Feb 12, 2024 Electric Utility Commission

HI, MY NAME IS RAFAEL SCHWARTZ.

THE NEXT SPEAKER IS A, UM, AL BRADEN.

GOOD EVENING CHAIRMAN, TUTTLE COMMISSIONERS AND AUSTIN ENERGY STAFF.

I'M AL BRADEN, A DISTRICT SEVEN VOTER AND AUSTIN ENERGY SHAREHOLDER.

I'M HAPPY TO SPEAK TO YOU TONIGHT FOR ONCE.

I'M HAPPY TO SPEAK TO YOU BECAUSE I'M REALLY FOR SOMETHING IN FAVOR OF SUPPORTING SOMETHING REALLY POSITIVE.

I HAD THE HONOR AND RESPONSIBILITY OF PARTICIPATING WITH THE WORKING GROUP, CREATING RECOMMENDATIONS FOR AUSTIN'S ENER, AUSTIN'S ENERGY FUTURE FOR DECREASING EMISSIONS, IMPROVING RELIABILITY, AND PROMOTING FAIR AND EQUITABLE PROGRAMS FOR RATE PAYERS.

16 OF US MET 14 TIMES FROM SEPTEMBER THROUGH JANUARY, SHARING A BROAD RANGE OF IDEAS, EXPERTISE, CONSULTING WITH INDUSTRY INNOVATORS AND EXPERTS, AND ENGAGING WITH AUSTIN ENERGY STAFF ON TECHNICAL ISSUES AND MODELING.

WE WOULD'VE BENEFITED FROM MORE ACTIVE ENGAGEMENT WITH STAFF AND HOPE THAT THEY WILL HELP US REFINE THESE SPECIFIC ACTIONS GOING FORWARD.

WE WORKED HARD TO REACH OUR BEST SYNTHESIS OF RECOMMENDATIONS.

YOU WILL HEAR THE DETAILS OF THIS PLAN FROM CYRUS AND KABA THIS EVENING, AND I ASK FOR YOUR FULL SUPPORT BOTTOM LINE.

THE PLAN BUILDS ON THE DIRECTIONS AND COMMITMENTS OF OUR 2014 2017 2020 GENERATION PLANS, WHILE TAKING ADVANTAGES OF NEW OPPORTUNITIES IN BATTERIES.

SOLAR ELECTRIFICATION, DEMAND RESPONSE, ENERGY EFFICIENCY, ELECTRIC VEHICLES AND MORE.

IT LEVERAGES SIGNIFICANT FEDERAL DOLLARS IN MANY AREAS TO BRING MANY BENEFITS TO AUSTIN'S ENERGY'S PLANS BOTH AT THE UTILITY AND RESIDENTIAL LEVELS, AND IT RESPONDS TO NEW CHALLENGES IN ERCOT, RELIABILITY, TRANSMISSION CONSTRAINTS, AND REGULATORY CHALLENGES.

MOST IMPORTANTLY, IT DOES ALL OF THIS WHILE MAINTAINING AUSTIN'S COMMUNITY AND CITY COUNCIL'S DECADE LONG COMMITMENT TO CEASE USING CLIMATE WARMING FOSSIL FUELS BY BEFORE 2035 AND TO NEVER BUILD ANOTHER FOSSIL FUEL PLANT.

WE HAVE A LOT OF WORK TO DO TO MAKE A BETTER FUTURE, AND CYRUS AND KABA WILL GIVE YOU THAT IN DETAIL.

I WON'T STEAL THEIR PRESENTATION.

I SIMPLY WANNA EXPRESS GRATITUDE FOR THEIR LEADERSHIP ON THIS WORKING GROUP AND FOR ALL THE DIVERSE COLLABORATION OF THE 16 MEMBERS.

I AM FOR THE RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE WORKING GROUP.

I ASK THE ELECTRIC UTILITY COMMISSION TO VOTE AFFIRMATIVELY TO RECOMMEND THIS PLAN TO CITY COUNCIL FOR DETAILED PLANNING AND IMPLEMENTATION.

I ASK MEMBERS OF THE WORKING GROUP AND THE CITIZEN ADVOCATES TO STAY ENGAGED IN THIS IMPORTANT WORK.

AND I ASK AUSTIN ENERGY AND ITS PROFESSIONAL AND EXPERT STAFF TO REDOUBLE YOUR EFFORTS IN KEEPING AUSTIN AT THE FOREFRONT OF THIS URGENT TASK OF ENERGY TRANSMISSION OFF OF FOSSIL FUELS.

WE NEED ALL OF OUR BEST EFFORTS IN THIS TRANSITION TO ZERO CARBON BY BEFORE 2035.

THANK YOU ALL VERY MUCH.

LAST SPEAKER, THE LAST SPEAKER IS RAPHAEL SCHWARTZ.

[00:10:06]

THANK YOU FOR THE OPPORTUNITY TO SPEAK.

I'M AN ELECTRICAL ENGINEER THAT LIVES IN D TWO, UH, WHICH HAPPENS TO BE IN ONE OF THE TWO DISTRICTS WHERE THE LIKELY, WHERE THE NEW GAS PLANS WILL END UP GETTING BUILT.

I CARE ABOUT CLIMATE CHANGE OF COURSE, BUT CLIMATE ASIDE, REALLY AT THE END OF THE, AT THE END OF THE DAY, I VIEW THIS AS AN EQUITY ISSUE FOR EAST AUSTIN.

UH, PUTTING ONE TO TWO NEW GAS PLANTS WITH ALL THAT TOXIC AIR POLLUTION RIGHT IN EAST AUSTIN IS PROBLEMATIC FOR THE HEALTH OF THE COMMUNITY ON THE EAST SIDE, UH, ESPECIALLY IN 2024 WHEN SCORES OF NEW GAS PLANTS THAT ARE, UH, DEVELOPMENT PLANS ARE GETTING SHELVED ACROSS THE COUNTRY AND ACROSS THE WORLD DUE TO EXTREME PRICE DECLINES IN GRID SCALE.

UH, BATTERY STORAGE, UH, THIS IS SIMPLY NOT NECESSARY.

BURNING HYDROGEN, UH, WE UNDERSTAND IS SIGNIFICANTLY WORSE FOR THE COMMUNITY THAN METHANE IN TERMS OF RESPIRATORY ILLNESS BECAUSE OF THE HOTTER TEMPERATURES AND WORSE POLLUTANTS THAT ARE PRODUCED.

UH, THE CITY SEEMS TO BE SETTING ITSELF UP, UH, IF THEY GO FORWARD WITH THE PLAN FOR A SPIKE IN ASTHMA AND RESPIRATORY ILLNESS FOR THE PEOPLE THAT LIVE NEAR THE PLANTS.

I'M YOUNGISH AND, UH, RELATIVELY FORTUNATE, REALLY HEALTHY.

I DID GROW UP WITH ASTHMA.

I DO STILL HAVE CHALLENGES EXERCISING DURING POOR AIR QUALITY DAYS.

SO IT'S SOMETHING THAT I THINK ABOUT REALLY MINIMAL IMPACT MY LIFE RIGHT NOW.

BUT THIS STUFF IS DEFINITELY REAL, UH, TO, TO ME AS A COMMUNITY MEMBER.

THE LAST THING I WANTED TO SAY IS IT'S JUST SORT OF, I GUESS SADDENING THE, THE CITY COUNCIL AND THE PAST EUCS DID SUCH AN AMAZING JOB ON THE AUSTIN ENERGY GOALS AND CLIMATE EQUITY GOALS.

AND, UM, IT WOULD BE UNFORTUNATE FOR THE CURRENT AUSTIN ENERGY LEADERSHIP TO GO BACKWARDS AND IGNORE SORT OF THE SPIRIT OF THIS PROGRESS WHILE MAYBE MEETING THE LETTER OF IT BY NOT EVEN CONSIDERING IN THEIR ANALYSIS THE HEALTH EFFECTS OF THE FOLKS ON THE EAST SIDE, UM, THAT ALREADY HAVE WORSE ACCESS TO HEALTHCARE AND LOWER LIFE EXPECTANCY.

THE CITY HAS SORT OF FORCED, UH, THE UTILITY TO LOOK AT CARBON FREE BY 2035, BUT IF THEY'RE NOT EVEN NOT EVEN LOOKING AT THE MASSIVE AMOUNTS OF TOXIC AIR THAT THESE NEW PLANS ARE GONNA PUT INTO THE COMMUNITY, THAT'S SORT OF AGAINST THE WHOLE POINT OF, YOU KNOW, ADDRESSING CLIMATE CHANGE.

THE WHOLE POINT AT THE END OF THE DAY IS HUMAN WELLBEING, UH, TO ME.

SO ANYWAY, THANKS FOR THE TIME AND HOPEFULLY THE COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT PROCESS CAN LEAD TO SOME BETTER IDEAS AND MAYBE MORE KNOWLEDGEABLE THIRD PARTIES THAT CAN TAKE A LOOK AT THIS WITH AN OBJECTIVE ANALYSIS.

IS APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES.

THANKS TO ALL OUR SPEAKERS.

NEXT ON THE AGENDA

[APPROVAL OF MINUTES (Part 1 of 2)]

DO I HAVE A MOTION? I HAVE ONE CHANGE.

SO IN THE DESCRIPTION OF THE WORKING GROUP, IT SAYS FOUR EUC MEMBERS AND FOUR RMC MEMBERS, BUT IT'S ACTUALLY FIVE EUC MEMBERS.

SO IF WE COULD SCRATCH OUT THE FOUR IN THAT DESCRIPTION AND PUT FIVE, I MAY HAVE MISSPOKE, BUT REMEMBER M**K WAS ADDED LATER, SO IT SHOULD SAY FIVE EUC MEMBERS AND FOUR RMC MEMBERS.

AND WITH THAT SMALL CHANGE, UH, I WOULD SECOND THAT MOTION.

SO WE HAVE A MOTION AND WE HAVE A SECOND? YEAH.

ALL IN FAVOR SAY AYE.

A AYE.

OKAY, NEXT WE HAVE DISCUSSION ITEMS TWO THROUGH 16.

I BELIEVE ANY OF THOSE WANNA BE PULLED.

CAN I ASK A QUESTION ON 12? SURE.

I HAD A FEW I WANTED TO PULL.

SURE.

UM, 2, 5, 9, AND 14.

LEMME GET THIS DOWN TO FIVE, NINE, AND 14.

YES.

HAVE A VOTE ON 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 13, 14, 15, AND 16.

ANYONE ELSE HAVE THE, ANY OF THE ONES THEY WANNA PULL? OKAY, SO THEN LET'S

[Items 3, 4, 6 - 8, 10, 11, 13, 15, & 16]

I THINK YOU SAID 14, DIDN'T YOU TALK, UH, DIDN'T I SKIP 14? I THINK SO.

NO PROBLEM ON ALL THOSE BESIDES THE ONES THAT WERE PULLED.

I'LL MOVE APPROVAL ON THOSE LISTED SECOND.

ALL IN FAVOR SAY AYE.

AYE.

I DIDN'T HEAR, BUT JONATHAN AND RAUL, COULD WE HEAR YOU? AYE, JONATHAN HIT MY HEAD.

SO LET'S HIT IT FROM THE TOP WITH TWO, WHICH IS EXECUTION OF A CONTRACT SERVICES KRAMER LANE.

AND REALLY I HAD THE SAME QUESTION ABOUT BOTH TWO AND NINE, AND I THINK I KNOW THE ANSWER, BUT I'M, I'M SORRY, CHAIR TUTTLE, DID YOU GET THE VOTES, UM, UH, FOR,

[00:15:03]

I THINK WAS UNANIMOUS.

AND THEN JUST FOR

[APPROVAL OF MINUTES (Part 2 of 2)]

THE RECORD, COULD WE GO MAKE SURE, UM, FOR THE MINUTES, JUST, JUST CONFIRMING SURE.

YOU TWO WANT TO ALSO CONFIRM YOUR APPROVAL FOR THE MINUTES ON ITEM NUMBER ONE.

[Items 2, 5, 9, 12, & 14]

TWO AND NINE.

UM, SO THESE NEW SUBSTATIONS, IT SEEMS LIKE ARE AT LEAST FROM READING DIRECTLY TIED TO NEW DEVELOPMENTS, DO THOSE DEVELOPMENTS HAVE TO PAY FOR ANY PORTION OF THESE UPGRADES? UM, DAVID, YOU WANNA COME TAKE, UM, PART OF THAT AND, UM, TWO IS A NEW SUBSTATION, THE KRAMER LANE SUBSTATION, THE, UM, OTHER ONE IS A DUCT BANK THAT'S COMING OUT OF AN EXISTING SUBSTATION TO SUPPORT THE DOWNTOWN NETWORK.

SO IT'S, IT'S A LITTLE BIT DIFFERENT.

ON NUMBER NINE, IF THAT HELPS ON TWO, SORRY.

I GUESS REGARDLESS OF EXACTLY WHAT THEY ARE, I'M WONDERING IF THE DEVELOPMENTS THAT ARE CAUSING THE NEED FOR ADDITIONAL INFRASTRUCTURE ARE PAYING FOR IT.

SURE.

SO IN REGARDS TO NUMBER TWO, THE KRAMER LANE SUBSTATION, THE, UH, VERY LARGE PORTION OF IT WILL BE REIMBURSED VIA TCOS REIMBURSEMENT.

UM, AND THAT'S ALL THE TRANSMISSION ASSETS, WHICH IS A MAKE UP A BIG PORTION OF THE SUBSTATION.

AND THAT IS, UH, FUNDED THROUGH THE, UH, PUBLIC UTILITY COMMISSION.

SO THAT'S A, A BIG CHUNK OF IT.

UH, AS FAR AS THE ACTUAL TRANSFORMER AND SWITCH GEAR TO SUPPORT THE DEVELOPMENTS IN THE AREA, THAT WOULD BE AN AE COST, BUT ALL OF THE DISTRIBUTION FROM THE SUBSTATION OUT WOULD BE, UH, ON THE, ON THE CUSTOMER.

AND WHAT ABOUT THE RAINY STREET IMPROVEMENTS? SO RAINY STREET IS, UH, SO THE RAINY STREET SUBSTATION IS ALREADY ENERGIZED AND IN PLACE.

AND SO THIS, THIS, UH, BRINGS ADDITIONAL TIES TO CONNECTED INTO THE DOWNTOWN GRID, UM, THAT PROVIDES, UH, ALTERNATIVE FEEDS RELIABILITY GROWTH, BUT ALSO, UM, YOU KNOW, WE HAVE A FUTURE PROJECT, THE, UH, BRACKEN RIDGE SUBSTATION REBUILD.

AND SO THAT, UM, WHEN THAT HAPPENS, WE'RE GONNA HAVE TO TAKE THAT DOWN.

AND SO THIS SETS UP THE TABLE FOR THAT SO THAT WE CAN TURN AROUND AND, AND, YOU KNOW, DON'T HAVE ANY RELIABILITY, UH, OR, OR SERVING CONCERNS.

AND DID THE DEVELOPMENTS PAY FOR ANY PORTION OF THAT? UH, NO MA'AM.

NOT THAT, NOT THAT PARTICULAR ONE, BUT ALL OF THE, LIKE, CABLING AND SO FORTH THAT WOULD GO IN IT, UH, UH, FOR THEIR NEEDS, THEY WOULD HAVE TO PAY FOR THAT COMPONENT OF IT.

AND THIS, THESE DUCK BANKS WOULD SERVE A, UH, MANY CUSTOMERS, NOT JUST, YOU KNOW, UM, NOT JUST THE NEW CUSTOMERS.

YES, MA'AM.

OTHER QUESTIONS ON TWO? OKAY, THE NEXT ONE YOU HAD A QUESTION ON WAS FIVE.

YEAH, I, IT JUST SEEMED REALLY VAGUE.

I WAS JUST WONDERING WHAT THE EQUIPMENT WAS.

GOOD EVENING, JACK BORSCH, I'M BACK TO BEING A DIRECTOR OF GENERATION.

UM, SO THE EQUIPMENT IS FOR MAN LIFTS, FORKLIFTS, UM, HEAVY EQUIPMENT THAT WE WOULD USE AT THE PLANTS AND AT DIFFERENT SITES, BUT WE DON'T WANNA INVEST THE CAPITAL FULL-TIME INTO THE, INTO THE PROJECT, INTO THE EQUIPMENT.

SO THESE ARE FOR SHORT TERM RENTALS.

AND AS A, ON AN AS NEEDED BASIS, IS THIS A NORMAL AMOUNT? IT SEEMS LIKE A LOT FOR SHORT TERM RENTALS OF A FORKLIFT.

IT'S, IT'S OVER, IT'S OVER A FEW YEARS.

UM, AND IT'S ALSO BETWEEN DISTRICT COOLING AND THE GENERATION.

YOU HAD A QUESTION ON NUMBER NINE.

IS THAT GOING TO THE PROJECTS? YEAH, GOOD EVENING.

WE'RE SET ON THAT.

AND THEN CYRUS, YOU HAD A QUESTION ON 12? YES.

I DON'T KNOW IF ANYONE, OKAY.

SO WHAT I'M TRYING TO UNDERSTAND IS THE $90,000 THAT WE'D BE APPROVING IS WHO IS THAT $90,000 GOING TO? IS THAT GOING TO TCE OR

[00:20:01]

UH, RICHARD GENESEE, VICE PRESIDENT OF CUSTOMER ENERGY SOLUTIONS, THAT $90,000 IS MADE UP OF 25,000, 2,500, WHICH IS OUR NORMAL, UH, INCENTIVE FOR SOLAR PROJECTS, PLUS AN ADDITIONAL 6,000 TO MAKE UP 9,000 FOR 10 SEPARATE PROJECTS.

TO DO A PROOF AND CONCEPT FOR USING LIHEAP FUNDS FOR SOLAR PROJECTS.

SO THAT'S MY SECOND QUESTION.

SO AS, AS I REMEMBER, LIHEAP FEDERAL, UH, FEDERAL PROGRAM THAT'S ALLOCATED TO T-D-H-C-A, WHICH THEN DISTRIBUTES IT TO DIFFERENT PEOPLE, AND HERE IN THIS AREA, DO THEY DISTRIBUTE IT TO CITY OF AUSTIN OR TRAVIS COUNTY? OR HOW DOES IT, HOW DOES IT GET TO WHERE IT'S GOING? WELL, I, YEAH, WHY DON'T WE CALL UP TIM? YEAH.

MY UNDERSTANDING IS THAT IT'S JUST NEVER BEEN USED FOR THESE SOLAR PROJECTS BEFORE.

RIGHT.

SO I'M NOT SURE I'M ANSWERING THAT PART OF THE QUESTION, BUT I THINK THIS, THIS TEST IS TO TRY THAT, UH, SYSTEM OUT, BUT I'LL LET TIM ANSWER MORE.

SO I THINK IT GOES TO THE COUNTY RIGHT NOW AND THEN, UM, I THINK, BUT YOU WOULD HAVE AN AGREEMENT WITH THE COUNTY TO USE THAT AND, AND YEAH.

AND SO CURRENTLY IT'S NOT USED FOR SOLAR, RIGHT? THIS, THIS WOULD BE, UM, TO TRY TO CAPTURE THE UNUSED FUNDS AND USE THEM FOR SOLAR IN THE FUTURE.

RIGHT.

AND SO THIS IS TO PROVE OUT THE CONCEPT WITH, ACCORDING TO THE WAY DOE WANTS TO SEE IT PROVED OUT, UM, TO MAKE SURE THAT IT HAS A, YOU KNOW, NET POSITIVE BENEFIT.

BUT T-D-H-C-A HAS APPROVED THE USE OF THIS LITTLE BIT OF THE MONEY FOR SOLAR.

LIKE IT'S BEEN, I DON'T KNOW IF THAT'S HAPPENED SPECIFICALLY .

UM, AND YEAH, SO I'VE, I'VE BEEN WORKING WITH PETE PARSONS AT TEXAS.

RIGHT.

SO I CAN, UH, ASK HER, I KNOW SPECIFICALLY, I KNOW THEY'VE CONVERSING WITH TDHC, I JUST WANTED TO MAKE SURE WE DIDN'T APPROVE SOMETHING THAT THEN TDHC SAYS, YOU CAN'T USE IT THAT WAY, OR, I WANTED TO MAKE SURE EVERYONE WAS, WE CAN VOTE FOR IT.

IT'S OKAY.

I JUST WANTED TO MAKE SURE THAT THOSE CONVERSATIONS AND I'LL, I'LL FOLLOW UP WITH PETE AND SEE, UM, WHAT SHE HAS TO SAY AND THEN I'LL, I'LL DELIVER THAT BACK TO YOU.

ALRIGHT, LET ME, UH, RELATED, UH, THESE ARE ALL SINGLE FAMILY RESIDENCES THAT, UH, A HOMEOWNER RESIDENCES, SINGLE FAMILY LOW INCOME, AND, AND THEY WILL USE WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT FOR THESE 10 PROJECTS AS WELL.

AND, AND THESE ARE, UH, OWNER OCCUPIED.

THAT'S MY UNDERSTANDING.

YES.

ANY MORE QUESTIONS? YEAH, I WOULD, I'M HAPPY TO MAKE A MOTION TO APPROVE THAT ONE.

HOW ABOUT IF WE JUST GO THROUGH ALL OF THEM? SURE.

14, YOU HAD A QUESTION ON THAT? OH, I WAS JUST, I DIDN'T HEAR THAT WHEN YOU TOLD, I THOUGHT WE APPROVED THAT ONE.

MY APOLOGIES.

YES, TAMMY COOPER.

I WAS JUST WONDERING LIKE, IS THIS, ARE THESE THE ONLY ASSOCIATIONS THAT Y'ALL ARE PART OF OR ARE THESE JUST THE ONES THAT ARE COMING DUE RIGHT NOW? OR WHAT IS, WHAT'S THE LIST OF THREE? SO I MEAN, THESE, THESE ARE THE PRIMARY SORT OF TRADE ASSOCIATIONS SPECIFICALLY RELATED, UM, TO MUNICIPAL POWER THAT WE ARE MEMBERS OF.

YOU KNOW, THERE ARE OTHER KIND OF TRADE ASSOCIATIONS, UH, THAT WE HAVE MEMBERSHIPS WITH, BUT THESE ARE THE PRIMARY ONES.

TPPA, LPPC, AND A PPA.

SO IF I COULD ASK MM-HMM, , UH, DOES AUSTIN ENERGY OR THE CITY NOT PAY FOR, UH, PROFESSIONAL DUES FOR ALL THE ENGINEERS, ALL THE LAWYERS, ET CETERA? WELL, , UM, MY UNDERSTANDING, UH, IS THAT THERE, THAT CERTAIN INDIVIDUALS ARE REIMBURSED FOR THEIR PROFESSIONAL DUES, BUT THAT'S COMPLETELY SEPARATE FROM THIS.

THESE ARE, THESE ARE AUSTIN ENERGY'S MEMBERSHIPS WITH THESE, UM, TRADE ASSOCIATIONS.

THEY'RE NOT NECESSARILY RELATED TO A PROFESSIONAL SERVICE LIKE ENGINEERING OR LEGAL SERVICES.

SO FOR EXAMPLE, TEXAS PUBLIC POWER ASSOCIATION CONSISTS OF THE 72 MUNICIPALLY OWNED UTILITIES.

AND, UM, YOU KNOW, THEY PROVIDE US WITH ADVOCACY SUPPORT, WRITING COMMENTS AT THE PUC, WE ACTUALLY GET A LOT OF VALUE FOR THE MONEY, UM, THAT, THAT WE SPEND.

