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I'M LESLIE POOLE,[CALL TO ORDER]
AND I CHAIR THE AUSTIN ENERGY UTILITY OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE, AND I CALL THE MEETING FOR JANUARY 30TH, 2024 TO ORDER AT 9:01 AM WE HAVE A FULL DAIS WITH ONE PERSON OFF POSS.OH, AND I SEE, UH, COUNCIL MEMBER ELLIS IS REMOTE.
[Public Communication: General]
WILL START WITH PUBLIC COMMUNICATION, ONE REMOTE NOVA JONES, AND TWO IN PERSON AL BRADEN AND DIANA PRETOR.CAN I TOSS THIS OVER TO OUR, UM, COUNCIL LIAISON TO HELP US COMMITTEE LIAISON TO HELP US WITH CALLING THESE FOLKS.
OUR, OUR REMOTE SPEAKER IS NOT ON YET, SO LET'S START WITH, UH, IN PERSON.
GOOD MORNING, UH, CHAIRWOMAN POOL MAYOR WATSON COUNCIL.
AS USUAL, YOU WILL HAVE, UH, COUNCIL MEMBERS, YOU'LL HAVE THREE MINUTES.
I'M AL BRADEN, A DISTRICT SEVEN VOTER AND MEMBER OF EU C'S WORKING GROUP.
THIS MORNING YOU'LL HEAR A BRIEF TIMELINE OF OUR EFFORTS FROM GENERAL MANAGER KHAN.
IN DECEMBER, 2022, COUNCIL DIRECTED THE CITY MANAGER TO COLLABORATE WITH THE EUC.
IN UPDATING THE GENERATION PLAN, AUSTIN ENERGY HAS COOPERATED IN PROVIDING A MEETING SPACE AND WRITTEN ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS.
THEY'VE MODELED TWO WORKING GROUP SCENARIOS COVERING TIMEFRAMES OF 2030 AND 2035.
THESE CONTRIBUTIONS HELPED, BUT I MUST STRESS THE WORD COOPERATED AS STRONGLY CONTRASTED WITH OUR 2020 PLAN WHERE AUSTIN ENERGY COLLABORATED WITH THE WORKING GROUP.
WE MET DIRECTLY WITH STAFF WHO TOOK AN ACTIVE PART IN THE WORK STAFF PRESENTED KEY TOPICS AND MODEL WORKING GROUP PROPOSALS ALONG WITH THEIR OWN.
WE CHALLENGED EACH OTHER AND PRODUCED, I BELIEVE, A FAR BETTER PLAN.
IMPORTANTLY, WE COMMITTED TO NEVER BUILD ANOTHER FOSSIL FUEL PLANT.
THE ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM AT THE TIME WAS A LACK OF BATTERIES.
FAST FORWARD TO 2023 ERCOT REPORTS A BATTERY QUEUE OF OVER 120 GIGAWATTS WITH OVER 140 GIGAWATTS OF SOLAR TO CHARGE THEM UP.
THIS YEAR'S WORKING GROUP WANTS TO PUT THOSE BATTERIES TO WORK FOR AUSTIN TO MOVE WIND AND SOLAR TO TIMES OF DAY WHERE IT'S NEEDED MOST.
AVOID CONGESTION AND PRICE SEPARATION.
TO STORE OUR LOCAL POWER FOR RUSH HOUR USE, STABILIZE OUR LOCAL GRID, HELP THE GENERATION MIX, HELP RELIABILITY AND AVERT AVOID ERCOT PRICE SPIKES.
SURPRISINGLY, AUSTIN ENERGY LOOKS TO BE LOOKING FOR AN ENVIRONMENTAL OFF RAMP.
THEY'VE MODELED A NEW FOSSIL FUEL GAS PLANT TO BE LOCATED IN OUR LOAD ZONE.
THAT MEANS INSIDE AUSTIN, LIKELY EITHER A DECKER IN DISTRICT ONE OR SANDHILL IN DISTRICT TWO WHOSE SITES HAVE INFRASTRUCTURE FOR SUCH A PLANT, IT WOULD CREATE MORE NOXS IN EAST AUSTIN, MORE CARBON EMISSIONS OVERALL.
PERHAPS AT SOME TIME IN THE FUTURE IT MIGHT BE CONVERTED TO RUN ON SOME OR ALL GREEN HYDROGEN.
OF COURSE, HYDROGEN HAS ITS OWN EMISSIONS, NOXS AND GREENHOUSE CONTRIBUTIONS.
THE EUC AND AUSTIN ENERGY WILL MEET TO DISCUSS THESE DIVERGENT PROPOSALS.
PERHAPS SOME BETTER JOINT PLAN WILL EMERGE.
PLEASE STAY ENGAGED WITH THIS PROCESS.
IT'S ALSO POSSIBLE THAT IT WON'T RESOLVE UNTIL A CLEAN PACKAGE.
IT COULD BE A GAS PLANT PROPOSAL FROM AUSTIN ENERGY AND A SEPARATE EUC PLAN BASED ON BATTERY, SOLAR, WIND, ENERGY EFFICIENCY, DEMAND RESPONSE, AND TRANSMISSION IMPROVEMENTS.
I ASK THREE IMPORTANT THINGS FROM YOU.
ONE, HOLD THE LINE ON AUSTIN'S COMMITMENT TO END THE USE OF FOSSIL FUELS, ESPECIALLY NOT BY APPROVING ANY NEW GAS PLANT THAT COULD RUN FOR 40 YEARS.
TWO, DEMAND A FULL STUDY OF AUSTIN ENERGY OF OF THE WORKING GROUPS PLAN WITH ITS CLEAN ENERGY AND BATTERY PROPOSALS.
