[00:00:01]
OKAY, WE HAVE QUORUM.[CALL MEETING TO ORDER]
THIS IS THE ELECTRIC UTILITY COMMISSION.LET'S CALL A MEETING TO ORDER PUBLIC COMMUNICATIONS.
[PUBLIC COMMUNICATION: GENERAL]
UH, WE HAVE TWO SPEAKERS TONIGHT.THE FIRST SPEAKER IS PAUL ROBBINS AND HE HAS A PRESENTATION, SO WE WILL BRING THAT UP.
I'M AN ENVIRONMENTAL ACTIVIST AND CONSUMER ADVOCATE.
I CAME TO A PREVIOUS MEETING AND ASKED THAT YOU CHANGE THE FRANCHISE FEE ARRANGEMENT FOR CITIES OUTSIDE THE AUSTIN CITY LIMITS.
IT SEEMS A NEGATIVE LEGAL OPINION HAS BEEN RENDERED AGAINST THE IDEA.
UNFORTUNATELY, WHOEVER RENDERED IT DID NOT APPEAR TO HAVE READ MY PROPOSAL.
SO I'M HERE TO PARSE IT OUT FOR YOU.
UH, THE OPINION SAID YOU THAT WOULD BE PAUL ROBBINS INDICATE THAT YOUR PROPOSAL IS THAT AUSTIN ENERGY STOPPED PAYING FRANCHISE FEES TO OUTSIDE CITIES WHEN IT IS LEGALLY POSSIBLE TO DO SO.
I DID NOT SAY THAT, UH, THEY SHOULD BE UNILATERALLY CANCELED.
I SAID THEY SHOULD BE PAID BY THE CUSTOMERS IN THAT CITY.
THERE IS EXPLICIT LANGUAGE IN CONTRACTS FOR BK LAKEWAY, WHERE LINGWOOD AND SUNSET VALLEY, THAT ALLOWS FOR THE OPTION OF CHANGING FRANCHISE FEES WITH A RIDER ON THE CUSTOMER'S BILLS SLIDE OPINION.
WE HAVE 10 YEAR COUNCIL APPROVED CONTRACTS IN PLACE THAT ARE NOT UNILATERALLY, UNILATERALLY CANCELABLE BY AUSTIN.
HERE'S THE LANGUAGE IN THE CONTRACTS FOR BEAVE LAKEWAY ROLLING WOOD AND SUNSET VALLEY TIME LIMITS ME ON READING IT ALL, BUT IT BASICALLY SAYS THAT THE CITY CAN OPT FOR ANOTHER WAY TO PAY THE FRANCHISE FEE.
COLLECTING IT FROM THE CUSTOMERS SLIDE, UH, OPINION SAID FURTHER, IT IS DIFFICULT TO TAKE THE POSITION THAT OTHER CITIES DO NOT HAVE THE JUSTIFICATION TO RECEIVE COMPENSATION WHEN AUSTIN ITSELF CHARGES EVERY UTILITY AND ITS CITY LIMITS.
I STATED THAT, UH, SUCH COLLECTIONS ARE FROM ATMOS, BLUEBONNET ELECTRIC, PETALS ELECTRIC, AND TEXAS GAS SERVICE.
AND THESE ARE ALL PAID BY THE CUSTOMERS SLIDE.
UH, FINALLY, THE OPINION SAYS, AT BEST, YOUR PROPOSAL, UH, YOUR PROPOSED COURSE OF ACTION IS LIKELY TO LEAD, TO LEAD TO LITIGATION OR ADVERSE LEGISLATIVE ACTION.
IN THE CASE OF BE CAVE LAKEWAY ROLLING WOOD IN SUNSET VALLEY, I AM NOT ASKING FOR ANYTHING THAT IS NOT ALREADY IN THE CONTRACT.
UH, AND FINALLY, UH, ONE LAST SLIDE.
UH, AUSTIN ENERGY HAS ABOUT 550,000 CUSTOMERS.
73,000 ARE OUTSIDE THE CITY LIMITS, BUT ONLY ABOUT 23% OF THESE 73,000 RECEIVE FRANCHISE FEES.
AND THAT'S THE MOST OUT OF CITY CUSTOMER.
MAY I FINISH CHAIR? UH, UH, MOST OUT OF CITY CUSTOMERS PAY LESS UNDER THIS ARRANGEMENT.
SO IT WOULD BE A BIZARRE SITUATION, UH, IN A LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEE TO HAVE FOUR PEOPLE THAT LIVE OUTSIDE THE CITY FIGHTING ONE PERSON THAT LIVES OUTSIDE THE CITY.
ALMOST EVERYBODY INSIDE AND OUTSIDE THE CITY DO BETTER WITH THIS PROPOSAL.
I'M ASKING YOU TO TAKE THIS UP AT A MEETING IN THE NEAR FUTURE.
UH, NEXT SPEAKER IS AL BRADEN.
[00:05:10]
THANK YOU.UH, I'M AL BRADEN, UH, AUSTIN ENERGY CUSTOMER IN DISTRICT SEVEN.
I'M VERY HAPPY THAT THE NEW GENERATION PLAN, WORKING GROUP STARTS TOMORROW.
THERE'S A LAND RUSH IN BATTERIES AND SOLAR THAT I DON'T SEE OUR NAME ON.
THERE'S FAYETTE, THERE'S INFLATION REDUCTION ACT, LOW INCOME, WEATHERIZATION, COMMUNITY, SOLAR, A ZILLION THINGS.
BUT TONIGHT THOUGH, I WANT TO ASK AUSTIN ENERGY'S HELP AND ENGAGEMENT WITH THIS WORKING GROUP.
I WAS A MEMBER OF THE 2020 WORKING GROUP AND OF THIS NEW ONE, I WAS ALSO AN ACTIVE CITIZEN OBSERVER OF THE PAST GROUPS IN 2014 AND 2017 WHERE IMPORTANT POLICY BREAKTHROUGHS WERE ACHIEVED.
AND THOUGH I AND MANY IN YOUR AUDIENCE AT THE OPEN HOUSE LAST WEEK WERE HARSH IN OUR COMMENTS, I BELIEVE SMITTY REALLY SAID IT BEST IN HIS MOST ELOQUENT WAY DESCRIBING THAT WE DO OUR BEST WORK WHEN WE DO IT TOGETHER.
SO I WANNA BE VERY, VERY CLEAR.
I AM NOT AGAINST AUSTIN ENERGY.
I AM FOR AUSTIN ENERGY PROVIDING RELIABLE, AFFORDABLE, RENEWABLE ENERGY.
I'M FOR AUSTIN ENERGY, WHERE THE STAFF, CITIZENS, COMMISSIONS AND COUNCIL WORK TOGETHER AND CHALLENGE EACH OTHER TO RAISE THE BAR.
THE MEETINGS IN THE WORKING GROUP TAKE A LARGE AMOUNT OF STAFF TIME, AND I REALLY APPRECIATE THAT.
I APPRECIATE THE EFFORTS OF PEOPLE LIKE BABU TO DO COMPLEX MODELING WITH UPTODATE NUMBERS KIND OF ON THE EDGE OF WHAT'S POSSIBLE FOR STAFF TO PRESENT COMPLEX TOPICS FOR CONSIDERATION FOR ERIC AND HER TEAM TO BUILD THE BEST RENEWABLE VALUES AVAILABLE.
I WANT THAT PROCESS TO CONTINUE MANAGING SO MANY COMMUNITY FOCUSED GOALS IS MUCH MORE COMPLEX THAN SIMPLY BEING A TRADITIONAL UTILITY AND HAVING A BIG GAS PLANT THAT YOU CAN TURN UP AND DOWN FROM YOUR DESK.
AUSTIN ASKS YOU TO MANAGE A COMMUNITY FOCUSED UTILITY.
DEPEND DEMANDING AS THAT IS, AND WE LIKE YOU AND YOUR STAFF CAN BE PROUD OF THE MANY RENEWABLE RESULTS AND COMMUNITY BENEFITS WE'VE ACHIEVED.
AS ALWAYS, WE'LL ASK YOU TO DO MORE AND DO IT MORE QUICKLY.
LIKE OUR LEAP INTO SOLAR, OUR LEAP INTO BATTERIES WILL SHOW BREAKTHROUGHS.
THE RECOMMENDATIONS OF THIS WORKING GROUP WILL NOT BE EASY TO ACHIEVE.
THEY WILL CHALLENGE YOUR BEST EFFORTS.
AND I ASK YOU TO APPRECIATE OUR IMPATIENCE AND RECOGNIZE THAT WE WANT YOU TO DO WHAT YOU DO.
WELL JUST DO IT BETTER AND QUICKER.
THE CLIMATE CRISIS IS ALREADY TAKING A TERRIFIC TOLL THAT WILL ONLY INCREASE IF WE DON'T FIND A WAY OUT OF OUR FOSSIL FUEL EMISSIONS.
AUSTIN ENERGY CAN CONTINUE TO LEAD THAT WAY OUT.
THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR YOUR TIME.
[APPROVAL OF MINUTES]
IS APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES.DO I HAVE A MOTION AND A SECOND? SO MOVED.
OKAY, LET'S GO THROUGH ITEMS TWO THROUGH EIGHT.
UM, ANYONE WANT TO PULL ANY OF THESE? I JUST HAVE A QUICK TWO QUICK QUESTIONS ON TWO.
ANY OTHERS ONLINE? JEREMY? WE'RE ALL
SO THE ONLY, ONLY DISCUSSION IS ON NUMBER TWO.
[Items 3,4, 6 - 8]
WHAT ABOUT, LET'S VOTE ON 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, AND EIGHT.I WOULD MOVE APPROVAL OF, UM, ON ITEMS THREE THROUGH EIGHT.
ALL IN FAVOR SAY AYE ACTUALLY, OH, GO AHEAD, KABA.
I WAS JUST WONDERING IF IF, UH, WE COULD UH, PULL NUMBER FIVE FOR A QUESTION.
I JUST WANTED A LITTLE MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THAT.
OKAY, SO LET'S GO AGAIN FOR 3, 4, 6, 7 AND EIGHT.
WE'VE GOT THOSE OUT OF THE WAY.
[2. Recommend authorizing issuance of rebates for multifamily and commercial customer energy efficiency measures by Austin Energy during Fiscal Year 2023-2024 in the aggregate amounts of $2,900,000 for multifamily programs and $3,600,000 for commercial programs, for a total combined amount not to exceed $6,500,000.]
CYRUS, YOUR QUESTION.YEAH, VERY TWO VERY QUICK QUESTIONS.
UM, NUMBER ONE, I KNOW WE MOVED TO THIS, UH, SYSTEM A FEW YEARS BACK TO, TO MAKE IT EASIER, YOU KNOW, TO GET THE, GET THE MONEY OUT
[00:10:01]
OF THE DOOR, BASICALLY.UM, AND IT'S MENTIONED THAT THERE'S MONTHLY REPORTING ON THIS WHERE, SO THE QUESTION NUMBER IS WHERE DO WE FIND THAT MONTHLY REPORTING? JUST SO WE CAN FIND IT? 'CAUSE I DON'T, MAYBE THAT GOES TO R M C.
THE REPORTING GOES TO THE RMC.
RICHARD GENESEE, VICE PRESIDENT OF CUSTOMER ENERGY SOLUTIONS.
SO THAT REPORTING CURRENTLY IS MONTHLY REPORTING ON ALL THE P ALL THE JOBS, UH, ALL THE PROJECTS.
SO COULD, DOES THAT MEAN WE CAN JUST GO TO THE R M C WEBSITE IF WE WANNA SEE IT? WE SHOULD BE ABLE TO, YES.
AND THAT INFORMATION WILL BE THERE.
AND THEN, UM, SECOND QUESTION WAS, IS THIS AMOUNT BASICALLY THE AMOUNT THAT WAS APPROVED IN THE BUDGET BY CITY COUNCIL? YES, EXACTLY.
UM, BUT NO ONE DIED BECAUSE OF MY LIE.
UM, UH, WHEN WILL AUSTIN ENERGY BE COMING UP WITH THE COMMUNITY BENEFIT CHARGE THAT WILL GENERATE THE MONEY THAT WILL PAY FOR THIS BUDGET AND WILL? SO, TWO PART QUESTION.
AND DOES THAT, WILL WE BE PRESENTED AT THE EUC WITH INFORMATION ABOUT THE, WHAT THAT COMMUNITY BENEFIT CHARGE WOULD BE TO PAY FOR THIS BUDGET? DO WE, I DON'T KNOW THAT WE HAVE AN EXACT DATE ON THAT.
UM, I, I, YEAH, THE C B C UPDATE, JOHN OMAN, UH, FINANCE DIRECTOR FOR RATES AND FORECASTING, UH, THE C B C UH, UH, PASS THROUGHS RATES WILL BE, UH, UPDATED.
I BELIEVE THEY'RE SCHEDULED TO BE APPROVED DURING THE OCTOBER 5TH COUNCIL MEETING, AND THEY WILL BE EFFECTIVE ON NOVEMBER 1ST.
AND THAT'S THE ENERGY EFFICIENCY SERVICES, THE STREET LIGHTING AND THE CAP.
SO, SO THE E U C DOESN'T TRADITIONALLY REVIEW THAT? I DON'T THINK SO, NO.
CAN CAN YOU PROVIDE US THE INFORMATION ABOUT THAT JUST SO WE HAVE IT? IS THAT SOMETHING THAT CAN BE SHARED WITH E U C MEMBERS? YEAH, WE DON'T HAVE IT YET.
UH, JUST FOLLOWING UP, WHEN WILL YOU HAVE, WHEN WILL THAT BE AVAILABLE? UH, LIKE I SAID, THE RATE IS, OR THE RAISE ARE SCHEDULED TO BE APPROVED BY COUNCIL ON THE FIFTH.
I BELIEVE WE SHOULD HAVE THE MATERIALS, UH, THE BACK OF MATERIALS, YEAH.
SO THOSE PROPOSED, UM, TARIFFS WILL GO INTO THE COUNCIL, UM, BACKUP, UM, RIGHT.
KIND OF AT THE LAST MINUTE AS WE, BECAUSE THOSE NUMBERS HAVE TO CLOSE.
THE REASON WE DO IT OUTSIDE OF THE CYCLE, UH, FROM THE BUDGET IS WE NEED THE DATA FROM THE SUMMER BECAUSE OF THE CU CUSTOMER CONSUMPTION THAT HAPPENS, YOU KNOW, IS, IS TYPICALLY SO HEAVY JUNE, JULY, AND AUGUST.
SO WE WAIT FOR AUGUST NUMBERS TO CLOSE, AND THEN WE USE THAT TO INFORM KIND OF HOW ANY OVER UNDER COLLECTION IS DOING ON ANY OF THE PASS THROUGHS.
AND SO, UM, WHAT WE'LL DO IS BEFORE THAT, UH, AGENDA POSTS, UM, I I, I BELIEVE ABOUT TWO WEEKS OUT, OR IT MIGHT BE IN LATE BACKUP, SO IT, IT WOULD BE, UM, A WEEK TO TWO WEEKS BEFORE THAT OCTOBER 5TH PUBLIC HEARING IS, IS MY ESTIMATION.
BUT AS SOON AS, AS SOON AS THAT POST AND COUNCIL HAS ACCESS TO IT, UH, THE E U C COULD HAVE ACCESS TO IT AS WELL.
IF THERE IS, IF THERE ARE UN IF YOU'RE UNDERPERFORMING IN ANY PARTICULAR AREA, SUCH AS IN RESIDENTIAL ENERGY EFFICIENCY, DO THOSE DOLLARS GET ROLLED OVER INTO THE NEXT BUDGET YEAR? DO YOU PROJECT THAT? IF THERE'S, IF, IF THERE'S AN OVER, YOU'RE SAYING IF THERE'S AN OVER RECOVERY, UM, IN TERMS OF THE, THE FEES TO SPEND, NO, I GUESS I'M ASKING FOR AN UNDER.
IN OTHER WORDS, IF A PROGRAM IS, HAS NOT BEEN PERFORMING AT ITS BUDGETED LEVEL, WHEN YOU PREPARE THE BUDGET, DO THOSE DOLLARS ROLL OVER INTO THE FOLLOWING BUDGET YEAR OR NOT? I DON'T, I I DON'T BELIEVE SO.
NO, THEY'RE, THEY'RE NOT, THEY'RE INDEPENDENT.
IT'D, IT'S ALL DEPENDING ON WHAT'S BUDGET EACH YEAR, YEAR IN AND YEAR OUT.
WHAT HAPPENS IS IF THERE'S AN OVERRUN OF RECOVERY, THEN THAT CAN BE USED TO EITHER REDUCE OR INCREASE THE, THE RATE THE FOLLOWING YEAR.
IN OTHER WORDS, IF WE HAVE A LARGE OVER RECOVERY IN, UH, IN E E S AND WE DON'T BREAK IT DOWN BY RESIDENTIAL COMMERCIAL, IT'S JUST THE E E S BALANCE, WE WILL, THAT WILL BE, UH, INCLUDED IN THE CALCULATION OF THE RATE FOR THE FOLLOWING YEAR.
[00:15:01]
OVER RECOVERY AND ALL THINGS BEING EQUAL, IT LOOKS LIKE WE'VE GOTTEN ENOUGH MONEY TO FUND THE PROGRAMS, THEN THE RATE SHOULD GO DOWN A LITTLE BIT.ANY OTHER QUESTIONS? ANY OTHER QUESTIONS ON NUMBER TWO? NO, I'M HAPPY TO MAKE A MOTION TO APPROVE.
UNLESS THERE WERE OTHER QUESTIONS ON THE ONLINE.
MAKE A MOTION TO APPROVE MOTION ITEM TWO.
ALL IN FAVOR NUMBER TWO, SAY AYE.
[5. Recommend authorizing negotiation and execution of three contracts for power plant maintenance services with ProServ Industrial Contractors, LLC, Taurus Industrial Group, LLC, and Thielsch Engineering, Inc., each for up to five years for total contract amounts not to exceed $27,000,000, divided among the contractors.]
NUMBER FIVE SOME QUESTIONS, KABA? YES.UM, I SEE THAT THIS IS CONTRACTS WITH SEVERAL DIFFERENT COMPANIES AND ALSO FOR MAINTENANCE ON, IT LOOKS LIKE THREE DIFFERENT FACILITIES, ONE OF WHICH IS COOLING PLANTS.
UM, I GUESS I'M WONDERING WHY THESE ARE ALL BUNDLED TOGETHER.
HELLO? UH, CAN YOU GUYS HEAR ME? OOPS.
I'M VICE PRESIDENT FOR POWER PRODUCTION.
UM, SO WE HAVE A GROUP OF CONTRACTORS.
WE TYPICALLY TRY AND HAVE AT LEAST TWO OR THREE, UH, NOMINALLY THREE OF THESE RESOURCES AVAILABLE AT ANY GIVEN TIME SO THAT WE CAN DEAL WITH EMERGENT WORK AS WELL AS PLAN WORK.
SO WHEN WE HAVE A, UH, A PLANNED, UH, OUTAGE, FOR EXAMPLE, UH, WE DO MAINTENANCE ON, WE'LL PUT A SCOPE WORK OUT TO THEM.
AND THE ONE WHO HAS THE BEST BOTH AVAILABILITY THAT BE AVAILABLE AND HAS THE BEST RESPONSE WILL, WILL ACTUALLY PERFORM THE WORK.
OBVIOUSLY, WHEN WE HAVE A, AN EMERGENT ISSUE WHERE WE'VE HAD A A PROBLEM, WE NEED TO GET IT FIXED QUICKLY.
UH, WE LIKEWISE NEED ACCESS TO, TO MULTIPLE SOURCES.
AND SO EACH OF THESE IS QUALIFIED TO PERFORM THE WORK.
THEY WON'T ALL NECESSARILY BE DOING EVERYTHING.
THIS WILL BE AS NEEDED, UH, WORK WHEN, WHEN, WHEN WE REQUIRE IT.
I, I THINK I UNDERSTAND WHY YOU WANT THE AUTHORIZATION UP FRONT.
I, IT SEEMS LIKE DISTRICT, THE DISTRICT COOLING WOULD HAVE DIFFERENT, UM, MAINTENANCE NEEDS THAN SANDHILL AND DECKER.
SO I'M WONDERING WHY THOSE ARE LUMPED TOGETHER.
DISTRICT COOLING IS IN THERE BECAUSE OF THE, UH, GAS TURBINE THAT WE HAVE AT THE MUELLER ENERGY CENTER.
SO ALL OF THESE ARE, ARE REALLY RELATED TO MAINTAINING THE, THE GAS, UM, DECKERS FACILITY, DECKER SANDHILL, AND THE MUELLER ENERGY CENTER.
UM, AND I SUPPOSE, UM, MAYBE YOU DON'T HAVE THIS ON HAND, BUT I, I GUESS I'M WONDERING LIKE WHAT, WHAT THE TYPICAL BREAKDOWN IS FOR THE EXPENSES BETWEEN THOSE FACILITIES.
WELL, IT, SO THIS IS, THIS WOULD BE FIVE, IT'S 5.4 MILLION A YEAR.
UH, AND, AND THE PER FACILITY IN ANY GIVEN YEAR WILL VARY.
UH, IT JUST DEPENDS ON THEIR MAINTENANCE CYCLES AND WHETHER THERE'S ANY EMERGENT NEEDS THAT WE HAVE TO ADDRESS.
IS IT POSSIBLE TO GET ANY HISTORICAL INFORMATION ON, YOU KNOW, WHERE ARE, ARE THESE, I ASSUME YOU HAVE SIMILAR CONTRACTS RIGHT NOW, IS THAT CORRECT? WE DO.
I GUESS I'M JUST FEELING LIKE LUMPING EVERYTHING TOGETHER MAKES IT, UM, DIFFICULT FOR US TO DO OUR OVERSIGHT ROLE IN, YOU KNOW, IF, IF, IF ALL OF THIS WAS BEING SPENT ON, YOU KNOW, ONE PEAKER PLANT A DECKER, YOU KNOW, OBVIOUSLY THAT, THAT WOULD BE A VERY DIFFERENT THING THAN SPREADING IT ACROSS, UM, ALL OF THEM.
AND I'M NOT SUGGESTING THAT'S WHAT IT IS, BUT, UH, I GUESS THAT'S WHY I'M ASKING THESE QUESTIONS.
IT MAKES IT A LITTLE DIFFICULT FOR ME TO KNOW IF THIS IS A REASONABLE AMOUNT TO BE SPENDING ON THESE, ON THIS CONTRACT.
WELL, THE VALUES ARE BASED ON HISTORICAL TRENDS AS WELL AS, UH, WE, WE'VE ALSO ACCOMMODATE FOR, UH, COST GROWTH, WHICH WE'VE EX SEEN AS WELL AS, UH, OTHER PARTS OF INDUSTRY.
SO THAT FACTORS THAT INSTANCES ARE TO COVER A, A FIVE YEAR PERIOD INTO THE FUTURE.
YEAH, I I, I WASN'T LIKE QUESTIONING THE COMPANY'S COST FOR THEIR SERVICE SO MUCH IS WHERE THAT COST IS FALLING IN TERMS OF MAINTAINING.
BUT IT SOUNDS LIKE YOU DON'T HAVE INFORMATION AVAILABLE FOR US ON THAT BREAKDOWN.
[00:20:02]
UH, I'M SORRY, IS A QUESTION.UM, I, MY, I GUESS MY, MY CONCERN IS NOT THE, UM, THE COST OF THIS, LIKE THE, THE COMPANIES ARE OVERCHARGING SO MUCH AS HOW, HOW THE COST IS BREAKING DOWN BETWEEN THE FACILITIES.
UM, YEAH, I, I KNOW SOME OF THESE ARE OLDER THAN OTHERS, AND I, I, I SEE IT AS PART OF OUR JOB TO KEEP AN EYE ON AS, YOU KNOW, IF, IF, IF EXPENSES ARE RISING ON ONE OR THE OTHER.
SO I GUESS I'M JUST A LITTLE CONCERNED BY THE, THE BUNDLING FOR THAT REASON.
BUT, UH, WE'D HAVE TO WORK TO SEE IF WE COULD BREAK IT DOWN, UH, ON A HISTORICAL BASIS, SO WITH OUR PURCHASING FOLKS.
SO YOU WANNA TALK OFFLINE AND SEE IF YOU CAN FURTHER SPECIFY WHAT YOU'D LIKE TO SEE BROKEN DOWN.
AND REALLY, I'M JUST, I'M, I'M JUST LOOKING FOR, YOU KNOW, HOW MUCH I'M, YOU KNOW, DECKER PEAKERS VERSUS SAND, YOU KNOW, THE DIFFERENT FACILITIES THAT THE CONTRACT IS FOR.
YEAH, I DON'T HAVE IT OFF THE TOP OF MY HEAD.
I CAN TELL YOU PROPORTIONATELY THOUGH, IT FOLLOWS THE SCALE OF THE FACILITIES.
SO AT, AT SANDHILL WE HAVE 600 MEGAWATTS OF, OF GENERATING CAPACITY, SIX GAS TURBINES, 50 MEGAWATTS E EACH, UH, IN THE COMBINED CYCLE AT DECKER, WE HAVE 200 MEGAWATTS FOR, FOR GAS TURBINES THERE.
AND AT, UH, AT MUELLER WE HAVE A FIVE MEGAWATT GAS TURBINE.
AND, AND IT'LL GENERALLY BE IN PROPORTION TO THE SCALE OF THE FACILITIES.
AND JUST THESE AMOUNTS, THIS IS AUTHORIZATION TO SPEND UP TO THAT AMOUNT.
IT'S, IT DOESN'T ACTUALLY MEAN WE SPEND ALL THAT MONEY, CORRECT? CORRECT.
IT, IT'S UP TO, AND TO THE EXTENT WE GOT TO A POSITION WHERE WE SOMEHOW NEEDED TO GO HIGHER, WE'D HAVE TO COME BACK AND GET ADDITIONAL AUTHORIZATION.
