[00:00:05]
ORDER AT 6:02 PM UH, WE'LL START WITH TAKING ATTENDANCE.
HE SAID HE'D BE HERE AROUND SIX 30.
[CALL MEETING TO ORDER]
SCAFF HERE.WE DO HAVE A QUORUM WITH, UH, SIX PEOPLE REPORTING IN SO WE CAN CONTINUE ON.
UH, FIRST OFF, PUBLIC COMMUNICATION.
DO WE HAVE ANY VISITORS REGISTERED TO SPEAK TODAY? NO.
BEING THAT THERE ARE NO VISITORS TODAY, THEN LET'S
[1. Approve the minutes of the Resource Management Commission Regular Meeting on April 16, 2024]
MOVE ON TO APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES IN YOUR PACKETS ON ITEM ONE.YOU HAVE THE MINUTES FROM THE LAST MEETING, IF YOU'D LIKE TO REVIEW THOSE FOR A MOMENT, AND THEN I'LL ENTERTAIN A MOTION.
UH, UH, ARE THERE ANY OBJECTIONS OR CAN WE PASS THIS BY ACCLAMATION? SO PASSED.
MOVING ON ITEM NUMBER TWO IN YOUR PACKETS BY ACCLAMATION.
WELL, I MEAN WE CAN
[2. Recommend approving issuance of capacity-based incentives to Individuals Directed to Excellence and Achievement (IDEA) Public Schools for installation of solar electric systems on their facilities located at 700 Showplace Lane, 9504 N IH 35 SVRD SB, 1901 E Wells Branch Parkway, 1438 E Yager Lane, 1701 Vargas Road, 5816 Wilcab Road, and 1700 E Slaughter Lane, in an amount not to exceed $924,858.]
MOVING ON ITEM NUMBER TWO IN YOUR PACKETS, UH, RECOMMENDED APPROVAL FOR ISSUANCE OF CAPACITY BASED INCENTIVES TO INDIVIDUALS DIRECTED EXCELLENCE AND ACHIEVEMENT PUBLIC SCHOOLS.UH, IS THERE ANYONE HERE TO COMMENT FROM I IDEA PUBLIC SCHOOLS? NO.
UM, IS THERE ANYONE FROM AUSTIN ENERGY THAT'S ABLE TO SPEAK TO US ABOUT THIS ONE? MY NAME'S HELLO COMMISSIONERS.
MY NAME IS TIM HARVEY AND I'M THE CUSTOMER RENEWABLE SOLUTIONS MANAGER.
SO, UM, THIS CAPACITY BASED INCENTIVE IS FOR IDEA PUBLIC SCHOOLS.
UM, THIS IS FOR SEVEN DIFFERENT LOCATIONS, UM, FOR A TOTAL OF ONE MEG, A LITTLE BIT OVER ONE MEGAWATT DC UM, AND THE INCENTIVE LEVEL IS 90 CENTS A WAT, AND THE, THE TOTAL INCENTIVE AMOUNT IS 924,858.
ARE THERE ANY QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS FROM MEMBERS OF THE COMMISSION? I MAY HAVE SOME, BUT I'LL DEFER TO THE CHAIR POST
UH, I I HAVE ONE QUESTION AND THAT IS, HAS ANY KIND OF RESEARCH DONE AS TO THE QUALIFICATION OF SOMEBODY COMING INTO THIS PROGRAM SEEKING GRANT FUNDING?
DOES ANYONE AT AUSTIN ENERGY READ NEWSPAPERS BEFORE EVALUATING WHETHER OR NOT IT MAKES SENSE TO GIVE A CAPACITY BASED INCENTIVE TO AN APPLICANT? ARE YOU REFERRING TO, UM, THAT THIS IS UNDER THE DIRECTION OF THE STATE RIGHT NOW? YES.
THAT THEY'RE UNDER CONSERVATIVE STATE? WE WERE AWARE OF THAT.
AND SO ARE THEY, IT'S PART OF THEIR REHABILITATION, IF YOU WILL, OUT OF MILD CURIOSITY, KNOWING THAT THE SYSTEM THAT WE'RE, THAT, THAT THEY BOUGHT WAS $1.9 MILLION.
YOU KNOW, WHAT WAS THE TOTAL VAL TOTAL ELECTRICAL OUTPUT OF THAT SYSTEM THAT WE'RE EXPECTING IN TERMS OF KILOWATT HOURS PER YEAR? YES, I'VE GOT IT BROKEN DOWN BY PROJECT, BUT, UH OH, YEAH, I DO.
UM, THE ANNUAL PRODUCTION OF THAT IS, UM, APPROXIMATELY 1.5 MILLION KILOWATT HOURS PER YEAR.
SO HAD THEY NOT SPENT $15 MILLION ON PRIVATE PLANES, THEN THEY COULD HAVE HAD ABOUT 10.5 MILLION KILOWATTS WORTH OF GENERATION.
I JUST WANTED TO GET IN A LITTLE BIT OF POUND OF FLESH ON THAT ONE.
NO, I, THE REALITY IS, IS JUST THEY WEREN'T HERE OR ELSE I WOULD'VE DIRECTED A LOT MORE FIREPOWER IN THEIR DIRECTION.
[00:05:01]
I CAN ASSURE YOU, COMMISSIONER SILVERSTEIN, UM, I, I TOO HAD THE BENEFIT OF READING THIS ARTICLE IN THE TEXAS TRIBUNE ON, UM, THE IDEA SCHOOLS AND THEIR, UM, SORRY, FINANCIAL SITUATION AND THEIR, UM, LOW PERFORMANCE AS IN TERMS OF SERVING STUDENTS.AND SO I AM, I RECOGNIZE THAT THE EUC HAS ALREADY APPROVED THIS, AND SO PROBABLY US POTENTIALLY NOT APPROVING IT MAY MAKE NO DAMN DIFFERENCE WHATSOEVER.
BUT I AM INCLINED TO, UM, ASK THAT AUSTIN ENERGY PUT ISSUANCE OF THIS APPROVAL AND ISSUANCE OF THIS ON HOLD UNTIL CONDUCTING FURTHER RESEARCH TO SEE IF THIS IS GOING TO BE AN ONGOING BUSINESS.
'CAUSE IF THEY, IF THESE END UP BEING EMPTY SCHOOLS OR SEESAW HAVE SO MUCH FINANCIAL PROBLEM THAT THEY CAN'T CONTINUE OPERATING, THEN YOU ARE THROWING AWAY OUR MONEY.
AND, UM, PV SITTING ON AN EMPTY BUILDING DOESN'T DO ANY OF US ANY GOOD.
SO, I'M NOT SAYING DON'T ISSUE IT.
I'M ASKING FOR CONSIDERATION OF THE POSSIBILITY THAT YOU ALL DO SOME MORE DUE DILIGENCE ON WHETHER THIS IS GOING TO BE A GOING CONCERN AND WHETHER THIS PV WILL ACTUALLY HAVE SOME USEFULNESS GOING FORWARD THAT MERITS OUR INVESTMENT WITH THIS GRANT FUNDS.
IF IT WERE A LOAN, I'D BE SAYING, BUT IT'S A GRANT.
I, I UNDERSTAND THE CONCERN, AND I'LL JUST VOICE A, A, A DIFFERENT, A CONCERN FROM OUR SIDE ABOUT BEING SUBJECTIVE AS IT PERTAINS TO THE ISSUANCE OF INCENTIVES.
WE LIKE TO HAVE CLEAR GUIDELINES AND WE'LL LEAVE THE SUBJECTIVITY UP TO YOU GUYS.
AND I'M, I'M, I, I WAS A REGULATOR.
I'M VERY GOOD AT BEING SUBJECTIVE.
COMMISSIONER ROBBINS, UM, UM, WOULD, UH, OKAY.
UM, I HAVE, I DON'T THINK I'VE EVER VOTED AGAINST, UH, A SOLAR, UM, ITEM THAT HAS COME UP TO DATE.
UM, THIS ONE IS GIVING ME REAL PAUSE.
UM, I, UM, I, I'M, I MAY ABSTAIN ON THIS ONE.
COMMISSIONER TI I JUST A PRACTICAL QUESTION.
SO IF, IF WE, UM, IF THIS SOLAR DOES GET BUILT ON THIS BUILDING AND THEN IT DOES IN FACT GET LIKE VACATED BECAUSE THE SCHOOL SYSTEM DECIDES TO DO THAT, UM, WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENS TO THE SOLAR ON THE ROOF? DOES IT SIT, DOES IT SIT UNUSED BECAUSE THERE IS NO ONE IN THE BUILDING WAITING FOR A NEW, I ASSUME TENANT AT SOME POINT TO COME BACK IN, WHICH MAY NEVER HAPPEN.
I SUPPOSE THE FACILITY HAS TO HAVE POWER FROM THE GRID FOR THE SOLAR TO WORK.
IF THE SOLAR SENSES THAT THERE'S NO POWER FROM THE GRID, THEN IT WILL AUTOMATICALLY GO OFFLINE.
I, I GUESS I'M JUST ASKING IF THERE'S ANY, THIS IS PROBABLY ISN'T THE FIRST TIME THIS HAS HAPPENED AND I'M JUST WONDERING IF THERE'S A PROVISION FOR, LIKE, YOU KEEP THAT BUILDING ENERGIZED SO THAT THE SOLAR CONTINUES TO WORK SO THAT THE ASSET IS NOT STRANDED.
UH, THIS VALUE ISN'T STRANDED WAITING FOR ANOTHER TENANT IN THE BUILDING.
YOU, YOU, YOU BRING UP A GOOD QUESTION.
HAS SOME, HAS THERE EVER BEEN A STRANDED SOLAR ASSET IN AUSTIN ENERGY'S SERVICE TERRITORY? I WOULD HAVE TO RESEARCH THAT TO, TO BE ABLE TO ANSWER CONFIDENTLY.
I DO SEE YOU COMMISSIONER S CITI, JUST SO YOU KNOW, UM, MY GENERAL UNDERSTANDING ON THIS IS THAT WE KIND OF PAY AS WE GO THAT, YOU KNOW, WE'RE ESSENTIALLY SETTING ASIDE A, A, WHATEVER YOU WANNA CALL IT, A MAGICAL NUMBER OF A MAX AMOUNT THAT WE WOULD PAY OUT THE 900 AND SOMETHING THOUSAND DOLLARS, BUT THAT IT'S STILL DONE BASED ON PERFORMANCE.
SO THEY WOULD STILL BE WRITING A CHECK FOR $1.9 MILLION TODAY AND THEN GET REBATE FUNDS FROM AUSTIN ENERGY OVER TIME.
[00:10:01]
WE, SO THE INCENTIVE IS A ONE-TIME UPFRONT INCENTIVE, AND THE ONGOING, UM, BENEFIT THAT THEY WOULD GET IS THROUGH THE VALUE OF SOLAR, WHICH IS BASED ON KILOWATT HOUR PRODUCTION.SO IF THE SYSTEM ISN'T PRODUCING, THEN WE DON'T PAY ANYTHING.
SO THEY WOULD GET THE UPFRONT AND SEND HIM? YES.
COMMISSIONER S CITI, YOU'VE BEEN VERY PATIENT.
WELL, I, WELL, I JUST WANNA FOLLOW UP ON THAT 'CAUSE NOW I'M A LITTLE CONFUSED 'CAUSE I, I THOUGHT IT WAS WHAT, I THINK IT'S COMMISSIONER STONE TALKING.
UM, I THOUGHT IT WAS WHAT HE SAID, WHICH IS THAT, I MEAN, THERE FIRST HAS TO BE THIS INVESTMENT FROM THEM RIGHT.
OF THE 1.9 MILLION TO PURCHASE THE SYSTEM, RIGHT? THAT'S CORRECT.
SO LIKE THEIR INVESTMENT IS THERE BEFORE OUR INCENTIVE THEN COMES WITHIN THE YEAR OR SOMETHING.
IT'S A ONE-TIME INCENTIVE, YOU'RE SAYING? THAT'S CORRECT.
AND THEN THEY ALSO GET A BENEFIT FOR THEIR PRODUCTION OVER TIME IN THE FORM OF A BILL CREDIT BASED ON THE VALUE OF SOLAR RATE.
AND IF THERE'S NO, AND THAT'S WHAT YOUR POINT WAS, IS LIKE, IF, IF THE BUILDING IS OFFLINE, THEN THERE WOULDN'T BE ANY OBVIOUSLY BILL RATE INCENTIVE THAT THAT GOES AWAY.
UM, MY, MY QUESTION WAS ACTUALLY KIND OF A PROCEDURAL QUESTION OF, UM, SO IF, IF THE EUC HAS ALREADY VOTED ON THIS AND WE AS A COMMISSION VOTE NO, WHAT, WHAT, WHAT IS THE EFFECT OF THIS? THIS DOESN'T GO THROUGH? OR IS THIS, I HEARD SOMEONE SAY LIKE, IT MIGHT NOT MATTER.
SO I JUST WANNA UNDERSTAND THE IMPLICATION OF OUR VOTE.
THE EUC MAINTAINS PRIMACY ON THIS ISSUE.
UM, IF THEY PASS IT AND WE WERE TO REJECT IT, IT WOULD STILL GO TO COUNCIL FOR ULTIMATE APPROVAL.
SO, YOU KNOW, PART OF THAT IS A GOOD THING.
'CAUSE THAT MEANS THAT, YOU KNOW, WE CAN VOTE OUR CONSCIOUSNESS AND SOMETIMES THEY DON'T AND THAT'S FINE.
OH, AND, AND SO THE, THE COUNCIL WOULD JUST SEE LIKE, OH, UH, THAT THE EUC VOTED YES.
SO LIKE, WHEN THEY MAKE THEIR DECISION, YES, THEY WOULD, THEY WOULD SEE THAT, YES.
THEY WOULD SEE THAT YOU DID NOT HAVE RECOMMENDED THAT EUC DID.
EXCUSE ME, COMMISSIONER ROBBINS, UH, I'M, UM, I THINK IF, UH, MEMBERS OF THE EUC WERE IN THE ROOM AND YOU TOLD THEM THEY DIDN'T VOTE THEIR CONSCIENCE THAT THEY MIGHT BE A LITTLE RILED, BUT, UM, BE THAT AS IT MAY
WE ARE AN ADVISORY COMMISSION, UM, AND STAFF MIGHT PREVAIL OVER BOTH OF OUR GROUPS.
THE QUESTION IS, UH, WHAT IS GOOD PO THE QUESTIONS ARE WHAT IS GOOD POLICY AND, UH, ARE WE VOTING OUR CONSCIENCE? I SEE.
I'M JUST TRYING TO UNDERSTAND THE IMPLICATIONS, BUT THE, THAT'S HELPFUL.
COMMISSIONER SILVERSTEIN, UM, WHAT DID YOU NEED TO TURN? THANK YOU.
ONE OF THEM IS I WOULD LIKE TO MODIFY THE PROPOSED I I MOVE TO MODIFY WHATEVER THE MOTION IS TO REQUEST A DEFERRAL OF APPROVAL TO HAVE AUSTIN ENERGY DO MORE RESEARCH INTO WHETHER IDEA SCHOOLS IS A GOING CONCERN.
I ALSO MOVE TO TAKE A COPY OF THE, UM, ARTICLE ON THE TEXAS TRIBUNE EXPLAINING WHAT, WHAT IDEA SCHOOL'S, FINANCIAL ISSUES ARE, AND INCLUDE THAT IN THE PACKAGE THAT GOES TO THE CITY COUNCIL.
AND I SUGGEST ALSO THAT THOSE OF US WHO ARE TROUBLED BY THIS PROPOSAL, UM, PUT TOGETHER A VERY QUICK MEMO FROM OURSELVES AS INDIVIDUALS, NOT ON BEHALF OF THE RMC AS A WHOLE TO CITY COUNCIL, EXPLAINING WHAT OUR RESERVATIONS ARE AND WHY WE ARE VOTING ANY DIFFERENT WAY AS INDIVIDUALS, NOT AS THE FULL COMMISSION FROM THE UCS FULL THROATED APPROVAL.
UH, MAY I, I'M DOODLING ON WHAT THAT MEANS.
IT SOUNDS LIKE WHAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT.
IT WOULD BE THE EQUIVALENT OF THREE SEPARATE MOTIONS.
[00:15:01]
CALL IT FOR SAKE OF DISCUSSION.ONE WOULD BE TO RECOMMEND COUNSEL DELAY ACTION.
ANOTHER ONE WOULD BE TO SAY, ANOTHER ONE WOULD BE TO HAVE THIS ARTICLE FROM THE TEXAS TRIBUNE.
THERE'S ALSO A COUPLE OF GOOD ARTICLES, BY THE WAY, THAT ARE IN THE SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS AND A COUPLE OTHERS.
UM, AND THEN THE THIRD WOULD BE INDIVIDUAL ACTION TAKEN BY MEMBERS.
UM, MY THOUGHT GENERALLY WOULD BE, AND YOU KNOW, YOU GUYS CAN ALL WEIGH IN AS YOU WISH.
YOU COULD ALSO ACHIEVE A VERY SIMILAR END BY SAYING NO AND REACHING OUT TO YOUR SPONSORING COUNCIL MEMBER AND SAYING TO THEM, THIS IS WHY WE RAISED OUR HAND AND SAID, NO, UM, AND, AND GO ABOUT IT THAT WAY.
AND THEY COULD ALSO STILL BE SENT ALL OF THE ARTICLES BECAUSE THESE THINGS, THESE, THESE, UH, THESE, UH, CAPACITY BASED INCENTIVES, THEY'RE KIND OF BOILERPLATE.
AND SO IF WE START PLAYING AROUND WITH THAT AND MAKING IT OUR OWN, WHICH, YOU KNOW, I'M A HUGE FAN OF, DON'T GET ME WRONG, UM, BUT I DON'T REALLY THINK THAT THAT IS ULTIMATELY WHAT THEY WOULD ACTUALLY BE PAYING ATTENTION TO.
BECAUSE NORMALLY THESE THINGS ROLL ONTO THE CONSENT AGENDA ANYWAY FOR COUNCIL.
