WHAT YOU BROUGHT UP, RANDY, ABOUT THE TRIFLEX WIRE, WHICH IS TO COVER CONDUCTOR.
SO YOU'LL SEE IT SPECIFICALLY IN THE 25 BUDGET, BUT FOR THIS ONE, IT'S UNDER THE GRID RESILIENCY.
ANY QUESTIONS? ALRIGHT, NEXT SLIDE.
I'M VICE PRESIDENT FOR POWER PRODUCTION, ALSO DISTRICT COOLING.
UM, IF YOU LOOK AT THE SLIDE THAT IS DISPLAYED, YOU'LL SEE ON THE O AND M SIDE, UH, AS WELL AS THE C I P SIDE, THAT IT'S A DOWNTREND THIS YEAR FOR OUR EXPENSES.
ON THE O AND M SIDE, WE'VE HIGHLIGHTED A FEW THINGS, UH, WANNA POINT OUT.
OVERALL IT'S DOWN, BUT SOME THINGS DO GO UP.
WE'RE SEEING INFLATIONARY COST DRIVERS, FOR EXAMPLE, OUR CHEMISTRY, UH, CHEMICAL COSTS HAVE GONE UP 30 TO 50% IN SOME INSTANCES, HIGHER COST FOR LABOR ON, ON CONTRACTORS AND SO ON.
THAT'S, THAT'S DEFINITELY THE CASE AT THE SOUTH TEXAS PROJECT.
UM, DISTRICT COOLING, UH, WE'VE ADDED CUSTOMERS, AND SO AS WE ADD CUSTOMERS, OUR VARIABLE COSTS GO UP THAT REFLECTS, UH, A HIGHER OPERATING EXPENSE THERE.
BUT ALSO THAT'S OFFSET BY REVENUE.
UH, DECKER, WE'VE GOT SOME BUILDING MAINTENANCE OUT THERE, SOME, SOME OTHER MINOR MAINTENANCE ITEMS THAT WE'LL DO OVER THE COURSE OF THE YEAR TO MAKE, MAINTAIN THE OPERATION AND SECURITY OF DECKER.
UH, I'LL REMIND YOU THAT DECKER ALSO HOUSES TWO BLACK START UNITS, SO WE'RE OBLIGATED TO MAINTAIN THOSE FOR FULL-TIME AVAILABILITY.
UH, AND LASTLY, AT THE, UH, FAYETTE, UH, FAYETTE POWER PLANT, YOU SEE A FAIRLY DECENT DECREASE THAT'S DUE TO CYCLICAL CHANGES.
AS YOU MIGHT NOTE, OUR OUR MAINTENANCE COMES IN WAVES.
WE HAVE A HIGHER, HIGHER PERIOD OF MAINTENANCE IN SOME YEARS AND GO DOWN THE NEXT YEAR.
AND THAT, THAT'S REFLECTIVE OF THAT ON THE, UM, COULD, COULD, COULD YOU DETAIL THAT A LITTLE MORE? WHAT, WHAT IT SPECIFICALLY, WHAT WHAT ITEMS OR, UH, NO, I CAN'T BREAK IT DOWN, BUT I, I WOULD JUST TELL YOU THAT WE HAVE, WE JUST HAVE MORE SCHEDULED OUTAGES IN, IN ONE PERIOD VERSUS ANOTHER, AND THIS IS A LOWER SCHEDULED OUTAGE PERIOD.
BUT IN TERMS OF THE OBLIGATION TO FAY TO FAYETTE, ARE THERE CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS INSPECTED AT FAYETTE? THEY'RE VERY MINOR THIS YEAR.
UH, ON THE C I P I I HAD A QUICK QUESTION FOR YOU.
IT'S NOT REALLY RELATED TO THE BUDGET, BUT AS, AS LONG AS YOU'RE HERE, I KNOW THAT N R G HAS ANNOUNCED THEY'RE SELLING THEIR PORTION OF THE SOUTH TEXAS PROJECT.
UM, AND IF YOU CAN'T ANSWER THIS QUESTION, DON'T ANSWER IT.
BUT, UM, DOES THAT IN ANY WAY AFFECT OUR AGREEMENT ON THE SOUTH TEXAS PROJECT, OR WOULD WE MAINTAIN THE SAME PERCENTAGE AS THE NEW OWNER OR NOTHING? NOTHING CHANGES THIS, NOTHING CHANGES FOR US ENERGY.
SO THE EXPENSES, EVERYTHING'S THE SAME.
AND THIS REFLECTS OUR OWNERSHIP SHARE, WHICH IS 16% AND IT REMAINS 16%, EVEN IF THERE'S A CHANGE IN.
UH, SO CONTINUING WITH THE C I P, SOME COST DRIVERS THERE, AS YOU CAN SEE, OVERALL, THE, THE TREND IS DOWN.
THAT REFLECTS ON THE DISTRICT COOLING SIDE THAT, UH, WE'VE COMPLETED SEVERAL PLANTS IN THE LAST YEAR OR SO.
BUT ALSO WE DO HAVE A FEW, UH, EXTENSIONS OF PIPE TO CONNECT CUSTOMERS.
UH, WE HAVE A, UH, SOME WORK AT SANDHILL, ALTHOUGH WE WILL MAKE A NOTE THERE.
THAT $20.5 MILLION FIGURE THAT'S IS NOTED AS SANDHILL OR, OR SANDHILL ENERGY, UH, CENTER CHECK, UM, IS ACTUALLY THE TOTAL FOUR DECKER AND SANDHILL.
ABOUT THREE QUARTERS OF THAT IS SANDHILL AND A QUARTER OF IT IS DECKER.
COULD YOU GIVE A COUPLE EXAMPLES WHAT SOME OF THE MAJOR EXPENSES MIGHT BE AT SANDHILL? UH, SURE.
I'VE GOT SOME ON THE NEXT SLIDE.
I'LL, I'LL, I'LL, I'LL HIT 'EM THERE PERHAPS.
UM, AND ALSO FOR DECKER, UM, AND LIKEWISE, UH, WE HAVE A, WE HAVE A DECKER, UH, ENGINE OVERHAUL FOR ONE OF THE GAS TURBINES SCHEDULED FOR THIS COMING YEAR.
[01:15:01]
MEAN THERE AREN'T ANY MAJOR, UM, COST DRIVERS AT FAYETTE IN 2024 IN TERMS OF THAT 48 MILLION ON THE C I P SIDE? NO.OR THERE, THERE'S, IT'S MINIMAL.
UM, UH, HERE'S SOME, SOME EXAMPLES OF OUR C I P SPEND, UH, BOTH COMING UP IN THE NEXT FISCAL YEAR AS WELL AS GOING OUT, UH, OVER THE NEXT FIVE YEARS.
UH, AS NOTED, UH, WE DO HAVE SOME WORK GOING ON IN THE DISTRICT COOLING SIDE, THE FIRST TWO SHOWING, UH, CONNECTIONS TO CUSTOMERS COMING UP, UH, OVER THE NEXT COUPLE YEARS.
UH, THE MIDDLE, UH, ROW THERE IS LMM 6,000 HOT SECTIONS.
THAT'S ONE OF THE BIG EXPENSE ITEMS AT SANDHILL.
WHAT THAT IS, IS SORT OF AS IT SOUNDS, THAT'S THE COMPONENTS THAT ARE, UH, EXPERIENCE THE HIGHEST TEMPERATURES.
THEY CAN EXPERIENCE TEMPERATURES UP TO 2,500 DEGREES FAHRENHEIT.
AND SO THEY HAVE A, A LIMITED LIFE IN THEIR CHANGED OUT AFTER A CERTAIN AMOUNT OF RUNTIME.
AND THEY'RE DUE FOR CHANGE OUT.
WHAT IS THE, WHAT IS LMM 6,000 REFER TO? OH, I'M SORRY.
WE HAVE SIX OF THOSE AT SANDHILL.
THEY'RE, THAT'S JUST THE NAME OF THE, THAT'S THAT'S THE GE MODEL NAME.
AND AGAIN, THERE'S SIX OF THOSE AT, UH, AT SANDHILL.
UH, NEXT ITEM DOWN DECKER DAM IMPROVEMENTS WE HAVE, THOSE ARE FURTHER OUT IN THE VERY END OF THE TIMEFRAME THERE.
OBVIOUSLY WE HAVE TO MAINTAIN THE DAM TO SAFETY STANDARDS AND FUNCTION.
UH, AND THEN LASTLY, ANOTHER ITEM FOR SANDHILL, UH, HEATER AND CHILLER BUILDING UPGRADES.
THESE ARE DIRECTLY TIED TO OUR, UH, WINTERIZATION, UH, AND, AND SUMMARIZATION, UH, PREP, UH, THAT WE HAVE TO DO AND MAINTAIN EFFECTIVE OPERATION BECAUSE OF SSB THREE.
UH, AMONG OTHER, AMONG THAT, THAT'S ONE OF THE REQUIREMENTS.
UM, AND I BELIEVE THAT'S IT FOR ME, UNLESS YOU HAVE QUESTIONS.
ALRIGHT, I'VE GOT THE NEXT SLIDE.
I'M STUART RILEY, INTERIM DEPUTY GENERAL MANAGER OF BUSINESS SERVICES.
AND I'M JUST GONNA GO OVER THE CORPORATE SUPPORT SERVICES, UH, BUDGET AND CROSS COST DRIVERS.
UM, YOU CAN SEE THERE ON THE LEFT SIDE.
UH, IN TERMS OF OUR O AND M COST DRIVERS, WE ARE ATTRIBUTING A MILLION DOLLARS TO OUR NEW SECURITY GUARD CONTRACT, WHICH INCLUDES A $20 AN HOUR LIVING WAGE.
WE HAVE A $500,000 FACILITIES MASTER PLAN TO BETTER LOOK AT WHAT OUR OVERALL FACILITIES NEEDS ARE.
UH, OVERALL AS AN ENTITY, WE HAVE $500,000 AS AN ARC FLASH SAFETY STUDY.
