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[CALL MEETING TO ORDER]
UTILITY COMMISSION.THIS IS OUR MEETING FOR OCTOBER 16TH, 2023.
SO LET'S CALL THE MEETING TO ORDER ANY PUBLIC COMMUNICATION.
[PUBLIC COMMUNICATION: GENERAL]
YES, WE HAVE SIX SPEAKERS.THE FIRST SPEAKER IS DALE BULA.
OH, DO I STILL HAVE THREE MINUTES?
MY NAME IS DALE BULA, AND I WANTED TO EXPRESS SOME THOUGHTS ABOUT THE CLOSING OF THE FAYETTE COAL PLANT.
UH, FAYETTE POWER PLANT RANKS 14TH AND OF THE DIRTIEST, UH, COAL PLANTS IN THE NATION.
AIR POLLUTION FROM COAL-FIRED POWER PLANTS IS LINKED TO ASTHMA, CANCER, HEART AND LUNG AILMENTS, NEUROLOGICAL PROBLEMS, ACID, RAIN, GLOBAL WARMING, AND OTHER SEVERE ENVIRONMENTAL AND PUBLIC HEALTH IMPACTS.
AND IT'S NOT JUST AIR POLLUTION, IT'S ALSO GROUNDWATER POLLUTION.
THE FAYETTE PLANT IS AMONG THE US ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY'S LIST OF POTENTIAL DAMAGE CASES, INCLUDING THAT IT IS POTENTIALLY POLLUTING GROUNDWATER SURFACE WATER AT LEVELS WHICH HAS THREATENED HUMAN HEALTH AND THE ENVIRONMENT.
AND OUR UTILITY IS ACTUALLY MAKING OUR OWN CUSTOMERS SICK OF COAL, OF COAL'S.
MANY ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS, NONE ARE AS HARMFUL LONG-TERM OR IRREVERSIBLE AS GLOBAL WARMING.
GLOBAL WARMING IS DRIVEN BY EMISSIONS FROM HEAT TRAPPING GASES, PRIMARILY FROM HUMAN ACTIVITIES THAT RISE INTO THE ATMOSPHERE AND ACT LIKE A BLANKET WHICH WARMS OUR EARTH'S SURFACE.
SEEMS TO ME THAT AUSTIN ENERGY'S DECISION TO CONTINUE USING COAL POWER IS ALL RELATED TO MONEY.
FAYETTE IS RESPONSIBLE FOR 72% OF AUSTIN ENERGY'S CARBON EMISSIONS, BUT ONLY GENERATES ABOUT 13% OF ITS TOTAL POWER.
RECENTLY, VERMONT'S GREEN MOUNTAIN POWER HAS ASKED THEIR STATE REGULATORS TO LET IT BUY BATTERIES SO THAT IT CAN INSTALL IT AT CUSTOMER'S HOMES, SAYING, DOING SO WILL BE CHEAPER THAN PUTTING UP MORE POWER LINES.
AND THIS PLAN IS A BIG DEPARTURE FROM HOW US UTILITIES NORMALLY DO BUSINESS.
SO I THINK MAYBE IT'S TIME FOR US TO THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX.
WHENEVER LOWERING EMISSIONS COMES UP, THE RESPONSE IS USUALLY, WELL, WHAT ABOUT CHINA? WHAT ABOUT INDIA? YOU SEE, I CAN'T DO MUCH ABOUT THOSE COUNTRIES, BUT I WILL CONTINUE TO TRY TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT THE UTILITY THAT I FEEL RESPONSIBLE FOR.
THE NEXT SPEAKER IS BRUCE NAILER.
I'VE SPENT A HALF OF MY CAREER IN ACADEMIA AND THE OTHER HALF IN INDUSTRY R AND D AND IN PARTICULAR, I SPENT 10 YEARS IN AT BELL LABS.
SO I'VE GOT THAT UTILITIES BACKGROUND PERSPECTIVE.
UH, THERE'S MANY THINGS I COULD TALK ABOUT.
I COULD CERTAINLY, UH, THAT, THAT ARE A CONCERN.
I KNOW WE JUST HAVE A FEW MINUTES, UM, BUT SINCE DALE INTRODUCED THE QUESTION OF COAL, IN ALL THE READING I'VE BEEN DOING NOW FOR YEARS, IT ALWAYS STRUCK ME THAT REDUCING COAL USE OF COAL WAS THE LOW HANGING FRUIT.
AND I THINK THAT'S PROBABLY WIDELY PERCEIVED.
THAT DOESN'T MEAN THAT THERE AREN'T A LOT OF POLITICS AND OTHER FACTORS THAT CAN PREVENT.
IT'S NOT JUST AN ISSUE OF KNOWLEDGE.
DO YOU HAVE ENOUGH KNOWLEDGE? IT'S DEALING WITH ALL OF THE COMPLEXITIES OF HUMAN CULTURES AND COMPETING INTERESTS.
BUT WE'RE IN A, WE GET INCREASINGLY MORE THREATENED SITUATION IN TERMS OF CLIMATE CHANGE.
SO WE'RE RUNNING OUT OF TIME, AS YOU'VE HEARD, I'M SURE MANY TIMES.
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SO I WANNA FIRST EMPHASIZE THAT.NOW, LET ME SWITCH OVER TO THE R AND D HAT.
UM, SO AS I, I SAID I WAS IN, UH, ACADEMIA, BUT ALSO BELL LABS, AND IT WAS DURING THE AGE OF ALL THE COMPUTER ADVANCEMENTS IN DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY.
AND THERE'S TREMENDOUS AMOUNT OF INNOVATION THAT IS BEING REPLICATED NOW IN THE CLEAN TECH WORLD.
THERE'S A LOT OF MONEY GOING INTO THE STARTUPS.
AND WHY ARE STARTUPS? WHY IS SILICON VALLEY SO VAUNTED, WHICH I'VE, I WAS IN DURING THE, UH, INTERNET BUBBLE I WAS LIVED NEXT TO STANFORD, UM, IS BECAUSE IT'S A PROVEN MODEL OF INNOVATION, AND IT'S REALLY IMPORTANT TO BE ABLE TO, UM, SUPPORT THAT.
SO MY EXPERIENCE WITH BELL LABS, THAT'S BELL LABS, WAS WHERE THE TRANSISTOR WAS INVENTED IN THE SOLAR CELL AND, AND, UH, LASERS.
AND IT WAS A CULTURE OF INNOVATION.
I'M NOT SAYING YOU CAN REPLICATE THAT HERE, BUT YOU SHOULD BE AWARE THAT AS A UTILITY, YOU DON'T HAVE AS MUCH EXPOSURE TO THE INNOVATION SIDE AS WE REALLY NEED.
AND SO I WOULD ENCOURAGE YOU TO TAKE THAT INTO CONSIDERATION WHEN YOU'RE DETERMINING YOUR ALLOCATION OF HUMAN RESOURCES.
OKAY, THE NEXT SPEAKER SPEAKING ON AGENDA ITEM TWO IS EMILY LYLES.
UH, SHANE JOHNSON SPEAKING ON AGENDA ITEM TWO.
GOOD AFTERNOON EVERYONE, OR EVENING.
UH, SHANE JOHNSON, HE IS HEARING PRONOUNS.
I'M A RESIDENT OF DISTRICT SEVEN, UH, SPEAKING AS A SIERRA CLUB STAFF MEMBER TODAY.
SO I WANNA COMMENT ON AGENDA ITEM TWO.
UH, BASICALLY AS FAR AS I CAN SEE, UM, CONTRACTS FOR MAINTENANCE AND REPAIR, THINGS LIKE THAT FOR OUR, UH, LOCAL GAS FLEET.
UM, AND IN THE, FOR THE PUBLIC RECORD TOO, WE JUST WANT TO, WE SEE A $27 MILLION CONTRACT, 4 MILLION, $4 MILLION ADDITIONAL CONTRACT.
UH, AND IN JULY, THE EUC APPROVED AN $11 MILLION CONTRACT.
THAT'S, UH, $57 MILLION JUST ON SORT OF MAINTENANCE OPERATION RELATED OPERATIONAL THINGS.
UM, AND I UNDERSTAND THAT, YOU KNOW, THAT'S, THAT'S OUR GENERATION RIGHT NOW.
WE HAVE NO CHOICE BUT TO USE IT.
UM, BUT LIKE BRUCE, UH, AND DALE WERE SAYING, YOU KNOW, THE CLIMATE CRISIS IS UPON US.
WE HAVE TO START, UM, UH, LOOKING OVER WHERE A KEEN EYE AT ALL OF OUR RESOURCES AND, AND START QUESTIONING THINGS THAT WE'VE TAKEN FOR GRANTED FOR A LONG TIME.
I KNOW FOR, I WOULD SAY FOR YEARS, THE, THE UC HAS APPROVED BUDGETS LIKE THIS WITHOUT A SECOND THOUGHT.
AND, UM, SO I'M HERE SPEAKING TO, TO ASK US TO START THINKING MORE CRITICALLY ABOUT THIS, YOU KNOW, $50 MILLION OF ALMOST COUCH CUSHION CHANGE BY, BY SCALE COMPARED TO, UH, THE OVERALL, UM, REVENUE AND COSTS.
BUT WE NEED TO DE-NORMALIZED THIS, THIS SPENDING AND, AND THINK MORE CRITICALLY ABOUT HOW WE CAN MOBILIZE ALL OF OUR RESOURCES AND TIME AND ENERGY TO TRANSITION OFF OF FOSSIL FUELS AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.
AND SO, UH, WE, WE ARE ASKING THAT THE AUSTIN ENERGY AND THE E U C PRIORITIZE THIS TRANSITION FASTER AND SEEK TO, UH, UH, OR ESTABLISH A GOAL OF, OF GETTING OFF OF ALL FOSSIL FUELS BY 2030.
THE CURRENT GOAL, I KNOW, SAYS, UH, 2035 OR SOONER, AND WE'D LIKE TO SEE THAT MOVED UP.
UM, AND SPECIFICALLY REPLACED BY RENEWABLES ALONG WITH BATTERY STORAGE.
I KNOW FAYETTE MADE $11 MILLION ON A DAY OR WHATEVER THE, THE, THE FIGURE WAS, BUT THIS IS UNSUSTAINABLE.
AND, UH, AND WE HAVE TO, AND WE HAVE
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TO ACTUALLY START TAKING THE CLIMATE CRISIS MORE SERIOUSLY.UH, LASTLY THAT I'LL ADD IS THAT IT'S NOT JUST CARBON POLLUTION.
THERE'S TOXIC AIR, WATER, UH, AND GROUND POLLUTION.
AND SO THIS IS POISONING THE, THE AIR, WATER, AND GROUND AND PEOPLE, UH, IN EAST AUSTIN, IN THE VALLEY IN THAT AREA.
AND SO TO ACHIEVE OUR EQUITY GOALS AND TO BE FIGHTING FOR ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE, WE HAVE TO CLOSE THESE AS, AS SOON AS POSSIBLE, UH, AND NO LONGER BURN, UH, YOU KNOW, ANYTHING THAT'S GOING TO TO CAUSE POLLUTION.
THE NEXT SPEAKER IS KAREN HADDEN.
I WAS, UM, ON THIS COMMISSION MYSELF FOR 11 YEARS, SO, UH, IT'S GOOD TO BE BACK WITH YOU TONIGHT.
UM, I WOULD LIKE TO TALK ABOUT TONIGHT, UM, THE MEETING THAT WAS HELD IN AUGUST ABOUT THE GENERATION PLAN.
I WAS REALLY DISAPPOINTED, UM, FIRST OF ALL, THAT THE GENERATION TASK FORCE DID NOT, UM, CONDUCT ITSELF AS USUAL.
AND WHEN I CAME INTO THE ROOM, I EXPECTED A SET UP WITH A MICROPHONE FOR THE PEOPLE WHO HAD COME.
AND THERE WERE A LOT OF PEOPLE, THE PUBLIC TURNED OUT.
UM, AND I THOUGHT, YOU KNOW, THIS MIGHT BE THE KIND OF SETUP WHERE, UM, THE SHAREHOLDERS OF AUSTIN UTILITY WOULD HAVE SOMETHING LIKE THREE MINUTES TO TALK ABOUT WHAT CONCERNED THEM.
BUT WHAT WE GOT INSTEAD WAS A TOP DOWN SCENARIO WHERE, UM, THE SHAREHOLDERS WERE ONLY GIVEN BRIEF MOMENTS TO TALK, AND THE MEETING WAS CONTROLLED AND DOMINATED BY THE UTILITY.
AND I'D LIKE TO SUGGEST THAT OVER THE YEARS, THE MORE AUSTIN ENERGY HAS LISTENED TO ITS SHAREHOLDERS, THE BETTER THINGS HAVE GONE.
UM, FOR EXAMPLE, UM, YEARS AGO, THERE WAS A HUGE PUSH IN THIS COMMUNITY FOR, UH, ENERGY EFFICIENCY THAT PAID OFF.
WE DID NOT HAVE TO BUILD ANOTHER COAL PLANT.
WE SAVED UNTOLD MILLIONS OF DOLLARS.
AND THAT IS THE REASON WHY FOR 17 YEARS, AUSTIN ENERGY DID NOT HAVE TO HAVE A RATE HIKE THAT PAID OFF.
IT WAS CLEANER AIR, IT WAS LOWER BILLS.
UM, AUSTIN ENERGY LISTENED ABOUT RENEWABLES IN GENERAL, AND THAT, UM, HAS PAID OFF.
UM, IT WAS RENEWABLES IN SOUTH TEXAS THAT REALLY SAVED US IN WINTER STORM URI WHEN WE HAD, UM, UH, ONE OF THE NUCLEAR REACTORS AT SOUTH TEXAS PROJECT GO DOWN RIGHT AT THE START OF THE STORM, AND IT DIDN'T COME BACK TILL THE VERY END.
UM, THERE WAS A LISTENING WHEN SHAREHOLDERS SAID, PLEASE STAY OUT OF THE PLANNED EXPANSION OF SOUTH TEXAS PROJECT THREE AND FOUR.
AND THAT ACTUALLY GOT KIND OF TRICKY 'CAUSE UH, LOBBYISTS WERE WORKING ON CITY COUNCIL TRYING TO PUSH FOR THAT REAL HARD AT ONE POINT.
UM, BUT AUSTIN ENERGY STAYED OUT, AND THAT'S A REALLY GOOD THING BECAUSE BOTH C P S ENERGY AND SAN ANTONIO AND RELIANT ENERGY IN HOUSTON LOST 400 MILLION AUSTIN ENERGY DID NOT BECAUSE THEY LISTENED TO THE PEOPLE.
SO PLEASE RESTORE THE GENERATION TASK FORCE, UH, HELP US MEET OUR CLIMATE AND EQUITY GOALS IN A WAY WHERE THERE IS TRUE PARTICIPATION NEXT TIME AROUND.
UH, LESS TOP DOWN AND MORE DEMOCRACY.
THAT'S ALL THE PUBLIC SPEAKERS.
UM, NEXT IS THE APPROVAL OF LAST SESSION'S MEETINGS CHAIR DAVE TUTTLE.
DID YOU WANNA RECOGNIZE THAT WE HAVE A NEW MEMBER? THANK YOU,
UH, DO YOU WANNA DESCRIBE FOR A FEW MINUTES YOUR BACKGROUND AND, UH, SURE.
UM, I HAVE A BACKGROUND IN, UH, PUBLIC UTILITIES, UH, FOR ABOUT 15 OR 17 YEARS.
I WORKED AT AUSTIN WATER AND AUSTIN ENERGY, AND THEN I MOVED OVER TO L C R A WHERE I NO LONGER WORK IN ENERGY PRODUCTION.
I WORK IN TELECOMMUNICATIONS, BUT I'M VERY FAMILIAR WITH, UH, A LOT OF THE ISSUES, UM, DEALING WITH PUBLIC UTILITIES.
HAVE YOU, CAN I ASK HIM ONE QUESTION? GO AHEAD.
UH, JUST FOR THE RECORD, WHO, WHO NAMED YOU, WHICH,
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WHICH COUNCIL MEMBER NAMED YOU? UH, COUNCIL MEMBER VELA.[APPROVAL OF MINUTES]
DO I HAVE A MOTION? CYRUS, DO I HAVE A SECOND? JONATHAN? ALL IN FAVOR SAY AYE.[Items 3 - 5]
ITEMS TWO THROUGH FIVE, RIGHT? SO DO WE HAVE ANY DISCUSSIONS ON THOSE? COULD, COULD WE DISCUSS TWO SINCE IT WAS RAISED IN THE MM-HMM.UH, SORRY, I'M JUST, I I KNOW I HAD ONE AND I'M JUST LOOKING FOR THE NUMBER RIGHT NOW.
UM, SORRY, COULD WE TAKE TWO AND THEN, AND NOW WE'LL GET, GET THE APPROPRIATE NUMBER HERE IN JUST A SECOND.
I MOVED, UH, CHAIR, I MOVED, UH, UM, JACK BORSCH OVER FROM STAFF.
HE CAN ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS REMOTELY ON ITEM TWO.
[2. Recommend authorizing negotiation and execution of a contract for simple cycle generator testing, repair, and maintenance with Baseload Power Generation Parts and Services, LLC, for up to five years for a total contract amount not to exceed $15,000,000.]
GO AHEAD AND APPROACH NUMBER TWO.CYRUS, YOU HAVE QUESTIONS? Y YEAH.
AND I'M SORRY, HIS NAME WAS, WAS IT JACK? YEAH, IT'S, IT'S JACK.
YEAH, I SAID JOHN, BUT I GO BY JACK.
I'M THE INTERIM DIRECTOR OF POWER PRODUCTION, UH, INTERIM VICE PRESIDENT OF POWER PRODUCTION.
NI UH, NI NICE TO TALK TO YOU.
UM, SO THIS, I'M, I'M TRYING TO GET A SENSE OF THIS CONTRACT.
THIS IS A CONTRACT, UH, FOR FIVE YEARS FOR UP TO $3 MILLION A YEAR.
IS THAT CORRECT? THAT'S THE MAXIMUM.
UM, I DON'T KNOW IF THEY'LL BE USED IN ONE YEAR OR THREE YEAR, EVERY THREE YEARS.
UM, IT DEPENDS ON THE OPERATIONS OF THESE UNITS AND THE, UM, O E M MANUFACTURERS REQUIRE MAINTENANCE ON OKAY.
AND THAT'S, THAT'S THERE'S A TARGET ON WHEN THEY'RE GONNA HIT.
AND THIS IS FOR BASICALLY MAINTENANCE CLEANING REPAIRS OF ANY OF THE SINGLE CYCLE UNITS AT EITHER DECKER OR SANDHILL, CORRECT? YES.
BUT THIS IS JUST FOR THE GENERATOR.
THIS IS NOT FOR THE TURBINE OR THE COMPRESSORS.
THIS IS JUST THE GENERATOR IN THE MOTOR END OF THE UNIT.
SO, UM, I THINK SHANE JOHNSON MENTIONED THAT WE HAD EARLIER APPROVED SOME OTHER CONTRACTS, AND I, I, EVEN THOUGH I'M ON THE EEC, I'M ACTUALLY CONFUSED.
SO WERE THOSE OTHER CONTRACTS THEN FOR TURBINES? AND THIS IS JUST FOR THE GENERATOR? IS THAT THE DIFFERENCE? UM, I'M ASSUMING, YES.
THIS ONE IS JUST FOR THE GENERATOR.
UH, WE'D ALSO HAVE SOME FOR THE COMPRESSORS AND SOME FOR THE TURBINES THEMSELVES.
AND IS IN AUSTIN ENERGY'S ESTIMATE, I MEAN, IT SEEMS LIKE A LOT OF MONEY TO ME FOR, FOR MAINTENANCE, BUT IS THIS SORT OF NORMAL STANDARD PRACTICE TO HAVE CONTRACTS WITH A MAXIMUM UP TO A CERTAIN AMOUNT IN, IN, IN, IN GENERATION? THERE'S A HIGH COST FOR MAINTENANCE.
UM, AND IT'S JUST, IT'S JUST THE WAY WE LIVE.
I MEAN, I, I AM NOT GONNA LIE TO YOU.
15 MILLION WE COULD SPEND, OR WE COULD ONLY SPEND 3 MILLION OVER THOSE FIVE YEARS.
IT'S GONNA ABSOLUTELY DEPEND ON HOW THOSE UNITS ARE OPERATED AND DISPATCHED OVER THE NEXT FIVE YEARS.
L LET'S IMAGINE THAT, UM, YOU KNOW, WE HAVE IN, IN THREE OR FOUR YEARS, WE DISCOVER COMPLETELY CLEANER NEW TECHNOLOGY SUCH THAT WE, WE FEEL LIKE WE CAN RETIRE THOSE UNITS, UH, AND NOT IN ANY WAY AFFECT RATES.
IS THE CONTRACT WRITTEN IN SUCH A WAY THAT YOU, WE CAN GET OUT OF IT AT ANY, ANY TIME IF WE'RE, IF WE DECIDE TO CLOSE SOME OF THOSE UNITS OR ARE ABLE TO CONVERT THEM TO SOMETHING ELSE? YES, THIS IS, THIS IS AS NEEDED.
SO IF WE DON'T NEED TO DO THE WORK, IF THERE'S, IF THOSE UNITS AREN'T DISPATCHED, THEN WE'RE, WE'RE NOT OBLIGATED TO PAY ANY BILLS.
I DON'T KNOW IF OTHERS HAVE QUESTIONS.
HOW ABOUT YOU HAD YOUR HAND UP? YEAH,
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YEAH.AND THIS WAS THE ITEM I WANTED TO PULL AS WELL.
UM, I JUST, I PULLED UP THE WRONG PACKET.
UM, MY, MY QUESTION HAD AND ASKED THIS ON THE LAST, UM, MAINTENANCE CONTRACT ABOUT THE BREAKDOWN.
SO I DON'T KNOW IF, IF THERE HAS BEEN ANY COLLECTION OF THAT INFORMATION.
UM, BUT I AM INTERESTED TO KNOW HOW MUCH, UH, OF THIS SORT OF SERVICE GENERALLY IS FOR THE UNIT AT DECKER VERSUS SANDHILL.
UH, I'M SORRY, I I COULDN'T ANSWER THAT RIGHT NOW.
WE'LL HAVE TO GET BACK TO YOU.
WELL, I, I ASKED AT THE LAST, AT, AT OUR LAST MEETING WHEN WE HAD ONE OF THESE, UH, VERY SIMILAR TYPE CONTRACTS, AND NOBODY DID GET BACK TO ME, SO I, I WOULD LIKE THAT INFORMATION, PLEASE.
I GUESS I'LL JUST, UH, NOT A QUESTION, BUT A COMMENT.
UM, GIVEN THE AGE OF MANY OF THOSE UNITS AT DECKER AND THAT WE'RE IN THE MIDDLE OF A RESOURCE PLANNING PROCESS THAT, UM, YOU KNOW, MIGHT IMPLY SOME CHANGES, UH, HAVING A FIVE YEAR CONTRACT SEEMS, SEEMS LIKE A, A LONG TIMEFRAME, UH, ESPECIALLY FOR THE UNITS AT DECKER, WHICH ARE PARTICULARLY OLD.
IS THERE SOMETHING YOU WANT ME TO ANSWER ON THAT? I'M NOT SURE IF THERE WAS A QUESTION IN THERE.
YEAH, I, NO, LIKE I SAID, NOT A QUESTION JUST TO COMMENT.
SO BLUNTLY, WHAT HAPPENS IF YOU DON'T GET THIS MONEY APPROVED? WE RUN THE UNITS TILL THEY FAIL, AND, AND THEN WE WOULD UN UNDERSTAND HOW THESE UNITS RUN, PLEASE.
THEY, THEY RUN TYPICALLY WHEN THE SUN'S GOING DOWN AND THE WIND HASN'T STARTED YET.
THESE ARE NOT BASE LOAD UNITS.
THEY'RE PEAKERS, AND WHAT THEY'LL DO IS THEY'LL FILL IN THE GAPS BETWEEN THE SUN AND THE WIND.
IF THERE'S ENOUGH RENEWABLE ENERGIES ON IT, ON THE LINE, ON THE GRID, THESE UNITS WON'T RUN.
SO WE'RE GOING A LITTLE BIT OUTTA ORDER.
DO YOU WANNA VOTE ON NUMBER TWO AND THEN WE'LL GO TO THE OTHER ONES.