SO I THINK AS INDIVIDUAL MEMBERS OF THE COMMISSION, REACHING BACK OUT TO OUR COUNCIL MEMBERS IS PROBABLY A MORE EFFECTIVE WAY TO BE ABLE TO MAKE OURSELVES HEARD OTHER THAN HOW YOU VOTE IN THIS COMMISSION.
I, YOU, COMMISSIONER ROBBINS, OR YOU COULD ACTUALLY REGISTER TO SPEAK AT THE CITY COUNCIL MEETING.
UH, UH, AND SINCE YOU CAN DO IT REMOTELY, IT'S NOT THAT DIFFICULT.
UH, I AM FOND OF, UH, DRIVING AN HOUR TO CITY COUNCIL AND AN HOUR BACK JUST SO I CAN GET THREE MINUTES IN, BUT MANY PEOPLE AREN'T.
UH, THE OTHER THING I WANT TO SAY IS, UM, UH, ALTHOUGH I HAVE BEEN, UH, CRITICAL OF, UH, CERTAIN THINGS THAT, UM, SUCH AS GREEN CHOICE THAT, UM, UH, STAFF, UH, IS RUNNING, I WANNA MAKE IT CLEAR TO MR. HARVEY AND TO, UM, UH, RICHARD GENESEE THAT, UM, I AM NOT HOLDING THEM RESPONSIBLE FOR, UH, FOR, FOR MY MISGIVINGS ABOUT THIS.
THEY, UH, ARE ASSIGNED TO DO A JOB.
UH, THEY, UH, TO MY KNOWLEDGE DON'T HAVE THE BANDWIDTH, UH, OR SHALL I SAY THE, UH, THE FLEXIBILITY TO, UH, LOOK AT SOME THINGS THAT WE DO.
SO, UM, UM, I I WANNA MAKE IT CLEAR TO YOU THAT THIS ISN'T, UM, THIS ISN'T PERSONAL COMMISSIONER SS CITI, YOU'VE BEEN PATIENT AND YOU'RE MUTED.
THIS, THIS, IT WOULD HELP TO BE UNMUTED.
UM, I JUST WANNA UNDERSTAND ONE OTHER THING, WHICH IS THAT I, UNDER, WELL, I UNDERSTAND WHY WE MIGHT THINK THAT THE, YOU KNOW, FROM THE ARTICLE AND SOME OF THE FINANCIAL MISMANAGEMENT THAT THIS, YOU KNOW, MIGHT NOT BE THERE IN THE FUTURE, BUT AREN'T, AREN'T WE SAYING THAT THEY ARE GONNA PUT $1.9 MILLION IN BUILDING THIS THING? LIKE, WHERE IS THAT MONEY COME FROM IF WE'RE WORRIED ABOUT THIS SCHOOL NOT BEING THERE, LIKE IN THE FORESEEABLE FUTURE, HOW CAN THEY PAY FOR THAT? MY MY GENERAL THOUGHT IS THAT PEOPLE ARE THINKING IN TERMS OF A GOING CONCERN KIND OF AN ISSUE.
WHILE THEY MAY HAVE THE CASH NOW, THEY MAY IN THE FUTURE, IF THEY GO UNDER FULL BLOWN TAKEOVER BY TEA, FOR EXAMPLE, START TO HEMORRHAGE STUDENTS OR SOMETHING TO THAT EFFECT, TO WHERE THEIR, THEIR QUOTE BUSINESS AS AN ISD BECOMES UNTENABLE.
I GENERALLY WOULD TEND TO THINK, AND THIS IS, YOU KNOW, JUST LOU SITTING HERE, THAT THOSE BUILDINGS WOULD NOT GO VACANT.
THAT, YOU KNOW, WHOEVER WOULD ULTIMATELY TAKE OVER MANAGING THOSE SCHOOLS WOULD STILL BE KEEPING THEM OPEN BECAUSE THERE'S JUST NOT ROOM IN THE OTHER SCHOOL BUILDINGS AND THE ISDS AROUND THOSE LOCATIONS TO BE ABLE TO ABSORB THAT NUMBER OF STUDENTS.
YOU FIGURE THERE'S A FEW HUNDRED KIDS IN EVERY SCHOOL, YOU CAN'T JUST DUMP THEM ALL OVER AT THE LOCAL PILLOW ELEMENTARY AND HOPE THAT IT WORKS OUT.
SO I TEND TO THINK THAT THE BUILDING WOULD REMAIN OCCUPIED.
THE QUESTION THEN BECOMES IS IF SOMEBODY NEW, IS THE, A NEW OWNER OR OCCUPANT, WHATEVER YOU WANNA CALL IT, TO THE BUILDING, WOULD THE BENEFIT OF THE ONGOING BILL CREDITS IN YOUR TO THEM WOULD BE MY QUESTION? YES.
IT WOULD, I MEAN, FOR WHAT IT FIRST, I KNOW WE'RE GONNA GO TO A VOTE AT SOME POINT, BUT I, I GUESS I'M KIND OF, OF THE MINDSET OF APPROVING THIS AND THEN, UM, SAYING SOMETHING TO CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS ABOUT HOW LIKE THIS SHOULD BE.
I, I KNOW YOU SAID THAT THESE ARE BOILERPLATE TO SOME
[00:20:01]
EXTENT, BUT IT SEEMS LIKE THIS IS A PRETTY SPECIAL CIRCUMSTANCE.SO, UM, PERHAPS THERE COULD BE, IN THE WAY THEY ACTUALLY STRUCTURE THIS AND ROLL THIS OUT, THERE COULD BE SOME PARAMETERS OR CONDITIONS THAT ARE IN PLACE TO ACCOUNT FOR THIS, THIS ORGANIZATION, YOU KNOW, FOR THE SCHOOLS NOT BEING A GOING CONCERN.
IS THERE ANY OTHER QUESTIONS, COMMENTS, MOTIONS THAT WE NEED TO ENTERTAIN? I'M NOT SURE I CAN MAKE A MOTION THAT I'M GONNA ABSTAIN ON.
MOTION TO APPROVE BY COMMISSIONER DAVIS.
THANK YOU COMMISSIONER GRAFFITI FOR, FOR BEING OUR GUINEA PIG ON NUMBER TWO.
FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO ARE ONLINE, PLEASE TURN ON YOUR CAMERAS FOR THIS.
UH, COMMISSIONER ROBBINS, VERY RELUCTANTLY ABSTAIN.
ABSTAIN AND STONE VOTES? NO, THAT'S 2 1 4.
THIS RELU THIS RECOMMENDATION FAILS.
MOVING ON IN OUR AGENDA WITH THE, NO.
UH, ARE WE GOING TO HAVE A SUBSTITUTE OR, OR IS THAT JUST NOT GONNA HAPPEN? FOR WHAT? FOR, FOR THIS.
DID YOU NOT WANT TO MAKE A SUBSTITUTE RESOLUTION? COMMISSIONER SILVERSTEIN STEIN.
I THOUGHT, UM, COMM CHAIR STONE'S ARGUMENTS ABOUT COMMUNICATING DIRECTLY TO OUR CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS WERE PRETTY REASONABLE.
AND I WILL TAKE THAT PATH AS IT IS THE FACT THAT, THAT YOU HAD ONLY TWO VOTES IN FAVOR OF THIS AND, UM, THAT MANY ABSTENTIONS AND THOSE INDICATES THAT IT DOES NOT PASS THE RESOURCE MANAGEMENT COMMISSION, WHICH SHOULD RAISE A COUPLE OF EYEBROWS OVER AT CITY COUNCIL.
UM, WITH THE COMMISSION'S APPROVAL,
[6. Staff briefing and process update on the Resource, Generation, and Climate Protection Plan by Lisa Martin, Deputy General Manager and Chief Operating Officer. ]
I WOULD LIKE TO MOVE UP THE STAFF BREEDING BRIEFING ITEM NUMBER SIX, UH, FOR A PRESENTATION ON THE RESOURCE GENERATION CLIMATE PROTECTION PLAN, UH, BY LISA MARTIN FROM AUSTIN ENERGY, BECAUSE SHE HAS A TIME CONSTRAINT THIS EVENING.APPEARS THERE ARE NO OBJECTIONS.
UH, GOOD EVENING, CHAIR STONE.
UH, VICE CHAIR ROBBINS AND COMMISSIONERS.
AUSTIN ENERGY'S DEPUTY GENERAL MANAGER AND CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER.
UH, ON APRIL 30TH, WE BRIEFED CITY COUNCIL AT THE AUSTIN ENERGY UTILITY OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE ON THE ENHANCED COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT PROCESS FOR UPDATES TO AUSTIN ENERGY'S RESOURCE GENERATION PLAN.
AND WE ALSO BRIEFED THE ELECTRIC UTILITY COMMISSION, UM, AT THEIR MEETING LAST WEEK ON MAY 13TH.
AND AT THE REQUEST OF RMC, I'M HERE TONIGHT TO PROVIDE YOU WITH AN INFORMATIONAL UPDATE AS A COURTESY.
SO, TONIGHT I'M GONNA PROVIDE AN UPDATE ON WHERE WE ARE WITH THE RESOURCE GENERATION PLAN, AND I'LL DESCRIBE SEVERAL AREAS WHERE WE HEARD THE COMMUNITY AND CITY COUNCIL LEADING US TO MAKE ADJUSTMENTS AND IMPROVEMENTS TO OUR PROCESS.
MOVING FORWARD, YOU'LL HEAR ABOUT THIRD PARTY EXPERTISE THAT WE'RE INVOLVING, AND HOW ONE OF THOSE EXPERTS, RIF LINE, WILL BRING A BROAD GROUP OF COMMUNITY STAKEHOLDERS TO HELP US REACH A POSITIVE OUTCOME.
IN MARCH, AUSTIN ENERGY ACKNOWLEDGED THAT WE NEEDED TO PAUSE THE PROCESS WE HAD UNDERWAY AND ADDRESS QUESTIONS ABOUT THE PROPOSED PATH FORWARD.
IT WAS CLEAR FROM OUR INITIAL RECOMMENDATIONS AS WELL AS THE EUC WORKING GROUPS THAT WE WERE ON A PATH TO SEPARATE PROPOSALS.
WE PAUSED BECAUSE WE RECOGNIZED THE NEED TO PURSUE FURTHER STAKEHOLDER COLLABORATION AND GATHER MORE INFORMATION ON ENERGY TECHNOLOGIES THAT CAN SUPPORT OUR GROWING CUSTOMER BASE IN THE CHANGING ENERGY MARKET.
WE KNOW ONE THING FOR CERTAIN, THE PEOPLE OF AUSTIN CARE ABOUT SUSTAINABILITY, RELIABILITY, AND AFFORDABILITY.
AND IT'S OUR COLLECTIVE JOB TO FIND THE RIGHT BALANCE OF THESE SHARED VALUES.
AND THAT REQUIRED US TO ACCEPT THE HARD TRUTH THAT OUR EFFORTS THUS FAR WERE NOT WORKING.
AND IT WAS TIME TO PUSH THE RESET BUTTON.
[00:25:02]
NEXT SLIDE.SO, AS WE RESET, WE'RE THINKING ABOUT TIMEFRAME.
THERE HAVE BEEN SEVERAL THAT RECOMMENDED THAT WE BUILD THE PLAN OUT TO 2035, RATHER THAN UPDATING THE 2030 PLAN, WHICH IS THE PATH WE WERE ON UNDER OUR NEW PROCESS.
WE ANTICIPATE BEING ABLE TO BRING RECOMMENDATIONS TO CITY COUNCIL BY THE END OF THE CALENDAR YEAR, AND THAT MEANS WE'RE GONNA HAVE AN UPDATED PLAN MUCH CLOSER TO 2025 THAN WE ORIGINALLY THOUGHT.
AND SO, IT'S THE OPPORTUNE TIME TO IMPLEMENT THE FULL SET OF RESOURCES THAT ARE NEEDED TO CREATE A 2035 PLAN INSTEAD OF JUST A 2030 UPDATE.
AND WE AGREE THIS APPROACH ALIGNS WITH THE OVERARCHING OBJECTIVE OF CARBON FREE BY 2035.
AS WE'RE LOOKING AT THE FULL 10 YEAR HORIZON, WE KNOW WE NEED TO ENGAGE IN A MORE ROBUST AND COLLABORATIVE PROCESS TO ENSURE A CONVERSATION THAT ADDRESSES THE NEEDS OF THE AUSTIN COMMUNITY AND ONE THAT IS ROOTED IN SHARED VALUES WITH A DESIRE FOR OUR COLLABORATIVE EFFORT.
AUSTIN ENERGY HIRED LIFELINE AS A THIRD PARTY FACILITATOR TO WORK THROUGH CHALLENGING CONVERSATIONS AND ENGAGE ALL VOICES IN THE COMMUNITY.
I'LL TALK MORE ABOUT LIFELINE AND THEIR ROLE IN A BIT.
AS WE MOVE FORWARD, WE'RE FOCUSED ON THREE MAIN AREAS, DATA GATHERING AND RESEARCH TO ENSURE ALL OF US HAVE THE MOST UP-TO-DATE INFORMATION.
WE'RE FOCUSED ON STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT TO ENSURE WE HAVE A ROBUST COLLABORATIVE PROCESS THAT ADDRESSES THE NEEDS OF THE COMMUNITY, AND WE'RE FOCUSED ON OUTSIDE EXPERTISE TO ENSURE WE HAVE WELL-ROUNDED VIEWPOINTS.
OUR THIRD PARTY EXPERTISE IS COMING IN THREE MAIN FORMS. LINDA RIFE AND HER TEAM AT RIF LINE WILL FACILITATE THE STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT.
DR. MICHAEL WEBER AND WEBER ENERGY GROUP WILL PROVIDE INDUSTRY EXPERTISE AND RESEARCH, AND WE'RE ALSO SEEKING TO BRING IN THIRD PARTY MODELING AND ANALYTICS TO SUPPLEMENT AUSTIN ENERGY'S WORK.
IN OUR OLD PROCESS, WE GOT SOME QUESTIONS ABOUT THE COST INPUT ASSUMPTIONS WE USED IN MODELING.
SO IN ADDITIONAL TO THE THIRD PARTY EXPERTISE, PART OF OUR DATA GATHERING INVOLVES REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS.
LAST MONTH, AUSTIN ENERGY RELEASED AN RFP FOR RENEWABLE AND CARBON FREE GENERATION TECHNOLOGIES.
WE INCLUDED WIND, SOLAR, AND BATTERIES, WHICH IS TYPICAL FOR US, BUT ALSO GEOTHERMAL AND FUEL CELLS.
WE WANNA ADD THESE NEWER AND PERHAPS LESS COMMON CARBON-FREE TECHNOLOGIES TO GATHER DATA FOR COMPARISON AND TO KEEP A PULSE ON WHEN THESE WILL BECOME COMPETITIVE.
WE RECENTLY CONDUCTED A BATTERY STORAGE RFP, AND WE PLAN TO REVISIT OR PERHAPS ISSUE A NEW RFP FOR TECHNOLOGY COMPARISON AS WELL.
AND TO ROUND OUT THE DATA, WE PLAN TO ISSUE AN RFP FOR INFORMATION ABOUT FLEXIBLE FUEL GENERATION.
THIS SUITE OF RFPS WILL NOT ONLY GIVE US ADDITIONAL DATA SET TO REFINE OUR PLANNING EFFORTS, BUT IT WILL ALSO GIVE US THE OPPORTUNITY TO SEEK APPROVAL OF VIABLE RENEWABLE PROJECTS IN THE NEAR TERM.
WHEN I PRESENTED TO THE UTILITY OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE IN APRIL, I SHARED THE FLOOR WITH LINDA RIF, BUT TONIGHT I'M GONNA COVER HER SLIDES.
UM, BUT LET ME START WITH A LITTLE BIT ABOUT LINDA'S BACKGROUND.
SO SHE HAS MORE THAN 25 YEARS OF EXPERIENCE, AND SHE'S A SEASONED SPECIALIST IN THE AREAS OF PUBLIC INVOLVEMENT AND COMMUNITY AFFAIRS.
SHE HAS RECEIVED MEDIATION TRAINING THROUGH UT'S LAW SCHOOL, UM, UT LAW SCHOOL'S CENTER FOR PUBLIC POLICY DISPUTE RESOLUTION AND INFORMED CONSENT TRAINING THROUGH THE INSTITUTE FOR PARTICIPATORY MANAGEMENT AND PLANNING.
YOU ARE LIKELY FAMILIAR WITH LIFELINE'S WORK IN THE COMMUNITY ON HIGH PROFILE AND IMPORTANT ISSUES SUCH AS TRANSIT, EDUCATION AND HEALTHCARE.
AND NOW SHE'LL BE TAKING ON ENERGY.
SO, LINDA'S ROLE IS TO SERVE AS A NEUTRAL PARTY.
SHE'LL BE WORKING TO CREATE A COMMON UNDERSTANDING OF AUSTIN ENERGY'S MISSION, AND SHE'LL BE, UH, SHE'LL BE WORKED TO ENSURE THAT AUSTIN ENERGY HEARS FROM A DIVERSE SET OF VOICES IN THE COMMUNITY ABOUT THEIR VALUES.
MOST OF ALL, SHE'LL DEVELOP AN INFORMED CONSENT PROCESS REGARDING THE RANGE OF SOLUTIONS APPROPRIATE TO SUPPORT A GROWING CUSTOMER BASE IN A CHANGING ENERGY MARKET.
BRIGHTLINE SCOPE INCLUDES CONDUCTING A SERIES OF STAKEHOLDER WORKSHOPS, GATHERING FEEDBACK, AND KEEPING THE ELECTRIC UTILITY COMMISSION INFORMED AND ENGAGED.
AND SHE WILL ALSO REPORT OUT TO THE UTILITY OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE.