THIS IS FOR OUR FACILITIES AS WELL.
AND THEN, UM, WE'RE SEEING A $2.1 MILLION REDUCTION FROM OUR TRANSFERRING MANAGEMENT OF CTECH, WHICH IS THE COMBINED TRANSPORTATION EMERGENCY AND COMMUNICATION CENTER FOR THE CITY TRANSFERRING, UH, FACILITY MANAGEMENT OF THAT, UM, SET CT E CENTER OVER TO THE CITY'S DEPARTMENT OF BUILDING SERVICES.
AND THAT'S COMING WITH IT, UH, THE FTES REQUIRED TO MANAGE THAT FACILITY AS WELL.
UM, ON THE C I P SIDE, UM, WE ARE STARTING ON OUR NEW AUSTIN ENERGY SERVICE CENTER.
I THINK SOMEBODY MENTIONED EARLIER, THAT'S THE NEW CAMERON ROAD SERVICE CENTER AT 1 1 30 AND CAMERON ROAD.
UM, $5 MILLION IN THE COMING YEAR ON SECURITY FENCE PROJECTS.
THIS IS FOR CUT RESISTANT AND CLIMB RESISTANT, UH, SECURITY FENCING AT SUBSTATIONS AND AT OUR, UH, LAY DOWN YARDS AS WELL AS A S C C.
THAT'S OUR SYSTEM CONTROL CENTER.
UM, A ROOF REPLACEMENT FOR THAT FACILITY, AS WELL AS SOME PROPERTY UPGRADES AT OUR, UH, DECKER PROPERTY, INCLUDING A, ANOTHER ROOF REPLACEMENT AND AN INTERRUPTABLE POWER SUPPLY FOR OUR, UH, BACKUP CONTROL CENTER.
I, I'M SORRY, WHEN YOU SAY AUSTIN ENERGY SERVICE CENTER, YOU MEAN SERVICE TO, TO, UM, CUSTOMERS OF AUSTIN ENERGY OR NO? UH, WE REFER TO OUR S WHEN, SORRY.
WHEN WE REFER TO OUR SERVICE CENTER, WE'RE TALKING ABOUT OUR FIELD SERVICE CENTERS, WHERE WE HAVE FIELD CREWS.
UM, WE CAN HAVE WAREHOUSING NEEDS THERE, BUT, UH, YOU KNOW, WHERE OUR, YEAH, I WAS THINKING THAT WAS A LOT OF MONEY JUST FOR OUR CUSTOMER FIELD OPERAT.
THIS, THIS HAS BEEN, UM, UH, A LONG TIME IN THE MAKING AND REALLY WAS, UH, NECESSITATED LARGELY BY OUR EXIT FROM OUR RYAN DRIVE PROPERTY BE, WHICH WAS JUSTIN LANE RYAN DRIVE AREA, IN ORDER TO MAKE ROOM FOR ANOTHER USE THAT THE CITY, UH, SAW FOR THAT PROPERTY FOR AFFORDABLE HOUSING.
AND THAT IS, UM, BEING TRANSFERRED TO THE, UM, TO THE, UM, AFFORDABLE HOUSING CORPORATION.
I'M SORRY, I'M DRAWING A BLANK ON THEIR NAME.
UH, AND I HAD THE SAME QUESTION ON THE SERVICE CENTER.
WHERE, HOW MANY PLACES DOES AUSTIN ENERGY HAVE WHERE SOMEONE CAN WALK IN AND TALK TO AN AUSTIN ENERGY EMPLOYEE ABOUT THEIR BILL? WE HAVE A NORTH BRANCH, A SOUTH BRANCH, AND
[01:20:01]
AN EAST BRANCH.SO, UM, THREE AND, AND THE SOUTH BRANCH IS WHERE? UM, I BELIEVE IT'S NEAR STANE OF LAKE SOUTH PARK, MONICA STANE, STANE LANE.
AND THEN THE NORTH IS, UM, ON, UM, 180 3 AND THE EAST IS AT THE ROSEWOOD OSA.
AND, AND PEOPLE CAN PAY THEIR BILLS AND IF, IF THEY NEED ASSISTANCE, THEY CAN SPEAK TO A PERSON.
ALRIGHT, IF THERE'S NOTHING ELSE, I'LL HAND IT OVER TO MATT.
UH, GOOD EVENING COMMISSIONERS.
I'M FILLING IN FOR, UH, GREG FLAY, OUR VP OF TECHNOLOGY AND DATA.
UM, SO I'LL BE PRESENTING THE HIGHLIGHTS OF OUR PROPOSED BUDGET.
UH, ON THE LEFT SIDE, YOU CAN SEE, UH, WE'RE PROPOSING AN INCREASE OF APPROXIMATELY FIVE AND A HALF MILLION, UH, FOR O AND M.
UM, THIS ADDITIONAL AMOUNT COVERS MULTIPLE NEW TECHNOLOGIES, UH, WE'VE ADOPTED OR ARE OPERATIONALIZING NEXT FISCAL YEAR, UH, AS WELL AS CONTRACTUAL OBLIGATED PRICE INCREASES TO SOME OF OUR EXISTING TECHNOLOGIES.
UH, IT ALSO INCLUDES 760,000 FOR ADDITIONAL STAFF AUGMENTATION, UH, PARTIALLY TO HELP US MANAGE AND OPERATE SOME OF THOSE NEW THINGS WE'RE ADOPTING.
UH, THE CHART ON THE RIGHT, UH, SHOWS THE, UH, C I P PLAN, UM, OF THE 9.4 MILLION, THE MAJOR DRIVER OF THAT IS 5.2 MILLION FOR OUR MAJOR CAPITAL PROJECT, WHICH IS, UH, AN IT INFRASTRUCTURE MODERNIZATION EFFORT.
WE'VE BEEN, IT'S BEEN GOING ON FOR A COUPLE OF YEARS.
UM, WE ALSO HAVE ABOUT 2.1 MILLION IN THERE FOR CAPITAL OUTLAY.
AND THAT REPRESENTS THE, UH, ALL OF THE SMALL SORT OF TECHNOLOGIES AND DEVICES THAT ARE USED BY OUR TEAMS, UH, THROUGHOUT THE ORGANIZATION.
CAN YOU DISCUSS MORE OF YOUR MODERNIZATION PLAN? UH, SO, UH, OVER THE LAST COUPLE YEARS WE'VE BEEN, UM, BUILDING, UH, ESSENTIALLY A NEW DATA CENTER, UH, WITH, UH, SORT OF MODERN ARCHITECTURE AND DESIGN TO, UM, YOU KNOW, HELP US TRANSITION FROM OUR LEGACY INFRASTRUCTURE CORE, LIKE CORE IT SERVERS THAT WE'VE HAD FOR, YOU KNOW, WE, WE WANNA TURN THOSE OVER AND MODERNIZE IT AT THE SAME, AT THE SAME TIME.
UH, PRIMARILY TO ENHANCE SECURITY AND RELIABILITY OF OUR CORE.
ANY QUESTIONS FROM ONLINE? THANK YOU.
NEXT, I'LL WRAP UP THE CONVERSATION WITH THE PROPOSED TARIFF AND FEE CHANGES.
UM, THESE FEES AND TARIFF RATES ARE COST DRIVEN.
SO THE CHANGES THAT YOU SEE FROM THE CURRENT RATES OF THE PROPOSED RATES ARE STRICTLY BASED UPON HISTORICAL COST INFORMATION.
THE, UM, ADDITIONAL SOLAR ME SOLAR METER FOR THE COMMERCIAL AND RESIDENTIAL CLASSES ARE NEW FEES THAT HADN'T BEEN CHARGED IN THE PAST.
HOWEVER, MY UNDERSTANDING IS THOSE WILL BE RECOUPED THROUGH THE SOLAR INCENTIVE PROGRAM.
AND THE METERING REVIEW FEE, WHICH IS ALSO A NEW FEE, IS TO HELP DEFRAY THE COSTS ASSOCIATED WITH REVIEWING MORE COMPLEX, UM, UH, DESIGN FOR THE ENGINEERING AND DESIGN GROUP.
AND AGAIN, ANOTHER NOTE ABOUT THE P S A AND REGULAR CHARGE AND COMMUNITY BENEFIT CHARGE ARE GONNA BE UPDATED IN SEPTEMBER, AND WE'LL MAKE SURE THAT WE GET THOSE TO YOU AHEAD OF TIME BEFORE THEY GO TO CITY COUNCIL.
CAN, CAN YOU SAY ONE MORE TIME WHAT YOU SAID ABOUT THE ADDITIONAL SOLAR METERS? UH, SO, SO IF I'M A, IF I'M A CUSTOMER AND A RESIDENTIAL CUSTOMER AND I WANT TO PUT SOLAR IN MY HOMES ON MY HOME, ON MY HOME AS I WISH, UM, MAYBE NOT, UM, THERE WOULD BE A FEE, I WOULD BE CHARGED A FEE FEE OF 3 4 48, BUT IT WOULD BE PAID FOR OUT OF THE INCENTIVES? THAT'S CORRECT.
SO THE INCENTIVE IS GOING TO COVER THAT FEE SO THAT THE BOTTOM LINE TO THE CUSTOMER IS THE SAME.
IT'S JUST THAT IT WAS BEING COVERED, UM, UNDER, UNDER, UNDER BASE RATES.
AND THIS IS MORE APPROPRIATELY COVERING IT IN, IN THE, UH, AS PART OF OUR INCENTIVES.
IT'S, UM, JUST TO ENSURE THAT WE'RE COVERING THOSE COSTS OUTTA THE RIGHT BUCKET.
SO, SO THE, THE, IT AFFECTS THE CUSTOMER ENERGY SOLUTIONS BUDGET.
IT'S A SMALL PART OF THAT OVERALL INCENTIVE, BUT, UM, IT SHOULDN'T AFFECT THE OVERALL GOALS BECAUSE IT'S TO THE CUSTOMER, IT'S GOING TO A RESULT IN THAT.