AND THREE, ASK WHY ERCOT HAS 120 GIGAWATTS OF BATTERY PROJECTS AND NOT ONE HAS OUR NAME ON IT.
THE NEXT SPEAKER IS DIANA PROCTOR.
GOOD MORNING MAYOR, CITY MANAGER AND COUNCIL MEMBERS.
THIS MORNING I EMAILED YOU A LINK TO AN ARTICLE THAT I THOUGHT WAS EXCITING.
I GOT FROM ROCKY MOUNTAIN INSTITUTE.
IT'S ABOUT SOLAR ENERGY IN SAN ANTONIO.
AND SO I'M JUST HERE TO READ YOU A COUPLE OF SENTENCES FROM THAT ARTICLE AND IF YOU'D LIKE IT, YOU CAN FIND THE LINK IN YOUR EMAIL HOW CITIES CAN SCALE ONSITE SOLAR WITH NEW FEDERAL INCENTIVES.
LAST YEAR, SAN ANTONIO SET A NEW RECORD OF 75 DAYS AT OR ABOVE A HUNDRED DEGREES FAHRENHEIT.
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MADE HISTORY BY APPROVING A MAJOR DEAL TO PUT AN ESTIMATED 13 MEGAWATTS OF SOLAR ON 42 CITY OWNED FACILITIES AND PARKING LOTS.THESE PROJECTS WILL OFFSET ABOUT 11% OF THE ELECTRICITY CONSUMPTION FOR CITY OPERATIONS.
SAN ANTONIO WILL BE ONE OF THE FIRST CITIES TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE DIRECT PAY MECHANISM, ALSO CALLED ELECTIVE PAY MADE POSSIBLE BY THE INFLATION REDUCTION ACT.
IRA TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF TAX CREDITS TO REDUCE UPFRONT PROJECT COSTS.
SOMETHING THAT WAS NOT POSSIBLE BEFORE THE IRA PASSED IN AUGUST, 2022.
PRIOR TO THE IRA, THE CITY WAS EXPLORING COMPLICATED THIRD PARTY STRUCTURES BECAUSE IT COULD NOT PURCHASE THE SOLAR PANELS AND CLAIM THE CLEAN ENERGY TAX CREDITS AS A TAX EXEMPT ENTITY.
HOWEVER, DIRECT PAY OPENED UP A NEW PATHWAY OF FUNDING FOR PROJECTS LIKE THIS, ALLOWING THE CITY TO OWN THESE, THESE SOLAR PROJECTS RATHER THAN CONTRACT WITH A THIRD PARTY.
AUSTIN IS AS HOT AS SAN ANTONIO.
I HOPE YOU ARE CONSIDERING A SIMILAR PROGRAM OF CITY OWNED SOLAR AT PARKS AND LIBRARIES FOR OUR FAIR CITY.
HAS MS. JONES JOINED US? NOPE.
MS. JONES, IF YOU DO, UM, UH, DIAL IN, PLEASE DO SEND US YOUR, UH, REMARKS IF YOU LIKE, BY EMAIL AND THAT LINK IS ON THE MAIN PAGE OF THE, UH, THE CITY'S WEBSITE.
UM, BEFORE WE GET STARTED, I WANTED TO BRING TO EVERYONE'S ATTENTION, MY MESSAGE BOARD POST FROM YESTERDAY, UH, TO GIVE SOME INSIGHTS INTO WHAT WE WILL BE TALKING ABOUT TODAY.
SPECIFICALLY, THE RESOURCE GENERATION PLAN BRIEFING WILL BE ON THE A-E-U-O-C AGENDA FOR FEBRUARY 27 BECAUSE THE RECOMMENDATIONS ARE NOT YET READY FROM THE WORKING GROUP, AND AS A RESULT, STAFF HASN'T YET HAD A CHANCE TO SEE THEM.
SO WE WILL, UM, EXPECT THAT AT OUR NEXT MEETING.
AND I DO BELIEVE THAT THE WORKING GROUP INTENDS ITS RECOMMENDATIONS TO BE AVAILABLE FOR PRESENTATION, UM, AT THE NEXT EUC MEETING, WHICH IS, I BELIEVE FEBRUARY 12TH.
[Approval of Minutes]
ITEM THEN IS APPROVAL OF OUR MINUTES FROM DECEMBER 12TH, 2023, THE MEETING OF THE AUSTIN ENERGY UTILITY OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE.AND LOOKS LIKE I HAVE A MOTION FROM COUNCIL MEMBER HARPER MADISON, AND A SECOND FROM COUNCIL MEMBER KELLY, ANY COMMENTS, CHANGES, OBJECTIONS, OR ABSTENTIONS ON THE ADOPTION OF THESE MINUTES? SEEING NONE, THEY ARE ADOPTED.
[2. General Manager’s Report - U.S. energy outlook, Resource Generation Plan process update, and emergency customer communications update.]
WILL MOVE INTO OUR BRIEFING.UM, MR. KHAN, OUR GENERAL MANAGER, I'LL HAND THE FLOOR OVER TO YOU AND YOU CAN FILL US IN ON THE TIMELINE, UH, FOR THE GEN PLAN AND GIVE US THE BRIEFING OF THE GENERAL MANAGER'S REPORT.
GOOD MORNING, CHAIR POOL, VICE CHAIR VELA OF BOB CONN, GENERAL MANAGER AUSTIN ENERGY.
AND, AND THE FIRST THING I WANNA TALK ABOUT IS JUST, UH, AN UPDATE ON A RESOURCE GENERATION TIMELINE.