ROBIN DOES THAT JUST DOES THAT DOESN'T MATTER WHICH ORDER.
UH, DO I HAVE A MOTION FOR NUMBER TWO? JONATHAN, DO I HAVE A SECOND? CESAR? UH, ALL IN FAVOR VOTE.
ROBIN, DO YOU WANNA DO A HEAD COUNT THERE? OKAY.
I CAN'T SEE SEVEN AFFIRMATIVE.
AND THEN THREE, FOUR, AND FIVE.
THERE MAY BE ONE OPPOSED?
DO I HAVE A SECOND, JONATHAN? ALL IN FAVOR SAY AYE.
THE NEXT THING ON IT WAS I ITEM
[6. Approve the 2024 Electric Utility Commission Meeting Schedule.]
SIX, THE 2024 E U C MEETING SCHEDULE.DO YOU WANNA POST THAT OR BRING IT UP? UM, SO THIS IS THE PROPOSED, UH, MEETING CALENDAR FOR 2024.
IT'S, UH, SHOULD BE ALL THE STANDARD MEETING DATES.
CAN YOU BRING THAT BACK UP? UM, IT'S ALL THE STANDARD MEETING DATES, UM, OF THE SECOND MONDAY OF THE MONTH, UM, WITH THE EXCEPTION OF THE MARCH MEETING DATE, WHICH IS CANCELED DUE TO SPRING BREAK BEING THAT WEEK.
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UM, JULY, THE JULY 8TH MEETING WOULD BE CANCELED, UM, TO HOLD IT ON JULY 15TH.UM, OCTOBER 14TH WOULD BE CANCELED FOR THE, UH, THE HOLIDAY AS WELL AS NOVEMBER 11TH.
AND THEN WE TYPICALLY DON'T HOLD A MEETING ON IN DECEMBER.
ANY DISCUSSION? LOOKS FINE TO ME.
SEEMS LIKE A LONG WAY AWAY, BUT YEAH, SURE.
I WAS TRYING TO ASK A QUESTION.
UM, CAN I ASK A QUESTION? ABSOLUTELY.
UM, I WAS JUST WONDERING THE OCTOBER DATE, WHY WE'RE SWITCHING THAT ONE THAT'S CANCELED FOR, UM, INDIGENOUS PEOPLE'S DAY.
AND I JUST, I LOOKED FORWARD AND THEN I WAS HOPING THAT IT WASN'T GONNA FALL ON THAT DAY, SO THANK YOU.
SO WE HAVE THIS PASSED, RIGHT? OKAY.
[7. Staff briefing on the 2024 International Energy Conservation Code by Richard Génecé, Vice President of Customer Energy Solutions.]
BRIEFINGS CONSERVATION CODE.UH, I'M RICHARD GENESEE, VICE PRESIDENT OF CUSTOMER ENERGY SOLUTIONS, AND WE'RE PLEASED TO BRING YOU THE, UH, BRIEFING ON THE, UH, 2024 INTERNATIONAL ENERGY CONSERVATION CODE.
UH, BEFORE I TURN IT OVER TO HEIDI, UH, JUST A COUPLE OF POINTS I WANTED TO MAKE.
UH, THE FIRST ONE IS THAT, UH, WE ARE VERY WELL PARTNERED.
AUSTIN ENERGY IS VERY WELL PARTNERED WITH D S D IN PRESENTING THIS UPDATE TONIGHT AND MOVING FORWARD WITH IMPLEMENTATION OF THE 2024 I E C C.
UH, TODD WILCOX IS WITH US, UH, TONIGHT FROM D S D, UH, AND HE'S GONNA BE HERE ALSO TO ADDRESS ANY OF YOUR QUESTIONS.
THE SECOND POINT IS THAT, UH, WE DO NOT HAVE THE ACTUAL CODE RELEASED YET, SO I WANNA MAKE THAT POINT CLEAR.
WE DO HAVE IT ON, ON GOOD AUTHORITY, WHAT'S GOING TO BE INCLUDED IN THE CODE, AND THAT'S WHAT WE'RE GOING TO, UH, PRESENT AND SHARE ON TONIGHT.
UH, BUT I JUST WANTED TO MAKE IT VERY CLEAR THAT WE ACTUALLY HAVEN'T SEEN, UH, THE CODE YET, AND WE'RE EXPECTING IT BY FIRST QUARTER OF NEXT YEAR.
UH, THEN THE OTHER POINT I WANTED TO MAKE IS THAT BUILDERS AND DEVELOPERS, UH, AND OTHER STAKEHOLDERS HAVE BEEN ACTIVELY INVOLVED IN THE PROCESS OF DEVELOPING WHAT YOU'RE GONNA SEE TONIGHT.
UH, SO I JUST WANTED TO MAKE THAT, THAT I THINK THAT'S AN IMPORTANT POINT, UH, TO GET ACROSS.
SO, VERY BRIEFLY, WHAT WE'RE GONNA REVIEW IN TERMS OF THE AGENDA FOR TONIGHT, UH, WE'RE GONNA TALK ABOUT THE TIMELINE, UH, WE'RE GONNA TALK ABOUT THE PROPOSED ELECTRIC VEHICLE AND ELECTRIC READINESS, UH, PROVISIONS OF THE CODE, AND THEN WE'RE GONNA COVER SOME ENERGY, OTHER ENERGY CODE ITEMS BEFORE WE MOVE ON TO NEXT STEPS IN Q AND A, UH, WITH HEIDI AND WITH TODD.
SO, WITH NO FURTHER ADO, I'M GONNA TURN IT OVER TO HEIDI FOR THE BALANCE OF THE PRESENTATION.
SO, AS RICHARD MENTIONED, I'M HEIDI CASPER, I'M THE INTERIM GREEN BUILDING SUSTAINABILITY MANAGER.
AND AUSTIN ENERGY GREEN BUILDING IS WORKING WITH DEVELOPMENT SERVICES TO COORDINATE THE ADOPTION OF THE 2024 INTERNATIONAL ENERGY CONSERVATION CODE, ALONG WITH ALL THE OTHER BUILDING TECHNICAL CODES.
IT'S DEVELOPED BY THE INTERNATIONAL CODE COUNCIL, WHICH IS AN ASSOCIATION OF BUILDING SAFETY PROFESSIONALS.
UM, AS RICHARD MENTIONED, THAT CODE IS BEING DEVELOPED AS A STANDARD AND THEY HAVE THEIR OWN STAKEHOLDER PROCESS.
THERE ARE FOLKS FROM BUILDING OFFICIALS, D O E, DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY, PRODUCT MANUFACTURERS, BUILDERS, UTILITIES, BUILDING DESIGNERS, ENVIRONMENTAL GROUPS, ALL INVOLVED IN THIS DEVELOPMENT.
UM, THEY ARE STILL WORKING TO FINALIZE AND PUBLISH THIS.
WE'RE EXPECTING THAT, UH, SOMETIME FIRST QUARTER OF NEXT YEAR, ONCE WE HAVE THAT PUBLISHED CODE TO WORK FROM, THEN WE WILL BE ENGAGING IN A STAKEHOLDER PROCESS HERE LOCALLY,
[00:30:01]
UM, AND DEVELOPING ANY AMENDMENTS THAT WE SEE FIT, UH, TO ADOPT OR, OR MODIFY THE CODE HERE LOCALLY.WE WOULD THEN BE BRINGING THIS BACK TO YOU SOMETIME IN PROBABLY LATE SPRING, UM, EARLY SUMMER FOR, UH, FOR YOUR REVIEW AGAIN.
AND THEN WE ARE HOPING TO TAKE THAT TO CITY COUNCIL WITH ALL OF THE CODES, UM, IN AUGUST FOR AN EFFECTIVE DATE OF JANUARY, 2025.
SO ALL THAT SAID, AGAIN, JUST REITERATING THE INFORMATION I HAVE TO PRESENT TONIGHT IS PRELIMINARY.
UM, WE'RE STILL REVIEWING IT INTERNALLY AND WE'LL BE ABLE TO PROVIDE MORE COMPLETE BRIEFINGS COME SPRING AND THAT STAKEHOLDER PROCESS.
AND WE, WE CAN, AND QUICK, QUICK QUESTION.
WHEN YOU SAY OTHER CODES, YOU MEAN THE PLUMBING CODE, THE OVERALL BUILDING CODE? THOSE WOULD COME AT THE SAME TIME, BUT THEY JUST WANNA COME TO US.
WE WOULD ONLY LOOK AT THE ENERGY CODE, CORRECT.
SO, UM, ELECTRIC VEHICLE READINESS IS IN THE DRAFT OF THE 2024 CODE.
UM, AND WE ARE EXPECTING THIS TO REMAIN THERE.
UH, THE REQUIREMENTS PRESENTED HERE ARE THE MOST CURRENT INFORMATION WE HAVE, UM, BASED ON OUR PARTICIPATION IN THAT PROCESS.
UM, THEY WILL APPLY TO NEW CONSTRUCTION ONLY.
SO THE REASON THAT YOU WOULD PUT ELECTRIC VEHICLE READINESS IN THE CODE IS BECAUSE IT'S LESS EXPENSIVE TO DO IT WHEN YOU'RE BUILDING THE BUILDING VERSUS WHEN YOU ARE TRYING TO RETROFIT.
SO THIS APPLIES TO NEW CONSTRUCTION ONLY FOR, THERE ARE TWO PARTS TO THAT ENERGY CONSERVATION CODE.
THERE'S A RESIDENTIAL CHAPTER AND A COMMERCIAL CHAPTER.
THE RESIDENTIAL IS FURTHER DELINEATED INTO SINGLE FAMILY, ONE IN TWO FAMILY DWELLINGS AND TOWN HOMES VERSUS LOW-RISE MULTIFAMILY, WHICH WOULD APPLY HERE IN AUSTIN TO FOUR STORIES AND BELOW.
UM, YOUR TYPICAL, UH, LOW-RISE APARTMENTS, ALL SINGLE FAMILY, UM, WOULD REQ THAT HAS PARKING, WOULD REQUIRE A MINIMUM OF ONE EV CAPABLE SPACE PER HOME.
UM, EV CAPABLE MEANS CAPACITY AND CONDUIT.
UH, THAT'S NOT THE WIRING, BUT IT, IT'S THE SPACE IN THE PANEL AND CONDUIT SO THAT YOU COULD ADD THE WIRING LATER.
UM, ON THE LOW RISE FRONT FOR MULTIFAMILY, IT'S GONNA REQUIRE 40% OF EITHER THE NUMBER OF DWELLING UNITS OR THE AMOUNT OF PARKING, WHICHEVER'S LESS ON THE COMMERCIAL SIDE.
IT VARIES DEPENDING ON THE USE OF THE BUILDING.
THE TWO I WOULD HIGHLIGHT ARE YOUR R ONE AND YOUR R TWO USE.
THOSE ARE GONNA BE YOUR HOTEL USE AND YOUR MULTI-FAMILY USE.
SO THIS WOULD BE MULTI-FAMILY FIVE STORIES AND UP.
UM, AND THESE TWO PARTICULAR USES REQUIRE A HUNDRED PERCENT OF THE PARKING TO HAVE SOME LEVEL OF EV READINESS.
UM, 75% OF THAT WOULD BE EV CAPABLE, 5% WOULD BE EV READY, WHICH ADDS THE WIRING AND THE OUTLET.
AND THEN 20% OF IT WOULD ACTUALLY BE WHAT THEY'RE CALLING ELECTRIC VEHICLE SERVICE EQUIPMENT.
AND THAT IS YOUR CAPACITY, YOUR CONDUIT, YOUR WIRING, AND THE ACTUAL CHARGING STATION.
SO 20% OF THE PARKING IN THOSE TWO USES WOULD ACTUALLY HAVE TO HAVE ELECTRIC VEHICLE CHARGING PER THE CODE AS IT CURRENTLY STANDS.
SO WHEN IT'S E V S C AND IT HAS THE CHARGING STATION, THIS IS ALL LEVEL TWO? NO DC FAST CHARGING? NO.
AND IS IT A 30 AMP, 40 AMP, 50 AMP, 60 AMP? OR WHAT, HOW, WHAT'S THE CAPACITY OF THE D S C QUESTION? I DON'T ACTUALLY HAVE THAT OFF THE TOP OF MY HEAD, BUT I COULD FIND OUT, OUT FOR YOU.
I THINK IT'S TH I THOUGHT IT WAS 30, BUT I COULD BE WRONG.
WELL, IT, IT COULD BE 40 AMP BREAK OR 32 AMP CONTINUOUS.
I CAN GET YOU THE DRAFT LANG THE ACTUAL DRAFT LANGUAGE IF YOU'D LIKE.
UM, THERE ARE A COUPLE EXCEPTIONS ON THE RESIDENTIAL SIDE THAT HAVE TO DO WITH SITUATIONS IN WHICH THE UTILITY MIGHT NOT BE ABLE TO PROVIDE THE NECESSARY CAPACITY, IN WHICH CASE THE REQUIRED INFRASTRUCTURE WOULD BE REDUCED BASED ON THE AVAILABLE CAPACITY.
AND IF THE UTILITY INFRASTRUCTURE DESIGN REQUIREMENTS WOULD INCREASE THE UTILITY SIDE COST TO THE BUILDER OR DEVELOPER BY MORE THAN $450 PER DWELLING UNIT.
SO THOSE ARE AGAIN, THE EXCEPTIONS THAT ARE CURRENTLY IN THE PUBLISHED OR YET TO BE PUBLISHED VERSION OF THIS MODEL CODE.
SO IS THERE ANY ESTIMATE ON THE E EV CAPABLE OR IT'S JUST BASICALLY THE CONDUIT AND MAKING SURE YOU HAVE ENOUGH CAPACITY IN THE BREAKER BOX OR EL ELSEWHERE, HOW MUCH THAT REALLY ADDS TO THE PRICE? 'CAUSE IT DOESN'T SEEM LIKE CONDUIT WOULD BE THAT EXPENSIVE.
[00:35:02]
IT'S, UM, IT VARIES.WE LOOKED AT IT BACK IN 2020, BUT WE HAVEN'T DONE AN UPDATED COST ESTIMATE, UM, SINCE THAT TIME.
SO I'D HESITATE TO GIVE YOU A COST SINCE THE LAST TIME WE LOOKED AT THIS WAS PRE PANDEMIC AND COSTS ON ALL SORTS OF THINGS HAVE CHANGED SINCE THEN.
SO THAT'S, THAT'S WHERE THIS IS COMING FROM.
HEIDI, WHY DO YOU HAVE SOME CROSSOUTS AND THEN A LIGHTER BLUE? THE LIGHTER BLUE, I THINK IS THE CURRENT AND THE CROSS OUT IS WHERE THEY STARTED.
UM, AND I DID THIS AS A SCREENSHOT FROM WHAT THEY HAVE IN THE DRAFT CODE.
SO I THINK I DIDN'T RECREATE THE TABLE
UM, CAN WE GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE AND WE'LL TALK ABOUT ELECTRIC.
SO ONE QUICK QUESTION ON THAT, THAT SLIDE FOUR, WHAT WAS THE LOGIC THOUGH, TO MAKE THE ADJUSTMENT? SO I UNDERSTAND THAT IT'S THE CURRENT IS THE BLUE, BUT WHAT WAS THE INTUITION BEHIND THE JUMP? I HONESTLY DON'T KNOW.
THAT'S ALL BEING NEGOTIATED AT THE NATIONAL, UM, LEVEL BETWEEN THE PEOPLE THAT ARE ON THOSE COMMITTEES.
AND WHILE I DO HAVE A STAFF PERSON ON COMMITTEE, SHE'S ON THE RESIDENTIAL COMMITTEE AND NOT THE COMMERCIAL COMMITTEE.
SO I HAVEN'T BEEN PRIVY TO ALL OF THE CONVERSATION AROUND IT.
SO GIVEN THAT LIGHTING'S GOTTEN MORE EFFICIENT AIR CONDITIONING AND HEATING'S GOTTEN MORE EFFICIENT, HAS THE TOTAL LOAD, SAY ADDING EVS AND NOT HAVING, YOU KNOW, HAVING THE OPPORTUNITY FOR ELECTRIC, UH, WATER HEATING, ET CETERA, UH, IS THE PLAN TO STILL HAVE THE STANDARD SERVICE ENTRANCE TO BE 200 AMPS, OR DOES THAT HAVE TO BE INCREASED ALSO? WE'RE LOOKING AT THAT.
WHAT WOULD IT INCREASE TO, DO YOU THINK? I, I DON'T KNOW.
UM, YEAH, WE'VE LOOPED IN OUR PLANNING SIDE FOLKS.
UM, SO RIGHT NOW WE ARE STILL EVALUATING THAT.
UM, DO WE GET A READOUT ON THAT IN THE FUTURE? YES.
HOW, HOW LONG DO YOU THINK IT'LL BE BEFORE YOU'VE SETTLED ON THAT? SO I'M HOPING TO DO THAT WORK IN THE SPRING.
SO, UM, WHEN WE COME BACK TO YOU, I SHOULD HAVE MORE DETAILED ANSWERS ON THAT.
CAN WE MOVE TO ELECTRIC READINESS? OKAY.
UM, SO IN ADDITION TO THE EV READINESS WE TALKED ABOUT, WE ARE EXPECTING THE CODE TO INCLUDE THE ELECTRIC READINESS PROVISIONS.
AGAIN, THESE ARE ONLY GOING TO APPLY TO NEW CONSTRUCTION.
THE RESIDENTIAL CODE, UH, THESE ARE INCLUDED IN THE MAIN BODY OF THE CODE.
UM, IT'S GONNA REQUIRE DEDICATED OUTLETS WITHIN THREE FEET OF ALL COOKING APPLIANCES, CLOTHES, DRYERS, AND WATER HEATERS.
AND THEN AS AGAIN, ASSOCIATED CAPACITY WOULD HAVE TO BE INCLUDED IN THE LOW CA LOAD CALCULATIONS.
SO AS WE GO, YOU'LL SEE THAT THERE'S A FEW THINGS THAT ARE GOING TO REQUIRE CAPACITY, WHICH IS PART OF WHY I HAVEN'T GOTTEN TO IT YET.
UM, ON THE COMMERCIAL SIDE, THE REQUIREMENTS ARE AVAILABLE IN AN APPENDIX.
SO THAT WOULD, UM, DEPEND ON WHETHER OR NOT WE DECIDE TO ADOPT THE APPENDIX HERE LOCALLY.
UM, THOSE WOULD REQUIRE THAT BUILDINGS THAT CONTAIN COMBUSTION EQUIPMENT WOULD HAVE TO INSTALL THE ELECTRIC INFRASTRUCTURE FOR SPACE HEATING SERVICE, WATER HEATING, COOKING, AND CLOTHES DRYING.
UM, AND THEY WOULD NEED THE DEDICATED LOCATION SPACE IN THE BUILDING, DEDICATED BRANCH CIRCUITS AND TRANSFORMER SPACE TO DO THAT.
A FEW OTHER, UM, CODE CHANGES IF WE GET TO THE NEXT SLIDE.
UM, ON THE RESIDENTIAL CODE, WE ARE EXPECTING A CHANGE TO HOW SOMETHING THAT THEY CALL, UH, ADDITIONAL EFFICIENCY REQUIREMENTS WORK.
RIGHT NOW THERE ARE A NUMBER OF PACKAGES THAT A BUILDER CAN CHOOSE FROM.
SO DO ONE OF THESE FIVE THINGS.
THIS IS GOING TO GO TO MORE OF A MENU APPROACH, WHICH IS WHAT THE COMMERCIAL ENERGY CODE DOES NOW.
SO A LIST OF SAY 10 OR SO DIFFERENT THINGS THAT HAVE DIFFERENT POINTS ASSIGNED TO 'EM, AND YOU HAVE TO PICK ENOUGH TO EARN YOU A CERTAIN NUMBER OF POINTS.
SO THERE'S GONNA BE SOME ADDITIONAL, UH, FLEXIBILITY WE THINK THAT'S BUILT INTO THAT.
UM, ONSITE SOLAR OPTIONS WOULD BE INCLUDED IN THAT.
THERE ARE, THERE'S GONNA BE A REQUIREMENT FOR DEMAND RESPONSE CONTROLS ON ELECTRIC WATER HEATERS IN AUSTIN.
[00:40:01]
OF THE AVAILABLE OPTIONS.THEY CAN ALSO DO, UM, A TIMER.
SO I DON'T ANTICIPATE THAT BEING A BIG CHANGE HERE.
UM, BATH BATHROOM EXHAUST FANS ARE GOING TO REQUIRE CONTROLS SUCH AS TIMERS, OCCUPANT SENSORS, OR HUMIDITY SENSORS.
THIS IS SOMETHING THAT WE'VE BEEN DOING WITHIN THE GREEN BUILDING RATINGS FOR A LONG TIME.
SO AGAIN, MOST OF OUR BUILDERS SHOULD BE REALLY FAMILIAR WITH THIS AS THEIR REQUIREMENT.
UM, AIR LEAKAGE WILL BE REDUCED FROM FIVE A C H TO FOUR A C H FOR OUR CLIMATE ZONE.
SO THAT IS YOUR BLOWER DOOR TASK RESULT.
SO BUILDINGS WOULD NEED TO BE A BIT TIGHTER THAN THEY ARE NOW.
UM, THESE TIGHTER STANDARDS ARE ALREADY FAIRLY COMMON IN MORE NORTHERN CLIMATE ZONES.
SO AGAIN, WHILE OUR BUILDERS MAY NOT BE USED TO IT HERE, UM, IT'S CERTAINLY BEEN PROVEN DOABLE IN OTHER PLACES.
IN THE, OH, AND THE LAST ONE, THIS ONE MAY SEEM A LITTLE BIT BACKWARDS.
UM, THE PRESCRIPTIVE ATTIC INSTALLATION REQUIREMENT IS DECREASING FROM WHAT'S CURRENTLY IN THE 21 CODE IS R 49 TO R 38.
YEAH, CYRUS, I'LL, I'LL JUST SAY FOR THE BENEFIT OF THIS GROUP, THIS LAST ONE, UM, IS WHAT GETS BUILDERS REALLY, REALLY UPSET BECAUSE THEY FEEL LIKE THE AMOUNT OF MONEY IT COSTS TO GO FROM R 38 TO R 49 IN THE ATTICS ISN'T, THE JUICE ISN'T WORTH THE SQUEEZE.
SIERRA CLUB HAS GENERALLY DISAGREED WITH THAT, UH, THAT OPINION, BUT IT IS, UM, IF YOU WERE GOING TO MAKE A COMPROMISE WITH THE DEVELOPERS, THIS IS ONE THAT WOULD BE HELPFUL, UH, FROM A POLITICAL PERSPECTIVE.
'CAUSE THEY REALLY DON'T LIKE IT.
I WILL SAY IN THE DALLAS-FORT WORTH AREA, THE, UM, THE COMPROMISE THEY CAME TO WAS R 42.
SO JUST SORT OF THINKING OUT LOUD, THAT IS SOMETHING THAT GETS BUILDERS UPSET, ALTHOUGH BETTER, MORE INSTALLATION IS BETTER.
IT'S JUST A QUESTION OF IS THE COST WORTH IT? YEP, AGREED.
UH, E ENERGY MODELING GENERALLY SHOWS THAT PER ENERGY MODELING, YOU'RE NOT GETTING A WHOLE LOT OF SAVINGS DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THOSE TWO.
AND THERE ARE FAIR NUMBER OF THINGS IN THIS, UH, MODEL CODE THAT THE BUILDERS AREN'T PARTICULARLY HAPPY ABOUT.
BUT THIS WAS ONE OF THOSE, AS I ALLUDED, THERE'S SORT OF A COMPROMISE PACKAGE AND THIS IS WHAT'S GETTING THE NATIONAL HOME BUILDERS ASSOCIATION ON BOARD AT THAT NATIONAL LEVEL.
THERE ARE AGAIN GONNA BE SOME CHANGES TO THE ADDITIONAL ENERGY EFFICIENCY SECTION.
THIS WILL JUST ALIGN IT WITH, UM, ASHRAY, WHICH IS THE AMERICAN SOCIETY OF HEATING AND REFRIGERATION ENGINEERS, THEIR STANDARD 90.1.
UM, IT'S REFERENCED IN THE INTERNATIONAL ENERGY CONSERVATION CODE.
THEY HAVE AN ADDENDUM WHERE THEY HAVE BEEN MAKING SORT OF TWEAKS TO THAT MENU OF ITEMS, ADDING THINGS.