IT'S, IT'S GOING, THERE'S NOT GOING TO BE AN IMPACT.
SO THERE ARE TWO LINE ITEMS HERE THAT HAVE, UH, PROPOSALS THAT
[01:25:01]
ARE LOWER THAN THE CURRENT VALUES.CAN YOU JUST TALK THROUGH WHAT EACH OF THOSE LINE ITEMS ARE AND WHY THEY ARE LOWER FOR FISCAL YEAR 2024? YES.
SO THAT COMMISSIONER SEABERT? YEAH.
SO THE, THE FEES ARE BASED UPON HISTORIC COSTS.
SO FOR EXAMPLE, THE HIT AND DAMAGE UTILITY POLE, THAT IS BASED UPON OUR, UM, OUR INFORMATION THAT WE RECEIVED FROM DAMAGE TO POLES THIS YEAR.
SO, UH, FOR EXAMPLE, LAST YEAR'S FEES, OUR 2020 THREES FEES WERE PREDICATED ON WHAT OCCURRED IN 2022.
AND, UH, IT'S POSSIBLE THAT WE HAD A MORE EXPENSIVE POLE.
UH, YOU KNOW, IT COULD HAVE BEEN STEEL, UH, THAT WAS HIT AS OPPOSED TO A WOODEN POLE.
AND SO IN COMING UP WITH THE TARIFF AND FEE RATES FOR THE FOLLOWING YEAR, IT'S BASED UPON HISTORIC COST AND EXPERIENCE LEVELS.
SO THAT'S WHAT'S DRIVING THOSE COSTS.
SO IT ONLY WENT DOWN BECAUSE, UM, THE AVERAGE COST OF THE, THE POLE THAT WAS HIT WENT DOWN
SO IN OTHER WORDS, IT'S COUNTERINTUITIVE BECAUSE YOU WOULD THINK THAT WITH THE ESCALATION IN PRICES THAT WE'VE SEEN, EVERYTHING WOULD BE GOING UP, UP, BUT IT'S COMPLICATED BY THE FACT OF IT.
IT'S NOT NECESSARILY, ONE POLL IS NOT THE SAME AS ANOTHER, SO, SO IT'S NOT COMMON KIND.
THAT WRAPS UP THE 2024 BUDGET PRESENTATION.
MR. CHAPMAN, DID YOU HAVE YES, UH, UH, WE'D LIKE TO, UH, MAKE A RECOMMENDATION, UH, UH, IF POSSIBLE TO, UH, PERTAINING TO COUNCIL, PERTAINING TO THE BUDGET.
I DON'T KNOW IF WE HAVE, WE HAVE AN AGENDA ITEM THOUGH LATER, RIGHT ON THAT, OR
[7. Discussion and possible action regarding a recommendation on the FY 2023-24 Austin Energy Budget. ]
NUMBER SEVEN.DISCUSSION OF POSSIBLE ACTION.
OH, DISCUSSION OF POSSIBLE ACTION RECOMMENDATIONS ON THE BUDGET.
SO, UM, SO THAT'S WHERE WE'RE GONNA LEAP BACK TO.
SO ROBIN, I SENT YOU A, UM, DID YOU GET THAT? I DID.
AND I SENT IT OUT TO ALL THE COMMISSIONERS.
SO IT'S BASICALLY, UM, BASICALLY IT SAYS WE APPROVE THIS BUDGET THAT WAS PRESENTED, UH, WITH THESE STIPULATIONS, WHICH REALLY DON'T CHANGE THE BUDGET, THEY'RE MORE JUST DIRECTION TO CITY COUNCIL.
SO ONE, WE WANNA ENSURE THAT THERE'S MONEY FOR VEGETATION MANAGEMENT TO, UH, FOR THAT FIVE YEAR PLAN, WHICH OBVIOUSLY IS IN THE BUDGET.
UM, TWO, WE WANNA MAKE SURE, AND I WASN'T SURE IF THESE PERCENTAGES ARE RIGHT 'CAUSE THESE ARE BASED ON MEMORY THAT OF RANDY IN MY MEMORY, WHICH ISN'T ALWAYS GREAT.
UM, BUT I THINK YOU WERE TRYING TO GET TO 70% OF THE ELIGIBLE CUSTOMERS BY 24 AND 90% BY 25.
UM, THREE, WE WANNA ENSURE THAT THERE'S SUFFICIENT MONEY IN THE ENERGY EFFICIENCY PROGRAMS TO MEET THE ENERGY SAVINGS GOAL AND THE OVERALL DEMAND REDUCTION GOAL, WHICH I BELIEVE THERE ARE, BUT WE'RE JUST SORT OF REPEATING THAT.
UM, UH, FOUR, WE WANT CITY COUNCIL TO CAREFULLY, UH, MONITOR ANY MONEY SPENT ON FAYETTE.
UM, SO THAT'S JUST MORE OF A, AN ASK TO, TO THE COUNCIL THAT ANYTHING EXCEEDING A HUNDRED THOUSAND, THEY SHOULD LOOK AT CAREFULLY.
'CAUSE IF OUR LONG-TERM GOAL IS TO GET OUT OF THE PLANT, WE DON'T WANNA BE PUTTING A LOT OF MONEY INTO IT.
SOUNDS LIKE THERE ISN'T MUCH MONEY IN THE BUDGET TO DO THAT, SO THAT'S GOOD.
UM, AND FIVE WAS THE POINT I MADE BEFORE WITH RICHARD, THAT WE WANT YOU TO GO AFTER FEDERAL MONEY, BUT WE WANT IT TO BE ADDITIVE NOT TO REPLACE.
AND SO THAT WOULD BE THE PROPOSAL TO, TO SEND TO CITY COUNCIL.
SO WE, WE'D BE ENDORSING YOUR BUDGET, BUT SORT OF GIVING CITY COUNCIL SOME, SOME DIRECTION.
UM, AND I DON'T KNOW IF THERE ARE OTHER, IF, IF OTHER COMMISSIONERS, UH, DISAGREE OR AGREE WITH THOSE OR HAVE ADDITIONAL THINGS THEY'D LIKE TO SAY AND, UH, EXCUSE ME.
AND THESE ARE ITEMS ACTUALLY THAT WE DISCUSSED A COUPLE MONTHS AGO, RIGHT? WE DID.
THEY'RE ALL THINGS THAT, THAT WE'VE BEEN DISCUSSING.
THEY'RE NOT, THEY'RE NOTHING TERRIBLY NEW.
JONATHAN, YOU HAD A QUESTION, UM, QUESTION ON THE FIRST ONE.
UM, HOW USE OF HERBICIDES, WHERE, WHAT IS, WHERE DOES THAT COME FROM? UM, SO THAT CAME FROM FORMER COMMISSIONER, UH, KADEN, UM, WHO WAS CONCERNED ABOUT THE USE OF HERBICIDES IN, UM, VEGETATION MANAGEMENT.
SORRY, SHOULD WE ADDRESS THAT? SURE.
AND DO YOU KNOW THAT THE CURRENT AE PROPOSED BUDGET DOESN'T LIKE CONTEMPLATE? SO THIS THE ORIGIN AGAIN, SO JONATHAN, JONATHAN, YOU WANNA FINISH UP QUESTION? YEAH, WELL, YEAH.
I WAS JUST GONNA SAY LIKE, I MEAN, IF IF THEIR CURRENT BUDGET DOESN'T INCLUDE THAT, WOULD THIS BE AN
[01:30:01]
A RECOMMENDATION TO INCREASE THAT BUDGET? NO, THE CURRENT BUDGET DOES INCLUDE THAT.UH, AND I'LL JUST GIVE YOU, THIS CAME UP ABOUT TWO AND A HALF YEARS AGO WHEN I FIRST GOT HERE.
TO GIVE YOU AN EXAMPLE, WE USE LESS THAN FIVE GALLONS OF HERBICIDE IN 2022.
THE HERBICIDE IS PRIMARILY USED ON THE VINES THAT GREW UP ON THE POLES THAT ARE SO FAST GROWING, IT'S IMPOSSIBLE TO STAY UP ON.
AND THE, WHEN WE PRESENTED IT TO THE CITY COUNCIL, THE QUESTION WAS WHAT WE, WHAT TYPE OF HERBICIDE WAS IT? WE GAVE THEM THE SAFETY DATA SHEET.
IT'S APPROVED, UH, THROUGH THE F D A AND THEY ONLY CONSTRAINT IS NOT USED NEAR WATERWAYS.
AND OUR, UH, CONTRACTORS KNOW NOT TO USE IT IN WATERWAYS, BUT TO GIVE YOU AN EXAMPLE, IN ALL OF OUR SERVICE, SERVICE TERRITORY, LESS THAN FIVE GALLONS IN ONE YEAR, AND IT'S PRIMARILY FOR THE FAST GROWING BUYINGS THAT ARE ON THE, ON THE POLLS.
JONATHAN, I WOULD ACCEPT A, A FRIENDLY AMENDMENT TO TAKE OUT THOSE WORDS WITHOUT THE USE OF HERBICIDES IF YOU WANTED TO OFFER IT.
YEAH, I'LL, I'LL OFFER THAT THEN.
LET, LET'S TAKE OUT THEN THE, THAT STATEMENT.
AND CYRUS SAID, I KNOW YOUR THOUGHTS ON THIS, SO MAYBE AS KIND OF AN OFFSET AT THE END OF NEXT YEAR, WHY DON'T I REPORT OUT ON WHAT HERBICIDE WAS USED AND ON WHAT TYPE OF VEGETATION IT IS USED ON.
THAT WAY YOU GUYS STILL GET A SAFE SENSE OF THAT.
WE'RE USING IT VERY RARELY AND VERY JUDICIOUSLY.
IS THAT FAIR ENOUGH THAT THAT'S FAIR.
UM, CHAIR TODD, I JUST WANNA, UM, OFFICIALLY RECOGNIZE THAT WE ARE ON ITEM SEVEN.