THAT'S WHY I WAS ASKING FOR HISTORICAL.
I UNDERSTAND THIS ISN'T, UH, YEAH.
ANY OTHER QUESTIONS ON NUMBER FIVE? DO I HAVE A MOTION? SO MOVED A SECOND.
GABBY, YOU WANNA ABSTAIN OR YOU WANNA VOTE? NO.
OH, I THINK SHE SAID ALL ABSTAIN
UH, SORRY, I'M STILL LEARNING HOW TO CONTROL IT WHEN I CALL IN.
[9. Discussion and possible action for the creation of a Standard Offer for Distributed Solar at Austin Energy working group. (Sponsors: White, Trostle, Reed, Chapman)]
DISCUSSION AND POSSIBLE ACTION FOR CREATION OF A STANDARD OFFER FOR DISTRIBUTED SOLAR WORKING GROUP.WHAT'S THAT? THAT'S NUMBER EIGHT.
ROBIN, YOU WANNA DOUBLE CHECK ME? ARE WE ON NUMBER NINE? RIGHT.
SO DO WE NEED ANOTHER WORKING GROUP ON STANDARD OFFER? KABA? I WAS FINE WITH PULLING THIS OFF, SO, UM, UNLESS THERE'S MORE INTEREST NOW THAN THERE WAS BEFORE, UM, YOU KNOW, IF ANYBODY WANTS TO, WANTS TO DIG INTO THIS PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT MORE, I'M HAPPY TO HELP WITH A WORKING GROUP.
BUT, UM, YEAH, CYRUS, I DON'T WANNA BE IN ANOTHER WORKING GROUP.
THINK WE HAVE A FULL CALENDAR.
AND HONESTLY, SOME OF THE ISSUES, NOT TOTALLY ALIGNMENT, BUT, YOU KNOW, SOME OF THE THINGS BEING DISCUSSED IN THE RESOURCE PLAN PROBABLY INVOLVED SOLAR INCENTIVES AND COMMUNITY SOLAR.
SO FEEL, FEELS LIKE IT COULD BE DISCUSSED THERE AS WELL.
AND WE HAVE AN UPDATE FROM RICHARD COMING UP, I THINK ON THIS PRETTY SOON.
WELL, WE HAD AN UPDATE LAST MONTH RIGHT.
SO, AND I THINK THERE, THERE'S FORWARD PROGRESS.
UM, I THINK WE NEED TO FOCUS ON THE RESOURCE PLAN,
[00:25:03]
SO I'M NOT MOVING.I GET UPDATES, UM, ON THE TIMELINE.
YOU KNOW, THAT'S, THAT WOULD BE MY MAIN ASK IS JUST, YOU KNOW, TO HAVE, HAVE A LITTLE MORE CLARITY ON THE TIMELINE FOR THE PROCESS, BUT I DON'T THINK WE NEED A WORKING GROUP FOR THAT.
WELL, WHY DON'T WE ASK, UH, RICHARD ABOUT THE PROGRESS AND THE TIMELINE WHEN HE COMES UP ON A 10 OR 11.
ANY OTHER DISCUSSION ON NUMBER NINE? POSSIBLE WORKING GROUP? OKAY, I THINK WE'RE DONE WITH NINE.
[10. Staff briefing Council Resolution 20221201-045 relating to solar battery storage, microgrids, and load-shaping technology, by Richard Génecé, Vice President of Customer Energy Solutions.]
BRIEFINGS.SPEAKING OF RICHARD, GOOD EVENING COMMISSIONERS.
UH, RICHARD GENESEE, VICE PRESIDENT OF CUSTOMER ENERGY SOLUTIONS.
SO I'M GONNA BE GIVING YOU TWO BRIEFINGS TONIGHT.
UH, THE FIRST ONE IS ON BATTERY AND STORAGE, I BELIEVE.
SO THE, THE, THIS BATTERY AND STORAGE RESOLUTION REALLY HAS FIVE MAIN PARTS, UH, AND THE, YOU KNOW, I'M GONNA BE UPDATING YOU ON ALL FIVE OF THE PARTS, UH, THIS EVENING.
AN APPROACH TO LEVERAGING BATTERY BENEFITS IS THROUGH AGGREGATION OR ONE APPROACH.
SIMILAR TO THERMOSTAT DEMAND RESPONSE PROGRAMS, AUSTIN ENERGY WOULD CONTRACT WITH A THIRD PARTY WHO WORKS WITH MANUFACTURERS TO ESTABLISH CONTROL OF A CUSTOMER OWNED DEVICE.
THE CUSTOMER WOULD ENTER A PROGRAM AND ALLOW AUSTIN ENERGY THROUGH AN AGGREGATOR TO HAVE A LIMITED, UH, AMOUNT OF CONTROL IN THE BATTERY.
IN EXCHANGE FOR FINANCIAL BENEFIT TO THE CUSTOMER, THE CUSTOMER WOULD HAVE OVERRIDE CAPABILITIES AND SPECIAL CONSIDERATIONS COULD BE MADE FOR EDGE OF EVENT CHARGING.
WE DO, WE ARE DISCOVERING, UH, WE ARE MAKING PROGRESS HERE, BUT WE ARE DISCOVERING THAT THE COMMUNICATION AND CONTROL OF THE BATTERIES TENDS TO COME AT A HIGHER EXPENSE.
UH, WE DO SO, SO WAIT, ARE YOU ALREADY, SO WE'RE ALREADY MOVING PAST THAT FIRST TOPIC.
ON THAT FIRST TOPIC, I GUESS WHAT I'M SAYING IS WE ARE EXPLORING, UH, THIS AS ONE APPROACH, UH, YOU KNOW, AGGREGATION AS ONE APPROACH.
AND, UH, WE BELIEVE THAT THERE IS SOME PROMISE IN THAT APPROACH.
UM, AND WE'RE, YOU KNOW, WE DO THINK THAT IT WOULD, IT POTENTIALLY CAN COME AT A HIGHER, UH, EXPENSE, BUT WE DO THINK THAT THERE'S BENEFIT IN A, IN THE AGGREGATION MODEL AND LOOKING AT AGGREGATORS.
AND JUST MY, MY QUESTION WAS AROUND THAT IS, YOU KNOW, THE, UM, THE P U C STARTED THIS, THESE PILOT PRO PROJECTS, UH, FOR DISTRIBUTED AGGREGATED RESOURCES.
AGGREGATED, AGGREGATED, DISTRIBUTED ENERGY RESOURCE RESOURCE, A D A D E R, ANOTHER ACRONYM, UM, WHICH OBVIOUSLY I GUESS AUSTIN ENERGY ISN'T PARTICIPATING IN, THAT'S MORE IN THE COMPETITIVE MARKET.
BUT IS THERE THE POTENTIAL THAT AUSTIN ENERGY WITHIN ITS OWN SERVICE TERRITORY COULD USE AERS AND ACTUALLY PARTICIPATE IN ERCOT MARKET WITH IT? OR ARE YOU LOOKING AT THIS MORE AS SOMETHING JUST INTERNAL? WE'RE REALLY LOOKING AT IT AS SOMETHING MORE TO FACILITATE OUR USE WITH CUSTOMERS, NOT NECESSARILY, UH, WITH ERCOT.
IS WHAT, WHAT WE'RE LOOKING AT.
BUT THERE, THERE, SO THAT'S, AT THIS POINT FOR THIS PROJECT, YOU'RE NOT LOOKING AT AT THIS POINT WE'RE, WE'RE NOT, NO.
WITH, WITH RESPECT TO MICROGRIDS, UH, WE CURRENTLY ENABLE BEHIND THE METER MICROGRIDS.
UH, IN THIS CASE, WHEN THE GRID GOES DOWN, THE ISOLATION DEVICE OPENS UP SO THAT ENERGY FROM THE BATTERY FEEDS TO CUSTOMER LOADS, BUT IS NOT CAPABLE OF FEEDING BACK ONTO THE GRID.
THIS, THIS ENSURES THAT LINE WORKERS DO NOT INTERACT WITH ENERGIZED LINES AND KEEPS EVERYONE SAFE.
WHEN THE GRID COMES BACK ONLINE, IT AUTOMATICALLY SYNCHRONIZES AND SWITCHES BACK TO GRID POWER.
SO THIS IS ONE FORM OF MICROGRIDS THAT WE SUPPORT TODAY.
WE ARE EXPLORING OTHER, UH, TYPES OF MICROGRID CONFIGURATIONS.
WE ARE EXPLORING FRONT OF THE METER MICROGRID CONFIGURATIONS AND BILLING SOLUTIONS.
WE CURRENTLY, WHILE THERE ARE CURRENTLY NO EXAMPLES OF THIS IN OUR SERVICE TERRITORY, UH, WE ARE EXPLORING, UM, POTENTIAL, UH, CONFIGURATIONS OF THIS TYPE.
BATTERY SYSTEMS THAT SERVE MULTIPLE CUSTOMERS, WOULD NECESSITATE A UTILITY SIDE INTERCONNECTION, AS WELL AS ISOLATION FUNCTIONALITY THAT WOULD SECTIONALIZE THE BATTERY BACKED UP AREA FROM THE REST OF THE GRID.
ENABLING LIFTS REQUIRES THE ESTABLISHMENT OF INTERCONNECTION
[00:30:01]
POLICIES AND REQUIREMENTS, FUNCTIONAL PROCEDURES TO ENABLE ISOLATION AND RECONNECTION AND MAINTENANCE POLICIES AND PROCEDURES.AUSTIN ENERGY IS COMMITTED TO WORKING WITH STAKEHOLDERS TO REVIEW TECHNICAL PLANS TO ENSURE PROPER OS OPERATION AND SAFETY OF OUR CUSTOMERS, CONTRACTORS, LINE WORKERS, AND FIRST RESPONDERS.
ADDITIONALLY, AUSTIN ENERGY WOULD NEED TO EXPLORE RATES AND BILLING FUNCTIONALITY TO CREDIT CUSTOMERS FOR BATTERY OPERATIONS AND IDENTIFY SOLUTIONS THAT WOULD ALLOW FOR ALLOCATIONS TO CUSTOMER ACCOUNTS AS A RESULT OF STRATEGICALLY DISCHARGING THE BATTERY INTO THE SYSTEM FOR MARKET BENEFIT.
UH, WE ANTICIPATE THIS WHILE A PROMISING AREA OF EXPLANA EXPLORATION TO BE A MULTIPLE YEAR EFFORT, A MULTI-YEAR EFFORT.
UH, BEFORE AUSTIN ENERGY DEVELOPS AN UN UPFRONT INCENTIVE OR REBATE FOR BATTERY ADOPTION, WE MUST IDENTIFY THE BEST APPROACH TO PROVIDE CUSTOMERS WITH ONGOING BENEFITS FOR DEPLOYING THE STORAGE STORED ENERGY AT PEAK TIMES.
FOR EXAMPLE, WITH RESPECT TO BATTERY BENEFITS, A ONE-TIME INCENTIVE MAY NOT BE AS EFFECTIVE AS AN ONGOING PAY FOR PERFORMANCE BENEFIT.
SO THIS IS ONGOING WORK IN HOW WE DEVELOP, UH, OR HOW WE CONSIDER THE INCENTIVE ON THE BATTERIES.
SO WE ARE, SORRY, RICHARD, ON THAT, ON THE BATTERY INCENTIVES, IS THERE ANY, UM, SENSE OF A TIMELINE WHEN YOU MIGHT DEVELOP A PROPOSAL ON INCENTIVES? IS THAT SOMETHING THAT MIGHT HAPPEN THIS NEXT FISCAL YEAR, OR DO YOU SEE IT AS A MULTI-YEAR? PARTS OF IT ARE MULTI-YEAR, BUT I THINK IN TERMS OF LOOKING AT A PROPOSED RATE, THAT WOULD PROBABLY BE WITHIN A YEAR UNLESS JOHN SAYS OTHERWISE
UM, ON THE RATE STRUCTURE, THE CITY COUNCIL DIRECTED US TO EXPLORE A RATE STRUCTURE AT THAT REWARD STORAGE CUSTOMERS FOR CONTRIBUTING TO THE GRID.
AND THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT WE ARE DOING.
APPROXIMATELY HALF OF THE CAPACITY ASSOCIATED WITH RESIDENTIAL CUSTOMERS IS ONLY USED FOR 20% OF THE TIME BASED ON LOAD DURATION DATA.
THE TOTAL CAPACITY COST FOR THE RESIDENTIAL CLASS IS APPROXIMATELY $300 MILLION.
150 MILLION OF THAT TOTAL IS UTILIZED INFREQUENTLY.
IN ADDITION TO THE BASE RATE DESIGNED, THE REGULATORY CHARGE PROPOSAL MAY ALLOW THE SOLAR PLUS STORAGE CUSTOMER TO ACTUALLY REDUCE THEIR BILL, EVEN RECEIVING A CREDIT BY POWERING THEIR HOME WITH THEIR STORAGE WHILE DISCHARGING THEIR PV TO THE GRID.
WE ALSO RECOGNIZE THERE IS AN ENERGY-BASED COMPONENT RELATED TO THE TIMING OF THE MARKET PURCHASES.
WE ARE STILL INVESTIGATING THIS ISSUE AND WORKING TO DEVELOP AN APPROPRIATE OPTION.
WITH RESPECT TO BATTERY END OF LIFE OPTIONS, UM, WE ARE WORKING WITH AUSTIN RESOURCE RECOVERY AND, UM, ON WAYS TO BOTH INCREASE CUSTOMER AWARENESS AND DEVELOP A PROCESS FOR, UH, BA BATTERY, UH, END OF LIFE OPTIONS AND IMPROVE THE LARGE BATTERY REUSE RECYCLING OPTIONS IN, UH, HAZARDOUS WASTE DISPOSAL CONTRACTS, LARGE, LARGE LITHIUM ION BATTERIES CAN HAVE 60 TO 70% OF THE TOTAL CAPACITY REMAINING AFTER 10 YEARS.
SO BATTERIES CONTAIN COBALT, NICKEL, COPPER, MAG, MAGNES, AND LITHIUM.
SO WE, WE DO FEEL THAT GOOD PROGRESS IS BEING MADE IN THIS AREA.
YEAH, I DON'T HAVE A SLIDE ON THIS PARTICULAR, UH, ASPECT, BUT I DID WANNA MAKE A STATEMENT THAT WITH RESPECT TO, UH, LOAD SHAPING TECHNOLOGIES, WE, WE ARE EXPLORING AND WE DO SUPPORT, UH, MULTIPLE LOAD SHAPING TECHNOLOGIES, UH, WITHIN CUSTOMER ENERGY SOLUTIONS TODAY.
UH, WE HAVE OUR CUSTOMER FACING DEMAND RESPONSE PROGRAMS THAT USE INTERNET, WIFI, RADIO FREQUENCY AND CELLULAR SIGNALS TO COMMUNICATE WITH RESIDENTIAL, COMMERCIAL AND MULTI-FAMILY CUSTOMERS TO ENCOURAGE SHIFTING OF ELECTRICITY USE.
SO THESE SIGNALS CAN COMMUNICATE WITH MULTIPLE CUSTOMER DEVICES AND EQUIPMENT.
AUSTIN ENERGY USES EXISTING SMART METER INFRASTRUCTURE TO HELP MEASURE AND QUANTIFY ELECTRIC ELECTRICITY USAGE AND SAVINGS TO ISSUE CUSTOMER PARTICIPATION INCENTIVES.
AUSTIN ENERGY IS ALSO CURRENTLY EXPANDING AND INCREASING OUR CUSTOMER FACING INCENTIVES THAT ENCOURAGE SHIFTING OF ENERGY USE, AND WE ARE OPEN TO CONTINUED DISCUSSIONS WITH STAKEHOLDERS ON DEFINING
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THAT PROBLEM STATEMENT AND WAYS IN WHICH TO ADDRESS THIS ISSUE WHILE ENSURING THE INTEGRITY OF THE METERING NETWORK.I MENTIONED THIS BECAUSE THIS IS OF ANOTHER PART OF THIS RESOLUTION, AND I WANTED TO CONVEY THAT WE ARE ACTUALLY DOING THAT, UM, TODAY.
UM, WHAT, WHAT IS THE, UM, INCENTIVE IN DOLLAR AMOUNTS THAT'S OFFERED FOR THESE, UM, SHIFTING? SO THERE IS, UM, THE BENEFIT AND THE INCENTIVE.
THIS IS ACTUALLY PART OF A PILOT PROGRAM, SO WE HAVEN'T ACTUALLY SET A SPECIFIC INCENTIVE FOR THIS YET.
WE'RE ACTUALLY JUST PILOTING THE TECHNOLOGY TO ENSURE THAT IT, IT, UH, WORKS.
UM, THAT MAYBE WE CAN TALK A LITTLE BIT MORE ABOUT THE AMADA CONTRACT.
SO THERE, THERE'S A, UM, THERE IS A TECHNOLOGY WE'RE PILOT PILOTING, WHICH IS GOING TO, UH, EN ENCOURAGE RESILIENCY IN MULTIFAMILY CUSTOMERS AND ALSO, UM, ADDRESS THIS PART OF THE RESOLUTION.
SO WE WE'RE, AND ACTUALLY, UM, WE CAN SPEAK TO THAT, BUT YOU DON'T HAVE, UH, UH, AN INCENTIVE FINANCIAL INCENTIVE IN PLACE.
THE, ON THIS PART OF THE PILOT, THERE IS NO FI I MEAN, OTHER THAN GETTING THE EQUIPMENT INSTALLED IN MULTIFAMILY UNITS AT NO COST TO THEM BECAUSE IT IS PART OF A, UH, GRANT, THERE'S NO SPECIFIC FINANCIAL INCENTIVE, BUT THERE IS THE INCENTIVE OF HAVING HAD THE EQUIPMENT INSTALLED IN THE PROPERTY FOR FREE AT NO COST.
SO, AND THE INTENT IS, THE INTENT IS WHEN THIS SUCCEEDS, WE WOULD ACTUALLY, YOU KNOW, UH, EXPAND THE OFFERING INTO A FULL FLEDGED PROGRAM.
SO I THINK TO ASK YOUR QUESTION ANOTHER WAY, CURRENTLY DOES AUSTIN ENERGY HAVE A RESIDENTIAL DEMAND RESPONSE PROGRAM THAT PAYS FOR PERFORMANCE? WE, WE HAVE A RESIDENTIAL DEMAND RESPONSE PROGRAM THAT DOES NOT HAVE AN ONGOING PAY FOR PERFORMANCE, UH, COMPONENT.
SO THAT'S A, THAT'S A SEPARATE ISSUE.
I, I, I'M A LITTLE CONFUSED BECAUSE I THOUGHT WHAT AUSTIN ENERGY CURRENTLY HAS IS A PROGRAM THAT PROVIDES FREE NEST TYPE THERMOSTATS AND THEN, UH, $25 BILL CREDIT AF ONLY AFTER A YEAR.
IS THAT CORRECT? THERE'S MULTIPLE PROGRAMS THAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT HERE.
IF YOU CAN, IF YOU CAN UN CONFUSE US.
GOOD, GOOD EVENING COMMISSIONERS.
MY NAME IS TARA NORRIS, DIRECTOR OF ENERGY EFFICIENCY SERVICES, WHICH INCLUDES THE DR PROGRAMS. UM, SO FOR OUR SINGLE FAMILY RESIDENCE RESIDENTIAL POWER PARTNER THERMOSTAT PROGRAM, THERE IS AN UPFRONT INCENTIVE OF $85 PER PER UNIT.
AND THEN THIS YEAR WE INITIATED AN ONGOING PARTICIPATION INCENTIVE TO INCREASE, UH, RETENTION OF CUSTOMERS IN THE PROGRAM OF $25 PER YEAR.
SO THAT'S WHAT YOU ARE SPEAKING ABOUT, UM, FOR THE MULTIFAMILY PILOT THAT WE ARE ROLLING OUT THIS YEAR.
SO IT WILL BE IN EFFECT IN NEXT DR SEASON.
SO NEXT SUMMER, UM, THERE IS A, LET ME DOUBLE CHECK, $50 UPFRONT INCENTIVE FOR THE CUSTOMERS TO ENROLL IN THE PROGRAM, AND THEN A $35 ON ONGOING INCENTIVE.
AND THE REASON THAT INCENTIVE IS A LITTLE BIT HIGHER IS BECAUSE WE'RE NOT ONLY ABLE TO ACCESS THEIR THERMOSTATS, BUT ALSO THEIR HOT WATER HEATER TIMERS.
AND SO BECAUSE WE'RE GETTING A LITTLE BIT OF A LARGER OVERALL BENEFIT, WE'RE PAYING THEM A LITTLE BIT MORE.
IN ADDITION TO THAT, THE MULTI-FAMILY PILOT ALSO INCLUDES AN INCENTIVE FOR BUILDING OWNERS, UM, OR PROPERTY MANAGERS TO ENCOURAGE AND MAINTAIN, UM, ENROLLMENT IN THE PROGRAMS. AND, AND THAT IS A $10 PER PARTICIPATING UNIT PER YEAR.
SO THAT'S JUST AN ADDITIONAL, IT'S KIND OF TO DEAL WITH THE SPLIT INCENTIVE CHALLENGE THAT WE HAVE IN MULTIFAMILY.
SO, UH, AND, AND THE THERMOS, THE THERMOSTATS IN BOTH AND HOT WATER HEATERS, UH, IN BOTH PROGRAMS HAVE AN OVERRIDE CUSTOMER OVERRIDE FUNCTION.
SO THE, THE THERMOSTATS HAVE A CUSTOMER OVERRIDE FUNCTION, UM, AND THE THERMOSTATS AND WATER HEATER TIMERS THAT ARE IN THE MULTIFAMILY PROJECT ARE, ARE CONNECTED.
SO IF, IF THE CUSTOMER CHOOSES TO OPT OUT OF THE PROGRAM LONG TERM, IT WILL OPT BOTH DEVICES OUT.
UH, AND THIS IS KIND OF THE KIND OF RELATED, UH, WE, THIS LAST WEEK, WE'VE BEEN GETTING OUR PHONES GOING OFF ALERTS, E E A TWO, UH, FROM ERCOT,
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AND, YOU KNOW, UH, ALL OF WHICH IS ASKING CUSTOMERS TO CHANGE THEIR LIFESTYLES, CREATE, CREATED SOME CHAOS, UH, IN ORDER TO ACCOMMODATE SHORTFALLS IN THE STATEWIDE DESIGN.UH, WHY IS IT WHILE I WATCHED THE TV NEWS ON THIS, YOU KNOW, WHAT, AND LOOKED AT THE ERCOT WEBSITE, UH, AND YEAH, THE, IT WAS PRETTY, PRETTY TIGHT.
UH, MY QUESTION IS, WHY IS IT WHEN THEY SHOWED ON TV, THESE DOWNTOWN OFFICE BUILDINGS, AND WE'VE BEEN TALKING ABOUT THIS, THEY WERE ALL LIT UP.
THE COMMERCIAL BUILDINGS, EVEN THE STATE CAPITOL WITH ALL ITS FLOODLIGHTS ALL LIT UP, ALL LIT UP WHILE RESIDENTIAL CUSTOMERS WERE BEING TOLD THAT THEY WERE AT RISK OF LOSING ENERGY.
SO WE, WE, UM, RECOGNIZED THAT OCCURRENCE THE LAST TIME WE HAD, UM, YOU KNOW, THIS KIND OF, UH, INCIDENT.
AND WE ACTUALLY DEPLOYED A PROGRAM, UH, IN RESPONSE TO THAT CALLED DOWNTOWN RAMP DOWN.
AND WE ARE WORKING WITH, UM, THOSE TOWER CUSTOMERS TO ENSURE THAT, YOU KNOW, IF WE HAVE A LOAD EVENT, THEY'RE, THEY'RE ABLE TO ESSENTIALLY HELP DIRECT US WHAT'S THE BEST WAY IN WHICH THEIR LOAD SHOULD BE SHUT DOWN VERSUS NOT HAVING ANY CONTROL WHATSOEVER.
AND ACTUALLY, UH, OUR KEY ACCOUNT CUSTOMERS HAVE BEEN, UH, RECEPTIVE TO THAT.
THE, OUR KEY ACCOUNT CUSTOMERS THAT ARE IN THE DOWNTOWN, UM, UH, TOWER, UH, UNITS HAVE BEEN RECEPTIVE TO THAT.
DO WE HAVE WRITTEN AGREEMENTS WITH, WITH THOSE TALL BUILDING CUSTOMERS, AND DO WE HAVE TO WAIT UNTIL IT, UH, UNTIL THE TIME ACTUAL ROLLING BLACKOUTS WOULD OCCUR? NO.
WE'RE, WE HAVE INITIATED, UH, AGREEMENTS WITH THOSE CUSTOMERS, UM, AND THEY DO SEE IT AS A BENEFIT BECAUSE RATHER THAN, YOU KNOW, ESSENTIALLY HAVING CONTROL OF THEIR OWN DESTINY, RIGHT? SO WE BASICALLY, THEY'RE ENTERING INTO AN AGREEMENT WITH US WHICH SAYS, UM, IF WE HAVE TO SHUT LOAD, THIS IS HOW WE WOULD PREFER YOU DO IT, UM, IN ORDER TO, UH, BE LEAST DISRUPTIVE TO OUR OPERATIONS.
SO THIS WEEK, THIS WEEK WHEN WE WERE REPEATEDLY CALLED TO, UH, RESIDENTIAL CUSTOMERS TO SHED LOAD, WHY, WHY DID WE NOT SEE LIGHTS GOING OUT IN THESE COMMERCIAL OFFICE BUILDINGS? I DON'T KNOW IF THAT CAN SPEAK SPECIFICALLY TO THAT.