AND SO THIS WOULD ALIGN THERE.
THE BIGGER ONE THAT MAY BE OF INTEREST IS THAT THERE IS AN ENERGY STORAGE, UM, SYSTEM READINESS REQUIREMENT.
THIS IS GOING TO REQUIRE THAT BUILDINGS BE BUILT AS ELECTRIC ENERGY STORY READY, OR WITH THE EQUIPMENT INSTALLED RIGHT NOW, THAT'S GONNA REQUIRE SPACE AND CAPACITY BASED ON THE CONDITION SQUARE FOOTAGE OF THE THREE LARGEST FLOORS.
AND IN ACCORDANCE WITH FIRE CODE.
UM, IF I HAD TO SPECULATE, THEY PICKED THREE FLOORS BECAUSE AS YOU GET TALLER, YOU DON'T GET MORE ROOF SPACE AND THEY'RE LIKELY TRYING TO PAIR YOUR STORAGE WITH SOLAR.
SO, UM, SPECULATING THERE, SINCE I HAVEN'T BEEN PART OF THE CONVERSATION, BUT IT'S BASED ON YOUR THREE LARGEST FLOORS, NOT THE ENTIRE BUILDING.
SO, UM, WE DO EXPECT THAT THERE'LL PROBABLY BE AN APPENDIX FOR ALL ELECTRIC BUILDINGS.
UM, WE WOULD NOT BE INTENDING TO ADOPT THAT HERE LOCALLY AS IT WOULD RUN AFOUL OF STATE LEGISLATION.
UM, IN TERMS OF NEXT STEPS, AS I SAID, WE ARE CURRENTLY PREPPING FOR THAT STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT COMING UP IN THE SPRING.
WE'LL BE RUNNING OUR OWN CODE SAVINGS ANALYSIS.
ONCE WE HAVE THE FINAL CODES, WE'LL ALSO BE NEEDING TO PUT TOGETHER, UM, AND WORK WITH HOUSING ON AN AFFORDABILITY IMPACT STATEMENT.
UM, AND THEN, AS I SAID, WE'LL BRING SOMETHING BACK TO YOU IN LATE SPRING, EARLY SUMMER, AND INVITE YOU TO BE PART OF THAT STAKEHOLDER PROCESS ALL THE WAY THROUGH.
IF THERE'S OTHER QUESTIONS, YOU MAY NOT HAVE THE DETAILS, UH, CAN YOU GIVE A LITTLE BIT MORE BACKGROUND ON THE E S S READY FOR THE COMMERCIAL SPACES? HOW MUCH SPACE, HOW MUCH CAPACITY? SO IT'S A VERY LOW FACTOR.
[00:45:09]
YEAH, I DON'T THINK I BROUGHT THE, BROUGHT THE ACTUAL NOTES.IT'S LIKE SOMETHING IN THE RANGE OF 0.008, UM, KW PER SQUARE FOOT OR SOMETHING ALONG THOSE LINES.
BUT I, AGAIN, I CAN GET YOU WHAT THE CURRENT DRAFT LANGUAGE HAS.
AND THERE'S A, THERE'S A BOTH, THERE'S A MULTIPLIER FOR POWER AND A MULTIPLIER FOR CAPACITY.
DOES THE, UM, DOES THE PROPOSED CODE STILL CONTAIN A PERFORMANCE, A PRESCRIPTIVE AND AN E R IPATH AS PART OF IT? YES.
AND SO WOULD THE INTENT WOULD BE TO ALLOW ALL THREE? YES.
WE HAVEN'T SEEN MUCH USE OF THE E R I PATH HERE LOCALLY.
ANY QUESTIONS FROM ONLINE? I, I HAD ONE.
FIRST OF ALL, UM, THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR THE PRESENTATION.
UM, I'M, YOU KNOW, SO GLAD THAT, THAT WE ARE MOVING FORWARD WITH THIS CODE ADOPTION AND LOOK, LOOK FORWARD TO BEING ENGAGED THROUGHOUT THE PROCESS.
UM, I HAD A QUESTION, UM, AND I, I THINK WE'VE DISCUSSED THIS BEFORE AND, UM, MAYBE, MAYBE THERE'LL BE A FUTURE TIME THAT'S MORE APPROPRIATE, BUT JUST ON THE ELECTRIC READINESS, UM, I KNOW IN THE LAST ROUND PART OF THE REQUIREMENT WAS A SPACE REQUIREMENT FOR, UH, HOT WATER HEAT PUMPS.
AND IT APPEARS, YOU KNOW, I'M NOT SEEING THAT LISTED HERE, AND I, I KNOW WHEN WE TALKED A COUPLE MONTHS AGO, IT SOUNDED LIKE THAT WAS THE DIRECTION IT WAS MOVING AND WAS DID NOT INCLUDE THAT.
JUST WANTED TO VERIFY THAT THAT IS NOT JUST AN OMISSION ON THIS SLIDE, BUT THAT THAT'S CURRENTLY NOT INCLUDED.
YEAH, THAT'S MY UNDERSTANDING IS THAT CURRENTLY THAT REQUIREMENT HAS BEEN REMOVED FROM, FROM THE MODEL CODE.
UH, I THINK THAT THERE HAS BEEN SOME FEELINGS THAT THAT TECHNOLOGY HAS BEEN SORT OF RAPIDLY EXPANDING.
AND SO WHETHER OR NOT THIS SPACE WILL ACTUALLY BE REQUIRED, UM, SEEMS TO BE AN OPEN QUESTION JUST BECAUSE WE'RE SEEING MORE AND DIFFERENT CONFIGURATIONS OF HEAT PUMP WATER HEATERS COME ONTO THE MARKET.
BUT THAT'S SOMETHING THAT, THAT, ARE THEY ALSO, YEAH, SORRY TO INTERRUPT.
UM, AREN'T THEY ALL STILL TANKED THOUGH? OR IS THERE A TANKLESS OPTION? OH, THEY ARE, THEY ARE ALL STILL TANKED, YES.
BUT SOME OF THEM ARE, HAVE THE CONDENSER SEPARATED FROM THE, UM, TANK.
SO IT'S, IT'S MORE OF LIKE A SPLIT SYSTEM.
SO IT'S, IT WOULD BE MORE THE HEIGHT OF A KIND OF STANDARD CURRENT TANK POTENTIALLY, UH, WATER HEATER POST THE TALLER, UH, KIND OF MODEL, LIKE, LIKE WHAT I HAVE, YES, POTENTIALLY.
I WOULDN'T SAY THAT WE'VE SEEN 'EM ADOPTED HERE LOCALLY, BUT YEAH, POTENTIALLY.
WELL, AND SO I GUESS I JUST A, A COMMENT THAT I, I HOPE WE CAN COME BACK TO LATER IN THE PROCESS.
UM, YOU KNOW, I, I CAN SEE THE LOGIC IF YOU ARE JUST THINKING ABOUT TANK TO TANK, UM, YOU KNOW, READINESS.
BUT GIVEN THAT THERE ARE, YOU KNOW, PLENTY OF HOMES AND, AND UNITS THAT GO IN WITH TANKLESS, IF YOU DON'T HAVE ANY SPACE REQUIREMENTS, I THINK THAT WOULD, WOULD HINDER, UH, ELECTRIC READINESS OR, YOU KNOW, FOR THOSE, FOR THOSE UNITS.
SO I HOPE WE MIGHT CONSIDER A LOCAL AMENDMENT TO REQUIRE AN APPROPRIATE AMOUNT OF SPACE.
AND IF IT'S, IF IT NEEDS TO JUST BE THE SPACE FOR A SMALLER, YOU KNOW, VERSION WITH THE CONDENSER SEPARATED, UM, I, I CAN SEE THE LOGIC IN THAT.
UM, JUST WANTED TO KIND OF FLAG THAT.
BUT I, I SEE THAT AS A WHOLE, UM, HERE, NOT, NOT THAT YOU'RE RESPONSIBLE FOR THAT, BUT, UM, JUST AS WE MOVE FORWARD, I HOPE THAT MIGHT BE CONSIDERED AS A LOCAL AMENDMENT NOTED.
IS THIS EXCITING? THAT'S MY QUESTION,
[00:50:03]
OKAY, NEXT WE[8. Staff briefing on the Resource Generation Plan Update by Michael Enger, Interim Vice President of Market Operations & Resource Planning.]
HAVE THE STAFF BRIEFING ON THE RESOURCE PLAN UPDATE.UH, MY NAME IS MICHAEL LANGER.
I'M THE INTERIM VICE PRESIDENT OF ENERGY MARKET OPERATIONS AND RESOURCE PLANNING, AND I'LL BE JOINED UP HERE WITH, UH, YASMINE TURK, UH, BABU CHAKA, AND SARAH NONI, SARAH NORRIS TO, UH, GIVE YOU A BRIEF UPDATE ON RESOURCE GENERATION PLANET AND WHERE WE'RE AT.
UM, SO A COUPLE THINGS THAT WE'VE, WE'VE ACCOMPLISHED OR WE ARE SOME PROGRESS WE'VE MADE, UH, THE COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT SURVEY, UH, CLOSED ON SEPTEMBER 29TH, AND YASMINE TURK IS GONNA GIVE A PRESENTATION ON THAT HERE SHORTLY.
UM, SCENARIO MODELING FRAMEWORK HAS BEEN DETERMINED AROUND THE MODELS THAT WE'RE RUNNING AND SOME OF THE SCENARIOS FOR OUR RESOURCE PLAN.
UH, AND BABU CHAKA WILL BE DOING A PRESENTATION ON THAT.
UH, WE HAVE FIELDED AND ANSWERED, UH, TWO DIFFERENT, UH, SETS OF QUESTIONS FROM THE WORKING GROUP.
UM, AND THEN, UH, SARAH NORRIS IS GONNA COME UP HERE AND PRESENT ON REEXAMINING CUSTOMER ENERGY SOLUTION GOALS, AND THAT THAT PERTAINS MORE TO SOME OF THOSE CUSTOMER FACING OR DISTRIBUTION LEVEL GOALS, SUCH AS DEMAND RESPONSE, ENERGY EFFICIENCY, UH, AND LOCAL SOLAR OR CUSTOMER SIDED SOLAR.
UM, ON THE TECHNOLOGY READINESS, UH, WE ARE EVALUATING TECHNOLOGIES THAT ALLOW THAT ALIGN WITH OUR SCENARIO MODELING OPTIONS AND INCLUDE THINGS SUCH AS CARBON FREE GENERATION, LONG DURATION STORAGE, DIRECT AIR CARBON CAPTURE, AND SEQUESTRATION, LOCAL SOLAR, LOCALLY DISTRIBUTED STORAGE, UH, DEMAND SIDE MANAGEMENT, AS WELL AS DIFFERENT TRANSMISSION OPTIONS.
AND WE EXPECT TO BRING BACK ANALYSIS TO THE UC WORKING GROUP WITH A DRAFT IN NOVEMBER.
AND THEN MICHAEL, AS, AS PART OF THAT, UM, CARBON FREE GENERATION, I WANNA MAKE SURE THAT YOU GUYS ARE LOOKING AT, UM, UH, PROGRESS IN, IN GEOTHERMAL.
IS THAT SOMETHING THAT YOU'RE CONSIDERING? UH, SO I ACTUALLY HAD A MEETING WITH SOME GEOTHERMAL DEVELOPERS LAST WEEK.
UH, THEY ACTUALLY HAVE A LITTLE BIT OF A BREAKTHROUGH FROM, UH, THE TRADITIONAL WAY OF DOING IT, WHERE THEY'RE LOOKING MORE AT A BRANT CYCLE.
UH, THEY HAVE, UH, MADE IT MUCH MORE EFFICIENT, OR AT LEAST THEY, OR AT LEAST THEY, UH, SAY THEY'VE MADE IT A LOT MORE EFFICIENT.
UH, IT, IT IS NOT ACTUALLY ANYWHERE COMMERCIALLY DONE YET, UH, BUT CERTAINLY ONE OF THOSE EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES THAT WE'RE LOOKING AT.
WE HAVE KIND OF A PRICE POINT AROUND IT AND, AND WE SEE RISKS AROUND IT AS WELL THAT WE'LL BE INCORPORATING.
AND THEN THE NEXT SLIDE, WE HAVE JUST A LITTLE BIT OF AN OUTLINE OF, OF THE SCHEDULE.
UM, SO HERE WE ARE IN OCTOBER.
UH, WE'RE GONNA GO OVER THE SURVEY RESULTS, THE MODELING FRAMEWORK, AND TALK ABOUT CUS COMMUNITY ENERGY SOLUTION GOALS.
UH, IN NOVEMBER, WE ARE LOOKING TO BRING BACK, UM, THE, THE ANALYSIS THAT WE RUN ON THE MODELING AS WELL AS THE DRAFT RESOURCE PLAN OR WHERE WE'RE KIND OF HEADED, UH, AND THE TECHNOLOGY WE THINK THAT ARE GONNA HELP US MEET THOSE GOALS THAT ARE, UH, CARBON FREE GENERATION BY 2035, RELIABILITY, AFFORDABILITY, AND RATE STABILITY OVER THAT NOVEMBER DECEMBER TIMEFRAME.
WE'LL BE LOOKING FOR FEEDBACK FROM E U C, UH, AND THE E U C WORKING GROUP SO THAT WE CAN, CAN INCORPORATE THAT INTO OUR ADDITIONAL ANALYSIS.
UH, WE WOULD LOVE TO SEE A PRESENTATION OF THE EUC WORKING GROUP ON THEIR RECOMMENDATIONS IN JANUARY.
AND THEN WE WOULD LIKE TO BRING YOU A FINAL PLAN THAT WE WOULD BE PROPOSING TO CITY COUNCIL IN FEBRUARY AND, AND HAVE YOU ALL VOTE ON THAT PLAN.
UH, THAT COULD POTENTIALLY SLIDE INTO EARLY MARCH, DEPENDING ON, ON HOW WE'RE GOING AND, AND HOW MUCH PROGRESS WE'RE MAKING.
BUT WE'RE REALLY SHOOTING FOR, FOR FEBRUARY AT THIS TIME.
AND WITH THAT, I BELIEVE I WILL TURN IT OVER TO YES.
UM, JUST WANNA THANK YOU FOR, UH, RECOGNIZING THE, THE WORKING GROUP AND THAT YOU'LL BE, UH, LOOKING AT ANY RECOMMENDATIONS WE COME UP.
I THINK THAT'S A REAL, UH, POSITIVE SIGN, SO APPRECIATE THAT.
AND QUICK QUESTION ON LOCAL DISTRIBUTED STORAGE THAT'S BEHIND THE METER.
INDIVIDUAL HOME STORAGE AS WELL AS MAYBE EVS AS WELL AS COMMUNITY LEVEL STORAGE.
SO LOOKING MORE AT, AT COMMUNITY LEVEL, DIFFERENT SUBSTATIONS AND FEEDERS THROUGHOUT OUR, OUR DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM WHERE IT MAY HAVE A LOT MORE BENEFIT, THINGS OF THAT NATURE.
NOT NECESSARILY ON PEOPLE'S WALLS IN THEIR HOME YET, NOT, NOT NECESSARILY WHAT GREEN MOUNTAIN IS DOING UP THERE IN VERMONT.
MY NAME IS YASMINE TURK AND I'M A COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT CONSULTANT WITH AUSTIN ENERGY.
AND I'M GONNA BE TALKING TO YOU A LITTLE BIT ABOUT OUR COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT, UH, AND SURVEY.
SO THE COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT STRATEGY FOR THE RESOURCE GENERATION PLAN UPDATE WAS TO PROVIDE INFORMATION ON THE CURRENT PLAN THROUGH PUBLIC MEETINGS, PUBLIC FACING WEBPAGES
[00:55:01]
ON SPEAK UP AUSTIN THROUGH THE MEDIA WITH A PRESS RELEASE, TWO EMAILS SENT OUT TO THE OVER 274,000 CUSTOMERS FOR WHOM WE HAVE EMAIL ADDRESSES TABLING AT COMMUNITY EVENTS, FOUR PUBLIC MEETINGS.AND IN THE PUBLIC MEETING THAT WE HAD IN PERSON, WE HAD 30% 30 MINUTES PRESENTATION.
SO ONE THIRD PRESENTATION, TWO THIRDS PUBLIC COMMENT, AND THEN WE EXTENDED THAT.
SO WE MADE SURE EVERYONE HAD A CHANCE TO SPEAK.
UH, WE ALSO HAD SOCIAL MEDIA POSTS ACROSS ALL OF OUR PLATFORMS. IN ADDITION, UH, TO ENGLISH ALSO, WE HAD A SPEAK UP, WE HAVE A SPEAK UP AUSTIN PAGE, UH, AND THE SURVEY AVAILABLE IN ALL SEVEN TIER ONE LANGUAGES FOR THE CITY OF AUSTIN.
UM, WE SOLICITED FEEDBACK THROUGH A FIVE QUESTION SURVEY, WHICH INCLUDED AN OPEN RESPONSE QUESTION, AND TODAY I'LL BE TALKING ABOUT THOSE RESPONSES.
SO DID YOU SAY, DID YOU SAY YOU HAVE 275,000 EMAILS, 274 THOU OVER 274,000, THAT'S SMALL AND MID-SIZED BUSINESS AS WELL AS, UH, RESIDENTIAL CUSTOMERS.
UM, THE PURPOSE OF THIS SURVEY WAS TO HEAR FROM CUSTOMERS ON THE PRIORITIES MOST IMPORTANT TO THEM RELATED TO AUSTIN ENERGY'S GENERATION PORTFOLIO.
AND MORE SPECIFICALLY, WE LOOKED AT THE FOUR ISSUES OF AFFORDABILITY, COST STABILITY, ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY, AND RELIABILITY.
AS THE KEY COMPONENTS OF THE RESOURCE GENERATION PLAN UPDATE, WE RECEIVED OVER 7,500 RESPONSES.
AND THIS WAS ACROSS THE MORE THAN ONE MONTH TIME PERIOD FROM AUGUST 22ND TO SEPTEMBER 29TH.
UH, WHEN THE SURVEY WAS OPEN, WE CONDUCTED THE SURVEY USING THE CITY'S COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT.
UM, CAN YOU SAY THAT NUMBER ONE MORE TIME? SORRY.
UM, AND THE SURVEY WAS CONDUCTED USING THE CITY'S COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT PLATFORM CALLED PUBLIC INPUT AS WELL AS PAPER SURVEYS THAT WERE AVAILABLE AT OUR PUBLIC MEETING.
UM, AND NOT EVERY RESPONDENT RESPONDED TO EVERY QUESTION.
UH, THIS FIRST QUESTION THAT WE ASKED ALLOWED FOR MORE THAN ONE SELECTION.
UM, AND THAT IS JUST IDENTIFYING THE CUSTOMER TYPE.
AND IF YOU CAN LOOK AT THE MAP, WE ALSO, UH, UH, USED THE ZIP CODES PROVIDED BY RESPONDENTS, AND YOU CAN SEE THAT IT WAS PRETTY WELL SPREAD ACROSS OUR SERVICE TERRITORY, UH, OF COURSE WITH SOME, SOME, A LITTLE BIT MORE REPRESENTED IN THE CORE.
UM, BUT WE DID RECEIVE RESPONSES FROM ACROSS OUR SERVICE TERRITORY.
THESE OPTIONS WERE PROVIDED IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER ON THE SURVEY, AND RESPONDENTS COULD DRAG AND DROP TO RANK THEM ONE THROUGH FOUR FOR PRIORITIZATION, RELIABILITY WAS TOP RANKED, WAS THE TOP RANKED RESPONSE BY 38% OF RESPONDENTS TO THIS QUESTION, WITH A TIE FOR AFFORDABILITY AND ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY PERCENTAGE WISE FOR THEIR TOP SPOT.
UM, BUT WITH 4,300 RESPONDENTS RANKING AFFORDABILITY AND 3,998 RESPONDENTS RANKING ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY.
UM, AND ALSO WE BROKE THIS DATA DOWN BY ZIP CODE AS WELL AND FOUND THAT THESE, UH, UH, PRIORITIES WERE PRETTY WELL SPREAD OUT SIMILARLY ACROSS THE SERVICE TERRITORY.
AND FOR THE NEXT SLIDE FOR THIS QUESTION, WE SEE THAT 34% OF RESPONDENTS ARE NOT WILLING TO PAY MORE PER MONTH FOR AN INCREASE IN PERCENTAGE OF GENERATION.
THAT'S THE NUMBER REPRESENTED IN YELLOW.
AND THEN THE NEXT HIGHEST PERCENTAGE OF RESPONDENTS IS 17% WHO ARE WILLING TO PAY BETWEEN ONE TO $5 FOR AN INCREASE IN THE PERCENTAGE OF CARBON FREE GENERATION.
AND THIS QUESTION WAS SPECIFICALLY GEARED TOWARDS RESIDENTIAL CUSTOMERS.
THIS QUESTION WAS AN OPPORTUNITY TO HEAR FROM CUSTOMERS ON THE CUSTOMER ENERGY SOLUTION PROGRAMS IN WHICH THEY WOULD BE WILLING TO PARTICIPATE.
AND IT SHOWS THAT THERE IS A CONTINUED INTEREST IN CONSERVATION AND ENERGY EFFICIENCY AND DEMONSTRATES THAT SOME CUSTOMERS ARE WILLING TO USE LESS ENERGY FOR QUESTION.
UH, FOR THIS QUESTION, WE ALSO GAVE AN OTHER, UH, OPPORTUNITY AND GAVE PEOPLE THE CHANCE TO JUST WRITE IN THEIR RESPONSES IN REVIEWING THOSE RESPONSES.
MANY OF THEM WERE RENTERS WHO ARE LIMITED IN WHAT THEY'RE ABLE TO CONTRIBUTE, UH, PEOPLE WHO ALREADY ARE PARTICIPATING IN THESE PROGRAMS THAT JUST WANTED TO SHARE THAT.
AND, UH, JUST GIVING FEEDBACK ON THE PROGRAMS THAT WE HAVE AND HOW THEY'RE OPERATING.
AND THEN FOR THE FINAL QUESTION, QUESTION FIVE, UH, WE HAD OVER 3,800 COMMENTS THAT WE RECEIVED FOR QUESTION FIVE.
SO I EMPLOYED A THEMATIC ANALYSIS BY READING A SAMPLE OF AROUND 100 COMMENTS AND LISTENING FOR THEMES.
ULTIMATELY, I WAS ABLE TO USE THE THEMES IDENTIFIED WITHIN THE SURVEY OF AFFORDABILITY, COST STABILITY, ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY, AND RELIABILITY, AND THEN IDENTIFIED CATEGORIES WITHIN THOSE THEMES.
SO MY COLLEAGUE AND I THEN READ THROUGH EACH COMMENT AND TALLIED IT ACCORDINGLY.
UNDER THE FOUR THEMES, SOME THINGS THAT ARE NOT REPRESENTED, UH, IN THESE NUMBERS UP HERE ARE RESPONSES RELATING TO THE GRID AND OUR RELATIONSHIP TO IT.
[01:00:01]
AND CONSERVATION.THEY WERE ALL REPEATED TOPICS, UH, THAT WERE ADDRESSED IN THE COMMENTS, UH, THAT DID NOT NECESSARILY SPEAK TO RESOURCE GENERATION, BUT SINCE THEY WERE REPEATED, I WANTED TO SHARE THEM.
AND ALSO, OF NOTE, THERE WERE OVER 300 COMMENTS ASKING FOR MORE NUCLEAR POWER TO BE ADDED TO OUR GENERATION, AND LESS THAN 10 WERE OPPOSED TO NUCLEAR.
ALL THE COMMENTS ARE AVAILABLE IN FULL TO THE PUBLIC AT PUBLIC INPUT.COM/GENERATION WITH ONLY MINOR REDACTIONS, UM, OF PERSONALLY IDENTIFYING INFORMATION AND SOME EXPLICIT COLORFUL LANGUAGE THAT WE DIDN'T WANT TO SHARE.
UM, AND THEN FOR, JUST TO SUMMARIZE, UH, WE HAD A RELATIVELY HIGH RESPONSE RATE, UH, AND WE SAW REPEATEDLY IN THE COMMENTS AS WELL AS IN THE RANKINGS THAT RELIABILITY IS A CLEAR PRIORITY, AND WE ALSO DID SEE THAT THE DISTRIBUTION OF RESPONDENTS WAS REALLY BROADLY ACROSS OUR SERVICE TERRITORY.