THE NEXT COUPLE OF SLIDES SPEAK TO THE WORKSHOPS MENTIONED HERE, BUT I WANNA ALSO START WITH, LIFELINE IS INVITING ORGANIZATIONS THAT REPRESENT DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVES AND USING THE INFORMED CONSENT MODEL, WORKSHOPS WILL BUILD UPON EACH OTHER AND THEY WILL INVOLVE INTERACTIVE DISCUSSION.
SO, AFTER DISCUSSIONS WITH THE ELECTRIC UTILITY COMMISSION, LIFELINE HAS INVITED PARTICIPANTS REPRESENTING FOUR DIFFERENT AREAS.
WE HAVE, UH, REPRESENTATIVES WHO WILL REPRESENT, UH, SUSTAINABILITY PARTIES, LIKE ENVIRONMENTAL ADVOCATE GROUPS, AND CLEAN ENERGY PRACTITIONERS.
WE HAVE REPRESENTATIVES FOR RELIABILITY LIKE
[00:30:01]
HOSPITALS, NURSING HOMES, MANUFACTURING AND GROCERY STORES, AFFORDABILITY TARGETS, AREAS LIKE HOUSING ADVOCATES, NONPROFITS, AND SMALL BUSINESS.AND THEN THERE'S ALSO A GROUP THAT REPRESENTS DEMOGRAPHICS AND GEOGRAPHY.
THIS COVERS EVERYTHING FROM STUDENTS TO SENIOR CITIZENS AND IMPACTED COMMUNITIES THAT WE SERVE THAT MIGHT BE OUTSIDE OF AUSTIN.
THE INTENT IS EQUAL REPRESENTATION AROUND THE TABLE FOR FACILITATED DISCUSSION, AND THE MEETINGS WILL BE IN PERSON AND OPEN TO PUBLIC VIEWING.
AND SO, RIGHTLINE PLANS TO HOLD FOUR WORKSHOPS.
THE FIRST IS SCHEDULED FOR JUNE 7TH, AND IT WILL COVER ELECTRICITY 1 0 1 AUSTIN ENERGY'S MISSION, AND THE STAKEHOLDERS DEFINITIONS FOR EACH COMPONENT, SHARED VALUE, DISCUSSION, AND FUNDAMENTALS OF BUILDING A GENERATION PLAN.
THE NEXT ONES WILL BUILD OFF OF THAT IN AN ITERATIVE WAY, AND EACH WILL HAVE ITS OWN OUTCOME.
LIFELINE IS PLANNING ROUGHLY ONE WORKSHOP PER MONTH, BUT THESE MAY SHIFT A BIT.
THE TEAM IS LOOKING AT THE HOLISTIC SCHEDULE AND ADAPTING AS NECESSARY.
UM, OUR ULTIMATE OBJECTIVE, OUR ULTIMATE TIMELINE OBJECTIVE IS TO BRING A RECOMMENDATION TO COUNCIL AS EARLY AS POSSIBLE, BUT BEFORE THE END OF CALENDAR YEAR 2024.
AND, UH, THAT DOES CONCLUDE MY PRE PRE PREPARED SLIDES FOR TONIGHT, BUT I DO, UM, WANT TO NOTE THAT SEVERAL MEMBERS ON THIS COMMISSION SERVED ON THE ELECTRIC UTILITY COMMISSION WORKING GROUP.
I WANNA JUST TAKE A MOMENT TO THANK YOU FOR ALL OF THE HARD WORK YOU PUT TOGETHER AND YOUR RECOMMENDATION AND LET YOU KNOW THAT WE HAVE COMMITTED TO THE ELECTRIC UTILITY COMMISSION THAT WE'LL BE SCHEDULING A TECHNICAL MEETING WITH YOU TO REVIEW YOUR RECOMMENDATION.
WE, UM, WILL PROVIDE A DATE TO EUC BY THE NEXT MEETING.
UM, I MAY HAVE OTHER QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS LATER, BUT I HAVE ONE FOR NOW.
UM, WHERE DID THE IDEA FOR THIS COME FROM, THE EUC, THE CITY COUNCIL, AUSTIN ENERGY, WHO, UH, WHO THUNKED THIS UP? THIS WHAT'S, YEAH, WHAT'S THE IT WHO'S, UH, THE, UH, COMMUNITY PROCESS THAT YOU HAVE SPENT ALL THIS TIME DESCRIBING? GOT IT.
UM, SO AUSTIN ENERGY STEPPED BACK AND REALIZED THAT WE DIDN'T WANNA BRING TWO DIFFERENT PROPOSALS TO THE, TO THE CITY COUNCIL.
AND SO THAT'S WHEN WE DECIDED THAT WE NEEDED TO RESET.
AND THEN WE STOPPED AND SAID, HOW ARE WE GOING TO DO THIS? SOME OF THE FEEDBACK THAT WE RECEIVED WAS THAT WE WEREN'T ENGAGING WITH THE COMMUNITY, WE WEREN'T ENGAGING WITH THE EUC WORKING GROUP, WHICH HAD REPRESENTATIVES FROM THE COMMUNITY.
AND SO WE, UH, WE COLLECTIVELY THOUGHT ABOUT THIS PATH FORWARD US IN ENERGY.
THANK YOU MS. MARTIN, FOR THIS PRESENTATION.
UM, ARE THE FOUR WORKSHOPS, UH, THAT WILL BE CONDUCTED OPEN TO THE PUBLIC FOR PARTICIPATION OR JUST LISTENING? YEAH, THEY'RE OPEN TO THE PUBLIC FOR LISTENING, FOR VIEWING AND LISTENING.
AND THE PARTIES SITTING AT THE TABLE WILL BE INVITED PARTICIPANTS WHO WILL BE CONSISTENT THROUGHOUT THE VARIOUS WORKSHOPS.
AND, UM, THOSE HAVE BEEN PURPOSEFULLY IDENTIFIED TO BRING, UH, REPRESENT THOSE FOUR DIFFERENT AREAS THAT WE SPOKE ABOUT.
AND YOU SAID THERE WERE LIKE FIVE TO SEVEN INDIVIDUALS FOR EACH OF THOSE FOUR AREAS? YES, MA'AM.
HOW, AND ARE WE ABLE TO KNOW WHO THEY ARE? SO I, THEY WERE SELECTED.
UM, THAT'S ONE OF THE THINGS THAT RIF LINE DOES, THAT'S PART OF THEIR SCOPE.
AND I DON'T THINK THAT LIST IS FINALIZED YET, BUT CERTAINLY THEY WILL BE KNOWN ONCE THOSE MEETINGS BEGIN.
UM, I WILL HAVE TO CHECK IN WITH, UH, RIF LINE TO IDENTIFY CURRENT STATUS.
WE, THEY ASKED FOR FEEDBACK FROM THE EUC WHO ALSO MADE RECOMMENDATIONS, RIGHT? RIGHT.
THEY ASKED FOR FEEDBACK FROM THE EUC WHO ALSO MADE RECOMMENDATION.
THAT'S WHAT MS. EVERHART SAID WITHOUT THE LINK.
UM, AND THEN FINALLY, UM, THE, THE FOURTH AREA YOU SAID WAS DEMOGRAPHICS AND GEOGRAPHY.
IS THAT SORT OF A SUBSTITUTE FOR EQUITY? OR HOW WAS EQUITY FACTORED INTO THIS SELECTION OF PARTICIPANTS? SO, UM, I WOULD HAVE TO ASK, UH, LINDA RIF DIRECTLY, BUT I WILL TELL YOU, IN OBSERVING HER ENGAGING WITH THE ELECTRIC UTILITY COMMISSION, UH, SEVERAL OF THE COMMISSIONERS SPOKE ABOUT SAYING, YOU NEED TO HAVE YOUNG PEOPLE ON THIS.
YOU NEED TO MAKE SURE THAT YOU HAVE SENIOR CITIZENS ON, THEY'RE AFFECTED VERY DIFFERENTLY.
AND THEY WILL HAVE DIFFERENT IDEAS AND THOUGHTS.
UM, AND SO THEN SHE HAD A CONVERSATION ABOUT WHAT ABOUT, UM, COMMUNITIES THAT ARE NOT, UH, PART OF THE CITY OF AUSTIN, BUT WE, THEY'RE SERVED AS CUSTOMERS OF AUSTIN ENERGY, SO THEY'RE WITHIN OUR SERVICE TERRITORY.
AND SO, UM, I THINK THAT ANOTHER WAY, I MEAN, IN MY VIEW, THAT IS ONE WAY OF STARTING
[00:35:01]
TO GATHER THE EQUITY COMPONENTS.I THINK, UM, UH, YOU KNOW, I I THINK THAT ONE OF THE SHARED COMMUNITY VALUES IS EQUITY.
AND SO I'VE BEEN SAYING, I THINK THAT'S GONNA COME OUT PRETTY LOUD AND STRONG IN THESE WORKSHOPS, BUT WE'LL SEE WHAT THE COMMUNITY OFFERS.
ANY OTHER QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS FROM, OH, I SEE SHANE'S HAND UP THERE.
UH, COMMISSIONER JOHNSON, GO AHEAD, PLEASE.
MY GIANT, YOU KNOW, FACE ON THE SCREEN, THAT LOOKS LIKE A, A DEMI GOD IN A WEIRD WAY.
UM, SO YEAH, I, I WANTED TO FOLLOW UP WITH SOME QUESTIONS AS WELL.
AND FOR TRANSPARENCY'S SAKE, I, I WILL BE, I AM GONNA BE ONE OF THE PARTICIPANTS, I BELIEVE PROBABLY REPRESENTING SUSTAINABILITY THROUGH CR CLUB, NOT REPRESENTING THE RMC TO BE CLEAR.
UM, BUT, UH, SO YEAH, I HAD PREVIOUSLY HEARD THESE WILL BE OPEN TO THE PUBLIC, UH, FOR VIEWING.
UM, I WANTED TO SEE, UH, IF THERE WAS PROGRESS OR, UM, MOVEMENT ON A QUESTION THAT SOME OTHER POTENTIAL PARTICIPANTS HAD BROUGHT UP OF, WILL THERE BE A VIRTUAL OPTION FOR PARTICIPANTS OR FOR MEMBERS OF THE WORKSHOP AS WELL AS THE GENERAL PUBLIC TO PARTICIPATE THROUGH.
I THINK THAT'D BE REALLY IMPORTANT FOR ACCESSIBILITY AND CENTERING OUR EQUITY PRINCIPLES.
UM, AND, UH, WILL, WILL THERE BE RECORDINGS OF THIS, YOU KNOW, KIND OF LIKE A, A COMMISSION OR, OR CITY BODY? I THINK THAT WOULD BE REALLY HELPFUL AS WELL FOR ACCESSIBILITY.
I WILL TAKE THEM BACK TO LIFELINE AND, UM, COME SEE WHAT THE ANSWERS ARE, MAKE SURE WE CAN GET 'EM BACK TO YOU.
THANK YOU FOR SERVING ON THE, ON THE GROUP.
COMMISSIONER ROBBINS, I AM GOING TO TRY TO MAKE THIS BRIEF AND TRY AND MAKE IT, IF POINTED, AT LEAST TRY AND, UH, BE CIVIL ABOUT IT.
I KNOW LINDA RIFE AND SHE'S A VERY PROFESSIONAL PERSON, AND, UM, THAT'S NOT WHAT CONCERNS ME.
WHAT CONCERNS ME IS THAT THERE'S A PERCEPTION ON MY PART OF NON OBJECTIVITY BECAUSE I, AND I, I THOUGHT THE SAME THING DURING THE ELECTRIC RATE CASE, WHEN AUSTIN ENERGY SHOWS AND HIRED THE, UH, THE HEARINGS EXAMINER.
UH, I MEAN, I UNDERSTAND THE NEED FOR A HEARINGS EXAMINER AND ALL THAT, BUT FOR THE UTILITY TO CHOOSE ITS OWN JUDGE JUST DIDN'T, IT NEVER SEEMED RIGHT TO ME.
AND SOMEHOW THE UTILITY CHOOSING SOMEONE WHO'S GOING TO BE OBJECTIVE, I, I MEAN, I'M, I'M SORRY, UH, MS. MARTIN, BUT TO ME IT WOULD SEEM BETTER IF, UH, SHE WAS ACCOUNTABLE TO THE CITY COUNCIL OR THE, UM, CITY AUDITOR OR SOMEONE WHO WAS A THIRD PARTY.
ANY OTHER COMMENTS OR QUESTIONS FROM YES, COMMISSIONER FARMER.
UM, THANKS FOR THE PRESENTATION.
UM, I, I WAS JUST CURIOUS ABOUT LIKE OUR, UH, LIKE THE RMCS UH, INTERACTION WITH THIS PROCESS.
I KNOW YOU MENTIONED THE EOC WILL BE INFORMED AND REGULARLY UPDATED, BUT THEN YOU'RE PRESENTING TO US, SO TO SOME EXTENT WE'RE INVOLVED, BUT JUST WANTED TO GET CLARITY ON THAT.
YEAH, SO, UM, THE COUNCIL RESOLUTION THAT DIRECTED US TO UPDATE THE PLAN, UM, TELLS US TO WORK WITH THE ELECTRIC UTILITY COMMISSION.
UM, THERE HAVE BEEN SEVERAL QUESTIONS FROM THE RESOURCE MANAGEMENT COMMISSION.
WE KNOW THAT Y'ALL ARE VERY INTERESTED IN THIS, AND SO I'M, UH, COMMITTED TO COMING BACK AND KEEPING YOU INFORMED.
UM, YOU'RE CERTAINLY WELCOME TO PARTICIPATE OR, YOU KNOW, COME TO THE EUC MEETINGS AS WELL, UM, AS ALWAYS.
BUT, UM, BUT ESSENTIALLY IT'S, IT'S REALLY JUST A COURTESY FOR US TO COME TO YOU SO THAT YOU CAN SEE THIS DURING YOUR TIMEFRAME.
ANY OTHER QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS FROM THE COMMISSION? THERE BEING NONE.
THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR YOUR TIME THIS EVENING.
UH, RETURNING TO OUR PACKETS, WE'LL GO BACK NOW TO ITEM
[3. Approve a recommendation to amend the Resource Management Commission bylaws to include review of and advising on all matters related to natural gas companies that serve customers within the City of Austin, including franchise agreements, rates, and conservation programs.]
NUMBER THREE, APPROVE A RECOMMENDATION TO AMEND THE RESOURCE MANAGEMENT[00:40:01]
COMMISSION BY TO AMEND THE RESOURCE MANAGEMENT COMMISSION BYLAWS.UM, WHO'S HERE TO SPEAK ON THIS ONE TODAY? UH, COMMISSIONER ROBBINS, YOU HAVE THE FLOOR, UM, COMMISSION.
UH, THIS IS UNFINISHED BUSINESS.
UH, IN JULY OF LAST YEAR, OUR COMMISSION PASSED A RESOLUTION ASKING COUNSEL TO EXPAND ITS PURVIEW, UH, TO LOOK AT ALL ISSUES CONCERNING GAS UTILITIES OPERATING IN THE CITY, INCLUDING RATES, FRANCHISES, UH, ENVIRONMENTAL AND CONSUMER ISSUES.
UH, AND I DID NOT REALIZE AT THE TIME THAT, UH, THERE NEEDED TO BE A SEPARATE RESOLUTION TO AMEND OUR BYLAWS.
IF WE PASS THIS RESOLUTION, UH, THESE PROPOSED AMENDED BYLAWS, WE'LL GO TO THE CITY COUNCIL'S AUDIT COMMITTEE FOR REVIEW AND HOPE FOR ACCEPTANCE.
UM, AND SO I'M ASKING US TO COMPLETE WHAT, UH, WE DIDN'T COMPLETE IN 2023 AND, UH, SEND THIS ON TO CITY COUNCIL IN A MORE OFFICIAL FORM.
IF YOU LOOKED AT THE AMENDMENTS, UM, THESE ARE PROPOSALS WHEN THE AUDIT COMMITTEE AND CITY LEGAL GET THEM, THEY MAY REWORD IT.
SO, AND I MEAN, THESE ARE ARE DRAFTS, UH, BUT, UH, THEY'RE THE BEST I COULD DO, UH, GIVEN THE UNCERTAINTY OF WHAT THE AUDIT COMMITTEE AND LEGAL MIGHT DO.
UH, WITH THAT, I WILL, UH, ENTERTAIN ANY QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS, UH, COMMISSIONERS MIGHT HAVE ON THIS.
COMMISSIONER DAVIS CAN THANK YOU.
CAN WE BRING THE, THE DRAFT UP ONTO THE SCREEN? HE TOOK, HE'S
UM, BUT JUST FOR THE BENEFIT OF, OF OTHERS, I DO HAVE, UM, ONE QUESTION.
I NOTICE THAT THE BYLAWS ARE AMENDED IN THE SECTIONS FOR, UM, REVIEW D REVIEWING AND ANALYZING, AND E ADVISING ON NATURAL GAS UTILITY MATTERS ISSUES CONCERNING NATIONAL GAS UTILITIES, INCLUDING FAIR AND EQUITABLE RATES.
BUT THERE ARE NO RED LINES IN THE SECTION A, WHICH IS EXPLICITLY, UM, EXCLUDES NATURAL GAS.
SO I JUST WONDER IF THAT WAS DELIBERATE OR AN OVERSIGHT, IF YOU COULD TALK ABOUT THAT.
UM, WELL, LET ME JUST MAKE SURE I GOT THIS.
WE CAN'T AMEND THAT, BUT I BELIEVE THIS WAS ORIGINALLY MEANT TO REFER TO NATURAL GAS ELECTRIC GENERATION, WHICH IS WHY I, UH, I BLANKED IT OUT.
BUT IF YOU, UH, WOULD LIKE TO AMEND IT, I'M FINE WITH THAT.
NO, I JUST WANTED A CLARIFICATION.
PAUL, ANY OTHER COMMENTS OR QUESTIONS FROM THE COMMISSION? IF NOT, I'M MORE THAN HAPPY TO ENTERTAIN A MOTION.
I SO MOVE THAT WE PASS THIS ON TO CITY COUNCIL FOR THEIR, UH, TO THE AUDIT COMMITTEE FOR THEIR CONSIDERATION.