AND I WANNA KIND OF VISIT WHAT WE'VE BEEN DOING SINCE LAST SPRING JUST TO REFRESH YOUR MEMORIES.
SO, UH, LAST SPRING IN 23, UH, WE HAD A MEETING WITH THE OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE AND WE KIND OF REVIEWED OUR GENERATION PORTFOLIO, WHERE IT'S AT, AT THAT TIME.
UM, THE NEXT THING WE DID DURING THE SUMMER, YOU MAY RECALL IN JULY, WE HAD A LENGTHY TRANSMISSION BRIEFING AT THE, UH, ELECTRIC UTILITY COMMISSION.
WE HAD A STUDY DONE ON, ON WHERE TRANSMISSION WAS.
AND AT THAT MEETING, THE ELECTRIC UTILITY COMMISSION WORKING GROUP WAS ALSO ESTI ESTABLISHED.
UM, ALSO IN THE SUMMER, UH, WE STARTED OUR PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT PROCESS.
WE HAD FOUR STAKEHOLDER MEETINGS AND WE CONDUCTED A COMMUNITY SURVEY.
UH, WE WAITED A, A MONTH OR TWO, AND WE GOT RESULTS BACK FROM THAT SURVEY.
THERE WERE OVER 7,500 RESPONDENTS.
UM, WE ALSO AT, AT THAT EUC MEETING PRESENTED, UH, SOME MODELING, UH, THAT WE HAD DONE AND WHERE WE THOUGHT WE MIGHT BE GOING WITH OUR RECOMMENDATIONS IN DECEMBER.
UM, WE PRESENTED OUR RESEARCH GENERATION UPDATE WITH INITIAL RECOMMENDATIONS TO THE UC.
AND THEN OF COURSE, LAST MONTH WE ALSO PRESENTED OUR RECOMMENDATION TO YOU ON WHERE WE'RE GOING, OUR INITIAL RECOMMENDATION.
'CAUSE WE'RE STILL WAITING TO GET THE WORKING GROUP RECOMMENDATIONS.
AND WE GET THAT, WE'LL, WE'LL SEE WHAT THAT MIGHT DO TO WHAT WE FINALLY RECOMMEND.
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WE HAD A PANEL DISCUSSION, UH, A WEEK OR SO GONE JANUARY 22ND OF EXPERTS THAT DISCUSSED OUR GENERATION RESOURCE PLAN.AND OF COURSE, TODAY WE'RE, WE'RE HOPEFUL TO RECEIVE THE RECOMMENDATION FROM THE WORKING GROUP, UH, IF NOT TODAY.
AND, AND A DAY OR TWO IS FINE IF, IF THEY'RE RUN A LITTLE LATE.
AND THEN THE PLAN IS ON FEBRUARY 12TH, WE WILL, UH, HAVE REVIEWED THEIR PLAN AND MAKE A RECOMMENDATION TO THE EUC ON, ON WHAT WE WANNA DO GOING FORWARD WITH OUR GENERATIONAL RESOURCE PLAN A AS FAR AS NEXT STEPS GO, UH, FEBRUARY 27TH IS WHEN WE PLAN TO COME BACK, UH, TO THE OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE AND MAKE OUR RECOMMENDATION.
AND THEN ON THE, ON THE, UH, 29TH, WE PLAN TO COME TO CITY COUNCIL AND ASK FOR YOU TO CONSIDER OUR RECOMMENDATION AND APPROVE IT.
AND I'LL BE GLAD TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS ON, ON THAT ISSUE.
UH, COUNCIL MEMBER ALTER, ALISON ALTER.
UM, THANK YOU, UM, FOR THIS UPDATE.
FIRST OF ALL, I'M, I'M CONCERNED ABOUT THE TIMEFRAME THAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT FOR US TO MAKE A DECISION FOR FOLKS IF THEY HAVE NOT BEEN FOLLOWING THE PROCESS.
I INITIATED THE PROCESS, SO I'VE BEEN FOLLOWING, YOU KNOW, WHAT'S BEEN GOING ON IN THE WORKING GROUP.
THERE'S A LOT OF REALLY TECHNICAL MATERIAL.
UM, AND I THINK THAT FOR TRANSPARENCY WITH THE COMMUNITY, ET CETERA, IT'S UNFORTUNATE THAT WE DON'T HAVE THE PRESENTATION TODAY WITH YOUR RECOMMENDATIONS.
BUT GIVEN THAT, I WOULD ASK THAT WE HAVE A PRESENTATION ON FEBRUARY 13TH, WHICH IS OUR WORK SESSION, EITHER AS THE COUNCIL OR AS THE AE OVERSIGHT BODY, SO THAT WE HAVE SOME TIME TO HAVE SOME CONVERSATIONS AND RAISE QUESTIONS.
UM, IT DOESN'T GIVE US A LOT OF TIME TO SURFACE CONCERNS THAT WE HAVE AMONGST OURSELVES AFTER THAT PROCESS.
UM, IF WE ARE ASKING US TO HAVE A OVERSIGHT MEETING ON THE 27TH AND THEN MAKE A DECISION ON THE 29TH THANK YOU COUNCIL MEMBER, AND WE'LL TAKE THAT UNDER ADVISEMENT.
UM, I HAVE SOME OTHER QUESTIONS, BUT IF YOU WANNA COMMENT ON THAT PARTICULAR THING, YOU CAN.
UH, COUNCIL MEMBER ALTER, I JUST WANNA ECHO THAT.