I'M HAPPY TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS YOU HAVE NOW OR AT THE END.
SO IT SEEMS UNUSUAL FOR RELIABILITY MM-HMM.
THAT I'M, I'M SORRY, CAN YOU REPEAT THE QUESTION? THERE'S, THERE'S NOTHING ABOUT THE DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM, YOU KNOW, UM, VEGETATION MANAGEMENT, RIGHT? INSULATED CONDUCTORS, UNDERGROUNDING.
SO THAT'S, TO ME, WHEN IT'S A DEBATE ABOUT, UH, COAL, GAS, NUCLEAR VERSUS RENEWABLES AND ALL THAT, THAT'S LIKE A FUNDAMENTAL LACK OF UNDERSTANDING ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED IN 2023.
IT WAS NOT A RESOURCE SITUATION.
2021, IT ABSOLUTELY WAS MM-HMM.
SO THAT OUT OF 910, NOTHING ABOUT THE DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM.
THERE ARE A LOT OF THINGS THAT WERE ABOUT DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM, ABOUT THE GRID, PARTICULARLY, THERE WAS SO MANY COMMENTS ABOUT ERCOT AND ABOUT, UM, DIFFERENT POLICIES AND LEGISLATION, BUT BECAUSE THOSE WERE NOT SPECIFICALLY RELATED TO RESOURCE GENERATION AND THOSE THEMES, I DIDN'T CATEGORIZE THEM, BUT THEY'RE AVAILABLE IN FULL.
ALL THE COMMENTS ARE AVAILABLE IN FULL FOR REVIEW, UM, ON THE WEBSITE.
WELL, ACTUALLY, I'M ASKING YOU TO SUMMARIZE.
SO I KNOW THIS IS RESOURCE PLAN, UHHUH
THANKS FOR SHARING THE PODIUM.
HI, LISA MARTIN, CHIEF, UM, EXCUSE ME, CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER.
SO WE WERE VERY, UM, CAREFUL HERE TO REPRESENT THE RELIABILITY IN TERMS OF A DEFINITION OF GENERATION RELIABILITY.
SO A LOT OF TIMES WHEN PEOPLE HEAR THE WORD RELIABILITY, THEY'RE THINKING ABOUT, YOU KNOW, IS THE POWER STAYING ON AT THEIR HOUSE? AND AS YOU RIGHTLY JUST SPOKE ABOUT, RIGHT, UM, THERE'S DISTRIBUTION TYPE RELIABILITY, THERE'S TRANSMISSION TYPE RELIABILITY, AND THIS IS FOCUSING ON GENERATION RELIABILITY.
SO AS YASMINE SAID, SHE DIDN'T COUNT THE COMMENTS THAT WERE RELATED TO DISTRIBUTION IN THIS 910, SHE FOUND 910 DISTINCT COMMENTS THAT WERE RELATED TO GENERATION RELIABILITY USING THE BULLET POINTS BELOW.
AND, AND SO, YOU KNOW, WE WERE TRYING TO BE VERY CAREFUL IN THE SURVEY TO MAKE SURE THAT WE WERE FOCUSING THIS ON THE GENERATION RESOURCE PLAN, WHICH IS REALLY NOT RIGHT.
MARA, WINTER STORM MARA, WAS, WAS NOT A GENERATION RESOURCE PLAN TYPE ISSUE, AS YOU MENTIONED, WINTER STORM YEAR WAS, DOES THAT ANSWER YOUR QUESTION OR YOUR COMMENTS? YEAH, I THINK THAT, OKAY.
YOU'RE TRYING TO MAKE SURE IT'S NOT CONFUSING.
AND I, I JUST WANTED TO ALSO ADD, WE PROVIDED DEFINITIONS WITHIN THE SURVEY FOR EACH OF, SO FOR RELIABILITY, WE PUT, POWER IS GENERATED FROM RESILIENT SOURCES THAT CAN OPERATE IN A VARIETY OF CONDITIONS.
AND SO WE PROVIDED DEFINITIONS FOR EACH OF THE ITEMS THAT WE OFFERED FOR RANKING.
SO WHEN I WAS USING THE THEMES, I USE THOSE DEFINITIONS TO BE ABLE TO IDENTIFY WHICH COMMENTS WOULD GO UNDER THOSE THEMES.
I JUST, I JUST THINK IT'S, IT'S REALLY ENCOURAGING THAT 66% OF RESPONDENTS ARE WILLING TO PAY SOMEWHAT MORE FOR SUSTAINABLE ENERGY.
I AM THE MANAGER FOR ENERGY MARKET ANALYSIS AND RESOURCE PLAN.
I'VE BEEN WITH AUSTIN ENERGY BEFORE THE NOAL INCEPTION, UH, WAS ALMOST 15 YEARS.
UH, WE HAVE A TEAM OF, UH, WELL, UH, EDUCATED PROFESSIONALS,
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ENGINEERS, PHDS WITH COUNTLESS EXPERIENCE, UH, IN, UH, RESOURCE PLANNING AND, UH, WELL-VERSED WITH THE MARKET.UH, SO THEY ARE THE FOLKS WHO ARE CRUNCHING BEHIND THE SCENES AND, UH, GIVING YOU WILL BE GIVING YOU AN UPDATE ON THE RESOURCE PLAN.
UH, JUST WANTED TO, UH, NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE.
UH, JUST TO WANT TO KEEP, UH, GIVEN A RECAP OF WHAT MICHAEL ALREADY PRESENTED IN THE PUBLIC PARTICIPATION OR, UH, COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT.
WE JUST WANTED TO KIND OF, UH, UH, KIND OF GO, GO GIVEN AN UPDATE MEANS.
JUST TO RECAP ABOUT THE 2030 PLAN AGAIN.
THE 2030 PLAN COMMITS AUSTIN ENERGY TO CON, UH, TO CONTINUALLY, UH, CONTINUOUSLY SAFELY DELIVER CLEAN, AFFORDABLE, AND RELIABLE ENERGY SUFFICIENT TO MEET CUSTOMER DEMANDS WHILE PURSUING THE CITY OF AUSTIN CLIMATE PROTECTION AND SUSTAINABILITY GOAL.
UH, AS YOU ALL KNOW, THE 2030, UH, PLAN IS BASED UPON THE FOUR PILLARS, THE BALANCE OF THE FOUR PILLARS, UH, WHICH IS ENVIRONMENT.
UH, ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY, RELIABILITY, AFFORDABILITY, AND COST STABILITY.
UNDERNEATH THIS 2030 PLAN, WE HAVE A LOT OF SUB GOALS.
SOME OF THEM WE ARE ALREADY ACCOMPLISHED, LIKE THE DECKER STEAM RETIREMENTS AND, UH, THE TRANSMISSION STUDY.
AND THERE ARE OTHER THINGS WHICH WE ARE IN THE, IN THE PROCESS OF COME WORKING ON IT.
AND THIS RESOURCE PLAN IS JUST AN UPDATE TO THE 2030, UH, 2030 PLAN THAT WAS BEEN ADOPTED IN 20 19, 20 20.
UH, UH, AS YOU ALL KNOW, UM, THIS HAVE SINCE THE RESOURCE PLAN THAT HAS BEEN ADOPTED IN 2019 AND 2020, WE HAVE GONE THROUGH A LOT OF, UH, UM, CHALLENGES, CHANGES, BOTH, BOTH AT AIRCO LEVEL AND THE, UM, LOCAL LEVEL, OR WHICH ARE CLOSER TO AUSTIN SERVICE AREA.
UH, WE HAVE SOME EXTREME EVENTS LIKE SUCH AS THE URI EVENTS AND, UH, MAURA EVENTS, WHICH RESULTED IN HIGH PRICES AND ALSO, UH, RESULTED IN SOME UTILITIES, UH, UH, IN GOING BANKRUPT.
AND, UH, AND HAD, I MEAN, HAD THE UTILITIES LOOK AT THE, LOOK AT THE, I MEAN, UH, RISK IN A DIFFERENT ANGLE.
UM, WE ALWAYS TALK ABOUT BLACK SWAN EVENTS, BUT WE HAVE NOT EVER EXPERIENCED THAT.
BUT IN THE LAST FOUR YEARS, WE DID EXPERIENCE SOME BLACK SWAN EVENTS, AND THAT'S RESULTED IN A LOT OF RISK TO THE UTILITIES.
AND THE UTILITIES STARTED LOOKING THE RISK, UH, COMPLETELY DIFFERENT.
AND ALSO AFTER THIS, UH, URI EVENT, WHICH RESULTED IN LOSS OF LOAD OR ROTATING OUTAGES.
SO THE LE UH, AT THE LEGISLATURE LEVEL, AT THE P CT LEVEL, ON THE RELIABILITY ASPECT AND HOW TO VALUE THE GENERATION.
AND THERE'S ALSO A LOT OF CHANGES THAT HAS BEEN ALREADY BEEN, UH, PUT IN PLACE.
AND THERE ARE MORE UPCOMING CHANGES HAPPENING AT THE, UH, AIRCRAFT LEVEL.
AND, UH, SINCE 20, I MEAN SINCE 2019, THERE IS A LOT OF CHANGES IN THE RESOURCE MIX AT AIRCO LEVEL, UH, WHICH RESULTED IN HIGH PRI, I MEAN HIGH PRICES, UH, VOLATILITY IN PRICES, UNCERTAINTIES, AND YOU ALSO SAW SOME RETIREMENTS.
AND THOSE ARE SOME OF THE THINGS THAT WE HAVE BEEN, UM, WE HAVE SEEN.
AND WE'VE RESULTED IN INCREASED CONGESTION COSTS, BOTH TO AUSTIN ENERGY AND ALSO TO THE MARKET.
AND AT THE SAME TIME, WE ALSO HAVE SOMETHING WHICH ARE VERY CLOSE TO US.
WE, WE, WE EXPERIENCED SIGNIFICANT LOCAL CONGESTION.
WE DID HAVE A CHANGE IN OUR SUPPLY PORTFOLIO WHERE AFTER THE RETIREMENT OF DECKER, AND THAT RESULTED IN BOTTLENECKS WITHIN OUR SERVICE AREA, WHICH COST SOME PRICE SEPARATION OR, UH, BETWEEN AUSTIN ENERGY AND THE REST OF THE MARKET.
UH, WHAT THAT MEAN IS THAT WHEN, UH, WE DID HAVE VERY HIGH, SIGNIFICANTLY HIGH PRICES TO THE TUNE OF, UM, 800 TO A THOUSAND DOLLARS, WHEN THE REST OF THE MARKET IS HOVERING AROUND $40, THAT MEANS AUSTIN ENERGY CUSTOMERS PAY, UH, TO SERVE THE LORD.
WE HAVE TO PAY 800 TO THOUSAND DOLLARS PER HOUR, PER MEGAWATT HOUR, UH, WHEN YOU HAVE THOSE BOTTLENECKS.
AND WE DID SEE, UH, AFTER THE COVID, WE DID SEE SOME INCREASED LOW LEVELS, AND THERE IS A SIGNIFICANT, UH, ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES IN CENTRAL TEXAS AND PARTICULARLY IN, UM, UH, LOCAL TO AUSTIN AS WELL.
UH, AND THIS, UM, UH, AGAIN, THESE ARE THE CHALLENGES THAT WE HAD AND, UM, THIS IS A, A TIME FOR US TO LOOK AT WHAT THOSE RISKS ARE AND HOW WE MITIGATE THEM.
SO IN THIS PLAN, NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE.
UM, SO IN THIS PLAN, UH, WHAT WE ARE, LOOK, WHEN WE UPDATE THIS RESOURCE PLAN, WE WILL LOOK AT WHAT ARE THE, WHAT, WHAT ARE THE THINGS THAT WE MIGHT
[01:10:01]
LOOK INTO THIS IN THIS PLAN.SO WE AGAIN, WANTED TO REAFFIRM THAT THE 2030 PLAN, WHICH IS CARBON FREE BY 2035, IT STILL WILL BE THE GOAL.
AND, UH, THE TIMING HORIZON WILL BE THE SAME 2035 TO 2025 TO 2035.
WE WILL LOOK AT WHAT ARE THE STEPS, WHAT COURSE CORRECTION WE NEED TO MAKE TO ACHIEVE THE CARBON FREE GOAL BY 35 IN A, IN A MOST RELIABLE AND COST OF, I MEAN, COST, AFFORDABLE WAY.
AND WE WILL LOOK AT WHAT ARE THE MARKET DESIGN CHANGES THAT ARE PRESENTING TO US AND, AND WHAT ARE THE LOCAL CONGESTION ISSUES AND WHAT STEPS WE NEED TO MAKE OR WHAT PORTFOLIO TWEAKS WE NEED TO DO TO MITIGATE THE LOCAL CONGESTION RISK.
AND WE ALL, WE WILL LOOK AT THE, UM, THE EXTREME WEATHER EVENTS THAT WE HAVE EXPERIENCED AND WHAT UNDER THOSE TYPE OF SITUATION, HOW OUR PORTFOLIO MIGHT WEATHER.
UH, WE WILL LOOK AT THOSE EXTREME EVENTS AS WELL.
AND WE ALSO HAVE OPPORTUNITIES TO, UH, UH, TO OWN SOME OF THE RENEWABLE ASSETS WHERE USING THE INFLATION REDUCTION ACT, WHERE THERE IS A LOT OF FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES AVAILABLE, WE WILL LOOK INTO THAT AS WELL.
AND WE WILL ALSO INCORPORATE SOME DISTRIBUTED GENERATION AND ALSO RESILIENCY AND TRY TO SEE HOW THAT MIGHT HELP IN ACHIEVING THE PLAN BY CARBON FREE BY 2035.
AND WE WILL LOOK INTO THE DEMAND SIDE MANAGEMENT AND IN CORPORATE CONCEPT LIKE VIRTUAL POWER PLANT AND DEMAND RESPONSE.
UM, OBVIOUSLY AS, AS YOU SAID, AS PART OF THE EXISTING PLAN, YOU GUYS DID A BIG TRANSMISSION STUDY.
I KNOW THAT OUR WORKING GROUP ASKED SOME QUESTIONS ABOUT WHICH OF THOSE RECOMMENDATIONS YOU THOUGHT YOU WOULD PURSUE.
ARE YOU GOING TO ASSUME THAT IN THIS TIMEFRAME YOU WILL MAKE, AND I CAN'T REMEMBER WHAT THEY ARE, YOU KNOW, ONE THROUGH FIVE PLUS MAYBE NINE.
ARE YOU GONNA, ARE YOU GONNA RUN THE MODEL ASSUMING THAT YOU BUILD OUT SOME OF THAT TRANSMISSION THAT'S, THAT'S LIKELY OR SHOW UP WITH OR WITHOUT? HOW ARE YOU GONNA DEAL WITH TRANSMISSION UPGRADES? SO WE, UH, SO SOME OF THOSE PROJECTS, AGAIN, WE ARE NOT PRIVY TO BECAUSE WE ARE ON THE GENERATION SIDE OF THE BUSINESS.
SO WE WILL BE LOOKING THAT AS A SENSITIVITIES AND TRYING TO LOOK FROM A, UM, AT A HIGHER LEVEL IN TERMS OF ABOUT IMPORT CAPABILITIES AND VOLTAGE ISSUES LIKE THAT.
BUT NOT IN, NOT INTO KIND OF, UH, THE NITTY-GRITTY DETAILS ABOUT ADDING, UH, UM, NEW LINE.
BECAUSE THOSE INFORMATION IS NOT RE MEANS PRI, I MEAN, PRIVY TO US BECAUSE THOSE ARE CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION BECAUSE THE REST OF THE MARKET IS NOT AWARE OF SOME OF THOSE UPGRADES.
UH, BUT WE WILL BE LOOKING AS A SENSITIVITY AT A HIGHER LEVEL.
AND THEN THE SECOND QUESTION IS, I, I KNOW YOU'RE SAYING THE GOAL REMAINS CARBON FREE BY 2035.
UM, YOU KNOW, I KNOW THERE'S A LOT OF FOLKS IN THE COMMUNITY THAT WOULD LIKE TO SEE THAT DONE FASTER, SOMETHING LIKE 2030.
IS YOUR MODEL ABLE TO DO A SENSITIVE SENSITIVITY ANALYSIS TO SAY, IF WE WERE TO MOVE THAT UP TO THIS, WHAT WOULD BE THE IMPACT ON, ON COSTS OR RELIABILITY? IS THAT SOMETHING YOU CAN DO OR NOT EASILY? SO WITHIN THE TIMEFRAME THAT WE HAVE AVAILABLE, AGAIN, THIS IS NOT A FULL-BLOWN RESOURCE PLAN.
WE OUR, I MEAN OUR, UH, PLAN IS TO KIND OF SEE WHAT THOSE IMPACTS WITH, UH, TO ACHIEVE THE 2035 GOALS.
SO WE ARE TRYING TO SEE WHAT ARE THE STEPS WE NEED TO MITIGATE SOME OF THE RISK THAT IS PRESENTING US IN THE NEXT 10 YEARS.
SO ASKING ANOTHER WAY, UM, IT, IS THERE A WAY WITHIN WHAT YOU PRESENT TO SAY, UM, FOR EXAMPLE, HE RUNNING THE GAS PLANTS USING GAS UNTIL 2035 GIVES YOU THIS RESULT, B M L TO TRANSITION BY 2030 GIVES YOU THAT RESULT.
IS THAT SOMETHING THAT YOU'RE ABLE TO DO AS PART OF THIS? IT'S SOMETHING THAT WE MIGHT CONSIDER ONCE WE BRING THE PRELIMINARY RESULTS.
AND IF THERE IS A FEEDBACK FROM THE, UH, FROM THIS COMMITTEE, WE WILL DEFINITELY LOOK INTO THAT POSSIBLE.
BUT NOT AT YOUR FIRST, NOT ON YOUR FIRST RUN THROUGH.
SO WHAT ARE THE RESILIENCY TECHNOLOGIES THAT YOU'RE GOING TO BE ASSESSING? SO THERE IS, UH, BEHIND RES SOME OF THE RESILIENCY TECHNOLOGIES, WHICH WILL BE INCLUDING THE H UM, THE, UH, H E B BILL, SENATE BILL.
BOB, WHY DON'T YOU GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE NEXT, IS THAT OKAY? THANK YOU, BOB.
UM, SO, UH, I JUST WANTED TO KIND OF, UH, UH, TALK ABOUT THE MODELING APPROACH.
WE WILL BE LOOKING AT, UM, THE SCENARIOS, SCENARIOS OF THE FUTURE STATES, UM, HOW WE, HOW TO NAV NAVIGATE SOME OF THE FUTURE STATES AND WHAT THE IMPACT, UH,
[01:15:01]
TO OUR PORTFOLIO.UH, WE'LL LOOK AT THE TECHNOLOGIES BOTH ON THE SUPPLY SIDE AND ALSO ON THE DEMAND SIDE, AND LOOK AT, UH, DIFFERENT COMBINATION OF THE TECHNOLOGIES AND SEE HOW, UH, UH, HOW THE PORTFOLIO MIX, UH, WITH LOOK, UH, WITH WHETHER ARE UNDER DIFFERENT SCENARIOS OR DIFFERENT ENVIRONMENTS.
AND, UH, AT THE END WE WILL LOOK AT THE SENSITIVITIES AND BY, BY STRESSING OUT THE KEY VARIABLES, UH, SO VARIABLES LIKE LOAD OR DEMAND OR FUEL, UH, OR TRANSMISSION, AND TRY TO SEE HOW OUR PORTFOLIO WILL PERFORM UNDER THOSE TYPE OF, UH, SENSITIVITIES.
UH, OUR OBJECTIVE IS TO, UH, IDENTIFY THE LEAST COST CARBON FREE, RELIABLE, UH, AFFORDABLE, UM, OPTIMAL PATH THAT CAN WITHER, UM, UNDER ALL CIRCUMSTANCES OR ALL UNDER ALL ENVIRONMENTS THAT WILL PROTECT AUSTIN ENERGY AND ALSO HELP US TO DEAL, UH, HELP US TO ACHIEVE THE CARBON FREE GOAL BY 2035.
SO I UNDERSTAND THE, THE NOTION OF THE, I GUESS YOU'RE STILL CALLING IT RELIABILITY AS A SERVICE SOLUTIONS.
THOSE ARE LARGER AT SCALE THAT CAN BACK UP GROCERY STORES, ET CETERA, RIGHT? OR OTHER C AND I CUSTOMERS.
WHAT ABOUT VPPS VIRTUAL POWER PLANTS USING EVEN MORE DISTRIBUTED? I KNOW MICHAEL HAD TALKED ABOUT NOT GREEN MOUNTAIN, BUT I THINK THAT COULD BE MAYBE A LITTLE BIT DIFFERENT.
I THOUGHT THAT'S WHERE THEY, THEY ACTUALLY BUY IT.
YEAH, I'M SAYING EARLIER SLIDE DID TALK ABOUT DP AS PART OF WHAT WE'D BE LOOKING AT ALONG WITH DEMANDING RESPONSE.
UM, I, I WAS MERELY REFERRING TO WHEN WE'RE LOOKING AT LOCALLY DISTRIBUTED BATTERIES, WE'RE NOT LOOKING AT PUTTING BATTERIES IN EVERYBODY'S HOME WHERE WE'RE FUNDING IT.
IF PEOPLE ALREADY HAD THEIR OWN BATTERIES, IT'S REALLY HARD TO HEAR YOU.
IF, IF THERE WERE BATTERIES AND SIGNIFICANT OR SIGNIFICANT ENOUGH, UH, THINGS THAT WE COULD TAP INTO THROUGH WIFI DEVICES, THINGS OF THAT NATURE TO DO OUR OWN VIRTUAL POWER PLANT TYPE ENDEAVOR, WE WOULD LOOK AT THAT AS WELL.
BUT THAT'S NOT WHERE WE'RE GOING TO FUND THE, NECESSARILY LOOKING AT FUNDING THE BATTERIES TO PUT IN EVERYBODY'S HOUSE.
WE'RE LOOKING AT LEVERAGING THE ASSETS THAT PEOPLE ALREADY HAVE, UH, PROCURED FOR THEIR HOMES.
SO STILL VPPS WITH CUSTOMER OWNED BATTERIES, BUT NOT THE SAME PROGRAM THAT GREEN MOUNTAIN IS DOING? CORRECT.
YOU ANSWERED MY SECOND QUESTION.
UH, SOME OF THE SCENARIO ENVIRONMENTS THAT, UH, UH, WE WILL BE LOOKING AT, UH, ONE IS THE EXTREME EVENTS, UH, EXTREME EVENTS LIKE, UH, URI MARA AND THE SUMMER 2023 WHERE WE HAD A A HUNDRED DEGREE DAYS FOR ALL MEANS, AGAIN, IT'S RECORD A HUNDRED DEGREE DAYS IN AUSTIN.
I MEAN, IN ALL OF OUR TEXAS, WE LOOK AT THOSE TYPE OF MEANS, UM, THOSE, UH, FUTURE STATES AND TRY TO SEE HOW OUR PORTFOLIO MIGHT, UH, WITHER OR HOW A PAN OUT UNDER THOSE TYPE OF SITUATION.
AND WE'LL ALSO LOOK AT THE LOCAL CONGESTION, UM, AGAIN, LOCAL CONGESTION, WHICH IS, UM, UH, AROUND OUR SERVICE AREA.
WHAT ARE THE BOTTLENECKS AND IF YOU HAVE THE BOTTLENECKS, WHAT IS OUR EXPOSURE AND WHAT'S OUR RISK AND HOW TO MITIGATE THOSE RISKS.
AND, UM, THE REG REGULATORY CHANGES, UH, SOME OF THE CHANGES THAT WE ALREADY AWARE OF IT, BUT SOME OF THE CHANGES THAT IS COMING FORTHCOMING, AND THUS THOSE CHANGES, WE WILL LOOK AT WHAT ARE THE, OR SOME OF THE CHANGES MAY BE RELATED TO PERFORMANCE CREDIT MECHANISM.
P C M AS MOST OF YOU ALREADY KNOW WHAT'S IT'S FLOATING AROUND.
AND ALSO THERE'S ALSO SOME TALKS ABOUT SOME LOAD SERVICE, UH, UH, UH, LOAD SERVING OBLIGATION OR, UH, THERE ARE ALSO DISCUSSIONS ABOUT COST, CAUSATION AND, UH, DIFFERENT ASPECTS OF IT.