SECOND MOTIONS BEEN MADE BY COMMISSIONER ROBBINS, SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER SILVERSTEIN.
COMMISSIONER SILVERSTEIN? YES.
[00:45:01]
YOU, LUKE.IT'S ABSOLUTELY NO SKIN OFF OF MY BACK, SIR.
[4. Approve a recommendation in support of certain Environmental Investment Plan recommendations approved by the Joint Sustainability Committee.]
IN OUR AGENDA.ITEM NUMBER FOUR, APPROVING A RECOMMENDATION, SUPPORT OF CERTAIN ENVIRONMENTAL INVESTMENT PLAN RECOMMENDATIONS.
UH, I BELIEVE THIS IS, UH, COMMISSIONER DAVIS'S, UH, UH, RESOLUTION, SO I'LL LET YOU TAKE THE FLOOR.
UH, AS I MENTIONED LAST MONTH, THE JOINT SUSTAINABILITY COMMITTEE IN APRIL APPROVED A SERIES OF RECOMMENDATIONS FOR INVESTMENTS INTO, UM, WHAT IS CALLED AN ENVIRONMENTAL INVESTMENT PLAN.
AND THE OBJECTIVE OF THAT WAS, UH, TO CLOSE THE GAP BETWEEN OUR CURRENT TRAJECTORY AND WHAT IS REALLY NEEDED TO ACHIEVE THE VERY NUMEROUS AMBITIOUS GOALS OF THE CLIMATE EQUITY PLAN AND NUMEROUS OTHER PLANS, UH, THAT THE CITY HAS.
UM, THE IDEA THERE, THE, WHAT THE JSC WAS TASKED WITH WAS TO GO BEYOND, UM, BUSINESS AS USUAL SPENDING OR INCREMENTAL SPENDING THAT MIGHT GET A LITTLE BIT OF, OF INCREMENTAL PROGRESS AND REALLY KIND OF, UH, YOU KNOW, SWING FOR THE FENCES.
UM, SO THERE WERE, AS I MENTIONED, ABOUT 33 RECOMMENDATIONS THAT WERE PASSED.
IT WAS, UH, INCLUDED IN YOUR BACKUP.
UM, IT'S VERY LONG, BUT NINE OF THOSE RECOMMENDATIONS DEAL WITH ITEMS THAT, UM, FALL UNDER THE SCOPE OF THE RESOURCE MANAGEMENT, UH, COMMISSION CONCERNING ALTERNATIVE ENERGY, RENEWABLE ENERGY CONSERVATION.
UM, AND SO MY THOUGHT IN BRINGING THIS HERE TO THIS BODY TONIGHT WAS TO, UH, HAVE A DISCUSSION TO AROUND THESE ITEMS AND POTENTIALLY A, UH, A MOVE IN SUPPORT OF, UH, SEEKING FUNDING, UH, FOR THESE AREAS.
UM, THE, THE COUNCIL WILL BE HOLDING A, UM, PUBLIC HEARING AT THEIR NEXT MEETING ON MAY 30TH.
AND THIS IS, UM, ONE OF THE ITEMS, UH, THIS ENVIRONMENTAL INVESTMENT PLAN.
AND, UM, I, I DID CIRCULATE A DRAFT OF THIS RESOLUTION EARLIER, UH, IN THE WEEK.
AND, UM, AFTER REQUESTING INPUT FROM BOTH AUSTIN ENERGY, AUSTIN WATER, AND, AND SITTING DOWN WITH, UH, MEMBERS OF AUSTIN ENERGY'S, UH, CUSTOMER ENERGY SOLUTIONS TEAM, I DID REVISE THAT, UH, RESOLUTION TO THE ONE THAT YOU'RE SEEING TODAY.
UM, I TOOK OUT THE, UM, UH, FIND THE, THE FUNDING FIGURES, THE INVESTMENT FIGURES.
UM, THOSE NUMBERS AREN'T, YOU KNOW, NECESSARILY, UM, FINAL.
THERE'S DEFINITELY SOME WORK BEING DONE, UH, BEHIND THE SCENES, BOTH ON, UH, THE STAFF SIDE AND, UM, AND THE JSC SIDE.
BUT MY THOUGHT WAS THAT IF, UM, WE AS A BODY CAN SAY THAT WE ARE IN, IN FAVOR OF AUSTIN ENERGY, EXPANDING ENERGY EFFICIENCY, DEMAND RESPONSE, INVESTING IN BATTERY STORAGE, UM, AND SO ON, THEN THIS COULD BE A, UM, A VOTE IN SUPPORT OF, UM, IDENTIFYING WAYS TO, TO FUND MORE INVESTMENT IN THESE AREAS.
SO I'M HAPPY TO, TO, TO DISCUSS EACH OF THESE ONE BY ONE IF FOLKS LIKE, OR, UM, WE CAN TALK IF PEOPLE HAVE QUESTIONS.
UH, I'M, I'M OPEN TO COMMENTS AND, AND FEEDBACK FROM THE COMMISSION.
SO I'LL, I'LL ASK ONE QUESTION REAL QUICK.
SO, FROM OUR PERSPECTIVE, LOOKING AT THIS, THIS IS JUST, WE, WE ARE ESSENTIALLY CASTING A VISION OF WHAT THINGS SHOULD LIKE LOOK LIKE IN THE FUTURE.
SO WE'RE ASSUMING, ESSENTIALLY THAT WE'RE NOT, WE'RE NOT CONCERNED ABOUT BUDGETARY ISSUES OR WHETHER OR NOT SOMETHING IS YET, UM, I'M TRYING TO COME UP WITH THE RIGHT WORD.
LIKE IF THE TECHNOLOGY IS MATURE ENOUGH YET, WE'RE JUST SAYING THIS IS THE DIRECTION WE SHOULD BE POINTING.
IS THAT REALLY WHAT THIS DOCUMENT IS SAYING? YES, IT IS.
THAT'S A GREAT WAY OF PUTTING IT, BECAUSE I, I TOO HAD PROBLEMS WITH THOSE NUMBERS WHEN I SAW THEM IN THE ORIGINAL DOCUMENT, AND I WAS, OKAY, SO THAT'S FINE.
ANY OTHER, COMMISSIONER SILVERSTEIN, UM, THANKS TO YOU AND YOUR COLLEAGUES FOR ALL THE WORK YOU'VE DONE ON THIS.
IT'S A GREAT LIST AND A GREAT SET OF PRIORITIES FOR THIS COMMISSION.
UM, WITH RESPECT TO ITEM ONE, IT WOULD BE GOOD TO ADD, UM, ATTIC INSULATION ON ENERGY EFFICIENCY PROGRAMS, BECAUSE BUILDING ENVELOPE IMPROVEMENT DOESN'T USUALLY CON AD ADDRESS ATTIC INSULATION, WHICH IS PARTICULARLY VALUABLE EVEN IN HEAT, HEAT CONDITIONS.
AND FOR ITEM EIGHT, I SUPPORT, AS YOU KNOW, FROM MY GRIPING ABOUT IT AT THE LAST
[00:50:01]
MEETING, I FULLY SUPPORT INVESTING IN LEAK DETECTION, BUT I'D EVEN BETTER LIKE TO INVEST IN FIXING LEAKS.AND, AND THIS ONLY DOES THE FIRST HALF, NOT THE ACTION REMEDIAL PART OF THAT JOB.
SO I, I WOULD LIKE TO ASK YOU TO CONSIDER MODIFYING ITEM EIGHT TO INCLUDE ACTUAL INVESTMENT IN LEAK FIXING, FIXING, OR WHATEVER THAT GIVE ME THE VERB.
THE, I THINK THOSE ARE EXCELLENT SUGGESTIONS.
UH, I CONSIDER THOSE FRIENDLY AMENDMENTS, AND I'D BE HAPPY TO, UM, UH, MOCK THAT UP IF, UM, UH, YOU KNOW, IF, IF WE HAVE TIME FOR THAT AND COMMISSIONER ROBBINS SIMPLY, UH, LEAK DETECTION AND REPAIR PROGRAMS, UM, UM, IS, CAN I, CAN I INTERJECT SOMETHING OR DO I NEED TO GET BACK IN LINE? YOU'VE ALREADY GOT THE FLOOR.
UM, COMMISSIONER DAVIS, UM, UH, I TALKED ABOUT THIS A LITTLE BIT WITH YOU OFFLINE, AND I DON'T REALLY CARE IF WE PUT IT IN AS A FRIENDLY AMENDMENT OR YOU JUST PASS IT ON TO THE JOINT SUSTAINABILITY COMMITTEE.
BUT THEY'RE REALLY DEALING WITH ONLY HALF OR A QUARTER OF THE PROBLEM.
LEAK DETECTION AND REPAIR IS GREAT, BUT IT'S BETTER TO HAVE THE BEST MATERIALS IN THE GROUND TO BEGIN WITH, SO YOU DON'T HAVE TO FIND OR REPAIR THE LEAKS.
UH, AND I, UH, GAVE YOU AN EXAMPLE OF, OF, UH, TOKYO, WHICH HAS A 3% LEAKAGE RATE, WHICH IS PROFOUNDLY LOW IN WATER UTILITIES BECAUSE, UH, THEY NOT ONLY HAVE LEAK DETECTION AND REPAIR, BUT THEY HAVE GONE OUT OF THEIR WAY OVER A PERIOD OF DECADES TO USE THE BEST, MOST LONG-LIVED MATERIALS, UH, TO PREVENT AS MANY LEAKS AS POSSIBLE, WHICH IS A CHALLENGE, UH, NOT ONLY, UH, DUE TO, UH, THE WAY WATER UTILITIES WORK, BUT BECAUSE IT'S A VERY EARTHQUAKE PRONE, UH, AREA.
SO IMAGINE 3% LEAKAGE WHERE THERE'S LOTS OF EARTHQUAKES THAT SAYS A LOT.
UH, AGAIN, I, I'LL LEAVE IT TO YOU IF YOU WANT TO AMEND THIS OR NOT, UH, BUT I, I WOULD LIKE YOU AT LEAST TO PASS THE MESSAGE ALONG THAT WE SHOULD ALSO LOOK AT THAT.
AND I, I WOULD SAY, UM, IT, IT MAY MERIT ITS OWN ITEM FOR CONSIDERATION AT, UH, JSC OR EVEN, UH, WATER AND WASTEWATER.
WE HAVE A, A CALL, UH, A COMMITTEE MEMBER ON THE JSC THAT SITS, ALSO SITS ON WATER AND WASTEWATER.
SO THAT IS CERTAINLY SOMETHING THAT CAN BE BROUGHT UP THERE AT BOTH OF THOSE, THOSE PLACES.
ARE THERE ANY OTHER COMMENTS? IT SEEMS LIKE WE HAD A COUPLE OF AMENDMENTS YOU GUYS WANTED TO TRY TO SUSS OUT.
SO FOR, UM, THE FIRST ONE ON ENERGY EFFICIENCY PROGRAMS, COMMISSIONER SILVERSTEIN, UH, SUGGESTED ADDING ATTIC INSULATION.
WOULD THIS SUFFICE? MORE INVESTMENT IS NEEDED TO IMPROVE BUILDING ENVELOPES, ATTICS, INSULATION, AND AIR SEALING.
SO I WILL IN, UH, INCLUDE THAT.
AND THEN ON ITEM NUMBER EIGHT, WHICH IS, UH, INVESTMENTS IN WATER LEAK AUTO AUSTIN WATER SHOULD INCREASE ITS ANNUAL DETECTION AND REPAIR BUDGET ADDED AND REPAIR.
IF I MAY, YOU MIGHT CHANGE THE TITLE OF ITEM EIGHT TO INCLUDE LEAK DETECTION AND REPAIR PROGRAMS. THANK YOU.
OKAY, SO JUST SO I UNDERSTAND, YOU ARE PROPOSING AN AMENDMENT, AND I'LL BE LOOKING FOR A SECOND, BUT WE'LL GET THERE.
SO I HAVE IN ITEM NUMBER ONE AFTER THE WORD ENVELOPES, ATTICS, INSULATION, AND THEN THE REST.
THEN I COME ON TO ITEM NUMBER EIGHT IN THE, IN THE HEADLINE WHERE AFTER THE WORD DETECTION WE'RE PUTTING AND REPAIR, AND THEN IN THE BODY AFTER THE WORD DETECTION, WE'RE PUTTING AND REPAIR AGAIN.
[00:55:01]
THAT CORRECT? YES.SO THAT IS YOUR PROPOSED AMENDMENT.
SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER SILVERSTEIN.
UH, IS THERE ANY OBJECTION OR CAN WE JUST DO THIS BY, UH, UNANIMOUS CONSENT SINCE WE DON'T DO ACCLAMATION? 'CAUSE WE DON'T WANNA APPLAUD SEEING
COMMISSIONER STA UH, SEEMS THERE ARE NO OBJECTION.
WE'LL CONSIDER THOSE BE FRIENDLY AMENDMENTS AND WE'LL MOVE ON.
SO WE'VE PASSED THE AMENDMENTS, BUT NOT THE, THE RESOLUTION, CORRECT? THAT IS CORRECT.
SECOND MOTION HAS BEEN MADE TO APPROVE THE RESOLUTION AS, AS AMENDED AND SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER SILVERSTEIN.
FOR THOSE OF YOU AT HOME, PLEASE TURN ON YOUR CAMERAS AND I AM OVER FOR THIS ONE.
UH, COMMISSIONER ROBBINS? YES.
COMMISSIONER SILVERSTEIN? YES.
AND STONE WILL ALSO VOTE? YES.
MOVING ON INTO OUR AGENDAS, JUST MAKING SURE I DIDN'T SKIP ANYTHING.
[5. Approve a recommendation on repurposing the GreenChoice Program and increasing dispatchable renewable energy.]
FIVE, IN YOUR PACKET, I APPROVING A RECOMMENDATION ON REPURPOSING GREEN CHOICE PROGRAM AND INCREASING DISPATCHABLE RENEWABLE ENERGY.UH, THIS IS, UH, PROPOSAL FROM THE VICE CHAIR, SO I WILL TURN THIS OVER TO HIM FOR FURTHER DISCUSSION.
UH, UH, MS. GOODWIN, COULD YOU PLEASE CUE THE PRESENTATION? DO YOU, DO YOU WANT ME TO WAIT TILL YOU, YOU'RE BACK? NO, I'VE SEEN THIS ONE BEFORE.
UH, COMMISSIONER S CITI, UH, THIS IS A PRIMER.
UM, YOU'VE MISSED THE LAST FEW MEETINGS AND I TAKE NO ONE FOR GRANTED.
SO THIS SHORT PRESENTATION IS, UH, A PRIMER FOR YOU.
UH, YOU DON'T HAVE TO VOTE FOR IT, BUT AT LEAST YOU'LL UNDERSTAND IT.
I'M ASKING FOR YOUR SUPPORT OF A RESOLUTION ASKING COUNCIL TO REPURPOSE THE CITY'S GREEN CHOICE REVENUE INTO A PROGRAM THAT WILL SUPPORT DISPATCHABLE RENEWABLE ENERGY SLIDE.
AUSTIN ENERGY BEGAN ITS AWARD-WINNING PROGRAM IN 2001 TO ALLOW CUSTOMERS TO VIRTUALLY BUY 100% GREEN POWER.
ITS INCREASED REVENUE HELPED THE UTILITY JUSTIFY THE PURCHASE OF MORE WIND POWER.
UH, IN 2022, UH, THERE WERE 984 MILLION KILOWATT HOURS SOLD, UH, WHICH IS ABOUT 7% OF TOTAL AUSTIN ENERGY CONSUMPTION, ABOUT $7.4 MILLION IN ADDITIONAL REVENUE FROM GREEN CHOICE, AND ABOUT 28,000, UH, SUBSCRIBERS, UH, WHICH IS ABOUT 5% OF THE CUSTOMER BASE SLIDE.
UH, THE UTILITY HAS INCREASED ITS SHARE OF RENEWABLE ENERGY FROM LESS THAN 1% IN THE YEAR 2000 TO 51% IN 2023 SLIDE.
AND IT HAS A GOAL OF REACHING 80% BY 2035 SLIDE.
AND THIS PROMPTS THE QUESTION, WHY SHOULD WE ASK CUSTOMERS TO PAY MORE FOR WHAT THE UTILITY IS DOING ANYWAY, SLIDE A, UH, GETTING RENEWABLE ENERGY IS NO LONGER THE CHALLENGE.
INSTEAD, THE BIGGEST OBSTACLE IS USING THE ENERGY WHEN IT IS NEEDED, WHICH IS ALSO KNOWN AS DISPATCHABILITY.
HERE IS A GRAPH OF A PERCENTAGE OF RENEWABLE ENERGY ON THE ERCOT GRID.
IN THE HOT AUGUST OF, UM, 2023, UH, IT RANGED FROM 48% HIGH TO AS LOW AS 3% AT ITS LOWEST SLIDE.
[01:00:01]
DISPATCHABILITY IS THE ACHILLES HEEL OF CLEAN ENERGY, AND IT IS NOT A SECRET.IT WAS THE BANNER STORY HEADLINE IN, UH, THIS AUSTIN AMERICAN STATESMAN STORY IN MARCH SLIDE.
SO LET'S TAKE THE $7.4 MILLION A YEAR AND REPURPOSE IT TO FUND DISPATCHABLE ENERGY PROJECTS.
LET'S LEVERAGE THE FUNDS WITH OTHER UTILITIES, PUBLIC ENTITIES, NONPROFITS, AND THE PRIVATE SECTOR SLIDE.
AND I VIEW THIS AS POSSIBLY MORE THAN JUST A PIONEERING EFFORT UNDER CERTAIN CIRCUMSTANCES.
DISPATCHABLE RENEWABLE ENERGY WITH STORAGE MIGHT ACTUALLY, OR EXCUSE ME, LET ME REPHRASE.
UNDER CERTAIN CIRCUMSTANCES, DISPATCHABLE RENEWABLE ENERGY OR, UH, INTERMITTENT RENEWABLE ENERGY WITH DISPATCHABLE BATTERY STORAGE MIGHT ACTUALLY MAKE MONEY SLIDE.