I DO THINK THE TIMEFRAME IS A LITTLE TOO CONDENSED, ESPECIALLY KNOWING WHAT YOU LAID OUT WAS THAT WE WOULD BE PRE BRIEFED ON THE 27TH AND THEN TWO DAYS LATER AND THEN COUNT TWO DAYS LATER, AND A COUNCIL MEETING WOULD BE EXPECTED TO TAKE A VOTE ON THE UPDATES TO THE PLAN.
SO JUST, I THINK THAT'S, THAT'S WAY TOO SHORT OF A TIMELINE.
I THINK PART OF WHAT'S HAPPENING HERE, AND THANK YOU FOR THAT, COUNCIL MEMBER FUENTES IS, UH, AE IS TRYING TO STICK TO THE TIMELINE THAT HAD INITIALLY BEEN OFFERED, BUT THERE ARE SOME DELAYS BASED ON THE WORK, UH, AND THE PRESENTATION THAT'S BEING, OR THE RECOMMENDATIONS THAT'S BEING DRAFTED BY THE WORKING GROUP.
AND SO WE ARE TRYING TO DO BOTH THINGS, BOTH GIVE THEM THE TIME THAT THEY HAVE, UH, CLEARLY UH, NEEDED.
AND I MET WITH, UH, TWO MEMBERS OF THAT COMMITTEE.
THE, UH, KABA WHITE AND CYRUS, UH, READ ON FRIDAY TO TALK ABOUT THIS.
AND THEY APPRECIATED HAVING THE ADDITIONAL TIME TO GET THEIR REPORT WRITTEN AND THEIR RECOMMENDATIONS CRAFTED.
UM, I AM HAPPY TO WORK WITH THE GENERAL MANAGER TO SEE HOW THINGS PLAY OUT BECAUSE IF IN FACT THEY'RE NOT ABLE TO GET THE REPORT COMPLETED BY MID MONTH, THEY EXPECT TO AND THEY HOPE TO, BUT IT'S POSSIBLE THAT THEY CAN'T, THEN WE WILL NEED TO ADJUST OUR TIMELINE.
SO IF, IF WE COULD GIVE EVERYONE A LITTLE BIT OF THAT GRACE TO, UM, KIND OF WORK THROUGH THIS WITH THE WORKING GROUP, THE WORK IS BEING DONE HAND IN HAND TIME-WISE WITH THE, UM, THE EFFORTS OF THE WORKING GROUP APPRECIATE Y'ALL'S CONCERNS AND I SHARE THEM.
ARE THERE ANY OTHER QUESTIONS? COUNCIL MEMBER AL ALTER, ALLISON ALTER.
UM, I ALSO BELIEVE THAT ON FEBRUARY 13TH IT WOULD BE REALLY USEFUL FOR US TO HAVE A EXECUTIVE SESSION ON THE FAYETTE POWER PLANT.
UM, WE HAVE NOT COLLECTIVELY, UM, HAD THAT CONVERSATION IN EXECUTIVE SESSION.
I THINK IT'S A KEY PART OF SOME OF THE QUESTIONS BEING RAISED, UM, ABOUT THE GENERATION PLAN.
AND I THINK WE NEED TO BE ABLE TO HAVE, UM, THAT DISCUSSION THAT NEEDS TO BE AN EXECUTIVE SESSION FOR A VARIETY OF REASONS.
UM, AND SO I THINK THAT WOULD BE USEFUL AND I WOULD REQUEST THAT ALSO, UM, FOR THE, FOR THE 13TH, UM, IN THE BACKUP THAT WAS SENT TO EVERYONE IN THE PACKET, BUT NOT ONLINE, UM, THEIR ANSWERS TO SOME QUESTIONS THAT I, UM, RAISED AND THAT AE ANSWERED THAT I WOULD CALL ATTENTION TO FOR MY COLLEAGUES.
UM, BUT CAN WE GET A, A Q AND A PROCESS GOING HERE? I KNOW OTHER COLLEAGUES ARE ASKING QUESTIONS, UM, BUT WE'RE NOT SEEING THE ANSWERS AND THE RESOURCE GROUP MAY NEED THE ANSWERS TO THOSE QUESTIONS.
UM, THIS IS REALLY COMPLICATED, UM, STUFF AND THERE'S A LOT OF, LOT OF MOVING PARTS.
UM, I'VE BEEN HAD THE OPPORTUNITY AND THE BENEFIT OF TALKING
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WITH SOME FOLKS, UM, AT THE UT ENERGY, MY COMMISSIONER'S CHAIR OF THE EUC.UM, AND YOU HAVE TO PUT, THERE'S A LOT OF THINGS THAT WE'RE SOLVING FOR HERE, UM, WITH THE GENERATION PLAN.
UM, SO I THINK WE VERY MUCH NEED, UM, THAT Q AND A SPACE.
MY QUESTIONS ARE NOT YET POSTED ONLINE.
THEY'RE POSTED IN THE PACKET, BUT NOT ONLINE.
AND I'D LIKE TO SEE THAT, UM, AND EXACTLY HOW YOU WANNA DO THAT.
IF YOU WANNA DO IT LIKE THE BUDGET Q AND A OR YOU WANNA DO SOMETHING DIFFERENT.
UM, I THINK, I THINK THAT WOULD BE OKAY.
UM, I DO ALSO HAVE SOME QUESTIONS IF OTHER PEOPLE DON'T HAVE, UM, WITH REGARD TO THE Q AND A.
THAT SOUNDS REASONABLE AND CERTAINLY EXPECT STAFF HAS BEEN EXPECTING TO DO THAT.