AND WE'LL LOOK AT ALL, I MEAN THAT IF THOSE THINGS HAPPEN, HOW DOES OUR PORTFOLIO, UH, PERFORM OR COMBINATION OF PORTFOLIO WILL PER UNDER THOSE TYPE OF SITUATIONS.
QUESTION IS YOUR, IS YOUR MODEL, ARE YOU, YOU'RE LOOKING AT ALSO YOUR OBLIGATIONS, YOUR EXISTING OBLIGATIONS, ANCILLARY SERVICE OBLIGATIONS, ET CETERA.
SO CAN YOU EASILY, 'CAUSE THEY ARE GONNA, YOU KNOW, ADD THIS D R S THING BY THE END OF 24, IS THAT SOMETHING YOUR MODEL CAN, YOU CAN INCORPORATE EASILY? SURE, YES.
LOOK, LOOK AT THE, WHAT THE CURRENT CURRENT, UH, CURRENT ANCILLARY SERVICE OBLIGATIONS ARE AND WHAT ARE THE UPCOMING ANCILLARY SERVICE OBLIGATIONS ARE.
I THOUGHT P C M HAD GUARDRAILS FROM THE LAST LEGISLATIVE SESSION WHERE IT'S REALLY LIMITED.
SO ISN'T THAT A LIMITED EXPOSURE? IT IT IS STILL A, IT IS STILL BEING FINALIZED.
A PORTION OF THE P C M IN TERMS OF, I MEAN, THEY DID A RETROFITTING IN THE, TO THE OR D C CURVE, BUT THAT IS NOT THE ACTUAL P
[01:20:01]
C M.SO THEY'RE STILL WORKING ON THAT.
AND THEN I THOUGHT WE HAD A STEWARD GIVE A PRESENTATION.
IT WAS VERY INTERESTING A WHILE BACK ON IT WASN'T SEXUALIZATION, IT WAS, I THINK MORE SEGMENTATION WITH RECLOSERS.
SO AGAIN, WHEN WE'RE TALKING ABOUT RELIABILITY, UM, AND THE EXTREME WEATHER EVENTS, ISN'T THAT REALLY, I MEAN, ASSUMING YOU DO A GOOD JOB AT KEEPING ALL THE PLANTS GOING AND HAVING GAS SUPPLY TO WHATEVER GAS PLANTS ARE THERE, RIGHT? AND MAYBE ANY NEW, UH, WIND PLANTS HAVE WINTERIZATION PACKAGES INSTALLED.
UM, WHATEVER HAPPENED WITH THIS, UM, RECLOSER SEGMENTATION PLAN THAT WOULD BE MAYBE MORE IMPORTANT FOR RELIABILITY IN THE SOME OF THIS? LISA? HI, LISA MARTIN AGAIN.
UM, SO THE SEGMENTATION SEXUALIZATION WORK WITH RECLOSERS AND OR SMART SWITCHES IS STILL PART OF OUR, UM, ONGOING WORK.
WE'RE FOCUSING ON OUR UNDERPERFORMING FEEDERS FIRST AND THOSE IN THE HIGH WILDFIRE RISK AREA.
UM, AND IN THE CONTEXT OF WHAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT, THOSE ARE MOST HELPFUL, UM, TO ALLOW, UH, IF, IF WE FIND OURSELVES AGAIN INTO A LOAD SHE SCENARIO, THEN UM, THE PLACEMENT OF SOME OF THOSE, UH, RECLOSERS WILL ALLOW US TO MAINTAIN POWER TO CRITICAL LOADS, BUT TAKE THE NONCRITICAL LOADS THAT ARE TOWARDS THE TAIL END OF A CIRCUIT AND INCLUDE THEM IN THE POOL OF LOAD THAT CAN BE ROTATED.
SO IT ALLOWS US TO GET TO A POINT WHERE ERCOT CAN ASK FOR MORE LOAD SHED AND WE COULD STILL BE ROTATING, WHICH WASN'T POSSIBLE DURING YURI.
UM, HOPEFULLY IF WE CONTINUE TO, UH, BUILD A RESOURCE GEN PORTFOLIO, UM, AND THE REST OF TEXAS DOES AS WELL, UM, THEN WE CAN, YOU KNOW, WEATHER THE EXTREME WEATHER EVENTS AND NOT GET TO THE POINT OF LOAD SHEDDING OR ROTATE IT BETTER.
SO, UM, AND, UM, NEXT SLIDE PLEASE.
SO AS WE, UH, AS I ALREADY SPOKEN ABOUT THE TECHNOLOGIES, SO WE'LL LOOK AT, UH, DIFFERENT, UH, COM, I MEAN TECHNOLOGY OPTIONS.
ONE IS, UH, LOCAL SOLAR IS ONE TECHNOLOGY THAT WE ALL ALREADY BEEN THERE, AND WE'LL LOOK AT RE UH, RE-LOOK AT THAT AS AS WELL.
AND WE'LL ALSO LOOK AT DISTRIBUTED STORAGE WHEN, WHEN I SAY DISTRIBUTED STORAGE MEANS, UH, STORAGE SPREADING ACROSS THE FOOTPRINT, UH, AUSTIN SERVICE AREA.
AND, UM, WE ALSO WILL BE LOOKING AT CARBON FREE GENERATION ASSET, UH, OF TECHNOLOGY, WHICH INCLUDES, UH, SEVERAL, UM, SEVERAL TECHNOLOGY WITHIN THE CARBON FREE GENERATION.
AND WE WILL ALSO LOOK AT THE DIRECT AIR CAPTURE AND SEQUESTRATION WHERE THIS IS, UH, CAPTURING THE CARBON FROM THE STACK AND, UM, BUDDING UNDERNEATH THE GROUND.
UM, AND WE ALSO WILL BE LOOKING AT LOG A LONG DURATION STORAGE AND LONG DURATION STORAGE OUTSIDE THE FOOTPRINT ON LONG DURATION STORAGE WITHIN THE FOOTPRINT AND LOOK AT, BECAUSE WE, WE DO HAVE ISSUES, UH, AT THE AIR CORE LEVEL, AND WE DO HAVE ISSUES WITH, WHICH IS MORE LOCAL LEVEL.
SO WE'RE TRYING TO UNDERSTAND HOW EACH OF THOSE, UM, PORTFOLIO OR EACH OF THE PORTFOLIO WILL, UH, UH, UH, IMPACT OUR PORTFOLIO, OUR, UH, UM, PORTFOLIO.
AND WE WILL ALSO LOOK AT DEMAND SIDE MANAGEMENT, AND IT INCLUDES THE CONCEPT LIKE V P P AND DEMAND RESPONSE.
AND, UM, AGAIN, WE WILL LOOK AT ALL THIS PORTFOLIO COMBINATION OF THIS, UH, TECHNOLOGIES TO SEE HOW EACH OF THOSE PORTFOLIO WILL HELP US MITIGATE THE RISK THAT MIGHT BE PRESENTING TO US AND ALSO HELP US TO ACHIEVE OUR CARBON FREE GOAL BY 2035.
AND WHEN YOU SAY LONG DURATION STORAGE, WHAT, WHAT, WHAT'S THE TECHNOLOGIES THAT YOU'RE LOOKING AT THERE? SO WE ARE LOOKING MAIL, IT'S NOT A, A LONG DURATION MEANS IT'S NOT LONG LONG.
IT'S, UH, WE ARE LOOKING AT AN EIGHT HOUR BATTERY STORAGE.
UM, SO RIGHT NOW, THE WAY OF SOME OF THE, UH, BENEFITS OF THE BATTERY STORAGE, UH, IF YOU HAVE A TWO HOUR OR FOUR HOURS, THEY'RE LIMITED.
BUT IF YOU GO BEYOND FOUR HOURS, THERE ARE SOME, UH, MARKET OPPORTUNITY THAT YOU CAN CAPTURE WITH THE EIGHT HOUR BATTERY STORAGE.
SO WE WILL, LOOKING AT EIGHT HOUR BATTERY STORAGE.
AND, UH, AS WE, UH, AS WE SPEAK, UH, WE WILL, ONCE WE HAVE THE SAME, UM, PORTFOLIO, WE WILL LOOK, WE'LL STRESS, UH, EACH OF THE PORTFOLIO WITH KEY, UM, UH, STRESS, THE KEY VARIABLES TO LOOK AT, OKAY, WHAT HAPPENS IF YOU HAVE A LOW HIGHER LOAD AND OR WHAT HAPPENS IF YOU HAVE A HIGHER FUEL PRICES? AND WHAT HAPPENS IF YOU HAVE A HIGHER CONGESTION, A HIGHER BOTTLENECK? SO, UH, LIKE FOR EXAMPLE, UH, WE DID HAVE SOME, UH, UH, LATE SEPTEMBER OR UH, IN SEPTEMBER, WE DID HAVE SOME OUTAGES THAT CAUSES HIGH PRICES IN OUR SERVICE AREA AND THAT IT REDUCE OUR IMPORT.
I MEAN, THAT, UH, UM, RESULTED IN HAVING LESS IMPORT CAPABILITIES
[01:25:01]
AND CAUSED HIGHER PRICES.AND SO WITH THOSE TYPE OF, UH, SENSITIVITIES, WE WILL BE RUNNING AND WE WILL ALSO LOOK AT AGAIN, UH, THERE IS NEW, UH, E P R REGULATION, BUT THAT MIGHT, UH, PHASE OUT SOME OF THE COAL PLANTS.
AND IF THOSE HAPPENS, HOW DOES THE MARKET PRICES, UH, LOOK LIKE AND HOW DOES OUR PORTFOLIO PERFORM UNDER THOSE TYPE OF SITUATION? AND WE WILL LOOK AT THE TRANSMISSION ADDITION, UH, AT A HIGHER LEVEL, UNDERSTANDING THE INPUT CAPABILITIES.
UH, AND WE WILL ALSO, AGAIN, THERE IS ALSO A LOT OF DISCUSSION ABOUT EV PENETRATION BECAUSE OF THE I R A INFLATION REDUCTION ACT AND A LOT OF, UH, INCREASING THE EV UH, THE CREDIT THAT IS AVAILABLE FOR THE ELECTRIC VEHICLE.
SO THERE IS A POSSIBILITY THAT WE MAY HAVE A MORE HIGHER PENETRATION.
SO WE WILL LOOK AT IF YOU HAVE A HIGHER PENETRATION OF EVS, WHAT DID HAPPEN TO YOUR LOAD AND DEMAND AND HOW DOES YOUR PORTFOLIO, UH, BEHAVE THOSE UNDER THOSE TYPE OF SITUATIONS.
UM, SO ONCE WE HAVE ALL OF ALL OF THIS, WE'LL STICK TOGETHER AND, UH, WE'LL PUT EVERYTHING TOGETHER AND TRY TO SEE WHAT IS THE BEST, UH, BEST WAY TO ACHIEVE OUR CARBON FREE GOAL IN A MORE RELIABLE AND THE LEAST COST AND MOST AFFORDABLE WAY, SO THAT WE CAN STILL MEET OUR CARBON FREE GOAL BY 2035.
AND, UH, UM, AND AGAIN, AT THE SAME TIME, WE'LL HAVE A, A LOW RISK TO THE UTILITY.
UM, NEXT STEPS, NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE.
WE WILL BE, AS MICHAEL ALREADY MENTIONED IN HIS, UM, TIMELINE.
WE WILL BE COMING BACK TO YOU, UM, TO YOU ALL IN THE MONTH OF NOVEMBER, UH, SHARING WITH SOME OF THE PRELIMINARY FINDINGS.
AND, UH, AND THERE WILL BE, UM, AN UPDATE FROM THE DEMAND SIDE MANAGEMENT ON THE GOALS AND METRICS AS WELL.
UH, ALSO, I JUST ALSO WANTED TO ADD ONE THING RECENTLY, AS MOST OF YOU'RE AWARE OF IT, THERE IS AN, UH, R F P FROM ERCOT, UH, REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL TO PROCURE ADDITIONAL 300 MEGAWATT, UH, 3000 MEGAWATTS, UH, FOR THE, FOR THIS WINTER TO DECREASE THE, UH, PROBABILITY OF THE E A WENT FROM A 20% TO A 10%.
SO ERCOT IS CONCERNED, EVERYBODY'S CONCERNED ABOUT THE PRE THE SITUATION THAT IS PRESENTING TO THE MARKET AND TO EVERYBODY.
SO THEY WANTED TO REDUCE THE PROBABILITY, UH, SO THAT THEY CAN MANAGE THE RELIABILITY BETTER.
SO I'M GLAD YOU BROUGHT THAT UP.
SO WHAT ARE THE SOLUTIONS THAT YOU MIGHT HAVE A E OFFER TO HELP OUT WITH THAT 3000? SO, AND RIGHT, RIGHT NOW, ERCO THE YEAH.
UM, SO THERE WAS AN APPENDIX CONNECTED, UH, UH, ATTACHED TO THE R F P WHERE THEY LISTED PLANTS THAT HAVE BEEN, UH, OFFLINE OR DECOMMISSIONED SOME OF THEM FOR YEARS.
AND OF COURSE, DECKER TWO WAS, WAS ONE OF THE UNITS, ONE OF THE LARGER UNITS.
BUT WE'RE, WE'RE NOT GONNA BRING THAT UNIT BACK.
UM, IF YOU ASK ME IT'S TOO LITTLE, TOO LATE.
UH, IT'S OCTOBER AND THEY WANT STUFF BY JANUARY.
BASED ON MY EXPERIENCE, UH, WITH, UH, HAVING RUN A COAL UNIT FOR, FOR YEARS.
IF, IF A UNIT'S SHUT DOWN FOR A WHILE, IT TAKES A LONG TIME TO BRING IT BACK IF YOU CAN GET THE PARTS.
SO, UM, ANYWAYS, WHAT DO WE HAVE TO OFFER? WE DON'T HAVE ANY GENERATION THAT WE CAN BRING BACK.
SO THERE IS A WORKSHOP ON FRIDAY ON THIS VERY ISSUE AT THE P U C.
UM, AND I'M RELIEVED WITH YOUR ANSWER ABOUT DECKER
UM, BUT, UM, AND I AGREE WITH YOU THAT TRYING TO DO SOMETHING IN THAT SHORT TIMEFRAME SEEMS ALMOST SILLY.
UM, THAT BEING SAID, THINKING ABOUT, AND I KNOW YOU HAVE A FUTURE PRESENTATION, THINKING ABOUT HOW WE MIGHT USE DEMAND RESPONSE IN A WAY THAT COULD MEET SOME OF THESE REQUIREMENTS AS A NOE, YOU KNOW, THAT MAY BE SOMETHING, I DON'T THINK WE COULD DO IT FOR WINTER 2023, BUT IT MAY BE SOMETHING WE COULD DO IN WINTER 2024.
SO IT'S, I I IMAGINE THIS ISSUE'S GONNA COME BACK EVEN BEYOND THIS.
SO SOME, SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT.
IT MAY BE AN OPPORTUNITY FOR AOI LIKE AUSTIN ENERGY TO BE ABLE TO DO SOME SHORT TERM HELP IN THESE SITUATIONS.
SO I AGREE THAT'S SOMETHING WE'RE ALWAYS LOOKING AT DEMAND RESPONSES, ONE OF THE TOOLS, AND IT WOULD SEEM LIKE THAT WOULD BE A
[01:30:01]
LOT FASTER THAN BUILDING NEW PLANTS, RIGHT? YES, YES.I THINK C P S ALREADY SAID THAT THEY CAN'T, YEAH, THEY'RE NOT BRINGING BACK THEIR COAL PLANT.
UH, CAN I ASK A QUESTION? ABSOLUTELY.
UM, THANKS FOR THE PRESENTATION.
UM, I, I, I JUST, MY, MY QUESTION IS IN LINE WITH WHAT IRIS WAS ASK ASKING ABOUT BEFORE WITH THE, UM, 2030 VERSE 2035, UH, PLAN.
UM, I GUESS I'M, I AM SURPRISED AND DISAPPOINTED THAT THAT IS NOT AT LEAST ONE OF THE MODELS BEING RUN, GIVEN THAT THE CONCLUSION OF THE LAST RESOURCE PLAN MADE THAT COMMITMENT THAT, YOU KNOW, WHEN THE, WHEN THE TRANSMISSION STUDY WAS DONE, THAT THAT WOULD BE THE TIME TO DO THAT ANALYSIS AND IT'S DONE.
AND IT SOUNDS LIKE WE STILL HAVE A WINDOW WHERE THOSE UPGRADES COULD BE MADE IN TIME, BUT IF WE PUT IT OFF TOO LONG, THEN WE'RE GONNA RUN INTO A TIMELINE ISSUE IN TERMS OF MAKING THOSE TRANSMISSION UPGRADES THAT WOULD ALLOW FOR THE UNITS TO BE SHUT DOWN BEFORE 2035.
SO I'M JUST GONNA, YOU KNOW, ADD ON TO THAT REQUEST TO PLEASE INCLUDE THAT AS A SCENARIO WHEN YOU, WHEN YOU RUN THESE, YOU KNOW, I KNOW YOU'RE LOOKING TO DO FEWER SCENARIOS AND I DEFINITELY RESPECT THAT, BUT I THINK THAT WAS ONE THAT WAS COMMITTED TO, AND, YOU KNOW, NOT, NOT ASKING FOR A WHOLE, WHOLE BUNCH, BUT I THINK THAT ONE SHOULD BE INCLUDED.
YOU FOLKS IN THE M O CAN'T KNOW EVERYTHING ABOUT TRANSMISSION STUDY.
UM, BUT I CAN, UH, LISA MARTIN AGAIN.
UM, SO THE TRANSMISSION STUDY DID ASSESS WHETHER OR NOT THERE COULD BE SUFFICIENT TRANSMISSION UPGRADES BY 2030.
OUR MODELS WENT TO 2029, BECAUSE THAT'S THE FURTHEST OUT THAT ERCOT MODELS WENT AT THAT TIME.
UM, AND IF YOU RECALL FROM THAT ANALYSIS, THERE ARE STILL SUFFICIENT CONTINGENCIES, UM, ISSUES, UM, THAT EVEN WHEN YOU DEPLOY ALL OF THOSE, YOU DON'T, IT DOES NOT, UM, SOLVE THE PROBLEM.
AND SO TRANSMISSION ALONE IS NOT A SOLUTION TO, UM, THE CARBON FREE BY 2035 GOAL OR THE 2030 GOAL.
SO WE'RE GONNA FOCUS AND HAVE BABU AND HIS TEAM FOCUS ON THE, UM, ANALYSIS BY 2035.
AND THEN AS, AS HE MENTIONED, IF WE HAVE PRELIMINARY RESULTS THAT INDICATE THAT WE COULD, UH, RUN A SENSITIVITY AND DO IT AT A EARLIER DATE, WE CAN, WE CAN RUN THAT MODEL.
UM, BUT THAT WILL BE PART OF AN ITERATIVE PROCESS.
OTHER QUESTIONS ONLINE? CYRUS? YOU HAD ANOTHER, YOU, I, I HAD A QUESTION ABOUT THE, THE GRILL IN THE ROOM, UH, WHICH IS THE FAYETTE COAL PLANT.
UM, HOW WILL YOUR MODEL, UH, TREAT FAYETTE? WILL YOU ASSUME THAT YOU WOULD USE REACH UP UNTIL THE TIME THAT IT RETIRES? WOULD YOU PUT DIFFERENT RETIREMENT DATES IN? UH, 'CAUSE YOU KNOW, THE PLAN'S NOT GONNA BE AROUND FOREVER.
THE QUESTION IS, IS IT GONNA BE 2030? YOU KNOW, IS IT GONNA BE 20, 28, 20, 30, 20, 35, 20 40? LIKE, I DON'T KNOW, BUT I DIDN'T KNOW IF YOU WERE BUILDING THAT INTO THE ANALYSIS IN ANY WAY.
SO, SO WE WILL BE ASSUMING REACH, UM, UM, AND, UH, DISPATCHING CALL WHEN IT'S NEEDED.
BUT IF IT, WHEN, WHEN YOU HAVE A LOW PRICES OR IF IT'S NOT NEEDED, YOU HAVE A CARBON PRICE ADD UP THERE AND IT, YOU'LL NOT DISPATCH.
SO BASICALLY YOUR MODEL WOULD ASSUME SOME, WHAT'S THE, WHAT'S THE L SS L AGAIN, I CAN'T REMEMBER.
150, 50 MEGAWATTS OR 150 MEGAWATTS.
SO YOU WOULD JUST ASSUME IT WOULD BE SOMEWHERE BETWEEN 150 MEGAWATTS AND IT WOULD GO UP WHEN PRICES WERE HIGHER.
IS THAT HOW YOU THAT'S CORRECT.
UH, LITTLE BIT DIFFERENT QUESTION.
SO I'M GLAD TO SEE THE ASSESSMENT OF ALL THE INTERESTING NEW TECHNOLOGIES, HIGHLY RELEVANT.
LET ME TALK ABOUT SOMETHING THAT IS TYPICALLY A LOT LESS SEXY, BUT REALLY IMPORTANT.
SO WHEN I SEE THE WORD T O U OR THE ACRONYM T O U, ANYWHERE IN THERE, I'M WONDERING HOW MUCH SOME OF THE SOLUTIONS CAN BE OVERLY CONSTRAINED BY THE BILLING SYSTEM.
BECAUSE IT WOULD SEEM LIKE SOME OF THE OPTIMIZATIONS OR OTHER TECHNOLOGIES THAT COULD BE DEPLOYED IF WE COULD HAVE SOME KIND OF MORE FLEXIBLE REAL-TIME SYSTEM THAT WOULD BE ABLE TO DEPLOY DR UH, IN, FOR EXAMPLE, OR FLEXIBLE LOAD IN
[01:35:01]
A, IN A MORE OPTIMAL FASHION.AND LET ME MAKE SURE THAT I'VE GOT THE RIGHT DEFINITION, BECAUSE WHAT I'VE ALWAYS BEEN LED TO BELIEVE IS WHEN YOU SAY T O U TO UTILITY FOLKS, THAT THAT TALKS ABOUT, SAY, A FOUR TO 9:00 PM PEAK, SOME SHOULDER TIMES BEFORE THAT AND AFTER, AND THEN AN OFF PEAK DURING THE NIGHT.
AND IT REALLY IS SORT OF A RELIC OF THE LAST CENTURY IN TRYING TO SMOOTH OUT LOAD TO BE FLAT TO RUN THERMAL GENERATION FLAT.
AND SO HOW WOULD WE GET THIS? AND I'VE ACTUALLY DONE A LITTLE BIT OF PROBING, AND I KNOW, I'M NOT SURE, BOB, IF YOU WERE AROUND WHEN THE LAST, UH, SYSTEM, THE BILLING SYSTEM WAS UPGRADED, THAT WAS SO HUGELY PAINFUL.
AND SO I UNDERSTAND THAT WHEN YOU UPDATE ONE OF THESE THINGS, IT CREATES NEW ATTACK VECTORS FOR CYBERSECURITY ISSUES.
AND I'VE HEARD ABOUT OTHER, AND KERRY, I'VE HEARD YOU'RE ONE OF THE VETERANS OF THAT WHOLE SITUATION, AND I'VE HEARD ANOTHER UTILITY COULDN'T BILL FOR NINE MONTHS BECAUSE THEY HAD SUCH A DEBACLE WITH THEIR BILLING SYSTEM UPGRADE.
SO HOW DO WE NOT GET CONSTRAINED AND HAVE THESE HANDCUFFS WHEN WE WANT TO HAVE MORE GRANULARITY? WHAT GOES THROUGH MY MIND IS, I FORGOT THE GENTLEMAN FROM, UH, YOUR FINANCE GROUP THAT HAD A LOW DURATION CURVE OF YOUR DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM, AND HE WAS TALKING ABOUT THE RELATIVE LOW ASSET UTILIZATION RATE FROM, FROM THAT SAYING, HEY, IF WE COULD SHIFT LOAD, BUT HOW DO YOU DO THAT WITH HAVING THE RIGHT TARIFF STRUCTURES AND INCENTIVES? A LOT OF DISCUSSION RIGHT NOW ABOUT WHAT THE COMMERCIAL FOLKS GET RIGHT NOW AS FAR AS CUTTING LOAD.