DID YOU, I WASN'T SURE IF YOU ACTUALLY, IF THAT WAS CLEAR TO EVERYONE, WE JUMPED LEAPT BACK TO THE FUTURE WITH SEVEN.
FROM 12 WITH THE REVISION OF REMOVING WITHOUT THE USE OF THE HERBICIDES ON, ON A, UM, ARE WE GOOD TO GO ON THIS? HOW ABOUT WE HAVE A MOTION AND A SECOND? SURE.
UNLESS OTHER COMMISSIONERS HAVE ADDITIONAL THINGS THEY'D LIKE TO ADD OR, WELL, I HAD, I HAD A QUESTION.
I MEAN, I CAME FROM A, A DIFFERENT COMMISSION, RIGHT? BUT WE HAD OUR BUT TO SUGGESTIONS SUBMITTED BEFORE MARCH OR WHATEVER THE CITY, THE CITY BUDGET OUTFIT REQUIRE, RIGHT? SO, RIGHT.
SO, AND I KNOW THIS IS THE WEEK THEY'RE ACTUALLY VOTING ON THE BUDGET.
SO I GUESS I'M WONDERING WHAT ARE WE DOING HERE THAT WE'RE TRYING TO APPROVE BUDGET SUGGESTIONS A COUPLE DAYS BEFORE THE BUDGET GETS VOTED ON? I GUESS.
LIKE, WHY ARE WE DOING THIS NOW WHEN OBVIOUSLY THE ABILITY OF THIS TO IMPACT BUT BEING WRITTEN INTO THE BUDGET IT'S, IS, IS RELATIVELY MINOR, AT LEAST Y YEAH.
AND THIS HAS BEEN ALWAYS AN ISSUE, RIGHT? IS THE TIMING.
UM, AND MAYBE WE NEED TO WORK ON NEXT YEAR THE, THE, THE TIMING.
SO, UH, I MEAN, THE PROBLEM HAS ALWAYS BEEN THEY FEEL LIKE THEY CAN'T PRESENT A BUDGET UNTIL THE CITY MANAGER RELEASES THE BUDGET.
AND BECAUSE OF THE TIMING OF OUR LAST MEETING, IT WOULD'VE BEEN BETTER HAD WE HAD THIS PRESENTATION LAST MEETING, AND THEN WE COULD HAVE, YOU KNOW, UM, BUT THE TIMING, AND RAUL, WE HAD THESE, ESSENTIALLY THESE SAME SUGGESTIONS, UM, BEFORE THE, THE BUDGET WAS RELEASED.
UM, BUT I DO FEEL LIKE THE BUDGET THAT WAS RELEASED PRETTY MUCH, YOU KNOW, REAFFIRMS THESE.
SO, UM, IT'S MORE, IT'S MORE, I DON'T KNOW, YOU KNOW, WE COULD, WE COULD DO NOTHING AND PROBABLY THE WORLD WOULDN'T CHANGE, BUT IT, IT'S ALSO A WAY FOR US TO KEEP, UM, YOU KNOW, KEEP TABS ON THINGS LIKE FEDERAL FUNDING AND WHAT THEY DO WITH IT.
SO I, I, I PERSONALLY FEEL LIKE IT'S HELPFUL.
UM, BUT YOU'RE RIGHT, IT'S, IT'S KIND OF TOO LATE TO REALLY MAKE A DIFFERENCE
I'M JUST CURIOUS BECAUSE, UH, I KNOW THAT THERE'S A LIMITED ABILITY TO SEE, TO SEE, UH, ALL THE NUMBERS, RIGHT? UH, BECAUSE OF, I DON'T KNOW, THE WAY THE INDUSTRY WORKS OR SOMETHING, BUT, UH, BUT THANKS FOR CLARIFYING THAT, COMMISSIONER.
BUT I WOULD SAY NEXT, NEXT YEAR, LET'S, IF THERE'S A WAY TO TIME IT BETTER SO WE HAVE, WE CAN ACTUALLY INFLUENCE, RIGHT? THAT WOULD BE BETTER.
DO YOU NEED A SECOND? OH, I'LL, I'LL MAKE A MOTION TO, OR YOU ALREADY MADE A MOTION SECOND.
OH, I'LL MAKE A MOTION TO APPROVE THIS RESOLUTION.
[01:35:01]
I, I DUNNO IF YOU GUYS CAN HEAR ME.CAN YOU GUYS HEAR ME? YEAH, JEREMY, ME.
HEY, I JUST HAD A QUICK CLARIFYING QUESTION ABOUT, UM, D SO WHERE WAS THE A HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS, YOU KNOW, HOW WAS THAT DETERMINED? I MEAN, CAN YOU GUYS JUST HELP ME UNDERSTAND A LITTLE BIT MORE ABOUT ITEM D THAT SPECIFICALLY, LIKE HOW DID WE DETERMINE THAT A MAJOR EXPENDITURE WAS ABOVE $100,000? OR IS THAT JUST SOME VALUE THAT WAS AGREED UPON BEFOREHAND? I JUST, WHAT'S SOME CONTEXT THAT IT, IT'S AN ARBITRARY, UH, BACK IN MARCH WE DISCUSSED IT, IT WAS SORT OF AN ARBITRARY NUMBER.
UM, IT COULD BE A HUNDRED THOUSAND, IT COULD BE A MILLION.
IT JUST SEEMED LIKE WE'RE NOT CONCERNED WITH, YOU KNOW, MINOR CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS NEEDED, BUT WE WANNA MAKE SURE THAT CITY IT, AND AGAIN, A LOT OF THESE, A LOT OF THESE ISSUES ARE, UM, NOT NECESSARILY PUBLIC ISSUES THAT CAN BE DISCUSSED, BUT WE WANNA MAKE SURE CITY COUNCIL BEFORE APPROVING A MAJOR ITEM IS, IS CONSIDERING THE LONG-TERM IMPLICATION.
SO IT'S, IT'S MORE OF A DIRECTION TO CITY COUNCIL.
UH, WE DON'T GENERALLY KNOW THE SPECIFIC, UM, IMPROVEMENTS MADE AT FAYETTE BECAUSE IT'S PART OF A JOINT MANAGEMENT AGREEMENT, SO IS MORE, UH, GIVING THAT TO CITY COUNCIL.
AND SO YOU, YOU MENTIONED MARCH, UM, I JOINED IN APRIL.
SO IS IT, IS IT TYPICAL THAT WE HAVE THESE CONVERSATIONS SOMETIME IN THE, IT MIGHT'VE BEEN APRIL ELECTION EARLY SPRING? OH, IT MAY HAVE BEEN IN APRIL.
AS FAR AS, YOU KNOW, HAVING CONVERSATIONS FOR EACH OF THESE DIFFERENT BULLET POINTS, I FEEL LIKE THE VEGETATION MANAGEMENT, I WAS A PART OF THAT CONVERSATION.
SO IS THIS JUST FORMULATED ACROSS THE FULL YEAR? AND THEN AT THE TIME OF THE BUDGET, WE CONSOLIDATE OUR RECOMMENDATIONS WHENEVER WE SUBMIT IT TO THE COUNCIL? I MEAN, HOW DOES, HOW DOES THIS DOCUMENT GET COMPILED, IS ULTIMATELY WHAT I'M TRYING TO ASK? UM, IT PROBABLY COULD BE COMPILED IN A, IN A MORE EFFICIENT WAY.
I THINK THIS WAS REALLY COMPILED JUST BECAUSE WE HAVE THOSE COMMITTEE MEETINGS AND THESE WERE ISSUES THAT INTERESTED THE PEOPLE IN THAT, IN THAT COMMITTEE.
BUT THERE'S PROBABLY A, THERE'S PROBABLY A BETTER WAY TO DO IT, FRANKLY.
UM, NO, THOSE, IT IS WHAT, IT'S, I DON'T, I DON'T HAVE ANY ISSUE WITH ANY OF THE LINE ITEMS. IT'S JUST, I FEEL LIKE CERTAIN PIECES OF THESE WE HAD TALKED ABOUT, I JUST WASN'T A HUNDRED PERCENT SURE ON HOW, IF THERE WAS AN OFFICIAL PROCESS.
SO, UM, I APPRECIATE THE CLAR CLARITY, SO THANK YOU.
ANY OTHER QUESTIONS ON THIS RESOLUTION? NOPE.
SO GONNA MAKE A MOTION AGAIN,
I THINK, I THINK I ALREADY MADE THE MOTION, BUT I MAKE A MOTION TO APPROVE THIS RESOLUTION TO BE SENT TO CITY COUNCIL A S A P AND I SECOND THAT AGAIN.
AND OBVIOUSLY CROSSING OUT WITH, WITHOUT THE USE OF HERBICIDES, WHICH WE ALREADY DISCUSSED.
NOW, I THINK WE ARE ON NUMBER 13.
[13. Staff briefing on the Value of Solar public participation process to develop a standard offer for local distributed community solar by Richard Génecé, Vice President of Customer Energy Solutions and Tim Harvey, Manager of Customer Renewable Solutions.]
BACK AGAIN TO THE VALUE OF SOLAR PUBLIC PARTICIPATION PROCESS.MY NAME'S TIM HARVEY AND I'M THE CUSTOMER.
WE NEW BOTH SOLUTIONS MANAGER AT AUSTIN ENERGY.
UM, SO AS DIRECTED, UM, THROUGH THE RATE CASE, WE ARE WORKING ON THE STANDARD OFFER, UH, PROGRAM.
AND WE'LL GET SOME SLIDES UP HERE FOR YOU IN A SECOND.
SO FIRST, THE IDEA OF THIS, OF THE STANDARD OFFER IS TO INCREASE THE CAPACITY FOR THE COMMUNITY SOLAR PROGRAM.
SO I'M GONNA BRIEFLY, UM, JUST GO OVER WHAT THE COMMUNITY SOLAR PROGRAM ENTAILS AND SOME OF, UM, ITS HIGHLIGHTS.