I WOULD ASK, UM, MY DISTINGUISHED COLLEAGUES ON THE DA IS TO PLEASE, WHEN YOU DO SUBMIT QUESTIONS, IF YOU COULD REVIEW TO SEE WHICH QUESTIONS HAVE ALREADY BEEN ASKED SO THAT WE CAN, UM, ASK UNIQUE QUESTIONS GOING FORWARD.
UM, BECAUSE THE Q AND A PROCESS DOES TAKE SIGNIFICANT STAFF TIME AND RESOURCES, WE WANNA MAKE SURE THAT OUR STAFF'S EFFORTS ARE BEING SPENT IN THE MOST PRODUCTIVE AND EFFICIENT WAY.
YEAH, WE'LL, WE'LL PAUSE THOSE.
ARE THERE OTHER QUESTIONS? YES, COUNCIL MEMBER RYAN ALTER.
AS LONG AS, UH, YEAH, THANK YOU.
I, I TOO THINK TWO DAYS IS PROBABLY NOT ENOUGH, BUT IT SOUNDS LIKE WE'RE GONNA TAKE CARE OF THAT.
SO, UM, I APPRECIATE THE CHAIR'S WILLINGNESS TO, TO WORK WITH US TO MAKE SURE THAT HAPPENS.
UH, I WANTED TO ASK TWO QUESTIONS RELATED TO COUNCIL MEMBER ALLISON ALTER'S QUESTIONS THAT SHE JUST REFERENCED.
THE FIRST QUESTION WAS ABOUT, UM, LOOKING AT THE EMISSIONS AND THE, THE WAY SHE HAD ASKED IT WAS KIND OF COST MODELING THOSE EMISSIONS INTO, YOU KNOW, WHEN WE RUN.
WHAT, UM, I AM WONDERING SEPARATELY, WHEN YOU COME FORWARD WITH THE RECOMMENDATIONS, ARE YOU ABLE AND OR PLANNING ON INCLUDING HERE'S OUR ANTICIPATED EMISSIONS KIND OF AS A PACKAGE FOR EACH, IF THERE ARE MULTIPLE OPTIONS FOR THOSE OPTIONS OR JUST FOR THE ONE RECOMMENDATION, HERE'S, HERE'S WHAT WE IMAGINE, UH, THIS WILL LOOK LIKE FROM AN EMISSIONS OR PERSPECTIVE.
I I COULD SAY THIS AT LEAST IT COULD COME UP HERE IF, IF WE NEED SOME HELP.
BUT I, I WILL SAY THIS, WE HAVE DONE SOME REALLY NOT MODELING IT IS, WE'VE TAKEN SOME PAST DAYS IN JULY, WHICH WAS A KIND OF A NORMAL DAY, AND THEN WE TOOK HIGH DEMAND DAYS AND WE LOOKED AT WHAT HAPPENS WITH EMISSIONS IF WE PUT IN THESE NEW, UH, PEAKERS, RIGHT? AND ON A NET BASIS, EMISSIONS ARE REDUCED BECAUSE IT SOUNDS LIKE YOU ALREADY KNOW THAT.
SO THEY, THEY ARE REDUCED BECAUSE THEY'RE MORE EFFICIENT.
AND UH, UH, AS FAR AS MODELING WHAT WE'RE GOING TO, OH, THERE YOU'RE
LISA MARTIN, UH, CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER OF AUSTIN ENERGY.
UM, SO IN TERMS OF, I JUST WANNA BE CLEAR THAT, UH, THE RESOURCE GENERATION PLAN'S NOT GOING TO HAVE LIKE ONE OF THE PORTFOLIOS THAT WERE RUN AS A SELECTED OPTION.
UM, WE'RE THEN THAT PORTFOLIO IS PUT INTO A MODEL AND THERE CAN BE ANTICIPATED ADMISSIONS.
THERE'S TOO MANY UNKNOWNS AND THERE IT'S A REALLY MORE OF AN ITERATIVE PROCESS.
SO WHILE WE'RE PLANNING TO LOOK OUT TO 2035 FOR THE PURPOSES OF COMING AWAY WITH KEY TAKEAWAYS ABOUT HOW TO DRIVE THE, THE ROADMAP THAT GETS WRITTEN INTO THE UPDATED RESOURCE GEN PLAN, UM, IT'S REALLY MORE GUIDELINES AS OPPOSED TO WE'LL BUILD THIS HERE, THEN WE'LL DO THAT BECAUSE IT WILL BE AN ITERATIVE APPROACH TO SEE IF WE PUT IN THE FIRST, UM, 200 MEGAWATTS, THEN HOW MUCH MORE RENEWABLES OR DEMAND RESPONSE, HOW DOES THAT ALL PLAY INTO THE NEXT STEP THAT HAS TO BE TAKEN.
SO IT'S HARD TO MODEL IT ALL THE WAY TO 2035.
UM, WHAT BOB IS DESCRIBING IS SOMETHING WE CAN DO AND TALK ABOUT EXPLAINING HOW, UM, THE INITIAL PLAN IN NET SHOULD BE A, A BENEFIT IN TERMS OF EMISSIONS.
SO THEN HOW DO Y'ALL GO ABOUT DETERMINING WHETHER OR NOT RECOMMENDATION MEETS? OBVIOUSLY YOU CAN, YOU CAN LOOK AT THE VERY END AND SAY AT 35, WE EITHER WILL OR WILL NOT HAVE, UH, ANY, ANY GENERATION THAT'S EMITTING, UH, CARBON OR GREENHOUSE GAS.
BUT YOU KNOW, WE HAVE THE, THE GOAL FOR OUR 2030 TO BE AT A, I THINK IT'S 93%.