IN, IN THAT SAME VEIN, IF YOU COULD ALSO TELL US, IT SOUNDED LIKE WHAT YOU SAID WAS THAT THAT'S ONLY WHEN WE'VE GOT AN ERCOT MANDATED LOAD SHED.
I THINK THAT OUR QUESTIONS GO TO HOW TO CAN'T, CAN THOSE AGREEMENTS BE USED TO AVOID A LOAD SHED, RIGHT.
COMMISSIONER TRUSSEL, ONE SECOND.
UM, I JUST WANTED TO RESPOND TO WHAT COMMISSIONER CHAPMAN SAID, LISA MARTIN, UH, CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER.
AND, UH, JUST TO BE CLEAR ON AND PRECISE ON OUR LANGUAGE, ERCOT AND AUSTIN ENERGY, WE'RE NOT ASKING ANYONE TO SHED LOAD.
UM, WHAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT IS REFERRED TO NOW AS CONTROLLED OUTAGES, AND WE DIDN'T GET TO THAT LEVEL OF, OF EMERGENCY THIS PAST WEEK.
WE SIMPLY GOT TO THE POINT OF DOING, UH, CONSERVATION APPEALS.
AND THAT'S WHEN ARCO ASKS EVERYONE ACROSS THE STATE TO JUST DO THEIR PART TO REDUCE THEIR ENERGY USAGE DURING TIMES WHEN THE, THE GRID IS TIGHT.
AND, AND ALL OF WHICH IS WE WERE ASKED TO AVOID TO EACH OF US TO AVOID THAT CRITICAL F PHASE.
AND PRESUMABLY, I, I KNOW I DID, AND I THINK MANY PEOPLE I KNOW.
DID YOU KNOW CHANGE, CHANGE MADE ADJUSTMENTS CORRECT.
TO VOLUNTARILY REDUCE, REDUCE OUR DEMAND? SO TO BALANCE THE SUPPLY DEMAND, I, I GO BACK TO MY QUESTION, WHY WERE WE NOT SEEING THAT WITH OUR DOWNTOWN COMMERCIAL CUSTOMERS? A AND, AND IT, IT JUST, IF THEY WERE DOING THEIR PART, WE WOULDN'T HA WE, WE MIGHT NOT BE IN THIS PICKLE.
I, I DON'T KNOW THAT I CAN SPECIFICALLY SPEAK TO, I MEAN, AT THE END OF THE DAY, IT WAS NOT A, AS, UH, MS. MARTIN WAS INDICATING IT WAS NOT A MANDATORY SHED.
SO I, I'M NOT GOING TO BE ABLE TO RESPOND IN INDIVIDUALLY FOR WHY ANY GIVEN, UH, CUSTOMER WOULD NOT HAVE VOLUNTARILY, UH, TAKEN A SPECIFIC ACTION.
BUT THAT'S, THAT'S WHAT, THAT'S WHAT IT WAS CALLED FOR.
SO I UNDERSTOOD THAT THIS WAS NOT A LOAD SHED.
UH, WE HAVEN'T BEEN EXPERIENCED A LOAD SHE YET, SO, BUT, UH,
[00:45:01]
MY QUESTION RELATED TO THIS IS, YOU, YOU'VE EXPLAINED THESE, UH, DOWNTOWN RAMP DOWN AGREEMENTS YOU'RE ENTERING INTO, RIGHT? AND AM I CORRECT IN UNDERSTANDING THAT YOU'RE SAYING THAT WOULD ONLY BE IF THERE WAS A LOAD SHE ORDER COMING FROM ERCOT Y? YES, THAT WOULD, AND YES.AND SO MY QUESTION IS, COULD THOSE AGREEMENTS NOT BE MODIFIED TO GET A BUY-IN FROM, FOR THESE LARGE COMMERCIAL, UH, AND THE DOWNTOWN TOWER CUSTOMERS TO PARTICIPATE IN THESE VOLUNTARY CONSERVATION EFFORTS IN A WAY THAT, YOU KNOW, I MEAN, YES, THEY, THEY'VE ASKED ALL RESIDENTIAL CUSTOMERS, TURN YOUR THERMOSTATS UP, DON'T RUN YOUR DISHWASHER, DON'T DO THIS.
THAT BETWEEN, YOU KNOW, TWO IN THE AFTERNOON TILL NINE O'CLOCK AT NIGHT, THAT ISN'T PART OF WHAT YOU'RE DOING WITH THE DOWNTOWN RAMP.
NOW IT'S, IT'S NOT, IT'S NOT PART OF WHAT AND WHY NOT? IT'S CALLED FOR, UM, ONE IS MANDATED AND ONE IS VOLUNTARY.
I MEAN, I GUESS IS THE SIMPLEST WAY THAT I COULD DIFFERENTIATE THE TWO IS ONE IS MANDATED, ONE IS VOLUNTARY.
I, I WAS READING ABOUT HOW SOME CRYPTO MINER GOT $31 MILLION FOR RAMPING DOWN, AND THAT WAS DURING A VOLUNTARY TIME.
SO, UM, I GUESS THE QUESTION IS, DO WE HAVE ANY KIND OF PROGRAMS FOR C N I CUSTOMERS TO BE ENCOURAGED TO RAMP DOWN? IS THAT PART OF THE LARGE FLEXIBLE LOAD THRUST
UM, SO THERE WAS A NEWS REPORT.
THERE WAS A NEWS REPORT ABOUT 31 MILLION TO ONE BITCOIN OPERATOR.
IT'S UNCLEAR TO ME FROM THAT NEWS REPORT WHETHER THOSE WERE PAYMENTS FOR ANCILLARY SERVICES.
WERE THEY COMBINING THE ANCILLARY SERVICES WITH WHAT THEY WOULD'VE PAID IN ENERGY, WHICH THEY DIDN'T.
IT WAS VERY, I THOUGHT THE ARTICLE WAS PRETTY UNCLEAR.
BUT, UM, THAT'S, THAT'S PROBABLY A QUESTION FOR ERCOT, BUT THE QUESTION FOR AUSTIN ENERGY WOULD BE WHAT PROGRAMS DO THE AUSTIN ENERGY HAVE TO PARTICIPATE IN THESE PROGRAMS TO REDUCE OUR LOAD LOCALLY, BOTH FOR RESIDENTIAL AND COMMERCIAL CUSTOMERS? UM, AND I DON'T KNOW WHETHER YOU CAN ANSWER THAT ON THE SPOT, BUT MAYBE WE COULD COME UP WITH SOME QUESTIONS.
I, I GUESS JUST IN GENERAL, WHAT I WOULD SAY IS WE HAVE, UH, MULTIPLE PROGRAMS, UH, ACROSS CUSTOMER CLASSES THAT ENGAGE CUSTOMERS IN, UH, YOU KNOW, RAMPING DOWN THEIR LOAD, UH, FOR INCENTIVES, UM, AS, AS PART OF DIFFERENT PROGRAMS. SO WE DO HAVE THOSE PROGRAMS IN PLACE.
AND THEN THE OTHER THING I WOULD JUST OFFER IS THAT WE ARE, UH, CURRENTLY IN THE PROCESS OF LOOKING ACROSS OUR ENTIRE PORTFOLIO AND EVEN CREATING NEW PROGRAMS IN THE DEMAND RESPONSE SPACE THAT WOULD ENHANCE THOSE CAPABILITIES.
I DON'T KNOW IF, UH, SARAH HAS MORE TO ADD ON THAT.
N NOT MUCH MORE TO ADD, JUST TO SAY THAT WE DO HAVE TWO KIND OF SETS OF, OR I GUESS SORT OF THREE SETS OF COMMERCIAL DEMAND RESPONSE PROGRAMS. WE HAVE SORT OF A BASELINE DEMAND RESPONSE PROGRAM FOR COMMERCIAL CUSTOMERS.
WE HAVE SOMETHING CALLED AUTOMATED DR.
UM, WHERE REALLY IT'S ABOUT CUSTOMERS GETTING, UM, WHOLE BUILDINGS MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS. AND THAT'S, THAT'S BEEN VERY EFFECTIVE.
YOU SEE CUSTOMERS LIKE A I S D PARTICIPATING IN THAT, AND THAT CAN BE EXTREMELY EFFECTIVE FOR THESE, THESE LARGE SCALE CALLS.
I THINK THAT WE HAVE, UM, AND DON'T HOLD ME TO THIS.
I THINK THERE'S ONE BUILDING DOWNTOWN THAT IS ON THE A D R PROGRAM.
WE CAN'T FORCE CUSTOMERS TO ENROLL IN OUR PROGRAMS. AND THEN HISTORICALLY, WE'VE HAD AN E R S, WHICH IS LIKE A LARGER LOAD SHIFTING COMMERCIAL PROGRAM, UM, THAT'S NOT SUPER ACTIVE THESE DAYS, BUT IS SOMETHING THAT WE HAVE, WE HAVE LIKE THE PROGRAM STRUCTURE FOR, WHY DON'T WE TALK ABOUT GETTING THAT ON THE AGENDA IN THE FUTURE.
WE INTERRUPT YOUR, YOUR REGULAR PRESENTATION FOR DISCUSSION OF DR.
I, I THINK, UH, THE ONLY THING I WOULD ADD IN CONCLUSION IS THAT, UM, ON, UH, ON BATTERIES AND STORAGE, UH, WE DO FEEL THAT THERE IS, UM, ACTIVE WORK, UH, WE ARE COMPLYING WITH THE, UH, UH, REQUIREMENTS OF THE RESOLUTION.
AND WE'VE HAD SEVERAL STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT
[00:50:01]
MEETINGS.AND SO WE DO FEEL WE'RE MAKING PROGRESS ALONG THOSE LINES.
AND AT THIS POINT, I'LL TAKE ANY ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS, UH, BEFORE I GET INTO THE NEXT, THE NEXT, UH, BRIEFING ONLINE.
ANY QUESTIONS? WELL, BACK TO THE PREVIOUS TOPIC.
I'M CURIOUS IF YOU GUYS COULD TALK ABOUT WHAT THE CITY DOES IN THOSE SITUATIONS, OR EVEN AE ITSELF.
DO YOU ALL HAVE POLICIES IN PLACE TO THROTTLE DOWN YOUR USAGE OR YOUR NON-ESSENTIAL USAGE? YEAH, WE DO.
COULD YOU DESCRIBE A COUPLE OF THOSE? UM, I'M NOT AS FAMILIAR WITH THIS WORK.
GOOD EVENING, COMMISSIONER STEWART RILEY, UM, DEPUTY GENERAL MANAGER.
SO, UM, AT OUR FACILITIES HERE AT AUSTIN ENERGY, WE, UH, TURN OFF NON-ESSENTIAL LIGHTING AND WE ALSO, UH, REDUCE OUR USE OF THE AIR CONDITIONER.
JUST THE SAME THINGS THAT YOU WOULD DO AT HOME, THE SAME THINGS WE ASK OUR CUSTOMERS TO DO.
AND THEN, UM, WE COMMUNICATE WITH THE CITY BUILDING SERVICES DEPARTMENT, UM, TO HAVE THEM DO THE SAME THINGS AS WELL.
DO YOU KNOW IF, UH, OUR STATE GOVERNMENT BUILDINGS, ARE THEY ALSO ALSO DOING THE SAME? I BELIEVE THE ERCOT, UM, MEDIA RELEASES AT THE TIME WHEN ANY CONSERVATION CALL GOES OUT, UM, DIRECTS GOVERNMENTAL ENTITIES TO PARTICIPATE.
I MEAN, A STATE ENTITY IS THE ONE PUTTING OUT THE PLEA, SO I WOULD HOPE THAT ALL GOVERNMENTAL ENTITIES WOULD BE PARTICIPATING IN THAT CALL.
YOU HAVE THE MEETING AND THERE'S TO CHECK THAT THOUGH, RIGHT? WELL, THE STATE ENTITIES ARE ALSO, UM, SOME OF OUR, YOU KNOW, OUR KEY ACCOUNT, UH, CUSTOMERS AS WELL.
SO WE DO INTERACT WITH THEM QUITE FREQUENTLY.
DIDN'T WE GIVE THEM A LARGE DISCOUNT? I'M SORRY, I WON'T GO THERE.
AND THEN ONE OTHER, JUST GENERAL QUESTION, WHAT PERCENT OF LOAD OR AE LOAD DOES THE COMMERCIAL CUSTOMERS, THE BIG TOWERS DOWNTOWN, WHAT DOES THAT MAKE UP RELATIVE TO THE RESIDENTIAL CUSTOMER LOAD? I MEAN, IS IT A FAIRLY SUBSTANTIAL PORTION? SO EVEN A SMALL REDUCTION ON THEIR PART WOULD MAKE A, A DRASTIC CHANGE? CAN YOU JUST HELP ME UNDERSTAND THAT A LITTLE BIT MORE? I, I CAN SPEAK TO IT IN GENERAL TERMS. I DON'T HAVE SPECIFICS, BUT I KNOW WHILE THE MAJORITY OF OUR CUSTOMERS, IT, THE RESIDENTIAL SEGMENT DOES NOT MAKE UP THE MAJORITY OF THE, THE LOAD CUST THE COMMERCIAL CUSTOMERS, UM, MOST NOTABLY OUR LARGEST COMMERCIAL CUSTOMERS MAKE UP THE SUBSTANTIVE PORTION OF OUR LOAD, IS MY UNDERSTANDING,
THAT'S NOT SPECIFIC TO, IT'S NOT SPECIFIC TO THE DOWNTOWN TOWERS THAT WE'VE BEEN TALKING ABOUT HERE.
IT ANSWERS THE QUESTION THOUGH.
SO EVEN IF, EVEN IF THEY WERE TO REDUCE THEIR LOAD A LITTLE BIT, RIGHT, IT WOULD MAKE A PRETTY DRASTIC IMPACT RELATIVE TO THE RESIDENTIAL POPULATION.
[11. Staff briefing on Council Resolution 20230309-027 relating to fast charging stations for electric vehicles, by Richard Génecé, Vice President of Customer Energy Solutions.]
I THINK YOU'RE UP FOR NUMBER 11.UM, SO, UH, THE SECOND BRIEFING I'M GONNA PROVIDE TONIGHT IS A BRIEFING ON, UM, OUR, UH, VEHICLE CHARGING EXPANSION AND MAINTENANCE.
AND SO, UH, THIS RESOLUTION HAS THREE DIRECTIVES.
UH, FIRST DEVELOPING A VISION AND A PLAN FOR EQUITABLE DISTRIBUTION OF PUBLIC CHARGING STATIONS THROUGHOUT THE CITY, INCLUDING BOTH DC FAST CHARGERS AND LEVEL TWO CHARGERS.
IN ADDITION, THE RESOLUTION CALLS FOR ESTABLISHING PRIORITIES FOR AN INITIAL THREE YEAR, UH, IMPLEMENTATION PLAN OF THE VISION WITH ACTIONABLE FUNDING OPTIONS THAT INCLUDE FEDERAL AND GRANT OPPORTUNITIES.
SECOND, THE RESOLUTION CALLS FOR COORDINATING WITH LOCAL AND REGIONAL PARTNERS TO DEVELOP A CHARGING INFRASTRUCTURE FOR THEIR FLEETS.
AND LASTLY, THE RESOLUTION CALLS FOR THE PREPARATION AND UPTIME, UH, UP CALLS FOR THE PREPARATION ON THE UPTIME AND RELIABILITY OF THE PLUGIN EVERYWHERE NETWORK, AS WELL AS TIME TO REPAIR DATA AND ONGOING LEVELS OF EFFORT AND BUDGET FOR PREVENTATIVE MAINTENANCE OF OUR, OF THE SYSTEM.
SO WE DO HAVE RECORD GROWTH IN EV REGISTRATIONS.
UM, AND I THINK IT'S IMPORTANT TO NOTE AT 12% OF ALL NEW VEHICLE REGISTRATIONS IN AUSTIN BEING EV, THAT PLACES US AT, UM, HAVING
[00:55:02]
A HIGHER PERCENTAGE OF EV NEW REGISTRATIONS THAN HEAVY DUTY VEHICLES, WHICH ARE IN THE SINGLE DIGITS.SO THE GROWTH IS SIGNIFICANT AND ONGOING.
A MAJOR CONTRIBUTING FACTOR IS, AS YOU CAN SEE FROM THE SLIDE, MORE VEHICLES, MORE AVAILABLE VEHICLES COMING ONTO THE MARKET.
AND THIS IS NOT EVEN REPRESENTATIVE OF ALL THE VEHICLES THAT ARE AVAILABLE NOW.
UM, WE ARE TRENDING FROM HYBRIDS TO FULLY ELECTRIC VEHICLES.
WE HAVE BEEN TRENDING OVER THE PAST DECADE AND, UH, AND BASED ON ENERGY DENSITY IN BATTERIES AND EV RANGE GETTING LONGER.
SO THE FIRST PART OF THE VISION IS, UH, ESTABLISHING THE PLAN FOR EV ADOPTION.
WE HAVE A OVERALL QUANTITY OF 226 MEGAWATTS OF ELECTRICAL LOAD, UH, THAT'S BEEN ASSESSED.
FIRST OF ALL, THESE ARE, UH, UH, GOALS THAT ARE FROM THE CLIMATE EQUITY PLAN.
UM, THEY EQUATE ROUGHLY TO TWO 37,000 CHARGING PORTS, BUT THAT CAN VARY, VARY GREATLY BASED ON THE SPEED OF CHARGING AND WHAT RATIO OF FAST CHARGING TO EV ADOPTION LOOKS LIKE IN THE FUTURE.
UH, WITHIN THESE GOALS, THERE ARE FOUR IDENTIFIED STRATEGIES, UH, ASSOCIATED WITH THE CLIMATE EQUITY GOAL.
THIS GOAL INCLUDES NOT JUST PUBLIC FACING CHARGING, BUT ALSO FLEET ELECTRIFICATION.
THE CHARGING INFRASTRUCTURE WILL BE A COMBINATION OF THE EFFORTS OF THE CITY OF AUSTIN LOCAL FLEETS, AS WELL AS ENABLING THE PRIVATE SECTOR GROWTH OF EV CHARGING TO SUPPORT MULTIPLE USE CASES.
SORRY, I'M NOT UNDERSTANDING THE 226 MEGAWATTS, ARE YOU SAYING THAT'S THE TOTAL AMOUNT OF LOAD IF ALL THOSE I DON'T UNDERSTAND.
I DON'T, I'M NOT UNDERSTANDING.
SO IT'S A, IT'S A ESTIMATE AT BEST IN TERMS OF, UM, WHAT THE CLIMATE EQUITY PLAN CALLS FOR.
THE 40% VEHICLE MILE MILES TRAVELED BEING ELECTRIC AND THAT 40% OF VEHICLE MILES TRAVELED EQUATES TO WHAT WE BELIEVE WOULD BE 226, UH, MEGAWATTS OF LOAD ON THE SYSTEM.
NEXT SLIDE, OR THIS SLIDE,
SO THE NEXT PART OF THE VISION CALLS FOR E ENSURING EQUITABLE, SCALABLE, AND EQUITABLE DISTRIBUTION.
ONCE WE'VE DEFINED THE GOAL, HOW DO WE MAKE THAT SCALABLE AND HOW DO WE MAKE THAT EQUITABLE? SO JUSTICE 40 IS AN INITIATIVE THAT THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT HAS TO MAKE SURE THAT WE DELIVER AT LEAST 40% OF THE OVERALL BENEFITS FROM FEDERAL INVESTMENTS TO DISADVANTAGED COMMUNITIES.
AND THIS IS OUR, OUR, UH, GUIDEPOST IN TERMS OF HOW WE'RE GOING TO ENSURE THAT WE HAVE EQUITABLE, UH, DISTRIBUTION AS WELL AS, UH, SCALABLE GROWTH.
NOW, THE SCALABLE GROWTH IS GOING TO OCCUR THROUGH PROJECTION ANALYSIS AND MAPPING.
UH, WE ARE WORKING, UM, THROUGH TOOLS THAT WE WILL HAVE TO ACCESS, UH, TO HAVE PROJECTED, UH, ANALYSIS OF EV GROWTH IN THE AUSTIN AREA, AS WELL AS HOW WE WILL TRANSLATE TO EV CHARGING IMPACTS ON THE DISTRIBUTION GRID.
ADDITIONALLY, AUSTIN ENERGY HAS JOINED WITH EPRI, THE ELECTRIC POWER RESEARCH INSTITUTES EV TO SCALES PROGRAM, AND THAT'S A PROGRAM IN WHICH WE ARE PARTNERING WITH 500, NEARLY 500 PARTNERS ACROSS INDUSTRY, UH, TO DETERMINE HOW ARE WE GOING TO ACHIEVE TO PREPARE THE ELECTRIC UTILITY INDUSTRY TO ACHIEVE LARGE SCALE ELECTRIFICATION BY 2030.
SO AFTER WE'VE TALKED ABOUT WHAT THE GOAL IS AT THIS 226 MEGAWATTS AND HOW, HOW DO WE DO THAT? HOW DO WE GROW THAT, UH, SCALE IT, AND HOW DO WE SCALE IT EQUITABLY? THEN WE TALK ABOUT OUR METHODS FOR DEPLOYMENT.
SO WE WILL CONTINUE TO OFFER INCENTIVES, UH, TO INCREASE PUB PUBLIC CHARGING, UH, HOW WE GOT HERE TO OUR 1600 CHARGING, UH, LEVEL TWO CHARGING PORT NETWORK.
AND OUR 30 DC FAST CHARGERS, UM, WAS THROUGH OFFERING THESE INCENTIVES.
UM, ADDITIONALLY THIS AUSTIN ENERGY, UH, CITY OF AUSTIN FLEET SERVICES AND PUB PUBLIC WORKS HAVE BEEN ACTIVELY DEPLOYING DEDICATED CHARGING INFRASTRUCTURE TO SUPPORT CITY OF AUSTIN FLEET SERVICES TRANSITION TO EVS AT CITY OF AUSTIN PROPERTIES.
WE ARE ALSO GOING TO LEVEL FEDERAL FUNDING TO EXPAND DC FAST CHARGING IN AUSTIN.
AND AUSTIN ENERGY ALSO HAS A CAPITAL BUDGET OVER THE NEXT FIVE YEARS TO SUPPORT DEPLOYMENT AND MATCH NEEDED, UH, FUNDS FOR FEDERAL GRANT OPPORTUNITIES.
SO, THE US DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION CHARGING AND FUELING INFRASTRUCTURE GRANT
[01:00:01]
IS AIMED AT SUPPORTING GREATER ACCESS TO PUBLIC CHARGING INFRASTRUCTURE WITH AN EMPHASIS ON SUPPORTING LOW TO MODERATE INCOME COMMUNITIES, MULTI-FAMILY AND FLEET AND RIDE SHARE APPLICATIONS.UNDER THIS, UH, C F I GRANT, $700 MILLION IS AUTHORIZED FOR THIS YEAR WITH AN ANTICIPATED 1.8 BILLION.
OVER THE NEXT FOUR FISCAL YEARS, WE, AUSTIN ENERGY AND THE CITY OF AUSTIN HAVE APPLIED FOR 15 MILLION.
UM, IN JUNE, WE, WE COMPLETED THAT APPLICATION.
THAT WAS THE MAXIMUM AMOUNT WE COULD HAVE APPLIED FOR.
UH, WE ARE STILL AWAITING THE STATUS ON THIS APPLICATION.
THE CITY OF AUSTIN AND TRAVIS COUNTY PROPERTIES WERE PRIORITIZED, UH, TO MINIMIZE LAND ACQUISITION COSTS.
AND THE FULL SCOPE WILL BE DEVELOPED IF AN AWARD IS GIVEN THOUGH A REQUEST THROUGH A REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL PROCESS.
I WANNA EXPLAIN THAT A LITTLE BIT.
WHAT I MEAN IS THAT WE APPLIED, UH, WE WANT THE 15 MILLION, IF WE'RE AWARDED THE 15 MILLION TO BE APPLIED AS BROADLY AS POSSIBLE, TO DO AS MUCH FOR US AS WE CAN.
WE DON'T WANT TO, WE WANT TO MINIMIZE THE AMOUNT THAT WE WOULD HAVE TO DEVOTE TO LAND ACQUISITION AS PART OF THAT 15 MILLION.
SO WE'RE PRIORITIZING CITY OF AUSTIN AND TRAVIS COUNTY PROPERTIES ON WHICH WE'D BE ABLE TO PUT NEW CHARGING INFRASTRUCTURE SO THAT WE, SO WE ALREADY HAVE THAT LAND.
WE WOULD NOT HAVE TO ACQUIRE THAT NEW LAND.
UM, IF THE 15 MILLION IS GRANTED, IT WOULD RESULT IN A PROJECTED INCREASE OF ABOUT 80 DC FAST CHARGERS, UH, THROUGHOUT THE CITY OF AUSTIN.
WELL, I MEAN, STAY ON THAT FOR A SECOND.
SO THAT'S 80 PLUS THE 30 TODAY, CORRECT? OR WOULD THERE BE OTHER INCREMENTAL GROWTH ANYWAY? NO, I MEAN, THERE PROBABLY WOULD BE, UH, DAVE, BUT I'M JUST SAYING IN TERMS OF OUR EFFORTS, IT WOULD BE THE 80 PLUS, THE 30 PLUS THE PRIVATE INVESTMENT THAT WE CAN, UH, STIMULATE AS WELL.
AND IS THIS 80 COUPLERS OR AT, AT MAYBE FOUR UNITS PER IT, IT WOULD BE 80, SIMILAR TO THE, YOU KNOW, 30 WE HAVE NOW.
SO IT WOULD BE 80 WITH PROBABLY TWO AT EACH, UH, STATION.
I I HAVE A REALLY STUPID QUESTION.
THERE ARE NO STUPID QUESTIONS.
THIS ONE IS, I SHOULD KNOW THIS BY NOW.
UM, SO WE'RE TALKING ABOUT, YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT THE COST TO INSTALL THE CHARGERS, RIGHT? CORRECT.