SO FIRST OF ALL, WE HAVE THREE, UH, PROJECTS THAT ARE CURRENTLY CONTRIBUTING TO THAT PORTFOLIO.
UM, ONE VERY SMALL PROJECT ON PALMER EVENT CENTER FOR 185 KW, 2.6 MEGAWATTS AT LA LOMA, UM, WHICH IS ON THE DISTRIBUTION GRID AND ON THE EAST SIDE OF TOWN GROUND MOUNTED ARRAY.
AND THEN A, UH, COVERED PARKING ARRAY AT A B I A, UM, FOR 1.5 MEGAWATTS.
SO HALF OF THIS PROGRAM IS SET ASIDE FOR CUSTOMER ASSISTANCE PROGRAM CUSTOMERS.
[01:40:01]
GET BILL SAVINGS FROM THE PROGRAM.THERE'S NO COST TO ENTRY, THERE'S NO, UM, COST TO EXIT THE PROGRAM.
SO IT'S THE BURDEN TO LOW INCOME CUSTOMERS IS, IS, UM, PRACTICALLY ZERO.
UM, AND THEN THERE ARE MARKET RATE CUSTOMERS WHO PAY A PREMIUM, UM, AND THE PROGRAM THEN REPLACES THE POWER SUPPLY ADJUSTMENT FEE WITH A COMMUNITY SOLAR ADJUSTMENT FEE.
THAT COMMUNITY SOLAR ADJUSTMENT FEE IS LOCKED IN FOR 15 YEARS.
SO, UM, CUSTOMERS THAT SIGNED UP FOR THE PROGRAM IN 2018, WHILE THEY WERE PAYING A PENNY AND A HALF PREMIUM AT THAT TIME, SINCE THE P S A WENT UP, UM, THEY ARE NOW SAVING A 10TH OF A PENNY.
SO THERE IS AN OPPORTUNITY FOR CUSTOMERS TO HEDGE IN THIS PROGRAM AS IT IS CURRENTLY CONFIGURED.
UM, SO ANOTHER, UM, COUPLE POINTS ABOUT THIS IS THAT IT IS THE FIRST SCREENING CERTIFIED PROGRAM, MEANING THAT, UM, THERE'S A THIRD PARTY THAT ENSURES THAT THE CLAIMS MADE THROUGH THIS PROGRAM AND REPRESENTED CUSTOMERS ARE ACCURATE AND NOT, UM, DUPLICATED IN OTHER PLACES.
UM, AND IT'S ALSO WORTH NOTING THAT THE CURRENT PORTFOLIO COSTS, UM, REQUIRE, UM, A COST SHIFTING TO NON-PARTICIPATING CUSTOMERS.
IN OTHER WORDS, THE PROGRAM ISN'T TOTALLY SELF-SUFFICIENT.
AND SO THOSE EXTRA COSTS ARE BEING PAID BY THE REST OF OUR, OUR CUSTOMERS, BUT THEY'RE VERY DI MINIMUS AT THIS POINT.
THIS IS A, ESSENTIALLY A PILOT PROGRAM AT THIS SIZE.
UM, BUT WE'RE LOOKING TO SCALE THIS AND THE STANDARD OFFER IS OUR APPROACH TO DO THAT.
IF, IF I MAY ASK, YOU HAVE 200 LOW INCOME CUSTOMERS.
UH, HOW IS THAT, HOW, HOW WOULD THEY LEARN ABOUT THE PROGRAM AND, AND WHAT IS THE DOWNSIDE? WHY COULDN'T YOU JUST AUTOMATICALLY ENROLL CURRENT CAP PRO CUSTOMERS? YES, WE COULD, BUT THERE'S A LIMITED PORTFOLIO.
SO, UM, YOU KNOW, WE CAN ONLY HANDLE SO MANY CUSTOMERS WITH THE PORTFOLIO THAT WE CURRENTLY HAVE, AND THAT'S ABOUT 500 CUSTOMERS.
UH, I GUESS WHAT I'M, I GUESS WHAT I'M THINKING IS, IS WHY, WHY WASTE ANY TIME MONEY MARKETING THE PROGRAM TO PEOPLE WHEN THERE'S NO DOWNSIDE? YEAH.
WHY NOT DO A LOT, JUST DO A LOTTERY AND ENROLL THOSE FIRST 200 AND SAVE YOUR YOURSELF A LOT OF TIME AND, AND, AND MONEY.
WE REALLY DON'T DO MUCH MARKETING TO LOW INCOME FOR THAT VERY REASON.
UM, WHEN WE HAVE ANY SPACES THAT WE'RE TRYING TO FILL, BECAUSE LOW INCOME TENDS TO KIND OF FALL OUT OF ELIGIBILITY, UH, PERIODICALLY.
SO WE HAVE TO GO BACK AND FIND NEW CUSTOMERS TO FILL THOSE SPACES.
SO WHEN WE DO THAT, WE'LL DO LIKE A VERY SHORT, UM, EMAIL BLAST TO OUR CAP CUSTOMERS, AND THEN WE FILL THOSE SPACES AND THEN, UM, THEN IT'S DONE UNTIL WE NEED MORE.
BUT WE'RE, WE'RE GONNA HAVE CHALLENGES, UM, YOU KNOW, AS WE MOVE FORWARD AND EXPAND THAT, UM, PORTFOLIO AND, AND THE AMOUNT OF CUSTOMERS THAT WE CAN HAVE IN THE COMMUNITY SOLAR PROGRAM.
AND WE HAVE LOOKED AT POTENTIALLY PROVIDING THAT AS AN OPT-OUT TYPE OF THING FOR NEW CAP CUSTOMERS TO, TO FILL THOSE, UM, THOSE, UM, POSITIONS IN THE PROGRAM.
SO HERE'S JUST SOME QUICK PICTURES OF THE PROJECTS.
WE HAVE PALMER VENT CENTER ON THE UPPER LEFT, UH, AIRPORT ON THE LOWER LEFT.
AND THEN, UH, LA LOMA ON THE RIGHT NEXT SLIDE.
SO WITH THE STANDARD OFFER, UM, FIRST LIKE TO KIND OF IDENTIFY WHAT OUR DESIRED OUTCOMES ARE, UM, AND, AND THE FIRST ONE BEING THAT IT'S SELF-SUFFICIENT.
SO AS I SPOKE TO JUST A MINUTE AGO, UM, WE'RE TRYING TO ELIMINATE THAT, UM, COST SHIFTING TO NON PARTICIPANTS IN THE PROGRAM, MAKE THE PROGRAM TOTALLY SELF-SUFFICIENT SO THAT WE CAN SCALE IT, UM, WITHOUT ANY CONCERN FROM OTHER CUSTOMERS.
UM, AND, AND LIKEWISE, WE ARE TRYING TO DE AS WE DECREASE THE PORTFOLIO COSTS OF THE COMMUNITY SOLAR PROGRAM, UM, WE'RE HOPING TO INCREASE THE BENEFITS TO LOW INCOME CUSTOMERS AND, UM, REDUCE THE, UM, PREMIUMS THAT OUR MARKET RATE CUSTOMERS PAY, BECAUSE WE ARE GOING TO HAVE TO SCALE BOTH OF THOSE.
AND IN ORDER TO SCALE MARKET RATE, WE'RE LIKELY GOING TO HAVE TO REDUCE THAT PREMIUM, WHICH IS CURRENTLY A PENNY AND HALF.
AND, AND, AND SO ANOTHER THING, UM, THAT WE WOULD LIKE TO DO IS TO ALSO MAKE THIS SOME KIND OF A REPLICABLE AND SCALABLE PROGRAM
[01:45:01]
MODEL THAT OTHER UTILITIES COULD POTENTIALLY EMBRACE.UM, AND THEN WE'RE TRYING TO, UM, ALSO ADDRESS SOME ACCESSIBILITY THINGS.
UM, THERE IS A SPLIT INCENTIVE ISSUE WITH, UM, PART OF THE, THE BUILDING PORTFOLIO OF AUSTIN, AND I'LL GET INTO THAT IN A MINUTE.
UM, AND WE'RE TRYING TO TACKLE THAT.
WE WANT TO STREAMLINE THE PROCESSES, UM, FOR INTERCONNECTION, UM, AS WELL AS SCALE THE PROGRAM SIGNIFICANTLY, UM, AND THE BENEFITS THAT GO ALONG WITH THAT TO CAP CUSTOMERS.
SO WHAT IS THE STANDARD OFFER FORMAT? UM, SO THE IDEA IS THAT AUSTIN ENERGY WOULD, UH, POST A STANDARD OFFER PRICE FOR A PROJECT THAT MEETS CERTAIN CRITERIA.
AND SO MAYBE THAT'S US POSTING, UM, MULTIPLE PRICES FOR DIFFERENT TYPES OF PROJECTS, SIZES AND CRITERIA.
UM, BUT, BUT ESSENTIALLY THAT'S IT.
UM, SO THE, THE PRICE WOULD BE, THERE WOULD BE A PRICING STRATEGY WHERE IT'S, UM, THE PRICE IS EVALUATED AT CERTAIN MILESTONES.
SO SAY A, UM, MEGAWATT CAPACITY AND A TIME PERIOD IS ASSIGNED TO, UM, A CERTAIN TRANCHE OF, OF, UM, TIME AND, AND MEGAWATTS.
AND, AND THEN ONCE WE ACHIEVE ONE OR THE OTHER, WE WOULD THEN PULL BACK AND REEVALUATE THAT PRICE TO MAKE SURE IT'S NOT TOO HIGH OR TOO LOW.
OBVIOUSLY, IF IT'S TOO HIGH, UM, WE WOULD GET A FLOOD OF APPLICATIONS, WHICH COULD REPRESENT QUEUING ISSUES, UM, FOR US, AND ALSO REPRESENTS A, THAT WE'RE PAYING TOO HIGH OF A PRICE FOR IT.
UM, AND THEN ON THE FLIP SIDE, IF WE DON'T GET ANY APPLICATIONS OR WE DON'T HAVE ENOUGH APPLICATIONS IN THE TIME PERIOD, THEN WE WOULD, THAT WOULD INDICATE THAT WE WOULD NEED TO MAKE THAT PRICE HIGH HIGHER TO MEET OUR GOALS.