NOW, AUSTIN ENERGY HAS CRITICIZED THIS PROPOSAL.
THEY HAVE SAID ONE, THAT IT ALLOWS CUSTOMERS THAT GREEN CHOICE ALLOWS CUSTOMERS TO PURCHASE 100% WIND.
TWO, THAT A CUSTOMER SATISFACTION S SURVEY SHOWED PARTICIPANTS WERE HAPPY WITH CURRENT PROGRAM.
AND THREE, THAT THE PROGRAM IS NOT MAKING MONEY AT THIS TIME BECAUSE OF A FLAWED STRUCTURE.
THERE IS NO COUNTRY IN THE WORLD RUNNING ON ANYTHING CLOSE TO 100% RENEWABLE, UH, RENEWABLE, INTERMITTENT WIND OR SOLAR ENERGY.
UH, AND I'VE, I'VE LOOKED HIGH AND LOW.
UH, TWO, THERE HAS BEEN NO SURVEY CONDUCTED ASKING GREEN CHOICE PARTICIPANTS IF THEY WANT DISPATCHABLE RENEWABLE ENERGY OR IF THEY WANT AN ALTERNATIVE PROGRAM.
AND THREE, THE GREEN CHOICE REVENUE SHORTFALL IS BEING CORRECTED AND PHASED IN SLIDE.
SO IN CLOSING, GOOD PROGRAMS ADAPT MORE RENEWABLE ENERGY IS NO LONGER THE CHALLENGE.
DISPATCHABLE RENEWABLE ENERGY IS THE NEW CHALLENGE.
AND WITH THAT, I WILL TAKE QUESTIONS AND COMMENTS.
COMMISSIONER STI, THANKS FOR THE SUMMARY.
UH, COMMISSIONER ROBBINS, UM, I JUST WANTED TO MAKE A COUPLE OF QUICK COMMENTS HERE.
SO, UM, WHEN WE FIRST DISCUSSED THIS, I DIDN'T TOTALLY UNDERSTAND THE ISSUE.
I THINK I KIND OF CAME AROUND A LITTLE BIT AND GOT THE DETAIL I WAS LOOKING FOR.
I JUST WANTED TO READ WHAT THE QUESTION IN RESPONSE TO ONE QUESTION I ASKED.
UM, UH, IF GREEN CHOICE WAS STOPPED TOMORROW, WOULD AUSTIN ENERGY BUY MORE NON-RENEWABLE ENERGY RATHER THAN WIND ENERGY IN THE AMOUNT EQUAL TO THE LOST REVENUE OF GREEN CHOICE? CUSTOMERS? ANSWER IS NO.
SO I THINK THAT THAT'S A PRETTY CLEAR INDICATOR.
IT'S LIKE IT, THE, THE FOUNDATION OF THE PROGRAM UPON WHAT IT'S BUILT, IT'S NOT ACTUALLY DOING.
AND I THINK THAT YOU'RE, YOU'RE ESSENTIALLY JUST CHANGING STRUCTURALLY WHAT IT SAYS IT WILL DO, WHICH WILL GO TOWARDS ENERGY STORAGE, WHICH IS THE NEEDED, UM, WHICH IS THE NEEDED ASPECT NOW.
SO I THINK IT'S A, IT, I WAS SORT OF, YEAH, NO SLASH DIDN'T UNDERSTAND THIS ONE, BUT I I, I'VE TOTALLY COME AROUND AND I THINK THAT THIS MAKES, MAKES SENSE THE WAY YOU'VE FRAMED IT.
UM, I HAVE A QUESTION FOR YOU, COMMISSIONER.
SORRY, VICE CHAIR, I DUNNO WHY I'VE BEEN CALLING YOU COMMISSIONER TONIGHT.
UM, MY, MY FIRST QUESTION IS, IS CHANGING THE, THE PURPOSE OF THE PROGRAM FROM, UH, YOU KNOW, ESSENTIALLY INVESTING IN THESE RENEWABLES, WIND, SOLAR, FOR EXAMPLE, UM, IS THAT COMPATIBLE WITH ESG INVESTING GOALS THAT YOUR CORPORATE CLIENTS OF THE PROGRAM MIGHT HAVE? IN MY OPINION, IT IS, BUT OF COURSE, I CANNOT SPEAK FOR THOSE, UH, PEOPLE, FOR THOSE COMPANIES, FOR THOSE AGENCIES.
UH, IT IS MY PERCEPTION THAT, UH, THIS WOULD FIT THEIR GOAL.
I MEAN, IF YOU'RE SWITCHING FROM THEORETICALLY, VIRTUALLY 100% WIND POWER TO, UH, WIND
[01:05:01]
POWER WITH STORAGE OR GEOTHERMAL ENERGY THAT DOESN'T NEED STORAGE, THEN IT KIND OF, THE, IT IT SHOULD MEET THEIR ESG GOALS.COMMISSIONER SILVERSTEIN? UM, THAT IS A GREAT QUESTION.
I'M NOT GONNA PRETEND TO HAVE A DEFINITIVE ANSWER, BUT I WILL NOTE THAT THE CURRENT ALL OF AUSTIN ENERGY'S CURRENT RENEWABLE PURCHASES RETIRE RECS, AND IT IS THE REC RETIREMENT THAT CONSTITUTES THE ESG PROOF THAT THEY'RE REALLY SELLING WITH GREEN ENERGY, WITH GREEN CHOICE TO INDUSTRIAL CUSTOMERS.
AND, UM, IT IS CLEAR THAT HAVING MORE DISPATCHABLE STORAGE, IF WE, I, WE WOULD HAVE TO DO SOME DIGGING INTO WHETHER HAVING STORAGE THAT IS CHARGED WITH RENEWABLES SATISFIES AN ESG GOAL.
'CAUSE THE RENEWABLES THAT THE STORAGE ITSELF WOULD NOT BE EARNING WRECKS OR RETI, OR IT WILL BE RETIRING WRECKS, I GUESS.
BUT, UM, YOU WOULD HAVE TO TALK TO A COUPLE OF SIG MAJOR INDUSTRIAL CUSTOMERS TO FIND OUT IF IT MEETS THEIR ESG GOALS.
BUT IF I MAY, I WANT TO, UM, COMPLIMENT MY COLLEAGUE, VICE CHAIR ROBBINS.
SPEAKING OF ADAPTING, SINCE I'VE BEEN ON THIS COMMISSION FOR I THINK EIGHT MONTHS NOW, OR THIS, THIS PROPOSAL HAS DONE SOME SIGNIFICANT ADAPTING OVER TIME AND, AND IT'S GETTING BETTER, UM, EVERY TIME.
CLA COMMISSIONER ROBBINS, MY FOLLOW UP QUESTION IS GOING TO BE, THIS RESOLUTION GOES BEFORE COUNSEL.
WHAT ACTION DO YOU EXPECT THEM TO TAKE AS A RESULT OF SEEING THIS? WELL, I WOULD HOPE THAT THEY WOULD FALL ON THEIR KNEES, BUT BARRING THAT, UM, I, UM, I THINK THAT I AM PROPOSING AN IDEA THAT IS GOING TO TAKE SOME TIME TO CONGEAL AND GETTING IT TO COUNCIL IS THE FIRST STEP.
UH, AND SUBSEQUENT ITERATIONS OF THIS, UH, WE, WE WILL HOPEFULLY GET DOWN INTO THE WEEDS.
AUSTIN ENERGY, UH, HAS ACTUALLY BEEN RESEARCHING SOME IDEAS, WHICH I WILL NOT DISMISS OUT OF HAND THAT GO IN THIS DIRECTION.
OTHER MEMBERS OF THIS COMMISSION AND OTHER MEMBERS OF OUR CITY MAY HAVE SOME IDEAS.
AND, UH, SO I EXPECT THIS TO BE SORT OF A, A PARDON A CLICHE KICKOFF.
SO THE REASON I ASK THAT IS BECAUSE IF I AM A MEMBER OF COUNCIL OR WHATEVER, SUPERIOR BODY AND WHATEVER KIND OF AN ORGANIZATION IS, AND I USE THE COMMERCIAL CONTEXT, 'CAUSE THAT'S MY BACKGROUND, IS I GET A PROPOSAL LIKE THIS.
I CANNOT SAY YES TO THIS BECAUSE IT ESSENTIALLY SAYS, TAKE THIS MONEY AND PUT IT OVER HERE WITH NO ACTUAL OUTLINE OF A PLAN.
THIS IS WHERE I'M GOING STEP ONE, STEP TWO, STEP THREE.
IT'S NOT SAYING WE ARE FORMING A PARTNERSHIP WITH EUC, FOR EXAMPLE, AND WE'RE GONNA HAVE THREE AND THREE AND WE'RE GONNA BRING ON A FEW PEOPLE FROM AUSTIN ENERGY AND WE'RE GONNA BRING IN AN INVESTMENT PERSON.
AND WE'VE, WE'VE KIND OF TALKED ABOUT THIS BEFORE.
SO IF I AM SITTING ON COUNCIL AND I AM LOOKING AT THIS RESOLUTION, I SAY, I UNDERSTAND WHAT HE'S TRYING TO DO.
WE SHOULD BE LOOKING AT WAYS TO BE ABLE TO INCREASE RENEWABLE DISPATCHABLE.
BUT AT THE SAME TIME, I DON'T HAVE SOMETHING, I I CAN'T JUST VOTE FOR THIS AND SAY SURE.
BECAUSE I, I'VE ESSENTIALLY LEFT MYSELF IN A LIMBO.
THAT'S WHERE MY CONCERN COMES FROM.
IT'S A GOOD CONCERN, BUT I THINK AT THIS STAGE IT IS OVER CAUTIOUS.
UH, WE JUST A FEW MOMENTS AGO PASSED A RESOLUTION CHAMPION BY COMMISSIONER DAVIS.
UH, THERE ARE NOT, THAT ARE A LOT OF SPECIFICS THAT WERE NOT IN THAT.
AND WHEN IT GETS TO COUNCIL, EVEN THOSE SPECIFICS THAT THE JOINT SUSTAINABILITY COMMISSION, UH, PUT IN THEIR RESOLUTIONS
[01:10:01]
WILL BE CHANGED.THIS IS AN ITERATIVE, UH, PROCESS.
AND IF I CAME TO YOU AND SAID THAT THIS WAS, THIS WAS THE FINAL, BUT I'M NOT, I'M SAYING THIS IS JUST THE BEGINNING.
COMMISSIONER SILVERSTEIN, YOU'VE BEEN PATIENT OVER THERE.
I, I WOULD LIKE TO SUGGEST A WAY TO THREAD THIS NEEDLE TO GET CLOSE TO, TO RESOLVE SOME OF YOUR CONCERNS AND SOME OF THE CONCERNS ABOUT REX AND, AND HOW TO IMPLEMENT THIS WHILE STILL BEING TRUE TO VICE CHAIR ROBINS GOALS.
I WONDER IF IT WOULD BE APPROPRIATE TO ADVISE TO, TO REQUEST THAT GREEN ENER THAT THAT AUSTIN ENERGY IN ALL FUTURE GREEN CHOICE CONTRACTS ONLY MAKE CONTRACT WITH SOLAR AND WIND FIRMS THAT HAVE BATTERY STORAGE, THAT ARE USING BATTERY STORAGE BEHIND THE METER, OR VIRTUAL RELATIONSHIP WITH BATTERY STORAGE.
THEY'VE ALREADY HANDLED THE WRECK ISSUE.
WE ARE GETTING THE BENEFIT OF STORAGE THAT THAT HELPS TO MANAGE RENEWABLES MORE EFFECTIVELY.
AND, AND WE HAVE ALREADY HEARD THAT THERE ARE RFPS OUT THAT AUSTIN, IN THE SAME WAY THAT GREENCHOICE IS NO LONGER CAUSING AUSTIN ENERGY TO BUY MORE RENEWABLES, THIS WOULD NOT, IT SOUNDS LIKE, CHANGE HOW MUCH BATTERY STORAGE AUSTIN ENERGY BUYS BECAUSE WHAT, WHAT THE, THE E YOU SEE AND THE RESOURCE PLAN AND WHAT, UM, THE RFPS THAT THAT COO MARTIN TALKED ABOUT, IT SOUNDS LIKE ALL OF THOSE ARE GONNA BE MOVING US TOWARD MORE STORAGE ACTIVE ON THE AUSTIN GRID.
SO THIS, IF, IF WE DID A LIMITATION TO THIS TO SAY BUY MORE, BUY ALL FUTURE GREEN CHOICE CONTRACTS FROM SOLAR OR WIND PLUS STORAGE PROJECTS, I WONDER IF THAT SOLVES ALL OF THE, MANY OF THE PROBLEMS THAT, THAT WE WERE TALKING ABOUT.
WELL, UH, UH, PAUL IS ABOUT TO CHEW OFF HIS MICROPHONE THERE, BUT I'LL JUST INTERJECT A LITTLE BIT.
I KNOW THAT PART OF IT IS, IS THAT, UH, FROM THE WAY PAUL AND I HAVE TALKED ABOUT IT BEFORE, THIS IS ALSO MEANT TO BE MORE EXPLORATORY.
THIS IS A PART OF IT IS TO BE ABLE TO SEE WHAT THE NEW TECHNOLOGY IS AND TO HAVE AUSTIN ENERGY PLACE A FEW BETS, IF YOU WILL, AND TRY TO SEE WHAT'S GOING TO WORK.
AND I KNOW THAT'S WHAT SHE'S THOUGHT, BUT IT DOESN'T SAY THAT IN THE BODY OF THE RESOLUTION.
WHICH IS WHY I THOUGHT THAT THIS WAS EVOLVING.
AND, AND
UH, COMMISSIONER SILVERSTEIN FIRST, UM, IF IT'S, IF I'M AMENABLE TO ADDING, UH, AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, UH, UH, AFTER THE LAST ENVY IT FURTHER RESOLVED, UH, TO SAY WHAT YOU SAID.
UH, THE OTHER COMMENT THAT I, I, I WAS OVER THE WEEKEND AND TODAY I'VE BEEN TRYING TO WRITE, UH, A SUMMARY OF STATE PROGRAMS IN CONNECTICUT IN CALIFORNIA THAT HAVE TAKEN, UH, RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT MONEY INTO, UH, ENERGY RELATED, UH, ISSUES AND DONE TREMENDOUS THINGS.
AND MOST OF WHAT THEY ARE DOING HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH BATTERIES.
SO, WHILE I SUPPORT WHAT YOU'RE SAYING, I'M ALSO SAYING THAT I, I, I MEAN, YOU KNOW, WHAT IF IN THE NEXT WE HOPE, WHAT IF IN THE NEXT FOUR YEARS, GEOTHERMAL ENERGY, UH, UH, HAD SOME BREAKTHROUGH THAT WOULD MAKE IT MORE COST EFFECTIVE? UH, THERE'S GOTTA BE TWO DOZEN TECHNOLOGIES THAT, AND, AND SO YOU'RE DEALING WITH, UH, BASICALLY ONE, UH, WHICH IS, UH, UH, INTERMITTENT INTER, UH, INTERMITTENT RENEWABLES PLUS BATTERY STORAGE, WHICH IS GREAT.
AND I DON'T MIND ADDING THAT, BUT I'M SUGGESTING THAT THIS MAY GO BEYOND THAT.
UH, DO YOU WANNA, UH, CRAFT THE WORDING, UH, THE AMENDMENT? WHAT WAS YOUR IDEA? SURE.
IN THE MEANTIME, WHILE YOU GUYS ARE CRAFTING THAT AS A SIDEBAR, UM, I ACTUALLY HAD A QUESTION FOR RICHARD GENESEE.
SO YOU WANNA MAKE YOUR WAY ON UP.
[01:15:01]
UM, HOW MANY TOTAL SUBSCRIBERS RIGHT NOW ARE THERE ON THE AUSTIN GREEN, UH, CHOICE PROGRAM? GOOD EVENING COMMISSIONERS.RICHARD GENES, THE VICE PRESIDENT OF CUSTOMER ENERGY SOLUTIONS FOR AUSTIN ENERGY.
MY UNDERSTANDING IS THERE'S APPROXIMATELY 24,000, UH, CUSTOMERS ENROLLED IN GREEN CHOICE.
AND, UM, I DID WANT TO MAKE A, JUST A COUPLE OF, IF I, IF I CAN, I WANT JUST A COUPLE OF POINTS.
UM, I WANNA MAKE CLEAR THAT, YOU KNOW, AUSTIN ENERGY, WE, WE ARE VERY MUCH IN FAVOR OF THE SAME GOALS THAT VICE CHAIR ROBBINS IS EXPRESSING.
SO, YOU KNOW, WE'RE NOT OPPOSED TO THE GOALS AT ALL.
WE DO BELIEVE THERE'S ANOTHER WAY TO GO ABOUT IT.
AND A LOT OF, UH, GOING ABOUT IT, WE'RE ALREADY UNDERTAKING.
I DON'T THINK THERE NEEDS TO BE A CONNECTION BETWEEN GREEN CHOICE AND THE LARGER GOALS THAT, UH, VICE CHAIR, UH, ROBBINS HAS BEEN EXPRESSING.
AND THEN I ALSO JUST WANTED TO MAKE SURE THE COMMISSIONERS UNDERSTOOD THAT THE GREEN CHOICE PROGRAM TODAY IS NOT CASH.
THERE, THERE IS NO $7.2 MILLION THAT IS BEING GENERATED.
THAT IS A NUMBER FROM THE PAST WITH THE MODIFICATION THAT HAS BEEN MADE TO THE PROGRAM.
IT WILL NOT BE CASH POSITIVE UNTIL 2027.
SO I, I THINK THAT'S AN IMPORTANT POINT TO UNDERSTAND IS THAT THERE IS NO REVENUE OF GREEN CHOICE AS IT STANDS.