HOW DO WE INCENT CUSTOMERS TO DO THE SAME OR HAVE THEIR COMPUTERS AND THEIR HOME ENERGY MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS DO THE SAME? SO WHY DON'T YOU GIVE US SOME HISTORY ON THIS AND WHERE YOU THINK YOU CAN TAKE THE BILLING SYSTEM.
YOU DID A GREAT JOB OF PACKING A LOT INTO THAT.
UH, LET ME, LET ME TRY TO PULL SOME PIECES TOGETHER.
UH, YOU KNOW, FIRST OF ALL, THE BILLING SYSTEMS FOR ALL UTILITIES WENT THROUGH A LITTLE BIT OF A TRANSITION, UH, PRIOR TO THIS.
AND IF YOU KIND OF THINK OF THEM IN ABOUT ANYWHERE FROM 10 15 YEAR INCREMENTS, IF NOT MORE FOR SOME UTILITIES.
WE WENT FROM A HIGHLY CUSTOMIZED SYSTEM.
IT WAS, UM, GENERATED AND PROGRAMMED ASSOCIATED WITH ALMOST EVERY PROGRAM WE HAD.
AND IN FACT, WHAT WE, AFTER SO MANY YEARS, OUR UPGRADES WERE, UM, A NIGHTMARE.
UM, UH, VENDORS COULD NOT COME IN AND DO A STANDARD UPGRADE TO THE SYSTEM BECAUSE WE HAD SO MANY, UH, COMPLEX PARTS TO IT AND O AS OTHER UTILITIES.
SO WHAT WE DID IS WE MOVED TO MORE STANDARD BILLING ENGINES WITH, UH, YOU KNOW, AND USUALLY THERE'S ONLY FOUR, UH, MAY, MAYBE SOME MORE, BUT FOUR OR FIVE MAJOR, UM, BILLING SYSTEMS, UTILITIES THAT YOU'RE GONNA PICK FROM.
IT'S NOT VERY MANY THAT, THAT ARE IN THIS, UM, PARTICULAR NICHE BUILT, UH, AREA.
SO THEN WHAT WE DID IS WE WENT IN A DIFFERENT DIRECTION.
THE SYSTEM WE HAVE NOW IS REALLY A BILLING SYSTEM, BUT IT IS HIGHLY, IT'S, IT'S, IT OPERATES AT A VERY GENERAL LEVEL WITH THE LEAST AMOUNT OF HARD PROGRAMMING AS POSSIBLE.
WHICH ALSO MEANS THOUGH, AS WE GO THROUGH NEW RATE CASES, WE GO THROUGH NEW, UH, COMMODITY AND PRODUCT DESIGN, UM, THAT'S WORK THAT HAS TO BE TAKEN IN A SPECIALIZED CASE AND BE REPROGRAMMED.
SO THERE'S NO REAL WAY TO ANTICIPATE THAT IN THE BILLING SYSTEMS UNTIL WE COME UP WITH THE NEW REQUIREMENTS, THE PLANS ARE IN PLACE AND THEY'RE ADOPTED, THEN WE TURN OVER A SET OF REQUIREMENTS TO THAT, TO THAT ORGANIZATION, AND THEY THEN BEGIN TO DO PROGRAMMING ON IT.
AND WHAT THEY'LL DO IS THEY'LL TRY TO STAY AS CLOSE TO A GENERAL SYSTEM AND ALLOW SOME OF THE NEW FUNCTIONS TO BE PROGRAMMED.
AND THEN THAT'S WHEN YOU GET INTO THE, THE DETAILS, HOW LONG IT TAKES TO DO THAT KIND OF PROGRAMMING, ET CETERA.
BUT IN GENERAL, CENSUS, THEY'RE VERY BROAD SYSTEMS NOWADAYS, AND MOST PEOPLE DON'T GO TO THESE HIGHLY SPECIALIZED SYSTEMS, UH, JUST BECAUSE OF COSTS.
SO IS OUR BILLING SYSTEM THAT YOU HAVE ONLINE NOW EXTENSIBLE TO WHERE WE COULD HAVE MORE REAL TIME REFLECTION OF, I THINK, WHOLESALE COST IN, INTO SOME KIND OF SPECIAL, UH, PROGRAM.
UH, THERE'S SOME COMPONENTS TO WHAT YOU MENTIONED THAT MIGHT BE, UM, EASILY BECAUSE, UH, IT ALSO, IT DEPENDS ON DOES OUR BUILDING SYSTEM HAVE UNITS THAT OTHER UTILITIES HAVE BEEN A LITTLE BIT OF AHEAD OF US ON SOME OF THE SAME TOPICS WE CAN, UH, LEVERAGE AND BENEFIT FROM THAT PROGRAMMING.
UM, AND THEN TO YOUR OTHER QUESTION, SO, SO YES, BUT NOT EVERY COMPONENT OF WHAT WE TALKED ABOUT HERE TODAY.
UM, THAT THAT'S, THAT'S GONNA BE A LOT OF SPECIALIZED WORK.
UM, I WOULD SAY A LOT OF UTILITIES DID A COUPLE THINGS DIFFERENTLY IN TERMS OF TURNING OFF, UM, THEIR COLLECTIONS.
AND I THINK THAT THE, UH, WHEN WE TALK TO OUR, OUR, UH, PEERS, UH, IT'S STILL ALL OVER THE MAP.
AND ONE OF THE THINGS IS I WOULD, IF I WAS, UM, HERE, WHENEVER WE BUILD A A NEW SYSTEM, I WOULD RECOMMEND THAT WE DON'T TURN IT OFF.
I THINK WHAT WE DO IS COME UP WITH A FORMULATED, UM,
[01:40:01]
A DOLLAR AMOUNT THAT THE HOST, UH, UH, COMMUNITY CAN LIVE WITH.AND THAT HAS COME UP WITH SOME PROPORTION OF, UM, VERY AVERAGE TO YOUR LAST, YOU KNOW, LAST YEAR BILL OR SOMETHING OF THAT NATURE.
AND PEOPLE ARE AT LEAST PAYING 50 TO 75 5% OF WHAT THEY'RE BUILDING TO THE NEW SYSTEM GETS BUILT, BUT GOING TO ZERO AND THEN STARTING EVERYBODY UP A YEAR LATER TO, UH, TO, YOU KNOW, TO PAY THAT MUCH DEBT.
IT WAS, IT'S, UM, IT'S A VERY CUMBERSOME PROCESS AND IT'S ALSO VERY HARD ON THE CUSTOMERS BECAUSE IN A WAY, AT THE FIRST TWO OR THREE MONTHS, THEY FEEL THAT THEY'RE GETTING A BREAK AND THEY'RE KIND OF TRACKING IT, BUT AFTER A YEAR, THEY KIND OF FEEL LIKE THEY HAD FREE SERVICES AND, UH, AND THAT COULD BE VERY, VERY EXPENSIVE.
SO I THINK WE WOULD COME UP WITH SOME, SOME WAY OF WORKING IN OUR COMMUNITY TO FIND OUT A REASONABLE WAY TO DO AN ESTIMATED, UM, BILL, UM, AND THEN MAKE ADJUSTMENTS FROM THERE AND MAYBE, MAYBE GIVE A LITTLE BIT OF A, ANYWHERE FROM 15 TO 20% OF THE BENEFIT TOWARD THE CUSTOMER SIDE OF IT INSTEAD OF THE UTILITY.
AND THEN WE'LL, WE'LL FIGURE OUT HOW WE TRUE IT UP.
DID I, I, I DON'T KNOW IF I ANSWERED THAT PART FOR YOU.
I, I, I'D JUST LIKE TO PUT A PLACEHOLDER ON THIS.
AND THEN US TALK MORE ABOUT IT.
BECAUSE I THINK IT'S ONE OF THOSE, IT'S PLUMBING AND IT'S, IT DOESN'T GET ATTENTION, BUT IT'S CRITICALLY IMPORTANT AND, AND IT'S AN ENABLER OR SOMETHING THAT CONSTRAINS YOU.
UM, AND THE OTHER THING IS LIKE, UH, I THINK IT WAS SOUTH SAN DIEGO GAS AND ELECTRIC HAD A REALLY INTERESTING PROGRAM, UM, WHERE THEY WOULD ACTUALLY SEND DAY AHEAD HOURLY SIGNALS, UH, FOR EV CHARGING.
SO THEY HAD A GOOD ENOUGH PROJECTION TO BE USEFUL DAY AHEAD, AND THEY WOULD SEND IT EITHER THROUGH TELEMATICS OR THE WIFI CONNECTED E BSCS.
AND IT'S NOT A HIGH, UH, C P U INTENSIVE APPLICATION TO GO, UH, TAKE THE CUSTOMER'S PREFERENCES AND HAVE THAT SET, HAVE OTHER REQUIREMENTS LIKE MINIMUM STATE OF CHARGE, DEPARTURE TIME, TARGET, ET CETERA, LIKE THAT.
IT'S NOT THAT HARD ONCE YOU SET IT AND IT FROM THAT, IT WOULD CREATE AN OPTIMAL PROFILE BASED UPON THE CUSTOMER PREFERENCES AND THE SITUATION FOR THE NEXT DAY'S CHARGING.
AND I DON'T, DON'T SEE NECESSARILY HOW YOU DO THAT WITHOUT MAYBE SOME UPGRADES IN YOUR SOFTWARE, BUT I REALLY DO HAVE AN APPRECIATION FOR THE CHALLENGES OF MAKING SURE THAT YOU DO IT IN A, IN A WAY THAT DOESN'T IMPACT CUSTOMERS, THAT CYBER SECURE, ET CETERA.
BUT I JUST WANNA PUT A PLACEHOLDER IN THIS AND HAVE MORE CONVERSATIONS ABOUT IT.
AND IN YOUR LAST STATEMENTS, YOU ACTUALLY HIT A COUPLE ITEMS THAT IF WE CAN DEFINE THAT, IT, IT, IT GENERALLY CAN BE BE PROGRAMMING.
SO I THINK THAT THAT GIVES US A LOT OF ROOM TO WORK WITH, UM, IN, IN YOUR LAST STATEMENTS.
OTHER QUESTIONS FOR BABU? YOU DON'T WANT ME GOING ON ON THIS?
MY NAME IS SARAH NORRIS, I'M THE DIRECTOR OF ENERGY EFFICIENCY SERVICES HERE AT AUSTIN ENERGY, AND I'M HERE TO TALK TO YOU ABOUT JUST HOW WE WITHIN THE CUSTOMER ENERGY SOLUTIONS GROUP ARE LOOKING AT OUR, OUR COMPONENT OF THE, OF THE GOALS WITHIN THE 2030 PLAN.
SO I KNOW THAT NOT EVERYBODY HAS BEEN ON THE COMMISSION OR HAS BEEN DEEPLY INVOLVED IN ALL OF THE, UH, MACHINATIONS AROUND PREVIOUS GENERATION PLANS.
SO I JUST WANNA KIND OF GIVE A LITTLE BIT OF A LEVEL SET ABOUT THE TINY PART OF THE GENERATION PLAN THAT, THAT WE, THAT MY TEAM AND, UH, THE BROADER C E S APPARATUS WORKS WITH.
SO WE'RE WE'RE MORE OR LESS WRAPPED INTO THE DEMAND SIDE MANAGEMENT UMBRELLA.
AND FOR THOSE WHO MAY NOT BE FAMILIAR WITH WHAT D S M OR DEMAND SIDE MANAGEMENT MEANS BROADLY, IT MEANS, UM, THAT WE ARE WORKING TO MODIFY CONSUMER ENERGY PROFILES USING A VARIETY OF, OF TOOLS, INCLUDING FINANCIAL INCENTIVES THAT ENCOURAGE TECHNOLOGY ADOPTION, CODE DEVELOPMENT, AND ADOPTION AND EDUCATION TO ENCOURAGE, UM, BEHAVIORAL CHANGE.
SO JUST WE ARE WORKING WITH OUR CUSTOMERS TO FLATTEN OUT THE LOAD PROFILE AND REDUCE IT WHERE, WHERE, UH, WHERE APPROPRIATE.
SO TO THAT END, WE HAVE BEEN WORKING DILIGENTLY OVER THE LAST MANY YEARS, UM, TO, TO MEET THE GOALS THAT WERE SET FORTH IN THE ORIGINAL PLAN.
AND WE ARE CURRENTLY ON TRACK TO MEET OR EXCEED BASICALLY ALL OF THE DEMAND SIDE MANAGEMENT GOALS THAT WERE LAID OUT IN THE PREVIOUS PLAN.
SO I HAVE A COUPLE SLIDES HERE THAT, UM, THAT SHOW WHERE WE ARE.
I'M NOT GONNA GO THROUGH EACH OF THE GOALS SPECIFICALLY.
YOU GUYS ARE, HAVE ACCESS TO THE R M C REPORT AND ALSO THESE, OUR PROGRESS TO GOALS WAS PROVIDED TO THE E U C WORKING GROUP.
BUT I DO JUST WANNA ENCOURAGE FOLKS TO LOOK AT HOW FAR ALONG, HOW FAR WE'VE COME.
'CAUSE I THINK IT'S AN IMPORTANT NOTE INTO,
[01:45:01]
YOU KNOW, HOW FAR WE'VE COME, HOW COMMITTED WE ARE TO THIS AS AN ORGANIZATION, AS AUSTIN ENERGY, AND ALSO, UH, AS A JUSTIFICATION FOR WHY IT'S TIME FOR US TO LOOK AT TO THE NEXT THING SO WE CAN CHANGE TO THE NEXT SLIDE.SO THIS IS MORE JUST ON THE GOALS.
SO I DO JUST WANNA SAY THOUGH, YOU KNOW, YOU MIGHT THINK, OKAY, WELL WE'RE, WE'RE MEETING THE GOALS, SO WHY DON'T WE JUST INCREASE THE CURRENT NUMBER, RIGHT? JUST MAKE THE, MAKE THE, UH, GOALPOST A LITTLE BIT HIGHER.
AND, UM, WHAT I WOULD SAY IS THAT SINCE THE INITIAL INCEPTION OF THE PLAN IN 20, IN 2007, THE TECHNOLOGY LANDSCAPE HAS CHANGED PRETTY DRAMATICALLY.
I MEAN, NOT JUST IN THE D S M WORLD, LOOK AT YOUR PHONE.
BUT, UM, BUT WITH, WITH THAT TECHNOLOGY CHANGE, SO HAVE ALSO CHANGED THE INTERESTS AND DESIRES OF OUR STAKEHOLDERS.
AND SO IT'S OUR GOAL TO, TO CREATE GOALS THAT ENCOURAGE EFFECTIVE OUTCOMES, REPORTING AND ALIGNMENT WITH THE CITY, WITH THE VISION FOR THE CITY.
AND, UM, AND SO WE THINK THAT THE, THERE'S LIKE A NEW LANDSCAPE THAT WE CAN START LOOKING AT THAT WILL, THAT WILL ENCOURAGE, UH, FORWARD THINKING PROGRAM DESIGN.
ALRIGHT, SO THE PRIMARY AREAS THAT WE'RE LOOKING IN, MORE OR LESS FALL IN LINE WITH THOSE PILLARS WITH THE ADDITION OF AN EQUITY PILLAR.
UM, SO WITHIN SUSTAINABILITY, WE'RE LOOKING AT TRANSITIONING FROM TRACKING MEGAWATTS SAVED TO TRACKING GREENHOUSE GAS REDUCTION WITHIN OUR PROGRAMS. I THINK THIS IS A REALLY IMPORTANT MOVE FOR US TO MAKE.
I THINK THIS WILL ALLOW US TO USE A SINGLE METRIC TO TRACK ALL OF OUR PROGRAMS TOGETHER.
AND WE'LL ALSO ENSURE THAT WE'RE ABLE TO CONTINUE TO DEVELOP NEW PROGRAM OFFERINGS THAT ENCOURAGE UPTAKE OF BENEFICIAL ELECTRIFICATION BATTERIES AND TRANSPORTATION ELECTRIFICATION AS PART OF THE HOLISTIC PORTFOLIO.
AS YOU CAN IMAGINE, THERE'S A LITTLE BIT OF A CONFLICT OF MOVING TOWARDS BENEFICIAL ELECTRIFICATION OR REALLY ENCOURAGING EV ADOPTION IF YOUR PRIMARY GOALS ARE ABOUT SAVING MEGAWATTS.
SO REALLY GETTING AT THAT GREENHOUSE GAS UNDERLYING COMPONENT OF IT, I THINK IS ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE'RE LOOKING AT THE OPPORTUNITIES FOR.
THIS ALSO BRINGS US INTO ALIGNMENT WITH OTHER, OTHER LEADERS IN THE INDUSTRY AND HELPS THE PROGRAM TO CALIBRATE MORE DIRECTLY TO THE CLIMATE OUTCOMES THAT WE'RE HEARING FROM YOU GUYS IN THE COMMUNITY.
SO I GUESS I LIKE THAT IDEA IN GENERAL.
THE ONE PUSHBACK I'D HAVE IS THE REASON YOU MIGHT WANNA STILL HAVE A MEGAWATT GOAL IS FOR THINGS LIKE DEMAND RESPONSE, WHERE YOU'RE TRYING TO DEAL WITH A CERTAIN PEAK AND YOU'RE SAYING, WE WANT A PROGRAM THAT CAN LOWER OR SHIFT THAT PEAK.
AND WHETHER THAT'S A MEGAWATT GOAL OR A PERCENTAGE OF LOAD, THAT SEEMS LIKE AN IMPORTANT THING TO HAVE.
SO WE, WE COMPLETELY AGREE WITH YOU AND I HAVE FOLDED THAT UNDER RELIABILITY WHERE I DO THINK WE WILL CONTINUE TO HAVE MEGAWATT GOALS THAT ACTUALLY ALIGN WITH, UH, THE, THE MODELS THAT OUR GENERATION PLANNING GROUP IS LOOKING AT.
UM, SO HAPPY TO JUMP TO THAT, AND THEN I CAN GO BACK TO EQUITY.
SO YEAH, TO THAT END, RELIABILITY, OF COURSE, AS, AS YOU SAW IN THE SURVEY, IS OF PARAMOUNT IMPORTANCE TO OUR STAKEHOLDERS, UH, THE GENERAL POPULATION AS WELL AS THOSE ON THIS COMMISSION.
UM, AND WHILE THE WHOLE DEMAND SIDE MANAGEMENT PORTFOLIO DOES CONTRIBUTE TO OVERALL RELIABILITY BY REDUCING PEAK USAGE AND INCREASING SOLAR INSIDE OF OUR LOAD ZONE, WE RECOGNIZE THE SPECIFIC IMPORTANCE OF DEMAND RESPONSE, UM, AS A TOOL TO CREATE A MORE DYNAMIC AND RESPONSIVE AND RELIABLE GRID.
SO, UM, I THINK THAT THE OPPORTUNITY THAT WE HAVE HERE IS TO MORE CLEARLY DEFINE, UM, WHAT THE EXPECTATIONS ARE OF THOSE DEMAND RESPONSE GOALS, AS WELL AS SET THEM IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE PROJECTED NEEDS OF THE GENERATION PLANNING GROUP WITHIN AUSTIN ENERGY.
SO WE ARE CURRENTLY WORKING WITH THE GENERATION PLANNING GROUP TO KIND OF FRAME OUT WHAT THAT LOOKS LIKE AND DO A SENSITIVITY ANALYSIS ON THE COST OF ACQUISITION WITHIN THE DEMAND RESPONSE SPACE.
UM, THE OTHER TWO CATEGORIES THAT WE'RE LOOKING AT DEFINING GOALS IN ARE IN EQUITY.
AND I'LL SAY, YOU KNOW, WE ARE ALL VERY AWARE OF HOW IMPORTANT EQUITY HAS BECOME ACROSS THE UTILITY SPACE IN THE CITY, BUT, UM, IT IS PARTICULARLY ACUTE, I THINK, IN THE WAY THAT OUR DEMAND SIDE MANAGEMENT PROGRAMS ARE, ARE EXECUTED.
AND TO THAT END, WE WERE ACTUALLY RECENTLY AWARDED A DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY FELLOW WHO STARTED AT THE BEGINNING OF THIS MONTH.
UM, AND THEY'LL BE HERE FOR UP TO TWO YEARS TO HELP US DEVELOP AN A BASELINE FOR WHERE THE PROGRAMS ARE NOW, AS WELL AS CLEAR AND MEASURABLE DELIVERABLES IN THE SERVICE OF INCREASING EQUITY ACROSS ALL OF OUR PROGRAMS. UM, SO I THINK WE HAVE AN IDEA THAT WE WANT MORE EQUITY.
EQUITY COMES IN A LOT OF DIFFERENT FLAVORS.
SO THIS IS ALSO AN OPPORTUNITY FOR US TO ALIGN WITH THE BROADER EQUITY INITIATIVES IN THE CITY.
AND THEN FINALLY, AFFORDABILITY, WHICH
[01:50:01]
IS NEAR AND DEAR TO ALL OF OUR HEARTS.AND WE RECOGNIZE THAT WE ARE A BIG, UH, PART OF THE SOLUTION TO AN AFFORDABILITY CRISIS IN AUSTIN.
SO WE ARE COMMITTED TO ENSURING ACCESS TO PROGRAMS THAT WILL REDUCE THE ENERGY BURDEN ON LOW TO MODERATE INCOME HOUSEHOLDS WHILE INCREASING RELIABILITY AND COMFORT FOR ALL CUSTOMERS.
UM, SO THOSE ARE OUR FOUR BUCKETS.
AND UM, I JUST WANTED TO KIND OF CLOSE UP BY SAYING WHAT WE ARE REALLY LOOKING AT HERE IS, UM, WHERE WE SHOULD BE DIRECTING OUR PROGRAMS NEXT.
SO WE ARE, WE CONTINUE TO TRACK TOWARDS OUR 2030 GOALS.
WE'RE NOT THROWING THOSE AWAY, BUT WE'RE VERY CLOSE TO ACHIEVING THEM.
AND SO WE WANNA KNOW, AS WE'RE MAKING PROGRAM DECISIONS OVER THE NEXT SEVERAL YEARS, WHERE DO WE NEED TO BE DIRECTING THEM? WHAT, WHAT, UH, YARDSTICK DO WE WANNA HOLD THEM AGAINST? SO, UM, AND WE THINK THAT THESE NEW BUCKETS, THIS SORT OF ALIGNMENT WITH THE PILLARS OF, OF THE UTILITY, UM, WILL CONT WILL HELP US TO KEEP OUR PROGRAMS AMBITIOUS AND EFFECTIVE WHILE MAINTAINING OUR STATUS AS A, AS AN INDUSTRY LEADER.
KAY, YOU HAVE YOUR HAND UP PLEASE.
YEAH, THANK YOU FOR THE PRESENTATION.
UM, AND I, I DO COMMEND YOU ON THIS IDEA OF FOCUSING ON GREENHOUSE GAS REDUCTION AS A KIND OF KEY METRIC.
I THINK THAT MAKES A LOT OF SENSE FOR THE REASONS YOU MENTIONED.
UM, I JUST WANNA MAKE SURE THOUGH THAT I'M HEARING YOU CORRECTLY THAT I, I THINK WHAT I HEARD WAS THAT THAT WOULD BE A METRIC DRIVING PROGRAM DECISIONS, BUT THAT THERE WILL STILL BE MEGAWATT GOALS ASSOCIATED WITH SAY, YOU KNOW, LOCAL SOLAR CUSTOMER, CUSTOMER SIGHTED, SOLAR, ET CETERA, BUT THAT IT WILL BE PUT IN THE LENS GREENHOUSE THAT THERE WILL BE THIS ADDITIONAL LENS OF GREENHOUSE GAS REDUCTION.
OR AM I MISSING SOMETHING? I JUST WANNA MAKE SURE I'M UNDERSTANDING.
WELL, I, I THINK IT'S OUR INTENTION TO MOVE AWAY FROM THE, THE MEGAWATT GOALS.
UM, BUT AGAIN, THIS IS, WE'RE GOING TO SUBMIT A PROPOSAL TO, TO THE WORKING GROUP AND WE'LL LOOK FOR FEEDBACK FROM YOU GUYS.
UM, BUT THE IDEA IS THAT THE DELIVERED ENERGY FROM SOLAR IS REALLY WHAT WE'RE GETTING AT.
AND THAT BY JUST TRACKING THE MEGAWATTS, WE'RE MISSING A PRETTY BIG PIECE OF THAT, THAT INFORMATION.
AND I THINK GREENHOUSE GASES MOVING AWAY FROM MEGAWATTS AND TOWARDS GREENHOUSE GASES CAN HELP US TO MORE EFFECTIVELY TARGET THE OUTCOMES THAT WE'RE DRIVING TOWARDS.