AND SAME FOR LPPC, THE LARGEST 28, UM, LARGE PUBLIC POWERS, UH, IN THE COUNTRY.

AGAIN, YOU KNOW, ADVOCACY WORK WITH EPA, UM, OTHER ORGANIZATIONS, SAME WITH A PPA, JUST ON A LARGER SCALE, THEIR WORK IS A BARGAIN.

IT IS.

WHEN, YOU KNOW, LIKE THE AMERICAN PUBLIC POWER ASSOCIATION TENDS TO BE PRETTY RISK AVERSE AND MAYBE LESS, UM, LESS IN FAVOR OF, SAY, REGULATION THAN MAYBE AUSTIN ENERGY.

AND I'LL JUST SAY HAVING AS A VETERAN OF THE LEGISLATURE, I THINK AUSTIN ENERGY, HAVING TEXAS PUBLIC POWER ASSOCIATION THERE TO IN GENERAL SUPPORT YOU GUYS IS VERY HELPFUL.

I'LL, YOU DON'T HAVE TO ANSWER THAT.

I THINK THAT'S VERY HELPFUL.

I APPRECIATE YOUR COMMENT THOUGH.

UM, WHAT, WHAT DOES HAPPEN THOUGH, LIKE THERE ARE TIMES

[00:25:01]

AND THE, AND YOUR BOARD OF DIRECTORS MIGHT BE WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU HAVE THOSE CONFLICTS? ARE YOU STILL ABLE TO MAKE YOUR KIND OF VOICE HEARD WITHIN THAT? SO, YOU KNOW, GENERALLY THOSE OR ORGANIZATIONS WILL WORK MORE ON A CONSENSUS BASIS.

THEY DON'T REPRESENT THAN A MAJORITY OF, OF THE MEMBERS ADVOCATE.

AND THAT'S WHY WE ALSO HAVE MEMBERSHIPS IN OTHER TYPES OF ORGANIZATIONS, UM, YOU KNOW, SUCH AS THE BUSINESS COUNCIL FOR SUSTAINABLE ENERGY.

UM, UH, YES, OBVIOUSLY OTHER ORGANIZATIONS LIKE THAT.

AND IT'S IMPORTANT TO REMEMBER TOO, WITH A PPA, IT'S MORE THAN JUST ADVOCACY THAT WE GET, YOU KNOW, WE GET, UH, YOU KNOW, BENEFITS FROM TRAINING, UM, YOU KNOW, MUTUAL AID ASSISTANCE, A LOT OF THE OTHER EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES, YOU KNOW, THEY OFFER COURSES IN RATE MAKING, YOU KNOW, ALL OF THESE THINGS THAT ARE DONE ON A LARGE SCALE AND KIND OF NATIONALLY GIVE US, GIVE US A LOT OF ADVANTAGE.

SO, YOU KNOW, SOMETIMES IT'S HARD, OBVIOUSLY WITH, WITH THE HUNDREDS OF MEMBERS THAT A PPA HAS, YOU KNOW, IT'S NOT GONNA NECESSARILY BE THAT EVERY WORD AND EVERY COMMENT'S GONNA BE SOMETHING THAT, THAT AUSTIN ENERGY SUPPORTS, BUT THEY, THEY REPRESENT THAT IT'S ON A CONSISTS BASIS.

AND THEN WE HAVE MORE SPECIFIC OTHER GROUPS THAT WE'RE PART OF.

I'M MORE CURIOUS ABOUT THE LARGE PUBLIC POWER COUNCIL.

MM-HMM.

DOES THAT, UM, DOES THAT ENTITY GENERALLY ADVOCATE AGAINST, YOU KNOW, NEW REGULATIONS OR, UM, YOU KNOW, THINGS LIKE REDUCING AIR POLLUTION LIMITS, YOU KNOW, JUST CURIOUS WHERE, WHERE THAT GROUP GENERALLY FALLS.

WHEN I SEE 25 OF THE NATION'S LARGEST UTILITIES, I WOULD EXPECT THAT TO BE A GROUP THAT WOULD BE OPPOSED TO ENVIRONMENTAL REGULATIONS.

IS THAT, I, I DON'T THINK THAT'S ACCURATE.

NO.

I MEAN, WHEN YOU START TALKING ABOUT SOME OF THE LARGEST PUBLIC POWER, UH, UTILITIES, OBVIOUSLY AUSTIN ENERGY IS ONE OF THEM.

YOU'VE GOT, UM, LOS ANGELES, UH, YOU'VE GOT SACRAMENTO MUNICIPAL UTILITY DISTRICT, UM, YOU'VE GOT A LOT, SEVERAL OF THE NEW YORK PUBLIC POWER.

AND SO, YOU KNOW, I THINK THAT OVERALL, UM, THAT GROUP ADVOCATES, UH, FOR, UM, YOU KNOW, SUPPORT OF CERTAIN REGULATIONS, YOU KNOW, TO THE EXTENT THEY'RE TECHNICALLY FEASIBLE AND TO THE EXTENT, UM, THEY'RE CONSISTENT WITH WHAT THE MEMBERSHIP, UH, IS MOVING TOWARDS.

AND I WOULD SAY GENERALLY SPEAKING, UH, A LOT OF THOSE UTILITIES THAT ARE LPPC MEMBERS, UM, HAVE A CARBON GOALS.

A LOT OF THE COLORADO UTILITIES AS, EXCUSE ME, CARBON FREE GOALS, A LOT OF THE COLORADO UTILITIES HAVE THOSE AS WELL.

APPRECIATE IT.

ANY MORE DISCUSSION ON 2, 5, 9, 12, AND 14? OKAY.

SO DO WE HAVE A MOTION? SO MOVED.

SECOND.

ARE YOU MOVING ON THEM ALL? YEAH, WE MOVE ON THEM.

YEAH, I'M MOVING ON.

SUPPORTING THEM ALL.

DO YOU NOT WANNA DO THEM ALL? I'M NOT GONNA VOTE FOR THEM ALL AT ONCE.

WHICH ONE DO YOU WANNA BREAK OUT? UM, I GUESS NINE AND FIVE.

WE'LL DO IT SEPARATELY THEN.

HOW ABOUT WE DO TWO 12 AND 14, AND THEN WE'LL TAKE A VOTE ON FIVE AND NINE.

ALRIGHT.

I MOVE TWO 12 AND 14.

APPROVAL SECOND.

ALL IN FAVOR? TWO 14 AND 12 SAY AYE.

NOW LET'S TALK ABOUT FIVE AND NINE.

DO YOU HAVE SEPARATE VOTES ON THOSE OR DO YOU WANT TO I'M GONNA, I'M GONNA ABSTAIN ON BOTH OF THOSE.

SO LET'S VOTE ON FIVE AND NINE.

DO I HAVE A MOTION? SO MOVE SECOND.

I'LL SECOND.

OKAY, THANK YOU.

THOSE IN FAVOR? FIVE AND NINE SAY AYE.

AYE.

WE HAVE, AYE.

WE HAVE TWO ONLINE AND AN ABSTENTION ON FIVE AND NINE.

THE FIRST QUARTER FINANCIAL REPORT, AND THEN 19 IS THE FIRST QUARTER OPERATIONS REPORT.

OKAY, LET'S MOVE ON NOW, N 19 JUST FOR THE FLOW OF THE MEETING AND MOVE THOSE UP.

AND 18 IS

[18. Staff briefing on the First Quarter Financial Report by Stephanie Koudelka, Finance Director. ]

SO WHY DON'T WE DO THOSE NOW? , NO FINANCIALS.

HI, GOOD

[00:30:01]

EVENING.

I'M STEPHANIE KALKA.

I'M DIRECTOR OF FINANCE FOR AUSTIN ENERGY.

I'M PRESENTING TO YOU THIS EVENING OUR FIRST QUARTER RESULTS FOR FY 2024.

THESE RESULTS ARE VERY PRELIMINARY AND UNAUDITED, UM, FOR, UH, THE FIRST QUARTER.

WE HAVE A STANDARD AGENDA THIS EVENING FOR THE FINANCIAL REPORT.

I'LL RUN THROUGH A SUMMARY OF OUR FINANCIAL RESULTS AS WELL AS OUR, UM, BENCHMARKS THAT WE LOOK OUT FOR OUR AA BOND RATING.

I'LL QUICKLY RUN THROUGH OUR BUDGET TO ACTUAL STATEMENTS AS WELL AS SOME GAP BASED FINANCIALS.

AND I HAVE A COUPLE OF SLIDES FOR YOU THIS EVENING ON, UH, RATING ACTION PERFORMED AND CONDUCTED BY MOODY'S INVESTOR SERVICE THE FIRST QUARTER.

NEXT SLIDE FOR THE EXECUTIVE SUMMARY THROUGH THE FIRST QUARTER, UM, OUR OPERATING REVENUE, INCLUDING TRANSFERS ARE 9% UNDER BUDGET.

THAT'S MOSTLY DUE TO, UH, LOWER ORCO MARKET PRICES THIS QUARTER.

UM, THAT WAS SOMEWHAT OFFSET BY, UM, BASE REVENUE, WHICH WE HAD A LITTLE BIT OVER IN USAGE, WHICH CAUSED ABOUT A $2 MILLION OVERAGE, AND WE HAD ADDITIONAL INTEREST EARNED FOR THE QUARTER.

ON THE EXPENSE SIDE, WE WERE ABOUT THE SAME AMOUNT UNDER 8%, AND THAT'S MOSTLY DUE TO THOSE LOWER MARKET PRICES THAT WE SAW THE IN THE FIRST QUARTER ON OUR FINANCIAL POLICIES.

WE HAVE FULL COMPLIANCE IN OUR DEBT AND OPERATING POLICIES.

UM, CASH AND RESERVES WE'RE SITTING AT 459 MILLION VERSUS, UM, A NEW POLICY MINIMUM FOR FY 24 OF 569 MILLION.

UM, THAT IS A HUNDRED AND, UH, 50 DAYS CASH ON HAND.

UM, THE INCREASE OF THAT MINIMUM IS JUST DUE TO INCREASED COSTS THAT WE SEE IN OUR BUDGET FROM, UH, THE FISCAL YEAR 23 TO 24.

UM, WE HAVE SEEN SOME UPTICK IN OUR CASH AND RESERVES.

WHEN I PRESENTED TO YOU LAST QUARTER, UM, WE WERE AT, UM, ABOUT, UH, 97 DAYS CASH ON HAND.

WE'RE SITTING AT 112 RIGHT NOW.

UM, MOST OF THAT UPTICK IS DUE TO RECOVERY OF POWER SUPPLY COSTS.

UM, WE'VE SEEN ABOUT 50 MILLION OF RECOVERY.

WE'VE MADE SOME PROGRESS THERE, BUT AS YOU CAN SEE FROM THE SLIDE, WE'RE STILL SITTING AT 64 MILLION UNDER RECOVERED AS OF THE END OF DECEMBER.

THESE ARE, UH, THE FOUR METRICS THAT WE KIND OF BENCHMARK OURSELVES AGAINST.

UH, OTHER AA RATED, UH, PUBLIC POWER UTILITIES.

UM, OUR BOND RATING MEASURE IS THROUGH S AND P.

UM, AS I JUST MENTIONED, OUR DAYS CASH ON HAND, WE'RE SITTING AT 112 DAYS.

UM, AGAIN, THAT'S, UM, IMPROVED.

UM, ALTHOUGH WE'RE STILL UNDER OUR TARGET OF 150 DAYS.

UM, THE PSA RECOVERY HAS REALLY HELPED OUR CASH POSITION AND LIQUIDITY POSITION.

UM, BUT AGAIN, WE'RE, WE'RE STILL UNDER THAT MINIMUM SET PER FINANCIAL POLICY, OUR COVERAGE RATIO AND OUR OPERATING MARGIN, UM, WE'RE STILL UNDER OUR MINIMUMS, BUT WE'VE MADE SOME HEADWAY THERE TOO.

UM, MOST OF THE, THE BENEFIT THAT WE'RE SEEING IN THOSE TWO METRICS IS DUE TO BASE RATE INCREASES, UM, THAT WERE IMPLEMENTED IN 23 AND 24 AND OUR DEBT TO CAPITALIZATION.

WE HAVEN'T SEEN MUCH MOVEMENT THERE.

UM, IN PRIOR QUARTERS, WE'RE SITTING AT 55%.

UH, THIS SLIDE IS A, UM, HIGH LEVEL OVERVIEW OF OUR BUDGET RESULTS.

A FUND SUMMARY IS MOSTLY ON A CASH BASIS.

I HAVE HIGHLIGHTED THAT WE'RE PRETTY MUCH ON TARGET THROUGH THE FIRST QUARTER.

UM, IT'S NOT UNUSUAL FOR US TO BUDGET A DEFICIENCY FOR THE FIRST QUARTER, JUST GIVING THE TIMING OF, OF OUR OPERATIONS AND, AND REVENUE THAT WE SEE.

UM, SO NOT MUCH TO MENTION HERE.

UM, AGAIN, I'LL JUST POINT OUT THAT OPERATING REVENUES AND EXPENSES SEE THOSE FLUXES DUE TO POWER SUPPLY COSTS.

THIS SLIDE IS A BREAKDOWN OF THE PRIOR SLIDE, JUST GIVING YOU A BETTER LOOK AT REVENUE KIND OF BY THE CATEGORIES OR BUCKETS THAT WE, UM, PRESENT ON.

UM, AGAIN, THE POWER SUPPLY HAS GOT THE MOST VARIANCE THAT'S DUE TO THOSE, UM, POWER PRICES WE SAW IN THE FIRST QUARTER.

UM, AGAIN, BASE IS A LITTLE BIT OVER IN THAT FIRST, UM, SECTION ON THE GRAPH, UM, THAT TRANSLATES INTO $2 MILLION OR 1% OVER IN USAGE.

UM, THIS IS EXPENSES FROM THAT SAME KIND OF HIGH LEVEL ROLL UP.

UM, AGAIN, THE BIGGEST KIND OF THING TO MENTION HERE IS JUST POWER SUPPLY.

WHEN POWER SUPPLY COSTS ARE UNDER BUDGET, THAT ALSO TRANSLATES INTO AN UNDER BUDGET ON REVENUE.

SO THAT'S WHY YOU'RE SEEING THAT IN BOTH, BOTH OF THESE SLIDES.

BUDGET VERSUS ACTUAL COST.

THIS IS THE TYPICAL SLIDE THAT WE SHOW YOU EVERY QUARTER ON OUR POWER SUPPLY ADJUSTMENT.

THIS IS, UM, JUST A DEPICTION OF

[00:35:01]

AND SO THE GOLD AND GRAY ARE FIRST QUARTER, UM, BUDGET TO ACTUAL RESULTS.

AND THE BLUE LINE REPRESENTS, UM, THE BUILD REVENUE THAT WE RECEIVE EACH MONTH.

AND SO INTENTIONALLY THAT BLUE LINE SHOULD BE OVER THE GOLD.

WE'RE, WE'RE WORKING TO OVER RECOVER COSTS TO MAKE UP FOR THAT RATHER LARGE UNDER RECOVERY THAT WE WERE SITTING AT.

UM, AGAIN, WE'RE AT 64 MILLION AS OF THE END OF DECEMBER ON OUR UNDER RECOVER BALANCE.

CAN SORRY, CAN YOU REMIND US ONE ONCE AGAIN WHAT THE MAXIMUM UNDER RECOVERY WAS BEFORE WE GOT TO 64 MILLION? WE STARTED THE FISCAL YEAR AT 115 MILLION UNDER.

AND EXCUSE ME, DO YOU ANTICIPATE, UH, ANY TIME SOON? ANOTHER INCREASE IN THE PSA? WE JUST ISSUED OUR RESULTS FOR JANUARY, SO WE'RE WORKING THROUGH THAT.

BUT LIKE WE LIKELY WE'D NEED TO, TO CONTINUE MAKING UP HEADWAY AND, AND POSITIONING OURSELVES IN A GOOD SPOT BEFORE THE SUMMER.

UM, QUICK QUESTION.

MM-HMM, .

SO WITH POWER PRICES BEING LOWER, IS THAT A REFLECTION OF, AND MAYBE MICHAEL HAS TO ANSWER THIS, BUT LOWER CONGESTION SITUATIONS AND FEWER CIRCUMSTANCES OR NUMBER OF HOURS WITH THIS LOAD ZONE PRICE SEPARATION? CERTAINLY MICHAEL COULD GO INTO MORE DETAIL ON WHAT THE, THE MARKET HAS DONE, BUT AS FAR AS THE FLUX BETWEEN WHAT THE, THE BUDGET IS TELLING US IS REALLY JUST THAT WE'VE, WE'VE EMBEDDED ENOUGH IN THE BUDGET FOR THE VOLATILITY IN THE MARKET.

SO FOR INSTANCE, LAST DECEMBER, WE HAD SOME PRETTY HEAVY PRICES IN DECEMBER 22.

SO THAT IS REFLECTED SOMEWHAT IN OUR BUDGET FOR FY 24.

AND, AND MOST OF WHAT YOU'RE SEEING RIGHT NOW IS LIKELY TIMING.

IF IT DOES PAN OUT THAT WE HAVE A GOOD YEAR AND WE'RE UNDER, CERTAINLY THAT WOULD BE REFLECTED IN THE RECOVERY BALANCE AS WELL.

I DON'T KNOW, I MEAN, CAN YOU ANSWER THAT REAL QUICK? WHERE'S MICHAEL? HI, MIKE LANGER, VICE PRESIDENT MARKET OPERATIONS AND RESOURCE PLANNING.

UH, YES.

IF YOU LOOK AT, UH, THE OCTOBER, NOVEMBER, DECEMBER TIME PERIOD, WE SAW VERY MODERATE LOADS IN OUR CO RELATIVE TO WHAT WE SAW THE VERY LAST DECEMBER.

WE SAW VERY GOOD RENEWABLES AS RENEWABLES CONTINUE TO GROW.

AND WE'VE SEEN MANY INSTANCES WHERE THE POWER PRICE IN ERCOT GOES TO ZERO.

SO WE'VE BEEN SEEING THAT QUITE A BIT LATELY.

AND WHAT ABOUT TRANSMISSION? ARE THEY CATCHING UP ON TRANSMISSION WHERE THERE'S LESS CONGESTION COST? WITH ALL OF THAT, I WOULD SAY WE'RE STILL SEEING QUITE A BIT OF CONGESTION.

WE SAW THOUSANDS OF MEGAWATTS OR TAILED IN THE ERCOT MARKET YESTERDAY.

WE HAD FIVE OF OUR WIND FARMS CURTAILED TODAY AT ONE POINT.

I WOULD SAY THAT WHEN YOU HAVE LOWER OVERALL PRICING IN THE MARKET, THOUGH CONGESTION TENDS TO BE LOWER BECAUSE THE SPREAD BETWEEN THE TWO AREAS IS SMALLER THAN IT WOULD BE IF THE PRICES WERE MUCH HIGHER.

OKAY, WE'LL MOVE ON TO THE CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PLAN.

UM, WE ARE ON TARGET FOR SPEND.

UM, WE HAVE SPENT 25% OF OUR BUDGET FOR THE FISCAL YEAR.

UM, THE BUDGET FOR 24 IS 263 MILLION.

WE DO HAVE SOME UNDER AND OVER IN DIFFERENT CATEGORIES, BUT OVERALL WE'RE ON TRACK FOR CIP.

THE CHART ON THE RIGHT SHOWS YOU HOW WE PAY FOR THOSE ASSETS.

WE'RE RIGHT ON TARGET OR A LITTLE BIT OVER, BUT OUR TARGET IS 50 50 FOR CASH AND DEBT FUNDING.

UM, WE HAVE 50%, 53%, EXCUSE ME, DEBT FUNDED FOR THE QUARTER.

UM, AND 15% OF CON OF THAT FUNDING COMES FROM CONTRIBUTIONS FROM OUR CUSTOMERS, WHICH TRANSLATES TO ABOUT 9 MILLION FOR THE FIRST QUARTER.

SO THE NEXT TWO SLIDES ARE OUR GAP BASED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS.

SO THIS IS, UH, THE PERFORMANCE OF THE UTILITY FROM THE INCOME STATEMENT.

UM, I REALLY JUST WANNA POINT OUT HERE THAT THIS IS PROBABLY THE FIRST QUARTER THAT I'VE PRESENTED THAT THE UTILITY HAS, UM, NET INCOME ON A QUARTERLY BASIS.

SO I'M HAPPY TO PRESENT THAT TO YOU.

UM, THE MAIN DRIVER OF THAT IS REALLY THOSE BASE RATE INCREASES THAT WE'VE PUT IN IN 23 AND 24.

UM, AND LAST YEAR'S THREE MONTH ENDED, UM, THAT 5% BASE RATE, UH, REVENUE INCREASE WAS NOT REFLECTED, UM, YET.

AND SO WE'RE REALLY SEEING, UM, IMPROVEMENT FROM THOSE INCREASES FOR NUMBER OF CUSTOMERS AND SALES.

UM, THOSE HAD A SIMILAR YEAR OVER YEAR CHANGE OF 2%, WHICH IS NOT ALWAYS TYPICAL AND WE LIKELY SEE A LITTLE BIT LESS IN SALES, BUT, UM, WE HAD SOME PRETTY WARM WEATHER IN OCTOBER, SO THAT, UM, 2% CHANGE IN SALES IS WEATHER DRIVEN.

UH, FROM THE BALANCE SHEET, I JUST WANTED TO MENTION TO YOU, OUR OPERATING RESERVES ARE STILL UNDER LAST YEAR.

[00:40:01]

UM, THAT CHANGE A YEAR OVER YEARS IS DUE TO US HAVING TO MOVE FUNDS FROM OUR POWER SUPPLY RESERVE INTO OUR OPERATING, UM, WORKING CAPITAL.

AND THAT WAS DUE TO THE EXPENSIVE MARKET THAT WE HAD LAST SUMMER.

AND SO THAT TRANSLATES INTO THE CHART ON THE RIGHT.

UM, JUST TO GIVE YOU KIND OF AN IDEA, THESE ARE EACH OF THE, THE BUCKETS THAT OUR CASH AND RESERVES ARE SITTING IN.

UM, AT DECEMBER, 2023.

THE TOTAL SUM OF ALL OF THE ACTUALS, WHICH IS IN BLUE, IS 459 MILLION, AGAIN AGAINST THAT TARGET FOR 24, WHICH IS 569 MILLION.

SO I HAVE A COUPLE OF SLIDES FOR YOU TODAY.

I JUST WANTED TO KINDA START WITH OUR CREDIT RATINGS AS A WHOLE AND THE THREE RATING AGENCIES THAT WE WORK WITH.

UM, I'VE GIVEN YOU KIND OF JUST THE RANGE OF THE RATINGS AND WHERE AUSTIN ENERGY SITS IN THAT RANGE, UM, FROM HIGH YIELD OR JUNK BONDS TO INVESTMENT GRADE.

AND ALL THREE RATING AGENCIES HAVE RATED OUR BONDS INVESTMENT GRADE AND I'VE GIVEN YOU EACH OF THE RATINGS THAT THEY HAVE, UM, PRESENTED US WITH AS WELL AS THE OUTLOOK.

AND TODAY, UM, I'LL GIVE JUST A LITTLE BIT OF AN OVERVIEW ON AN UPDATE THAT WE RECEIVED FROM MOODY'S, UM, IN THE FIRST QUARTER.

SO WAS THERE ANY CHANGE? HAS IT BEEN STABLE FOR A WHILE? BECAUSE AFTER YURI, I THOUGHT IT WAS ON WATCH OR THERE WAS SOME OTHER TERM.