AND THE LAST POINT I WOULD MAKE IS TO, THE QUESTION THAT WAS POSED IN THE, UH, UH, PRESENTATION THAT VICE CHAIR ROBINS SHARED, WHY SHOULD WE MAKE CUSTOMERS DO SOMETHING THAT AUSTIN ENERGY IS ALREADY DOING? AT ITS FUNDAMENTAL CORE, GREEN CHOICE IS A CHOICE.
IT IS A VOLUNTARY PROGRAM, AND CUSTOMERS HAVE EXPRESSED SATISFACTION AT IT ON BOTH THE RESIDENTIAL AND COMMERCIAL SIDE, OR BOTH COMMERCIAL AND RESIDENTIAL, UH, UH, SECTORS.
AND IT IS SOMETHING THEY CHOOSE TO DO.
IT IS A VOLUNTARY PROGRAM, SO WE'RE NOT MAKING CUSTOMERS DO ANYTHING, BUT WE ARE OFFERING THEM WHAT THEY IN FACT ASK FOR, WHICH IS A OPPORTUNITY TO MAKE A SELECTION AND CHOICE.
UM, SO TO FOLLOW UP WITH MY LINE OF QUESTIONING, WHILE I STILL SEE PAUL SCRIBBLING OVER THERE, UM, OF THOSE 24,000 CUSTOMERS, HOW MANY ARE RESIDENTIAL AND HOW MANY ARE COMMERCIAL SLASH AND HOW MANY ARE AGENCIES? I'M GETTING THERE.
YOU KNOW, I'M GONNA CALL TIM, UH, HARVEY UP BECAUSE I DON'T WANT TO MISQUOTE IT.
I, I THINK THAT, UH, THERE'S A STORY THERE THOUGH IN TERMS OF THE CUSTOMER MAKEUP, RESIDENTIAL VERSUS COMMERCIAL, BUT ALSO THE MAKEUP OF THE ENERGY FOR GREEN CHOICE.
SO, UH, CURRENTLY OF THOSE 24,000, THERE ARE ABOUT IN BETWEEN FIVE AND 600 COMMERCIAL CUSTOMERS.
SO THEN MY FOLLOW UP QUESTION IS, OF THAT SUBSET, HOW MANY OF THOSE ARE CITY AGENCIES, ISDS SCHOOLS, THINGS THAT ARE BEING MANDATED BY CITY OF AUSTIN TO USE GREEN CHOICE PRICING? THE CITY OF AUSTIN IS ON GREEN CHOICE.
I DON'T KNOW IF THEY MANDATE ANY OTHER AGENCIES TO PARTICIPATE.
I DON'T THINK I'VE HEARD THAT THEY HAVE.
UH, COMMISSIONER ROBS, UH, IN A PREVIOUS PRESENTATION THAT MR. HARVEY GAVE, HE ESTIMATED THAT 45% OF ALL GREEN CHOICE CUS UH, SALES WERE FROM THE CITY OF AUSTIN DEPARTMENTS.
SO OF THE, THE 7.2 MILLION THAT WE'RE NOT CALLING REVENUE, WE'RE CALLING, I DON'T KNOW, CALLED A RAKE.
UH, SO BASICALLY WHAT WE'RE SAYING IS ABOUT THREE AND A HALF MILLION DOLLARS OF THAT, OF THOSE FUNDS ARE ESSENTIALLY CITY OF AUSTIN TALKING TO ITSELF, ONE POCKET TO ANOTHER.
I DUNNO, I THINK IT GOES BEYOND THAT.
UM, UH, THE GREEN CHOICE PROGRAM IS GREENY CERTIFIED, SO IT CERTIFIES THAT THE CITY IS UTILIZING GREEN ENERGY.
UM, NOW THAT'S ON A NET BASIS.
I KNOW, I I WAS THINKING
AND, BUT THAT SAID, THEY'RE PART OF THE PATRON PROGRAM.
AND AS PART OF THE PATRON PROGRAM, WE ENSURE THAT, UM, ALL ENERGY OR ALL RENEWABLE ENERGY THAT'S USED FOR GREEN CHOICE IS LESS THAN FIVE YEARS OLD.
SO IF WE, IF WE GO FIVE YEARS WITHOUT HAVING A WIND PROJECT, THEN
[01:20:01]
THE PROGRAM DIES.SO IN THAT REGARD, IT DOES, UM, PROMPT US TO, UM, HAVE ADDITIONALITY.
UH, JUST TO CLARIFY, UH, I WAS, UH, LAUGHING AT, UH, THE COM, THE CHAIR SARCASM, THAT'S ALL
UM, SO YOU MENTIONED THAT, YOU KNOW, AT THE, UH, WHATEVER, LET'S CALL IT FOR SIMPLICITY'S SAKE, A WINDMILL IS NO LONGER QUALIFIES UNDER THE PROGRAM AFTER FIVE YEARS.
AND SO AT THAT POINT, YOU ESSENTIALLY HAVE TO GO OUT AND GET ANOTHER WINDMILL OR SOMETHING TO THAT EFFECT.
SO THEN THE POWER THAT YOU GET FROM THE ORIGINAL WINDMILL, WHICH I PRESUME IS STILL INSTALLED, WE DIDN'T JUST BLOW IT UP AT THE END OF FIVE YEARS AND START NEW, UM, THAT'S NOW PART OF THE GENERAL MIX OF ELECTRICITY THAT IS FLOWING THROUGH.
AND SO YOU'RE, YOU ESSENTIALLY ARE REQUIRED THEN TO CREATE A NEW WINDMILLS WORTH OF ELECTRICITY TO FEED INTO THE SYSTEM IN ORDER FOR THAT TO STILL QUALIFY FOR GREEN CHOICE.
I THINK I HAVE THE GIST OF IT.
HAVE I STALLED LONG ENOUGH, BY THE WAY? FOR PERFECT.
BEAUTIFUL, UH, VICE CHAIR ROBBINS, OH, I'M SORRY, COMMISSIONER.
UM, SO JUST WANTED TO SAY ONE, ONE THING.
SO BACKGROUND HERE, SORT OF, BATTERIES ARE THE NEW SOLAR, RIGHT? IS LIKE A, BATTERIES ARE THE NEW RENEWABLE ENERGY.
THE THING WE NEEDED WHEN GREEN CHOICE WAS, WAS STARTED WAS ALL THE RENEWABLE ENERGIES.
AND THE THING THAT'S NEEDED NOW IS, IS, IS STORAGE.
WE HAVE TO CONTINUE WITH THE RENEWALS, BUT THE STORAGE IS REALLY THE THING THAT'S NEEDED NOW.
SO WITH THAT SORT OF BACKGROUND, I JUST WANNA READ THE, THE, THE LAST AND B FOR THE RESOLVE COUNCIL.
SO COMMISSION RECOMMEND THAT COUNCIL DIRECT AUSTIN ENERGY TO EXPLORE OTHER STRATEGIES AND FUNDING SOURCES, AS WELL AS GENES GREEN CHOICE REVENUES IN FURTHERANCE OF THE GOAL OF ADDING MORE RENEWABLE DISPATCHABILITY TO A SYSTEM.
AND SO I, I READ THAT AS LIKE, WE DON'T DISLIKE THE IDEA OF GREEN CHOICE, BUT MAYBE IT NEEDS TO BE RECONFIGURED TO BE TARGETED AT THE, AT A RELEVANT, UM, MODERN GOAL.
I, I JUST, I, I LIKE THE WAY IT'S WRITTEN.
I THINK IT IS ACTIONABLE ACTUALLY, AND IT'S NOT PRESCRIPTIVE OR COMBATIVE, UM, AT, AT AUSTIN ENERGY.
IT ALLOWS FOR LIKE A, UH, A COLLABORATIVE LIKE PATH FORWARD, BECAUSE I THINK IF YOU TOLD EVERYONE, HEY, GREEN CHOICE HAS NOW EVOLVED, NOW IT'S MORE FOCUSED ON HOW DO WE, HOW DO WE MAKE THE ENERGY MORE DISPATCHABLE? I THINK PEOPLE WILL STILL BE ALIGNED TO THAT GOAL AND STILL WANT TO OPT IN, OPT INTO IT POTENTIALLY.
UH, VICE CHAIR ROBBINS, THIS IS THE WORDING THAT COMMISSIONER SILVERSTEIN, UH, GAVE.
UH, AND I HOPE IT'S ACCEPTABLE TO PEOPLE HERE, UH, AS A FRIENDLY AMENDMENT, UM, BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT THE COMMISSION RECOMMEND THAT COUNCIL DIRECT AUSTIN ENERGY TO SECURE FUTURE RENEWABLE ENERGY CONTRACTS FROM WIND AND SOLAR PROJECTS THAT HAVE ASSOCIATED STORAGE PROJECTS, WHICH HELP MAKE RENEWABLE MORE DISPATCHABLE.
UH, IF THIS IS ACCEPTABLE, AND I'LL READ IT AGAIN, IF YOU WANT ME TO, IF THIS IS ACCEPTABLE, I'LL GIVE THIS TO MS. GOODWIN.
UH, FOR THE RECORD, UH, JUST CLARIFICATION, DO YOU WANT IT TO BE A FIN THE FINAL, BE IT FURTHER, OR DO YOU WANT IT INSERTED BEFORE YOUR CURRENT, BE IT FURTHER? UH, I WAS, IT DOESN'T MATTER TO ME.
I WAS GONNA PUT IT, UH, UH, UH, AT THE LAST, BUT I'LL PUT IT SECOND.
IF I, I, I JUST, YOU KNOW, IT'S ONE OF THOSE THINGS WE HAVE TO HAVE THE FORMATTING PROPER.
I AM, UM, BASED ON THE REMINDER OF, OF THE LARGE PROPORTION OF CUSTOMERS WHO, THE LARGE PROPORTION OF, OF GREEN CHOICE ENERGY THAT IS CONSUMED BY INDUSTRIAL AND LARGE COMMERCIAL CUSTOMERS WHO ARE TRYING TO MEET ESG GOALS, I AM CONCERNED THAT SOME OF THE MODIFICATIONS TO THE PROGRAM THAT ARE BEING PROPOSED HERE WOULD MAKE IT INFEASIBLE FOR GREEN CHOICE AS MODIFIED TO MEET THEIR ESG REQUIREMENTS, WHICH IS WHY I OFFERED THE, THE MODIFICATION THAT I DID.
I MEAN, GENERICALLY TO, TO SAY BROADLY THAT GREEN CHOICE, THIS IS WRITTEN AS AN ADVISE THE CITY COUNCIL TO REPURPOSE REVENUES FROM GREEN CHOICE, LEVERAGING THE BLAH, BLAH, BLAH, TO FUND ENERGY STORAGE AND DISPATCHABLE RENEWABLES.
[01:25:02]
THEY NEED STRAIGHT UP RENEWABLES WITH REX THAT CAN BE RETIRED, AND WE CANNOT LET GREEN CHOICE STRAY TOO FAR FROM THAT PURPOSE, OR WE WILL LOSE THE BULK OF ITS CUSTOMER BASE AND THE PEOPLE WHO PAY THE BULK OF ITS REVENUES.SO EVEN WITH THE MODIFICATION THAT I HAVE PROPOSED TO MOVE IT CLOSER TO WHAT THOSE LARGE INDUSTRIAL AND COMMERCIAL CONSUMERS NEED, I THINK THIS STILL NEEDS SOME MODIFICATION TO SOFTEN PRIMARILY IN THE, UM, THEN BE IT RESOLVED, WHICH IS THE SECOND CLAUSE FROM THE BOTTOM.
I THINK THE, THE CLOSING LINE ABOUT TWO FUND ENERGY STORAGE AND DISPATCHABLE RENEWABLES, IT DOESN'T SAY ALL OF IT HAS TO BE THAT, BUT ALL OF IT CAN'T BE THAT, OR MOST OF IT CAN'T BE THAT, OR THE PROGRAM LOSES ITS EFFECTIVENESS.
SO, UM, PREFACING THIS, THAT, LIKE, I'M A LITTLE OUT OVER MY SKIS HERE.
UM, IS THERE, ARE THERE WRECKS THAT ARE REALTIME MATCHED? LIKE, SO PART OF THE ISSUE IS LIKE WE'RE PUTTING MORE RENEWABLES ON THE GRID THAT ARE, YOU KNOW, NOT REALTIME, RIGHT? THEY'RE NET ZERO ENERGY.
SO IS THERE LANGUAGE OR ARE THERE EXISTING RECS THAT WE COULD JUST CHANGE THE LANGUAGE TO WHERE WE'RE SAYING THE GREEN CHOICE PROGRAM IS PROVIDING RECS FOR REALTIME MATCHING OF RENEWABLE ENERGY, SO THAT WAY ANY NEW CAPACITY THAT GOES ON HAS TO INCORPORATE STORAGE.
THIS IS NOT ABOUT REAL-TIME MATCHING.
THIS IS PURELY ABOUT RETIRING WRECKS OVER TIME.
SO THIS IS ABOUT CUMULATIVE, NOT NET ZERO OR TIME MATCHED, OKAY.
UM, AND, AND THE TEXAS MARKET IS A LONG WAY FROM BEING ABLE TO SATISFY THAT.
MY VIEW IS LET'S LET MICROSOFT AND GOOGLE FIGURE OUT HOW TO DO THAT FOR THEIR OWN CONSUMPTION, AND THEN WE'LL TRAIL ALONG FIVE YEARS LATER AFTER THERE'S MORE OF A MARKET.
UM, BUT I, SO, SO TO MY FRIEND, VICE CHAIR ROBBINS, I'M LOOKING FOR A WAY TO MOVE US IN THE DIRECTION YOU WANT TO GO WITHOUT MAKING THIS PROGRAM, WITHOUT MAKING THIS PROGRAM INFEASIBLE FOR THE PEOPLE WE NEED TO KEEP BUYING GREEN CHOICE ENERGY.
UM, I HAVE, UM, OKAY, FIRST, UM, IN THE CASE OF THE CITY OF AUSTIN, UH, WHICH I KNOW THE MOST ABOUT, UM, WE ARE NOT BOUND BY THE ADDITIONALITY IN THE FIVE YEARS.
UH, I BELIEVE THAT I WAS THERE WHEN THIS HAPPENED IN 2008, AND THIS WAS SIMPLY RENEWABLE ENERGY.
IF THERE'S ANY FINE PRINT THAT HAS HAPPENED SINCE THEN, I DON'T KNOW ABOUT IT.
UH, IN THE CASE OF, UH, LARGER COMPANIES THAT MAY BE ON GREEN CHOICE, THEIR ESG IS SUBJECTIVE.
THEY CAN CHOOSE WHAT THEY WANT IT TO BE, UH, AND IF WE OFFER THEM SOMETHING, UH, THAT, AND I'M PULLING THIS OUTTA THE AIR, SAY, UM, THEY, THEY WANT, UH, GEOTHERMAL ENERGY, UH, AND THEY, SINCE IT'S BASE LOAD, THERE'S MAYBE NOT AN IMPERATIVE TO HAVE ADDITIONALITY AT THE END OF FIVE YEARS.
UH, OR MAYBE THERE IS, IT'S, IT'S REALLY, UM, EACH ONE OF THEM IS GOING TO HAVE A, A DIFFERENT, UH, ESG GOAL, AND EACH ONE OF THEM CAN MODIFY THAT GOAL.
SO I UNDERSTAND YOUR POINT, BUT IN THE INTEREST OF MOVING THIS FORWARD, I MEAN, IF WE MOVE THIS FORWARD AND CERTAIN CUSTOMERS CAN'T LIVE WITH THIS OR CAN'T ADAPT TO IT, THEY'LL CERTAINLY COME AND TELL US AND THEN WE'LL MODIFY IT.
IT IS MY CONJECTURE THAT MANY OF THEM WILL ADAPT, BUT I, I WOULD NOT DEEM TO SPEAK FOR THEM.
YOU COMMISSIONER SILVERSTEIN WITH THE ADDITION OF THE NEW FRIENDLY AMENDMENT THAT I PROPOSED,
[01:30:01]
I WONDER IF WE CAN GET TO VICE CHAIR ROBIN'S GOAL BY STRIKING THE FIRST THEN IT BE RESOLVED PROVISION, WHICH IS, IS THE ONE THAT SAYS FUND ENERGY STORAGE AND DISPATCHABLE RENEWABLES AND REPURPOSE REVENUES BECAUSE THE, THE, THE FURTHER RESOLVED PROVISION TELLS 'EM TO EXPLORE OTHER STRATEGIES AND FUNDING SOURCES AS WELL AS GREEN CHOICE REVENUES IN ORDER TO ADD MORE RENEWABLE DISPATCHABILITY TO THE SYSTEM, WHICH IS WHAT PAUL WANTS, WHICH IS WHAT WE ALL WANT.AND IF YOU ADD TO THAT, THE ADDITIONAL BE IT RESOLVED PROVISION THAT I WROTE, IT GIVES THEM AN AVENUE TO GET THERE.
I'M GIVING THE VICE CHAIR A MOMENT TO DIGEST.
UM, WELL KIND OF WISH YOU'D SAID THIS EARLIER.
WELL, I DIDN'T GET YOUR NEW THIS, THIS, THIS IS NOT NEW.
THIS IS WHAT WAS, UH, CIRCULATED A COUPLE MONTHS AGO.
UH, BUT BE THAT AS IT MAY, UM, UM, YOURS IS KIND OF SAYING THE SAME THING IN A SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT MANNER.
UH, AND I KIND OF LIKE THE IDEA OF GETTING, I, I MEAN THIS, WE'RE BASICALLY ENCOURAGING, UH, PEOPLE TO THINK ABOUT LEVERAGING, UH, UM, WITH WHERE SAYS LEVERAGING PROGRAMS REVENUES WITH GRANTS AND INVESTMENTS FROM OTHER GOVERNMENTS, NONPROFIT, UH, PUBLIC AND PRIVATE UTILITIES, AND THE PRIVATE SECTOR, UH, TO FUND, UH, WHATEVER.
CAN YOU SAY THAT IN THE WAREHOUSE RIGHT ABOVE IT? SO, SO YOU'VE ALREADY LAID OUT, WE CAN, WE CAN LEVERAGE THE, THE GREEN CHOICE MONEY, AND WE ALSO KNOW THAT THE, WE WANT THEM TO USE FAR MORE THAN THE GREEN CHOICE MONEY.