UM, ANOTHER THING IS STANDARDIZING THE CONTRACTS.
SO WE WANT TO MAKE, AND, YOU KNOW, IN A TYPICAL POWER PURCHASE AGREEMENT, WE NEGOTIATE, UM, THOSE POWER PURCHASE AGREEMENTS.
SO WE WANNA HAVE A STANDARDIZED CONTRACT THAT, UM, ELIMINATES THE NEED FOR AN R F P.
IT, IT ELIMINATES THE NEED FOR CONTRACTORS TO PRODUCE PROPOSALS THAT THEY MAY NOT, UM, BE, THAT MAY NOT BE ACTIONABLE.
UM, AND IT STREAMLINES PROCESSES ON BOTH SIDES, WHICH SAVES MONEY.
UM, SO THESE, THESE PROJECTS WOULD BE INTERCONNECTED ON THE UTILITY SIDE OF THE METER, AND THAT HELPS TO SOLVE A CERTAIN SPLIT INCENTIVE ISSUE THAT WE HAVE.
SO THERE ARE MANY BUILDINGS OUT THERE THAT ARE OWNED AND, AND MANAGED BY REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUSTS WHERE THE TENANTS OF THOSE BUILDINGS ARE PAYING THE ELECTRIC BILLS.
SO IT'S UNLIKELY FOR THE TENANTS TO, UM, INITIATE A SOLAR PROJECT ON A BUILDING THAT THEY DON'T OWN.
AND IT'S UNLIKELY FOR A BUILDING OWNER TO INITIATE A SOLAR PROJECT WHERE THEY DON'T RECEIVE THE, THE BENEFITS FROM THE PROJECT BECAUSE THEY WOULD GO TYPICALLY TO THE, UM, THE TENANT.
SO BY PUTTING THE INTERCONNECTION ON THE UTILITY SIDE OF THE METER, IT ALLOWS US TO PROVIDE THOSE BENEFITS OF THE ENERGY THAT WE'RE PAYING FOR DIRECTLY TO THE THIRD PARTY OWNER OF THAT SYSTEM.
SO THIS WOULD ENABLE, UM, A, A WHOLE NEW MARKET SECTOR THAT WE, THAT'S PREVIOUSLY UNPENETRATED, UM, AND LIKE STRIP MALLS AND BUSINESS COMPLEXES.
SO WE'RE HOPING, UM, THAT WE CAN MAKE A, A LOT OF TRACTION THERE AND, AND NOT POTENTIALLY CANNIBALIZE THE OTHER TYPES OF, UM, SOLAR THAT ARE ALREADY GOING IN AND INCENTIVIZED THROUGH OTHER, UM, INCENTIVES.
AND THEN FINALLY, UM, WE INTEND TO TRY TO LEVERAGE THE I R A, UM, AND PASS THOSE BENEFITS ON LOW INCOME CUSTOMERS.
SO, UM, YOU KNOW, IT'S, IT'S YET TO BE IDENTIFIED HOW EXACTLY WE'RE GOING TO DO THAT.
I SEE A COUPLE DIFFERENT OPTIONS.
ONE WOULD BE THAT THE UTILITY PRODUCES A LOWER PRICE FOR, AS A TARGET FOR THE CONTRACTORS TO MEET.
THEY LEVERAGE THE I R A BENEFITS, OR I SAY I SHOULD SAY SYSTEM OWNERS.
THEY LEVERAGE THE I R A BENEFITS TO BE ABLE TO MEET THAT PRICE.
WE THEN TAKE THE LOW PRICE POWER AND LEVERAGE IT TO PROVIDE, UM, LOWER, UM, BILLS FOR OUR CAP CUSTOMERS AND, UM, REDUCE THE PREMIUM FOR MARKET RATE CUSTOMERS.
UM, ANOTHER WAY TO DO IT WOULD BE TO OFFER A FULL PRICE, UM, AND ASSUME THAT THE CONTRACTOR WOULD THEN LEVERAGE THE I R A AND PASS THOSE BENEFITS POTENTIALLY ON TO SAY THE, UM, HOST OF THE SOLAR ARRAY.
SO WE STILL NEED TO KIND OF HASH THAT OUT MORE IN, UM, FUTURE STAKEHOLDER MEETINGS.
[01:50:03]
SO THIS IS JUST A QUICK MODEL OF HOW IT WORKS.UM, THE DEVELOPER BUILDS A QUALIFYING PROJECT, SO THAT MAY MEAN THEY INCORPORATE WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT.
UM, THEY, UM, HAVE A SYSTEM SIZE OF A CERTAIN AMOUNT, AND THEN OF COURSE THEY MEET THE STANDARD OFFER PRICE.
UM, AND THEN THE THIRD PARTY, UM, WHO OWNS THAT SYSTEM, RECEIVES A PAYMENT FROM AUSTIN ENERGY.
SO THAT COULD BE A CUSTOMER WHO OWNS A BUILDING, OR THAT COULD BE A THIRD PARTY WHO IS LEASING THE ROOF SPACE FROM A CUSTOMER.
UM, THEN, YOU KNOW, AUSTIN ENERGY PAYS THAT, THAT, UM, THIRD PARTY OWNER, UM, THAT STANDARD OFFER PRICE FOR A PERIOD OF YEARS.
WE HAVEN'T SETTLED ON THAT YET.
15, 20, 25 YEARS, WE DON'T KNOW.
UM, BUT THAT WILL KIND OF, WE'LL HASH THAT OUT IN STAKEHOLDER, UM, MEETINGS.
AND THEN, UM, THE PURCHASE ENERGY WILL GO TO SERVE THE COMMUNITY SOLAR PROGRAM AND PROVIDE THOSE BENEFITS THAT WERE AFOREMENTIONED.
SO, SO FAR, UM, WE'VE, WE'VE OUTLINED THIS VISION.
WE'VE HAD THREE STAKEHOLDER MEETINGS.
UM, PUBLIC CITIZEN ALSO HAD A STAKEHOLDER MEETING.
WE IDENTIFIED, UM, SOME INTERCONNECTION POLICY AND PROCESSES THAT WE'LL NEED IMPROVING SO THAT WE CAN STREAMLINE THOSE INTERCONNECTIONS, UM, AND MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE GUIDING OUR CONTRACTORS AND INSTALLERS TO THE RIGHT PARTS OF TOWN.
UM, WE HAVE INTERVIEWED OTHER UTILITIES THAT HAVE TAKEN SIMILAR APPROACHES AND ARE LEARNING FROM THEIR EXPERIENCES.
UM, WE HAVE RECEIVED ADDITIONAL, UM, INTERNAL SUPPORT FROM C Q S, WHICH IS ANOTHER PART OF AUSTIN ENERGY, UM, THAT'S PROVIDING US A PRO A PROJECT MANAGER FOR THIS.
AND, UM, WE ARE DEVELOPING THE PROJECT CHARTER AND WE'RE ALMOST DONE WITH THAT.
AND ALONG WITH THAT BE TIMELINES, BUT WE ARE NOT THERE YET, SO WE DON'T REALLY HAVE A, A REAL ACCURATE TIMELINE, UM, TO DATE, BUT WE'RE GETTING CLOSE ON THAT NEXT SLIDE.
SO, UM, WE'RE ALSO WORKING ON DEVELOPING A BANDED PRICE RANGE SO THAT WE CAN TAKE THAT TO THE CONTRACTOR COMMUNITY AS WE HAVE STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT TO, UM, TO KIND OF GET THE TEMPERATURE OF THE ROOM, UM, WITH THE CONTRACTORS BASED ON DIFFERENT PRICES.
UM, WE'RE DEVELOPING THAT PROCUREMENT STRATEGY, COORDINATING INTERCONNECTION AND POLICY IMPROVEMENTS AND, UM, IDENTIFYING, UM, MECHANISMS BY WHICH WE'LL TRACK THESE METERS BECAUSE WE CAN'T PUT THEM INTO THE BILLING SYSTEM, SO WE'LL HAVE TO HAVE ANOTHER SYSTEM TO TRACK ALL THESE METERS AND PAYMENTS AND PRODUCTION, ET CETERA.
TIM, WHEN YOU SAY I R A OPPORTUNITIES, DO YOU MEAN GRANT OPPORTUNITIES YOU, OR DO YOU MEAN LIKE THE TAX TREATMENT WITHIN THE, THE, SO, SO MORE OF THE I T C BENEFITS IN THAT? IS THAT WHAT YOU MEAN? RIGHT.
WITHIN THE I R A, THERE ARE CERTAIN BENEFITS FOR, UM, FOR THINGS LIKE, UM, CONTRIBUTING TO A COMMUNITY SOLAR PROGRAM, AND SOME OF IT'S YET TO BE REALLY DEFINED, UM, AND CLARIFIED.
BUT, UM, THERE, THERE ARE BENEFITS FOR THAT.
THERE ARE CERTAIN BENEFITS THAT WOULD, UM, YOU KNOW, GIVE YOU EXTRA FOR LOCALLY MANUFACTURED EQUIPMENT, FOR EXAMPLE, OR I SHOULD SAY DOMESTICALLY MANUFACTURED EQUIPMENT.
UM, AND SO, SO YOU MEAN THE BENEFITS GOING TO THE SOLAR, THE THIRD PARTY THAT AS OPPOSED TO GONNA ALL ENERGY, RIGHT? SO, SO THE, YEAH, THE THIRD PARTY IS GONNA HAVE TO LEVERAGE THOSE BENEFITS, BUT THE PRICE THAT WE NEGOTIATE OR THAT WE, THAT THEY SETTLE ON, YOU KNOW, WILL EITHER REFLECT THOSE BENEFITS OR IT WON'T.
AND SO THAT'S WHERE WE NEED TO WORK WITH STAKEHOLDERS ON TO TRY TO FIGURE OUT WHERE WE'RE GONNA LAND ON THAT ISSUE.