SO, BUT AGAIN, I DO WANNA JUST REITERATE THAT WE VIEW THIS, THIS UPDATE AS A STEP IN THE PROCESS OF CONTINUING TO ALIGN WITH YOU ALL.
UM, SO WE'RE TRYING TO FIGURE OUT IS THIS THE RIGHT WAY TO POINT THE SHIP? AND, UH, AND THEN WE WILL DIVE INTO THE, THE DETAILS AS, AS THE SORT OF OPERATIONAL DETAILS AS WE GO ALONG OVER THE NEXT FEW YEARS.
WELL, I, I AM CURIOUS WHAT THAT WOULD LOOK LIKE.
I'M ASSUMING THERE WOULD BE LIKE, YOU KNOW, TONS OF C O TWO OR, YOU KNOW, GEO EQUIVALENT REDUCED, UM, WHICH I, I THINK COULD BE GOOD.
I, I WOULD SUGGEST THAT WE SHOULD ALSO EXPRESS THAT IN A MEGAWATT GOAL BECAUSE IT, IT, IT BECOMES VERY, UM, I I THINK ELUSIVE FOR MOST PEOPLE TO, TO TRANSLATE THAT TO WHAT THE ACTION NEEDS TO BE.
UM, SO I, I, I LIKE, I LIKE THE CONCEPT OF THE FRAMING.
I JUST THINK YOU, I THINK YOU AND ME BOTH UNDERSTOOD WE WILL TAKE THAT BACK TO OUR, OUR INTERNAL WORKING GROUP.
SO I AGREE WITH SO MANY OF YOUR POINTS.
AFFORDABILITY, UM, AS FAR AS BEING ABLE TO TRIM FOUR CP MEASUREMENTS, WHICH DIRECTLY AFFECTS AND WITH INCREASING WHAT WAS THE LATEST $8 BILLION THE I M M CAME UP WITH, WITH EXTRA COSTS THAT GETS SPREAD ACROSS BASED UPON FOUR CP, DOESN'T IT? YEAH, I MEAN, THERE'S SOME QUESTION ABOUT THAT ANALYSIS, BUT CLEARLY THE NEW, THE NEW, UM, ANCILLARY SERVICES THAT THEY ADDED HAVE COST A LOT OF MONEY AND EVERYONE PAYS FOR THAT ON A, A LOAD SHARE BASIS, RIGHT? SO THE A S PLUS, THE EXTRA RUCKING, I MEAN, ALL THAT GETS SPREAD ACROSS BASED UPON FOUR CP.
SO I WOULDN'T, UH, NEGLECT THE SOCIAL BENEFIT OF AFFORDABILITY AND HAVING AN EXTREME BECAUSE IT HAS PROBABLY A HIGHER PAYBACK.
AND WE SEE, AGAIN, I, I THINK ALL OF THE IMPACT OF OUR PROGRAMS, UM, IN REDUCING LOCALIZED USAGE FOR THE MOST PART IS THAT DOES GO TO THAT.
BUT AGAIN, I WANNA REITERATE THAT WE'RE HEARING FROM
[01:55:01]
BOTH THE COMMISSIONS AND COUNCIL AND, UH, COMMUNITY STAKEHOLDERS, A LOT OF INTEREST AND EMPHASIS ON BENEFICIAL ELECTRIFICATION.AND I WOULD JUST NOTE THAT THAT, THAT ACTUALLY, YOU KNOW, THAT INCREASES OUR LOAD.
AND SO, UM, CONSEQUENTLY CAN ALSO INCREASE SITUATIONS DURING FOUR CP, RIGHT? BUT LOAD SHAPING CAN HELP.
AND I THINK WE ARE REALLY VERY EXCITED ABOUT THE OPPORTUNITIES WITHIN DEMAND RESPONSE AND WE'LL SHARE WITH YOU THAT, UM, WE HAVE, WE ARE IN THE PROCESS OF LAUNCHING A POWER PARTNER EV PROGRAM, UM, WHICH YOU MAY OR MAY NOT BE FAMILIAR WITH, BUT, UM, TO SPEAK TO SOME OF THE ISSUES THAT YOU BROUGHT UP EARLIER.
CAN I GET A, UH, CLAR, CAN I GET A CLARIFICATION ON THE GREENHOUSE GAS MEASUREMENT OR, UH, GOALS? YEAH.
IS THIS, IS THE GOAL TO HAVE GREENHOUSE GASES REDUCED BY AE OR ARE WE LOOKING AT GREENHOUSE GAS OFFSETS? THIS WOULD BE ABOUT MEASURING OUR PROGRAMS IN TERMS OF TONS OF C O TWO EQUIVALENCY REDUCED BY THE MEASURES TAKEN.
SO, UM, ONE EXAMPLE OF THIS, OF OF THE THINGS THAT ARE MISSING RIGHT NOW IS IF WE WERE TO, UH, WE DO INCENTIVIZE SOME HEAT PUMPS FOR HVAC.
UM, BUT BECAUSE OF THE WAY OUR GOALS ARE SET UP, WE REALLY ARE NOT, IT'S DIFFICULT FOR US TO INCENTIVIZE PEOPLE SWITCHING FROM GAS TO ELECTRIC HEAT PUMPS, UM, BECAUSE THAT ADDS LOAD, RIGHT? IT INCREASES, IT WORKS COUNTER TO WHAT OUR CURRENT GOALS ARE.
SO WE CURRENTLY INCLUDE IN THE PROGRAM FOLKS SWITCHING FROM ELECTRIC AC OR ELECTRIC HEATING TO ELECTRIC HEAT PUMPS, BUT ARE UNABLE TO INCENTIVIZE FOLKS MOVING FROM GAS TO ELECTRIC, UM, BECAUSE IT RUNS COUNTER TO OUR GOALS.
SO THAT'S JUST ONE EXAMPLE OF WHERE IF WE RECALIBRATED AND SAID, ACTUALLY BY SWITCHING FROM THIS TYPE OF HEAT PUMP TO THIS TYPE OF HEAT PUMP, WE'RE REDUCING GREENHOUSE GASES BY X AMOUNT.
UM, SO THAT, THAT IS KIND OF WHAT WE'RE LOOKING AT AS AN OPPORTUNITY THAT IS NOT CURRENTLY CAPTURED IN THE WAY THAT OUR GOALS ARE SET UP.
AND THE, AND THE SAME WOULD BE TRUE FOR YOUR HOT WATER HEATER IN YOUR HOME.
UM, SO MOST PEOPLE, I THINK IT'S ABOUT 60 TO 70% OF FOLKS IN AUSTIN HAVE A GAS HOT WATER HEATER.
SO AGAIN, IN ORDER FOR US TO EFFECTIVELY INCENTIVIZE THIS, AND YOU SEE IT ALSO ON THE GREEN BUILDING SIDE, UM, THAT IN ORDER TO INTEGRATE THAT INTO THEIR RATINGS AND THEIR CODE, LIKE THEY REALLY, WE REALLY NEED TO BE ABLE TO THINK ABOUT THIS IN A MORE, UM, OUTCOME ORIENTED WAY.
'CAUSE I THINK THE IDEA OF THE MEGAWATT GOALS IS THE SAME, RIGHT? THE IDEA IS THAT WE WANT TO REDUCE OUR CAR, OUR CLIMATE IMPACT, UM, BUT GREENHOUSE GAS EQUIVALENCY GETS A LITTLE CLOSER TO THAT.
AND THE OTHER THING THAT I'LL ADD ABOUT THAT IS THAT THE OPPORTUNITIES, UM, INCREASE AS WE TALK ABOUT JUST GREENHOUSE GAS EQUIVALENT IN, OR GREENHOUSE GASES IN GENERAL, BECAUSE THAT ALLOWS US ALSO TO THINK ABOUT INCENTIVE PROGRAMS FOR, UM, AC MAINTENANCE TO REDUCE REFRIGERANT LEAKAGE, WHICH IS ALSO A PRETTY SIGNIFICANT PART OF THE GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS IN AUSTIN.
SO IT'S NOT ABOUT BUYING OFFSETS, I GUESS IS WHAT I'M SAYING.
IT'S ABOUT IMPLEMENTING MEASURES THAT WE'RE CURRENTLY DOING A LOT OF ALREADY, BUT THEY'RE JUST MEASURING TO MEGAWATTS AND WE THINK WE CAN HAVE A BROADER REACH AND A MORE CONSISTENT APPROACH IF WE THINK ABOUT IT FROM A GREENHOUSE GAS PERSPECTIVE.
OKAY, THANK YOU FOR CLARIFYING THAT.
SORRY, JUST, JUST ONE QUICK, QUICK QUESTION FOR THE, IT'S REALLY A QUESTION FOR THE WHOLE RESOURCE PLAN, BUT IT'S KIND OF SPECIFIC TO DEMAND.
THERE'S A LOT OF MONEY AS YOU KNOW, IN I R A, UM, BUT IN SOME CASES WE DON'T ACTUALLY KNOW IF THE CITY OF AUSTIN'S GONNA GET THAT MONEY.
SO PRIME EXAMPLE, SOLAR FOR ALL.
HOW DO WE DEAL WITH THAT IN A RESOURCE PLAN? IS THERE AN ASTERISK THAT SAYS IF WE GET THIS MONEY THEN WE CAN DO THIS MANY MORE SOLAR OR STORAGE? I MEAN, HOW DO WE, HOW WOULD WE DEAL WITH THAT? YEAH, I MEAN, I WOULD SAY THAT WE, WE MANAGE THIS RESOURCE PLAN ON A FAIRLY REGULAR BASIS.
YOU KNOW, I MEAN, WE'RE REVISITING THIS EVERY COUPLE YEARS AND SO IT WERE, WE TO FOR EXAMPLE, GET SOLAR FOR ALL I BELIEVE THAT WOULD BE AWARDED LIKE A YEAR FROM NOW, AND WE WOULD THEN BE COMING UP ON THE NEXT ROUND OF UPDATES.
SO I THINK IF WE NEEDED TO CREATE DENIMS OR THINGS LIKE THAT, WE COULD, AND I'LL LET RICHARD SPEAK TO IT.
[02:00:03]
I REALLY APPRECIATE, APPRECIATE THE QUESTION.I JUST WANTED TO POINT OUT THAT WE ACTUALLY DO THAT ACROSS THE PORTFOLIO IN TERMS OF CONTINGENCY PLANS FOR IF WE GET IT AND IF WE DON'T, YOU KNOW, SO WE DO THAT, LIKE FOR EXAMPLE, ON THE CHARGING INFRASTRUCTURE GRANT, UH, WE HAVE IN BUILT INTO OUR PLANS AND OUR BUDGET, UH, PLANS FOR EXPANSION OF CHARGING INFRASTRUCTURE, REGARDLESS OF WHETHER WE GET THAT GRANT OR NOT IN DC FAST CHARGING, YOU KNOW, WE'RE AT 30 DC FAST CHARGERS.
EVEN IF WE DON'T GET THE GRANT, WE WOULD BE ABLE TO EXPAND THAT BY FOUR OR FIVE, UH, DC FAST CHARGERS.
IF WE DO GET IT, WE'D BE ABLE TO EXPAND BY 80 DC FAST CHARGERS.
UM, THE OTHER THING I WANTED TO DO, JUST AS WE'RE, YOU KNOW, WINDING DOWN AND CLOSING OUT, UH, SARAH MADE A REALLY IMPORTANT POINT THAT I WANTED TO UNDERSCORE AND JUST MAKE SURE EVERYBODY UNDERSTANDS.
WE ARE STILL GOING TO HAVE, UH, YOU KNOW, MEASURE, UH, THESE, THESE KEY METRIC MEASUREMENTS IN THE FORM OF DR IN MEGAWATTS.
SO YES, BUT IN GENERAL, THE SPIRIT OF WHAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT IS WE'RE TRYING TO MOVE AWAY FROM SPECIFIC, MOVE AWAY FROM SPECIFIC NUMBERS, MORE FOCUSED ON OUTCOMES.
THAT'S REALLY THE, THE OBJECTIVE.
LIKE, AS AN EXAMPLE, I'M NOT SAYING THAT THIS WOULD BE ONE, BUT AS AN EXAMPLE, IN THE ERA OF EQUITY, YOU KNOW, WE DON'T MEASURE PERFOR, WE DON'T MEASURE PARTICIPATION IN OUR PROGRAMS BY RACE, RIGHT? SO MAYBE, UH, UH, UH, GOAL IN THIS AREA MIGHT BE WE WANT OUR PARTICIPATION IN C E S TO REFLECT THE DIVERSITY OF THE COMMUNITIES IN WHICH WE SERVE.
THERE'S NOT A NUMBER I SAID IN THAT, BUT IT GIVES US THE FLEXIBILITY TO START TRACKING AND TARGETING OR, YOU KNOW, DRIVING PERFORMANCE OR PARTICIPATION IN THE PROGRAMS TO WHAT THE RACIAL MAKEUP OF THE CITY IS.
I'M NOT SAYING THAT THAT'S ACTUALLY ONE.
ANY OTHER QUESTIONS ONLINE? YEAH, I HAVE A QUESTION ABOUT GOING BACK TO THE CUSTOMER SURVEY, BUT I DON'T WANNA CUT THIS SECTION OFF ON THE Q AND A, BUT WHENEVER IT'S APPROPRIATE TO GO BACK, I WANTED TO JUST MAKE ONE POINT GO AHEAD.
YEAH, I DON'T KNOW IF YOU CAN GO BACK TO SLIDE 11.
I THINK IT'S, AT LEAST THAT'S WHAT IT IS ON THE P D F.
YEAH, IT, IT'S THIS KIND OF FEEDBACK ON THE SURVEY, WHICH, YOU KNOW, IT'S KIND OF TROUBLING ME THE WAY SOME OF THIS WAS BEING REPRESENTED.
UM, 'CAUSE I REALLY LIKE THE WAY THE OTHER PARTS ARE TALKING ABOUT, YOU KNOW, HOW WE'RE GONNA DO THE STUDY, RIGHT? OR THE RESOURCE PLAN, UHHUH,
BUT IN THIS ONE, IT LOOKS LIKE YOU'RE PITTING, LIKE YOU'RE SAYING RELIABILITY IS A CLEAR PRIORITY.
I THINK THAT'S WHAT THE NEXT SLIDE SAYS.
BUT FROM THERE, FOR ME, RELIABILITY MEANS THE SYSTEM WORKS, RIGHT? IF THERE'S EXTREME EVENTS, IF THERE'S PEAK DEMAND, IT WORKS, RIGHT? AND I THINK THE DEFINITION Y'ALL GIVE IS, IT'S RESILIENT IN A VARIETY OF CONDITIONS.
AND AGAIN, MAYBE IT'S JUST THE, THE OUT OF THE 900 COMMENTS YOU PULLED OUT, IT SEEMS ON BOTH RELIABILITY AND ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY, IT LOOKS LIKE YOU'RE PITTING THIS ENVIRONMENT VERSUS RELIABILITY.
AND I DON'T THINK THAT'S A FAIR WAY TO REPRESENT THAT.
AND I WOULD JUST ASK YOU GO BACK TO SEE ARE THOSE FOUR OR FIVE BULLETS ACTUALLY REPRESENTATIVE OF THOSE 900 COMMENTS AND THOSE 500 COMMENTS? 'CAUSE TO ME IT SEEMS LIKE THERE'S A CLEAR EMPHASIS THAT RELIABILITY IS ALL THAT MATTERS, BUT ALL THESE OTHER THINGS, ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY, AFFORDABILITY, COST STABILITY, THAT'S ALL PART OF RELIABILITY TOO, RIGHT? SO I MEAN, I THINK THERE'S THIS FALSE SORT OF TENSION WE'RE CREATING IN THE WAY WE'RE PRESENTING THE RESULTS HERE.
AND SO I WOULD JUST ASK THAT TO GO BACK AND SEE, ARE THESE FIVE BULLETS REALLY REPRESENTATIVE OF WHAT THOSE 900 PEOPLE AND THOSE 500 PEOPLE WERE SAYING? BECAUSE AGAIN, THE LAST THING, YOU KNOW, I REALLY LOVE ALL THE OTHER PARTS OF THIS, YOU KNOW, AT LEAST THE WAY YOU WERE PRESENTING IT TO US AND THE WAY WE'RE TALKING ABOUT IT.
BUT TO ME, THIS SEEMS LIKE THERE'S MORE OF A, I DON'T KNOW, FALSE EQUIVALENCY OR FALSE TENSION HERE BETWEEN SOME OF THESE, UH, FACTORS.
SO I WOULD JUST ASK YOU TO GO BACK AND SEE IF WE'RE GONNA BE SHARING THE RESULTS OF THE SURVEY, THEN LET'S MAKE SURE THAT HOW WE'RE SUMMARIZING THOSE 1500 COMMENTS OR 2000 COMMENTS ACTUALLY REFLECTS, YOU KNOW, WHAT IT'S BEING SAID OVERALL.
[02:05:01]
YEAH.THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR YOUR FEEDBACK.
UM, SO I JUST WANTED TO SHARE A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THE PROCESS.
UM, SO AS I MENTIONED, THE DEFINITIONS THAT I USE TO CREATE THE, UM, CATEGORIES WITHIN THE THEMES IS BASED, UH, WITHIN THE SURVEY ITSELF.
AND SO THESE, YOU KNOW, I READ EACH INDIVIDUAL COMMENT AND CLASSIFIED IT WHERE IT WAS APPROPRIATE, AND NOT THAT IT WAS ONE OR THE OTHER, BUT FOR EXAMPLE, IF THERE WAS A COMMENT THAT, YOU KNOW, FIT WITHIN THE CATEGORY OF ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY, IF THEY COMMENTED ON NO NUCLEAR, NO COAL CLOSING, FAYETTE, ALL OF THOSE THINGS, BUT THE ONES IN RELIABILITY, THOSE ARE NOT, YOU KNOW, NO COMMENTS RELATED TO ERCOT OR, UM, YOU KNOW, OTHER FACTORS.
THEY WERE SPECIFICALLY COMMENTS THAT RELATED TO DIVERSIFYING SUPPLY, SPECIFYING THAT THEY WANTED TO USE THE MOST RELIABLE ENERGY SOURCES IN EXTREME WEATHER, THAT THEY SUPPORT COAL, GAS, NUCLEAR, THAT THEY WANTED LESS RENEWABLES, THAT THEY WANTED US TO BUILD MORE POWER PLANTS.
SO THEY WERE VERY SPECIFIC COMMENTS, AND I ENCOURAGE YOU TO READ THEM.
THEY'RE ALL AVAILABLE ONLINE BECAUSE THERE WERE A VERY BROAD RANGE OF BELIEFS, UM, THAT WERE REPRESENTED.
AND SO I WANTED TO MAKE SURE THAT I ACCURATELY REPRESENTED THOSE WITHIN THE CATEGORIES.
UM, I SPENT DAYS AND DAYS AND DAYS READING EACH COMMENT AND TRYING TO UNDERSTAND EXACTLY WHAT IS THE MOST APPROPRIATE CATEGORY THAT ACTUALLY REPRESENTED THE COMMENT ITSELF.
UM, AND SO, UM, I, I, YEAH, WELL, I, WELL, AGAIN, I THINK, UH, I'VE DONE THIS MYSELF MANY TIMES, YOU KNOW, KIND OF SORT THROUGH THOUSANDS OF COMMENTS, UHHUH, YOU KNOW, AND TRY TO SUMMARIZE THEM.
BUT, BUT FOR ME, LIKE YES TO COAL, GAS, AND NUCLEAR, FOR ME THAT'S NOT NECESSARILY A RELIABILITY COMMENT.
AGAIN, THAT'S NOT NECESSARILY RELIABILITY.
AGAIN, I MEAN, SO FOR ME, I'M JUST ASKING LIKE, UH, IS THIS ACTUALLY WHAT PEOPLE WERE TALKING ABOUT IN THAT SECTION, RIGHT? BECAUSE TO ME IT SEEMS LIKE IT'S, YOU KNOW, AGAIN, ARE WE TALKING ABOUT HOW DO WE HAVE AN EFFECTIVE FUNCTIONING AND RESILIENT SYSTEM, OR IS IT, AGAIN, YOU'RE JUST KIND OF PITTING THE TWO EXTREMES AGAINST EACH OTHER? AND I DON'T THINK THAT'S NECESSARILY HELPFUL.
THAT DOESN'T MEAN IT'S NOT REPRESENTATIVE, I'M JUST SAYING RIGHT.
TO ME, IT SEEMS LIKE, UH, IN MY HEAD THERE ISN'T AS MUCH OF ATTENTION THAT IT APPEARS AS BEING REPRESENTED HERE IN THIS VERY BRIEF SUMMARY OF A LOT OF DIFFERENT COMMENTS.
SO, BUT AGAIN, YOU KNOW, I'LL GO READ THEM IF THEY ARE AVAILABLE.
IF YOU CAN SEND ME THAT LINK, I'D LOVE TO KIND OF, UH, TAKE A LOOK.
YES, THEY'RE AVAILABLE IN FULL AT PUBLIC INPUT.COM/GENERATION IN P D F FORM.
AND WAS THERE ANOTHER QUESTION? UM, WELL, I, I DEFINITELY AGREE WITH ALL THOSE, UM, COMMENTS AND, UH, I, I'D ACTUALLY BEEN THINKING THAT GIVEN THE KIND OF DIFFICULT NATURE OF, FIRST OF ALL, UH, ASSESSING AND CATEGORIZING AND, AND THANK, THANK YOU FOR THE WORK THAT YOU DID DO, UM, BUT THESE, YOU KNOW, THEY ARE INDIVIDUAL COMMENTS AND THAT, YOU KNOW, OBVIOUSLY A LOT OF PEOPLE DON'T EVEN WRITE ANYTHING IN THAT SECTION.
UM, I WOULD SUGGEST THAT GIVEN THAT WE STILL HAVE, YOU KNOW, QUITE A BIT OF TIME IN THIS PROCESS, THAT MAYBE, AS OPPOSED TO TAKING THE, UM, I GUESS THE, THE SPECIFIC ASK OR DEMAND OR WHATEVER FROM, FROM THESE COMMENTS TO HEART THAT WE COULD PERHAPS USE THEM AS, UM, TO, TO GUIDE A SECOND SURVEY.
SO THIS IS IDENTIFIED ISSUES THAT PEOPLE CARE ABOUT.
AND, UM, YOU KNOW, SO YOU COULD ASK LIKE, DO YOU, YOU KNOW, YOU COULD JUST BE REAL DIRECT, LIKE, DO YOU SUPPORT MORE NUCLEAR POWER OR NOT? YOU KNOW, UM, KIND OF JUST FOLLOW UP ON SOME OF THESE TOPICS AND IT MIGHT GIVE US MORE USEFUL INFORMATION THAN, THAN WHAT WE HAVE HERE.
AND, AND YOU'D PROBABLY GET A LOT MORE RESPONSES OF COURSE, WHEN YOU CAN ASK THAT WAY.
SO I, I DON'T KNOW IF Y'ALL HAVE CONSIDERED DOING THAT.
IS THAT SOMETHING THAT COULD BE DONE? SO I, I, I WOULD SUGGEST AS RO YOU KNOW, AS WE TALKED RO ABOUT, IS MAYBE GO BACK AND READ THE COMMENTS AND THEN WE COULD HAVE A DISCUSSION ABOUT THAT, ABOUT GOING OUT AGAIN.
SORRY, I COULDN'T HEAR WHO WAS THAT SPEAKING? UH, BOB, IT'S BOB KHAN, GM.
[02:10:01]
OKAY.I CAN'T, WE CAN'T REALLY SEE WHO'S, WHO'S UP AT THE PODIUM OR ANYTHING.
I HA HAPPY TO LOOK THROUGH THEM.
UM, BUT SHOULD, SHOULD I FOLLOW UP WITH YOU OR IS THERE SOMEBODY YOU KNOW, WHO, WHO, WHO'S THE DECISION MAKER ON, ON THAT? UH, YOU CAN FEEL FREE TO CALL YASMINE BACK.
UM, I DID ALSO HAVE JUST ONE MORE QUESTION, I GUESS FOR BABU.
I WAS WONDERING HOW MANY SCENARIOS ARE GOING TO BE MODELED? SO THERE, THERE'S A LOT OF COMBINATION.