SO, UM, TWO OF THESE RATING AGENCIES ACTUALLY DOWNGRADED THE UTILITY IN 2022.

UM, THAT WAS, UM, DUE TO REALLY TWO THINGS.

SO THEY CAME IN AND DID A REVIEW POST URI BECAUSE OF THE RISK IN THE MARKET.

SO, UM, A LOT OF PUBLIC POWER UTILITIES SAW DOWNGRADES AROUND THAT TIME.

OURS WASN'T DIRECTLY TIED TO THAT, BUT THERE WAS RISK THERE FOR US.

UM, IT WAS REALLY DUE TO OUR METRICS THAT WERE SHOWING DECLINE, UM, THAT RESULTED IN THOSE DOWNGRADES.

SO WE WERE SITTING AT AA FOR FITCH AND S AND P BEFORE THAT POINT.

SO, UM, JUST TO GIVE YOU KIND OF A HIGH LEVEL SUMMARY, UM, MOODY'S CONDUCTED A STANDARD PORTFOLIO REVIEW OF AUSTIN ENERGY.

UM, AND THAT WAS DONE IN DECEMBER OF 2023.

WHAT THEY FOUND, UM, DURING THE REVIEW WAS THAT WE HAD WEAKENED LIQUIDITY METRICS, UM, ESPECIALLY GIVEN THE, THE VOLATILITY IN THE MARKET AND THE POSITION THAT WE WERE IN AN UNDERCOVERED POWER SUPPLY COST.

UM, SO THE LAST INFORMATION THEY HAD FROM AUSTIN ENERGY WAS WHEN WE WENT TO THE BOND MARKET, AND THAT WAS, UM, IN THE MAY, 2023 TIMEFRAME.

AND SO WHAT THEY WERE REALLY LOOKING FOR WAS TO SEE IF WE WERE ABLE TO MEET TARGETS THAT WE PRESENTED TO THEM AT THAT TIME.

UM, WHAT THEY FOUND WAS, AGAIN, THAT OUR, UH, METRICS HAD BEEN A KIND OF DECLINING SINCE THEN.

AND SO SOME OF THE INPUTS AND ASSUMPTIONS THAT WERE USED, UM, AFTER, YOU KNOW, DISCUSSION WITH MOODY'S, UM, THEY SAW THAT OUR CASH BALANCES WERE LOW FOR OUR CURRENT RATING LEVEL.

UM, AND ALSO SOME OF THE INPUTS AND ASSUMPTIONS THAT THEY USED WHEN THEY DID THE FULL REVIEW, UM, WAS THAT WE'D HAVE BASE RATE INCREASES, UM, IN EACH YEAR IN THE FIVE YEAR FORECAST.

AND THEY'RE ASSUMING THAT WE'RE GONNA HAVE CONTINUED TIMELY RECOVERY OF OUR POWER SUPPLY COST.

UM, THE RESULT AFTER A MEETING WITH AUSTIN ENERGY WAS THAT, UM, GOOD NEWS, THEY AFFIRMED OUR AA THREE RATING AND THEY GAVE US A STABLE OUTLOOK.

UM, AND THAT'S KIND OF COMES WITH CONTINGENT OF THAT WE CAN MEET OUR FORECAST OF, UM, GETTING OUR CASH AND, UM, COVERAGE AT BACK UP TO HEALTHY LEVELS.

UM, SO WHAT, I'M SORRY, ONE QUICK QUESTION ONE MORE TIME.

THE BEST IS TRIPLE A, RIGHT? AND THEN IT DE DEPENDS ON THE, UH, RATING AGENCY, BUT ON THE PRIOR SLIDE IT SHOWS YOU WHAT THE HIGHEST CREDIT QUALITY IS.

UM, AND IT'S AAA FOR FITCH AND S AND P.

THE UPSIDE, OUR GOOD NEWS IS IF WE CAN CONTINUE TO KEEP OUR RATES COMPETITIVE AND SUSTAIN THOSE COVERAGE AND LIQUIDITY LEVELS, UM, WE COULD BE ELIGIBLE FOR AN UPGRADE.

AND SO AA THREE IS BELOW THAT, BUT IT'S STILL, MOODY SCALE IS SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT, BUT WE'RE IN, IN THE SAME RANGE OKAY.

BETWEEN THE THREE.

OKAY, THANKS.

SO JUST TO RUN THROUGH WITH YOU, UM, KIND OF WHAT THEY STATED IN THEIR, UM, MEDIA RELEASE CAN CHANGE FOR THE UTILITY, UM, THAT REALLY JUST THAT, THAT OUTLOOK DEPENDS ON A COUPLE THINGS.

SO AS LONG AS OUR, OUR RATE INCREASES ARE NOT LAGGING, UM, AND THAT WOULD CAUSE A DOWNSIDE SCENARIO OR POTENTIAL DOWNGRADE TO OUR RATING, UM, AS WELL AS CONTINUED DECLINING FINANCIAL METRICS, ESPECIALLY IN THE AREA OF LIQUIDITY AND DEBT SERVICE COVERAGE.

AND, UM, ON

[00:45:01]

AND THAT'S ALL I HAVE FOR OUR FINANCIAL PRESENTATION.

ANY MORE QUESTIONS? ANY QUESTIONS FROM ONLINE? JONATHAN RAUL? NO QUESTIONS.

OKAY, THANK YOU.

NEXT IS

[19. Staff briefing on the First Quarter Operations Report by S Lisa Martin, Deputy General Manager and Chief Operating Officer. ]

FIRST QUARTER OPERATING REPORT.

GOOD EVENING COMMISSION.

LISA MARTIN, CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER OF AUSTIN ENERGY HERE TONIGHT.

PLEASED TO PRE PRESENT THE FY 24 Q1 QUARTERLY, UH, OPERATIONS QUARTERLY UPDATE.

THIS IS COVERING OCTOBER, NOVEMBER, AND DECEMBER OF 2023.

NEXT SLIDE PLEASE.

YOU'LL SEE THE STANDARD AGENDA HERE, EXCEPT I DID, UH, REORDER A FEW, UH, SLIDES FOR COMMUNICATION FLOW.

BUT BEFORE I JUMP IN, I WANT TO HIGHLIGHT THE WORK AUSTIN ENERGY HAS DONE TOWARDS COMPLETION OF THE ACTION ITEMS RESULTING FROM THE WINTER STORM.

MARA.

AFTER ACTION REPORT LAST WEEK, WE PUBLISHED AN UPDATE TO THE AE WEBSITE UNDER CORPORATE REPORTS HIGHLIGHTING AN ADDITIONAL 22 ACTION ITEMS COMPLETED, WHICH BRINGS US TO 50% COMPLETE OVERALL AND WE'RE MAKING GOOD PROGRESS AND IMPROVEMENTS WILL CONTINUE UNTIL WE HIT FULL COMPLETION.

ALRIGHT, NEXT SLIDE.

OUR RENEWABLE AND CARBON FREE PRODUCTION AS A PERCENTAGE OF LOAD IS ON TARGET.

UM, OUR GENERATORS AVAILABILITY, UH, WAS STABLE OVER THIS QUARTER, UM, ALTHOUGH YOU WILL SEE THAT SANDHILL COMBINED CYCLE HAD A SCHEDULED PLANNED MAINTENANCE OUTAGE AND, UH, RELIABILITY PERFORMANCE TREND IS STABILIZING.

AND I'LL GO OVER EACH OF THOSE, UM, IN THE FOLLOWING SLIDES.

NEXT PLEASE, STARTING WITH ENVIRONMENTAL PERFORMANCE.

SO, UH, YOU'LL RECALL THIS SLIDE SHOWS THE MONTHLY DATA OF CARBON FREE GENERATION AS A PERCENTAGE OF LOAD.

AND LOOKING AT THE QUARTER IN QUESTION HERE, UM, OUR AVERAGE IS 70%, UH, MADE UP OF 40% RENEWABLES AND 30%, UH, NUCLEAR.

UM, AND JUST FOR REFERENCE, THE PREVIOUS QUARTER WAS 60% ON AVERAGE.

NEXT SLIDE PLEASE.

THIS SLIDE SHOWS THE SAME DATA IN TERMS OF THE JAGGED LINE, BUT THE SMOOTH LINE SHOWS THE ROLLING 12 MONTH AVERAGE DATA, WHICH IS, UH, ALSO A GOOD WAY TO LOOK AT THIS, UM, DATA POINT.

AND FOR THIS QUARTER WE AVERAGE 71% CARBON FREE GENERATION AS A PER PERCENTAGE OF LOAD.

UH, NEXT SLIDE.

MOVING ON TO RELIABILITY PERFORMANCE.

NOW THIS IS A NEW SLIDE, I BELIEVE AT THE REQUEST.

VERY QUICK QUESTION.

SORRY.

YES, SIR.

ARE ALL THE, UM, UH, RENEWABLE ASSETS THAT WE HAVE CONTRACT WE HAVE PPAS WITH, HAVE THEY ALL BEEN COMPLETELY BUILT OUT NOW? HAVE THEY ALL BEEN COMPLETELY BUILT OUT? YEAH.

IN OTHER WORDS, I KNOW WE SIGNED SOME CONTRACT AND SOME OF THOSE FACILITIES WERE STILL BEING BUILT.

THEY'RE ALL NOW ONLINE, RIGHT? I'M, YES.

NOW THIS IS A NEW SLIDE, UM, SPECIFIC TO ELECTRIC VEHICLE CHARGING STATION OPERATIONS.

IN TERMS OF AN OVERALL UPDATE, AUSTIN ENERGY IS ACTIVELY ENGAGED WITH CHARGEPOINT AND SMART CHARGE AMERICA TO PERFORM REACTIVE AND PREVENTIVE MAINTENANCE.

UM, THE TEAM IS IMPLEMENTING AN UPDATED RATE OF 9 CENTS PER KILOWATT HOUR AND PHASING OUT THE FORMER SUBSCRIPTION PLAN.

IF YOU WOULD DRAW YOUR ATTENTION TO THE PIE CHART ON THE RIGHT HAND SIDE.

UM, IN TERMS OF THE NETWORK HEALTH, AS OF A LITTLE LESS THAN A WEEK AGO, FEBRUARY 7TH, UH, 20, ONLY 24 PORTS REPORTED AS FAULTED.

UM, AT THE TIME OF THE, THE DATA PULL, WHICH IS 1.5% OF THE NETWORK, UM, REALLY THE, UH, AVAILABLE TIME IS THE SUM OF THE ORANGE AND THE GRAY.

UM, AND THE GRAY, JUST FOR A BIT OF EXTRA REFERENCE, IT'S AT THE VERY BOTTOM OF THE SLIDE, BUT MAYBE HARD TO READ.

UM, GRAY UNREACHABLE MEANS THAT THE WIFI OR THE CELLULAR, THERE WAS SOME SORT OF ISSUE DETECTED WITH THE STATION WITHIN THE PAST 24 HOURS, BUT IT WAS ACTUALLY UP AND RUNNING AT THE TIME.

THE, UM, REPORT WAS PULLED.

AND THAT INCLUDES AC CHARGING AS WELL AS DC.

AND HOW MUCH WORSE WAS THE DC THAN THE AC? SO IT DOES INCLUDE AC AND DC AND I DON'T HAVE THE DETAILS ON THAT NOW, AND I'M NOT CERTAIN THAT WE HAVE IT ON, ON QUICK IMMEDIATE RESPONSE, BUT WE CAN GET THAT INFORMATION FOR YOU AND WE CAN INCLUDE THAT LEVEL OF DETAIL AS WE MOVE FORWARD GOING IN.

SOUNDS GOOD.

WORK TO ONE OF THESE NETWORKS, IT DOESN'T WORK.

LET, LET ME ASK, 'CAUSE I'M JUST LEARNING ABOUT THESE, UH, SUBSCRIPTIONS AND SO FORTH.

HOW DOES, IF SOMEBODY'S TRAVELING HERE OR VISITING HERE, IF THEY HAVE A SUBSCRIPTION, IT DOESN'T

[00:50:01]

SO, UH, RICHARD, DO YOU WANNA COME UP AND 'CAUSE IT'S BEING PHASED OUT, RESPOND, UH, BECAUSE IT'S BEING PHASED OUT, THE SUBSCRIPTION THAT'S BEING PHASED OUT IS THE PLUGIN EVERYWHERE NETWORK, WHICH IS SPECIFIC TO AUSTIN ENERGY CUSTOMERS, BUT I DON'T THINK THAT INHIBITS YOU FROM A, PROHIBITS YOU FROM BEING ABLE TO USE THE CHARGING STATIONS.

I'LL LET RICHARD RESPOND TO THE REST.

YEAH, THEY, THEY STILL, THEY WOULD STILL BE ABLE TO USE THE CHARGER.

IT HAS EVERYTHING TO DO WITH HOW MUCH THEY'RE CHARGED FOR USING THE CHARGER, AND THAT WOULD BE BASED ON WHERE THEY, WHAT SUBSCRIPTION THEY DO HAVE.

UH, BUT THEY CAN STILL USE THE CHARGER, SO THEY'LL BE CHARGED NINE, NINE 9 CENTS, UH, A KILOWATT HOUR PLUS WHATEVER THE, UH, PROVIDER CHARGES.

WHATEVER THE OTHER, THE PROVIDER, WHEREVER THEY, LET'S SAY THEY HAVE A SUBSCRIPTION TO A CHARGE POINT OUTSIDE OF AUSTIN ENERGY TERRITORY.

THEN WHATEVER THEY'RE CHARGED WHEN THEY USE THAT SUBSCRIPTION, UM, WHEN THEY'RE IN OUR SERVICE TERRITORY, THEY'D STILL BE ABLE TO USE OUR CHARGER OR CHARGEPOINT CHARGER AT THAT POINT, AND THEY'D JUST BE CHARGED WHATEVER THE RATE IS FROM WHEREVER THEY CAME FROM.

I SEE.

THE RATE APPLIES TO PEOPLE THAT ARE SUBSCRIBED TO OUR US HERE.

AND SO WHEN YOU SUBSCRIBE, YOU NO LONGER HAVE TO PAY THE $25 PER SIX MONTHS, YOU SIMPLY PLAY A FLAT RATE OF 9 CENTS A KILOWATT HOUR.

THAT'S CORRECT.

THAT'S WHAT WE ARE TRANSITIONING TO.

SO WE'RE, WE'RE DROPPING THE, THE FIXED $25 PER EVERY SIX MONTHS, AND WE'RE GOING JUST TO THE 9 CENTS PER KILOWATT HOUR RATE.

SO IT IT, YOU, IF YOU CHARGE CHARGE RIGHT DURING PEAK HOURS, YOU PENALTY? YEAH, IT'S THE SAME, IT'S THE SAME RATE, BUT UNLIKE WHAT WE, THE SUBSCRIPTION, WHICH WAS $25 FLAT, ALL YOU CAN CHARGE FOR EVERY SIX MONTHS, THIS WILL BE A PER KILOWATT HOUR CHARGE, BUT IT WILL BE STILL FLAT REGARDLESS OF WHEN YOU'RE CHARGING IT.

AND SO WHEN DO YOU THINK, SO AS SOMEONE'S $25 FEE FOR THE PAST SIX MONTHS EXPIRES, THAT'S WHEN THEY SEAMLESSLY GO TO THE NEW PLAN OR, SO IS THERE A DATE THAT YOU KNOW THAT YOU'LL HAVE ALL THE CUSTOMERS TRANSITION TO THE NEW PLAN? YEAH, IT'LL BE FULLY IMPLEMENTED IN THE SUMMER, I BELIEVE JUNE OR JULY OF THIS YEAR.

AND IT'S INDEPENDENT.

IT'S DEPENDENT UPON WHEN THEY HAD SIGNED UP.

I GUESS I, NO, I I DON'T THINK IT'S, IT'S, IT'S A FLASHPOINT IN TIME.

I DON'T HAVE THE EXACT DATE, BUT I THINK IT'S JUNE, SUMMER JULY.

I WAS, I WAS JUST WONDERING IF THERE WAS SOMETHING THAT PRECIPITATED THIS CHANGE IN PARTICULAR.

YEAH, THIS CHANGE IS, UH, ACTUALLY A COUPLE OF DIFFERENT THINGS.

THE RATE THAT WAS IN PLACE, THE SUBSCRIPTION RATE THAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT, UH, WAS ACTUALLY IN PLACE SINCE 2011 AND, UH, YOU KNOW, HAS NOT CHANGED.

AND SO WE'VE ACTUALLY UNINTENTIONALLY BEEN, UM, YOU KNOW, WE'VE BEEN TOO LOW.

I MEAN, JUST TO CALL IT OUT.

AND UH, ACTUALLY THE FEEDBACK THAT WE'VE GOTTEN SO FAR FROM FOLKS UNDERSTANDING THAT THE RATE IS ABOUT TO CHANGE IS ACTUALLY GOOD.

IT'S, IT'S, UH, THE FEEDBACK, IT, IT, WHAT IT SAYS IS PEOPLE UNDERSTAND THAT THE RATE REALLY DOES NEED TO GO UP.

IT'S BEEN ARTIFICIALLY LOW FOR MANY, MANY YEARS AND THEY'RE, THEY'RE ACTUALLY, THE COMMENTS ARE REFLECTING KIND OF LIKE, HEY, WE KNOW THAT WE WERE GETTING A GOOD DEAL AND THIS IS ACTUALLY STILL FAR CHEAPER THAN GAS, OBVIOUSLY, BUT WE UNDERSTAND THAT IT HAS TO GO UP.

SO DOES THAT MEAN THERE'S LIKE A SURVEY OR SOMETHING OUT ON THIS OR? NO, I'M JUST TALKING, I'M JUST REFERENCING COMMENTS THAT WE'RE GETTING THROUGH, LIKE ONLINE SOCIAL MEDIA, ET CETERA AS PEOPLE.

GOTCHA.

UH, LIKE, 'CAUSE I'M A SUBSCRIBER, ANYONE WHO'S A SUBSCRIBER HAS ALREADY BEEN SENT A LETTER INDICATING THAT THIS IS GOING TO HAPPEN.

SO I'M JUST INDICATING THE FEEDBACK THAT WE'RE GETTING FROM PEOPLE SAYING, HEY, I GOT MY LETTER.

I UNDERSTAND THIS IS GONNA CHANGE.

I'M NOT NECESS, YOU KNOW, I KNOW IT HAS TO CHANGE.

I KNOW IT'S BEEN LOW FOR SOME TIME.

OKAY, THANK YOU.

AND CAN WE GET AN UPDATE ON THE WEBSITE BECAUSE, UM, JUST SOME MORE BACKGROUND ON THE TRANSITION AND IF YOU'RE A NEW EV DRIVER, DO YOU HAVE TO GO THROUGH CHARGEPOINT OR SHOULD YOU GO THROUGH AE TO GET AN A ERF CARD, SOME THINGS LIKE THAT? NO, NO, NOTHING.

IT'S A SEAMLESS TRANSITION.

UM, IF YOU HAVE YOUR LITTLE CARD TODAY, YOU DON'T NEED TO GET ANYTHING NEW IN ORDER TO TRANSITION.

AND THE, UH, COMMUNICATION WE'RE ALREADY, IS ALREADY UNDERWAY WITH OUR MARKETING TEAM, SO THAT IS ALL GONNA FLOW SEAMLESSLY FROM NOW THROUGH THE SUMMER.

THANKS RICHARD, FOR THE TAG TEAM.

AS A COMPONENT OF THE OPERATIONS QUARTERLY OPERATIONS UPDATE EVERY QUARTER.

SO WE'LL CONTINUE TO REPORT OUT ON ELECTRIC VEHICLE CHARGING STATIONS

[00:55:01]

UM, I MENTIONED THAT OUR, UM, GENERATION AVAILABILITY IS ON TARGET, BOTH FAYETTE AND SOUTH TEXAS PROJECT, UM, HAD, UH, NEARLY 100% AVAILABILITY, UM, DURING THIS QUARTER, BUT IT WAS A SHOULDER MONTH PERIOD.

AND SO WE DID HAVE PLANNED MAINTENANCE AT SANDHILL COMBINED CYCLE FOR ABOUT SIX WEEKS, AND YOU'LL SEE THAT REFLECTED IN THE 53%, UM, AVAILABILITY.

AND JUST A REMINDER, THE TARGET AVAILABILITY IN THE CENTER IS REALLY FOR REFERENCE AND IT'S INTENDED FOR SUMMER, RIGHT? NEXT SLIDE.

STARTING IN THE TOP, UH, LEFT HAND CORNER, THE FUEL COST METRICS CONTINUE TO SHOW SIGNIFICANT USE OF CARBON FREE SOURCES.

UH, MOVING DOWN ON THE SLIDE, THERE'S UH, AN INCREASING TREND IN SYSTEM PEAK AS WE HAVE BEEN SEEING EVERY QUARTER.

UM, IN THIS CASE, THE QUARTER ENDING IN DECEMBER, UM, WAS THE HIGHEST IN THE LAST FOUR YEARS HAVING A PEAK OF 2,642 MEGAWATTS.

MOVING TO THE TOP OF THE SLIDE, UM, AS, UH, MICHAEL MENTIONED CONSUMPTION WAS LOW OVERALL THIS QUARTER, UM, CERTAINLY COMPARED TO LAST QUARTER, UM, WHICH INCLUDED SEVERAL SUMMER MONTHS.

UM, SO LAST QUARTER WE HAD ABOUT 4.83 MILLION MEGAWATT HOURS.

UM, THIS QUARTER IS, UH, ABOUT 2.96 MEGAWATT HOURS.

I'M SORRY, SORRY, SORRY, SORRY.

CONSUMPTION.

YOU SEE, UH, SO 4.83 MILLION MEGAWATT HOURS OF CONSUMPTION LAST QUARTER, AND THIS TIME IT WAS 3.15.

UM, IN TERMS OF GENERATION, WE ARE ALSO SLIGHTLY LOWER, UM, HERE THIS QUARTER THAN OUR CONSUMPTION.

THIS GENERATION TOTALS TO 2.96 MILLION MEGAWATT HOURS.

UM, AND A LOT OF THAT AS, UH, MICHAEL MENTIONED WERE DUE TO, UH, LOW PRICES OVERALL.

SO A LOT OF OUR, UM, UNITS WEREN'T RUNNING.

AND THEN AT THE BOTTOM, THE PIE CHART DOES SHOW, UH, THAT OUR RENEWABLE PERCENTAGE AS A A PERCENTAGE OF LOAD, UM, WAS 40%, NUCLEAR WAS 30%.

AND THAT'S HOW YOU GET TO THAT COMBINED 70% THAT I STARTED THIS PRESENTATION WITH.

NEXT SLIDE, SHIFTING OUR FOCUS TO DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM.

JUST QUICK QUESTION ON THE NUCLEAR IS THAT, UM, IF YOU CAN GO BACK ONE SLIDE.

ONE SLIDE, DAVID.

UM, THE 937,000 MEGAWATT HOURS THAT NUCLEAR PROVIDED, I MEAN, IN OTHER WORDS, IS THAT MORE OR LESS WHAT NUCLEAR PROVIDES EVERY QUARTER AND IT'S JUST BECAUSE WE USE LESS AS A HIGHER PERCENTAGE? OR WAS THE, WERE THE NUCLEAR PLANTS RUNNING MORE THAN THEY USUALLY DO? NO, I GUESS THAT'S THE, YEAH, I, I HAD A, UM, A SIMILAR QUESTION.

LET ME JUST TAKE A MOMENT TO FOLLOW.