AND, UM, THEY WOULD HAVE WHATEVER RATE THEY'RE SIGNED UP FOR.
AND THEN WE ALSO, WHATEVER RATE THEY ARE SIGNED UP FOR IN, FROM AN AUSTIN ENERGY STANDPOINT.
UM, AND THEN WE ARE ALSO, UH, PILOTING A DEMAND RESPONSE, UH, COMPONENT AND PROGRAM FOR CHARGERS AT HOME AS WELL.
SO THIS IS WHERE WE WOULD, UM, SEND SIGNALS TO CUSTOMERS TO, HEY, YOU KNOW, THE GRID IS, UH, WE'RE EXPERIENCING, YOU KNOW, UH, A NEED RIGHT NOW.
ARE YOU WILLING TO DEFER YOUR CHARGING UNTIL THE, THE TIME THAT IS BEST FOR THE GRID? RIGHT? SO IT'S THE REALLY THE PUBLIC CHARGING STATIONS THAT I'M WONDERING ABOUT.
HOW IS THAT PAID FOR? HOW, HOW IS THE ENERGY THAT IS? SO THERE'S USED TO CHARGE, SO THERE'S A, THERE'S A CHARGE FOR THE, UM, PUBLIC STATIONS DEPENDING ON WHETHER IT'S A DC FAST CHARGER OR WHETHER IT IS A LEVEL TWO CHARGER.
IT'S DIFFERENT CHARGERS DIFFERENT, WE HAVE 21 CENTS PER KILOWATT HOUR FOR OUR DC FAST CHARGERS.
AND THEN FOR OUR LEVEL TWO CHARGERS, UM, WE ACTUALLY ARE GONNA BE INCREASING THAT RATE.
IT'S, IT'S TOO CHEAP RIGHT NOW, ACTUALLY.
IT'S NOT REALLY COVERING OUR COSTS.
SO DOES THE CUSTOMER PULL UP, I'M THINKING ABOUT THE EQUITY SIDE OF THIS, RIGHT? SURE.
SO DOES THE CUSTOMER PULL UP PLUGIN AND HAVE TO INSERT A CREDIT CARD? THERE ARE THE CUSTOMER SIGNS UP FOR AN ACCOUNT AND THERE'S A CREDIT CARD ASSOCIATED WITH THAT ACCOUNT.
AND IF IT'S A LEVEL TWO CHARGER, THE CUSTOMER'S CHARGED CURRENTLY $25 EVERY SIX MONTHS, OR UNLIMITED AMOUNTS OF CHARGER, I THINK YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT HOW DO YOU ACTUALLY, HOW DO YOU ACTUALLY DO THIS IF YOU I AM, HOW DO, OKAY, HOW DO YOU ACTUALLY DO THIS? SEE, I TOLD YOU IT WAS A STUPID QUESTION.
IT'S NOT NO, THERE'S, THERE'S, THERE'S MULTIPLE OPTIONS THERE TOO.
SO THE CUSTOMERS CAN ACTUALLY ACTIVATE THE CHARGER THROUGH EITHER A CARD FROM CHARGEPOINT, LIKE A LITTLE PLASTIC CARD OR FROM THEIR APP, THEIR CHARGEPOINT APP, OR THEY CAN DO IT, UM, THROUGH THE, UH, THE PHONE.
LIKE THEY CAN ACTUALLY LIKE APPLE WALLET, UH, OR ANDROID, I GUESS WALLET.
SO THERE'S THREE WAYS IN WHICH YOU CAN
[01:05:01]
ACTIVATE THE CHARGER.SO IT, BUT IT'S NOT, IT'S NOT SPECIFIC TO YOU'RE NOT FEEDING THE METER.
BUT YOU'RE NOT, AND I'M SORRY, I'M TAKING UP A LOT OF TIME ON THIS.
UH, I HAVE ANOTHER FOLLOW UP QUESTION TOO ON SOMETHING ELSE, BUT, UM, IT'S NOT SPECIFIC TO THE LOCATION.
I MEAN, IT'S NOT THAT YOU HAVE AN APP THAT WORKS ONLY FOR WHEN YOU'RE IN AUSTIN ENERGY'S TERRITORY.
SO, UM, AUSTIN ENERGY HAS A PLUGIN EVERYWHERE NETWORK THAT'S 1600 OF OUR CHARGERS.
BUT OUTSIDE OF THAT, AND THAT IS WITH CHARGEPOINT, RIGHT? SO CHARGEPOINT IS THE, ACTUALLY THE LARGEST CHARGING NETWORK PROVIDER.
SO THERE ARE OTHER CHARGEPOINT, UH, STATIONS THAT ARE OUTSIDE OF OUR NETWORK, UM, THAT A CUSTOMER WOULD STILL HAVE ACCESS TO, BUT THEN THEY'D BE PAYING WHATEVER THE RATE IS FOR THAT PART OF THE CHARGEPOINT NETWORK, NOT THE AUSTIN ENERGY PART, IF THAT MAKES SENSE.
LIKE I WENT TO HOUSTON AND I CHARGED IN HOUSTON AT A CHARGEPOINT UH, CHARGING STATION.
WELL, I DIDN'T GET THE $25, YOU KNOW, UH, EVERY SIX MONTHS RATE THAT 'CAUSE IT'S NOT INCLUDED IN THAT.
SO, OKAY, MY LAST QUESTION ON THIS IS SEEMS TO ME THAT I UNDERSTAND THAT, UH, TEXAS IS GOING TO START CHARGING EV OWNERS $400 A YEAR TO REGISTER THEIR CARS.
IT'S 200, 400 FOR A NEW, WHEN YOU BUY A NEW CAR, IT'S YOUR STICKER'S GOOD FOR TWO YEARS AND THAT'S WHY IT'S 400.
SO IT'S 400 THE FIRST YEAR, THE FIRST TWO YEARS, FIRST TWO YEARS IF IT'S NEW, IF IT'S NEW.
AND THEN AFTER THAT IT'S 200 ON TOP OF THE NORMAL 75 OR $79 EVERY YEAR.
SO IS THERE ANY WAY TO ADDRESS, I MEAN I'M, I'M WONDERING IF YOU HAVE CONSIDERED WHETHER THAT'S GONNA HAVE AN IMPACT ON YOUR GOAL FOR EVS IN AUSTIN? I MEAN IN TERMS OF EQUITY THAT, YOU KNOW, SO THAT'S A FAIRLY SUBSTANTIAL, UH, I CAN DIVE INTO THIS 'CAUSE SMITTY WAS INVOLVED IN THIS AND SUCH NOT, AND THE ACTUAL ANALYSIS, IT ALL DEPENDS ON WHOSE ANALYSIS YOU WANTED TO BELIEVE EV DRIVERS.
THE SURVEYS WERE THAT SURE WE'LL PAY FOR OUR FAIR SHARE OF THE GAS TAX REPLACEMENT.
SO SOME AMOUNT, ONE ANALYSIS WAS A FAIR AMOUNT WAS ABOUT $7,500, 75 TO A HUNDRED DOLLARS A YEAR.
ANOTHER ANALYSIS THAT WAS PAID ATTENTION TO BY THE KEY LEGISLATURES WHO PUT THE, PUT THE 200 IN PLACE WAS IT SHOULD BE 200.
AND GUESS WHICH ONE WON? YEAH.
SO THE 201, THE ONLY SAVING GRACE ON PART OF THIS IS THAT, OKAY, SO MAYBE IT'S TWO X BUT IT SHOULD BE, BUT IN, UH, THEY ALSO GOT RID OF THE SAFETY INSPECTION.
AND SO AT LEAST ONE BENEFIT OF A PURE BATTERY ELECTRIC IS THAT SINCE YOU EVEN IN A NON-ATTAINMENT AREA OR NEAR NON-ATTAINMENT AREA LIKE AUSTIN, UM, WITH AN EV, YOU WILL NO LONGER HAVE TO GET THE SAFETY INSPECTION AND YOU NEVER DID HAVE TO GET THE EMISSIONS INSPECTION.
SO EVERY YEAR YOU WON'T HAVE TO GO GET ANY KIND OF INSPECTION.
BUT I THOUGHT, I THOUGHT THEY DID AWAY WITH THE SAFETY INSPECTION FOR EVERYBODY.
BUT NOT THE SMOG TEST, NOT THE WHY DO I NOT FEEL BETTER ABOUT THAT?
IT'S GOOD TO HAVE BALD TIRES RUNNING ANYWHERE AROUND.
AND, AND MY QUESTION IS REALLY NOT THE POLICY THE LEGISLATURE'S DONE WHAT IT'S DONE.
MY QUESTION IS WHAT IMPACT IS THAT LIKELY TO HAVE IF YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT TRYING TO IMPROVE THE EQUITABLE BENEFITS OF EV WITHIN AUSTIN? I MEAN, YOU TELL SOMEBODY, OH YEAH, IF WE CAN, YOU CAN FIGURE OUT HOW TO BUY THAT CAR, BUT IT'S GONNA COST YOU $200 MORE PER YEAR.
I UNDERSTAND THE OFFSETTING, BUT IT'S AN UPFRONT COST AND I JUST WONDER IF IT IS GONNA IMPACT THE GOAL.
I MEAN, I THINK IT POSSIBLY COULD IMPACT THE GOAL, BUT OUR STRATEGY IS ON COMPLETE ELECTRIFICATION ACROSS THE BOARD AND HAVING DIFFERENT PROGRAMS AND OFFERINGS THAT, UH, APPEAL TO ALL CUSTOMERS.
SO WE HAVE LIKE, UH, ELECTRIC BIKES FOR EXAMPLE.
WE HAVE, YOU KNOW, UM, ANOTHER PILOT PROGRAM THAT WE'RE, WE'RE TALKING ABOUT SPECIFICALLY TARGETED AT LOW INCOME CUSTOMERS, A CAR SHARE PROGRAM THAT WE'RE, WE'RE IN DEVELOPMENT OF.
SO THE, THE WHOLE IDEA IS, AND, AND TALKING TO CUSTOMERS ABOUT, UH, RIDING IN AN ELECTRIC BUS, WHETHER THAT'S A SCHOOL BUS OR WHETHER IT'S A CITY BUS, UH, GETTING CUSTOMERS IN THE RIGHT MINDSET THAT YOU ARE PARTICIPATING, YOU'RE CONTRIBUTING TO BEING PART OF THE SOLUTION IF YOU'RE
[01:10:01]
RIDING IN A ELECTRIC BUS OR YOUR KIDS ARE RIDING IN AN ELECTRIC SCHOOL BUS.SO TO, I MEAN, JUST TRYING TO ADDRESS YOUR QUESTION, YES, WHAT YOU'RE SAYING COULD IMPACT, IT COULD, BUT I THINK OUR STRATEGY IS ON, YOU KNOW, TRYING TO MAKE SURE THAT ALL CUSTOMERS, UH, REALIZE THERE'S A PLACE FOR THEM IN BEING PART OF THE SOLUTION.
SO WE ARE, UH, ACTIVELY WORKING WITH SEVERAL PARTNERS.
UH, SPEAKING OF FLEET, WE ARE ACTIVELY WORKING WITH SEVERAL PARTNERS ON THEIR FLEET ELECTRIFICATION EFFORTS, INCLUDING THE CITY OF AUSTIN, FLEET SERVICES, CAPITAL, METRO, AUSTIN INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT, AND MULTIPLE PRIVATE SECTOR FLEET APPLICATIONS.
EACH OF THESE APPLICATIONS IS GOING TO REQUIRE DIFFERENT OPERATIONAL NEEDS, SUCH AS ACCESS AND SCHEDULE OF CHARGING, OPEN CHARGING VERSUS BEHIND THE GATE, UH, ET CETERA.
WE HAVE MADE PROGRESS ON CO-LOCATION, UH, AT CITY OF AUSTIN PROPERTIES WHERE FLEET, FLEET AND PUBLIC CHARGING ARE CO-LOCATED, CITED DC FAST CHARGING AT AN A I S D SCHOOL AND INCLUDED TRAVIS COUNTY PROPERTIES IN OUR GRANT APPLICATION TO THE US DEPARTMENT OF ED OF TRANSPORTATION.
UH, SO WE WILL CONTINUE TO EVALUATE OPPORTUNITIES THAT ALLOW FOR SHARED ACCESS.
SO ON THE STATE OF OUR CHARGING NETWORK HEALTH, OUR CHARGING INFRASTRUCTURE, NETWORK HEALTH, WE ARE, WE HAVE BEEN FOCUSED ON GROWTH FOR THE PAST 10 YEARS, AND NOW WE ARE SHIFTING OUR FOCUS TO, I'D SAY, OPERATIONAL EXCELLENCE AND TO REDUCING OUTAGES.
THE ENTIRE INDUSTRY IS ALSO GOING THROUGH A NEEDED TRANSITION FROM FOCUSING ON OUTAGES TO FOCUSING ON UPTIME, RIGHT? AND THERE IS A FORTHCOMING, UH, NEVY STANDARD FOR 97% UPTIME OF A CHARGING INFRASTRUCTURE, UH, NETWORK, BUT THE INDUSTRY IS UNDER UNDERGOING THAT CONVERSION.
SO WE HAVE GONE FROM A 28% OUTAGE, UH, FIGURE IN JANUARY TO AN 11% OUTAGE FIGURE CURRENTLY.
AND, UM, I'M A NEW EV OWNER, SO I KNOW FIRSTHAND THE, YOU KNOW, UH, THE STRESS ASSOCIATED WITH RANGE ANXIETY AND GO GOING AND NOT HAVING A CHARGER, UH, AVAILABLE WHERE YOU THINK IT'S AVAILABLE OR THINKING IT'S OPERATIONAL WHEN IT'S NOT OPERATIONAL.
SO I, I ASSURE YOU THAT WE ARE WORKING DILIGENTLY ON THIS SHIFT FROM GROWTH TO OPERATIONAL EXCELLENCE AND UPTIME.
YES, RICHARD, UH, ALL OF WHICH IS, UH, I, I THINK OF THESE DEVICES AS BASICALLY A TRANSFORM LIKE A TRANSFORMER OR LIKE A, YOUR WATER HEATER.
WHY, WHAT IS THERE TO BREAK THAT, THAT WE, YOU KNOW, 11 TO 28% OF THEM ARE BROKEN.
WHAT? YEAH, THERE, WHAT, WHAT'S WRONG WITH THEM? THERE'S, THERE'S A LOT THAT ENDS UP BEING BROKEN BETWEEN, UH, JUST TO CATEGORIZE IT, HARDWARE, SOFTWARE, AND CABLES, UH, I THINK WOULD BE ANOTHER WAY AND POWER THERE.
THERE'S POWER MODULES IN EACH OF THEM AS WELL.
THERE'S, THERE'S SOPHISTICATED TECHNOLOGY THERE AND, UM, YOU KNOW, WHETHER NOT ALL OF THEM HAVE BEEN COMMUNICATING.
SO THERE'S NON COMMUNICATING EQUIPMENT TO COMMUNICATING EQUIPMENT, SMART EQUIPMENT TO NOT SMART EQUIPMENT.
UM, SO I WOULD SUMMARIZE BY JUST SAYING THERE'S A LOT THAT CAN GO WRONG AND DOES GO WRONG WITH THIS TECHNOLOGY OR THESE, UH, CHARGERS AND GETTING OUR ARMS AROUND ALL OF THAT WITH CHARGEPOINT, UM, IS REALLY WHAT WE'RE, WHAT WE'RE FOCUSED ON.
UM, WE ACTUALLY HAVE EMBARKED ON PREVENTATIVE MAINTENANCE, WHICH IS NOT, UH, SOMETHING THAT WE HAD BEFORE WITH ANOTHER PROVIDER CALLED SMART CHARGE AMERICA.
AND THIS PROVIDER GOES OUT TO EVERY STATION IN OUR 1600 STATION NETWORK AND ASSESSES EXACTLY, YOU KNOW, IS THERE A MATCH BETWEEN WHAT THE, UH, SOFTWARE SAYS, WHAT THE APP SAYS IN TERMS OF THIS, UH, CHARGER IS AVAILABLE AND UP AT THIS LOCATION AND WHAT THE ACTUAL PHYSICAL, WHAT THE ACTUAL PHYSICAL SITUATION IS.
AND AS DAVE, UH, YOU KNOW, CAN WELL ATTEST TO, UNFORTUNATELY, SOMETIMES WE HAVE A, A MISMATCH THERE.
A, A CHARGER IS REPORTED AS IN SERVICE, BUT WHEN YOU ACTUALLY GO OUT TO THE CHARGER, IT'S NOT IN SERVICE.
AND THERE'S A NUMBER OF REASONS FOR THAT.
UH, BUT I FEEL CONFIDENT AND, YOU KNOW, WOULD WELCOME DAVE'S, UH, PERSPECTIVE TOO.
WE HAVE SOME, UH, CHARGERS BY H E B, UH, OUT BY, BY BY THIS FACILITY CLOSEST TO THIS FACILITY.
THEY'RE IMPORTANT CHARGERS 'CAUSE THEY'RE VERY FREQUENTLY USED IN THEIR DC FAST CHARGERS AND THERE'S FOUR OF 'EM.
AND, UM, YOU KNOW, WE HAVE RECENTLY JUST REALLY FOCUSED
[01:15:01]
OUR EFFORTS AND WE HAVE, UH, UH, COMMITMENTS FROM CHARGEPOINT WHERE WE GOT ALL OF THESE UP AND RUNNING NOW.AND, YOU KNOW, I'M, I, THAT IS SOMETHING WHERE WE'RE COMMITTED TO MAKING SURE THEY STAY UP.
SO IT'S NOT ENOUGH TO GET THE CHARGERS UP AND RUNNING.
THEY NEED TO STAY UP AND RUNNING.
SO CAN WE ADD THIS TO THE QUARTERLY SADIE SAFETY, KATIE METRICS, THE STATUS OF THESE, THE LEVEL TWO AND BREAK IT OUT LEVEL TWO AND DC CHARGERS? I, I FEEL CONFIDENT SINCE WE'RE GENERATING, UH, REPORTING ON THIS, I DON'T KNOW ABOUT ADDING IT TO OTHER REPORTS, BUT WE CAN CERTAINLY SHARE WHAT OUR REPORTING IS ON THIS SINCE WE'RE DOING IT ON A, UM, MONTHLY AND QUARTERLY BASIS.
AND YOU MAY HAVE ALREADY DONE THIS, BUT CAN YOU DOUBLE CHECK, GIVEN WE'VE EXPERIENCED FIRSTHAND HOW THE, THE APP WAS SAYING ONE THING AND REALITY WAS TOTALLY DIFFERENT.
UM, I GUESS ONE DOUBLE CHECK WOULD BE, DO YOU GUYS BOTH SHOP AT H E B AT THE SAME TIME OR WHAT'S HAPPENING?
UM, BECAUSE THE DC FAST CHARGERS ARE ALL NOT WORKING.
UM, SO YOU HAVE THE METER DATA.
SO I'M JUST WONDERING IF YOU COULD HAVE A SCRIPT THAT GOES OUT AND THEN PINGS AND UNDERSTANDS HOW MUCH IS REALLY USED, AND IF YOU HAVE NO USAGE OVER A CERTAIN AMOUNT OF TIME AND YOU'LL HAVE THE DATA ABOUT WHAT IT SHOULD BE OR NOT, THEN THAT SHOULD RAISE AN EXTRA FLAG TO, TO HAVE IT DOUBLE CHECKED.
YEAH, WE, I THINK, I FEEL CONFIDENT WE HAVE OUR CHARGE POINTS AND SMART CHARGE AMERICA'S FULL ATTENTION AND FOCUS ON THIS MATTER.
AND THEY ARE, UM, DOING THINGS LIKE APPLYING MACHINE LEARNING AND, UM, TO, YOU KNOW, UH, THE KIND OF ANALYSIS THAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT THAT WOULD ESSENTIALLY ENSURE THAT WE ARE, WE GET FIRST NOTICE OF ANYTHING THAT LOOKS ORRY IN TERMS OF A CHARGER THAT MAYBE IS DOWN OR MAYBE EVEN ABOUT TO GO DOWN.
SO I THINK WE'RE, WE'RE STARTING TO EXPLORE THAT AND GET INTO THAT.
SO WE HAVE A NEW FIVE YEAR CONTRACT THAT'S BEEN APPROVED WITH, UH, CHARGEPOINT, OUR, OUR, UH, NETWORK PROVIDER.
UM, WE HAVE ALSO WORKED ON LOBBYING FOR AND BEING AWARDED A CRITICAL CUSTOMER DESIGNATION FROM CHARGEPOINT.
AND WHAT THAT DOES FOR US IS GIVE US THE FOCUS AND ATTENTION THAT WE NEED ON OUR NETWORK TO MAKE SURE THAT IT'S UP AND RUNNING AND THAT, YOU KNOW, WE'RE AWARE OF ANY STATIONS THAT GO DOWN AND, AND WE HAVE DEDICATED LOCAL, UM, AND UM, UH, ACCOUNT AND TECHNICAL SUPPORT, WHICH WE HAVEN'T HAD IN THE PAST.
SO WE HAVE A, A CHARGEPOINT, UH, REPRESENTATIVE WHO'S HERE IN AUSTIN, UH, SPECIFICALLY FOR OUR NEEDS, WHICH WE HAVEN'T HAD BEFORE.
UM, ALSO IN THE PAST THERE HAVE BEEN SUPPLY, UH, CHAIN CONSTRAINTS.
YOU ASKED WHAT, WHAT, HOW ARE THESE, UH, WHAT IS WRONG WITH THESE, UH, STATIONS IN THE PAST? SUPPLY CHAIN HAS BEEN A, A NOTABLE FACTOR IN GETTING THEM REPAIRED.
WE ARE SEEING THAT, UH, SUBSIDE AS A REASON FOR, UM, THE ISSUES WITH THE REPAIRS.
SO, AND THAT I BELIEVE IS IT FOR THE BRIEFING.
AND ANY ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS? THANKS FOR ALL THIS WORK.
ANY QUESTIONS ONLINE, THEN WE GO TO NUMBER
[12. Staff briefing on the Resource Generation Plan Update by Michael Enger, Acting Vice President of Market Operations & Resource Planning.]
KABA.OKAY, NUMBER 12, MICHAEL RESOURCE GEN PLAN UPDATE.
HI, GOOD AFTER, OR GOOD EVENING COMMISSIONERS.
I'M THE ACTING VICE PRESIDENT OF ENERGY MARKET OPERATIONS AND RESOURCE PLANNING.
I'M GONNA GIVE YOU AN UPDATE ON THE GEN PLAN.
UH, THIS IS VERY SIMILAR TO WHAT WAS GIVEN AT ALL THE COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT MEETINGS, SO WE WANNA MAKE SURE YOU GUYS HAVE THE SAME INFORMATION AND PLEASE STOP ME AND ASK QUESTIONS ALONG THE WAY.
ALRIGHT, SO FIRST OF ALL, AUSTIN ENERGY AND THE ERCOT MARKET.
HOW DO WE PARTICIPATE AND HOW ARE WE INVOLVED? I THINK YOU ALL ARE WELL AWARE THAT WE DO NOT GENERATE ELECTRICITY TO DIRECTLY SERVE OUR LOAD, UM, THAT WE ACTUALLY PARTICIPATE IN THE ERCOT MARKET.
UH, PARTICIPATION IS MANDATORY.
AND ALL OF OUR GENERATION SUPPLY AS WE GENERATE MEGAWATTS, ARE SOLD INTO THE ERCOT MARKET AT A PRICE, GIVEN THAT OUR LOCATION,
[01:20:01]
UH, AND THEN ALL OF OUR DEMAND, ALL OF OUR LOAD IS BOUGHT FROM THE ERCOT MARKET, UH, AT OUR, AT OUR LOAD ZONE AND THEN ULTIMATELY DELIVERED TO OUR CUSTOMER THROUGH OUR DISTRIBUTION NETWORK AND CHARGED RETAIL RATES AND THEY PAY THE BILL FOR THAT.UM, SO WHAT IS ERCOT? ERCOT IS THE ELECTRIC LIABILITY COUNCIL OF TEXAS.
UH, THEY MANAGE THE TEXAS WHOLESALE MARKET AND THEY ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR BALANCING THE ELECTRICAL SUPPLY AND DEMAND IN ORDER TO MAINTAIN RELIABILITY.
UH, IT'S MOST OF THE STATE OF TEXAS, ABOUT 83% I THINK OF IT GEOGRAPHICALLY.
UM, AND IF YOU LOOK AT THAT LITTLE CIRCLE DOT RIGHT THERE, THAT'S KIND OF THAT MAGENTA, PURPLISH COLOR THAT IS OUR LOAD ZONE.
SO THAT IS WHERE WE'RE BUYING ALL OF OUR ENERGY.
BUT IF WE GO TO A GRAPHIC THAT SHOWS WHERE ALL OUR SUPPLY IS, YOU CAN SEE THAT IT'S, IT'S VERY SPREAD OUT.
WE DO THAT INTENTIONALLY, UH, THROUGH GEOGRAPHIC DIVERSITY.
BUT YOU ALSO NOTICE NOT ONLY DO WE HAVE GEOGRAPHIC DIVERSITY, WE ACTUALLY HAVE FUEL DIVERSITY WITHIN OUR PORTFOLIO AS WELL.
UH, WE HAVE ABOUT 1800 MEGAWATTS OF WIND UNDER CONTRACT THAT'S CHARGING THE PANHANDLE IN NORTH TEXAS, BUT THEN DOWN ALONG THE COAST AS WELL, KIND OF FROM CORPUS CHRISTI DOWN TO THE TIP AND THEN INLAND INTO THE SOUTH.
UH, WE HAVE A LOT OF SOLAR ABOUT, UH, ACTUALLY 973 MEGAWATTS OF SOLAR 'CAUSE WE'RE ABLE TO SQUEEZE A LITTLE BIT MORE OUT OF THE AIRBORNE PROJECT IN FAR WEST TEXAS.