UM, AND THEN JUST TO KIND OF GIVE YOU AN IDEA OF THE SCOPE OF, UM, WHAT WE'RE DOING INTERNALLY AND, AND, UM, SO YOU CAN UNDERSTAND THAT THIS TAKES TIME, UM, IS THAT WE'RE, WE'RE DOING NEEDS ASSESSMENT, UM, WE'RE GONNA BE ESTABLISHING THE PROGRAM GOALS AND OBJECTIVES, AND THAT'S, UM, TOP OF MY LIST BECAUSE THE CONTRACTORS REALLY WANNA KNOW LIKE WHAT SIZE ARE WE TALKING ABOUT AS, AS WE TALK ABOUT THESE, THESE PROGRAMS. UM, SO, UM, PROGRAM SET UP, WE'VE GOT PROGRAM ADMINISTRATION, MONITORING, MANAGEMENT, COMMUNICATION PLANS, YOU KNOW, BOTH, UM, LIKE MARKETING, BUT ALSO LIKE DIRECT COMMUNICATIONS TO CUSTOMERS AND HOSTS AND, AND THIRD PARTIES.
UM, THE GUIDELINES, YOU KNOW, WHAT THE PROJECT ENTAILS, WHAT ARE GONNA, WHAT ARE THE REQUIREMENTS THAT THE COMMUNITY WANTS TO SEE, UM,
[01:55:01]
WHAT ARE THE REQUIREMENTS THAT MAY ALIGN WITH THE I R A, UM, THAT WE WANT TO DRIVE.UM, SO WE'RE GONNA BE LOOKING AT INTERCONNECTION POLICY AND PROCEDURES.
UM, AN EXAMPLE OF THAT WOULD BE LIKE, UM, SO SAY YOU HAVE A FEW PROJECTS ON A SINGLE FEEDER THAT HAS A LIMITED HOSTING CAPACITY AND IT REQUIRES UPGRADES TO THE FEEDER TO BE ABLE TO EXPAND THAT HOSTING CAPACITY.
WHO GETS THAT BURDEN? HOW DO WE, YOU KNOW, IS THERE A STRATEGY TO COST SHARE THAT OF, UM, AMONGST THE PEOPLE IN THE QUEUE? IS THERE OTHER COST SHARING STRATEGIES THAT WE WANNA ENTERTAIN? LIKE, LIKE JUST, UM, SOCIALIZING THE COST OR A PORTION OF THOSE.
UM, SO THEN, THEN ALSO WE NEED TO DEVELOP THE CONTRACT ITSELF.
UM, INTAKE PROCESSES, UH, UM, METER TRACKING, MARKETING AND COMMUNICATION.
DEVELOP THE PAYMENT PROCESS, UM, WHERE WE'RE PAYING THE THIRD PARTIES AND, YOU KNOW, ALL OF THE INTERNAL ACCOUNTING GOES ALONG WITH THAT.
UM, WE NEED TO CONFIGURATE A, UM, APPLICATION PROCESSING TOOL.
WE HAVE ONE, BUT IT NEEDS TO BE CONFIGURED.
UM, AND THEN WE'LL BE ABLE TO DO THE PROGRAM LAUNCH.
SO THERE'S STILL A LOT OF WORK TO DO TO GET THERE AND TO MAKE SURE THAT THIS SHIP IS FULLY BUILT BEFORE WE SET SAIL.
UM, BUT YOU KNOW, WE'RE, WE'RE, UM, DILIGENTLY WORKING TOWARDS THAT END.
AND WITH THAT, UM, THAT CONCLUDES MY PRESENTATION AND I'LL ACCEPT QUESTIONS.
WHAT QUESTIONS DO WE HAVE? ALL O ONLY THE TIMELINE QUESTION.
SO IT'S, IT'S NOT LIKELY THIS IS GONNA BE LAUNCHED IN OCTOBER OF THIS YEAR, RIGHT? THIS IS MORE OF A NEXT YEAR TYPE DEAL, RIGHT? IT IS, YES.
AND, AND NEXT TIME WE TALK I'LL GIVE ANOTHER UPDATE ON THIS.
UM, AND I'LL HAVE A BETTER TIMELINE AT THAT POINT.
OH, AND JUST A REMINDER, THIS, THIS WOULD ALL ULTIMATELY BE THROUGH THE P S A, RIGHT? WE'RE NOT, SO WAIT, WELL, YES, ESSENTIALLY YES.
UM, BUT THEN THE PROCEEDS FROM THE PROGRAM THEN GO TO OFFSET ANY ADDITIONAL COST TO THE P S A, IF IT'S, IF IT'S SELF-SUSTAINING, BUT WHERE IT'S NOT LIKE CURRENTLY, UM, ANY ADDITIONAL COSTS OF THE PROGRAM ARE BEING COVERED BY NON PARTICIPANTS AND, AND THEY'RE JUST, YOU KNOW, IT'S, IT'S SOCIALIZED THROUGH THE P S A QUESTIONS ONLINE.
THEN WE GO BACK TO NUMBER EIGHT, WHICH IS A DISCUSSION OF POSSIBLE ACTION FOR THE CREATION FOR THE STANDARD OFFER.
SO WE'RE BASICALLY COVERING THAT RIGHT NOW.
UM, YOU MIGHT AS WELL STAY THERE.
TIM
UM, AND I'M NOT SURE IF ANY OTHER COMMISSIONERS HAVE BEEN SITTING IN SOME OF, ON SOME OF THE, UM, MEETINGS ON THIS.
I DON'T PERSONALLY HAVE ANYTHING MORE TO TALK ABOUT HERE, DO YOU, CYRUS? NO, JUST LET'S, LET'S KEEP DOING THE UPDATES AND, UM, I THINK ONCE THE DETAILS OF WHAT THOSE TRANCHES LOOK LIKE, HOW BIG THEY SHOULD BE, WHAT THE PRICES SHOULD BE, THAT'S WHERE WE MAY HAVE MORE INPUT.
BUT I DON'T, I ATTEND, I ATTENDED THE, THE MEETING.
SO WE'RE THROUGH WITH 13? WE'RE THROUGH WITH EIGHT? NO, ACTUALLY, UM, ARE YOU GOING TO HAVE A MOTION FOR A WORKING GROUP OR ARE YOU NOT GOING TO DO A WORKING GROUP? THAT'S WHAT EIGHT IS POSTED FOR.
DO WE, DO WE NEED A WORKING GROUP ON THAT? CONSIDERING THAT'S ALREADY UNDERWAY.
UM, WE COULD DELAY THIS ITEM AND PUT IT ON THE NEXT.
'CAUSE I THINK, UM, COMMISSIONER WHITE IS THE ONE WHO'S BEEN MOST INTERESTED IN THIS.
[14. Update from the Budget & Audit Working Group]
OKAY, SO THEN DON'T WE GO ON TO 14, ANY UPDATE FROM BUDGET AND AUDIT AND BASICALLY DIDN'T WE COVER THAT FROM PREVIOUS CONVERSATION? WE PRETTY MUCH COVERED IT.UH, BUT ALL OF WHICH IS JUST AS A REMINDER, WE WILL BE REVIEWING THE, THE P S A PASS THROUGH CHARGES AND UH, AND IF WE CAN GET THAT INFORMATION RIGHT AFTER LABOR DAY OF IT WOULD BE HELPFUL.
[02:00:01]
YOU.ANY OF THE DISCUSSION ON BUDGET AUDIT? OKAY, WE'RE DONE WITH THAT
[15. Update from the Resource Planning Working Group]
THEN 15 IS THE RESOURCE PLAN.IF YOU REMEMBER LAST, UM, LAST MEETING WE PASSED A RESOLUTION TO FORM A WORKING GROUP.
THAT WORKING GROUP HAS NOT, OTHER THAN THE FIVE MEMBERS, WHICH IS UH, UM, COMMISSIONER WHITE, CHAPMAN, TUTTLE REED, AND SEABERT.
UM, WE, THE PLAN WAS TO, UM, GET SOME MEMBERS OF THE R M C.
THEY DID NOT REACH A RESOLUTION.
I'M PLANNING TO GO JUST TO LET THEM KNOW IF THEY HAVE MORE THAN THREE MEMBERS THAT WANT TO PARTICIPATE.
AS LONG AS THEY DON'T MAKE A QUORUM, THAT'S FINE.
UH, WE HAVE IDENTIFIED SOME COMMUNITY MEMBERS THAT WANT TO PARTICIPATE, UH, AND WE'VE ALSO REACHED OUT TO CCARE TO SEE IF THEY HAVE SOME INDUSTRIAL OR COMMERCIAL REPRESENTATIVES WHO WANT TO PARTICIPATE.
BUT WE'RE SORT OF STILL WAITING.
AND SO I THINK THE PLAN WOULD BE GET THE R M C MEMBERS THAT WANT TO PARTICIPATE, UH, REACH OUT TO THOSE COMMUNITY MEMBERS AND HAVE AN INITIAL MEETING PROBABLY IN SEPTEMBER.
THE QUESTION FOR AUSTIN ENERGY STAFF IS, UH, I GUESS WORKING WITH ROBIN, CAN WE RESERVE A ROOM HERE AND THEN BE ABLE TO USE THE, YOU KNOW, FOR THOSE WHO CAN'T PHYSICALLY MAKE IT, USE THE, UM, WHAT I'M TRYING TO SAY, THE INTERNET.
IN OTHER WORDS, CAN WE DO, CAN WE DO LIKE A ZOOM MEETING, HELP SET UP A VIRTUAL MEETING SET, HELP SET UP A VIRTUAL MEETING? I THINK WE PROBABLY CAN HELP WITH THOSE LOGISTICS.
UM, WE JUST CAN'T RECORD IT AND THEN BROADCAST IT, SO IT WOULD JUST BE A MEETING.
CAN WE, SO COULD WE RECORD IT OURSELVES FOR JUST POSTERITY AND HAVING A, I THINK IN A MEETING ROOM YOU WOULD HAVE ACCESS TO THE INTERNET.