AND THAT THE GREEN CHOICE MONEY IS LESS THAN THE POT OF GREEN CHOICE CASH IS LESS THAN WE THINK IT IS, AND WE DON'T WANT THEM TO BE RESTRICTED BY THE POT OF THE GREEN CHOICE CASH WITH 51% OF, OF AUSTIN ENERGY MONEY ALREADY GOING FOR ENERGY ALREADY GOING INTO RENEWABLES.
WE'RE ASKING THEM TO USE THEM IN A BROADER WAY GOING FORWARD.
WELL, I REALLY WOULD LIKE TO GET SOMETHING, UH, TO COUNCIL.
UH, YOU KNOW, THIS IS GOING ON A WHILE NOW.
UH, AND I ACCEPT YOUR, THE, THE WORDING THAT I, UH, STATED EARLIER, AS, YOU KNOW, BE IT FURTHER RESOLVE THE COMMISSION RECOMMEND THAT COUNCIL DIRECT AUSTIN ENERGY TO SECURE FUTURE RENEWABLE ENERGY CONTRACTS FROM WIND AND SOLAR PROJECTS, UH, THAT HAVE ASSOCIATED STORAGE PROJECTS, WHICH HELP MAKE RENEWABLES MORE DISPATCHABLE.
AND I'M FINE WITH INCLUDING THAT.
UM, UM, I DON'T THINK THAT THE FIRST THERAPY THEN IT BE THEN BE IT RESOLVED.
COMMISSIONER SILVERSTEIN, UH, I, I, I SEE IT AS HARMLESS.
I, I DON'T THINK IT'S GOING TO MESS UP ESG GOALS.
UM, IF, IF, IF, AGAIN, UH, I, I-I-I-E-S-G GOALS ARE UP TO EACH COMPANY AND THEY'LL MODIFY AS THEY SO CHOOSE.
IF WE OFFER THEM A GOOD CREATIVE PROPOSAL, I THINK THEY'LL ACCEPT IT.
BUT YOU, YOU APPARENTLY HAVEN'T MET A WHOLE LOT OF CORPORATE LAWYERS LATELY, I THINK.
YEAH, YOU PROBABLY HAVE A LIFETIME OF CORPORATE LAWYERS, COMMISSIONER DAVIS, FRESH VOICE.
UM, I JUST, I WANTED, I WANNA THANK VICE CHAIR FOR, FOR, UH, HIS PERSISTENCE IN BRINGING THIS BACK, UH, TO THIS BODY.
AND I, AND I TOO AGREE THAT, UM, THE, THE, THE RECOMMENDATION HAS GOTTEN STRONGER AS IT'S EVOLVED.
AND I ALSO WANNA COMPLIMENT MY COLLEAGUE, COMMISSIONER SILVER SAYING THAT, UM, FOR ARTICULATING, I GUESS WHAT WAS MY HESITATION, UH, IN SUPPORTING THIS RESOLUTION WHEN IT CAME, UH, ACROSS A COUPLE MONTHS AGO, NAMELY THAT, UM, JUST SIMPLY TAKING, YOU KNOW, MONEY THAT THAT IS GENERATED
[01:35:01]
BY A, A CONTRACT TO DO X AND USING IT FOR Y UM, AT NOBLE AS IT MAY BE AND NEEDED, AS IT MAY BE THAT WE FUND Y JUST DIDN'T SEEM QUITE TO, TO MATCH, YOU KNOW, TO, TO KIND OF MATCH UP.AND I THINK WITH THE, UM, FRIENDLY AMENDMENT PROPOSED, UH, BY COMMISSIONER SILVERSTEIN, UM, AND IN REMOVING THE, THE FIRST THEN BE IT RESOLVED CLAUSE, THAT IS DEFINITELY SOMETHING THAT I WOULD SUPPORT TONIGHT.
UM, ANY OTHER, UH, QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS? UH, COMMISSIONER TI I'LL JUST SAY THAT I AGREE AND I THINK IT GETS YOUR POINT ACROSS EFFECTIVELY.
UH, AGAIN, L LOU'S GOAL IS TO GET US OUT OF HERE BY EIGHT.
AND MY GOAL IS TO GET, UH, SOMETHING TO COUNSEL, BECAUSE THIS HAS GONE ON TOO LONG.
SO I'M GONNA, UH, DICE THE WORDS HERE A BIT.
UH, AND IT WILL SAY THEN BE IT RESOLVED THAT THE RESOURCE MANAGEMENT COMMISSION ADVISE THE AUSTIN CITY COUNCIL.
AND THEN, UH, IT GOES TO THE SECOND LINE OF THE SECOND PARAGRAPH.
SO IT'S A CITY COUNCIL TO EXPLORE OTHER STRATEGIES AND FUNDING SOURCES, AS WELL AS GREEN CHOICE REVENUES IN FURTHERANCE OF THE GOAL OF ADDING MORE RENEWABLE DISPATCHABILITY TO ITS SYSTEM.
UM, WELL, SO YOU'RE STRIKING EVERYTHING FROM REPURPOSE REVENUES THROUGH, WELL EXPLORE, I THINK IT'S EQUIVALENT TO JUST STRIKING ALL OF THEM, BE IT RESOLVED AND CHANGING THE END, BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED TO THEN BE IT RESOLVED AND THEN ADDING THE OTHER WELL, OKAY.
UM, THIS, UH, SOLVES ALL OF WHAT I WAS HOPING TO, UM, TO DO EXCEPT REPURPOSE THE MONEY.
UH, MAYBE COMMISSIONERS DIS SOME COMMISSIONERS DISAGREE, BUT HAVING BEEN ON GREEN CHOICE AND HAVING SEEN THE HISTORY OF IT EVOLVE, I PERSONALLY DO NOT THINK THAT, UH, IT'S BEING REPRESENTED COMPLETELY ACCURATELY ANYMORE.
BUT THERE IS A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN REPURPOSING REVENUES AND REVISING THE PROGRAM, AND WE ARE TRYING TO AFFECT REVISION OF THE PROGRAM, WHICH I THINK WILL ULTIMATELY BE MORE USEFUL THAN REPURPOSING THE REVENUES.
SO HOW WOULD YOU HAVE IT READ? UM, I WOULD STRIKE THE ENTIRETY OF THE, THEN BE IT RESOLVED PARAGRAPH, HAVE THE FIRST AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, BE THE, THEN BE IT RESOLVED AND ADD THE ADDITIONAL, BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT CLAUSE.
I ACCEPT AS A FRIENDLY AMENDMENT.
UM, I KIND OF WISH YOU'D SAID SOMETHING EARLIER, BUT I'LL ACCEPT IT.
I, I'VE BEEN BUSY DOING OTHER STUFF, PAUL, I'M SORRY.
I'LL ADVISE THE VICE CHAIR, TAKE YOUR WINS WHERE YOU FIND THEM
SO JUST, UM, IF I, IF YOU GUYS COULD TURN OFF YOUR MICROPHONES.
SO JUST TO RECAP THE AMENDMENTS THAT I HAVE HERE, THE FIRST THEN BE IT RESOLVED THAT'S ON THE PRINTOUT IN FRONT OF ME IS STRICKEN ENTIRELY.
THE ORIGINAL AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED IS NOW CHANGED TO BE THEN BE IT RESOLVED THAT THE COMMISSION RECOMMENDS, RECOMMEND THE COUNCIL DIRECT AUSTIN ENERGY TO EXPLORE OTHER STRATEGIES AND FUNDING SOURCES, AS WELL AS GREEN CHOICE REVENUES ARE FURTHER THE GOAL OF ADDING MORE RENEWABLE DISPATCHABILITY TO THE SYSTEM.
THEN WE ARE ALSO ADDING A BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT THE COMMISSION, HANG ON, I'VE GOT THIS RECOMMEND THAT COUNCIL DIRECT AUSTIN ENERGY TO SECURE
[01:40:01]
FUTURE CONTRACTS FROM WIND AND SOLAR PROJECTS THAT HAVE ASSOCIATED STORAGE PROJECTS, WHICH HELP MAKE RENEWABLES MORE DISPATCHABLE.A COPY OF THE EXACT LANGUAGE OF CASE I JUST BUTCHERED THAT IS ACTUALLY ALREADY WITH MS. GOODWIN.
DOES THAT SOUND LIKE WHAT WE WERE TALKING ABOUT? SO MOVED.
I HAVE A MOTION FROM I ACCEPTED AMENDMENT AND IT'LL BE MOVED.
AND I, ANYONE ON THE COMMISSION CHOOSE TO BE UNFRIENDLY.
WE SHALL CALL THAT A FRIENDLY AMENDMENT.
WE ARE NOW SITTING ON AN AMENDED RESOLUTION SITTING IN FRONT OF YOU.
IS THERE FURTHER DISCUSSION OR ACTION THE COMMISSION WISHES TO TAKE? I MOVE THE RESOLUTION SECOND MOTION MADE BY VICE CHAIR ROBBINS AND SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER SILVERSTEIN.
THIS WILL BE A ROLL CALL VOTE PLEASE TURN ON YOUR CAMERAS FOR THOSE OF YOU AT HOME.
OH, WAIT, I CAN'T DO IT FROM THAT PAGE AND SEE WHO'S ON MY LIST.
COMMISSIONER SILVERSTEIN? YES.
SO THAT PASSES 7 1 0 THANK YOU COMMISSION.
THIS IS HOPEFULLY JUST THE START.
ALL RIGHT, MOVING ON IN OUR AGENDAS.
WE HAVE ALREADY DONE ITEM NUMBER SIX, WHICH BRINGS US
[7. Staff briefing regarding a quarterly update of the Water Conservation Program by Kevin Kluge, Environmental Conservation Division Manager of Austin Water]
NOW TO ITEM NUMBER SEVEN, PRESENTATION BY TEXAS GAS.YOU'VE BEEN VERY PATIENT OVER THERE.
SHE TOLD ME SHE WAS GONNA GET, OKAY, WELL, NOTHING WRONG WITH SCOUTING HERE ON TIME, SO THAT'S FINE.
SO WE CAN JUST GO ON AHEAD AND MOVE ON TO ITEM ANDRE, AND WE'LL JUST RESCHEDULE YOU GUYS FOR NEXT TIME.
[9. Discussion regarding a review of Austin Energy solar & battery deployment policies, with improvements identified. Part 1: The impact of “Value of Solar” on Solar and Battery deployment and use.]
DISCUSSION REGARDING A REVIEW OF AUSTIN ENERGY, SOLAR AND BATTERY DEPLOYMENT POLICIES.SO, UH, I'LL LET YOU HAVE THE FLOOR.
JUST GONNA DO A TEST OF THE CLICKER HERE.
SO QUICK OVERVIEW OF WHAT I'LL TRY TO DISCUSS TODAY.
I'LL SET UP THE PROBLEM STATEMENT, TALK ABOUT GOALS FOR THE PRESENTATION.
UM, GONNA TAKE EVERYBODY BACK WITH SOME DEFINITIONS AND, AND CONCEPTS.
TALK ABOUT VALUE OF SOLAR, WHICH IS THE MAIN, UH, TOPIC TODAY.
THEN WHAT'S NEXT? WHAT I AM LOOKING FOR OUT OF THIS, UH, SLICE OF YOUR TIME TODAY.
THE PROBLEM STATEMENT IS, YOU KNOW, GIVEN THE IMPORTANCE OF DEPLOYING, UH, RENEWABLES, DISPATCHABLE, RENEWABLES, UM, WHICH IS CONSISTENT WITH THE AUSTIN ENERGY RESOURCE GENERATION AND CLIMATE PROTECTION PLAN, LET'S REVIEW AUSTIN ENERGY POLICY IN GENERAL IN THESE AREAS, UM, TO SEE THAT THEY'RE EFFECTIVE AT MEETING THOSE GOALS.
THE KEY QUESTION TO DISCUSS TODAY IS, IS VALUE OF SOLAR CONSISTENT WITH THOSE GOALS? SO, JUST A QUICK TO, UM, THIS SCREENSHOT, JUST WANTED TO GRAB THE FIRST TWO ITEMS OF THE, UH, THE LATEST NOTWITHSTANDING OR EARLIER, UH, PRESENTATION, UM, AUSTIN ENERGY RESOURCE GENERATION CLIMATE PROTECTION PLAN.
UM, YOU KNOW, NUMBER ONE, THE FIRST ARROW CLIMATE CRISIS IS REAL AND IS WORSENING SECOND ARROW.
UM, NET ZERO EMISSIONS IS THE GOAL.
SO JUST TAKING THOSE TWO THINGS AS BASELINE.
SO MY GOAL TODAY IS TO INTRODUCE, UH, THIS RESEARCH THAT I'VE DONE, UM, AND ACHIEVE A COMMON UNDERSTANDING WITH, WITH THIS GROUP.
UH, ALLOW FOR SELF-STUDY QUESTIONS AND CHALLENGES, UM, TO THE ASSUMPTION AND CONCLUSIONS.
SO, UM, JUST TO SET THE STAGE A BIT, THE CHART ON THE LEFT, THE IS ONE I NEVER TIRE OF LOOKING AT.
SO THE MESSAGE FROM THIS, THIS, THIS, UH, THIS FIGURE IS THAT, UH, THOUGH THERE ARE MANY STREAMS OF GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS, 75% OF THEM ROUGHLY CAN BE, UM, ATTRIBUTED TO THE USE OF ENERGY.
WHETHER THAT'S USING NATURAL GAS TO HEAT YOUR HOME OR USING NATURAL GAS TO RUN A POWER PLANT THAT CHARGES YOUR ELECTRIC VEHICLE.
THE MAIN STREAM OF GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS CAN BE FIXED, CAN BE TAKEN IN NET ZERO BY HAVING CARBON FREE ELECTRICITY GENERATION.
THE TWO BUILDING BLOCKS OF THAT CARBON FREE, UM, TWO OF THE BUILDING BLOCKS OF THAT CARBON FREE
[01:45:01]
ENERGY, UM, GENERATION ARE SOLAR AND BATTERIES.SO, UM, I THINK EVERYONE RECOGNIZES THE SHAPE OF THIS, THIS CURVE, BUT JUST TO LEVEL SET, I'LL GO THROUGH SOME CONCEPTS THAT I'M SURE EVERYBODY'S FAMILIAR WITH.
UM, SO THIS IS THE, WHAT'S CALLED THE SOLAR DUCK CURVE.
THE DOTTED LINE IS SOLAR, UM, SOLAR POWER AVAILABILITY.
THE SOLID GRAY LINE IS DEMAND.
AND THE ORANGE LINE THAT'S SHAPED LIKE A DUCK IS, UM, IS THE NET DEMAND.
SO THE DEMAND THAT MUST BE MET BY NON-RENEWABLE, UH, RESOURCES.
IN THIS CASE, I'M TALKING ABOUT SOLAR.
SO NOW I'M GONNA ADD ANOTHER LINE TO THIS PLOT, WHICH IS BATTERIES.
AND YOU CAN SEE THAT THE BATTERY LINE IS FLAT, THE BLUE LINE.
AND WHAT THAT'S SAYING IS THAT BECAUSE THE DEMAND IS ALWAYS HIGHER THAN THE AVAILABLE SOLAR POWER, YOU ESSENTIALLY, IF YOU HAD BATTERIES, YOU WOULDN'T NEED TO DO ANYTHING WITH THEM.
UM, AND THAT IS THE WORLD WE'VE BEEN LIVING IN UP UNTIL RECENTLY.
THERE'S ALWAYS BEEN MORE DEMAND IN THE MIDDLE OF THE DAY THAN THAN SOLAR.
SO NOW WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THE AVAILABILITY OF SOLAR POWER IN THE MIDDLE OF THE DAY EXCEEDS THE NEEDED DEMAND AT THAT TIME, IF YOU HAVE BATTERIES, YOU DO A CHARGE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE DAY AND A DISCHARGE AT NIGHT.
THERE IS MORE COMPLEXITY TO IT THAN THIS, BUT THIS IS A FUNDAMENTAL, UM, A FUNDAMENTAL STRATEGY THAT DOES, THAT DOES WORK.
SO THIS IS SHIFTING THE ENERGY THAT WAS AVAILABLE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE DAY TO USE IN THE AFTERNOON.
AND THEN OF COURSE, AS THE, UM, AS THE, AS THE AVAILABILITY SOLAR POWER INCREASES, YOU, UM, JUST CONTINUE TO CAPTURE THAT ENERGY WITH BATTERIES AND THE SHAPE OF THE DUCK CURVE STARTS TO CHANGE AND THEN TAKE IT TO ITS LOGICAL CONCLUSION.
I LIKE TO SAY THE DUCK TAKES A DIVE UNDERWATER.
AND THE GOAL IS WE FLATTEN THE ORANGE CURVE ALL THE WAY TO THE, TO THE ZERO AXIS.
UM, SO THE, THE KEY POINT HERE THAT I'M TRYING TO MAKE IS THAT THE ANSWER TO TOO MUCH MIDDAY SOLAR IS NOT LESS SOLAR, IT'S MORE BATTERIES.
SO THAT IS A CLAIM I'M MAKING HERE THAT I BELIEVE IS TRUE.
SO IGNORE THE TEXT ON THE RIGHT.
UM, JUST LOOK AT THE FIGURE ON THE LEFT.
I WANNA DEFINE SOME LEVEL SET FOR EVERYBODY SO THAT WE'RE SEEING THE SAME LANGUAGE.
WHAT IS THE CONCEPT OF VALUE OF SOLAR THAT IS USED BY AUSTIN ENERGY FOR SOLAR METERING AND, AND PAYOUT? SO YOU HAVE TWO METERS.
THE BLUE METER ELECTRIC METER IS THE ONE THAT WAS ALREADY ON A HOUSE BEFORE IT GOT SOLAR, AND THAT'S MEASURING THE ELECTRICITY THAT'S GOING INTO THE HOUSE FROM THE GRID.