UM, AND SO WE HAVE A LOT OF THAT IN WEST TEXAS.
BUT MORE RECENTLY WE'VE BEEN DOING THAT RIGHT HERE, UM, OUTSIDE OF AUSTIN.
IN FACT, I BELIEVE YOU'VE TOURED EAST BLACKLAND, WHICH IS JUST ABOUT 20 MINUTES, UH, NORTHEAST OF HERE, 144 MEGAWATTS SOLAR FARM.
UH, WE HAVE A COAL PLANT THAT IS JUST A LITTLE BIT EAST OF HERE IN FAYETTE COUNTY.
UH, WE OR WE OWN PART OF A COAL PLANT, 50% OF TWO UNITS.
WE OWN, UH, ABOUT ONE SIXTH OF THE NUCLEAR PLANT DOWN IN BAY CITY NEAR HOUSTON.
UH, WE HAVE 105 MEGAWATT BIOMASS PLANT THAT BURNS WASTE WOOD UP IN NACODOCHES.
AND WE HAVE ABOUT 800 MEGAWATTS OF NATURAL GAS THAT IS LOCATED HERE IN THE AUSTIN AREA, INCLUDING THE DECKER TTS, WHICH ARE ACTUALLY BLACK START UNITS.
SO THEY ARE PART OF ERCOT PLAN TO PUT THE GRID BACK TOGETHER IF WE EVER DID EXPERIENCE A BLACKOUT.
UM, YOU WILL NOTICE ALSO THAT, UH, WE HAVE AN ALL-TIME PEAK LOAD.
UH, WE SET THAT THIS YEAR, UH, JUST OVER 3004 OF MEGAWATTS THAT TELEMETRY.
SO WHEN WE GET ACTUALS THAT MAY, UH, BE PLUS OR MINUS ABOUT 10 MEGAWATTS.
UH, AND THEN OUR, OUR PEAK LOAD IS LAST WINTER, UH, AHEAD OF THAT WINTER STORM OF ABOUT 26 13.
UH, QUICKLY, UH, THIS LAST WEEK, THIS LAST WEEK WHEN, UH, ENERGY PRICES SKYROCKETED, UH, $5,000 PER UH, MEGAWATT HOUR, UH, WOULD AUSTIN ENERGY, UH, GIVE IT OUR GENERATION? WERE WE A WINNER OR A LOSER AS AS IT, UH, AS PRICES SKYROCKETED? YEAH, SO THAT'S A GREAT QUESTION.
SO IF YOU GO OUT AND LOOK AT ERCOT ON WHY THEY HAD A CALL FOR CONSERVATION, UH, AND LOOK AT THE REASON IT WAS DUE TO LOW WIND AND DECLINING SOLAR PRODUCTION.
IF YOU LOOK AT OUR PORTFOLIO, OOPS, SORRY.
IT IS VERY HEAVY WIND AND SOLAR PRODUCTION.
SO TYPICALLY WE HAVE THE LEAST AMOUNT GENERATING WHEN THE PRICES ARE THE HIGHEST.
UM, AND SO EVENTS LIKE THAT CALL CURVE FOR CONSERVATION WHEN IT'S LOW END AND DECLINING SOLAR PRODUCTION PUTS A LOT OF PRESSURE ON OUR RATES ON OUR P S A RATES.
SO, SO IT WAS, SO HOW, HOW MUCH OF IT IS TRANSMISSION CONSTRAINTS THAT VERSUS AVAILABLE POWER? UH, SO IT, IT CAN VARY.
I WILL SAY DURING THE MOST RECENT CALL FOR CONSERVATION, WE HAD VERY LOW WIND IN THE SYSTEM.
SO ERCOT HAS CLOSE TO 39,000 MEGAWATTS OF WIND CAPACITY.
AND WE WERE SEEING HOURS THAT WERE A THOUSAND MEGAWATTS OCCASIONALLY LOWER THAN THAT.
AND THEN ERCOT HAS ABOUT 17,700 MEGAWATTS OF SOLAR CAPACITY.
AND THAT'S ALL GONNA COME OFF LINE WITH ABOUT 90 MINUTES, MAYBE 75 MINUTES.
AND IT'S MUCH LIKE, UM, A CAR CAN ONLY GO ZERO TO 60 SO FAST.
A POWER PLANT THAT IS NOT AT THE TOP, THAT'S, UM, LIKE THE THERMAL POWER PLANT CAN ONLY RAMP UP SO FAST.
AND SO OFTENTIMES IT'S THAT SOLAR RAMP, IT'S STEEPER AND STEEPER.
IT'S HARDER AND HARDER FOR, UM, THE THERMAL GENERATION TO KIND OF KEEP UP AND RAMP UP AS FAST AS THAT SOLAR IS DECLINING.
AND AND WAS THE BIOMASS, UH, PLANT MAKING US MONEY THEN? IT WAS, AND IN FACT I WOULD, I WOULD LIKE TO GIVE A SHOUT OUT TO THE BIOMASS PLANT 'CAUSE I THINK THERE WAS SOME CALLS ABOUT WHAT HAPPENS WHEN WE HAVE A CALL CONSERVATION AND WHAT DO WE DO.
SO YOU CAN SEE LISTED THAT'S 105 MEGAWATT, UH, POWER PLANT.
UH, DURING THAT CALL FOR CONSERVATION, THEY LOOKED AT REDUCING, UH, AUXILIARY LOAD OR WHAT I CALL PARASITIC LOAD.
SO THAT'S THE LOAD THAT'S IT TAKES TO RUN THE POWER PLANT.
AND THEN EVERYTHING GENERATED THAT, THE NET IS WHAT WE SEE THAT 1 0 5, THEY ACTUALLY WERE ABLE TO SHUT DOWN A NUMBER OF DIFFERENT SYSTEMS AND PUT OUT 1 0 6 0.9 MEGAWATTS.
[01:25:01]
MEGAWATTS WAS ABOUT $10,000 AN HOUR.AND I THINK THAT EVENT LASTED FOUR OR FIVE HOURS.
AND SO, UH, SIGNIFICANT, UH, SAY OR BENEFIT TO OUR CUSTOMERS, UH, BY DOING JUST A LITTLE BIT EXTRA TO PUSH OUT A FEW MORE MEGAWATTS UP THERE.
SO WE'RE, WE'RE VERY EXCITED ABOUT THAT.
SO I WAS READING ABOUT TRANSMISSION CONSTRAINTS FROM THE COASTAL WIND.
CAN YOU DESCRIBE WHERE WE'RE HAVING MORE ISSUES IN THE NETWORK? SO DURING THE, OF TRANSMISSION, DURING THE EEA TWO EVENT, UH, WHICH WAS I GUESS LAST TUESDAY, IT WAS RIGHT AFTER THE, THE SOLAR STANDARD SOLAR OFFER, UH, MEETING THAT WAS HERE IN THIS BUILDING.
UM, IT, IT DOES LOOK LIKE IT WAS MORE OF A VOLTAGE FREQUENCY EVENT THAT THAT DID HAVE SOMETHING TO DO WITH SOME OF THE TRANSMISSION DOWN IN SOUTH TEXAS.
UM, AND SO THAT'S QUITE KIND OF VARIES.
SOMETIMES WE SEE VERY, VERY LOW WIND THAT CREATES A RESOURCE ADEQUACY CONCERN WHERE THERE'S JUST NOT ENOUGH GENERATION TO MEET ALL THE LOAD.
AND THEN SOMETIMES WE HAVE TOO MUCH GENERATION COMING OUT OF THE WRONG SPOT.
AND SOME OF THAT IS THEN CURTAILED, WHICH THEN CAN CREATE, UH, RESOURCE ADEQUACY EVENTS AS WELL.
YOU SAY TOO MUCH GENERATION, I SAY NOT ENOUGH TRANSMISSION.
SO, SO TOO MANY CARS TRYING TO GO ON A, ON A FEW ROADS AND TRYING TO GO ON ROADS OVER A VERY LONG PERIOD OF TIME WITHOUT ANYTHING IN BETWEEN TO STEP IT UP AND MAINTAIN THE VOLTAGE AND FREQUENCY.
SO I WAS ALSO READING THAT THERE WERE SOME UNPLANNED OUTAGES IN THERMAL THAT IS CORRECT.
CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT THE MAGNITUDE OF THAT? YES, DEFINITELY.
SO, UH, I THINK WHEN ERCOT DOES THEIR C REPORT, WHICH THE SEASONAL ASSESSMENT AND RESOURCE ADEQUACY, UM, THEY TYPICALLY LOOK AT, THEY GO BACK AND THEY LOOK AT THE LAST THREE YEARS AND SAY, WHAT IS THE AVERAGE FORCED OUTAGE RATE? SO WE HAVE AN IDEA OF WE, WE KNOW ALL THE UNITS WON'T WORK ALL OF THE TIME.
THAT'S, THAT'S NOT HOW MACHINES WORK.
AND I THINK TYPICALLY THAT'S AROUND 4,600 MEGAWATTS, IF I RECALL CORRECTLY.
I'D HAVE TO DOUBLE CHECK THE REPORT.
UM, AND I THINK, UH, ON THAT PARTICULAR DAY WE WERE CLOSER BETWEEN NINE TO 10,000 MEGAWATTS OF FORCED OUTAGES.
AND WE TEND TO SEE THAT IF WE HAVE A REALLY, REALLY HOT SUMMER AND THESE UNITS ARE RUNNING AT THE TOP FOR VERY PROLONGED PERIODS OF TIME, IT'S KIND OF JUST A MATTER OF TIME BEFORE, BEFORE SOMETHING BREAKS.
UH, AND THANKFULLY IT, IT WAS NOT OUR UNITS THAT BROKE THAT DAY.
SO WE DID HAVE OUR GENERATION THERE.
UH, BUT, BUT OUR TOTAL GENERATION CAPACITY, AS YOU CAN SEE, IS ABOUT 4,700 MEGAWATTS VERSUS THAT PEAK.
BUT, BUT AS WE JUST DISCUSSED, OFTENTIMES WHEN PRICES THAT ARE HIGHEST, UH, A LOT OF THAT GENERATION MAY NOT BE AVAILABLE.
SO IF YOU WERE TO KEEP THIS MAP AND THEN MAKE SORT OF A HOTSPOT ANALYSIS ON IT, WHERE WOULD THE TRANSMISSION CONSTRAINTS BE COSTING AUSTIN ENERGY CUSTOMERS THE MOST MONEY? SO IT KEEPS MOVING.
SO THAT'S, THAT'S A GREAT PART ABOUT IT.
SO YOU GUYS ALL PROBABLY REMEMBER JUST A FEW YEARS AGO EVERYBODY WAS TALKING ABOUT THE PANHANDLE AND WE NEED TO BUILD CRES LINES.
THERE WAS TOO MUCH GENERATION UP IN THE WEST.
WE DIDN'T HAVE ENOUGH TRANSMISSION LINES TO COME DOWN.
UH, THEY'VE LARGELY STARTED TO FIX THAT WITH, WITH TRANSMISSION BUILD OUTS AS WELL AS SOME OF THOSE ASSETS GETTING OLDER AND CURTAILING AT ZERO.
UH, RATHER THAN OFFERING AT NEGATIVE PRICES, UH, WE HAVE NOW SEEN IT MOVE DOWN TO THE, THE COASTAL AREA IN SOUTH TEXAS.
WE'RE SEEING A LOT OF TRANSMISSION CONSTRAINTS DOWN THERE, BUT WE'RE ALSO STARTING TO SEE IT OUT IN EAST OF US AS WELL.
AROUND THE, THE NUCLEAR UNIT ACTUALLY, THERE ARE A LOT OF SOLAR FARMS LOOKING TO TIE INTO ALL THE 3 45 KV TRANSMISSION THAT COMES OUTTA THE NUCLEAR UNIT.
YOU KNOW, THERE ARE BIG 3 45 KV LINES THAT GO STRAIGHT INTO SAN ANTONIO, STRAIGHT INTO AUSTIN AND STRAIGHT INTO HOUSTON.
AND SO A LOT OF SOLAR DEVELOPERS HAVE STARTED LOOKING AT THAT.
AND UH, LAST WEEK WE ACTUALLY HAD A COUPLE DIFFERENT EVENTS WHERE THE NUCLEAR UNIT WENT, UH, TO ABOUT NEGATIVE $250 FOR A PERIOD OF TIME BEFORE THEY WERE ABLE TO, TO, TO RE UH, REBALANCE THE POWER FLOW WITHIN THE, IN THE GRID IS GUESS THE BEST WAY TO SAY IT.
SO THE NUKE WAS OFFERING IN AT NEGATIVE BECAUSE NONU DOES NOT OFFER IN AT A NEGATIVE PRICE.
THE NUKE IS AN OUTPUT SCHEDULE.
A NUCLEAR POWER PLANT PRODUCES THE SAME AMOUNT EVERY SINGLE HOUR.
IT'S NOT ON A OFFER CURVE, BUT IT STILL GETS A PRICE JUST LIKE EVERY OTHER GENERATING ASSET.
SO WHEN THE PRICE GOES NEGATIVE, YOU'RE JUST PAYING MONEY TO ERCOT TO TAKE ALL THOSE MEGAWATTS.
WE ALSO SAW FAYETTE GO NEGATIVE AT ONE POINT.
UH, THE WEBER REVEAL SOLAR FARM THAT IS CONNECTED TO OUR TRANSMISSION SYSTEM WENT NEGATIVE AT ONE POINT AS WELL.
UM, SO WE TALKED ABOUT THE, I HAD A, CAN I, CAN I ASK A QUESTION BEFORE WE MOVE ON? CERTAINLY.
UM, YOU HAD MENTIONED THE, UM, BIOMASS PLANT WAS ABLE TO, UM, INCREASE ITS OUTPUT BY SHUTTING DOWN INTERNAL SYSTEMS. WERE ANY OF THOSE SYSTEMS, UH, POLLUTION CONTROLS? I I READ THAT ERCOT HAD REQUESTED AND RECEIVED PERMISSION TO FOR POWER PLANTS TO BYPASS THEIR POLLUTION CONTROLS? NO, NO, NOT POLLUTION CONTROLS.
IT'S MAINLY THINGS LIKE, UH, SHUTTING DOWN THE CONVEYOR BELTS, UH, THAT WERE MOVING, UH, THE WOOD PILE AROUND, UH, LIGHTING.
UM, I'D HAVE TO GET JACK IN HERE TO GIVE YOU ALL THE, ALL THE GOODIES ON THAT OR, OR GO BACK AND LOOK AT MY EMAILS.
BUT THERE'S A NUMBER OF DIFFERENT SYSTEMS. THEY WERE ALL SET, SET SHUT DOWN, BUT IT WAS NOT SHUTTING DOWN ANY OF THE BAG HOUSES OR ANY OF THE, THE SCRUBBING TECHNOLOGY
[01:30:01]
THERE AT THE BIOMASS PLANT.AND, AND WHAT ABOUT ANY OF THE OTHER, UM, FACILITIES THE AUSTIN ENERGY, UH, OPERATES OR, OR GETS POWER FROM? WERE ANY OF THOSE AFFECTED BY THAT, UM, REQUEST TO BYPASS POLLUTION CONTROLS? NO, UM, NO.
THAT, THAT, THOSE, THOSE T C E Q UH, DISCRETION NOTICES, THAT'S GENERALLY TO, TO HELP BRING ON, UM, BACKUP GENERATORS THAT OTHERWISE WOULD NOT HAVE A PERMIT TO RUN OR, UH, THERE'S SOME OLDER COAL GENERATORS NEAR HOUSTON THAT DON'T HAVE NECESSARILY, UH, THE RIGHT, UH, ANNUAL OR THE NOX RATE PER MEGAWATT HOUR WHEN THEY RUN AT CERTAIN LEVELS.
UM, BUT OUR POWER PLANTS, UH, TYPICALLY RUN THE SAME WAY DURING THOSE DISCRETION NOTICES.
AND YOU HAD MENTIONED IN THE PAST CONVERSATION ABOUT PRICE DIVERGENCE.
IS THERE A SLIDE THAT YOU COULD KIND OF FOCUS ON AND EXPLAIN HOW THAT'S ACTUALLY IMPACTING AUSTIN ENERGY CUSTOMERS' PRICES? CERTAINLY, YEAH, THAT'S, UH, IT'S COMING UP HERE IN JUST A MINUTE.
UM, SO WE LOOKED A LITTLE BIT AT OUR RENEWABLE PORTFOLIO AND HOW GEOGRAPHICALLY SPREAD OUT IT WAS.
AND I TOLD YOU PART OF THAT WAS, WAS INTENT.
WELL, ALL OF THAT'S INTENTIONAL.
UH, WE LIKE TO SAY, HEY, THE, THE WIND DOESN'T BLOW EVERYWHERE IN TEXAS ALL THE TIME, BUT THE WIND IS BLOWING SOMEWHERE IN TEXAS.
EVEN DURING THOSE CONSERVATION CALLS, WE DID HAVE SOME AMOUNT OF WIND IN TEXAS.
UH, THE SUN IS NOT SHINING EVERYWHERE IN TEXAS, BUT TYPICALLY ON A REALLY HOT DAY IT'S SHINING SOMEWHERE IN TEXAS.
AND SO WHEN YOU LOOK AT THE DIFFERENT GENERATION PROFILES OF DIFFERENT TYPES OF RENEWABLE ASSETS IN DIFFERENT PARTS OF THE STATE, UH, YOU'LL SEE A, A MIX OVER HERE ON YOUR LEFT SIDE WHERE YOU'LL SEE WHERE SOLAR IN WEST TEXAS SETS A LITTLE BIT LATER THAN SOLAR HERE IN AUSTIN.
AND YOU'LL SEE THE WIND PROFILES ARE DIFFERENT WITH COASTAL WIND REALLY COMING ON AS IT GETS REALLY HOT IN THE, IN THE AFTERNOON.
AND YOU GET SOME OF THE, THE AIR CONVERGENCE THAT HAPPENS BETWEEN LAND AND WATER.
BUT WE START TO STACK ALL OF THOSE ON TOP OF EACH OTHER WHILE WE'RE STILL NOT SERVING OUR OWN LOAD DIRECTLY.
WE ARE TRYING TO OFFSET OUR LOAD COSTS THROUGH GENERATION REVENUES.
AND YOU'LL SEE WHEN WE STACK 'EM ON TOP OF EACH OTHER, WE START TO GET A AVERAGE GENERATION PROFILE.
SORRY, I'M HAVING TROUBLE WITH THIS CLICKER TODAY.
HELP ME OUT A WHOLE LOT THERE.
UM, WHEN WE START TO STACK THOSE GENERATION PROFILES TOGETHER, YOU START TO SEE A SHAPE THAT MORE CLOSELY LOOKS LIKE THE LOAD SHAPE OF AUSTIN, WHERE YOU'RE USING A LITTLE BIT MORE ENERGY AS YOU GET LATER IN THE DAY AND IT GETS HOTTER TO HELP OFFSET SOME OF THOSE, UH, LOAD COSTS.
UM, BUT LOOKING AT HOW WE LOOK COMPARED TO O OR TO ERCOT AND IN GENERAL, THE CAPACITY OF THE REST OF THE STATE, UH, WHAT DOES OUR GENERATION MIX LOOK LIKE VERSUS THEIRS? I THINK YOU'LL NOTICE THAT THEY'RE, THEY'RE VERY SIMILAR.
THEY ALSO, THERE'S A VERY DIVERSE PORTFOLIO WITHIN ERCOT WITH ALL THE OTHER GENERATING FACILITIES.
I THINK WHAT YOU'LL NOTICE IS WE'VE BEEN A, A LITTLE BIT MORE OF A LEADER IN THE WIND AND SOLAR ARENA, UH, WHERE YOU'LL SEE OUR PIE SLICES A LITTLE BIT BIGGER THAN THEIRS.
UH, BUT YOU'LL ALSO SEE WE'VE ALSO BEEN A LEADER IN RETIRING SOME OF OUR NATURAL GAS UNITS AS WELL.
UH, WE HAVE RETIRED 750 MEGAWATTS OF NATURAL GAS, UM, SINCE 2020.
UH, AND THEN BEFORE THAT WE RETIRED THE HAWLEY PLANT, WHICH WAS ANOTHER 800 MEGAWATTS I BELIEVE, IN TOTAL.
SO OVER THE LAST 20 YEARS, WE'VE RETIRED ABOUT ONE AND A HALF GIGAWATTS OF NATURAL GAS.
UH, YOU WILL NOTICE WE'RE NOT QUITE AS, UH, AS FAR AHEAD IN STORAGE.
UH, WE CONTINUE TO EVALUATE STORAGE, UH, BATTERY STORAGE AND TRYING TO LOOK TO MAKE IT ECONOMIC IN OUR PORTFOLIO.
UH, WE'RE IN THE PROCESS OF EVALUATING A UTILITY SCALE BATTERY RIGHT NOW.
I THINK ONE OF THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN A MARKET PARTICIPANT AND AUSTIN ENERGY ON HOW THEY ARE PENCILING OUT STORAGE IS OFTENTIMES THEY WILL CARRY 24 HOURS OF RESPONSIBLE RESERVE ANCILLARY SERVICES ON A BATTERY, WHICH A BATTERY CANNOT PROVIDE.
AUSTIN ENERGY LIKES TO BE A GOOD MARKET PARTICIPANT, SO WE DON'T LIKE TO PLAY IN THE GRAY AREAS OF PROTOCOLS.
SO WE WANT TO BE ABLE TO BE THERE AND, AND GIVE ERCOT THE SERVICES THAT WE SAY WE CAN DO.
UM, AND THEN YOU'LL SEE, UH, WE HAVE A LITTLE BIT LARGER SLICE OF BIOMASS AS WE HAVE THE LARGEST BIOMASS PLANT IN TEXAS.
UM, SO TALKING ABOUT OUR RESOURCE GENERATION PLAN.
SO, UH, BACK IN 2019, THE UC WORKING GROUP WORKED WITH AUSTIN ENERGY STAFF TO CREATE THE PLAN TO 2030.
UH, THIS PLAN WAS DESIGNED TO CONTINUE TO SAFELY DELIVERING CLEAN, AFFORDABLE, AND RELIABLE ENERGY SUFFICIENT TO MEET CUSTOMER DEMANDS WHILE PURSUING CITY OF AUSTIN'S CLIMATE PROTECTION AND SUSTAINABILITY GOALS.
AND SO DURING THAT, UH, PROCESS, UH, A COUPLE THINGS BECAME VERY CLEAR.
IT WAS VERY IMPORTANT TO OUR CUSTOMERS TO REDUCE THE, THE CARBON EMISSIONS, OUR STACK EMISSIONS TO HELP COMBAT CLIMATE CHANGE.
IT WAS ALSO VERY IMPORTANT TO OUR CUSTOMERS TO MAINTAIN AFFORDABILITY WITHIN OUR RATES.
UH, WE WANT TO BE IN THE CHEAPEST 50 PERCENTILE IN THE STATE OF TEXAS, AND WE RECOGNIZE IT WAS VERY IMPORTANT TO MAINTAIN FLEXIBILITY.
UH, THE ERCOT MARKET IS GOING THROUGH A SUPPLY TRANSITION RIGHT NOW.
UH, THE ENERGY INDUSTRY IN GENERAL IS GOING THROUGH A TRANSITION
[01:35:01]
RIGHT NOW.AND SO THERE'S SOME LANGUAGE OVER HERE ON THE RIGHT THAT THAT SPEAKS TO THAT WITHIN OUR PLAN WHERE WE SPOKE THAT IT WAS VERY IMPORTANT TO, UM, TO HAVE A PLAN THAT WAS INTENDED TO BE FLEXIBLE AND DYNAMIC IN ORDER TO RESPOND TO CHANGING CIRCUMSTANCES, INCLUDING CUSTOMER ELECTRIC LOAD, ECONOMIC CONDITIONS, ENERGY PRICES, TECHNOLOGICAL, UH, DEVELOPMENT WHILE STRICTLY COMMITTING TO FIRM CARBON, UH, REDUCTIONS.
SO THROUGH THAT PLAN, WE'VE COME UP WITH KIND OF FOUR, FOUR BASIC OBJECTIVES OR, OR PRIORITY VALUES AND PRIORITIES FOR OUR CUSTOMERS.
THAT'S ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY, RELIABILITY, AFFORDABILITY AND COST STABILITY, HAVING RATES THAT ARE SIMILAR YEAR OVER YEAR.
AND THROUGH THAT WE HAD A NUMBER OF OBJECTIVES AND GOALS.
UH, MANY OF 'EM ARE LISTED HERE.
UH, I MENTIONED EARLIER TO DECKER CREEK POWER STATION.
WE HAVE RETIRED, UH, DECKER ONE AND TWO.
UH, THERE WAS A, A, A GOAL OR OBJECTIVE TO HAVE A TRANSMISSION STUDY SO WE COULD UNDERSTAND THE IMPLICATIONS TO RELIABILITY IF WE WERE TO RETIRE MORE ASSETS IN THE AUSTIN AREA.
UH, THAT HAS RECENTLY BEEN COMPLETED.
UH, I BELIEVE THAT WAS PER, UH, WAS PRESENTED AT THE UC MAYBE A MONTH OR TWO MONTHS AGO, WHICH IS PART OF WHAT WE'RE, WHY WE'RE DOING THIS RESOURCE PLAN UPDATE RIGHT NOW.
UM, ALSO YOU'LL SEE ADDITIONAL RENEWABLE GENERATION FACILITIES.
UH, I BELIEVE THAT SINCE THIS PLAN WAS PASSED, WE HAVE ACTUALLY BROUGHT FOUR, UH, RENEWABLE FACILITIES ONLINE.