SO IF YOU HAD YOUR COMPUTER AND WANTED TO RECORD IT IF WANTED TO DO IT MEETING, YEAH.
WE JUST COULDN'T THEN POST IT ON OUR WEBSITE OR WHATEVER.
BUT YES, YOU COULD HAVE IT FOR YOUR, YOUR OWN PURPOSES.
UM, SO DO YOU WANT TO USE YOUR ZOOM ACCOUNT TO RECORD IT, FOR EXAMPLE? YEAH, WE COULD DO THAT OR YEAH, JUST TO HAVE A RECORD SO WE CAN HAVE MINUTES AND KNOW WHAT WAS SAID.
UM, AND THEN, UH, WOULD AUSTIN ENERGY BE ABLE TO PROVIDE SOMEONE JUST FOR TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE AND SOMETHING WENT WRONG OR YOU WOULD HAVE A PERSON THERE OR I, BECAUSE IT WAS CLEAR, WE DID HAVE A MEETING WITH AUSTIN ENERGY AND IT WAS CLEAR THEY DON'T PLAN TO STAFF THIS WORKING GROUP, UM, BECAUSE THEY WANT US TO OPERATE THROUGH THE E U C.
SO THE IDEA WOULD BE THE WORKING GROUP COULD PROVIDE RECOMMENDATIONS TO THE E U C, YOU KNOW, IN, IN JANUARY OR SOMETIME IN THE FUTURE, UH, BASED ON THE WORKING GROUP MEETINGS.
UM, SO YEAH, I MEAN IT WOULD ESSENTIALLY FUNCTION THE WAY YOUR BUDGET, BUDGET AUDIT WORKING GROUP DOES NOW.
SO YOU HAVE A ROOM, YOU KNOW, IT'S RESERVED AND WE CAN RECORD IT.
AND THEN, UH, I'M USUALLY HERE, SO IF
HELP YOU WITH YOUR INTERNET PROBLEMS OR WHATEVER.
UM, AND THEN I KNOW IN THE PRESENTATION I'M ASKING YOU QUESTIONS.
I DON'T KNOW IF YOU'RE READY TO ASK.
IN THE PRESENTATION THAT AUSTIN ENERGY GAVE LAST MONTH ABOUT THE, UH, RESOURCE PLANNING PROCESS, IT WAS MENTIONED THAT YOU WANT TO SCHEDULE A SPECIAL MEETING OF THE E U C IN SEPTEMBER.
UM, WE DON'T KNOW YET WHEN THAT DATE IS.
I'M JUST THINKING ABOUT TIMING.
WE DON'T HAVE A DATE FOR THAT.
I THINK IT'S UP TO YOU TO FIGURE OUT A DATE THAT WORKS.
UM, BUT WE'RE HAPPY TO WORK WITH YOU ON WHATEVER THAT OKAY.
SO YEAH, I MEAN, I THINK, UM, LISA MAYBE HAD SUGGESTED, OR SOMEBODY HAD SUGGESTED MAYBE JUST DOING IT EVERY, LIKE ON THE SECOND WEEK THAT'S, YOU KNOW, EVERY TWO WEEKS BASICALLY.
LIKE YOU'D HAVE THE EUC MEETING, THEN TWO WEEKS LATER A SPECIAL CALL MEETING, THEN THE REGULAR EUC MEETING OKAY.
KIND OF AT THAT IS KIND OF WHAT WE WERE ASSUMING IT WOULD BE.
SO, BUT WE'LL, WE'LL WORK WITH THE CHAIR TO, UM, FIND THOSE DATES.
SO I CAN'T TELL YOU IF THE FIRST, IF THE FIRST MEETING OF THIS E U C WORKING GROUP WILL BE BEFORE OUR NEXT MEETING OR AFTER, BUT WE WILL FIGURE THAT OUT AND REPORT BACK, UH, NEXT MONTH.
ANY OTHER DISCUSSION ON THIS? NOPE.
SO I THINK THAT FINISHES UP ITEM 15 AND THEN 16.
[16. Discussion of report regarding City Council action on items previously reviewed by the EUC.]
I DON'T THINK WE HAVE ANY DISCUSSION ON THAT, DO[02:05:01]
WE? NO.UH, ONE, ONE ITEM, UH, JUST UH, THANK YOU FOR PUTTING TOGETHER THE REPORT, THE WORK PLAN, THE WORK PLAN.
UH, AND I KNOW IT'S ALREADY BEEN SUBMITTED.
ONE OF THE, I, ONE OF THE ITEMS, UH, GOING THROUGH A LOT OF, IT'S THE SAME AS PRIOR.
AND ONE OF THE ITEMS IS WE, WE HAVE TWO NEW, UH, APPOINTMENTS COMING IN.
AND ONE OF THE ITEMS INCLUDED VISITS TO FA AE FACILITIES.
SO LET'S GET, LET'S GET THAT PLANNED FOR, FOR COMMISSIONERS, ESPECIALLY WITH THE NEW APPOINTEES.
AND THE OTHER THING IS IF WE HAVE MORE THAN, IF WE HAVE SIX OR MORE COMMISSIONERS WHO WANT TO GO VISIT A PLANT, OKAY.
IT, DOES THAT HAVE ANY ISSUES WITH QUORUM? IF WE'RE JUST GETTING A TOUR AND A DEMONSTRATION OR SOMETHING? IT CAN, AND WE'D HAVE TO POST IT IF YOU WERE ALL THERE TO DISCUSS, UM, E U C RELATED BUSINESS.
UM, BUT WE COULD POST IT IN A WAY THAT NO BUSINESS WOULD BE TAKING TAKE, I THINK.
UM, SO IF THAT WAS GONNA HAPPEN, WE'D, WE'D FIGURE OUT A WAY FOR IT TO HAPPEN.
JUST KEEP US ON THE STRAIGHT PATH THERE.
BUT I THINK THAT WOULD BE A GOOD THING.
SO FOR EXAMPLE, WE, WE REALLY HAVEN'T MET SOME OF THE COMMISSIONERS THAT IT TYPICALLY ONLY CAN COME IN ONLINE.
IT WOULD BE GOOD TO SEE THEM IN PERSON AND TAKE A TOUR WITH THEM AND SUCH NOT, SO, YEAH.
I'M SURE WE CAN WORK SOMETHING OUT IF THERE ARE SPECIFIC PLACES THAT YOU'RE, UH, INTERESTED IN.
I'M SURE WE CAN, WE'LL, WE'LL WORK WITH YOU ON THAT.
ANYTHING ELSE ANYONE TALK ABOUT? ARE WE ON FUTURE?
[FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS]
NO.FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS? I, I CAN'T RE I KNOW WE'VE REQUESTED A, UM, UPDATE ON THE SOLAR STORAGE.
IS THAT, DO WE KNOW WHEN THAT'S GONNA BE? 'CAUSE I FEEL LIKE THAT'S GONNA BE IMPORTANT FOR THE RESOURCE PLAN AS WELL.
UH, WE HAVE A BRIEFING ON AN UPDATE TO THAT RESOLUTION THAT WAS PASSED BY COUNCIL MEMBER POOL AND THE COUNCIL THAT WILL BE IN SEPTEMBER.
I WAS REFERRING TO, UM, I'D REQUESTED A WHILE AGO THERE WAS A, A REQUIREMENT IN THE PREVIOUS RESOURCE PLAN TO LOOK AT A HUNDRED MEGAWATT STORAGE GOAL.
AND I THOUGHT THAT AUS ENERGY HAD DONE AN R F P OR AN R F I AND I'D REQUESTED THAT YOU PRESENT THE RESULTS OF THAT.
AM I MAKING THIS UP IN MY MIND OR IS DID, DID I? NO, NO, YOU ARE.
UM, I BELIEVE, UM, THAT WAS WITH, I WAS WORKING ON ERICA AND SCHEDULING THAT, SO LET ME GET WITH MICHAEL ON THAT.
UM, I THINK WE'RE, UM, POSSIBLY GOING TO INCLUDE THAT IN ONE OF THE QUARTERLY OPERATIONS REPORTS.
I THINK THAT WOULD BE IMPORTANT INFORMATION.
ANY OTHER ITEMS FOR THE FUTURE? ADJOURN.
ADD, UH, SOMETHING I WAS INTERESTED IN PURSUING, AND IT COULD BE VIA A ONE-ON-ONE MEETING OR VIA A PRESENTATION, BUT, UH, I REMEMBER, UH, WHEN I WAS ON THE COMMISSION, YOU KNOW, I WON'T SAY HOW MANY YEARS AGO, BUT THERE WAS THIS TRANSITION FROM, UH, UM, FROM, UH, UH, STREET LIGHTS TO L E D.
UM, AND THAT WAS GONNA HAPPEN OVER A PRETTY SIGNIFICANT AMOUNT OF TIME.
BUT, UH, I WAS KIND OF INTERESTED IN JUST KIND OF LEARNING MORE ABOUT THAT IF IT'S, IF THAT'S WITHIN THE PURVIEW OF UM, AUSTIN ENERGY AND, UM, AND JUST TO SEE KIND OF HOW THAT'S PANNED OUT.
IN TERMS OF KIND OF MAYBE COST SAVINGS, DURABILITY AND IF THERE'S ANY, UH, ISSUES OR CHALLENGES RIGHT.
WITH HAVING CHANGED TO LEDS FROM, UH, THE LIGHTING, UH, FIXTURES WE PREVIOUSLY USED.
SO AGAIN, HAPPY TO MEET ONE-ON-ONE WITH SOMEONE OR, OR HAVE THAT BE A PRESENTATION, WHATEVER, WHATEVER'S EASIEST.
SOUNDS LIKE AN INTERESTING TOPIC IF YOU WANNA PUT THAT ON.
DOES AE TAKE CARE OF THAT FOR THE CITY? YEAH.
AND NO
ALRIGHT, WELL THAT, THIS ADJOURN.