UM, AND SO HOW DO WE KNOW THAT WHATEVER RECOMMENDATION IS MADE IS MEETING OUR, OUR BENCHMARKS ALONG THE WAY? WELL, WE, WE CAN TRACK WHERE WE ARE ON CARBON FREE GENERATION.
UM, TRACK NOW, WELL, WELL, I KNOW WE CAN TRACK IT REAL TIME, BUT, BUT PROJECTING OUT HOW, LIKE WHEN
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YOU COME TO US IN THE MONTH AND WE SAY, OKAY, SO DO WE THINK BY 2030 THIS IS GOING TO BE WHAT PERCENT CARBON FREE? RIGHT.ARE YOU ABLE TO TELL US THAT BASED ON YOUR, YOUR, THE DATA YOU HAVE? YEAH, WELL I THINK IT'S BACK TO WHAT LISA JUST SAID, THAT'S AN ITERATIVE PROCESS.
WE'RE GONNA PUT IN THE 200, WE'RE HOPING TO PUT IN THE 200 MEGAWATTS AND THEN WE'LL GO FROM THERE.
SO IT'S HARD TO SAY STANDING HERE TODAY, BUT, BUT I CAN TELL YOU WE AREN'T GONNA BE CARBON FREE BY 2035.
UH, THE SECOND QUESTION, AND IT'S ALSO, UH, PIGGYBACKING ON A QUESTION THAT COUNCILMAN ALLISON ALTER ASKED AND THAT WAS RELATED TO YOUR WIND AND SOLAR PPAS ARE, IS THE CURRENT CONTEMPLATION TO JUST REPLACE THE AMOUNT WE HAVE ON THE BOOKS OR TO EXCEED WHAT IS CURRENTLY, UH, THE, THE MEGAWATT HOUR OR MEGAWATT BASED ON WIND AND SOLAR OR EXISTING CORRECT.
JUST WIND AND SOLAR, I'M SORRY, WIND AND SOLAR.
WE'RE ALWAYS LOOKING AT RFPS FOR WIND AND SOLAR GOING FORWARD.
I MEAN, THAT'S OUR GOAL TO HAVE MORE WIND AND SOLAR, BUT IN ORDER TO HAVE MORE WIND AND SOLAR, WE REALLY NEED THE BACKUP DISPATCHABLE GENERATION.
I JUST DIDN'T KNOW IF Y'ALL HAD A, A CURRENT PLAN OF WE'RE WE HAVE SOME EXPIRING AND SO WE'RE GONNA, YOU KNOW, GET NEW CONTRACTS OR IF IN ADDITION TO THAT YOU'RE SAYING WE'RE GONNA MAKE THOSE REPLACEMENTS OR, OR KIND OF RENEWALS AND LOOK BEYOND THAT AS WELL.
SO I'M JUST TRYING TO UNDERSTAND WHERE WE ARE.
WE'RE ALWAYS LOOKING AT THE MARKET AND IF SOMETHING MAKES FINANCIAL SENSE, WE PURCHASE IT.
AND I ANTICIPATE THAT A PRETTY GOOD EXPLANATION OF ALL THESE ELEMENTS WILL ACCOMPANY OUR LARGER AND MORE ROBUST CONVERSATION AND PRESENTATION IN FEBRUARY.
ANY OTHER QUESTIONS? COUNCIL MEMBER ALLISON ALTER? UM, I HAVE SEVERAL QUESTIONS.
I'LL, I'LL SEND MOST OF THOSE ELECTRONICALLY, BUT THERE ARE A COUPLE THAT I DID WANNA ASK TODAY.
UM, SO AS WE APPROACH THE AE GEN PLAN, UM, ONE OF THE THINGS THAT THERE'S BEEN SOME LACK OF CLARITY ON IS HOW WE'RE THINKING ABOUT THE GOALS.
UM, AND SO WHAT ARE SOME OF THE AREAS WHERE WE CAN SET MEANINGFUL AND SPECIFIC GOALS BEYOND ZERO CARBON BY 20 20, 20 35? AND AND DO YOU WANNA GO AHEAD AND LAY OUT ALL THE QUESTIONS? YEAH, BECAUSE I THINK MR. KHAN MAY NOT BE PREPARED TO ANSWER ALL OF THEM AT THIS POINT.
I'M NOT SURE WHEN YOU SAY OTHER GOALS BESIDES CARBON FREE.
SO LIKE, ARE WE GOING TO ACCELERATE OUR SOLAR GOALS? ARE WE GONNA ACCELERATE OUR UTILITY SCALE? ARE WE ACCELERATING OUR STORAGE GOALS? UM, THERE'S BEEN CONFUSION OVER WHETHER OUR ONLY GOAL IS, YOU KNOW, CARBON FREE BY 2035 IN THIS PLAN, OR WHETHER WE'RE GOING TO BE SETTING, UM, SPECIFIC GOALS FOR SOME OF THE, UH, BUCKETS OF GENERATION AS WE MOVE FORWARD.
WELL, LIKE I SAID, AS FAR AS GOALS GO, WE'RE ALWAYS ISSUING RFPS FROM OUR SOLAR OR WIND.
UM, WE HAVE GOALS IN OUR PLAN AS FAR AS EMISSIONS OVER THE YEARS AND, AND THAT'S WHAT WE'RE FOCUSED ON AS FAR AS CARBON FREE EMISSIONS COUNCIL MEMBER ALTER MENTIONED 93% BY 2030.
SO WE'RE, WE BAKE THOSE IN TO OUR PLANS GOING FORWARD AND IT'S A COMBINATION OF SOLAR, WIND, ENERGY EFFICIENCY DEMAND RESPONSE IN ORDER TO REACH THAT 93% OR WHATEVER THE PERCENTAGE BY YEAR.