THE RAYMOND WIND FARM, GULF WIND FARM, EAST BLACK WIND SOLAR FARM, AND THE ARAGORN SOLAR FARM ALL WENT C O D AFTER MARCH OF 2020.
SO HOW ARE WE DOING ON SOME OF THE, THE OTHER OBJECTIVES HERE? UH, CARBON FREE GENERATIONS, A PERCENTAGE OF LOAD IS SOMETHING WE TRACK, SOMETHING I BELIEVE THAT YOU CAN SEE ON OUR WEBSITE AS WELL.
YOU'LL NOTICE THAT ON A ROLLING 12 MONTH AVERAGE, WE ARE OFFSETTING ABOUT 71% OF OUR LOAD, UH, WITH, UH, CARBON FREE GENERATION, UH, AS A PERCENTAGE.
UH, YOU WILL NOTICE THAT'S DOWN A LITTLE BIT FROM WHERE WE WERE ABOUT A YEAR AGO.
WE ACTUALLY HAD A VERY UNSEASONABLY, LOW WINDY PERIOD, UH, APRIL, MAY, AND JUNE.
SO ERCOT IN GENERAL HAD MUCH LESS WIND DURING THAT PERIOD, AS WELL AS OUR OWN PORTFOLIO AS WELL AS WE ARE STARTING TO SEE INCREASED CURTAILMENTS AS WE SEE MORE AND MORE RENEWABLES TIE INTO THE SYSTEM.
OVER ON THE RIGHT, I HAVE AUSTIN ENERGY'S POWER PLANT EMISSIONS, THE C O TWO EMISSIONS, UH, BACK IN 2018.
SO BEFORE WE STARTED ON WORKING ON THIS PLAN, AND YOU WILL SEE THAT WE WERE EMITTING, UH, CLOSE TO, I THINK IT WAS ABOUT 5.4 MILLION TONS OF C O TWO.
UH, FAST FORWARD TO THE 2022, WHICH IS THE MOST RECENT COMPLETE CALENDAR YEAR WE HAVE, AND WE HAVE REDUCED THAT DOWN TO ABOUT THREE AND A HALF MILLION TONS.
SO A REDUCTION OF NEARLY 2 MILLION TONS ON AN ANNUAL BASIS.
UH, AND HOW ARE WE DOING THAT? THAT IS LARGELY THROUGH, UH, WHAT WE CALL REACH, WHICH IS REDUCED EMISSIONS AFFORDABLY FOR CLIMATE HEALTH.
THAT IS A MARKET-BASED SOLUTION, UH, WHERE WE ARE INCLUDING, UH, A PRICE OF CARBON IN OUR DISPATCH.
AND WHAT WE DO THERE IS THAT ALLOWS US TO, UH, DISPATCH AT A LOWER LEVEL WHEN REVENUES ARE LOWER AND MARGINS ARE NOT QUITE AS BIG, BUT ON SOME OF THOSE DAYS, UH, WHERE WE HAVE THAT CALL CONSERVATION, WE DO HAVE THAT GENERATION CAPACITY TO HELP OFFSET SOME OF THOSE COSTS.
AND I'LL GO INTO THAT IN THE NEXT SLIDE.
BUT THIS PLANT, THIS REACH WAS REALLY DESIGNED TO BE AFFORDABLE, FLEXIBLE, AND LEAD TO THAT REDUCTION.
MICHAEL, YOU, CAN YOU REMIND US, UM, IS REACH CURRENTLY USED ONLY ON FAYETTE OR DO WE ALSO USE IT ON THE GAS UNITS? SO RIGHT NOW IT IS ON, UH, FAYETTE IN THE REGULAR DISPATCH, AND IT IS TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT IN THE DISPATCH OF THE DECKER OR THE, ALL OF OUR GTS.
BUT WE DO NOT, WE'RE NOT ACTIVELY PRICING THAT INTO OUR COMBINED CYCLES DISPATCH.
OKAY, SO YOU, IT'S USED IN FAYETTE AND ON THE GTS, BUT NOT THINK OF MINE CYCLE.
YEAH, THE, THE GTS, UH, IT'S A DECISION ON WHEN WE'RE GONNA BRING 'EM ONLINE AND HOW LONG WE'RE GONNA WAIT TO BRING THEM ONLINE.
AND CAN YOU REMIND US HOW YOU FIGURE OUT THE BUDGET OF BASICALLY KIND OF LAW BY, BY, BY PRICING AT A HIGHER AMOUNT? LIKE WHAT, WHAT ARE YOU, ARE WE BUDGETING THAT ON AN ANNUAL BASIS? HOW ARE WE FIGURING OUT HOW OFTEN TO, TO USE REACH? SO, UH, ORIGINALLY WE WERE, UH, BUDGETING THAT THE, THE FOREGONE REVENUE OR THE COST, WE WOULD TRY TO LIMIT, UH, TO 2% OF THE OVERALL P S A NET COST IN ORDER TO MAINTAIN THAT AFFORDABILITY.
UH, THIS YEAR, AS WE WERE ORIGINALLY INTENDING TO GET OUT OF THE FAYETTE POWER PROJECT AND HAVE BEEN UNABLE TO DO THAT ECONOMICALLY, UH, WE HAVE SIGN SIGNIFICANTLY INCREASED THAT ADDER IN ORDER TO MAINTAIN THAT UNIT TO SIT DOWN AT THE BOTTOM, UH, FOR THE LARGE MAJORITY OF THE TIME AND ONLY RAMP UP DURING THOSE REALLY HIGH, UM, PRICES IN ORDER TO PROTECT OUR CUSTOMERS, BUT TO REALLY LOWER THAT C O TWO EMISSIONS AS LOW AS WE CAN WITHOUT BEING OUT OF THE UNIT.
OKAY, SO THERE'S NOT A SPECIFIC BUDGET AMOUNT THAT WE'RE FOREGOING.
UM, WE, WE CALCULATE HOW MUCH REVENUE WE ARE FOREGOING, BUT WE ARE NOT LIMITING IT THIS YEAR.
WE ARE TRYING TO KEEP THAT POWER PLANT DOWN AT THE BOTTOM TO BE AS CLOSE TO OUR, UM,
[01:40:01]
RESOURCE PLANNING GOALS AS WE CAN.SO TO TALK A LITTLE BIT MORE ABOUT REACH PERFORMANCE, UH, THAT I STARTED TO DELVE INTO, UH, BUT SINCE WE, UH, IMPLEMENTED REACH, WHICH I WILL TELL YOU WAS, UH, THE DAY THAT CITY COUNCIL APPROVED, UM, UH, THE RESOURCE PLAN, WE PUT IT INTO EFFECT THAT EVENING, UH, WE HAVE REDUCED OVER 4.12 MILLION TONS OF CARBON THAT OTHERWISE WOULD HAVE BEEN REDUCED IF WE WERE NOT PRICING IN CARBON.
UH, WE TALKED ABOUT THE AFFORDABILITY ASPECT OF IT.
SO WE LIKE TO KIND OF COMPARE WHAT IS OUR COST TO REDUCE CARBON, WHAT, WHAT IS THE REVENUE WE ARE FOREGOING, UH, VERSUS SOME OF THE OTHER US CARBON MARKETS.
UH, SO WE'VE BEEN ABLE TO REDUCE CARBON AT ABOUT $12 AND 45 CENTS PER TON.
AND WHEN WE LOOK AT THE CALIFORNIA MARKET, THEY'RE CLOSER TO $36 A TON.
AND WE LOOK AT THE EAST COAST, UM, THE REGGIE MARKET, THEIR REGIONAL GREENHOUSE GAS INITIATIVE, AND THEY'RE SOMEWHERE IN THE 14 TO $16 A TON.
SO WE'RE MAINTAINING IT, UH, WHAT WE WOULD SAY AFFORDABLY.
AND THEN WHEN YOU LOOK OVER ON THE RIGHT HAND SIDE, THIS IS AUGUST 17TH, UH, ONE OF THOSE DAYS WHERE WE HAD VERY, VERY TIGHT CONDITIONS, UH, IN THAT GIVEN IN THAT PARTICULAR DAY.
UH, F P P UH, RAMPED UP, UH, IN THOSE HIGHER PRICING PERIODS.
AND ACTUALLY THOSE TWO UNITS EARNED $11 MILLION IN THAT SINGLE DAY.
UH, THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THAT IS THAT'S ABOUT 2% OF THE NET COST TO SERVE OUR LOAD.
UM, AND ACTUALLY THIS HAS HAPPENED A COUPLE MORE TIMES, UH, SINCE WE PUT THIS SLIDE TOGETHER.
AUGUST 25TH, IT HAD A SIMILAR PERFORMANCE.
AND THEN SEPTEMBER 5TH, A SIMILAR PERFORMANCE.
SO ON THOSE THREE DAYS ALONE, UH, F P P HAS NETTED OVER $30 MILLION TO OFFSET THE COST TO OUR CUSTOMERS AT $30 MILLION.
THAT HAS HELPED, UH, REDUCE THE PRESSURE ON OUR P S A BY OVER 5%.
SO WITHOUT THAT UNIT, THERE WOULD BE AN ADDITIONAL FIVE OR 6% PRESSURE ON THE P S A, JUST OVER THOSE THREE DAYS.
SO RESOURCE PLANNING IS A PROCESS.
I THINK YOU GUYS HAVE ALL SEEN THIS SLIDE PROBABLY A COUPLE TIMES BEFORE.
UH, WE JUST HAVE KIND OF THE DIFFERENT, UH, INPUTS THAT WE NEED TO TAKE INTO ACCOUNT CUSTOMER OUR LOAD, HOW IT'S CHANGING VARIOUS CUSTOMER PROGRAMS THAT WE'RE STANDING UP, UH, OUR SUPPLY, OUR SUPPLIES, CHECK HOW IT'S CHANGING THE OVERALL ENVIRONMENT, MARKET ENVIRONMENT, UH, RELIABILITY, BEING ABLE TO MAINTAIN RELIABILITY WITHIN OUR LOAD ZONE.
AND THEN THE FINANCIAL IMPACT.
SO WE ARE IN THE PROCESS ALREADY OF, UH, WORKING THROUGH SCOPE AND SETTING OBJECTIVES.
WE'RE SETTING UP DIFFERENT SCENARIO ANALYSISES, UH, GETTING, UH, DIFFERENT DATABASES, UH, READY TO GO.
UH, THERE ARE NOT DATABASES FOR THE NEXT 10 TO 15 YEARS, SO WE HAVE TO BUILD THOSE OUT BASED ON INFORMATION WE CAN GATHER FROM ERCOT ON TRANSMISSION BUILD OUT AND SOME ASSUMPTIONS WE HAVE TO MAKE.
UH, FROM THERE WE'LL BE RUNNING A LOT OF DIFFERENT SCENARIO ANALYSIS WITHIN THE MODELS.
I WILL SAY THAT, UH, THE MODELS DO NOT CAPTURE EVENTS LIKE YURI.
SO IN ADDITION TO THAT, WE'LL BE LOOKING AT WHATEVER SUPPLY PORTFOLIO WE SEE WITHIN THIS RESOURCE PLAN AND ENSURE IT'S SOMETHING THAT CAN WEATHER ONE OF THOSE EVENTS AS WELL.
UM, AND WE'LL BE LOOKING AT ALL THE DIFFERENT RISK AND FINANCIAL ANALYSIS AS WELL.
AND THEN WE WILL BE BRINGING BACK A, A PREFERRED STRATEGY TO THIS GROUP, UM, I BELIEVE IN NOVEMBER, UH, FOR FEEDBACK AND INPUT WITH THE IDEA THAT WE'LL COME BACK TO YOU ALL IN EITHER JANUARY OR FEBRUARY WITH A FINAL RESOURCE PLAN THAT WE PLAN TO TAKE TO CITY COUNCIL.
SO, UH, AS YOU ALL AWARE, UH, THERE ARE MANY CHALLENGES THAT HAVE COME UP SINCE WE PASSED THIS RESOURCE PLAN BACK IN MARCH OF 2020.
UH, THAT WAS PRE-PA WELL ACTUALLY, ACTUALLY IT'S THE VERY BEGINNING OF THE PANDEMIC.
I THINK IT WAS ONE OF THE FIRST CITY COUNCIL MEMBER OR MEETINGS THAT WAS DONE VIRTUALLY.
SO WE'VE HAD A PANDEMIC, WE'VE HAD A LOT OF SUPPLY CHAIN ISSUES THAT HAVE ARISEN OUT OF THAT.
WE'VE SEEN SOME EXTREME WEATHER EVENTS.
UH, WE'VE HAD A LOT OF REGULATORY AND ERCOT MARKET CHANGES, UH, AND WE'VE SEEN A LOT OF INCREASED VOLATILITY AS WELL AS INCREASED CONGESTION COSTS.
SO WHEN WE LOOK AT EXTREME WEATHER EVENTS, UH, AS I MENTIONED BEFORE, THE WINTER STORM URI, THAT'S THAT, THAT TYPE OF EVENT DOES NOT FALL WITHIN ANY OF THE BOTTLES THAT WE HAVE OR ANY OF THE, THE MODELING WE RAN, UH, DURING THAT EVENT, WE ACTUALLY SAW TEMPERATURES THAT WERE 30 TO 50 DEGREES BELOW NORMAL, SO SIGNIFICANTLY COLDER, UM, AND FALLING MANY DIS OR STANDARD DEVIATIONS OUTSIDE OF THE MEAN.
UH, WE LOOK OVER ON THE RIGHT, UH, WE HAD THE HOTTEST, THE SECOND HOTTEST SUMMER ON RECORD LAST SUMMER.
UH, AND I THINK WE'VE GONE AHEAD AND BEAT THAT THIS SUMMER.
UM, AND SO WE'RE SEEING HOTTER AND HOTTER SUMMERS, UH, AS WELL AS, AS MORE SHORT COLD WINTER EVENTS.
UH, THAT'S IMPORTANT FOR US IN OUR MODELING, AS I MENTIONED, WE WANNA LOOK THROUGH OUR PORTFOLIO SUPPLY OR THE RESOURCE PLAN.
WE'RE, WE'RE, WE'RE PUTTING FORWARD TO MAKE SURE IT CAN SURVIVE THESE TYPE OF EVENTS.
UH, JUST TO PUT IT IN CONTEXT, UH, THIS SUMMER WE BROKE OUR EXTREME PEAK FORECAST BY 50 MEGAWATTS.
SO THAT WAS THE, NOT THE FORECAST FOR THIS SUMMER.
THAT WAS THE FORECAST EXTREME PEAK, AND WE'VE BEAT THAT BY ANOTHER 50 MEGAWATTS.
IT WAS MORE EXTREME THAN THE EXTREME IN THE MODELS OUT OF SOME OF THOSE EXTREME, UH, WEATHER EVENTS.
THERE HAVE BEEN, UM, ADDITIONAL REGULATORY RISK AND ERCOT MARKET RULE CHANGES.
UH, THEY HAVE DONE A NUMBER OF DIFFERENT THINGS.
I WON'T GO THROUGH ALL OF THEM,
[01:45:01]
UH, BUT, BUT THE GIST OF IT IS THAT WE ARE NOW HOLDING MORE GENERATION ON THE SIDELINES TO BE AVAILABLE FOR RELIABILITY BY HAVING THAT GENERATION ON THE SIDELINES MOST OF THE TIME, UH, NOT JUST IN THOSE EXTREME EVENTS.THAT DOES PUSH UP THE AVERAGE PRICE OF POWER TO THE CUSTOMER.
UH, ON AVERAGE, UH, WE ARE ALSO SEEING DIFFERENT MARKET RULES CREATED THAT ARE PICKING, I WOULDN'T SAY PICKING WINNERS AND LOSERS, BUT ARE BENEFITING SOME GENERATION TYPES MORE THAN OTHER GENERATION TYPES.
AND, AND OFTENTIMES ARE, ARE, UH, HARMING THE ECONOMICS OF EXISTING GENERATION TYPES OR EXISTING GENERATORS OF DIFFERENT TYPES.
UH, SO WE ARE SEEING A LOT OF DIFFERENT MARKET RULE CHANGES, AND WE'LL BE TAKING ALL IN ACCOUNT IN OUR RESOURCE PLANNING PROCESS AS WELL, AS WELL AS OUR SCENARIO ANALYSIS ON THE, UH, INCREASED MARKET VOLATILITY.
UH, THIS SHOULD BE A PRETTY EASY GRAPHIC TO READ WHAT WE HAVE HERE.
AND THIS IS NOT ALL THE WAY THROUGH AUGUST.
I THINK THIS GOES THROUGH ABOUT AUGUST 20, UH, SECOND OR 2020 FIRST.
BUT THE, THE BLACK LINE IS THE SETTLEMENT PRICES FOR THE AUSTIN LOAD ZONE IN 2020 FROM JUNE THROUGH THAT AUGUST 21ST OR 22ND.
AND WHAT YOU'LL NOTICE IS YOU HAVE A, A LIMITED NUMBER OF, UH, LITTLE SPIKES, BUT YOU DID SEE SOME, UH, 2023 IS THAT ORANGE LINE.
AND I THINK YOU'LL NOTICE THAT THERE'S QUITE A FEW MORE SPIKES THAN WE SAW BEFORE.
SO THE FREQUENCY HAS INCREASED AS WELL AS THE MAGNITUDE.
AND MICHAEL, IF YOU HAD CHOSEN 21 OR 22, WOULD THERE HAVE BEEN? WELL, 20 ONE'S DIFFERENT BECAUSE OF 21.
WE DID NOT HAVE AS MUCH VOLATILITY EXCEPT FOR WINDSTORM 22, THE EXTREME WEATHER.
WE DID HAVE VOLATILITY, BUT WE'RE, WE'RE SEEING IT BEING INCREASED VOLATILITY.
THERE'S MORE THIS YEAR OVER 20 TWEET, BUT WE COULD BRING THAT BACK IF YOU'RE INTERESTED.
I LOVE PUTTING TOGETHER GRAPHS ON MARKET PRICES,
UM, THIS IS MORE A GRAPHIC JUST TO, TO KIND OF COMMUNICATE THAT CONGESTION PATTERNS CHANGE AND THEY CAN CHANGE QUICKLY.
SO IT'S NOT SOMETHING THAT'S SEASONABLE OR, OR SEASONAL OR EASY TO FORECAST.
THERE ARE PERIODS OF TIMES WHERE WE DO SEE ALU THAT DONE DOES GET CORRECTED THROUGH, UH, TRANSMISSION UPGRADES BEFORE WE SEE YET ANOTHER GLUT.
UH, BUT I WANTED TO SHOW A COUPLE OF DIFFERENT PATTERNS HERE IN ERCOT JUST RECENTLY.
SO ALL THREE OF THESE TOP THREE MAPS ALL HAPPENED ON THE SAME DAY.
SO YOU CAN SEE THAT THE PATTERN CHANGED EVEN WITH WITHIN THE DAY ON WHAT WAS HIGHER PRICES VERSUS LOWER PRICES.
AND THE WAY TO READ THESE IS MUCH LIKE A, A WEATHER MAP.
UH, IF IT'S BLUE, UH, INSTEAD OF BEING COLDER, PRICES ARE LOWER.
UH, IF IT'S RED INSTEAD OF BEING HOTTER, PRICES ARE HIGHER.
SO RED IS HIGH PRICES, BLUE IS LOW PRICES, AND THEN ALL THE DIFFERENT GRADIENTS IN BETWEEN.
UH, AND THEN AT THE BOTTOM IS, UH, ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF JUST, UH, AUGUST 11TH, WHERE YOU CAN SEE THOSE CONGESTION PATTERNS SHIFT QUITE A BIT THERE.
UM, SO THAT THEY'RE VERY, THEY CAN MOVE QUICKLY.
UH, THEY CAN HAPPEN FOR A NUMBER OF REASONS.
IT CAN BE A POWER PLANT GOING OUT AT THE WRONG TIME.
IT CAN BE FOR A, A TRANSMISSION ELEMENT GOING INTO OUTAGE, UH, CREATING THAT ISSUE.
ERCOT OPERATES ON AN N MINUS ONE CONTINGENCY.
UH, AND I GUESS THE WAY TO EXPLAIN THAT WOULD BE MAYBE WITH A CONGESTION EXAMPLE, UH, WITH ROADS AND CARS THAT WE ALL UNDERSTAND.
SO ERCOT IS MONITORING THE TRANSMISSION LINES, WHICH YOU COULD LIKEN INTO ROADS, UH, TO MONITOR ALL THE ELECTRONS, WHICH COULD BE LIKE CARS.
AND THEY WANT TO ENSURE THAT IF ANY TRANSMISSION LINE GOES INTO OUTAGE, IF A CAR GOT IN A WRECK OR THE ROAD GOT CLOSED, THEY COULD DIVERT ALL OF THAT TRAFFIC TO ALL THE OTHER ROADS.
AND WE WOULDN'T HAVE A GRIDLOCK.
WE WOULDN'T HAVE THAT STOPPAGE.
'CAUSE IF CARS STOP AND ARE IN GRIDLOCK, IT'S UNSAFE.
WE CAN'T GET, UH, AMBULANCES WHERE THEY NEED TO GO.
WE HEARD ONE OF THOSE EARLIER, WE CAN'T GET FIRE TRUCKS WHERE THEY NEED TO GO IF ELECTRONS STOP MOVING.
AND WE HAVE A BLACKOUT THAT'S VERY UNSAFE AS WELL.
WE CAN'T PROVIDE THE ELECTRICITY THAT MANY PEOPLE NEED TO, TO LIVE, UH, FOR, FOR DEVICES, THINGS OF THAT NATURE AS WELL AS SECURITY.
AND SO UNDER THIS N MINUS ONE CONTINGENCY ERCOT MONITORING ALL THOSE LINES.
SO THE LINE ITSELF MAY NOT BE OVERLOADED, BUT THE IDEA IF ANOTHER LINE AROUND IT WENT DOWN WOULD OVERLOAD IT, WE'LL THEN SEND THOSE PRICE SIGNALS THAT WE TALKED ABOUT A LITTLE EARLIER WITH HIGHER PRICES VERSUS LOWER PRICES TO REBALANCE THAT POWER FLOW WITHIN THE SYSTEM.
SO ON TOP OF JUST THE REGULAR CONGESTION THAT, THAT WE EXPERIENCE THROUGHOUT THE MARKET, AND YOU SAW ALL THE DIFFERENT PATTERNS THERE.
AUSTIN ENERGY IS NOW, UH, BEGINNING TO EXPERIENCE WHAT I WOULD CALL LOAD ZONE PRICE SEPARATION, BUT IT'S MORE LOCAL CONGESTION AND REALLY, REALLY STARTED TO SEE THIS, UH, COME TO FRUITION AFTER WE RETIRED DECKER TWO, UM, RIGHT IN IN AFTER MARCH OF 2022.
UM, SO, SO STARTING LAST SUMMER AND REALLY BECAME PREVALENT THIS SUMMER AS WELL.
AND SO ON THE LEFT, I HAVE A GRAPHIC, THIS WAS, UH, JUNE 15TH.
UM, AND THE BLUE LINE HERE, THIS DARK BLUE LINE, THAT'S THE PRICE THAT AUSTIN ENERGY CUSTOMERS OR THAT AUSTIN ENERGY IS PAYING TO BUY WHOLESALE LOAD THAT WE THEN USE TO SERVE OUR CUSTOMERS.
UH, THE REDDISH OR BURNT ORANGE LINE HERE, THAT IS THE AVERAGE HUB PRICE.
SO THAT'S THE AVERAGE PRICE THAT THE AVERAGE GENERATOR'S GETTING
[01:50:01]
PAID.THERE'S, THEY'RE GONNA BE DIFFERENT EVERY LITTLE LOCATION, BUT IF I JUST AVERAGE IT OUT.
AND SO THAT'S KIND OF GIVING YOU THE AVERAGE COST TO BUY THE LOAD VERSUS THE AVERAGE REVENUE TO SELL THE GENERATION.
AND SO YOU SEE THERE'S A PRETTY BIG DIFFERENCE HERE WHEN YOU'RE BUYING $900 POWER AND THEN YOU'RE SELLING IT FOR $50.
AND SO THAT CREATES A FINANCIAL IMBALANCE.
WE TALKED EARLIER ABOUT HOW WE'RE NOT BALANCING MEGAWATTS OR VOLUME, WE'RE BALANCING, UH, DOLLARS.
AND SO, UH, DAYS LIKE THIS CAN PUT SIGNIFICANT PRESSURE ON OUR P S A.
SO KIND OF A WAY TO EXPLAIN LOCAL CON CONGESTION OR LOAD ZONE PRICE SEPARATION.
I, I THINK I'VE DONE THIS TO THIS GROUP ALREADY, IS TO, TO THINK MORE OF, UH, THAT FAST FOOD RESTAURANT THAT'S VERY, VERY POPULAR HERE THAT SELLS CHICKEN.
AND YOU WILL SEE THAT THEY HAVE SO MUCH DEMAND THAT THOSE CARS ARE BACKED UP ONTO THE ACCESS ROAD OR THEY'RE BACKED UP ON THE RIVERSIDE AND STOPPING TRAFFIC IN THAT LANE.
SO GETTING BACK TO THAT GRIDLOCK.
SO HOW DO, UH, THOSE FAST FOOD RESTAURANTS GET THOSE ELECTRONS MOVING AGAIN AND GET THINGS, THINGS MOVING MORE QUICKLY AS THEY'VE ADDED DRIVE-THROUGH LINES? SO THAT'S LIKE ADDING NEW TRANSMISSION LINES.
WE CAN KEEP ADDING THOSE ROADS OR THOSE DRIVE THROUGH LINES TO GET THOSE CARS MOVING.
UM, AND SO YOU CAN SEE HERE IN THIS LITTLE ORANGE CIRCLE THAT IS SUPPOSED TO REPRESENT KIND OF OUR LOAD ZONE, WE HAVE A A, A COMBINATION OF SOME OF THE ELECTRONS KIND OF FLOWING OUT THROUGH THESE LITTLE ROADS LOCALLY, AS WELL AS OTHER ELECTRONS COMING IN ON THOSE LARGER ROADS INTO OUR CITY.