I MEAN, IT'S A COMBINATION OF, UH, PORTFOLIOS.
SO, I MEAN, I DON'T HAVE A RIGHT NOW AND NUMBER I CAN SHARE WITH YOU, BUT I CAN DEFINITELY BRING IT UP IN THE MONTH OF NOVEMBER WHEN WE DO ALL THE RES RES, UH, WHEN WE ALL, WHEN WE PRESENT THE PRELIMINARY RESULTS.
DID, DID I ANSWER YOUR QUESTION? WELL, NO,
IS THAT CORRECT? THAT'S, THAT'S CORRECT.
SO FROM A SCENARIO STANDPOINT, AGAIN, WE DID CHANGE, WE DID, WE DID CHANGE THE DEFINITION OF THE SCENARIO.
NOW IT'S NOT THE SCENARIO THAT WE USED TO, BUT AGAIN, SCENARIOS THE FUTURE STATE, WHICH WILL BE THREE, THREE DIFFERENT SCENARIOS, BUT DIFFERENT PORTFOLIO MIX OR DIFFERENT PORTFOLIO COMBINATION.
SO, UM, I DON'T HAVE A NUMBER HOW MANY PORTFOLIO COMBINATION WE WILL BE HAVING, BUT I CAN DEFINITELY SHARE WITH YOU WHEN I COME BACK IN NOVEMBER.
WELL, I GUESS IT WOULD BE REALLY HELPFUL TO, UM, KNOW AHEAD OF TIME THE VARIABLES THAT ARE GOING.
I MEAN, CAN YOU SHARE THAT WITH US? LIKE WHAT THE THREE KIND OF BASE SCENARIOS AND THEN WHAT THE VARIABLES ARE THAT ARE GONNA BE? YES.
SO WE DID, UH, WHERE WE DID SHARE IN THE PRESENTATION ABOUT EXTREME EVENTS, LOCAL CONGESTION AND UH, UH, UH, REGULATORY CHANGES.
SO THOSE ARE THE VARIABLES THAT ARE GONNA BE THO THOSE ARE THE FUTURE STATES THAT WE WILL BE MODELING.
AND UNDERNEATH THE, FOR UNDERNEATH EACH OF THIS FUTURE STATE, WE WILL BE HAVING, LOOKING AT DIFFERENT TECHNOLOGY OPTIONS TO COME UP WITH WHAT THE PORTFOLIO MIX WILL BE THAT CAN, UH, WE CAN STUDY THE IMPACT UNDER EACH OF THESE VARIABLES.
JUST, I'M A LITTLE KIND OF CONFUSED.
IT SOUNDS LIKE YOU ARE NOT IDENTIFYING ANY SCENARIOS UP FRONT THAT YOU CAN DESCRIBE TO US.
AM AM I HEARING YOU CORRECTLY? NO, I MEAN, NO, WE, WE WILL BE DOING, UH, AGAIN, I THINK THE WORD SCENARIO YOU'VE BEEN USED TO, I MEAN, IT'S THE SAME AS THE PORTFOLIO OPTION.
PORTFOLIO OPTION, I'LL USE THAT TERMINOLOGY.
ARE, DO YOU HAVE HAVE A LIST OF PORTFOLIO OPTIONS THAT YOU COULD SHARE WITH US TO EVEN FOLLOW UP BY EMAIL OR SOMETHING? UH, AGAIN, UH, WE CAN DEFINITELY LOOK AT, BUT THERE'S A LOT OF COMBINATION OF SCENARIO, UH, PORTFOLIO OPTIONS.
UM, UM, WE, WE CAN DEFINITELY, UH, GET BACK TO YOU ON THAT.
OTHER QUESTIONS ONLINE? I CAN'T SEE.
DO YOU HAVE ANY INPUT ON THE BUDGET AND AUDIT WORKING GROUP? UH, DO NOT, WE DID NOT OBVIOUSLY MEET TODAY.
THAT, I THINK THAT KAY TAKES CARE OF THAT ONE UPDATE FROM THE RESOURCE GEN
[10. Update from the Resource Generation Planning Working Group ]
CYRUS.AND, AND FEEL FREE ANYONE WHO'S BEEN SERVING TO, TO ADD TO IT, BUT WE, WE'VE MET NOW I BELIEVE THREE TIMES.
UH, WE HAVE A WEBSITE AND, UM, I'LL LOOK IT UP IN A SECOND, UH, WHERE WE'RE PUTTING ALL OF OUR RESOURCES THAT WE'VE COLLECTED, ANY PRESENTATION THAT DIFFERENT MEMBERS HAVE MADE, AS WELL AS THE, UM, ANSWERS FROM AUSTIN ENERGY WHEN WE'VE SUBMITTED QUESTIONS.
[02:15:01]
WORK GROUP MEETING IS OCTOBER 24TH.SO WE'RE GENERALLY TRYING TO MEET TWICE A MONTH.
UH, WE HAVE NOT MADE ANY RECOMMENDATIONS WHATSOEVER, UH, BECAUSE WE'RE TRYING TO USE THIS BEGINNING TIME JUST TO TALK ABOUT SOME OF THE DIFFERENT ISSUES, LIKE WHAT'S HAPPENING AT ERCOT AND P U C, UH, WHAT'S HAPPENING WITH SOME OF THE TECHNOLOGIES IN THE I R A.
UH, BUT I WOULD SUSPECT THAT MAYBE STARTING IN NOVEMBER, ESPECIALLY WHEN WE GET, UH, YOUR GUYS' INITIAL RECOMMENDATIONS, WE'LL START TO, TO DELVE INTO THAT.
UM, UH, AND, UM, LET ME KABA, IF YOU HAPPEN TO REMEMBER THE WEBSITE SO WE CAN ANNOUNCE IT PUBLICLY.
UM, I'LL LOOK IT UP IN A SECOND.
YEAH, I CAN PUT IT IN THE CHAT.
BUT IT IS AUSTIN E U C RESOURCE PLANNING WG.ORG.
AND I DO WANNA THANK, UM, AUSTIN ENERGY FOR THE ANSWERS TO OUR QUESTIONS AND MOST OF, MOST OF THE QUESTIONS I'VE BEEN ABLE TO ANSWER, WHICH HAS BEEN VERY HELPFUL, AND PROVIDING THE FACILITIES AND PROVIDING THE FACILITIES, UM, AND THE MEETINGS ARE OPEN TO THE PUBLIC, UM, I WOULD REACH OUT, UH, WELL, SO LOOK ON THE WEBSITE OR REACH OUT TO EITHER MYSELF OR KABA, WHO'S VICE CHAIR, AND WE CAN PROVIDE YOU THE LINK OR THE LOCATION.
UM, SO I THINK THE, DO YOU HAVE ANYTHING ELSE TO ADD, CAVA? NO, I THINK YOU HIT IT.
ANYTHING MORE ON THAT? UM, NUMBER 11, DISCUSSION
[11. Discussion and prioritization from future agenda items list for EUC meeting planning. ]
AND PRIORITIZATION FUTURE ITEMS. DO YOU HAVE SOMETHING YOU WANNA DISPLAY THERE, ROBIN, OR IS THIS REALLY JUST FOR THE REST OF THE YEAR? IT'S RESOURCE PLAN,UM, THE EV PROGRAM, ET CETERA.
WELL, UM, A, A LIST WAS, UM, OF FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS WAS INCLUDED IN EVERYONE'S PACKET.
UM, SO IF YOU WANT TO PRIORITIZE BASED ON WHAT WAS, UM, ALREADY IN THAT YOU'VE LISTED AS YOUR FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS BASED ON THE LIMITED AMOUNT OF SPACE WE HAVE, IT LOOKS LIKE THE NEXT AVAILABLE OPENING COULD BE IN JANUARY.
IF YOU WANNA TELL US NOW WHAT YOU WOULD LIKE TO SEE IN JANUARY, THAT COULD BE HELPFUL, OR IF YOU WANNA WAIT UNTIL NOVEMBER TO LET US KNOW, LET, LET'S WAIT AND LET ME GET SOME CONSENSUS FROM THE GROUP Y.
YEAH, SO I'LL JUST MENTION THAT I HAD, UM, SENT AN EMAIL ABOUT, UM, THE AUDIT THAT WAS DONE ON THE VEGETATION MANAGEMENT PLAN.
I DON'T THINK WE NEED A PRESENTATION BECAUSE I BELIEVE A PRESENTATION WAS GIVEN TO THE, TO THE CITY COUNCIL.
UM, BUT MAYBE JUST AN ANNOUNCEMENT THAT IF WE HAVE QUESTIONS ABOUT THAT, MAYBE WE CAN HANDLE THAT AS A, AS AN EMAIL AND GET ANSWERS TO OUR QUESTIONS.
AND THEN IF WE NEED TO BRING SOMEBODY BACK, WE COULD IN THE FUTURE.
BUT I DON'T, UM, I THINK SINCE THE AUDIT CAME OUT AND IT WAS ALREADY PRESENTED TO CITY COUNCIL, MAYBE JUST IF WE HAVE QUESTIONS ABOUT THAT OR THE AFTER MARA REPORT THAT WAS DONE, MAYBE WE CAN JUST, YOU KNOW, HAVE SOME SPACE FOR THAT.
UM, YES, THROUGH EMAIL TEST QUESTIONS.
AND THEN BOTH OF THOSE ITEMS WERE NOT SPECIFICALLY LED BY AE, SO THEY DID NOT GET PRESENTED TO THE OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE.
ONE WAS PRESENTED IN THE AUDIT AND FINANCE COMMITTEE AND LED BY THE AUDITOR, AND WE WERE THE RESPONDENTS.
SO YES, WE CAN RESPOND TO QUESTIONS LIKE THAT.
UM, AND THEN THE MARA REPORT WAS MULTI-DEPARTMENTAL AND, UM, THAT WAS PRESENTED TO THE COUNCIL IN A MEMO, SO WE CAN SEND YOU THAT AS WELL.
BUT YES, WE'D WRITTEN QUESTIONS ARE ALWAYS EASIER TO RESPOND TO THAN PUT TOGETHER BRIEFING.
UM, I'D ASKED EARLIER, AND I'M GONNA MAKE THE ASSUMPTION I ASKED EARLIER, IT'D BE NICE TO HAVE A PRESENTATION ON THE DEMAND RESPONSE, BUT IT SEEMS LIKE THAT CAN BE HANDLED AS PART OF THE RESOURCE PLAN UPDATE, OR IS THAT A SEPARATE YEAH, SO WE'VE PULLED UP THIS, THIS IS NOW THE, UM, ITEMS THAT Y'ALL HAVE LISTED, AND THAT'S THE THIRD ONE ON THE LIST.
SO WE, AND WE PUT PART OF THE GEN PLAN AND CUSTOMER COMMUNICATIONS, UM, BECAUSE IT'S, IT CAN BE, YOU KNOW, PART OF A REQUEST OF OUR CUSTOMERS DURING A STORM OR WHATEVER.
HONESTLY, IT'S REALLY, IT'S REALLY HARD TO SEE THAT WITH THE SORT OF SPACING WE HAD HERE CLOSER TOGETHER.
IT'S SOME PEOPLE GOT THE JOKE,
[02:20:02]
30 FOOT LONG TABLE WHERE EVERYBODY ELSE NOW I GOT THE JOKE, NOW I GET THE JOKE, YOU KNOW.SO ANY MORE DISCUSSION, ANYTHING ONLINE AS FAR AS WHAT'S BEING, UH, DISPLAYED RIGHT NOW? I'M SORRY, WHAT IS THAT? I'M SORRY.
YEAH,
I DON'T KNOW IF THAT'S ON THERE, BUT I THINK I HAD ASKED SOMETHING ON STREETLIGHTS AND ALSO CUSTOMER ASSISTANCE PROGRAM, AND I WOULD LIKE TO TALK ABOUT THE AFTER TOMORROW REPORT MYSELF, BUT IF OTHERS WANNA TALK ABOUT IT, GIVEN, I CAN'T EVEN READ THIS, MIGHT AS WELL YOU WALK THROUGH IT.
UM, WELL, COMMISSIONER ALVAREZ, I, I THINK I SENT YOU THE, UM, THE CUSTOMER ASSISTANCE PROGRAM, UM, AND THE WHOLE UC, THE MEMO THAT WAS SENT OUT IN JU UH, JULY, UM, PER THE COUNCIL RESOLUTION, WE, UM, STAFF WILL BE SENDING ANNUAL UPDATES PER THE COUNCIL RE RESOLUTION.
UM, AND THEY'LL PROBABLY BE SENT OUT IN JULY OF, UM, IT WAS SENT OUT IN 23, 24 AND 25 WITH, UM, TO MEET THE BENCHMARKS SET BY THE RESOLUTION.
SO THAT'S, UM, UH, PROBABLY THE BEST WAY TO GET SOME REALLY GOOD CAP UPDATE UPDATES.
AND IF THERE'S SOMETHING MORE SPECIFIC, UM, YOU CAN, UM, LET US KNOW WHAT, WHAT MORE SPECIFICALLY YOU'RE LOOKING WE'RE LOOKING FOR.
YEAH, WELL THAT, I THINK, YOU KNOW, AGAIN, I LOVE THE RESOURCE MANAGEMENT.
I'M AN ENGINEER AND A PLANNER, SO I CAN TALK NUMBERS AND LOOK AT PLANS AND MAPS ALL DAY LONG.
BUT I MEAN, I, I'D LIKE FOR US TO TALK ABOUT ALL OF THE VARIETY OF THINGS AUSTIN ENERGY WORKS ON, RIGHT? NOT JUST RESOURCE MANAGEMENT, RESOURCE MANAGE.
SO LIKE 3 1 1, HOW'S THAT WORKING? LIKE HOW CAN WE IMPROVE IT? LIKE ALL OF THESE THINGS ARE SO IMPORTANT AND AUSTIN ENERGY DOESN'T GET ENOUGH CREDIT FOR ABOUT A LOT OF THE STUFF THAT IT DOES, RIGHT? AND, AND SO, SO FOR ME IT'S MORE LIKE HOW DO WE REALLY KIND OF MORE HOLISTICALLY LOOK AT HOW THE UTILITY IS OPERATING, RIGHT FOR CUSTOMERS, THE DEMAND SIDE MANAGEMENT STUFF, YOU KNOW, THAT WE TALKED ABOUT A LITTLE BIT TODAY.
AND, UM, SO FOR ME IT'S MORE ABOUT IT, YOU KNOW, IT'S NOT ALWAYS BEING ABOUT RESOURCE MANAGEMENT, RESOURCE MANAGEMENT BECAUSE THERE'S SO MUCH ELSE THAT THE UTILITY DOES AND WE'RE THE COMMISSION THAT OVERSEES THE UTILITY, SO WE SHOULD KNOW ABOUT THESE THINGS AS WELL.
SO YEAH, I CAN READ A REPORT AND I DID LOOK AT THAT REPORT AND I'M VERY PROUD OF THE CAP PROGRAM.
AND SO FOR ME IT'S LIKE HOW DO WE HAVE ITEMS ON THE AGENDA THAT NOT JUST, UH, ARE PROBLEMATIC, RIGHT? OR THAT THERE'S DISAGREEMENTS OVER, BUT ALSO THAT CELEBRATE THE GOOD WORK THAT, THAT THE UTILITY IS DOING AS WELL.
SO THAT'S REALLY WHERE I'M COMING FROM.
AND IN ADDITION TO MAKING IMPROVEMENTS, YOU KNOW, IN SOME OF THESE, UM, YOU KNOW, UH, OPERATIONAL, OTHER OPERATIONAL MATTERS, BUT, UH, SO FOR ME IT'S LIKE WE SHOULD BE HEARING THOSE PRESENTATIONS TOO AND NOT JUST RECEIVING, YOU KNOW, REPORTS TO READ.
WHICH AGAIN, I DO LOOK AT 'EM AND I DO READ 'EM AND I, I LIKE WHAT I SEE, BUT I WOULD THINK THE PEOPLE WHO MAYBE WATCH THESE MEETINGS MIGHT BENEFIT ALSO FROM LEARNING, UH, ABOUT THOSE THINGS AS WELL.
THAT'S REALLY WHERE I'M COMING FROM IF, BUT I CAN TALK ABOUT RESOURCE MANAGEMENT ALL DAY LONG TOO.
I, I THINK THAT'S A VERY GOOD POINT ABOUT HOLISTICALLY.
DOES AE MANAGE THE 3 1 1 CENTER FOR THE CITY? YEAH, THAT'S ANOTHER GOOD POINT.
UM, WHY DON'T WE TALK ABOUT THAT SOME MORE? UH, I'LL SOLICIT INPUT.
YEAH, CARRIE, CARRIE DOES THAT.
WHY DON'T WE GATHER UP, WHY DON'T YOU SEND KAIA AND ME THE IDEAS WHAT YOU HAVE HERE AS FAR AS MORE HOLISTIC TOPICS AND THEN AE CAN WORK ON THOSE AND PRESENT THOSE BASED UPON THE BANDWIDTH AND IT MAY BE DIFFERENT EXECUTIVES BANDWIDTH THAT WOULD BE OTHERWISE NOT TAXED SO MUCH THAT WE CAN GET IT ON THE SCHEDULE.
THANK YOU FOR BRINGING THAT UP.
I ONLY HAD ONE ON THE LIST, WHICH WAS THE CUSTOMER COMMUNICATION STRATEGY, AND I REALLY WANTED TO HEAR IT HERE BEFORE THE WINTER STORM SEASON.
I THINK YOU GUYS SHOWED A SLIDE OR A, A DOCUMENT ON WHEN WE COULD INSERT THESE, BUT I'D LIKE FOR THIS TO BE DONE, UM, OR AT LEAST DISCUSSED SOONER RATHER THAN LATER.
I KNOW THAT WINTER STORM SEASON SEEMS LIKE IT'S FAR OFF, BUT IT'S
[02:25:01]
REALLY NOT.AND I THINK THE EARLIEST SLOT WE HAD WAS JANUARY.
IS THAT RIGHT? THAT'S AN ARTIFICIAL, LIKE, THERE'S NO RULE THAT WE CAN'T HAVE MORE THAN TWO BRIEFING.
YEAH, SO THEN IF THAT'S THE CASE, I, I'D JUST LIKE TO HEAR IT SOMETIMES SOON.
IT DOESN'T HAVE TO BE HERE IN NOVEMBER, BUT I, AND AGAIN, I DON'T KNOW IF WE WERE REALLY SPECIFIC ON CUSTOMER COMMUNICATION STRATEGY, BUT WHAT I'M FOCUSING ON HERE IS, UH, SPECIFICALLY DURING PERIODS OF EMERGENCIES, LIKE WINTER STORMS, WHAT IS OUR COMMUNICATION STRATEGY? UM, AND YEAH, JUST A MUCH MORE HOLISTIC OVERVIEW ON WHAT THAT LOOKS LIKE AND HOW IT'S CHANGED, UH, FROM, FROM LAST YEAR AND YEARS BEFORE, IF THAT'S THE UC YOU WOULD LIKE TO DO.
WE DO HAVE SPACE IN JANUARY, LET'S DO THAT.
BUT, UM, HOW MUCH OF THAT COULD YOU PULL OUT OF THE MARA AFTER ACTION REPORT WHERE IT'S NOT REALLY, YOU COULD ACTUALLY DO IT NEXT MONTH OR WE, UH, WE, WE CAN MAKE A PRESENTATION.
WE READY
UM, I DON'T THINK IT NEEDS TO BE A LENGTHY ITEM, BUT I, I DO THINK IT WOULD BE GOOD FOR US TO GET JUST THE BASIC INFORMATION ON, ON THE PROGRAM.
UM, IS, IS I, I CAN'T REMEMBER IF SOMEBODY FROM AUSTIN ENERGY PRESENTED AT THE R M C OR IF THAT JUST CAME FROM, UH, COMMISSIONERS.
CAN ANYBODY SPEAK TO THAT? UM, YES, WE DID PRESENT AT THE R M C AND THEY, THAT WAS LAST MONTH AND THEY ACTUALLY HAVE A DISCUSSION ON IT TOMORROW NIGHT AT THEIR MEETING, WHICH IS SAME TIME, SAME PLACE TOMORROW.
UM, SO IF ANYONE WANTS TO TUNE INTO THAT, THAT WOULD BE WELCOMED.
CAN WE GET THAT PRESENTATION AT ANY UC MEETING AS WELL? THAT'S UP TO YOUR FELLOW COMMISSIONERS.
SO WAS WILLING, SO CA BUT YOU'RE JUST WANTING AN R M C READOUT ON SOME OF THE IDEAS ON HOW TO MODIFY OR UPDATE GREEN CHOICE? I MEAN, NOT NECESSARILY.
UH, YOU KNOW, THE R UH, I'M JUST SAYING LIKE, YOU KNOW, UPDATE, I DON'T KNOW WHEN THE LAST TIME THIS COMMISSION HAD ANY INFORMATION PRESENTED ON GREEN CHOICE.
SO JUST THE BASICS OF, YOU KNOW, WHAT THE PROGRAM, YOU KNOW, KIND OF HISTORY OF THE PROGRAM TALKING ABOUT LIKE A SLIDE OR TWO, THEIR CURRENT STATUS OF THE PROGRAM AND THEN YEAH, YOU KNOW, MAYBE SOME SOMETHING IF, IF STAFF WANTS TO ON WHAT THE RMC IS THINKING, BUT I THINK, YOU KNOW, UNDERSTANDABLE IF, IF THEY JUST WANNA PRESENT WHAT THE PROGRAM IS.
UM, YOU KNOW, I THINK, I DO THINK IT'S A, YOU KNOW, IT'S AN IMPORTANT, UH, PIECE OF, OF THE PROGRAMS THAT AUSTIN ENERGY HAS HAD, IT HAS UM, YOU KNOW, SERVED AN IMPORTANT ROLE AND IT WOULD BE GREAT TO SEE THAT PROGRAM CONTINUE TO, YOU KNOW, DO SOMETHING MEANINGFUL FOR THE UTILITY AND AND FOR THE COMMUNITY.
SO I'M JUST TRYING TO, TO NET IT DOWN TO WHAT WE WANT TO HAVE PRESENTED OR, UH, JUST LIKE, UM, BASIC OVERVIEW OF HISTORY AND CURRENT STATUS OF GREEN CHOICE AND THEN I GUESS LIKE ANY STAFF THOUGHTS ON REVAMPING WOULD BE WELCOME.
SO, SO FAR WHAT I'VE GOTTEN IS THE LIST OF TAKING NOTES ON DR FROM CYRUS, BUT THAT WAS ACTUALLY PERHAPS PART OF THE AGENDA PLAN VEGETATION MANAGEMENT PRESENTATION, BUT THAT MIGHT BE EMAILS OR MEMOS, CAP REVIEW STREETLIGHTS.
MARA REPORT, I PUT THAT DOWN, BUT I'M NOT SURE THAT'S MORE THAN JUST GETTING THE LINK ON THAT, UH, OVERVIEW OF THE 3 1 1 CENTER.
UM, THIS IS PART OF MORE HOLISTICALLY LOOKING AT AE NOT JUST PROBLEM AREAS, CUSTOMER COMMUNICATION STRATEGY DURING EMERGENCIES,
[02:30:01]
UH, WELL BEFOREHAND.BOB COMMITTED TO HAVING THAT PRESENTATION NEXT MONTH.
UM, AND THEN A BASIC OVERVIEW OF THE HISTORY OF GREEN CHOICE AND SOME THOUGHTS ABOUT REVAMPING.
SO HOW ABOUT, HOW ABOUT, UH, ROBIN, COULD YOU SEND THIS LIST TO THE E U C AND WE CAN SOLICIT IT'S IN THE MEETING PACKET.
IS IT IN WORD DOCUMENT FORMAT? UM, I BE, IT'S JUST, IT'S A P D F.
I CAN SEND IT AS A WORD DOCUMENT.
WHY DON'T WE SEND IT WORD AND THEN WE'LL SOLICIT INPUT AND PEOPLE CAN ADD TO IT AND WE'LL GO FROM THERE.
ANY MORE DISCUSSION ON THIS? OKAY, LET'S GO TO NUMBER 12,
[12. Discussion of report regarding City Council action on items previously reviewed by the EUC.]
REPORTING REPORT REGARDING CITY COUNCIL ACTIONS.I DON'T KNOW IF WE HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH THIS ONE, ROBIN.
ALRIGHT, WELL, UM, WE WENT OVER FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS. IS THERE ANYTHING ELSE? NO.