30% SEEMS IS A LOT HIGHER THAN IT USUALLY IS, RIGHT? IT, UH, YEAH, BECAUSE LOAD WAS A LOT LOWER EXACTLY THE SAME LEVEL.

YEP.

IT'S ALMOST NEARLY THE SAME EXACT NUMBER AS WHAT WE HAD LAST QUARTER.

ALRIGHT.

UM, BACK TO DISTRIBUTION RELIABILITY AND SHIFTING GEARS TO THE WIRE SIDE.

SO AS A REMINDER, EACH ONE OF THESE BARS REPRESENTS A QUARTERLY ROLLING 12 MONTH AVERAGE, AND THERE'S THREE YEARS WORTH OF DATA FOR EACH OF THE METRICS.

UM, THE DURATION METRIC IS SADIE IN THE TOP, UH, RIGHT HAND CORNER.

AND THE FREQUENCY METRICS SAFETY IN THE, UM, BOTTOM RIGHT, IT DECLINED A FAIR AMOUNT.

UM, YOU CAN SEE HERE THE SAFETY IS THE LOWEST EXPERIENCE SINCE THE LAST SIX QUARTERS.

AND, UM, ONE INTERESTING POINT OF DATA POINT IS THAT FOR THIS QUARTER, OUR ANIMAL RELATED OUTAGES OUTNUMBERED THE AMOUNT OF VEGETATION RELATED OUTAGES, WHICH I TAKE AS A POSITIVE SIGN THAT OUR VEGETATION MANAGEMENT PROGRAM IS MAKING SOME SIGNIFICANT HEADWAY.

UM, ONE OTHER THING THAT I THINK IS IMPORTANT TO NOTE IS THAT THE METRICS HERE INCLUDE SCHEDULED OR PLANNED OUTAGES.

UM, THE SCHEDULED WORK THAT I'M TALKING ABOUT IS PRIMARILY WHAT YOU ALWAYS HEAR ABOUT IN TERMS OF UNDERPERFORMING OR HIGH WILDFIRE RISK FEEDERS.

UM, OUR GENERAL CIRCUIT IMPROVEMENT PROJECTS, UH, THIS IS WORK THAT INVOLVES THE FOCUSED EFFORTS ON BOTH RESILIENCE AND MAINTENANCE WORK.

WE'RE DOING A LOT MORE THAN THAT THAN EVER BEFORE.

AND IF YOU TAKE THE TOTAL MINUTES IN THE SADIE BAR DUE TO PLANNED OUTAGES AND COMPARE IT QUARTER OVER QUARTER, WE HAVE A 366% INCREASE IN TIME SPENT ON PLANNED WORK IN THE QUARTER ENDING DECEMBER COMPARED TO THE QUARTER ENDING OCTOBER.

SO WHAT THAT REALLY MEANS IS THAT WHILE YOU SEE JUST A SLIGHT DIP IN THE DURATION HERE, A LOT OF THAT IS DUE TO PLANNED OR MAINTENANCE TIME OUT, AND WE ANTICIPATE THAT WILL SHOW LARGER BENEFITS IN THE LONG TERM.

ALL RIGHT, MOVE NEXT SLIDE PLEASE.

AND ONE MORE TO THE GRID RESILIENCE

[01:00:01]

STRATEGIC GOAL.

SO STAYING ON THE THEME OF, UH, DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM RELIABILITY, UM, AGAIN, WE FOCUS ON UNDERPERFORMING FEEDERS AND HIGH WILDFIRE, UH, RISK AREAS.

WE HAVE 25 CIRCUITS, UM, THAT ARE, WE ARE, WE HAVE MAINTENANCE WORK UNDERWAY AT VARIOUS STAGES.

UM, WE RECENTLY COMPLETED TWO OF THOSE CIRCUITS FROM END TO END DOING A NUMBER OF DIFFERENT UPGRADES.

UM, AND SO WE'RE MAKING PROGRESS, UM, CONTINUOUSLY IN THAT AREA.

UM, EARLIER TONIGHT YOU VOTED ON THE ITEM RELATED TO THE OVERHEAD HARDENING AND UNDERGROUNDING FEASIBILITY STUDY.

WE'LL BRING THAT TO COUNCIL LATER THIS WEEK.

AND THEN, UM, ASSUMING WE GET APPROVAL, WE'LL KICK OFF THOSE STUDIES THIS MONTH AND ANTICIPATE, UH, RE RESULTS BY THE END OF THE YEAR.

AND I'M ALSO PLEASED TO REPORT THAT, UM, OUR AUSTIN ENERGY TEAM SUBMITTED A CONCEPT PAPER IN JANUARY FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY GRIP 2.0 GRANT FUNDING ALSO RELATED TO DISTRIBUTION RESILIENCE.

THE TEAM GOT GOOD FEEDBACK FROM THE DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY, PUT THAT INTO AN UPDATED APPLICATION CONCEPT PAPER, UM, AND THEN WENT AHEAD AND SUBMITTED THAT.

SO WE'LL, UH, CONTINUE ON WITH THAT PROCESS AND LOOK TO SUBMIT AN APPLICATION HERE WHEN, UM, APPLICATION DATE IS COMING IS, IS DUE, EXCUSE ME.

UM, SHIFTING TO THE TRANSMISSION SIDE OF THINGS, UM, AS YOU KNOW, OUR TRANSMISSION SYSTEM ASSESSMENT THAT WAS ASSOCIATED WITH OUR RESOURCE GEN PLAN THAT WAS COMPLETED IN JUNE OF LAST YEAR, AND THE PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION IS UNDERWAY, THOSE PROJECTS INCLUDE SUBSTATION AND LINE UPGRADES, INCLUDING UPSIZING, SOME OF OUR AUTO TRANSFORMERS, UM, UPSIZING SOME OF OUR TRANSMISSION LINES AND ADDING VOLTAGE SUPPORT EQUIPMENT.

WE ALSO HAVE A NEW SUBSTATION IN PLANNING STAGES FOR INCREASED IMPORT CAPACITY.

AND IN THE FINAL AREA OF OUR GRID RESILIENCE INITIATIVES IS, CAN YOU, ARE YOU ABLE TO TELL US THAT NEW SUBSTATION, HAVE YOU IDENTIFIED THE ACTUAL LOCATION OF THAT WHERE IT WOULD BE NOT WELL, UM, I'M NOT CERTAIN THAT I CAN REVEAL THAT YET.

YEAH, I'M NOT CERTAIN HOW PUBLIC THAT INFORMATION IS YET.

UM, ALL RIGHT.

SO MOVING ON TO RESILIENCY AS A SERVICE OR THE RAZ PROGRAM.

UM, THAT PROGRAM CONTINUES, UH, PROGRAMMATIC WORK.

UM, AND WE HAVE FOUR RA PROJECTS SUBMITTED AS OF DECEMBER OF 2023.

UM, AND WHAT I MEAN BY SUBMITTED IS THEY'RE IN THE FEASIBILITY STAGES, UM, TO, UH, PROVIDE THAT BACKUP POWER TO, OR TO ASSESS WHETHER WE CAN PROVIDE THAT BACKUP POWER TO THOSE CUSTOMERS.

AND THAT CONCLUDES MY REPORT FOR YOU THIS QUARTER.

THANK YOU FOR LISTENING.

ANY QUESTIONS ONLINE, JONATHAN, RAUL? OKAY.

NO COMMENT ON THAT.

ANYTHING? NONE, NONE AT THIS TIME.

THANKS SIR.

GREAT REPORT, BY THE WAY.

TO THE WORK GROUP'S READOUT, UH, CHAIR TOTAL.

ANYONE HERE? ANY QUESTIONS? OKAY, THEN LET'S MOVE

[17. Report of recommendations by Resource Generation Plan Working Group. ]

UH, I'M GOING TO RECUSE MYSELF FROM, UH, PARTICIPATING IN AGENDA ITEMS 17, 20 AND 21, UM, BECAUSE OF A POSSIBLE, UH, INTEREST DUE TO MY EMPLOYMENT WITH LCRA.

UM, I'LL STEP OFF THE DAIS WHILE Y'ALL ARE DISCUSSING THESE ITEMS. YOU'RE WELCOME TO STAY.

I MEAN, IT'S ALL PUBLIC ANYWAY, BUT YEAH.

UM, SAY SARAH, I DON'T, UM, WE ARE SCHEDULED TO DISCUSS THE WORK GROUP RECOMMENDATIONS.

WE ARE ACTUALLY, I DON'T BELIEVE SCHEDULED TO TAKE ACTION TONIGHT.

UM, BECAUSE THE, THE ORIGINAL, I DON'T KNOW IF I'M ALREADY GETTING INTO THE ITEM.

THE, THE, THE ORIGINAL SENSE WERE THE WORK GROUP WAS GONNA COME OUT WITH THEIR RECOMMENDATIONS.

AUSTIN ENERGY WAS GONNA REACT TO THOSE RECOMMENDATIONS AND COME UP WITH ANY ADDITIONAL RECOMMENDATIONS.

THEY WEREN'T, UH, MAYBE READY YET TO RESPOND.

SO, UM, OUR INTENT TONIGHT WAS ONLY TO HAVE A DISCUSSION ABOUT THE RESOURCE PLAN AND NOT TAKE ANY ACTION.

I THINK YOU ARE WELCOME TO GIVE ANY INPUT ON THE RECOMMENDATIONS IF YOU, IF YOU IN MARCH, IF YOU CHOOSE TO RECUSE YOURSELF, THAT'S, YOU KNOW, YOU, YOU'RE WELCOME TO DO THAT, BUT I DON'T THINK WE'RE NOT GONNA BE TAKING ANY VOTES TONIGHT.

AND EXCUSE ME.

AND I APPRECIATE THAT.

IT'S JUST, UH, THE FEEDBACK I GOT FROM STAFF IS THAT THAT'S STILL A GRAY AREA THAT THEY'RE LOOKING INTO.

SO, UH, JUST OUT OF CAUTION, I WOULD LIKE TO OKAY.

ACCUSE THANK YOU.

SO WHATEVER YOU FEEL COMFORTABLE WITH, BUT THIS IS ALL PUBLIC INFORMATION.

WELL, I UNDERSTAND THAT.

THE COVER LETTER IN THE REPORT.

SO, CYRUS, YOU'RE GOING FIRST? YES.

SO, UM, UH, HOPEFULLY EVERYONE ON THE EUC SAW THE, UM, UH, THE DOCUMENT THAT WAS THE, UH, THE REPORT,

[01:05:01]

AND SO CAEM AND I, AS CHAIR AND VICE CHAIR OF THAT WORKING GROUP PUT TOGETHER, UH, A BRIEF PRESENTATION.

SO IF IT MAKES SENSE TO GIVE THE PRESENTATION AND THEN HAVE A DISCUSSION AFTERWARDS.

BUT PEOPLE ARE WELCOME TO, UM, ASK QUESTIONS OR MAKE COMMENTS DURING THAT.

DOES THAT, WOULD THAT MAKE SENSE? YEAH.

IF POSSIBLE.

SO, UM, WE HAVE A 29 SLIDES, BUT, UM, WE'LL, WE'LL GO PRETTY FAST SO WE CAN GET TO THE ACTUAL RECOMMENDATIONS.

AND I WAS GONNA DO THE, THE FIRST PART OF THE PRESENTATION, MORE ABOUT THE PROCESS AND THE CONTEXT.

AND THEN EVA WAS GONNA PRESENT THE ACTUAL, UH, RECOMMENDATIONS WITHIN THE WORKING GROUP.

UM, SO IF YOU CAN GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE.

UM, SO THIS IS JUST THE OVERVIEW.

I WAS GONNA TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THE WORKING GROUP MEMBERS AND PROCESS, UH, SOME OF THE CONTEXT FOR OUR RECOMMENDATIONS.

UM, AND THEN, UH, LET EVA TALK ABOUT OUR ACTUAL RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE RESOURCE PLAN ITSELF, AS WELL AS FUTURE STUDIES AND A PROCESS GOING FORWARD.

IF YOU CAN GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE.

UM, SO FIRST THING TO SAY IS, UM, IF YOU REMEMBER THE ELECTRIC UTILITY COMMISSION AUTHORIZED A WORK GROUP.

UH, AND WE STARTED WITH, UM, FOUR ME.

I THINK WE STARTED WITH FIVE MEMBERS OF THE EUC.

BUT, UH, ONE MEMBER DECIDED TO STEP AWAY AND THEN, UH, WE GOT M**K LATE IN THE PROCESS, SO HE WAS ADDED.

UM, AND THEN WE HAD, UH, FOUR MEMBERS OF THE RMC AND AN ADDITIONAL, UH, SEVEN MEMBERS OF THE COMMUNITY.

AND THEY'RE ALL LISTED HERE.

UH, EVERY SINGLE PERSON ON THAT LIST, UM, PARTICIPATED AND WAS ACTIVE.

UH, AND WE HAD, UM, WELL, I THINK AL SAID WE HAD 14 MEETINGS, SO I'M GONNA BELIEVE THEM.

I, I FEEL LIKE IT, MAYBE IT WAS MORE YOUR REPORT.

WELL, IF WE SENT A REPORT, THEN IT'S TRUE.

SO WE HAD, WE HAD 14 MEETINGS AND, UH, IT SEEMED LIKE THERE WERE MORE, BUT THERE WAS, THERE WAS A LOT OF MEETINGS.

GO, YOU CAN GO AHEAD.

THE NEXT SLIDE.

UM, WE DID ANALYZE ALL THE SCENARIOS THAT AUSTIN ENERGY HAD RUN BACK IN NOVEMBER.

UH, WE DID ASK AUSTIN ENERGY TO LOOK AT THERE.

THERE ARE FOUR ADDITIONAL SCENARIOS, BUT THEY'RE REALLY TWO ADDITIONAL SCENARIOS.

ONE, TRYING TO GET TO KNOW CARBON BY 2030, THE OTHER GETTING, UH, TO NO CARBON BY 2035.

UH, WE DID HAVE A NUMBER OF PRESENTATIONS, UH, FROM PEOPLE WITH SPECIFIC EXPERTISE IN TECHNOLOGIES LIKE GEOTHERMAL, COUPLE LONG DURATION STORAGE, UH, SOME DEMAND RESPONSE, UH, ET CETERA.

AND, AND SOME INFORMATION ABOUT HYDROGEN AS WELL.

UM, AND WE MADE LOTS AND LOTS OF REQUESTS TO AUSTIN ENERGY AND, UH, APPRECIATE ALL THE RESPONSES.

UM, ALL OF OUR, UM, PRESENTATIONS, RESOURCES, MEETING NOTES, I'LL SAY THE MEETING NOTES IN THE FIRST MEETINGS ARE PRETTY GOOD.

I DON'T KNOW THAT WE HAVE MEETING NOTES FOR THE LAST ONES.

'CAUSE BASICALLY WE WERE JUST, UH, TALKING.

UM, BUT, UM, THEY'RE ALL AVAILABLE ON THAT WEBSITE.

UH, AND THANKS TO KABA FOR CREATING THAT WEBSITE.

UM, AND THEN WE DID RELEASE, UH, THE RECOMMENDATION, THE, THE, THE PIECE OF PAPER THAT YOU HAVE IN YOUR DOCUMENTS, UM, ON FEBRUARY ONE, UH, ALTHOUGH WE HAD ONE ERROR THAT WE CORRECTED, UH, AND IT WAS ENDORSED BY 14 OF THE 16 MEMBERS.

UH, ONE OF THE MEMBERS, MELISSA WAS A MEMBER OF THE RMC, BUT SHE FELT LIKE SHE HAD TO RECUSE HERSELF AND NOT SIGN THE DOCUMENT BECAUSE SHE TOOK A JOB WITH THE CITY OF AUSTIN.

AND THAT PRESENTS A BIT OF A CONFLICT.

UM, AND THEN ONE MEM MEMBER, JIM STANWAY, WHO IS REPRESENTING REALLY THE LARGE INDUSTRIAL CUSTOMERS, UH, HE SUPPORTED MANY OF THE RECOMMENDATIONS, BUT THERE WERE SOME THAT HE DID NOT SUPPORT, AND HE DID OFFER, UM, SORT OF A DISSENTING OPINION, WHICH I BELIEVE IS IN YOUR PACKETS.

BUT IT'S GONNA HELP MAKE SOME OF THE, UH, MUNICIPAL BUILDINGS MORE EFFICIENT.

UM, AND THEN WE HAD TWO MEMBERS WHO DID, UH, SIGN THE RECOMMENDATIONS, BUT THEY FELT THE NEED TO ALSO GIVE ADDITIONAL, UH, RECOMMENDATIONS.

AND, UM, THEY'RE HERE TONIGHT.

AND IF YOU, IF WE WANNA TALK ABOUT THAT WHEN WE GET TO THAT, YOU'RE, YOU'RE WELCOME TO, YOU KNOW, SAY, SAY WHY, WHY YOU FELT THE NEED TO, TO GIVE SOME ADDITIONAL, UH, INSIGHT.

SO YOU CAN GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE.

UM, SO JUST IN TERMS OF CONTEXT, UM, NONE OF THE MODELING DONE BY AUSTIN ENERGY, UH, AND NONE OF THE RECOMMENDATIONS FROM THE WORKING GROUP ARE DEPENDENT UPON FEDERAL FUNDING.

THAT BEING SAID, WE DO THINK IT'S IMPORTANT CONTEXT THAT THERE IS FEDERAL FUNDING AVAILABLE, WHICH MEANS SOME OF THE EXPENSE OF REACHING SOME OF THESE RATHER AMBITIOUS GOALS, WE THINK, UH, CAN BE COUNTERACTED BY THE AVAILABILITY OF THIS FEDERAL FUNDING.

UM, I'M NOT GONNA READ ALL THOSE, BUT THEY'RE LISTED.

I MEAN, JUST A FEW WEEKS AGO, AUSTIN ENERGY ANNOUNCED YOU GUYS GOT A, BUT GRANT, IT'S ONLY $850,000,

[01:10:01]

THOSE WE SEE THAT KIND OF FEDERAL FUNDING, UH, YOU AUSTIN ENERGY AND THE CI THE, THE COMMUNITY GETS TO TAKE CREDIT FOR ANY OF THAT FEDERAL FUNDING THAT HELPS MEET THOSE GOALS, PUT IT THAT WAY.

SO, UM, AND THAT'S ANOTHER WAY OF SAYING, UM, IF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS, CITY COUNCIL WERE TO ADOPT THESE GOALS OR SIMILAR GOALS, UM, YOU KNOW, PART OF THE WAY OF GETTING THERE WOULD BE THE USE OF FEDERAL FUNDING.

UM, AND WE APPRECIATE THE FACT THAT, UH, THE CITY OF AUSTIN AND CAP COG AND AE HAVE BEEN AGGRESSIVE IN GOING AFTER THAT FUNDING.

I MEAN, CERTAINLY WE HOPE YOU GET THE, UH, SOLAR FOR ALL WOULD BE VERY HELPFUL.

AS AN EXAMPLE, I KNOW A NUMBER OF US HAVE ENDORSED THAT APPROACH.

UM, SO YOU CAN GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE.

UM, JUST WANTED TO HIGHLIGHT THAT, UH, ONE OF THE REASONS THE WORK GROUP HAS BEEN CONCERNED ABOUT THE POTENTIAL FOR MOVING TOWARDS, UM, BURNING HYDROGEN AS A, AS ONE OF THE WAY WE MEET, UH, OUR ENERGY NEEDS IS PRECISELY BECAUSE OF AIR POLLUTION.

UH, IN AUSTIN ENERGY, WE CURRENTLY, UM, IF YOU, IF YOU, IF YOU GO TO CAP COG MEETINGS LIKE I DO AND LOOK AT THE, UH, OZONE DATA, UM, BOTH IN THE DRIPPING SPRINGS, UM, MONITOR, WHICH ISN'T AN OFFICIAL MONITOR, IT'S NOT USED IN TQS SORT OF REGULATORY REGIME, BUT ALSO THE NORTHWEST, UM, AUSTIN MONITOR, WE ARE ACTUALLY CURRENTLY, UH, IN VIOLATION OF, UM, OF THE NAC STANDARD FOR OZONE.

NOW, WE HAVEN'T BEEN DECLARED NON-ATTAINMENT BY EPA, BUT WE ARE IN NON-ATTAINMENT.

SO ANYTHING WE DO THAT INCREASES, UH, PRODUCTION OF NITROGEN OXIDES, WHICH CAN LEAD TO OZONE, IS A CONCERN FOR THE WORKING GROUP AS WELL AS OBVIOUSLY THE, THE HEALTH CONCERNS.

AND THEN, UH, JUST LAST WEEK, THE, OR WAS IT THIS WEEK? LAST WEEK? THIS WEEK LAST WEEK, UH, EPA DID COME OUT WITH A NEW PM 2.5 STANDARDS.

AND AGAIN, CURRENTLY TRAVIS COUNTY WOULD BE IN VIOLATION OF THAT.

SO ANYTHING WE DO IN TERMS OF OUR ELECTRIC USE, WE SHOULD KEEP IN MIND, UM, THE HEALTH IMPACTS AND THE POLLUTION IMPACTS.

SO THAT WAS ONE OF THE, ONE OF THE CONTEXTS WE WERE LOOKING AT.

SO NEXT SLIDE.

UM, OBVIOUSLY ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT, UH, ISSUES FOR THIS COMMUNITY IS MEETING, UM, THE CLIMATE GOALS, BOTH IN THE EXISTING RESOURCE PLAN, BUT ALSO IN THE AUSTIN, UH, CLIMATE EQUITY PLAN.

UM, AND, YOU KNOW, WE CAN'T MEET THOSE 24 GOALS UNLESS WE, UH, TAKE SERIOUS ACTION TO ELIMINATE CARBON EMISSIONS FROM OUR COAL AND GAS PLANTS.

UM, AND SO THE, THE WORKING GROUP RECOMMENDATIONS, WHICH AGAIN, ARE AT THIS POINT JUST RECOMMENDATIONS ARE, ARE TRYING TO BUILD ON THAT, UM, AUSTIN CLIMATE EQUITY PLAN AND THE, UH, AND THE PREVIOUS VERSION OF THE RESOURCE PLAN OR THE EXISTING RESOURCE PLAN.

UH, YOU CAN GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE.

UM, AND, UH, AGAIN, SORT OF MAKING THE SAME POINT THAT, UM, CURRENTLY ABOUT 29%, UH, AT LEAST FROM 2021 OF THE GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS CITYWIDE CAME FROM OUR USE OF THE FAYETTE COAL PLANT, THE BURNING OF COAL AT FAYETTE.

UM, AND SO WE REALLY STARTED THERE THAT IT IS THE SINGLE LARGEST SOURCE OF GSG EMISSIONS, UH, AS, AS A ONE POINT SOURCE.

AND SO WE REALLY NEED TO DEAL WITH THAT, BUT ALSO THE EMISSIONS FROM THE GAS PLANTS.

SO GO TO, YOU CAN GO AHEAD TO THE NEXT, I'M GOING FAST 'CAUSE, UM, AND THEN I THINK EVERYONE HERE UNDERSTANDS THAT, UM, THE FAYETTE COAL PLANT IS SOMETHING THAT WAS IN THE PREVIOUS PLAN, AND THE GOAL WAS TO TRY TO, UM, END ITS USE BY THE END OF 2020, AT LEAST OUR SHARE OF THE FAYETTE COAL PLANT.

WE WERE UNABLE TO DO THAT.

UM, UH, AND IT'S A COMPLICATED SITUATION, UM, BUT WE, WE STILL THINK IT NEEDS TO BE A PRIORITY IN THIS PLAN TO, TO GET OUT OF COAL AND, UM, IN THE MEANTIME WORK TO TRY TO RUN THAT PLANT AT A LOW SUSTAINING LIMIT.