AND SO, UM, AS YOU SHUT DOWN OR RETIRE VARIOUS ASSETS IN OUR LOAD ZONE, UH, THAT JUST REQUIRES MORE OF THOSE CARS TO FLOW INTO OUR CITY FROM, FROM THOSE ROADS.
UH, AND, AND WE CAN CERTAINLY DO THAT.
WE DON'T HAVE CONTROL OVER WHAT HAPPENS TO THOSE ROADS OUTSIDE OF, OF AUSTIN ENERGY.
SO WE'RE A LITTLE BIT MORE DEPENDENT ON, ON THE MARKET AND MARKET TO PARTICIPANTS IN MEETING OUR GOALS, UH, WHEN IT COMES TO AFFORDABILITY AND RATE STABILITY.
UH, AND AT SOME POINT, JUST AS THEY KEEP ADDING DRIVE-THROUGH LINES, UH, THE DEMAND MAY BECOME, UH, MORE THAN THE KITCHEN CAN KEEP UP WITH, AND IT, AND IT MAY BE TIME TO BUILD A NEW, UH, FAST FOOD RESTAURANT SOMEWHERE IN AUSTIN TO DIVERT SOME OF THAT TRAFFIC.
SO THOSE WERE SOME OF THE CHALLENGES THAT WE FACE.
UM, BUT WE ALSO HAVE SOME NEW AND EMERGING OPPORTUNITIES AS WELL THAT WE'RE EXCITED ABOUT, I THINK HAS BEEN MENTIONED A FEW TIMES HERE.
UH, THE INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENT AND JOBS ACT, AS WELL AS THE INFLATION REDUCTION ACT.
I PERSONALLY AM PRETTY EXCITED ABOUT THE INFLATION REDUCTION ACT.
IN THE PAST, WE WERE UNABLE AS A MUNICIPAL MUNICIPALITY TO PARTICIPATE IN TAX CREDITS, UH, DIRECTLY.
SO WE WENT THROUGH AND DID A LOT OF PURCHASE POWER AGREEMENTS IN ORDER TO BENEFIT FROM THAT, UH, THROUGH THE LOWEST BID BIDDER OFFER.
UH, THE INFLATION REDUCTION ACT PROVIDES A DIRECT PAY MECHANISM, WHICH ALLOWS US TO MORE ECONOMICALLY OWN THE RENEWABLES OURSELF, WHICH CAN HAVE A LOT OF ADVANTAGES.
SO WE'RE NOT DOING 12 TO TO 20 YEAR CONTRACTS THAT HAVE A LOT OF TERMS THAT CAN BE INFLEXIBLE IN ORDER TO GET FINANCING.
UM, THERE'S A, A LOT OF GRANTS, UH, AS WELL IN THERE, UH, FOR A NUMBER OF DIFFERENT, UH, A NUMBER OF DIFFERENT PROJECTS AND, AND DIFFERENT IDEAS THAT WE HAVE LOCALLY AS WELL.
UH, SO THERE'S A LOT OF DIFFERENT THINGS IN THERE THAT WE ARE LOOKING AT.
AND THEN ON THE NEW AND EMERGING TECHNOLOGY SIDE, WE ARE SEEING A FEW OF THESE EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES MATURE A LITTLE BIT FASTER THAN MAYBE WHAT WE ANTICIPATED BACK IN 2019.
UH, ONE AT THE TOP OF THE LIST RIGHT THERE IS GREEN HYDROGEN.
WE'RE SEEING SIGNIFICANT INVESTMENT IN TEXAS AROUND GREEN HYDROGEN.
THE INFLATION REDUCTION ACT ACTUALLY PROVIDES A VERY LARGE INCENTIVE FOR HYDROGEN IF YOU'RE ABLE TO DO IT AS GREEN HYDROGEN AND BRINGS IT CLOSER TO THE PARITY OF COST WITH NATURAL GAS, UH, WE ARE STARTING TO SEE LONGER DURATION STORAGE.
SO A ELECTRIC BATTERY AS THEY'RE DESIGNED TODAY IN ERCOT DID NOT FARE VERY WELL DURING YURI.
WE ARE NOW STARTING TO SEE THE COMMERCIALIZATION OF, UH, STORAGE THAT MAY BE A HUNDRED HOUR STORAGE DEVICES.
UH, WE ARE SEEING SOME PROGRESS IN ADVANCED NUCLEAR REACTORS AS WELL.
UM, AND THEN WE ARE STARTING TO SEE CARBON CAPTURE AND SEQUESTRATION.
I KNOW OF ONE PARTICULAR, UH, FACILITY THAT THAT WENT, UH, COMMERCIAL IN CALIFORNIA JUST SOUTH OF SAN FRANCISCO BACK IN JULY, AND I'M AWARE OF ONE IN TEXAS UP IN THE PANHANDLE, A COMBINED CYCLE THAT IS ACTIVELY ADDING A CARBON CAPTURE AND SEQUESTRATION DEVICE AS WELL.
SO MICHAEL, FROM MY PERSPECTIVE, YOU MIGHT BE MISSING SOME, UM, OTHER TECHNOLOGIES YOU GUYS COULD BE LOOKING AT, SO.
SO JUST AN EXAMPLE OF SOME OF WHERE WE'D BE LOOKING AT THAT VIRTUAL POWER PLANTS.
THERE'S, THERE'S A NUMBER OF TECHNOLOGIES THAT WILL BE INCORPORATING RESEARCH PLAN.
I WAS, AND ON THE DEMAND SIDE AS WELL, MORE, UM, MORE DEMAND RESPONSE AND THE USE OF ELECTRIC VEHICLES IS DEMAND RESPONSE.
AND THEN CERTAINLY, AND THEN GEOTHERMAL WOULD BE SOMETHING ELSE TO LOOK AT AS WELL.
YES, YOU CAN BALANCE THE EQUATION ON BOTH SIDES.
SO YOU CAN EITHER PUT STEEL ON THE GROUND TO HELP SERVE LOAD OR YOU CAN REDUCE LOAD TO, TO MEET SUPPLY.
SO WE'LL BE, YEAH, WE'LL BE LOOKING AT ALL THOSE DIFFERENT, UH, WAYS THAT WE CAN REDUCE LOAD AS WELL, ESPECIALLY SINCE IT'S MORE ONLY A HANDFUL OF TIMES IN ERCOT WHEN THE MARKET IS UNDERSUPPLIED.
UM, SO WHAT'S NEXT IS WE ARE ACTIVELY SOLICITING FEEDBACK FROM ALL OF OUR CUSTOMERS.
WE HAVE A SURVEY OUT, I BELIEVE IT CLOSES ON THE 26TH OF SEPTEMBER.
WE'VE ACTUALLY GOTTEN REALLY GOOD RESPONSES.
WE'RE PRETTY, PRETTY EXCITED ABOUT HOW
[01:55:01]
MANY PEOPLE HAVE GONE OUT TO TAKE THAT SURVEY.I THINK OUR BENCHMARK WAS, UH, A SURVEY THAT C P S HAD HAD RELEASED, UH, EARLIER ON.
AND I BELIEVE WE'RE SEEING, UH, MORE PARTICIPATION.
UH, WE'RE GONNA EVALUATE ALL THOSE EXISTING AND EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES THROUGH A NUMBER OF DIFFERENT SCENARIO ANALYSIS, UH, USING MULTIPLE DIFFERENT MODELS, A PRODUCTION COST MODEL, A STOCHASTIC MODEL, AND A POWER FLOW MODEL, AS WELL AS A, A BUILT URI MODEL, IF YOU WILL.
UH, WE'LL BE COMING BACK TO YOU WITH AN UPDATED DRAFT PLAN FOR FEEDBACK, UH, AND YOUR CONSIDERATIONS SO WE CAN UNDERSTAND, UM, UH, WHAT'S WORKING, WHAT'S NOT WORKING, AND WHY.
AND THEN WE'RE ULTIMATELY GONNA COME BACK HERE, I BELIEVE, IN EITHER JANUARY AND FEBRUARY WITH A FINAL PLAN THAT WE PLAN TO TAKE TO CITY COUNCIL.
SO THOSE ARE ALL THE, UH, SLIDES I'VE PREPARED, BUT I'M HAPPY TO ANSWER ANY OTHER QUESTIONS YOU ALL MAY HAVE.
UH, A COUPLE, A COUPLE QUESTIONS.
UH, FIRST, UH, I, I'M A FAN, HAVE ROOFTOP SOLAR MM-HMM.
SO IT IS, HOW IS THAT TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT? I MEAN, THE INCENTIVE UPFRONT INCENTIVES ARE SIGNIFICANT OR SIGNIFICANT FOR ROOFTOP SOLAR, BUT IF AT THE END OF THE DAY WE'RE, AGAIN, FROM THE READING I'VE DONE, AREN'T WE, IN FACT AS, AS A COMMUNITY PAYING MORE BY NOT USING MORE COMMUNITY SOLAR? WELL, WE ACTUALLY HAVE AN R F P OUT FOR COMMUNITY SOLAR RIGHT NOW AS WELL.
UH, WE ARE LOOKING MORE AND MORE AT THAT.
AND THE INFLATION REDUCTION ACT HELPS REDUCE THE COST OF THAT OWNERSHIP FOR US AND MAKES THAT LOOK MORE AFFORDABLE AND MORE ECONOMIC.
UH, THE PARTICULAR, UH, COMMUNITY SOLAR R F P, WE HAVE OUT, UH, LOOKS AT A PIECE OF LAND THAT IS OWNED BY, UH, ANOTHER CITY DEPARTMENT, UH, THAT IS LARGELY UNUSED FOR THAT, UH, AND NOT REALLY THAT DEVELOPABLE.
AND SO WE'RE HOPEFUL THAT WE'RE ABLE TO PUT COMMUNITY SOLAR ON THERE.
WE'D LOVE TO PUT A LITTLE OBSERVATION DECK ON THERE.
SO WE HAVE CLOSER TOURS THAT PEOPLE CAN DO.
YOU DON'T NEED TO SEE 144 MEGAWATT SOLAR FACILITY.
YOU CAN SEE A ONE ACRE OF A SOLAR FACILITY AND SEE WHAT THEY'RE ALL ABOUT.
UH, AND THEN POTENTIALLY EVEN ADDING LONG DURATION STORAGE THERE AND SEE IF WE CAN CREATE SOME TYPE OF 24 HOUR GREEN PRODUCT.
SO THOSE ARE ALL THINGS THAT ARE IN THE WORKS.
THINGS WE'RE, WE'RE LOOKING AT AND THINGS THAT WE'RE, WE'RE, WE'RE TRYING TO, TO TIME A BIT TO, TO MEET ALL OF THESE GOALS, BUT STILL MAINTAIN THAT AFFORDABILITY AND RELIABILITY.
I, I, I WANT TO COMPLIMENT THIS WHOLE PRESENTATION HAS BEEN OUTSTANDING AND, UH, AND, AND EASY TO UNDERSTAND.
UH, THE OTHER QUESTION I HAD, UH, SINCE YOU MENTIONED THAT SURVEY, UH, UH, HAVING RECEIVED IT, THERE WAS A QUESTION ON THERE ABOUT, UH, HOW MUCH MORE YOU WOULD, UH, WOULD YOU PAY FOR CLEANER, CLEANER, UH, ENERGY MM-HMM.
'CAUSE IT, TO ME THE QUESTION IT WASN'T WAS HOW MUCH MORE INDIVIDUALLY, IF, IF VERSUS IF EVERYONE IS PAYING IN, IN OTHER WORDS, I MIGHT BE ABLE TO PAY FIVE OR $10 MM-HMM.
SO IS, UH, IN OTHER WORDS, WOULD IT BE INCLUDED IN CITYWIDE RATES AT TWO TO $5 OR WOULD IT BE AS HAS BEEN PROPOSED TO OTHER PLACES, UH, THAT EACH PERSON PAY A LITTLE BIT EXTRA LIKE GREEN MOUNTAIN POWER OR SOMETHING? YEAH, SO I, I THINK WE WERE INTERESTED IN, IN THAT FEEDBACK.
SO EVERYBODY IS PAYING A LITTLE BIT MORE AS WE CONTINUE TO ADD MORE RENEWABLES TO OUR, UH, PORTFOLIO AND, AND HIT A HIGHER AND HIGHER RENEWABLE PERCENTAGE.
BUT THEN SOME PEOPLE HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY, I'M A GREEN CHOICE, UH, CUSTOMER MYSELF, IS THEY CAN CHOOSE TO PAY A LITTLE BIT MORE TO BE A HUNDRED PERCENT RENEWABLE.
AND SO I THINK THAT QUESTION'S REALLY KIND OF DRIVING THAT, WHAT IS THE APPETITE BY ALL OF OUR CUSTOMERS AND HOW MUCH MORE ARE THEY WILLING TO PAY TO MEET SOME OF THESE ENVIRONMENTAL GOALS? BECAUSE I WILL BE HONEST WITH YOU, I THINK I'D HAVE TO GO BACK AND LOOK, BUT I THINK ONLY ABOUT 7% OF OUR CUSTOMERS ARE ON THE GREEN CHOICE PROGRAM RIGHT NOW.
I ALL, ALL OF WHICH IS, LIKE I SAY THE QUESTION, I, I'D BE MUCH HAPPIER TO PAY MORE IF I KNEW EVERY EVERYBODY RESIDENTIAL, C N I, EVERYBODY WAS IN ESSENCE SHARING THE LOAD, YOU KNOW, IT, UH, OR, OR, YOU KNOW, SHARING THE PRICE.
SO I THINK IT SHOULD BE BUILT INTO THE SYSTEM, JUST MY PERSONAL CHOICE.
AND, AND THAT'S HOW WE'RE KIND OF DOING IT TODAY, RIGHT? WE'RE
[02:00:01]
BUILDING SOME OF THAT INTO THE SYSTEM THROUGH OUR RENEWABLE PERCENTAGE GOALS MM-HMM.AND THEN WE'RE ALSO PROVIDING THE OPPORTUNITY FOR SOMEBODY TO PAY A LITTLE BIT MORE IF THEY WANT TO FURTHER MOVE THOSE GOALS ALONG FASTER.
LIKE I SAID, I, IT'S JUST THE QUESTION WAS NOT, I I GOTCHA.
COPY YOU HAD YOUR, YOUR HAND UP.
ALTHOUGH NOW I FORGOT THE QUESTION I ORIGINALLY HAD.
UM, I GUESS MAYBE JUST FOR A FUTURE AGENDA ITEM, I, I WOULD LOVE FOR US TO, UM, LOOK, LOOK AT THE GREEN CHOICE PROGRAM AND HOW MAYBE IT COULD, UM, BE ADJUSTED TO, I DON'T KNOW, BE MORE, BE MORE ATTRACTIVE TO, TO MORE CUSTOMERS.
UM, PERSONALLY I DON'T PARTICIPATE IN IT ANYMORE BECAUSE I FEEL LIKE IT DOESN'T ACTUALLY DO ANYTHING, BUT I WOULD LIKE TO HAVE A PROGRAM THAT I WOULD WANNA PARTICIPATE IN.
I HAVE IN THE PAST, UM, I, I DON'T KNOW IF THIS IS THE RIGHT TIME, BUT I JUST HAD A, A RE A, A REQUEST, UM, A DATA REQUEST.
IS IT BETTER TO WAIT OR WOULD YOU LIKE THAT NOW A DATA REQUEST? I'M, IS THERE A PROCESS WHERE THEY SUBMIT DATA REQUESTS? UM, WHY DON'T, WHY DON'T YOU, UM, SEND AN EMAIL SO WE CAN GET THAT IN WRITING.
THAT MIGHT JUST BE EASIER FOR US TO TRACK THAT, THAT DATA REQUEST.
I'M JUST GONNA, UH, YEAH, I'LL, I'LL PUT IT IN WRITING.
I YOU JUST SHOWED A NICE GRAPH THAT, UM, SHOWED THE PERCENTAGE OF GENERATION OR YEAH.
OF CAPACITY, AND I JUST WAS HOPING WE COULD GET THAT, UH, BY LIKE MEGAWATT HOUR.
UM, MAYBE JUST A TABLE DOESN'T NEED TO BE A GRAPH, BUT I WILL PUT IT IN WRITING AS WELL.
OH, SO LIKE A, A PIE GRAPH THAT SHOWS CAPACITY, BUT THEN ALSO ONE THAT SHOWS ACTUAL ENERGY GENERATED? YEAH.
YEAH, ALTHOUGH, I MEAN, I WOULD LOOK THE NUMBERS AS WELL AS, I MEAN, HAPPY TO HAVE THE GRAPH, BUT, UM, I'D LIKE THE NUMBERS TOO.
RAUL, DID YOU HAVE A QUESTION, RAUL? NO QUESTION.
I, I HAVE, HE'S TRYING TO TALK.
UH, YOU WANNA UNMUTE PLEASE? I THINK HE'S ON MUTED, BUT WE CAN'T HEAR HIM.
UM, AND WHILE WE'RE HAVING DEAD SPACE, UM, I JUST WANNA REMIND THAT I DID ASK FOR THE GRAPHS YOU DID WERE EXCELLENT THAT SHOWED THE RENEWABLE, RENEWABLE PERCENTAGE GOING UP AND ALSO THE EMISSIONS GOING DOWN.
BUT I THINK WE WOULD ALSO LIKE TO SEE ON THE OTHER RESOURCE PLAN GOALS, LIKE WHERE ARE WE ON THE ENERGY EFFICIENCY? WHERE ARE WE ON THE DEMAND RESPONSE? WHERE ARE WE ON THE ONSITE STORAGE GOALS? SURE.
I THINK WE, I THINK WE'RE PUTTING ALL OF THAT TOGETHER.
OH, YOU'RE PUTTING THAT TOGETHER.
I I WORKED ON A LITTLE THAT LAST WEEK, SO YES, I KNOW IT'S ALL GETTING PUT TOGETHER, PROBABLY JUST GETTING PACKAGED TO DELIVER.
UM, YOU KNOW, I, I SEE THESE LARD L C O E NUMBERS OVER THE YEARS AND IT'S, IT SEEMS TO SAY IN OUR REGION, NEW WIND AND SOLAR ARE THE CHEAPEST NEW RESOURCE, RIGHT? AND SO WHAT'S IT GONNA TAKE BEFORE WE FINALLY HEAR THAT IT'S NOT COSTING US MORE FOR THE ZERO EMISSIONS, IT'S ACTUALLY SAVING MONEY AND PROVIDING 15 YEAR HEDGES.
RIGHT? AND SO BACK IN 2019, I ACTUALLY DID AN EXAM, A MATHEMATICAL EXAMPLE ON THIS TO TALK ABOUT, UH, A RENEWABLE P P A AND HOW IT SETTLES IN THE ACTUAL COST TO OUR CUSTOMER.
AND I CAN, I CAN BRING THAT BACK, BUT SO ON WITH TAX INCENTIVES ON A CAPITAL COST INVESTMENT, UH, YOU ARE CORRECT, YOU PROBABLY GET LOWER COST, UH, PER MEGAWATT OF CAPACITY TO INSTALL, UH, FOR WIND AND FOR SOLAR THAN YOU WOULD FOR NATURAL GAS.
HOWEVER, UH, A DISPATCHABLE UNIT CAN DELIVER MORE POWER AND PRICES ARE HIGH AND LESS POWER OR NO POWER AND PRICES ARE LOW, OR RENEWABLE ASSET DOESN'T REALLY DO THAT.
IT PRODUCES AS THE FUELS AVAILABLE.
SO OFTENTIMES WHEN WIND IS THE HIGHEST IN ERCOT, PRICES ARE THE LOWEST.
AND SO WHEN YOU'RE GENERATING THE MOST IS WHEN YOU'RE GETTING THE LEAST AMOUNT OF REVENUE PER MEGAWATT HOUR.
UH, BUT YOU HAVE A FIXED COST, CAPITAL COST, RIGHT? AND SO THAT'S, THAT'S WHY I MENTIONED THAT WIND AND SOLAR IS NOT REDUCING COSTS UH, BUT, BUT ADDING SOME COSTS TO THE OVERALL P S A, CAN YOU SEND US THAT ANALYSIS ON, ON WIND VERSUS PRICE IN ERCOT? CERTAINLY, YEAH.
THAT ONE IF YOU'D LIKE TO SEE TOTAL, TOTAL ERCOT WIND VERSUS PRICE.
UH, I CAN PUT THAT, I CAN PULL THAT PRETTY QUICKLY.
I CAN ALSO SHOW YOU THAT THE MOST, UH, VOLATILE TIME OF THE, OF THE DAY IS AS THE SUN COMES DOWN
[02:05:01]
WITH PRICING AS WELL.SO YOU'LL, YOU'LL SEE THAT THAT PRICING TENDS TO BE VERY HIGH AS THE SUN COMES DOWN.
UH, AND THAT'S WHEN WE'RE NOT PRODUCING ANY SOLAR MEGAWATTS.
CAN YOU ALL HEAR ME NOW, OR? YES.
A COUPLE QUESTIONS ON THE, UM, WHAT IS THE RIGHT LOAD PRICING OR CONGESTION? UH, THERE WAS A COUPLE SLIDES YOU HAD WITH THE SYSTEM-WIDE PRICES AND UM, AND I THINK YOU, YOU MADE IT, I DON'T KNOW IF THIS IS JUST A HYPOTHETICAL, BUT YOU MENTIONED SOMETHING ABOUT IF, IF YOU HAVE TO BUY POWER AT A THOUSAND DOLLARS OR $900, UM, BUT THEN YOU WOULD, BUT YOU WOULD'VE TO SELL IT RIGHT.
OBVIOUSLY THAT'S A BIG DISPARITY, BUT I MEAN, I ASSUME THAT'S JUST A HYPOTHETICAL, RIGHT? NO, THAT WAS AN ACTUAL DAY THAT HAPPENED ON JUNE 15TH IN ERCOT.
AND I MEAN, I'M JUST SAYING IS LIKE IF WE HAVE TO BUY POWER, WOULD WE ACTUALLY ALSO BE SELLING POWER? I GUESS THAT'S MY QUESTION.
BUT YOU'RE BUYING POWER AT ONE PRICE AND YOU'RE SELLING POWER AT A DIFFERENT PRICE, WHICH CREATES THE FINANCIAL IMBALANCE, WHICH IS WHAT PUT PRESSURE ON THE RATES ON, ON THAT DAY, ON JUNE 15TH, WE WERE BUYING POWER UNDERSTAND A VERY, VERY HIGH PRICE WHY WE'RE, WHY WE'RE SELLING IF WE'RE ALSO BUYING.
AND IT JUST IS MY, UH, SO ALL OF THE POWER, ALL OF THE POWER IS SOLD INTO ERCOT AT THE LOCATION OF THE POWER RESOURCE.
AND ALL OF THE LOAD IS BOUGHT FROM ERCOT AT THE LOCATION THAT YOU'RE BUYING IT.
OUR LOW ZONE IS RIGHT HERE IN THE AUSTIN AREA.
OUR POWER PLANTS ARE SPREAD OUT THROUGHOUT THE STATE OF TEXAS.
AND THEN THE OTHER QUESTION OH, I SEE.
WELL ANYWAY, THIS MIGHT HAVE JUST HAVE TO BE A PRICING 1 0 1, UH, UM, BRIEFING THAT I NEED TO HAVE WITH, WITH SOMEBODY FROM US ENERGY
BUT UH, BUT THAT HELPS ME UNDERSTAND IT JUST 'CAUSE IN TERMS OF I DIDN'T UNDERSTAND THE, THE WAY THE TRANSACTIONS WORK.
YOU KNOW, I, I HAVE A QUESTION.
UM, ACTUALLY THE SLIDE, WE WERE JUST CLICKING THROUGH THEM, BUT ON ONE OF THEM MENTIONED SETTLEMENT PRICES AND THE, THE HIGH VARIANCE, UM MM-HMM.
SO CAN YOU, CAN YOU JUST EXPLAIN, UM, WHAT THE DIFFERENCE IS BETWEEN SETTLEMENT PRICE AND I'VE SEEN REAL-TIME PRICE AND CAN YOU JUST HELP ME UNDERSTAND THAT AT A, AT A REALLY THOUSAND FOOT VIEW, HIGH LEVEL? YEAH.
SO EVERY 15 MINUTES IN ERCOT, THERE IS A PRICE THAT YOU SETTLE UPON BOTH FOR YOUR LOAD AND FOR YOUR GENERATION.
AND THAT PRICE IS DIFFERENT FOR EVERY SINGLE NODE.
IN ERCOT, WE'RE IN A LOCATIONAL, MARGINALLY PRICED MARKET, NODAL MARKET.
UM, AND SO ERCOT IS CALCULATING, UH, BASED ON ALL THE OFFER CURVES OF EVERY GENERATOR IN THE STATE, WHAT IS THE LOWEST COST THAT WE CAN GENERATE TO MEET SUPPLY WHILE MEETING SECURITY CONSTRAINED ECONOMIC DISPATCH, WHICH IS THAT N MINUS ONE CONTINGENCY.
SO THEY'RE SAYING HOW, HOW DO WE DISPATCH ALL THE UNITS TO MEET DEMAND AND NOT POTENTIALLY OVERLOAD ANY LINE IF, UH, A TRANSMISSION LINE GOES OUT? UM, AND SO THAT, THAT PRICE IS CALCULATED ACTUALLY ON A FIVE MINUTE BASIS TO MOVE UNITS AROUND AND THEN TO SETTLE ON A 15 MINUTE BASIS IN THE REAL TIME MARKET.
AND YOU'RE GONNA SETTLE EVERYTHING IN THE REAL TIME MARKET BASED ON HOW YOU PHYSICALLY CONSUME ENERGY OR PRODUCE ENERGY.