DID MS. MARTIN WHEN I, I WASN'T SURE SHE AT LEAST BEHIND YOU.
I WAS JUST GONNA SAY, SO THE EXISTING PLAN DOES HAVE GOALS THAT ARE RENEWABLE SET AND THEN THERE ARE A LOT ON THE DEMAND SIDE MANAGEMENT AND PART OF OUR, UM, RECOMMENDATION, UM, THAT WE'LL PRESENT TO THE EUC AND THEN LATER TO, UM, TO COUNCIL WILL INCLUDE AN UPDATE ON THOSE GOALS AS WELL.
UM, AND THEN ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE DISCUSSED DURING THE RATE CASE WAS THE RATE STRUCTURE AND REALLY TRYING TO EVENTUALLY MOVE TOWARDS A MORE OF A REAL TIME RATE STRUCTURE SO THAT THE PRICE SIGNALS THAT WE COULD PROVIDE, UM, OUR CUSTOMERS COULD HAVE A BIGGER IMPACT.
BUT TO DO THAT, I UNDERSTAND YOU NEED TO REWORK THE ENTIRE BILLING SYSTEM.
UM, WHAT PLANS DO WE HAVE TO MOVE IN THAT DIRECTION AND, AND REDO THE BILLING SYSTEM? ARE ARE YOU REFERRING TO TOMMY USE OR, UM, YEAH.
I GUESS THAT'S SOMETHING WE'D HAVE TO LOOK AT.
THAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN JUST BEFORE MY TIME WHEN I WAS HERE.
UM, SO WE CAN GET BACK WITH YOU ON THAT.
AND THEN THIS ONE, YOU MAY HAVE TO GET BACK TO ME, BUT YOU KNOW IT WITHIN AIR COT I UNDERSTAND THEY'RE EXPECTING A HUGE GROWTH IN THE AMOUNT OF ELECTRIFICATION OR, OR, UM,
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ELECTRICITY DEMAND THAT'LL BE NEEDED OVER TIME BECAUSE THE MO WE'RE MOVING FROM GAS TO ELECTRICITY FOR CARS AND FOR HOME NEEDS AND TRANSPORTATION, ET CETERA.W WHAT, AND IT'S ON THE ORDER OF TWO AND A HALF PERCENT, TWO, 2.5 TIMES.
UM, WHAT IS IT THAT WE ARE ASSUMING FOR THE GROWTH OF THE DEMAND FOR ELECTRICITY IN THIS PLAN? I DON'T HAVE THAT OFF HAND.
WHAT, WHAT THE GROWTH IS YEAR OVER YEAR FOR, FOR US.
I CAN GET BACK WITH YOU ON THAT.
I MEAN WE'RE, WE'RE GROWING A FEW PERCENT A YEAR.
SO I WILL, I'LL SUBMIT, UM, YOU KNOW, 'CAUSE WE HAVE TO BE MODELING OUR GENERATION PLAN FOR THE ACTUAL DEMAND THAT WE'RE GONNA BE RECEIVING.
SO, UM, I THINK THAT IS IMPORTANT.
THE OTHER THING THAT I WANTED TO JUST SURFACE TODAY IS THAT IN THE DATA THAT YOU GAVE US FOR THE PUBLIC OPINION SURVEYS OR THE, THE SURVEYS ABOUT THIS, ONE OF THE HIGHEST PRIORITIES WAS, UH, REDUCING ELECTRICITY OUT OUTAGES, IMPROVING RELIABILITY.
UM, SOMETIMES CUSTOMERS BELIEVE THAT GRID RELIABILITY IS DRIVEN FROM THE GENERATION PLAN WHEN IN REALITY MOST OF THE GRID RELIABILITY PROBLEMS ARE CAUSED BY DISTRIBUTION ISSUES.
UM, WE DON'T SPEND A LOT OF TIME ON DISTRIBUTION ISSUES IN THIS A OUC MEETING.
UM, SO I JUST THINK THAT WE, WE NEED TO DEVELOP A PLAN FOR HOW YOU'RE GONNA BE SHARING SOME OF THOSE DISTRIBUTION CHALLENGES AND SHARING WITH US THE STATUS OF THINGS LIKE THE UNDERGROUNDING PLAN, THE STATUS ON VEGETATION MANAGEMENT, THE RECLOSER PLAN, THINGS THAT HAVE TO DO WITH THE DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM.
WE NEED TO BE ALSO TALKING ABOUT THEM.
I UNDERSTAND WE'RE TALKING ABOUT THE GENERATION PLAN BECAUSE THAT IS THE THING THAT IS UP, BUT THERE ARE, YOU KNOW, OBVIOUSLY SOME OF THE GENERATION LINKS TO RELIABILITY, BUT YOU KNOW, WHEN WE'VE SEEN A REAL RELIANCE ON THE DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM.
SO I WOULD ASK MOVING FORWARD THAT WE THINK ABOUT HOW WE HAVE THOSE CONVERSATIONS, UM, IN THIS COMMITTEE.
YEAH, WE, WE HAVE A DISTRIBUTION RESILIENCY, UH, TEAM AND SO WE'D BE GLAD TO GIVE YOU A BRIEFING ON THAT AT ONE OF THE OVERSIGHT MEETINGS.