IT SAYS LOW SUSTAINING LOAD, IT SHOULD REALLY SHOULD BE LOW SUSTAINING LIMIT, UH, WHICH IS I THINK APPROXIMATELY 150 MEGAWATTS.

UM, SO RUNNING THE PLANT LESS IS ONE, UH, ONE WAY TO GET THERE.

SO IF YOU CAN GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE.

UM, I DON'T NEED TO GO OVER THIS.

THESE ARE JUST, UM, THE, THE 21 NUMBERS.

AND THEN, UM, WE, WE WOULD NOTE THAT, UM, AUSTIN ENERGY, I THINK TO ITS CREDIT SINCE WE, SINCE WE WERE UNABLE TO REACH THAT GOAL OF GETTING OUT OF THE PLANT AND HAS BEEN RUNNING LESS.

UM, AND THESE WERE NUMBERS PROVIDED BY AUSTIN ENERGY AS PART OF OUR WORKING GROUP.

SO WE, WE RECOGNIZE THE EFFORTS AUSTIN ENERGY IS MAKING TO RUN THE PLANT LESS, AND THAT NEEDS TO CONTINUE UNTIL WE'RE ACTUALLY ABLE TO GET OUT OF IT.

SO YOU CAN GO TO

[01:15:01]

THE NEXT SLIDE.

UM, THIS IS JUST, UH, A STATEMENT FROM HOW AUSTIN ENERGY HAS BEEN USING, UH, REACH AND WHICH IS, UM, REDUCE EMISSIONS AFFORDABLY FOR CLIMATE HEALTH.

UM, AND HOW IN THE, IN THE EXISTING PLAN, UH, THE THOUGHT HAD BEEN TO USE REACH, UM, FOR FAYETTE FIRST, AND THEN ONCE WE GOT OUT OF FAYETTE TO THEN USE IT FOR THE GAS PLANTS.

AND IN OUR DISCUSSION, AND, AND WILL GET INTO THIS, UM, WE THOUGHT IT WAS IMPORTANT TO, UH, START TO APPLY REACH TO THE GAS PLANTS AS WELL WHILE WE TRY TO, UH, GET OUTTA THE COAL PLANT.

SO GO AHEAD TO THE NEXT SLIDE.

UM, I DON'T THINK I NEED TO REALLY GO OVER THIS EXCEPT TO SAY, UH, THE MAIN POINT IS REACH HAS BEEN SUCCESSFUL, UM, BUT WE'RE STILL BEHIND IN TERMS OF THOSE, UH, 2025 AND 2030 AND 2040 NET ZERO TARGETS.

AND REALLY FAYETTE IS THE, IS THE BIG BEHEMOTH.

SO IF YOU CAN GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE.

UM, AND THEN AGAIN, GETTING BACK TO OUR CONCERNS, CAN I, CAN I JUST ASK A SURE QUICK QUESTION 'CAUSE I DID SEE THE WORD REACH, UH, IN THE REPORT AND, AND I'VE SEEN IT IN OTHER, UH, SLIDES OR PRESENTATIONS.

COULD YOU JUST EXPLAIN WHAT THAT MEANS, UH, THAT ACRONYM? YEAH.

SO, UM, REACH, AND I'VE ALREADY FORGOTTEN THE ACRONYM, WHICH WAS ON THE SLIDE BEFORE.

UM, IT'S BASICALLY A WAY FOR, THERE WE GO.

UM, REDUCE EMISSIONS AFFORDABLY FOR CLIMATE HEALTH.

IT'S, UM, BECAUSE AUSTIN ENERGY IS THE QUALIFIED SCHEDULE ENTITY FOR HOW THEY RUN THEIR SHARE OF THE FAYETTE PLANT, UM, THEY CAN CHOOSE WHAT PRICE TO BID IT INTO THE MARKET AND REACH AS A STRATEGY TO BID IT SLIGHTLY HIGHER THAN YOU MIGHT NORMALLY, UH, TO BASICALLY PUT A PRICE ON THE CARBON.

UH, AND THEREFORE FAYETTE WOULD RUN LESS THAN IT WOULD IF THEY DIDN'T INCLUDE THAT EXTRA PRICE.

AND THAT'S A WAY, BASICALLY, SO THAT IT RUNS LESS IN THE MARKET AND THEREFORE WE HAVE LESS EMISSIONS OF, OF CARBON DIOXIDE.

BUT IT'S JUST A, IT'S A STRATEGY WE'VE BEEN USING, OR AUSTIN ENERGY HAS BEEN USING THE LAST COUPLE OF YEARS AND IT'S BEEN SUCCESSFUL, UH, AND AFFORDABLE.

DID THAT, WAIT SECOND.

I DIDN'T SEE THE LINKAGE BETWEEN THE TWO SLIDES YET.

THANKS, .

YEP.

UM, AND THIS IS, UM, AGAIN, UH, WELL, AUSTIN ENERGY HAS NOT FORMALLY, UH, MADE A RECOMMENDATION TO EITHER THE EUC OR CITY COUNCIL.

UM, BASED ON THEIR SCENARIOS, WE SAW THAT THEY WERE, UM, AT LEAST LEANING TOWARDS THE, THE CONCEPT OF USING, UH, HYDROGEN, UM, AND, UM, HYDROGEN CAPABLE COMBINED CYCLE PLANTS AS A WAY TO GET TO THE CARBON FREE GOALS.

UM, AND JUST WANTED TO POINT OUT THAT IN THE INFORMATION PROVIDED BY AUSTIN ENERGY TO THE WORKING GROUP, UM, DOING SO, UM, INCREASES BOTH THE CO2 EMISSIONS, BUT ALSO THE NOX EMISSIONS FOR THAT 2025 TO 2035 PERIOD.

UM, AS COMPARED TO, I DIDN'T, WE DIDN'T PUT IN THE, THE BASE CASE, BUT AS COMPARED TO BOTH THE BASE CASE, BUT ALSO THE SCENARIOS WE ASKED THEM TO RUN, UM, THE POLLUTION WOULD BE HIGHER USING THE, UM, HYDROGEN CAPABLE, UH, COMBINED CYCLE PLANTS.

SO JUST MAKING THAT POINT THAT WE ARE CONCERNED ABOUT BOTH THE INCREASE IN CO2, BUT ALSO THE INCREASE IN NOX LOCALLY, YOU CAN GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE.

UM, AND HERE'S WHERE WE GET INTO A REALLY BUSY SLIDE WITH ALL OF OUR RECOMMENDATIONS ON ONE SLIDE.

UH, KABA, I DON'T THINK YOU HAVE TO GO OVER THIS SLIDE BECAUSE I THINK IT'S ALL, IT'S ALL CONTAINED IN THE, IN THE NEW SLIDES, BUT IF YOU, IF YOU WANNA SEE WHAT OUR RECOMMENDATIONS ARE, UH, THAT WAS ENDORSED BY 14 OF THE 16 MEMBERS, IT'S ALL ON THIS SLIDE OR MOST OF IT.

GROUP AND AS I THINK INFORMED BY OUR MOST ENERGY EFFICIENT KIND OF EXPERTS, THAT REDUCING PEAK AND MAKING SURE THAT THAT WAS PEAK REDUCTION AVAILABLE IN BOTH THE SUMMER AND WINTER AVAILABILITY WAS, WAS CRITICAL FOR ENSURING RELIABILITY AND AFFORDABILITY GOING FORWARD.

YEP.

THANKS SARAH.

YEAH, I THINK WE CAN MOVE ON 'CAUSE THIS IS HARD TO READ.

SO, UH, THE WORKING GROUP SPENT A LOT OF TIME, UM, FOCUSED ON THE DEMAND SIDE, UH, BECAUSE WE COLLECTIVELY RECOGNIZED THAT THAT WAS, UH, AN IMPORTANT PLACE TO PUT ADDITIONAL FOCUS, BOTH FOR, YOU KNOW, GETTING TO A, A CARBON FREE FUTURE AND ALSO FOR KEEPING BILLS AFFORDABLE.

SO, UM, THIS SLIDE HERE, UH, DESCRIBES THE ENERGY EFFICIENCY, UH, GOALS, AND YOU WILL SEE THAT, UM, AS, AS I THINK A BIG CHANGE, UH, IS CALLING OUT WINTER VERSUS SUMMER LOAD REDUCTION AND HAVING THESE AS PERCENTAGE REDUCTION.

I DON'T THINK THAT'S HOW THEY'VE BEEN STATED IN THE PAST, BUT THAT WAS OUR KIND OF OPINION AS, AS, AS A

[01:20:01]

SO, UM, THAT MAY IMPLY SOME NEW ADDITIONAL KIND OF TWEAKED PROGRAMS, UM, TO ACHIEVE, ESPECIALLY THOSE WINTER REDUCTIONS.

UM, I'M NOT GONNA LIKE READ EVERY NUMBER ON HERE, BUT I THINK WE CAN MOVE FORWARD AND, AND I'LL TALK ABOUT THE DEMAND RESPONSE SIDE HERE.

UM, SO JUST AS A REMINDER, THE ENERGY EFFICIENCY IS ACTUAL REDUCING ENERGY USE, UH, FROM APPLIANCES AND THROUGH HEATING AND COOLING, WHEREAS DEMAND RESPONSE IS NOT REALLY REDUCING ENERGY USE PER SE, IT'S JUST SWITCHING WHEN IT IS USED.

AND, UH, THIS IS ANOTHER KIND OF KEY RESOURCE THAT WE IDENTIFIED FOR ENABLING AUSTIN ENERGY TO REDUCE RELIANCE ON RESOURCES, FOSSIL FUEL RESOURCES, IN PARTICULAR, THE GAS PLANTS THAT, YOU KNOW, CURRENTLY ARE USED TO, UM, PROVIDE THAT KIND OF FLEXIBLE RESOURCE DEMAND RESPONSE, UH, IS JUST KIND OF PULLING THE OPPOSITE LEVER TO REDUCE USAGE AT THOSE TIMES OF HIGH DEMAND AND HIGH PRICES.

SO, UH, RIGHT NOW, UH, THERE'S ABOUT 40 MEGAWATTS OF CAPACITY AVAILABLE AND, UH, I THINK THAT'S IN THE SUMMER.

AND, UH, YOU CAN SEE HERE THE WORKING GROUP IS RECOMMENDING, UM, RAMPING THAT UP.

UM, YOU KNOW, STARTING, STARTING WITH WITH A 2027 GOAL OF 75 MEGAWATTS FOR BOTH THE SUMMER AND WINTER CAPACITY.

AND AGAIN, THAT'S IMPORTANT BECAUSE YOU MIGHT HAVE DIFFERENT RESOURCES AVAILABLE IN SUMMER AND WINTER.

UM, SO YOU MIGHT HAVE A TOTAL CAPACITY AVAILABILITY OF MORE THAN, THAN THE 75, UH, BUT IT'S NOT ALL AVAILABLE IN BOTH SEASONS.

SO THEN YOU SEE 150 MEGAWATTS BY 2030 AND 300 MEGAWATTS AS THAT GOAL FOR 2035.

WE DID GO INTO, YOU KNOW, SOME ADDITIONAL DETAILS HERE, UM, UH, YOU KNOW, KIND OF RECOMMENDING SOME ADDITIONAL EXPANSION OF PROGRAMS. ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE, YOU KNOW, BECAME MORE AWARE OF THROUGH OUR Q AND A WAS THE KIND OF STRONG EMPHASIS ON THE RAZ UH, PROGRAM.

SO, UH, WE DID MAKE A RECOMMENDATION FOR LIMITING USE OF THAT PROGRAM.

UM, DID NOT NECESSARILY SEE THAT AS DEMAND RESPONSE PER SE, BUT MORE AS GENERATION, BUT SINCE TON ENERGY WAS CONSIDERING THAT DEMAND RESPONSE, THAT'S WHY THAT BULLET POINT IS HERE.

BUT SINCE THOSE ARE NATURAL GAS GENERATORS THAT WILL BE LOCATED THROUGHOUT THE COMMUNITY, UH, WE HAD, YOU KNOW, CONCERNS ABOUT THE ENVIRONMENTAL AND HEALTH IMPACTS OF RUNNING THOSE AT, AT EXCESS.

SO, UH, YOU KNOW, RECOMMENDED THAT THEY BE LIMITED FOR, FOR TIMES WHEN THERE'S REAL STRESS ON THE GRID.

UM, WHICH I WILL NOTE, YOU KNOW, AT 15, UH, A HUNDRED MEGAWATT OR DOLLARS PER MEGAWATT HOUR, UH, THAT WOULD'VE BEEN, YOU KNOW, THE MAJORITY OF THE DAYS IN AUGUST.

SO IT STILL LEAVES QUITE A LOT OF ROOM FOR USING THEM.

UH, LET'S GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE.

ALRIGHT, SO AROUND FAYETTE, YOU KNOW, THE BIG GOAL IS OF COURSE, SHUT IT DOWN AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE, BUT SINCE, UH, WE'RE, YOU KNOW, DON'T HAVE A LOT OF VISIBILITY AS TO EXACTLY HOW, UH, THAT IS PROCEEDING, WE DID MAKE SOME ADDITIONAL RECOMMENDATIONS AROUND, UH, YOU KNOW, HOW TO KIND OF, YOU KNOW, ACHIEVE THAT IN AN AFFORDABLE WAY AND ALSO KIND OF MITIGATE THE EFFECT OF CONTINUED USE OF THE PLANT UNTIL THAT CAN HAPPEN.

UH, AS YOU HEARD, REACH HAS ALREADY SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCED THE USAGE OF THE PLANT, AND WE THOUGHT THAT WAS A GOOD THING.

THERE WAS STILL A LITTLE BIT MORE TO, TO GO BETWEEN THE MINIMUM AMOUNT THAT AUSTIN ENERGY IS REQUIRED TO RUN THE PLANT ACCORDING TO THE, THE CONTRACT WITH LCRA AND THE MONTH THAT IT'S BEING RUN.

SO GET A LITTLE BIT OF EMISSIONS REDUCTIONS THERE.

UM, AND THEN, YOU KNOW, AS I THINK HAVE HAS BEEN IN PAST RECOMMENDATIONS, YOU KNOW, STOP INVESTING IN CAP CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PLANT, UM, I'M NOT SURE IF THAT IS PERHAPS ALREADY HAPPENING, UM, BUT, YOU KNOW, DEFINITELY SUPPORTING NOT PUTTING MORE MONEY INTO THE PLANT AND FIND A WAY TO FINANCE ANY, UH,

[01:25:01]

EXIT FROM THE PLANT, YOU KNOW, THAT THAT MAY REQUIRE ANY SORT OF SIGNIFICANT COST.

UH, SO THAT THAT CAN BE DONE AFFORDABLY AND WE'VE PUT 25 YEARS.

BUT REALLY THE POINT IS JUST SPREAD THE COST OUT OVER TIME TO ENSURE AFFORDABILITY AND THEN, YOU KNOW, KEEP LOOKING AT OPTIONS TO, UH, USE FEDERAL FUNDS FOR REPLACEMENT POWER.

MAYBE THAT COULD BE NEAR FAYETTE, BUT IT, YOU KNOW, AT LEAST, UH, YOU'LL SEE SOME MORE DETAIL IN THE RECOMMENDATIONS ABOUT, UM, YOU KNOW, PUTTING OUT AN RFP TO, TO GET THOSE REPLACEMENT POWER SERVICES IN PLACE.

LOCAL SOLAR WITHOUT INVESTMENT FROM THE PROPERTY OWNER, WHICH, UH, SHOULD HELP TO, UH, INCREASE THE, I THINK, PACE OF DEPLOYMENT.

SO, UH, ON THE GAS PLANTS, UH, AS CYRUS ALLUDED TO, THE WORKING GROUP IS RECOMMENDING USING THE REACH STRATEGY, UM, TO REDUCE EMISSIONS FROM THE GAS FLEET.

UH, WE, YOU KNOW, HAD A LOT OF DISCUSSION ABOUT, YOU KNOW, MOVING THE GOAL FROM UP TO 2030 VERSUS THE, YOU KNOW, KIND OF STANDARD OR THE, THE STATUS QUO OF 2035.

AND THIS WAS WHERE WE LANDED THAT, UM, LEAVING THAT FLEXIBILITY FOR AUSTIN ENERGY TO USE THOSE RESOURCES OUT TO 2035, BUT USE THEM ONLY, UH, YOU KNOW, IN, YOU KNOW, KIND OF THE TIMES WHEN IT'S REALLY NEEDED.

SO RAMPING THAT UP, REDUCING EMISSIONS BY 33% BY 20 27 20 OR, AND 66% BY 2030.

UM, SO THIS IS STRUCTURED IN A LITTLE BIT OF A DIFFERENT WAY THAN THE CURRENT REACH PROGRAM IS TIED TO A CERTAIN SPENDING AMOUNT, WHEREAS THIS IS, UH, TIED TO GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS AND OF COURSE, THE PREVIOUS ONE TIED TO JUST ACHIEVING A CAPACITY FACTOR.

UM, I THINK, YOU KNOW, THE REST OF THIS KIND OF SHOWS UP IN OTHER, UH, SECTIONS OF THE RECOMMENDATIONS, BUT BASICALLY, YOU KNOW, WE TRIED TO PUT TOGETHER A, A PACKAGE FOR REPLACING THIS, UH, NATURAL GAS, UH, POWER AND OTHER SERVICES PROVIDED BY THOSE PLANTS THROUGH A COMBINATION OF CLEAN ENERGY TECHNOLOGIES.

LET'S GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE.

ALL RIGHT, SO ON THE RENEWABLE ENERGY GOALS, THE, THE CURRENT GOAL IS 65% BY 2027, WE KNOW AE NEEDS TO DO SOME ADDITIONAL PROCUREMENT, UH, TO ACHIEVE THAT GOAL.

AND, UH, YOU KNOW, THE, THE IMPLICATION I THINK MANY OF US THOUGHT OF THE CARBON FREE BY 2035 GOAL WOULD BE THAT THE RENEWABLE ENERGY GOAL WOULD BE INCREASING THROUGH THAT TIMELINE.

SO THIS IS, YOU KNOW, IN SOME WAYS I THINK JUST A CLARIFICATION OF THAT, THAT AS THE FOSSIL FUEL POWER PLANTS ARE RETIRED, THAT THAT ENERGY NEEDS TO BE, UH, PROCURED FROM RENEWABLE ENERGY SOURCES.

UM, AND WE DID, UH, SPECIFY ON THE RECOMMENDATIONS THAT THOSE SHOULD BE EMISSIONS FREE SOURCES.

SO, UM, YOU KNOW, KIND OF IMPLYING NOT TO GO AND WE DO HAVE A SECTION ON, YOU KNOW, NOT INVESTING IN AND BIOMASS OR, UM, OTHER KIND OF COMBUSTION SOURCES THAT MAY BE CARBON FREE OR CARBON NEUTRAL, BUT, UM, WOULD STILL HAVE AIR POLLUTION CONSEQUENCES.

YOU CAN SEE THERE'S A, A FEW OTHER DETAILS HERE.

I THINK, UM, YOU KNOW, THE PIECE ABOUT, UH, PAIRING WITH BATTERIES AND TRYING TO, UH, LOAD MATCH AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE IS REALLY IMPORTANT FOR, UM, AFFORDABILITY.

WE DEFINITELY HAVE HEARD LOUD AND CLEAR THE ISSUES AROUND PRICE SEPARATION AND, UM, HAVING DISPATCHABLE ENERGY, AND WE AGREE THAT THAT IS IMPORTANT.

SO, YOU KNOW, ADDITIONAL RENEWABLE ENERGY PROCUREMENTS SHOULD BE DONE IN A WAY THAT TRY TO MITIGATE THE, UM, GRID CONGESTION AND PRICING ISSUES AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE.

AND, AND JUST TO, TO CLARIFY, WE VIEW THE RENEWABLE ENERGY GOAL AS INCLUDING LOCAL SOLAR.

SO TO THE EXTENT AUSTIN ENERGY PUTS RESOURCES INTO DEVELOPING LOCAL SOLAR, THAT LOCAL SOLAR COUNTS TOWARDS THAT, YOU KNOW, RENEWABLE GOAL.

SO IT'S NOT A SEPARATE, IT'S NOT REALLY SEPARATE.

ABSOLUTELY.

ALL RIGHT, NEXT SLIDE.

AND TO THE POINT, WE DID DISCUSS ADDITIONAL, UH, LOCAL SOLAR AND, UH, I GUESS THERE'S ANOTHER SLIDE, BUT, UM, WE HAVE RECOMMENDED A COUPLE THINGS KIND OF PROGRAMMATICALLY.

YOU KNOW, ONE IS THE STANDARD OFFER FOR DISTRIBUTED SOLAR, WHICH, UM, WE HAVE HAD A BRIEFING ON SEVERAL MONTHS AGO.

AND, UM, IS MOVING FORWARD ALLOWS FOR A, UH, A MODEL TO DEPLOY

[01:30:01]

UM, AND, AND THAT PROGRAM WAS SEEN AS AN IMPORTANT ELEMENT TO EXPANDING OVERALL LOCAL SOLAR.

AND THEN WE DID DISCUSS THIRD PARTY LEASING.

THERE'S CONTINUED CONCERN ABOUT, UH, CONSUMER KIND OF ISSUES, UH, FOR RESIDENTIAL, BUT THERE WAS AGREEMENT THAT THERE PARTY LEASING FOR COMMERCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL KIND OF CUSTOMERS SHOULD BE ALLOWED.

THEY ARE SOPHISTICATED ENOUGH THEY CAN GET THEMSELVES INTO A DEAL THAT IS, THAT WORKS FOR THEM, SHOULD THEY WANT TO.

AND THEN, UH, EXPANDING THE COMMUNITY SOLAR PROGRAM TO COMMERCIAL CUSTOMERS KIND OF TIED INTO THE STANDARD OFFER FOR DISTRIBUTED SOLAR, UH, WAS ANOTHER RECOMMENDATION THERE.

SO SOMEHOW WE DID NOT ACTUALLY GET THE GOALS FOR LOCAL SOLAR IN THERE, SO I'M JUST GONNA READ THEM FROM THE SUMMARY SLIDE.

UM, SO WE RECOMMENDED, UM, I WONDER IF I DELETED A SLIDE BY MISTAKE, I'M SORRY, 350 MEGAWATTS, UH, WITH 150 OF THAT BEHIND THE METER BY 20 27, 500 MEGAWATTS WITH 200 MEGAWATTS BEHIND THE METER BY 2030 AND 700 MEGAWATTS WITH 250 MEGAWATTS BEHIND THE METER, UH, FOR 2035.

AND, UM, I WILL NOTE THAT BEHIND THE METER LANGUAGE IS A LITTLE DIFFERENT THAN WHAT'S IN THE CURRENT PLAN.

AND, UM, THAT WAS PARTIALLY 'CAUSE AUSTIN ENERGY WAS MODELING THE BEHIND THE METER AND THE FRONT OF METER AT DIFFERENT PRICES.

UM, SO THAT'S THE, WE, WE SWITCHED TO THAT DISTINCTION.

SO THAT MEANS THE, UH, STANDARD OFFER SOLAR, WHICH IS IN FRONT OF THE METER ON THE UTILITY SIDE OF THE METER, WOULD NOT COUNT TOWARDS THOSE BEHIND THE METER GOALS.

I GUESS KIND OF COST CUTTING AND BENEFIT TO, FOR THOSE EXTREME WEATHER EVENTS IS GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE.