THERE'S ALSO A SUMMIT PRICE FOR THE DAY AHEAD MARKET.
THE DAY AHEAD MARKET IS VOLUNTARY AND IT ALLOWS YOU TO ESSENTIALLY FINANCIALLY HEDGE, UH, LOAD COST OR GENERATION REVENUE.
SO IN THE DAY AHEAD MARKET, YOU CAN THEN GO OUT AND OFFER IN YOUR ASSETS IN THE DAY AHEAD MARKET AS WELL AS BID FOR LOAD.
AND IF YOU GET CLEARED, YOU CAN HAVE A FINANCIAL HEDGE THAT THEN WILL SETTLE AGAINST THE REAL-TIME MARKET.
BUT EVERY 15 MINUTES, ERCOT IS PRODUCING A PRICE FOR EVERY SINGLE NODE AND LOAD ZONE IN TEXAS AND ALL OF THE GENERATION AND ALL THE LOAD IS SETTLING AGAINST THAT PRICE BASED ON ITS LOCATION.
AND UM, JUSTIN
I DID RECEIVE THE INFORMATION I REQUESTED FROM AUSTIN ENERGY.
I JUST FAILED TO READ ALL MY EMAILS.
UM, SO I WILL FORWARD THAT TO ROBIN TO SHARE WITH THE WHOLE E U C, UNLESS YOU PROBABLY ALREADY HAVE IT, BUT I'LL, IF YOU COULD JUST SHARE IT WITH THE OTHER MEMBERS OF THE UC AND THANK YOU FOR THE INFORMATION THAT WAS PROVIDED FOR ME, IF I EVER WOULD CHECK MY EMAIL.
[02:10:01]
ONLINE OR HERE? OKAY, THANK YOU SO MUCH.YEAH, I JUST, ONE OTHER, UM, I HAD REQUESTED SOME INFORMATION THAT MAYBE IT WAS JUST LIKE TOO MUCH OR UH, UM, I DON'T KNOW, BUT I, I JUST WANNA UNDERSTAND WHAT Y'ALL HAVE, UM, SO THAT I CAN MAKE A BETTER REQUEST.
UM, I WAS REQUESTING, UM, INFORMATION ON, FOR DATA ON, ON HOW OFTEN, UH, OR HOW MUCH A RENEWABLE PORTFOLIO AND I, I APPRECIATE THE GRAPH YOU PUT TOGETHER.
UM, YOU KNOW, WITH KIND OF THAT EXAMPLE DAY AND HOW THE, THE WIND AND SOLAR CAN STACK UP.
UM, THAT GIVES ME HOPE THAT WE'RE, YOU KNOW, HOPEFULLY NOT TOO FAR OFF TRACK, BUT, UM, I'M SURE YOU'LL MUST BE LOOKING AT SIMILAR INFORMATION.
SO JUST WONDERING, UM, WHAT IT IS THAT YOU, WHAT DATA YOU DO HAVE AND, AND HOW WE CAN START LOOKING AT THAT ISSUE OF, UM, MATCHING THE RENEWABLE RESOURCES TO LOAD THROUGHOUT THE YEAR.
SO THIS WAS THE, THE HOURLY RENEWABLE VERSUS HOURLY LOAD REQUEST.
IS THAT CORRECT? YEAH, YEAH, YEAH.
I THINK WE, WE HAVE PEOPLE, SO IN, IN SHORT, WE, WE CAPTURE A, A LOT OF DATA IN ENERGY MARKET OPERATIONS.
UM, BUT WE CAPTURE IT IN DATABASES.
AND I THINK THE CHALLENGE THERE IS WE WE'RE JUST, WE NEED SOME PEOPLE TO WRITE SOME SQL QUERIES TO BE ABLE TO PULL THAT DATA.
UH, AND THEN WE NEED TO QUALITY CHECK THAT DATA.
AND THEN ALSO, I JUST WOULD LIKE TO, UH, JUST MENTION THAT THAT DATA WOULD BE WHAT IS ACTUALLY PRODUCED ON AN HOURLY BASIS.
IT'S NOT THE POTENTIAL OF WHAT COULD BE PRODUCED.
UH, THERE IS A LOT OF CURTAILMENTS IN, IN ERCOT.
AND SO YOU WOULD NEED TO USE THAT DATA WITH, WITH, WITH, WITH THAT LENS ON TO UNDERSTAND THAT, THAT THE INFORMATION YOU'RE GETTING, UH, MAY NOT BE THE INFORMATION YOU'RE, YOU'RE REALLY ASKING FOR.
'CAUSE IF WE'RE NOT GONNA BE ABLE TO, TO, TO SHOW ALL THE DIFFERENT CURTAILMENTS AT, AT EVERY DIFFERENT WIND AND SOLAR FARM, UH, WITHIN OUR PORTFOLIO, UM, I DON'T KNOW IF WE HAVE ALL THAT CAPTURED.
UM, BUT, BUT WE ARE CERTAINLY WORKING ON S Q L STATEMENTS TO, TO BE ABLE TO PULL THAT DATA FOR YOU, FOR YOU.
UM, AND THAT IS, I MEAN, I THINK THAT IS REALLY HELPFUL CONTEXT TO KNOW THAT YEAH, IT WOULD BE WHAT AUSTIN ENERGY ACTUALLY BENEFITS FROM AS OPPOSED TO THE, THE FULL PRODUCTION.
UM, YEAH, JUST AS AN EXAMPLE, BACK IN JULY WHEN IT WAS REALLY WINDY AND STILL HOT AND WE DIDN'T HAVE THE CALLS FOR CONSERVATION, UH, THERE WERE A COUPLE TIMES WHERE WE WERE UP OVER 85,000 MEGAWATTS IN ERCOT AND WE HAD WIND FARMS IN OUR PORTFOLIO THAT WERE CURTAILED PLENTY OF WIND POTENTIAL.
THEY JUST, THERE WAS NOT THE TRANSMISSION THERE TO DO IT.
SO, SO IT'S JUST THAT IT COULD BE AT ANY HOUR WHERE THE NUMBER YOU'RE GETTING ISN'T NECESSARILY THE POTENTIAL OF WHAT COULD OCCUR.
IT'S JUST THE NUMBER OF WHAT WAS ABLE TO OCCUR BASED ON THE PHYSICS OF THAT SYSTEM AT THAT TIME.
UM, I, I GUESS KIND OF A FOLLOW UP QUESTION THEN ON THAT, UM, JUST IN TERMS OF LIKE WHERE YOU'RE LOOKING, UM, FOR, FOR NEW WIND AND SOLAR RESOURCES, I ASSUME YOU'RE, YOU'RE TAKING THAT INTO ACCOUNT AND, AND TRYING TO PROCURE AND AREAS WHERE THAT'S LESS LIKELY TO BE AN ISSUE WHERE IT'S NOT AN ISSUE TODAY? YES.
BUT, UH, AS YOU'VE, AS YOU'VE SEEN, THE, THE COASTAL WIND AREA WAS NOT AN ISSUE, UH, FIVE OR SIX YEARS AGO AND IT'S BECOME AN ISSUE.
SO YEAH, I WOULD SAY THAT IF YOU WERE ASKING ME TODAY WHERE I WANTED TO DO SOLAR AS FAR EAST AS POSSIBLE WOULD BE GREAT.
'CAUSE WE'D LIKE TO MAKE THAT SOLAR RAMP CURVE FOR OUR PORTFOLIO WIDER RATHER THAN STEEPER.
UM, AND, AND THERE'S NOT A LOT OF WIND EAST AS WELL.
AND SO WE LIKE TO SPREAD OUT TO TRY TO CAPTURE THE WIND WHEN IT'S BLOWING, WHERE IT'S BLOWING.
UM, AND SO WE WOULD WANT TO CONTINUE TO DO THAT GEOGRAPHIC DIVERSIFICATION, UH, AREAS CAN BE, CAN CONGEST, BUT ALSO WHERE YOU TIE IN WHAT TRANSMISSION YOU LINE YOU TIE INTO AND WHERE THERE'S COUNTERFLOW MAKES A BIG DIFFERENCE AS WELL.
ANY OTHER QUESTIONS? UM, I'LL, I'M GONNA MAKE THIS REQUEST IN WRITING BECAUSE I'M NOT GONNA BE ABLE TO ASK IT, BUT I, I ASKED THIS DURING ONE OF YOUR PRESENTATIONS.
I'M REALLY INTERESTED TO UNDERSTAND THE RESOURCES WE USE AND HOW THEY CAN BE USED FOR ANCILLARY SERVICES.
UM, BUT DON'T LET ME WRITE IT DOWN IN A WAY THAT MAKES SENSE.
UH, GAS PLANTS AND THE COAL PLANT AND, UH, AND WELL GAS PLANTS AND COAL PLANTS TODAY IS HOW WE CARRY ALL OUR AS OR WE HAVE TO BUY IT FOR THE MARKET.
AND I'M JUST INTERESTED WHETHER WE COULD ALSO USE, IF WE USE ANY OF THE DEMAND SIDE, UH, WHICH CAN PARTICIPATE IN SOME ANCILLARY SERVICES.
AND I'M INTERESTED TO KNOW WHETHER THERE'S OPPORTUNITY TO DO MORE, UM, FOR DEMAND SIDE RESOURCES TO PROVIDE ANCILLARY SERVICES.
SO LIKE, UH, LIKE LOAD ACTING AS A RESOURCE
[02:15:01]
OR LOAD PROVIDING NONS SPIN.UM, BUT I, I'LL I'LL ASK IT IN A WRITTEN FORM SO HE CAN GET THE ANSWER.
[13. Update from the Budget & Audit Working Group]
BUDGET AND AUDIT WORKING GROUP.I THINK THERE'S NO UPDATE ON THAT.
UH, I THINK, UH, WE DID MEET, WE DID HAVE A MEETING TODAY AND I BELIEVE OUR QUESTIONS HAVE BEEN ANSWERED.
Y YEAH, WE, WE DID WANNA MAKE SURE THAT WE GOT, UM, THE INFORMATION ABOUT THE C B C, UH, THE COMMUNITY BENEFIT CHARGE.
'CAUSE THAT IS KIND OF PART OF THE BUDGET.
IT'S HOW WE, UH, PAY FOR THE BUDGET.
AND I THINK THE ONE QUESTION MAYBE WE HAD OF AUSTIN ENERGY, AND THIS COULD BE A SIMPLE YES NO ANSWER IS, UM, IS THE BUDGET, IS, WAS THE BUDGET APPROVED BY C CITY COUNCIL THE SAME AS YOUR BUDGET REQUEST OR DID THEY MAKE ANY ADJUSTMENTS IN THOSE FINAL DAYS? OR IS IT BASICALLY WHAT WHAT Y'ALL ASKED FOR AND PRESENTED TO US IS WHAT CITY COUNCIL APPROVED? AND IF THERE WAS ANY DIFFERENCE, I GUESS WE'D LIKE TO KNOW, BUT NO, THAT WAS THE APPROVED BUDGET WAS AS PROPOSED.
[14. Update from the Resource Generation Planning Working Group]
ON THE RESOURCE PLANNING WORKING GROUP.SO WE COMMENCE THAT TOMORROW RIGHT HERE.
AND I, AND I KNOW THIS IS A, UM, AN ISSUE OF, OF A LITTLE BIT OF TENSION OR DISAGREEMENT BETWEEN ALL ENERGY AND THE E U C ABOUT HOW TO PROCEED.
BUT, UM, THE E U C, UH, AND ANY OF YOU CAN SPEAK, BUT THE, THE E WE'VE GOT FIVE MEMBERS OF THE E U C THAT ARE GONNA PARTICIPATE IN THIS WORKING GROUP.
WE'VE GOT FIVE MEMBERS OF THE R M C AND THEN WE HAVE NINE COMMUNITY MEMBERS.
AND ALL OF THIS CAN NOW BE FOUND ON A WEBSITE THAT MS. WHITE HAS CREATED.
UM, IF I CAN FIND THE WEBSITE, UM, ADDRESS, EVA, CAN YOU REMIND US WHAT THE WEBSITE ADDRESS IS? YEAH, I'LL PUT IT IN THE CHAT, BUT IT IS AUSTIN E U C RESOURCE PLANNING WG.ORG.
SO WE'VE CREATED A, A WEBSITE JUST SO WE CAN KEEP TRACK OF WHEN THE MEETINGS ARE.
AND WE CAN ALSO LET, UH, AUSTIN ENERGY, WELL OBVIOUSLY YOU GUYS KNOW 'CAUSE YOU'VE RESERVED US A ROOM, BUT, UM, THERE IS AN OPEN INVITATION.
THIS IS A SEPARATE WORKING GROUP TO DISCUSS THE RESOURCE PLAN, BUT ANY, ANY MEMBER OF THE PUBLIC OR AUSTIN ENERGY IS OF COURSE WELCOME TO, TO GO AND PARTICIPATE.
UM, BUT WE HAVE A PROPOSED AGENDA FOR THE MEETING TOMORROW, WHICH IS FROM THREE TO FIVE.
WELL, IT'S NOT IN THIS ROOM, I THINK, I THINK IT'S IN A DIFFERENT ROOM.
RIGHT? IT'S OVER THERE SOMEWHERE.
UH, UM, 1101, SOMETHING LIKE THAT.
UM, THE PROPOSED AGENDA IS PRETTY SIMPLE AGENDA, INTRODUCING THE MEMBERS, TALKING ABOUT HOW WE'RE GONNA CONDUCT OUR BUSINESS, UH, REVIEWING THIS PRESENTATION, UM, AND THEN COMING UP WITH A LIST OF, WE'VE LISTED SOME POSSIBLE TOPICS FOR THE FUTURE.
AND SO THEN WE, WE CAN THEN SAY WHICH OF THOSE TOPICS DO WE WANNA COVER IN UPCOMING NUMBER, UH, MEETINGS.
BUT THEY'RE, THEY'RE TOPICS THAT ARE PRETTY SIMILAR TO THE TOPICS THAT YOU'VE PUT IN YOUR PRESENTATION.
UM, AND I DON'T, THIS IS A REQUEST IF IT'S POSSIBLE TO PUT A LINK ON THE E U C PAGE OF THAT WEBSITE.
I DON'T KNOW IF THAT'S POSSIBLE, BUT THAT WOULD BE USEFUL FOR MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC OR TRYING TO, YOU KNOW, WHO DON'T FIND THE WEBSITE JUST TO HAVE A LINK SOMEWHERE, UH, THAT CAN TAKE THEM TO THE WEBSITE OF WHEN THE MEETINGS ARE, HOW TO PARTICIPATE.
I CAN DEFINITELY PUT IT INTO THE MEETING MINUTES.
UM, I'M NOT SURE WE YEAH, I'D, I'LL, I'LL WE LOOK INTO IT.
IF IT'S POSSIBLE JUST TO LET SO PEOPLE KNOW HOW TO, HOW TO GET TO IT.
THE ROOM IS 11 33, 11 33 TOMORROW FROM THREE TO FIVE.
AND OUR, I MEAN, WE'RE, WE'RE INTENDING TO TRY TO MEET ABOUT EVERY TWO WEEKS.
SO WE'VE SCHEDULED MEETINGS EVERY TWO WEEKS.
OF COURSE, WE CAN ALWAYS CANCEL MEETINGS IF WE DON'T NEED THEM OR ADD, IF WE NEED ADDITIONAL MEETINGS.
UM, BUT WE'LL CERTAINLY BE TAKING MICHAEL'S PRESENTATION AND ANY PRESENTATION YOU MAKE IN NOVEMBER, WE'LL, WE'LL CERTAINLY CONSIDER, UM, AND AS ALWAYS, THE INTENT WOULD BE TO COME BACK HERE TO THE E U C WITH ANY ADDITIONAL RECOMMENDATIONS FROM THE WORKING GROUP.
AND WE CERTAINLY WANT TO KNOW AUSTIN ENERGY'S RESPONSE TO ANY ADDITIONAL RECOMMENDATIONS.
[02:20:01]
SO IF THEY'RE, IF THEY DON'T MAKE SENSE OR AREN'T ACHIEVABLE, WE WANNA, YOU KNOW, WE WANT YOUR RESPONSE ON ANYTHING WE DO.UM, AND I, I'VE TAKEN UP TOO MUCH SPACE AS I OFTEN DO.
I DON'T KNOW IF OTHER FOLKS HAVE QUESTIONS OR, OR CONCERNS ANY OTHER POINTS OR QUESTIONS.
AND I THINK OUR INTENT WOULD BE IF WE HAD, IF THAT WORKING GROUP HAS DATA REQUESTS, WE'LL USE ONE OF THE E U C MEMBERS TO THEN MAKE THOSE REQUESTS TO, TO AUSTIN ENERGY AND JUST USE THE E U C TO MAKE THOSE REQUESTS.
PROBABLY THROUGH, BUT DAVE, I JUST HAVE A QUESTION.
I WAS JUST WONDERING IF WE HAVE A, A PROCESS FOR THAT AND, AND LIKE WHO THEY SHOULD BE GOING TO IN TERMS OF STAFF AND WHAT WE SHOULD EXPECT IN TERMS OF RESPONSE.
SO DAVE AND I TALKED ABOUT THIS A LITTLE BIT EARLIER TODAY.
UM, QUESTIONS WOULD NEED TO COME THROUGH ME, AMY EVERHART, AND IT WOULD BE HELPFUL IF YOU GUYS COULD ALL FUNNEL THEM THROUGH ONE PERSON SO THAT I AM NOT LOSING EMAILS AND REQUESTS FROM MULTIPLE PEOPLE.
SO KABA, IF YOU WANNA BE THAT PERSON, THAT WOULD BE GREAT.
CYRUS, Y'ALL CAN DECIDE AMONGST YOURSELVES.
BUT JUST LET ME KNOW WHO THE PERSON IS AND THEN AFTER EVERY MEETING, YOU GUYS CAN SEND US THE QUESTIONS AND WE'LL GET RESPONSES BACK TO YOU.
THAT'S GONNA BE THE MOST EFFICIENT WAY TO DO IT, IS THROUGH ONE PERSON AND FROM ONE PERSON.
UM, I, I THINK THAT IT WAS PROBABLY, YOU KNOW, SOME UNINTENTIONAL JUST LOST IN THE SHUFFLE ON THE LAST ONE, BUT, YOU KNOW, IT TOOK THE TWO, TWO MONTHS TO, TO GET A RESPONSE TO THE LAST QUESTION.
I, I'M HOPING THAT THAT'S NOT HOW IT, I, WE, WE HEAR YOU.
AND NOW THAT THE WORKING GROUP IS OFFICIALLY UNDERWAY, THAT, UM, THE TIMING WILL BE A QUICKER TURNAROUND.
OH, ONE QUESTION WE HAVE IS, WE'VE SET THIS UP AS A HYBRID MEETING, UH, ROBIN.
SO IS THERE IN THE ROOM WE'RE MEETING IN, WE CAN PUT UP A TEAMS, WE DON'T WANNA HAVE PROBLEMS. RIGHT.
AND, UM, THERE'S INTERNET IN THERE.
SO IF YOU BRING A, A COMPUTER IN THERE, YOU CAN CONNECT TO THE, UM, THE WIFI IN THERE AND IF YOU WANNA HAVE A ZOOM MEETING OR WHATEVER, UM, UM, WEBEX, WEBEX OR WHATEVER, UM, YOU CAN SET THAT UP AND YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO, UM, LOG IN.
ARE WE ABLE TO PUT IT UP ON A, ON THE SCREEN THERE OR NO? OH, YOU KNOW, I'M NOT SURE.
I, I, IN THEORY, YES, BUT WE'LL GO TOMORROW BEFORE THE MEETING.
IF ONE, IF ONE OF YOU, IF YOU, IF YOU HAVE A AVAILABILITY JUST TO HELP US SET IT UP.
'CAUSE THAT WOULD BE USEFUL TO HAVE IT.
YEAH, WE'LL, WE'LL BE THERE TO GREET YOU AND, AND HELP SET UP.
I THOUGHT I SAW AN EMAIL THAT HAD A TEAMS LINK FOR TOMORROW.
Y YEAH, SO SHE'S SET UP A TEAM
THE QUESTION IS, CAN WE PUT IT UP ON THE SCREEN SO IT'S EASIER VERSUS EVERYBODY SITTING THERE WITH THEIR COMPUTER, SO, OKAY.
SO WE'LL START THAT TOMORROW AT THREE O'CLOCK.
IS THERE ANY DISCUSSION ON THE REPORTS, UH, PREVIOUSLY REVIEWED BY THE UC? I DON'T THINK WE HAVE ANYTHING THERE.
[FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS]
ITEMS. HAVEN'T HAD A CHANCE TO LOOK AT THE LIST THAT YOU SENT.SO WE CAN TRY TO SCHEDULE, WE'VE GOT A NUMBER OF ITEMS. I COULD GO THROUGH SOME OF THOSE THAT WE WANT TO TALK ABOUT.
UM, I, I HAVE, I HAVE A RUNNING LIST.
I DIDN'T SEND YOU, UM, THE LIST.
UM, BUT, UH, SO FAR TODAY I'VE CAPTURED, UM, UM, FUTURE ITEMS OF DEMAND RESPONSE, UH, PROGRAM OR PROCESS ITEM AND UM, UH, A GREEN CHOICE PROGRAM OVERVIEW.
SO I HAVE ON MY LIST, UH, STREET LIGHT REPLACEMENT SOMETIME IN THE FUTURE.
I'D LIKE TO SEE TRANSMISSION BUILD OUT EVERY SO OFTEN BECAUSE ALL OF WHAT WE SEEM TO BE INFLUENCED BY AS FAR AS OUR PRICE, WHERE TO, WHERE TO PUT NEW GENERATION FLEETS SEEMS TO BE LIMITED AT THE ERCOT LEVEL BY TRANSMISSION CONSTRAINTS, UH, AS WELL AS SOME THINGS UP IN THE AIR AS FAR AS NEW MARKET RULES ABOUT FIRMING.
SO AS WE UNDERSTAND MORE ABOUT THE NEW FIRMING REQUIREMENTS FROM THE LEGISLATIVE, UH, REQUIREMENTS THAT WERE JUST PUT IN PLACE, WE, WE'D LIKE TO SEE THAT OVER TIME FOR A WHILE THOUGH.
[02:25:01]
SO WE UNDERSTAND.SO MAYBE SCHEDULE IT OUT IN THE FUTURE.
UH, CAN YOU GIMME A, A SHORTER TITLE?
HOW WOULD YOU ARTICULATE THAT? I'M NOT SURE BECAUSE, UM, IF YOU READ HP 1500 AND IT'S LIKE 50 PAGES LONG, UM, IT'S GOT ALL THESE SECTIONS THAT ARE REFERENCE EACH OTHER.
SO ONCE YOU DO THIS THING, THEN YOU MIGHT DO THIS THING SUBJECT TO, TO STUDY.
SO I'M NOT SURE IF I WERE AUSTIN ENERGY, HOW I WOULD INTERPRET THOSE MARKET RULES, LIKE FIRMING REQUIREMENTS, FIRMING REQUIREMENTS, FIRMING REQUIREMENTS ON FUTURE RENEWABLES MAY COME INTO EFFECT, BUT IT'S SUBJECT TO A NUMBER OF PROCESSES IS THE WAY I, I'M GONNA SAY FIRMING REQUIREMENTS ON RENEWABLES.
AND HOPEFULLY YOU GUYS WILL KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS.
WHEN WE DISCUSS FUTURE, UM, SLOTTING AND FUTURE, WELL IT'S, I WOULD SAY FIRMING REQUIREMENTS AND INTERCONNECTION COST REQUIREMENTS ON RENEWABLES ARE TWO NEW THINGS THAT COULD MAKE RENEWABLES MORE EXPENSIVE BASED UPON WHAT ERCOT AND P U C DO.
BUT WE DON'T KNOW YET, TO BE HONEST.
SO FIRMING REQUIREMENTS AND INTERCONNECTION REQUIREMENTS ON FUTURE RENEWABLES.
INTERCONNECTION COSTS INTERNET CONNECTION COSTS.
I ALSO WROTE DOWN HB 1500, SO I ALSO WROTE DOWN HB 1500.
SO APPARENTLY THE SMART PEOPLE BEHIND ME KNOW WHAT THAT IS.
THEN QUARTERLY EV CHARGING RELIABILITY, UH, I HEARD DOWNTOWN RAMP DOWN PROGRAM.
UM, ACTUALLY SOME PRIMERS ON THE VALUE OF DISPATCHABLE GENERATION VERSUS LOW L C O E OF WIND AND SOLAR.
UM, THAT PRIMER ON LOAD ZONE PRICE SEPARATION.
THAT MIGHT BE VERY USEFUL FOR THE, THE WORKING GROUP BECAUSE YOU DID A GREAT JOB AS, AS MUCH AS ANY HUMAN BEING CAN ON THAT.
BUT SOME MORE PICTURES AND, AND SOME EXAMPLES MIGHT BE HELPFUL TOO.
AND THEN, UM, DID YOU HAVE SOMETHING ON AS OBLIGATIONS THAT YOU HAD A QUESTION ON? N NO, I'M JUST GONNA, I'M GONNA PUT SOMETHING IN WRITING AND SEND IT PERHAPS THROUGH WHOEVER'S THE OFFICIAL SENDER.
UH, 'CAUSE I THINK IT, UM, HAVING AN UNDERSTANDING OF HOW, OF HOW UH, AUSTIN ENERGY USES ITS RESOURCES TO, TO MEET AS OBLIGATIONS, I THINK IS IMPORTANT.
ESPECIALLY AS THEY CHANGE THOSE AS OBLIGATIONS.
BUT THAT, THAT'S MORE OF A DATA REQUEST.
I DON'T THINK WE NEED A PRESENTATION.
ANYTHING ELSE? THIS IS WEIGHTY, THIS IS WEIGHTY, NERDY STUFF.