AND ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE ALWAYS HAVE TO KEEP IN MIND IS FOR THE INVESTMENT THAT WE NEED TO MAKE FOR THE DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM, THE, THE AE AUSTIN ENERGY NEEDS TO MAKE SURE THAT IT CREATES A SYSTEM BY WHICH ENOUGH INCOME IS MADE SO WE CAN MAKE THOSE INVESTMENTS THAT ARE ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY FOR RELIABILITY.
WE ALWAYS HAVE TO KEEP THAT IN MIND.
AND SO THAT'S WHY THIS IS A THREE LEGGED STOOL.
IT'S RELIABILITY, IT'S SUSTAINABILITY AND IT'S AFFORDABILITY.
SO THAT'S A COMPLEX EQUATION THAT WE'RE TRYING TO SOLVE FOR NOT JUST ONE VARIABLE BUT THREE VARIABLES.
AND I THINK THAT'S, YOU KNOW, ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE'RE TRYING TO GET ACROSS IN SOME OF OUR QUESTIONS IS SOME OF THE COMPLEXITY.
SO, YOU KNOW, THERE, THERE ARE ALL SORTS OF TRADE OFFS THAT WE'RE, THAT WE'RE FACING.
AND SO IF YOU LOOK IN MY QUESTIONS, ONE OF THE THINGS YOU'LL SEE IS THAT THERE ARE FREQUENCY BENEFITS OF HAVING THE DISPATCHABLE GENERATION HERE IN OUR SYSTEM THAT ARE VALUABLE AS WELL.
AND SO THERE'S A LOT OF, THERE ARE A LOT OF DIFFERENT TRADE OFFS THAT WE NEED TO BALANCE.
AND, YOU KNOW, GOING BACK TO YOUR, YOUR POINT ABOUT AFFORDABILITY, CITY MANAGER, YOU KNOW, WHEN WE HAVE THE QUESTION ABOUT STORAGE, YOU KNOW, STORAGE CAN HELP US REDUCE OUR PEAK PRICES, WHICH THEN REDUCES OUR CONTRIBUTIONS THAT WE NEED TO MAKE AT THE WAY ERCOT CALCULATES OUR TRANSMISSION COSTS.
AND SO THERE, THERE ARE TONS OF THESE VARIABLES AND, AND YOU KNOW, WE AS A COUNCIL, AS WE, AS WE, AS WE FACE, UM, WHAT MAY BE COMPETING PROPOSALS COMING FORWARD BETWEEN THE EUC AND AE, WE NEED TO BE ABLE TO UNDERSTAND THESE DIFFERENT, AND ALL I'M SAYING IS THE CITY, UH, UH, UH, AUSTIN ENERGY'S FINANCES WHEN I ARRIVED A YEAR AGO, WERE NOT IN THE SHAPE IT NEEDED TO BE TO MAKE THE INVESTMENTS THAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT COUNCIL MEMBER.
AND I THINK WE'RE WORKING HARD TO FIGURE OUT WAYS TO DO THAT.
AND WE ABSOLUTELY UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU'RE ASKING AND WE NEED TO GET YOU THE INFORMATION AND THEN IT, SO THE WHOLE COUNCIL CAN BE INFORMED IN TERMS OF THE, OF THE COMPLEXITY OF THIS ISSUE AS YOU'VE DESCRIBED.
I, I HEAR WHAT YOU SAY ABOUT STORAGE AND, AND THAT'S SOMETHING WE'RE ALWAYS LOOKING AT, BUT STORAGE IS VERY EXPENSIVE AND SHORT DURATION TYPICALLY A COUPLE HOURS.
SO LIKE, LIKE YOU SAID, IT'S A BALANCING RELIABILITY, AFFORDABILITY, AND SUSTAINABILITY.
AND SO WE JUST HAVE TO LOOK AT ALL THREE OF THOSE TO MAKE SURE WE GET WHERE WE WANT, WE NEED TO BE.
AND YET LOTS OF OTHER MUNICIPALITY, UM, ENERGY GROUPS IN THE STATE ARE INVESTING IN STORAGE AT MUCH FASTER RATES THAN WE ARE.
AND SO THERE'S SOME THINGS THERE THAT WE NEED TO UNDERSTAND.
AND EVEN IF YOU DO IT FOR A COUPLE HOURS, IF YOU'RE TRYING TO REDUCE THE PRICE AT THE PEAK, THAT CAN BE HELPFUL FOR THAT.
SO THERE ARE DIFFERENT TYPES OF USES FOR THE STORAGE, UM, AND WE NEED TO BE MAKING THOSE INVESTMENTS AS WELL.
AND SO I'M VERY MUCH LOOKING FORWARD TO SEEING WHAT YOUR PROPOSAL IS.
ARE THERE ANY OTHER QUESTIONS? THERE IS ONE OTHER THING I WANNA MENTION.
WE DID ISSUE A MEMO AT OUR LAST OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE MEETING.
[00:30:01]
THERE WAS SOME QUESTIONS ON OUR COMMUNICATIONS DURING DUR LONG DURATION OUTAGES.AND WE HAD ISSUED A MEMO TO YOU LATE, LATE LAST WEEK.
AND I JUST WANNA LET YOU KNOW THAT Y'ALL HAVE THAT.
[Future Items]
HAVE ANY, UM, ITEMS? WE ACTUALLY, WE DO HAVE SOME ITEMS FOR FUTURE MEETINGS THAT HAVE BEEN DISCUSSED HERE.UM, ANY OTHERS OFF THE TOP OF ANYBODY'S HEAD? ALL RIGHT, VERY GOOD.
THANK YOU STAFF FOR BEING HERE.
I THINK THAT IS IT FOR OUR OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE MEETING TODAY.
AND I WILL ADJOURN US AT 9:32 AM THANK YOU MAYOR.