SO, UH, ENERGY STORAGE I THINK IS THE BIGGEST KIND OF CHANGE THAT THE WORKING GROUP, UH, IS RECOMMENDING.

UH, I THINK EVERYTHING ELSE KIND OF FALLS INTO THE CATEGORY OF SCALE UP, DO MORE, MAYBE ADD SOME ELEMENTS TO, BUT BUILDING ON, UM, YOU KNOW, KIND OF EXISTING PROGRAMS AND ACTIONS.

OBVIOUSLY AUSTIN ENERGY HAS DONE A BATTERY PROGRAM, BUT DOES NOT CURRENTLY HAVE ANY, YOU KNOW, UTILITY SCALE, UH, BATTERY CAPACITY.

AND SO THIS IS DEFINITELY A A, AN AREA WHERE WE'RE RECOMMENDING SCALING UP, UH, OR ACTUALLY, YOU KNOW, GETTING INTO INVESTING IN BATTERIES.

AND I THINK IMPORTANTLY RECOMMENDED THAT A LOT OF THIS BE LOCALLY, UH, BASED TO AGAIN, BE ABLE TO REPLACE THE SERVICES THAT THE NATURAL GAS PLANTS HAVE BEEN, UH, PROVIDING.

AND THEN FOR THE BATTERIES THAT ARE NOT LOCAL TO PAIR THOSE WITH AUSTIN ENERGY CONTROLLED, YOU KNOW, WIND OR SOLAR INSTALLATIONS SO THAT THE UTILITY CAN HOPEFULLY TRY TO AVOID SOME OF THAT CURTAILMENT THAT WE JUST HEARD ABOUT TODAY.

UM, AND PERHAPS ALSO JUST DO SOME OF THAT TO, UH, CAPTURE HIGHER PRICES.

UH, STRATEGICALLY WHAT WE DON'T REALLY HAVE REFLECTED IN THIS PART OF THE GOALS IS CUSTOMER CITED SOLAR, UM, I SHOULD HAVE MENTIONED THAT BACK IN THE DEMAND RESPONSE, UH, SECTION THAT IS A PART OF THE DEMAND RESPONSE, UM, KIND OF CALCULATIONS.

AND IT DEFINITELY CUSTOMER CITED STORAGE.

YEAH, SORRY, DID I SAY SOLAR? SORRY, CUSTOMER SITE, UH, STORAGE.

WE DEFINITELY, UM, HAD DISCUSSION ABOUT, AND, AND THERE WAS, YOU KNOW, CONSENSUS THAT THAT IS AN IMPORTANT PART OF, UH, OF THE FUTURE, AND IT IS ANOTHER WAY TO GET LOCAL, UM, STORAGE, WHICH, YOU KNOW, CAN ALSO BE KIND OF SITE AND SPACE LIMITED.

SO, UM, THAT'S PART OF IT, IT'S JUST NOT, WE DID NOT CALL THAT OUT AS SEPARATE GOALS IN THIS SECTION, BUT I JUST DID WANNA HIGHLIGHT IT THERE.

AND THEN RECOMMENDING A, I THINK, MODEST EXPANSION OF THERMAL STORAGE AS WELL FOR 2030.

AND SO YOU CAN SEE HERE THE NUMBERS 150 MEGAWATTS BY 20 27, 400 MEGAWATTS BY 20 3500 MEGAWATTS BY 2035.

AND THEN IN THAT 2035 INCLUDED A LONG DURATION, UH, STORAGE, AND WE GOT INFORMATION ON A COUPLE DIFFERENT TECHNOLOGIES.

ONE OF THEM GOES OUT TO A HUNDRED HOURS OF, UH, DISCHARGE FOR, FOR THE CAPACITY PROVIDED.

SO, UM, FINDING, YOU KNOW, THAT THAT WOULD BE AN IMPORTANT KIND OF RESILIENCE AND, UM,

[01:35:01]

UH, OVER THE 2%, UH, ANNUAL GOLD, THEN IT WAS CODED, IT IS UNAFFORDABLE.

AND IMPORTANTLY, WE WEREN'T IN ANY WAY, UM, SAYING WHAT KIND OF TECHNOLOGY YOU SHOULD CHOOSE OR YOU SHOULD GO WITH THIS COMPANY VERSUS THAT COMPANY.

JUST THAT PART OF THE GOALS WOULD BE TO DEVELOP LONG DURATION STORAGE, HOWEVER YOU WANNA DEFINE THAT.

SO NOT NOT BEING TOO SPECIFIC.

YEAH, ABSOLUTELY.

WELL, WE DID GET INFORMATION FROM SPECIFIC COMPANIES, NOT NECESSARILY ENDORSING THEIR PRODUCT OVER ANY OTHER, JUST, UM, THAT WAS MORE USED TO DETERMINE THAT THERE IS, THERE'S TECHNOLOGY AVAILABLE.

UM, SO ELECTRIC VEHICLES AND GERMS, WE DEFINITELY HAD, UM, SOME GOOD CONVERSATION AND LANDED ON, UM, SEVERAL DIFFERENT RECOMMENDATIONS.

MOST OF THESE ARE NOT NECESSARILY AROUND INCREASING DEPLOYMENT OF EVS, BUT MORE SO TAKING ADVANTAGE OF THAT EV DEPLOYMENT THAT IS TAKING PLACE TO BE ABLE TO, UM, USE THE, THOSE, THOSE BATTERIES, UH, TO, TO PROVIDE ADDITIONAL SERVICES.

YOU'LL SEE HERE THERE'S A FEW DIFFERENT ACRONYMS, UH, VV ONE G FOR THE IN INTELLIGENT CHARGING, AND THAT REALLY JUST FALLS INTO THE DEMAND RESPONSE, UH, SECTION.

UM, AND THEN YOU SEE V TO H AND V TO B AND VEHICLE TO HOME OR VEHICLE TO BUILDING.

AND IF YOU'VE, UH, HEARD OF THE VEHICLE TO GRID, WHICH YOU SEE DOWN AT THE SECOND TO LAST BULLET, THE VEHICLE TO HOME VEHICLE TO BUILDING IS, IS ALLOWING, UM, YOU KNOW, AN INDIVIDUAL TO ISLAND AND USE THEIR, UH, VEHICLE TO POWER SOME SUBSET OF THEIR HOME OR BUILDING NEEDS IF THERE'S A POWER OUTAGE.

UM, SO WE DID SEE THAT AS A KIND OF IMPORTANT RESILIENCE BENEFIT THAT SHOULD BE ENABLED .

UM, AND THEN YOU, YOU SEE MENTION HERE OF CAP METRO AND OTHER, UH, BUS FLEETS, THOSE ARE GONNA BE, YOU KNOW, A, A GROWING SOURCE OF PRETTY SIGNIFICANT BATTERY CAPACITY.

SO THE WORKING GROUP IS RECOMMENDING THAT, YOU KNOW, A E DO EVERYTHING, UH, THAT THEY CAN TO TRY TO BE ABLE TO BE IN A POSITION TO UTILIZE, UM, THOSE POWER SOURCES, UH, YOU KNOW, AT LEAST POTENTIALLY AS, AS BACKUP, UM, IF NOT NECESSARILY A VEHICLE TO GRID.

BUT, UM, I THINK ALSO LOOKING INTO THE VEHICLE TO GRID IS SOMETHING THAT SEEMS LIKE IT IS NOW, UH, YOU KNOW, ON THE HORIZON, SO SHOULD, SHOULD BE CONSIDERED AS WELL.

AND THEN JUST SOME OTHER, UH, RECOMMENDATIONS THERE AROUND SIGNAGE.

AND, UH, YOU CAN SEE OVER ON IN THE GREEN BOX, UH, ENCOURAGING AUSTIN ENERGY TO PARTICIPATE IN PILOTS, MAYBE INCLUDING THE, THE PUC PILOT AROUND, UH, AGGREGATING, UH, A THIRD PARTY, UH, AND UTILITY OWNED DISTRIBUTED RESOURCES.

AND THAT CAN BE ENERGY STORAGE, IT COULD ALSO POTENTIALLY INCLUDE OTHER, OTHER SOURCES AS WELL, BUT PRIMARILY FOCUSED ON ENERGY SOURCE STORAGE AND, AND IN THE FORM OF ELECTRIC VEHICLE BATTERIES HERE.

LET'S GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE.

SO, AFFORDABILITY, UH, IS DEFINITELY A BIG CONCERN.

YOU KNOW, WE DEFINITELY TOOK TO HURT THE, UH, RESPONSES ON THE SURVEY, WHICH, YOU KNOW, PUT RELIABILITY, UH, AS TOP AND THEN AFFORDABILITY AND ENVIRONMENTAL OR SUSTAINABILITY AS, AS THE OTHER, YOU KNOW, TWO KIND OF EQUALLY, UM, IMPORTANT PRIORITIES.

WE DID HAVE SOME, I THINK, CONCERN ABOUT THE WAY AFFORDABILITY WAS BEING, UM, COMMUNICATED ON THE SCENARIOS THAT WERE MODELED OR ON THE PORTFOLIOS THAT WERE MODELED.

AND WE HAVE JUST ONE GRAPH HERE TO KIND OF ILLUSTRATE, UM, ONE OF THE, THE WORKING GROUP SCENARIO OR PORTFOLIOS, UM, THAT WAS CODED AS UNAFFORDABLE.

UM, AND YOU CAN SEE THE RED LINE THERE IS THE AFFORDABILITY THRESHOLD, AND THEN THE, THE BLUE LINE IS, UH, YOU KNOW, KIND OF THE ANNUAL PROJECTED, UH, RATE IMPACT, AND IT DOES CROSS OVER THE RED LINE, BUT THEN IT COMES VERY CLOSE TO THE RED LINE AT THE END.

UM, AND, UH, THE, THE WAY AFFORDABILITY IS, IS BEING CONSIDERED IS, YOU KNOW, IF IN ANY YEAR THE COSTS WERE SUCH THAT RATES MIGHT INCREASE,

[01:40:01]

SO THE WORKING GROUP FELT LIKE THAT WAS, UM, BOTH VERY RIGID, UH, AND ALSO DID NOT REALLY TAKE INTO ACCOUNT THAT AUSTIN ENERGY HAS DONE A GREAT JOB IN, UH, THE REALM OF ENERGY EFFICIENCY, RECOMMENDING A SLIGHT ADJUSTMENT TO THE AFFORDABILITY GOAL, NAMELY TO FOCUS IT ON BILLS AS OPPOSED TO RATES SINCE THAT'S REALLY WHAT THE CUSTOMER, UH, GENERALLY CARE, YOU KNOW, THE RESIDENTIAL CUSTOMER CARES FOR, CARES ABOUT THE MOST.

UM, SO YOU CAN SEE HERE THE LANGUAGE, BUT THE, LIKE, I'LL TELL YOU THE, BASICALLY THE CHANGES TO WHERE YOU SEE BILLS, IT USED TO SAY RATES, UM, KEEPING THE SAME TWO METRICS THERE, BUT JUST, UH, FOCUSED ON THE TOTAL AMOUNT PAID AS OPPOSED TO WHAT FORM IT'S PAID IN.

LET'S GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE.

SO, YOU KNOW, I MENTIONED THAT, UM, THE RENEWABLE ENERGY GOALS, UH, THE WORKING GROUP DID DEFINE THOSE AS NOT JUST, UH, CARBON FREE, BUT EMISSIONS FREE.

UH, WE SPENT, YOU KNOW, A CONSIDERABLE AMOUNT OF TIME, AND I KNOW WE HAD SOME GOOD, UH, PRESENTATION AND, UH, PANEL DISCUSSION HERE AT THE EUC, SO I'M NOT GONNA GO INTO ALL THIS, BUT, YOU KNOW, THE WORKING GROUP FELT THAT IT WAS NOT, UM, IN THE BEST INTEREST, UH, TO ENDORSE A HYDROGEN COMBUSTION PLAN, AND THAT ANY FUTURE KIND OF RESEARCH INTO USING GREEN HYDROGEN, WHICH MIGHT HAVE A ROLE TO PLAY, SHOULD BE FOCUSED ON FUEL CELLS, WHICH, YOU KNOW, DON'T, UH, RESULT IN AIR POLLUTION.

UM, AND YOU'LL SEE SOME, SOME INFORMATION, YOU KNOW, HERE REFERRING TO NITROGEN OXIDES AND, UM, THE SITUATION THAT THE AUSTIN AREA IS IN ALREADY EXCEEDING EPA STANDARDS.

WHAT THAT MEANS IS WHEN THE EPA GETS AROUND TO EVALUATING, AGAIN FOR NON-ATTAINMENT, THIS REGION CAN BE DESIGNATED AS NON-ATTAINMENT, WHICH CAN HAVE NEGATIVE ECONOMIC CONSEQUENCES.

OBVIOUSLY, IT'S ALSO BAD FOR PUBLIC HEALTH THAT WE HAVE ERROR THAT IS OVER THAT HEALTH-BASED STANDARD.

SO ADDING ANOTHER SOURCE, UM, WAS SOMETHING THAT THE WORKING GROUP, UH, DID NOT ENDORSE.

NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE.

I DON'T THINK WE NEED TO GO INTO GREAT DETAIL HERE, BUT WE, UH, DID RECOMMEND SEVERAL DIFFERENT STUDIES.

YOU'LL SEE THE, YOU KNOW, WINTER PEAK LOAD REDUCTION BECAUSE THAT WAS A NEW METRIC, YOU KNOW, RECOMMENDING, UH, DIGGING INTO THAT A BIT.

AND, YOU KNOW, CONTINUING TO LOOK AT OPTIONS FOR FLEXIBLE RENEWABLE ENERGY THAT IS ALSO, UH, CLEAN.

AND THEN DEFINITELY CONTINUED, UM, EFFORT AND ATTENTION ON TRANSMISSION, AND THEN FILLING IN THE KIND OF REACTIVE POWER, THOSE, THOSE OTHER SERVICES THAT THE NATURAL GAS PLANTS HAVE BEEN PROVIDING AND NEED TO BE, UH, ACCOUNTED FOR IN SOME WAY THROUGH CLEAN ENERGY SERVICES.

SO YOU'LL SEE THERE, UM, KIND OF A LIST OF THINGS TO STUDY IN THAT REGARD.

YEAH, AND JUST, UM, ADDING TO THE POINT OF THE STUDIES, THE PART OF THE IDEA OF THE STUDIES ARE TO DO THEM RELATIVELY SOON SO THAT THEY CAN INFLUENCE ANY FUTURE UPDATES.

SO EXAMPLE, REACTIVE POWER.

UM, IF WE, IF, IF WE FIND OUT THERE ARE WAYS TO, YOU KNOW, USE THE GAS PLANTS AS, UM, UH, IN, IN A DIFFERENT WAY TO JUST PROVIDE REACTIVE POWER BUT NOT ACTUALLY PROVIDE POWER, OR IF THERE'S A WAY TO REPLACE 'EM WITH BATTERIES, THAT KIND OF STUDY IS NEEDED SOONER RATHER THAN LATER.

SOONER TO WHAT NEED, YOU KNOW, WHAT TO INVEST IN.

UH, AND THEN THOSE GOALS COULD BE ADJUSTED ACCORDINGLY, UH, BASED ON THAT STUDY.

SO THE, THE STUDIES ARE ACTUALLY REALLY IMPORTANT, UM, TO SOME OF THE GOALS IN THE, IN THE RECOMMENDATIONS.

YEAH, ABSOLUTELY.

THANKS CYRUS.

UH, NEXT SLIDE.

SO SPEAKING OF THE NEXT, UH, UPDATE, UH, THE WORKING GROUP IS RECOMMENDING THE, THE PLAN SHOULD BE UPDATED EVERY THREE YEARS.

UM, GOING BACK WAYS, IT, IT WAS ON A TWO YEAR SCHEDULE THAT ENDED UP OFTEN BEING THREE YEARS AND THEN, YOU KNOW,

[01:45:01]

IT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE ON A FIVE YEAR SCHEDULE UNLESS THERE WAS SOMETHING SIGNIFICANT.

WELL, OUR TAKE IS THAT THERE'S A LOT OF SIGNIFICANT CHANGES HAPPENING PRETTY CONTINUALLY, UH, AND FIVE YEARS IS, IS REALLY TOO LONG TO KEEP UP WITH ALL THOSE CHANGES.

AND, UM, THREE YEARS WOULD BE KIND OF A, A HAPPY MIDDLE TO, TO BE TIMELY, BUT, BUT NOT BE DOING CONSTANT PLANNING.

UM, YOU KNOW, I WILL SAY AUSTIN ENERGY DID RESPOND TO A LOT OF QUESTIONS FROM US ALL IN WRITING.

UM, I THINK PART OF THIS RECOMMENDATION IS TO, YOU KNOW, HAVE IT BE A, UM, HOPEFULLY A MORE COLLABORATIVE PROCESS NEXT TIME THAT I, WE, I THINK WE THINK COULD ACTUALLY REDUCE THE BURDEN ON AUSTIN ENERGY IF SOME OF THOSE QUESTIONS CAN JUST BE, UH, RESPONDED TO VERBALLY IN MEETINGS.

SO, YOU KNOW, HAVE THAT FULLY ROBUST, TRANSPARENT, UM, PROCESS.

AND, UM, AND THEN AS CYRUS MENTIONED, YOU KNOW, ALL THOSE STUDIES NEED TO BE THERE, BE COMPLETED TO INFORM THE NEXT UPDATE.

SO, UM, AND THEN THERE WAS THIS ALSO THIS PIECE ABOUT KINDA LOOKING FURTHER THAN THE 10 YEARS, NOT IN THE SAME LEVEL OF DETAIL, BUT JUST TO KIND OF VISION WHAT THINGS, UH, COULD LOOK LIKE, YOU KNOW, EVEN OUT TO SAY 25 YEARS.

AND THEN I THINK, YEAH, WE JUST HAVE, JUST HAVE AN INSPIRATIONAL QUOTE HERE AND WE'RE DONE.

WELL, I'D LIKE TO THANK THE WORK GROUP WHO PUT IN AN ENORMOUS AMOUNT OF EFFORT, CYRUS, YOU'VE ALREADY THANKED.

AND I WANT TO SECOND THE NOTION, ALL THE WORK THAT AUSTIN ENERGY PUT IN TO TRY TO GIVE US ANSWERS TO, I DON'T KNOW HOW MANY QUESTIONS OVER TIME.

SO WE KNOW THAT WASN'T A LIGHT BURDEN ON THAT PLUS.

SO I'D LIKE TO THANK YOU ON THAT.

ONE THING THAT CAME UP IN MY MIND THAT I, UH, I DIDN'T GET EARLY ENOUGH TO INCLUDE IN THIS IS IT SEEMED LIKE WHEN WE SAW MICHAEL LIBA, UH, ANALYSIS ON THE GREEN, YELLOW, RED, AND IT HAD COST NUMBERS, I GUESS YOU COULD REFRESH MY MEMORY, IT WAS MAYBE NET PRESENT VALUE OF THE COSTS.

'CAUSE I DON'T KNOW IF IT WAS, IT COULDN'T BE OFFSET BY THE BENEFITS, SO I THINK IT WAS JUST A COST SOLUTION.

BUT ONE OF THE THINGS THAT GOES THROUGH MY MIND IS WE HAVE THIS LAUNDRY LIST OF THINGS THAT WE ALL KNOW THAT WE'D LIKE TO SEE, YOU KNOW, TRANSMISSION UPGRADES, DISTRIBUTION UPGRADES, AND WE DIDN'T EVEN TALK ABOUT UPGRADING THE AUTOMATED DISTRIBUTION MANAGEMENT SYSTEM OR ANY OF THE OTHER THINGS OR, OR WHATEVER.

BUT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT UNDERGROUNDING, WE'RE TALKING ABOUT INSULATED CONDUCTORS, WE'RE TALKING ABOUT, UM, WHAT STUART HAD MENTIONED BEFORE LAST YEAR ABOUT THE RECLOSER.

SO THERE'S NO LACK OF NEW EV PROGRAMS, NEW THIS, NEW THAT.

AND SO WHAT GOES THROUGH MY MIND IS, AND MAYBE YOU'RE ALREADY THINKING ABOUT INCLUDING THIS IN THE PRESENTATION TO US AND THE, AND THE COUNCIL LATER, IS THE SORT OF CASH FLOW ANALYSIS FOR THE CAPEX BECAUSE THERE'S A FINITE AMOUNT OF CASH, THERE'S MULTIPLE DEMANDS ON CASH TO INVEST IN CAPEX, AND THERE'S GOING TO BE A CERTAIN DEBT CAPACITY LIMIT, RIGHT? AND SO WHEN WE HAVE THIS WHOLE LAUNDRY LIST OF THINGS, CAN YOU, CAN YOU HAVE SOME CASES THAT MAY BE TRY AND AS YOU GET FURTHER OUT, IT'S GOING TO BE LESS ACCURATE OF COURSE.

BUT, YOU KNOW, THAT GIVES A NOTION OF HOW YOU'D PRIORITIZE THE CASH AND YOUR DEBT SERVICE.

BECAUSE I THINK ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF THIS IS, AS SOME OF THE PPAS ROLL OFF, THAT THE ADVANTAGES WILL BE AE OWNERSHIP.

AND SO DOES THAT TAX THE DEBT CAPACITY OF THE UTILITY, RIGHT? OR THE CASH, RIGHT? AND SO ALL THESE THINGS, AND I JUST THINK IT WOULD BE USEFUL TO SEE THAT, SO WE KNOW WHAT APPETITE AND, AND WHAT PRIORITIZATION OF THAT.

AND THAT MAY BE A LIMITING FACTOR, NOT JUST SOME OF THE MPVS FOR DISCOUNTED CASH FLOWS THAT, YOU KNOW, THOSE CAN BE ALSO A LITTLE, YOU HAVE TO ESTIMATE THOSE, BUT THEY COULD HAVE, UH, DIFFERENT VARIATIONS THAT MIGHT MAKE IT GO FROM A RED TO A YELLOW OR GREEN OR VICE VERSA, RIGHT? SO THE POINT IS, WHAT ABOUT THE CAPITAL INVESTMENT STREAM AND, AND SOME OUTLOOK ON THAT TO THINK ABOUT WHAT'S MOST IMPORTANT ANALYSIS.

PARSE OUT CASH FLOW INVESTMENTS OF, OF EACH OF THESE AS OPPOSED TO GIVING YOU THE NET VALUE THAT WE DID TODAY? I'M NOT SURE ABOUT, BECAUSE WE INCLUDED THAT, WE INCLUDED CAPITAL INVESTMENTS IN THAT ANALYSIS.

I COULDN'T HEAR YOU, BUT YOU WOULD, WOULD LIKE US TO PARSE OUT THE CASH FLOW INVESTMENTS? YEAH, SORRY.

SO MY, MY QUESTION IS, YOU WOULD LIKE US TO

[01:50:01]

SO YOU'D JUST LIKE TO SEE THAT PARSED OUT MORE GRANULAR? YEAH, SO, SO I'M NOT SURE YOU'D SAY INSTEAD OF, BUT IN ADDITION, BECAUSE YOU'LL HAVE A FINITE AMOUNT OF CASH AND FINITE AMOUNT OF DEBT THAT YOU CAN FLOAT.

AND SO THINKING OF THE BIG PICTURE OF HOW YOU WOULD RECOMMEND THE PRIORITIZATION OF THESE DIFFERENT INVESTMENTS.

SURE.

WE CAN LOOK AT CAPITAL CASH FLOWS FOR ALL OF THE RECOMMENDATIONS HERE SO THAT WE CAN GO AHEAD AND SHOW THOSE ON A RELATIVE COMPARISON.

ANY OTHER COMMENTS ON THAT? I'M, I'M NOT SURE IF AUSTIN ENERGY WAS GONNA RESPOND TO HOW YOU GUYS PLANNED HUH? ABOUT THAT.

OH, OKAY.

UM, I'LL, I'LL JUST SAY, I, I HOPE THAT YOU WILL TAKE THESE WITH A, A SPIRIT OF, WE'RE, WE'RE, WE'RE, WE'RE TRYING TO BE HELPFUL, BUT IF THERE ARE RECOMMENDATIONS OR TIMELINES THAT YOU SEE AS NOT, YOU KNOW, LET'S TAKE AN EXAMPLE.

WE DON'T THINK, WE THINK IT WOULD BE DIFFICULT TO GET TO THIS GOAL BY THIS DATE.

UM, BUT IF THERE WAS FLEXIBILITY, WE, WE THINK THE GENERAL DIRECTION THINGS LIKE THAT, I THINK WILL BE HELPFUL TO THE EUC.

UM, 'CAUSE SOMETIMES THINGS AREN'T YES OR NO, THEY'RE, YOU KNOW, THERE'S SOME NUANCE THERE.

SO I'M ENCOURAGING YOU TO BE NUANCED IN YOUR, IN YOUR RESPONSES.

I THINK THAT COULD BE HELPFUL.

UM, BECAUSE ULTIMATELY THIS, THIS, THE WORKING GROUP IS DONE, THEY'VE GIVEN THE RECOMMENDATION AND NOW I VIEW IT AS IT'S NOW IN THIS, IN THIS REALM.

UM, SO I, I'M HOPING THAT, UM, AUSTIN ENERGY CAN BOTH RESPOND TO THOSE RECOMMENDATIONS AND ANY ADDITIONAL THOUGHTS YOU GUYS HAVE AND DO IT IN A TIMELY WAY SO THAT WE, I MEAN, I WAS ACTUALLY GLAD THAT YOU WEREN'T RESPONDING TONIGHT, BELIEVE ME.

'CAUSE I THINK IT'S A LOT, UH, IT WOULD BE A LOT TO TRY TO, YOU KNOW, IN ENCAPSULATE BOTH THIS AND ANY OTHER ADDITIONAL RECOMMENDATIONS YOU GUYS MIGHT HAVE.

SO I'M HOPEFUL THAT YOU CAN RESPOND WITH ENOUGH TIME FOR US TO, YOU KNOW, CONSIDER THOSE BEFORE THE NEXT MEETING.

HOW, HOW WAS GONNA JUST ASK, UH, COMMISSIONER LONG AND I BOTH, UH, PROVIDED SUPPLEMENT SUPPLEMENTAL COMMENTS WHILE, UH, STRONGLY ENDORSING THE RECOMMENDATIONS, UH, HAVE THOSE BEEN CIRCULATED TO COUNSEL WITH THE RECOMMENDATIONS WHO WE HAVE? I'M SORRY, WE HAVE THOSE.

NOT TO COUNSEL, BUT TO, TO THE EUC.

OF THE RATE INCREASE THAT FROM A YEAR AGO.

DO YOU WANNA, IF YOU'D LIKE TO ADDRESS THOSE, YOUR COMMENTS, YOU'RE, I THINK, RIGHT? WELL, I'M NOT, I'M NOT IN TERMS OF COMMISSIONER LONG, IF YOU'D LIKE TO SPEAK FIRST.

YEAH, I, I, I JUST WANTED, I HAD JUST KIND OF A, A LITTLE BIT PERHAPS DIFFERENT PHILOSOPHY THAN, THAN THE REST MY COLLEAGUES ON THE WORKING GROUP ON KIND OF WHAT WE'RE DOING HERE AND WHAT IS MOST PRODUCTIVE FOR US TO BE DOING HERE.

AND, UM, I ADVOCATED THAT WE ACTUALLY, 'CAUSE I THINK THE MAIN THING THAT WE CAN DO IS SET GOALS, UH, AND HAVE THAT KIND OF INPUT AS TO WHAT THE GOAL SHOULD BE FOR OUR COMMUNITY.

UH, AND I ACTUALLY ADVOCATED FOR ACCELERATING THE GOAL ON CARBON REDUCTION DOWN TO 2030, UH, OR AT LEAST, UH, SEEING IF WE COULDN'T, UH, REALLY PUSH IT THAT HARD.

BUT ALONG WITH THAT, I ALSO BELIEVE THEN YOU HAVE TO ALLOW THE, UH, AUSTIN ENERGY, THE FLEXIBILITY TO REACH THAT GOAL, UM, IN THE WAY THAT THEY CAN DO IT, THE WAY THEY UNDERSTAND HOW TO GO ABOUT DOING, DOING THAT SORT OF THING.

SO I WOULD BE LESS PRESCRIPTIVE.

AND AS ONE EXAMPLE OF THAT, UH, I THINK THE WORKING GROUP IS JUST A HARD NO ON, ON HYDROGEN.

UM, AND I WOULDN'T BE, I WOULD, I WOULD LET THAT, UH, CONTINUE TO PLAY OUT.

UH, IF AUSTIN ENERGY FEELS LIKE IT'S A HIGH PRIORITY FOR THEM, THEN I, I WOULD, I WOULD SAY GO AHEAD AND KEEP, KEEP MOVING IN THAT DIRECTION UNTIL WE FIND OUT IF IT, IT CAN WORK OR NOT.

UH, AND SO THAT'S JUST KIND OF A LITTLE BIT OF DIFFERENT EMPHASIS ON THE WAY I LOOKED AT IT.

BUT OTHERWISE, I THINK ALL THESE RECOMMENDATIONS ARE GREAT SUGGESTIONS.

I THINK THAT THEY'LL TAKE 'EM INTO ACCOUNT AND HOPEFULLY, YOU KNOW, WE WILL HAVE IMPROVED THE PRODUCT AT THE END OF THE DAY.

SO, AND, UH, I ALSO, UH, STRONGLY SUPPORT THE RECOMMENDATIONS, BUT ALL OF WHICH IS THEY ARE CONSENSUS AS A GROUP, BUT THEY ARE CONSENSUS RECOMMENDATIONS.

AND AS WE SAW IN THE DISCUSSION ON AFFORDABILITY, UH, THEY INCREASE, THEY INCREASE COSTS TO CUSTOMERS.

UH, THEY W WE'VE ALREADY SEEN THREE PSA, UH, POWER SUPPLY INCREASES THIS LAST YEAR.

WE J WE'RE SEEING THE, WE ARE NOW SEEING THE EFFECTS

[01:55:01]

UH, AND AS WE SEE, AS WE TRANSITION, WE DON'T KNOW WHAT, WE DON'T KNOW WHAT THE COST OF EXITING FAYETTE WILL BE, UH, AND THE CLEANUP COSTS THAT ARE ASSOCIATED WITH IT.

UH, BUT IT'S SIGNIFICANT.

AND, AND WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT ARE THE MOST VULNERABLE CUSTOMERS, MANY OF WHOM PAY OVER 50% OF THEIR INCOMES FOR RENT AND OR SHELTER, RENT, SHELTER, INCLUDING UTILITIES.

UH, WHEREAS THE, UH, THE RECOMMENDATION OF THE DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING COMMUNITY AFFAIRS IS 30% OF INCOME FOR RENT AND UTILITIES.

UH, ALL OF WHICH IS COSTS ARE GOING UP, BUT ALL OF WHICH IS THE ONLY THING THAT THE CITY OF AUSTIN AND CITY COUNCIL CAN CONTROL IS UTILITY COST.

WE HAVE TO MAKE THE NECESSARY INVESTMENTS THAT HAVE BEEN LAID OUT TONIGHT, BUT THERE WILL BE COST.

AND, AND MANY OF THE PROGRAMS, THE ENERGY EFFICIENCY PROGRAMS THAT WE HAVE TODAY, UH, THEY'RE PAID FOR BY EVERY CUSTOMER.

BUT YOU DON'T SEE LOW INCOME CUSTOMERS LINING UP TO BUY A NEW RV AND GETTING A REBATE.

UH, TODAY WE, UH, RECOMMENDED GOING FORWARD WITH 10 SOLAR INSTALLATIONS ON ROOFTOP INSTALLATIONS, BUT THE PEOPLE THAT I KNOW WHO LIVE IN LOW INCOME HOUSING, UH, ARE NOT PARTICIPATING IN THAT REBATE PROGRAM.

THEY'RE NOT, UH, THEY'RE NOT GETTING EV CHARGES OR THE FANCY ELECTRIC BICYCLES, BUT THEY'RE PAYING FOR THOSE, ALL OF WHICH IS, ALL OF WHICH IS, UH, AUSTIN ENERGY RECOMMENDED IN THE PAST, DURING THE PANDEMIC THAT THE CAP DIS THE CAP PROGRAM DISCOUNT BE 15%, UH, WHICH IT WAS, AND THEN IT RE WENT BACK TO THE 10% THAT IT HISTORICALLY WAS.

MY RECOMMENDATION IS TO, AS, AS YOU MOVE FORWARD IN DEVELOPING THE BUDGET, IS TO ACKNOWLEDGE THAT THERE WILL BE INCREASED COSTS AND THEREFORE, UH, EAB RESTORE THE 15% DISCOUNT FOR GAP PROGRAM TO HELP THE POOREST OF THE POOR.

YOU KNOW, THAT, UH, THEY'RE ALWAYS LOOKING FOR EXCUSES TO COME AFTER OUR PUBLIC UTILITIES, RIGHT? AND THE, UM, SO I, I CAN'T REALLY SEPARATE THE RESOURCE GENERATION GOALS FROM THE, UM, COST SIDE OF THINGS.

DO YOU HAVE ANY COMMENTS FROM THE COMMISSIONERS ONLINE? JONATHAN RAUL? UH, YEAH, I THINK, UH, I, I'M BEEN VERY INTERESTED IN SEEING KIND OF THE COST ASSOCIATED, RIGHT, WITH SOME OF THESE, UH, APPROACHES THAT GET US TO, UM, KIND OF NET ZERO.

UM, BECAUSE IT'S, IT'S SOME VERY AGGRESSIVE SORT OF, UH, NUMBERS IN TERMS OF, UH, HOW FAST WE'RE, UM, MOVING WITH SOME OF THESE, UM, KIND OF GENERATION OPTIONS.

AND, UM, I GUESS I'M JUST KIND OF CONCERNED ABOUT COST SIDE OF IT, RIGHT? AND HOW THAT IS GONNA AFFECT RATES.

'CAUSE YOU KNOW, I DO A LOT OF WORK RESEARCHING THE IMPACT, YOU KNOW, OF AFFORDABILITY, RIGHT? ON THE, YOU KNOW, JUST IN SO MANY DIFFERENT FACETS, YOU KNOW, IN OUR COMMUNITY.

UM, AND IT, THE ISSUE COMES UP IN SO MANY DIFFERENT WAYS.

IT ALMOST LIKE NO, NO PROGRAM OR SERVICE IS IMMUNE FROM THE AFFORDABILITY QUESTION COMING UP.

AND I, UH, SO AGAIN, YOU KNOW, JUST WHEN WE SEE A COLUMN WITH SEVEN OR EIGHT STRATEGIES OR, AND EACH OF THEM HAS A VERY AGGRESSIVE SORT OF MEGAWATT OUTCOME, YOU KNOW, IN 20 27, 20 35, AND 2040, UM, YOU KNOW, YOU KNOW, I CAN'T REALLY WEIGH THE VIABILITY OF THAT IF I DON'T KNOW THE COST OF IT, BECAUSE IN THE END, IT WILL AFFECT RATES.

AND, AND THAT WILL AFFECT, YOU KNOW, UH, BILLS.

YOU KNOW, YOU CAN'T SEPARATE THE TWO IN MY, IN MY MIND.

SO HOPEFULLY THAT'S SOMETHING AUSTIN ENERGY STAFF IS GONNA BE WORKING ON.

'CAUSE, UH, I DO THINK WE, UH, YOU KNOW, HAVE, HAVE DONE SOME GREAT WORK IN THIS ARENA, YOU KNOW, IN TERMS OF, UH, UM, RENEWABLE ENERGY AND, UM, WE NEED TO CONTINUE THAT.

BUT I ALSO FEEL THAT WE CAN'T IGNORE THE COST PART OF THE BIT, YOU KNOW, THAT, THAT SIDE OF IT, BECAUSE, UM, THE MORE OUR RATES GO UP, YOU KNOW, THE LESS COMPETITIVE WE ARE WITH OTHER FOLKS AND

[02:00:01]

UM, AND SO THAT'S SOMETHING I DEFINITELY WANNA SEE TOGETHER, RIGHT? I, I DON'T THINK THAT I CAN JUST VOTE ON GOALS WITHOUT REALLY KIND OF LOOKING AT THE FINANCIAL IMPACTS.

UM, AND THEN THE, UM, AND THEN THE OTHER THING THAT I WOULD LIKE MAYBE SOME ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON, JUST SINCE RENEWABLES ARE, THERE'S A LOT OF CONTRACTS OR PURCHASING, RIGHT? THAT ENERGY, RIGHT? AND SO I THINK THOSE CONTRACTS, IF WE'RE MORE AND MORE RELIANT ON THEM AS THEY EXPIRE, AGAIN, IS THERE LIKE A LOT MORE AVAILABILITY OF THAT, OF THOSE CONTRACTS? YOU KNOW, IF WE'RE IN THIS SPACE WHERE WE HAVE TO GO OUT AND BUY RENEWABLE ENERGY AND THE, AND, AND THE SUPPLY IS LOW, THEN THE COST GO UP.

AND SO I WOULD LIKE TO ALSO SEE, AGAIN, WHEN DO OUR CONTRACTS OR PURCHASING RENEWABLES AGAIN, WHAT IS THE TIMING, YOU KNOW, OF THOSE CONTRACTS, UH, HAVING TO BE RENEWED? BECAUSE AGAIN, FOR ME, ALL THAT, YOU KNOW, THE FINANCIAL PART, THE PURCHASE OF ENERGY FROM THINGS THAT WE DON'T CONTROL AS A UTILITY, UM, ARE GONNA AFFECT THE ABILITY FOR US TO INVEST HEAVILY, UM, IN THIS WAY, WHICH I HOPE WE CAN DO IT BECAUSE, UH, I DO THINK, UH, WE NEED TO, UH, IDENTIFY, RIGHT, YOU KNOW, THE STEPS THAT'LL GET US THERE.

BUT WE ALSO NEED TO LOOK AT, UM, AGAIN, REALISTICALLY, RIGHT, WHAT DO WE HAVE AVAILABLE TO INVEST, UM, AND HOW AGGRESSIVE CAN WE BE, RIGHT? IN TERMS OF WHAT DO WE INCLUDE IN THE PLAN? SO, UH, JUST A COUPLE OF, I A COUPLE OF THOUGHTS.

I MEAN, UH, UH, APPRECIATE THE WORK OF THE, YOU KNOW, OF THE WORK GROUP.

UM, 'CAUSE IT, UH, JUST A LOT, UH, OF INFORMATION, RIGHT? A LOT OF OPTIONS, A LOT OF, UH, UM, RECOMMENDATIONS, RIGHT, THAT I OTHERWISE WOULD NOT HAVE CONSIDERED.

SO I'M DEFINITELY GONNA DIVE DEEPER INTO IT, RIGHT? AND REALLY GET, UH, MORE COMFORTABLE WITH THE INFORMATION AND, AND THE NUMBERS.

BUT, BUT THANK YOU ALL FOR DOING THAT AND FOR LAYING IT OUT FOR US.

UH, AND, UH, LOOK FORWARD TO AGAIN, HAVING CONVERSATIONS HERE WITH AT THE EEC AND MAYBE ONE-ON-ONE WITH A FEW FOLKS JUST TO, UH, DISCUSS, UH, AGAIN, JUST AGAIN, EDUCATE MYSELF AND THEN BE BETTER INFORMED WHEN IT COMES TO, UH, RECOMMENDATIONS THAT COME FROM THE COMMISSION ITSELF.

SO THANKS FOR ALL THE HARD WORK.

YOU KNOW, YOU CAN TELL THERE WAS A LOT OF TIME AND EFFORT AND THOUGHT.

SO, UH, UM, AND, UH, APPRECIATE THE, THE CITIZEN DRIVEN PART OF THAT WHOLE PROCESS.

SO THANKS FOR ALL THE TIME AND EFFORT.

APPRECIATE IT.

THANK, THANK YOU FOR THOSE COMMENTS.

UM, YOU KNOW, I CAN TELL YOU AFFORDABILITY IS IMPORTANT TO ME AS WELL.

UM, AND IT'S POSTED ON THE WORKING GROUP WEBSITE, BUT WE CAN CIRCULATE AROUND.

AUSTIN ENERGY DID PROVIDE, UM, ANNUAL DATA IN TERMS OF THE KIND OF COST MODELING, UM, AS WELL AS EMISSIONS.

SO, UM, WE CAN, WE CAN CIRCULATE THAT RESPONSE TO INFORMATION OR MAYBE EVEN JUST PULL OUT THOSE, THOSE, UH, CHARTS, IF THAT WOULD BE HELPFUL AS YOU DO, UM, YOU KNOW, JUST KIND OF CONSIDER GOING FORWARD.

I'LL SAY THAT THE, THE WORKING GROUP DID HAVE SOME, I THINK, FUNDAMENTAL DISAGREEMENT ON SOME OF THE ASSUMPTIONS THAT WENT INTO THE MODELING.

SO, UM, YOU KNOW, IT IS WHAT IT IS, BUT IT, IT IS AT LEAST SOME INFORMATION THAT WE CAN SHARE WITH YOU.

I, I WILL SAY THOUGH, UM, IN RESPONSE, AND THOSE ARE GREAT POINTS, RO UM, AS EVA SAID, THE AUSTIN ENERGY DID PROVIDE AN ANALYSIS OF OUR SCENARIOS.

THE EXACT RECOMMENDATIONS WE HAVE IN THIS DOCUMENT DON'T TOTALLY LINE UP WITH THE SCENARIOS THAT WERE RUN.

UM, SO THAT'S SORT OF A DECISION AUSTIN ENERGY CAN, CAN MAKE.

BUT, UM, THE, UH, UH, YOU KNOW, JUST THE, THE, THE WAY WE AND THE RECOMMENDATIONS, UM, THE WAY WE FIGURED OUT THE ENERGY EFFICIENCY GOALS AND THE DEMAND RESPONSE GOALS AND, AND THE, THE USE OF THE GAS PLANT ARE SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT THAN WHAT WAS MODELED.

SO JUST, UM, YOU KNOW, BASICALLY WE, WE, WE, WE TOOK, UH, SCENARIO A 2035 AND WE MADE THE, THE ENERGY EFFICIENCY GOALS A LITTLE LESS AGGRESSIVE, BUT WE WERE ALSO A LITTLE MORE AGGRESSIVE ON THE USE OF, OF THE DECLINING USE OF THE GAS PLANT.

SO I DON'T KNOW HOW THAT CHANGES THE NUMBERS, BUT, YOU KNOW, TO THE EXTENT ONE WOULD WANT TO MODEL WHAT'S IN THE RECOMMENDATIONS, ONE COULD, BUT THAT'S NOT MY, UH, YOU KNOW,

[02:05:01]

WE, WE DON'T, WE DON'T HAVE EXACT NUMBERS IN OTHER WORDS, BUT WE HAVE NUMBERS THAT ARE CLOSE, BUT WE CAN, WE CAN SHARE THOSE, UH, WITH ROBIN TO SHARE WITH EVERYBODY.

THAT THERE'S JUST A LINK WHERE ALL THAT STUFF LIVES.

I'M HAPPY TO POUR THROUGH IT.

I, I DO THAT.

I LOOK AT DATA AND CHARTS ALL THE TIME, SO I, UM, AND THAT, UH, BUT IF IT ALREADY LIVES SOMEWHERE, IT JUST POINT AWAY AND I'LL, UH, I'LL GO KIND OF DIG THROUGH A LOT OF THAT STUFF.

SO THANKS IRIS.

APPRECIATE IT.

YEAH, WE, WE CAN SEND A LINK TO THE WEBSITE AS WELL AS THE SPECIFIC DOCUMENT 'CAUSE THERE ARE QUITE A FEW REQUESTS FOR INFORMATION.

[21. Discussion regarding the Resource Generation Plan Working Group recommendations. ]

SO WE'RE BASICALLY HITTING ITEM 21 ALREADY, THE DISCUSSION, RIGHT? SO ARE THERE ANY OTHER POINTS TO FINISH UP THE DISCUSSION? UM, IN RESPONSE TO M**K, I WOULD SAY I PERSONALLY AM NOT A HARD NO ON HYDROGEN.

WHAT I WAS A HARD NO ON, OR I THINK THE WORKING GROUP WAS, WAS THE CONCEPT OF BUILDING COMBINED CYCLE PLANTS THAT FOR THE NEXT EIGHT TO 10 YEARS WOULD RUN PRINCIPALLY ON METHANE, UM, WITH THE HOPE THAT WE WOULD GET TO A HUNDRED PERCENT GREEN HYDROGEN IN THE FUTURE.

AND SO THAT'S REALLY THE CONCERN.

SO IF THERE WAS, UM, LIKE FUEL CELL TECHNOLOGY OR MORE USE OF HYDROGEN AS SORT OF STORAGE BACKUP, I THINK THAT'S SOMETHING TO LOOK AT.

UH, I THINK OUR MAIN CONCERN IS REALLY WITH IS, IS IT GONNA BE AVAILABLE AT THE COST? AND WHAT ARE THE IMPACTS ON LOCAL AIR POLLUTION? SO I THINK FURTHER INVESTIGATION IS WARRANTED, UH, BUT REALLY I THINK THE WORKING GROUP FELT THAT BETTING ON THAT TECHNOLOGY TODAY IN 2024 MAY NOT BE A WISE DECISION.

SO THAT'S, THAT'S MY OWN VIEW.

IT WASN'T NECESSARILY WHAT WAS SAID IN THE, IN THE WORKING GROUP.

TO ITEM 20, WHICH IS THE STAFF BRIEFING ON THE RESOURCE PLAN.

SO WITH THAT, WHY DON'T WE JUMP BACK

[20. Staff briefing on the Resource Generation, and Climate Plan by Lisa Martin, Deputy General Manager and Chief Operating Officer. ]

GOOD EVENING, BOB KAHN, GENERAL MANAGER AUSTIN ENERGY.

AND FIRST I WANNA THANK CYRUS AND KABA AND THEIR WORKING GROUP.

UH, AS COMMISSIONER ALVAREZ NOTED, Y'ALL SPENT A LOT OF TIME, EFFORT, AND WORK IN PUTTING THIS TOGETHER.

UM, AND YOU KNOW, ORIGINALLY WE HAD PLANNED TO COME BACK TONIGHT AND GIVE A RECOMMENDATION TO YOU, BUT WE WANNA TAKE TIME TO LOOK AT WHAT YOU DID THAT YOU SPENT ALL THIS TIME.

IT'S NOT FOR NAUGH, WE'RE GONNA TAKE IT SERIOUS.

WE WANNA LOOK AT IT AND SEE IF THERE'S ANYTHING IN THERE THAT WE CAN INCORPORATE IN OUR RECOMMENDATIONS.

UH, YOU PROBABLY SAW THE MEMO THAT WENT OUT TO CITY COUNCIL.

I THINK WE'RE LOOKING AT COMING BACK MARCH 18TH WITH OUR RECOMMENDATION.

I THINK THAT'LL GIVE US ENOUGH TIME TO TAKE A LOOK AT ALL THIS.

UM, BUT ANYWAYS, AGAIN, WE'RE, WE'RE THANKFUL FOR ALL THE WORK YOU DID AND LISA IS GONNA GET UP HERE AND WE HAVE SOME HIGH LEVEL THOUGHTS ON WHAT WE SEE SO FAR, AND I'LL LET HER TAKE IT AWAY.

CAN CAN I ASK A QUICK QUESTION ABOUT TIMING? SURE.

UM, OR MAYBE LISA'S GONNA COVER THIS, BUT SO YOUR, YOUR PLAN WOULD BE TO COME BACK TO THE EUC, THE 18TH, AND THEN WOULD THERE BE A, IS THE PLAN THAT, UM, THE OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE, THE COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE WOULD NOT MEET IN FEBRUARY AND INSTEAD MEET IN MARCH OR THEY WOULD HAVE AN ADDITIONAL, OR WE DON'T KNOW THOSE DETAILS YET, SO THEY'RE NOT GONNA MEET IN FEBRUARY.

OVERSIGHT.

UM, WE ARE WORKING ON WHEN THEY MIGHT MEET NEXT AFTER WE MEET WITH Y'ALL ON MARCH 18TH.

THAT HAS NOT BEEN DECIDED YET.

THAT MAKES IT A LOT EASIER THAN THINKING ABOUT PREPARING FOR A YEAH, NAH, NO, YOU'RE GOOD.

UH, UH, OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE WHEN THERE'S NOT A RECOMMENDATION YET.

CAN I ASK ONE QUESTION ABOUT YOUR STATEMENT? UM, YOU MENTIONED, UH, THE ENERGY STORAGE, ENERGY EFFICIENCY, AND I THINK LOCAL SOLAR GOALS WITHIN THE 2030 TIMEFRAME.

YEAH, THAT THAT'D BE TOUGH.

UH, GOOD EVENING CHAIR, VICE CHAIR AND COMMISSIONERS.

AGAIN.

I'M LISA MARTIN, AUSTIN ENERGY'S DEPUTY GENERAL MANAGER AND CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER.

AND AS YOU KNOW, ON FEBRUARY 1ST, WE RECEIVED THE RESOURCE PLANNING WORKING GROUP'S RECOMMENDATION TO THE AUSTIN ENERGY RESOURCE GENERATION AND CLIMATE PROTECTION PLAN UPDATE.

SO I WOULD LIKE TO SECOND ALL OF THE THANK YOUS TO THE WORKING GROUP AND BEGIN THERE TONIGHT.

WE THANK THE WORKING GROUP FOR ENGAGING IN THIS PROCESS AND FOR SHARING YOUR WORK PRODUCT.

WE CERTAINLY APPRECIATE HOW MUCH EFFORT GOES INTO DEVELOPING A RECOMMENDATION.

AUSTIN ENERGY'S MISSION IS TO SAFELY DELIVER CLEAN, AFFORDABLE, RELIABLE ENERGY, AND EXCELLENT CUSTOMER SERVICE.

WE ARE HERE TO SERVE OUR COMMUNITY, AND WE DO OUR BEST TO BALANCE ALL THE COMPETING PRIORITIES THAT GO INTO OPERATING A RESILIENT ELECTRIC SYSTEM.

IT'S IN THAT SHARED SPIRIT OF COMMUNITY SERVICE THAT AUSTIN ENERGY, THE EUC AND THE WORKING GROUP, COME TOGETHER TO DETERMINE HOW BEST WE CAN SERVE THE PUBLIC.

SO I JUST WANNA RECOGNIZE THE WORKING GROUP FOR YOUR

[02:10:01]

VALUABLE CONTRIBUTIONS.

AS BOB JUST MENTIONED, SEVERAL MEMBERS OF THE AUSTIN ENERGY TEAM ARE REVIEWING THE PROPOSED DETAILS, WHICH WILL TAKE MORE TIME.

HOWEVER, I DIDN'T WANT TO LOSE THIS OPPORTUNITY TO SHARE WITH YOU SOME HIGH LEVEL INITIAL THOUGHTS ON THE EUC WORKING GROUP'S RECOMMENDED PLAN.

I'VE REVIEWED THE RECOMMENDATIONS AND MY KEY TAKEAWAY IS HOW OUR VALUES IN PURSUIT OF A CLEAN ENERGY FUTURE ALIGN.

WE JUST NEED TO COME TOGETHER ON HOW THOSE VALUES CAN BECOME A REALITY AS WE BALANCE OUR ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY, RELIABILITY, AND AFFORDABILITY REQUIREMENTS ON BEHALF OF CUSTOMERS.

THERE ARE MANY COMPONENTS WITHIN THE WORKING GROUP RECOMMENDATION WHERE WE DO ALIGN.

WE OFTEN SPEND A LOT OF TIME TALKING ABOUT WHERE WE MAY DIFFER, BUT WE CAN'T LOSE SIGHT OF WHERE WE AGREE.

SO FIRST OF ALL, AUSTIN ENERGY AGREES THAT DEMAND SIDE RESOURCES ARE CRUCIAL TO ADDRESSING OUR RESOURCE NEEDS AND WE MUST DO SO EQUITABLY.

WE AGREE THAT ENERGY EFFICIENCY, DEMAND RESPONSE, LOCAL SOLAR AND OTHER DISTRIBUTED ENERGY RESOURCES ARE ESSENTIAL COMPONENTS TO ACHIEVING A CARBON FREE PORTFOLIO.

WE ARE NATIONWIDE LEADERS IN THESE AREAS, AND ANY AUSTIN ENERGY PLANNING PROCESS WILL ONLY SERVE TO STRENGTHEN OUR COMMITMENT IN THOSE AREAS.

WE AGREE ON THE NEED FOR A THIRD PARTY MARKET POTENTIAL STUDY OF ENERGY EFFICIENCY AND DEMAND RESPONSE IN OUR SERVICE TERRITORY, GIVEN EXISTING PROGRAM MATURITY.

AND WE AGREE THAT A WELL-DEVELOPED DISTRIBUTED ENERGY RESOURCE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM OR A DERMS WILL PROVIDE MUCH NEEDED SOFTWARE SOLUTION TO MONITOR CONTROL AND REALIZE VALUE FROM DISTRIBUTED RESOURCES.

WE ALSO AGREE THAT RENEWABLE ENERGY ADDITIONS ARE KEY TO A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE.

WE KNOW THAT BATTERY STORAGE WILL PLAY A ROLE IN ADDRESSING THE INTERMITTENT NATURE OF RENEWABLE ENERGY RESOURCES.

WE AGREE THAT TRANSMISSION UPGRADES ARE PART OF THE SOLUTION AND ARE NECESSARY TO ENSURE THE RELIABILITY OF THE BULK ELECTRIC SYSTEM AND INCREASE OUR IMPORT CAPACITY FOR RENEWABLE RESOURCES.

SIMPLY PUT, I CAN'T IMAGINE AN AUSTIN ENERGY FUTURE WITHOUT THESE COMPONENTS.

FRANKLY, A FOCUS ON THESE AREAS IS REALLY WHY ALL OF US ARE HERE.

SO I'VE BEEN ASKED IF WE COULD ACCEPT THIS RECOMMENDED PLAN IN ITS ENTIRETY AS AN ALTERNATIVE TO THE ITEMS WE PROPOSED IN OUR INITIAL RECOMMENDATIONS.

WHILE I BELIEVE THERE ARE MANY ELEMENTS OF THE RECOMMENDATIONS THAT CAN BE INCORPORATED INTO AUSTIN ENERGY'S RESOURCE PLAN, OTHER ASPECTS DO PRESENT CHALLENGES.

SO HERE ARE A FEW PRELIMINARY HIGH LEVEL OBSERVATIONS OF THE RECOMMENDATION.

THE WORKING GROUP PLAN PRESCRIBES MANY GOALS IN MANY AREAS.

THESE ARE ALL LAUD GOALS, BUT WE SHOULD BE CAREFUL NOT TO INHIBIT OPERATIONAL FLEXIBILITY IN A WAY THAT CAN MAKE SUCCESS LESS LIKELY.

WE NEED TO BE AGILE AND RESPONSIVE ON HOW WE GET TO A CLEAN, EFFICIENT ENERGY FUTURE.

AND WITH THE PACE OF INNOVATION AND OTHER DYNAMIC VARIABLES, A PLAN THAT DEFINES THE END GOAL AS WELL AS SOME WAY POINTS IS MORE LIKELY TO SUCCEED THAN ONE THAT DEFINES EVERY STEP ALONG THE WAY.

AS WRITTEN, THE RECOMMENDATION IS UNCLEAR IN HOW IT OVERCOMES THE AFFORDABILITY AND RELIABILITY CHALLENGES WE ARE CURRENTLY FACING.

WE'D LIKE TO EXPLORE THESE AREAS FURTHER TO GAIN A FIRM UNDERSTANDING OF THE AFFORDABILITY AND RELIABILITY OF THE RECOMMENDATION AND MAKE SURE WE ADDRESS HOW WE CAN GET THROUGH EXTREME WEATHER OR SCARCITY CONDITIONS BOTH OPERATIONALLY AND FINANCIALLY.

IN ADDITION, THE RECOMMENDATIONS FOR DEMAND SIDE MANAGEMENT, LOCAL SOLAR AND ENERGY STORAGE GOALS WILL BE FURTHER ASSESSED TO DETERMINE FEASIBILITY WHILE STAYING WITHIN THE PLAN'S 2030 TIMEFRAME.

AS THE CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER FOR AUSTIN ENERGY, I AM TASKED WITH ENSURING OUR SYSTEM PROVIDES FOR THE HOLISTIC NEEDS OF OUR CUSTOMERS, THE COMMUNITY, AND THE INFRASTRUCTURE FOR WHICH WE ARE RESPONSIBLE.

OUR COMMUNITY'S PLAN MUST ADDRESS VERY REAL RELIABILITY PROBLEMS, WHICH WILL ONLY WORSEN UNTIL WE TAKE ACTION.

WE MUST CREATE A PLAN THAT ADDRESSES THESE RISKS IN AN AFFORDABLE WAY FOR OUR CUSTOMERS.

AGAIN, I KNOW WE ARE ALL ALIGNED ON THESE NEEDS AND WOULD NOT SEEK TO PUT CUSTOMERS IN HARM'S WAY, WHETHER THROUGH LACK OF RELIABILITY, A LACK OF AFFORDABILITY, OR BECAUSE OF CLIMATE CHANGE IMPACTS.

IT'S JUST A QUESTION OF HOW WE CAN REALISTICALLY GET THERE AND DELIVER ON OUR ESSENTIAL WORK.

SO AGAIN, THE WORKING GROUP RECOMMENDATION CONTAINS MANY ELEMENTS THAT ARE ESSENTIAL TO OUR PATH FORWARD.

THE AUSTIN ENERGY TEAM IS REVIEWING EACH PROPOSED RECOMMENDATION CAREFULLY TO INCORPORATE AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE INTO OUR FINAL RECOMMENDATION WHILE UNDERSTANDING THE OPERATIONAL FEASIBILITY, RELIABILITY, AFFORDABILITY, AND ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY IMPACTS.

THIS WILL TAKE A LITTLE MORE TIME AND WE APPRECIATE YOUR UNDERSTANDING OF THE RESULTING SHIFT IN SCHEDULE, BUT WE LOOK FORWARD TO RETURNING TO THE EUC WITH OUR FINAL RECOMMENDATION AND TOGETHER PROPOSING A PLAN FOR CITY COUNCIL CONSIDERATION THAT BALANCES THE HOLISTIC NEEDS OF OUR COMMUNITY.

AND I THANK YOU.

[02:15:01]

AND I'LL SAY OUR WORKING GROUP, UH, QUICKLY SHIFTED TO A 2035 PLAN, UM, BECAUSE IT'S ALREADY 2024 AND IT SEEMED LIKE TRYING TO INCORPORATE EVERYTHING INTO A 2030 PLAN DIDN'T SEEM LIKE A GOOD WAY TO PLAN.

UM, SO WE WERE UNDER THE ASSUMPTION WE WERE CREATING A 2035 PLAN.

ARE, IS WHAT YOU'RE SAYING IS THAT YOU, YOU GUYS ARE ONLY LOOKING OUT TO 2030 AS PART OF THIS PLAN? YEAH, SO WE ARE, UM, CONSIDERING THIS AN UPDATE TO THE 2030 PLAN.

AND SO WE'RE JUST ADJUSTING WITHIN THE EXISTING 2030 TIMEFRAME.

AND DO, DO YOU DOES I WAS ALSO UNDER THE ASSUMPTION THAT YOU GUYS WEREN'T REVISITING THIS PLAN FOR UNTIL THE, UM, NEXT RATE CASE IN 2027.

UM, SO, SO YOU, YOU GUYS ARE LOOKING AT A 2030 PLAN AND THEN IN 2027 ADJUSTING THAT 2030 PLAN TO 2035, UH, IN 2027, IF WE ADOPTED A PLAN, THEN IT WOULD GO OUT 10 YEARS TO 2037.

I I WOULD, UM, YOU GUYS CAN DO WHAT YOU WANT, BUT I I, TO ME, IT MAKES MORE SENSE TO LOOK OUT 10 YEARS RATHER THAN SIX YEARS, ESPECIALLY SINCE A LOT OF THE, UM, A LOT OF THE TRANSMISSION REQUIREMENTS ARE GONNA TAKE, YOU KNOW, FIVE TO SIX YEARS.

SO NO, TAKE THAT FOR HOW, HOWEVER YOU WANT TO TAKE THAT, BUT I THINK WE WERE SORT OF UNDER THE ASSUMPTION THAT WE WERE LOOKING AT A 2035 TIMELINE.

YEAH, I, I WOULD SECOND THAT.

AND I GUESS, UM, YOU KNOW, MY QUESTION WAS AROUND YOUR, YOUR STATEMENT, KIND OF ONE OF YOUR EARLY STATEMENTS, UM, ABOUT DEFINING THE END GOAL WITH A FEW WAY POINTS.

AND I DON'T KNOW, I GUESS SHORTENING THE TIMELINE, I DON'T KNOW, IT SEEMS A LITTLE BIT IN CONFLICT WITH THAT, BUT I AM, I'M CURIOUS, IT WOULD BE HELPFUL TO KNOW, UM, WHAT YOU SEE AS APPROPRIATE WAYPOINTS VERSUS MAYBE SOME THAT YOU THOUGHT WERE TOO SPECIFIC.

YEAH, SO I CERTAINLY APPRECIATE THE QUESTION, BUT I PURPOSELY AM KEEPING MY COMMENTS PRETTY HIGH LEVEL HERE 'CAUSE I DON'T WANNA GET OUT AHEAD OF THE TEAM.

WE'VE ASKED THEM TO TAKE ANOTHER LOOK AT ALL OF THE DETAILS IN YOUR PARTICULAR RECOMMENDATION, AND I DON'T WANT TO PRESUPPOSE WHAT MIGHT BE FEASIBLE, WHAT MIGHT NOT BE FEASIBLE, WHICH WAYPOINT WE THINK IS APPROPRIATE AND NOT.

SO IF YOU COULD JUST ALLOW ME TO GET BACK TO YOU ON THAT ANSWER, I PROMISE WE'LL INCLUDE THAT IN OUR RECOMMENDATION.

OKAY, THAT'S FINE.

UM, I GUESS I JUST WILL KIND OF, UM, ON THE TOPIC OF THE TIME SCOPE OF THE PLAN, POINT OUT THAT THE CURRENT PLAN, EVEN THOUGH IT SAYS TILL 2030 INCLUDES, YOU KNOW, IT INCLUDES 2035.

SO, UM, IN A WAY THE CURRENT PLAN SETS A, AN ENDPOINT FOR REDUCING SOME OF THE RESOURCES BY 2035, BUT DOESN'T ESTABLISH A PLAN FOR, FOR BACKFILLING THOSE, THOSE RESOURCES.

SO, UM, YEAH, I JUST, I I SHARE CYRUS'S UH, POINT ABOUT, YOU KNOW, KEEPING THIS AS A 10 YEAR PLAN, WHICH IT, IT HAS BEEN, UM, I THINK SINCE ITS CONCEPTION I HAD ANOTHER QUESTION, BUT I DON'T REMEMBER NOW.

I KNOW WHAT IT WAS.

UM, DO YOU KNOW, I MEAN, I KNOW YOU'RE GONNA PRESENT TO US ON THE 18TH, IS THAT WHEN YOU EXPECT TO HAVE RECOMMENDATIONS READY? OR SHOULD WE EXPECT THAT WE CAN GET THOSE IN ADVANCE TO START LOOKING AT THEM? SO I DON'T KNOW THAT I CAN GIVE YOU A PROMISE DATE YET.

WE'RE GONNA GET, UM, SOME INTERNAL ANALYSIS RESULTS SO THAT I CAN, WE CAN COLLECTIVELY LOOK AT IT AS AN AUSTIN ENERGY STAFF AND, UM, AND THEN, I MEAN, CERTAINLY THEY'LL BE PROVIDED IN ADVANCE WITH THE MATERIALS AND WHETHER OR NOT WE CAN PROVIDE THOSE EARLIER THAN, THAN WHEN THE MATERIALS ARE NORMALLY PROVIDED WILL BE, YOU KNOW, SOMETHING WE CAN DETERMINE AS TIME MOVES ON.

SO, UH, THIS IS A BIG ONE, SO NOT GETTING IT THE FRIDAY BEFORE WOULD BE, UH, MOST APPRECIATED IF UNDERSTOOD IF YOU COULD GET IT A WEEK IN ADVANCE, THAT THAT WOULD BE IDEAL.

WE WILL DO, WE WILL DO OUR BEST.

ANY OTHER DISCUSSION? OKAY.

LITTLE BIT OUT OF ORDER 23.

THANK YOU EVERYONE FOR THAT.

UM, WHY DON'T WE GO A

[23. Update from the Budget & Audit Working Group]

RANDY, YOU WERE TALKING ABOUT THE BUDGET AND AUDIT WORKING GROUP.

I DON'T THINK THERE'S ANY NEWS ON THAT.

DO YOU WANNA COMMENT ON

[02:20:01]

23? WE DON'T HAVE ANY ACTION ITEMS. UH, WE WILL BE MAKING, UH, RECOMMENDATIONS, UH, UH, AT THE NEXT, AT THE NEXT MEETING.

UH, CAN I, DO YOU WANT ME TO LOOK? I I ADDRESS THE NOTES ON THE BULLET POINTS, PLEASE? DO YOU WANT ME TO READ THROUGH 'EM? OKAY, PLEASE, PLEASE.

TO THE REMAINING ITEM OF 22.

SO WE TALKED ABOUT, I GUESS THREE ITEMS. ONE IS, UH, RELATED TO CAP DISCOUNTS AND THAT HAS, I GUESS TWO SUBSETS.

ONE RANDY MENTIONED EARLIER OF, UM, INCREASING THE, UM, DEFAULT CAP, UM, DISCOUNT BACK TO 15%.

UM, AND THEN, UH, PART B OF THAT WOULD BE, UH, SETTING A TO COME FROM THAT FUND A COMMUNITY SOLAR ADDITIONAL DISCOUNT FOR, FOR CAP PARTICIPANTS THAT PARTICIPATE IN COMMUNITY SOLAR TO INCREASE THAT DISCOUNT TO 20%, BUT MAKING CLEAR THAT ALL THOSE FUNDS SHOULD COME FROM THAT CUSTOMER ASSISTANCE FUND ESTABLISHED FOR THAT PURPOSE.

NUMBER TWO, UM, UH, JUST GIVING SUPPORT FOR, I THINK WHAT IT SOUNDS LIKE AE IS ALREADY DOING, WHICH IS BUDGETING FOR TRANSMISSION UPGRADES.

AND THEN NUMBER THREE, UM, MAKING A RECOMMENDATION AGAINST CAPITAL, UH, INVESTMENTS IN FAYETTE.

DID I CHARACTERIZE THOSE ALL CORRECTLY? PERFECT.

OKAY, PERFECT.

ANYTHING ELSE ON 23? NOPE.

OKAY, THEN I THINK WE'RE DOWN

[22. Discussion of report regarding City Council action on items previously reviewed by the EUC.]

DISCUSSION OF THE REPORT REGARDING CITY COUNCIL ACTIONS PREVIOUSLY REVIEWED.

I DON'T THINK WE HAVE ANYTHING ON THIS.

NOPE.

AND THEN FUTURE

[FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS]

ITEMS, DID WE HAVE ANYTHING WE WANTED TO BRING UP BEYOND WHAT WE'VE ALREADY DISCUSSED ON FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS? UM, WE TALKED ABOUT, UM, THE STANDARD OFFER PROGRAM, BOTH, UM, AN UPDATE AND, AND PERHAPS GETTING INPUT FROM THE COMMISSION.

MM-HMM, AND THERE'S ALSO THE COUNCIL RESOLUTION 2022 FOR THE TARIFF STRUCTURE FOR BEHIND THE METER STORAGE PLUS SOLAR.

I WOULD SUPPORT THAT AS WELL.

UM, THE ONLY THING N******G IN MY MIND IS, UM, THE ISSUE THAT, UH, MR. PAUL ROBBINS BROUGHT TO US ON ONE OCCASION OF FRANCHISE FEES, UM, AND HAVING, AND I CAN'T REMEMBER IF WE HAD ASKED AUSTIN ENERGY TO RESPOND, UH, TO THE, THE WAY THE FRANCHISE FEES WORK WITH THE, THE CITIES, UM, OUTSIDE OF THE CITY OF AUSTIN THAT ARE, UM, UH, I DON'T THINK WE NEED IT FOR MARCH, BUT LET ME, LET ME THINK ABOUT THAT.

BUT THAT MAY BE SOMETHING WE WANT A, UH, A DISCUSSION ABOUT.

AND, AND FOR FUTURE, UH, AGENDA ITEMS, UH, NOT OUR NEXT MEETING'S GONNA BE PACKED, BUT FOR APRIL, UH, WE HAVE, UH, POSTPONED, UH, UH, BIT THE DISCUSSION, UH, UPDATE ON THE ENROLLMENT FOR THE CAP PROGRAM, AS WELL AS AN UPDATE ON THE WEATHERIZATION.

WE GOT AN UPDATE COUPLE, THREE YEARS AGO, BUT, UH, LIKE TO PUT THAT ON THE APRIL AGENDA.

I MEAN, I SORT OF, I, I SUPPORT THAT AND I ALMOST FEEL LIKE THAT WOULD BE A GOOD CONVERSATION TO HAVE IN THE CONTEXT OF THE RESOURCE PLAN BECAUSE IT DOES DIRECTLY IMPACT AFFORDABILITY, WHICH IS A KEY ISSUE FOR US.

SO, I MEAN, IF WE CAN GET THAT NEXT MONTH, I, I WOULD BE SUPPORTIVE OF THAT.

AND DO YOU ALREADY HAVE ON YOUR LIST ACTION ON BUDGET RECOMMENDATIONS? 'CAUSE THOSE ARE DUE AT THE END OF MARCH.

I THINK THAT'S IT.

WE HAD THE ONE ACTION ITEM OF PREVIOUSLY REVIEWED BY THE EUC NUMBER 22.

I DON'T THINK WE HAVE ANYTHING ON THAT.

SO WITH THAT, I THINK WE'RE READY TO ADJOURN.

THANK EVERYONE FOR THEIR ATTENTION.

THIS HAS BEEN A LONGER MEETING THAN NORMAL.

WE'RE ADJOURNED.