AND THEN OF COURSE, THE, UM, THE ORANGE METER THERE, THE SOLAR METER IS, IS MEASURING WHAT THE, UM, UH, WHAT THE SOLAR PANELS ARE PRODUCING.
AND THE FUNDAMENTAL CONCEPT IS YOU, YOU PAY FOR ALL ELECTRICITY THAT YOU USE REGARDLESS OF WHETHER IT CAME FROM YOUR SOLAR OR FROM THE GRID, AND YOU GET PAID FOR ALL OF THE ENERGY THAT YOU GENERATE FROM YOUR PANELS A FIXED AMOUNT.
SO THIS IS NOT THE ONLY WAY THAT YOU CAN DO PAYOUT FOR, FOR SOLAR.
THE, UM, ANOTHER CONCEPT YOU USE IN OTHER PARTS OF THE, OF THE COUNTRY, IT'S CALLED NET METERING.
AND THIS IS WHERE YOU HAVE ONLY ONE, UH, METER.
AND THEN, SO THE, THE UTILITY DOES NOT HAVE VISIBILITY INTO THE AMOUNT OF SOLAR PRODUCTION THAT YOU HAVE, AND THAT YOU THEREFORE ONLY PAY FOR YOUR NET USAGE, UM, AND ARE STILL PAID OUT IF YOU, WHEN YOU ARE EXPORTING, PAID OUT A CERTAIN AMOUNT THAT IS SET BY THE UTILITY PER KILOWATT HOUR.
SO THE FUNDAMENTAL DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THESE TWO IS THE ADDITION OF THAT ADDITIONAL METER THAT IS USED IN CONSTANT ENERGY, UM, VALUE OF SOLAR.
UM, NET METERING DOES NOT HAVE THAT SECOND, THAT SECOND METER, THAT'S THE ARCHITECTURAL DIFFERENCE OF THE EQUIPMENT THAT LANDS ON THE HOUSE.
SO NOW I WANNA DISCUSS WHAT I THINK ARE SOME, SOME PROBLEMS OR DISCUSSION POINTS WITH VALUE OF SOLAR.
THE FIRST ONE IS THAT IT CREATES A PERVERSE INCENTIVE, WHICH IN WHICH CARBON EMISSIONS ARE ACTUALLY INCREASED.
SO IF YOU HAVE VALUE OF SOLAR, UM, YOU ALWAYS PAY FOR ALL OF YOUR ELECTRICITY USAGE REGARDLESS OF WHETHER IT CAME FROM YOUR SOLAR PANELS OR NOT.
SO IF YOU WISH TO HAVE A LARGE SOLAR ARRAY TO OFFSET THE ELECTRICITY USAGE OF, LET'S SAY AN EV OR A HEAT PUMP, THAT IS LESS EFFECTIVE THAN IT IS IN A NET METERING UM, SCHEME BECAUSE YOU ARE EXPOSED TO THE HIGHER ENERGY TIERS, UM, WHEN YOUR ELECTRICAL ENERGY USAGE GOES UP.
SO IF YOUR GOAL IN GETTING AN EV IS TO DECREASE, UH, YOUR, UH, GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS, YOU ACHIEVE THAT GOAL.
BUT THE VALUE OF SOLAR AND TIERED ENERGY SY AND TIERED ENERGY PRICING SYSTEM, UM, UNDOES THAT.
YEAH, IN A SENSE, UM, BECAUSE YOU ARE EXPOSED TO THE HIGHER PRICES FROM THE HIGHER TIERS, EVEN THOUGH YOU HAVE MADE AN INVESTMENT
[01:50:01]
IN SOLAR TO ATTEMPT TO COUNTERACT THAT.SO THE POINT, ONE OF THE POINTS I'M SURE OF THE TIERED, THE TIERED, UM, BILL SYSTEM IS TO DISCOURAGE, UM, HIGH ENERGY USE.
THE PROBLEM WITH THAT IS ACTUALLY, IT'S, IT'S DISCOURAGING THE WRONG THING.
WE SHOULD BE DISCOURAGING ENERGY WASTE.
AND IT'S NOT WASTEFUL TO GET AN EV OR HEAT PUMP, EVEN THOUGH IT INCREASES YOUR ELECTRICAL ENERGY USE.
SO WE SHOULD BE ENCOURAGING MORE THE ADOPTION OF EVS AND HEAT PUMPS AND SO ON, THAT WILL INCREASE ELECTRICAL USE BECAUSE THEY GO AFTER THE RIGHT GOAL, WHICH IS TO DECREASE OVERALL GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS.
THE SECOND PROBLEM IS VALUE OF SOLAR DISCOURAGES BATTERIES.
SO UNDER THE VALUE OF SOLAR SYSTEM, THERE'S ACTUALLY NO PAYBACK MECHANISM AT ALL FOR A HOMEOWNER TO HAVE A BATTERY.
THERE'S JUST NO WAY TO MAKE YOUR MONEY BACK, UM, HAVING A BATTERY.
AND AS A RESULT, UM, UM, BATTERIES, HOME, HOME BATTERIES THAT ARE USED, ARE USED FOR PURCHASED, ARE USED FOR BACKUP ONLY.
AND WHAT THAT MEANS IS THAT THEY SIT CHARGED ALL THE TIME.
THEY DON'T CHARGE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE DAY AND DISCHARGE AT NIGHT, WHICH IS WHAT WE NEED THEM TO DO.
SO IT ACTUALLY IS, IT'S A WASTE OF RESOURCES.
WE'RE PUTTING BATTERIES ON PEOPLE'S HOMES, BUT THEY'RE NOT DOING THE THING WE NEED TO DO.
THEY BECOME LIKE A LUXURY GOOD OF JUST BACKING UP SOMEONE'S HOME AND NOT PARTICIPATING.
UM, AND THEN THERE'S THE ADDITIONAL POINT WHICH JUST DOESN'T FEEL GOOD, WHICH IS THAT HOMEOWNERS ARE ACTUALLY CHARGED FOR THE ENERGY FROM THEIR BATTERY IN A HOME BACKUP SCENARIO.
SORRY, I THOUGHT THE CLICKER WOULD BE BETTER.
UM, THE THIRD PROBLEM, UH, I SEE WITH VALUE OF SOLAR IS THE PERVERSE INCENTIVE OF SOLAR PANEL INSTALLS.
SO JUST TO SOCIALIZE THE GRAPH FOR A SECOND, THE Y AIS ON THE LEFT IS YEARLY ELECTRICITY COSTS.
SO THIS IS A REAL BILL, UM, REAL IN REAL DATA.
UM, AND ON THE X AXIS WE'RE GOING FROM ALL THE WAY AT THE LEFT IS NO SOLAR, 0%, AND ALL THE WAY AT THE RIGHT IS A HUNDRED PERCENT OF THIS HOME'S ENERGY NEEDS MET BY SOLAR.
SO THAT'S A SLIDING SCALE FROM LEFT TO RIGHT.
UM, AND THEN IF YOU LOOK AT THE GRAY, THE GRAY CURVE IS VALUE OF SOLAR.
AND THE ORANGE CURVE, UM, THAT'S FOLLOWING THE GRAY CURVE IS NET METERING.
AND WHAT THAT SHOWS IS THAT IF YOU DO ALL THE MATH, UM, FOR VERY SMALL SOLAR SYSTEMS, THERE'S NOT MUCH OF A DIFFERENCE, UM, TO THE CUSTOMER BETWEEN NET METERING AND VALUE OF SOLAR.
BUT AS YOU GET TO A LARGER AND LARGER SYSTEM, THE OUT OF POCKET PRICE DIFFERENCE CAN, FOR A ONE-TO-ONE NET ENERGY METER CAN BECOME UP TO THREE X DIFFERENCE BETWEEN, UM, VALUE OF SOLAR AND, AND NET METERING, WHERE VALUE OF SOLAR IS ALWAYS MORE COSTLY TO THE, TO THE USER.
UM, AND SO MY ARGUMENT HERE IS THAT THIS INCENTIVIZES SMALLER SOLAR INSTALLS THAN WOULD OTHERWISE BE DONE.
AND SMALLER SOLAR INSTALLS ARE BOTH ONE, NOT WHAT WE, NOT WHAT WE WANT.
WE WANT LOTS OF SOLAR, LOTS OF BATTERIES AND TWO SMALLER SOLAR INSTALLS ARE CAPITAL INEFFICIENT BECAUSE OF THE FIXED COSTS ASSOCIATED WITH THE SOLAR INSTALL.
SO IF YOU'RE GONNA BOTHER PUTTING SOLAR ON YOUR HOUSE, YOU REALLY WANNA PUT THE BIGGEST, UH, SYSTEM YOU, YOU CAN FIT.
AND, UM, YOUR INCENTIVE TO DO THAT INCREASES WITH, UM, NET METERING AS YOU GO FROM ZERO TO A HUNDRED PERCENT, WHEREAS IT DOES NOT WITH, UM, VALUE OF SOLAR.
FOURTH PROBLEM WITH VALUE OF SOLAR IS FAIRNESS.
SO THE PLOT ON, I'M SORRY, THE, THE TABLE ON THE LEFT IS TAKEN FROM THE AUSTIN ENERGY WEBSITE AND IT IS JUST THE, THE, UH, ENERGY COSTS WITH, WITH ALL FEES.
AND IF YOU SORT OF ADD EVERYTHING UP ON A PER KILOWATT HOUR BASIS, UM, AUSTIN ENERGY IS GONNA CHARGE YOU 12 TO 18 CENTS, UM, FOR EVERY UM, KILOWATT HOUR YOU USE AND WILL ALWAYS PAY YOU 10 CENTS.
THESE ARE, UH, ROUNDED NUMBERS, UM, FOR ALL THE ENERGY YOU, UM, YOU MAKE WITH YOUR SOLAR PANELS.
SO I'M ARGUING THAT ONE COULD CLAIM THIS IS UNFAIR BECAUSE AUSTIN ENERGY IS CHARGING CUSTOMERS FOR ELECTRICITY THAT, THAT THEY DID NOT PRODUCE SOURCE OR TRANSMIT.
UM, AND THEN I'M GONNA ACTUALLY SKIP THE SECOND TWO POINTS 'CAUSE THEY'RE COVERED IN, BASICALLY COVERED IN OTHER SLIDES.
UM, BUT YEAH, I GUESS THE POINT HERE IS THAT LIKE, IF IT HAS A FEELING OF BEING UNFAIR, AND I THINK PEOPLE, PEOPLE FEEL THAT, AND THAT MATTERS.
[01:55:05]
MAKE SURE IT'S ON.MAYBE YOU CAN, CAN I JUST SAY NEXT SLIDE? SORRY, THIS ISN'T WORKING.
LAST PROBLEM I'LL TALK ABOUT WITH VALUE SOLAR IS, IS EQUIPMENT.
SO, UM, SOLAR INSTALLS IN AUSTIN ARE MADE, YOU KNOW, MORE EXPENSIVE, MORE DIFFICULT AND TIME CONSUMING BECAUSE OF THE ADDITION OF THE SECOND METER AND METER BOX.
AND YOU MIGHT SAY LIKE, WELL, WHY DOES THIS MATTER? IT'S A COUPLE HUNDRED BUCKS ON A VERY EXPENSIVE SYSTEM, AND I'M HERE TO SAY THAT THE COSTS OF SOLAR ARE COMING DOWN VERY QUICKLY, PANELS ARE ALREADY ASPEN TOTING TO VERY LOW VALUE.
THE BALANCE OF SYSTEM COSTS ARE ALSO GONNA COME DOWN.
SO THE $600 THAT WE'RE SPENDING ON, UM, THAT SOMEONE IS SPENDING ON A, ON A SECOND METER AND METER SOCKET REPRESENT A MEANING MEANINGFUL AND WILL REPRESENT A MORE MEANINGFUL PART OF THE, UM, OF THE COST STACK OF PUTTING SOLAR ON ON ONE HOUSE.
SO TODAY WITH TODAY'S PANEL PRICES, THIS $600 BUYS YOU ONE AND A HALF KILOWATTS OF EXTRA PANELS.
SO JUST TO, TO SUMMARIZE, UM, THE AREAS THAT, THAT WE JUST HIT.
SO, UM, THE FIRST ONE, INCREASING OFFSETS, UH, INCREASING INCENTIVES TO OFFSET A HUNDRED PERCENT OF YOUR HOME ENERGY USE VALUE OF SOLAR DOES NOT DO IT.
NET METERING DOES INVESTMENT PAYBACK STRENGTH FOR ELECTRIFICATION, LIKE FOR HEAT PUMPS AND, UH, AND EVS THERE IS THAT WITH VALUE OF SOLAR, YOU DO, YOU, YOU KNOW, YOU DO SAVE MONEY WHEN YOU BUY AN EV UNDER VALUE OF SOLAR, BUT YOU SAVE MORE UNDER, UH, NET METERING.
UM, AND THIRD ONE, THE UTILITY HAS A MECHANISM FOR INCENTIVIZING BATTERY DEPLOYMENT.
AND MAYBE SHOULD HAVE PUT THIS ONE FIRST, LIKE THIS IS REALLY A KEY KEY POINT HERE IS THAT THERE ARE JUST NO MECHANISMS TO PAYBACK A BATTERY UNDER VALUE OF SOLAR AND NET METERING HAS SEVERAL, I'LL TALK ABOUT THEM IN THE NEXT SLIDE.
UM, ANOTHER, THE POINT IS ALL THE, ALL THE MARKET, ALL THE FAMOUSLY LARGE MARKETS THAT ARE SATURATED WITH SOLAR ALL USE NET METERING.
UM, AND THEN CHANGE THE VALUE OF THE NET METERING TARIFF WHEN THEY, UM, WHEN THEY BECAME SATURATED WITH SOLAR, WHICH THEN INCENTIVIZES BATTERIES, WHICH IS NOT A BAD STRATEGY.
UM, AND THEN OF COURSE, EXTRA EQUIPMENT ON THE HOME.
SO YEAH, A, A A A QUICK NOTE ABOUT BATTERIES, UM, CONCEPTS ON HOW TO MAKE BATTERY PAYBACK POSSIBLE.
SO HAS A LOT OF OVERLAP WITH THE CONTENT I JUST WENT THROUGH.
UM, NUMBER ONE IS SORT OF IS OBVIOUS WE CAN MAKE THE AUSTIN ENERGY $2,500 FIXED REBATE FOR RESIDENTIAL SOLAR CUSTOMERS CONTINGENT ON GETTING A BATTERY WITH YOUR, YOUR INSTALL.
AND IT'S JUST WORTH NOTING, UM, 'CAUSE JUST TO GROUND THE COST.
SO AT FIVE, IF THE, IF THE REBATE WERE $5,000, I'M NOT SUGGESTING THAT THAT IS WHAT IT SHOULD BE OR COULD BE, BUT AT THAT NUMBER PLUS IRA SAVINGS, YOUR BATTERY IS MOSTLY PAID FOR ON, ON DAY ONE AND IT'S HARD TO OVERSTATE THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN HAVING JUST SOLAR AND SOLAR PLUS BATTERIES IN TERMS OF EFFECTIVENESS FOR THE PROBLEM WE ARE HERE TRYING, TRYING TO SOLVE.
UM, THE SECOND PAYBACK MECHANISM FOR BATTERIES IS, IS JUST NET NET METERING IN THE, IN THE EXAMPLE FOR THAT, IT'S LIKE YOU HAVE, LET'S SAY YOU HAVE ONE KILOWATT HOUR STORED IN YOUR, YOUR BATTERY, YOU COULD SELL THAT BACK TO THE, TO, TO THE GRID FOR 10, 10 CENTS OR YOU COULD, UM, AND YOU COULD BUY THAT KILOWATT HOUR FOR 18 CENTS AND YOU NEED TO USE THAT KILOWATT HOUR.
SO THE LOGICAL CONCLUSION IS YOU, YOU DISCHARGE THE BATTERY TO YOUR HOUSE RATHER THAN SELL IT BACK TO THE GRID.
SO THAT IS A WAY IN WHICH YOU CAN SLOWLY ACCUMULATE, UM, VALUE FROM HAVING A BATTERY ON YOUR HOUSE JUST BY HAVING NET METERING.
AND THEN THE LAST ONE IS REALLY THE HAMMER.
IT'S REALLY THE THING THAT MAKES THE DIFFERENCE IS IT'S TIME OF USE FOR, AND THIS COULD BE DONE FOR BATTERY CUSTOMERS ONLY FOR AS AN EXAMPLE.
UM, AND THAT IS WHERE THE TRUE COST OF ELECTRICITY IS PASSED DOWN TO THE CUSTOMER.
UM, SO THAT IT IS, AND BECAUSE IT IS ACTUALLY CHEAP IN THE MIDDLE OF THE DAY AND ACTUALLY EXPENSIVE, UH, IN THE END OF THE DAY, UM, AND THAT WILL INCENTIVIZE BATTERIES TO BE USED IN THE WAY THAT WE NEED THEM TO BE USED.
UH, I JUST WANTED TO TOUCH ON A COUPLE OF COMMON VALUE OF SOLAR NET METERING ARGUMENT POINTS, UM, THAT I COME UP IN THIS CONVERSATION ALWAYS.
SO THE FIRST ONE IS THAT VALUE OF SOLAR IS MORE EQUITABLE THAN NET METERING BECAUSE IT CONTINUES TO EXPOSE SOLAR CUSTOMERS TO THE TIERED RATE STRUCTURE.
AND THIS HAS A, THIS ARGUMENT HAS A COUPLE OF PROBLEMS. ONE IS THAT THE TIERED RATE STRUCTURE USES ENERGY AS A PROXY FOR INCOME, WHICH IS NOT, IT IS NOT AN EXACT PROXY FOR INCOME.
UM, AND TWO IS THAT LOW INCOME HOUSES
[02:00:01]
COULD BE SUBSIDIZED INDEPENDENTLY FROM THE RATE STRUCTURE AND VALUE OF SOLAR.SO THERE'S NO REASON TO COUPLE VALUE OF SOLAR TO BEING A TOOL FOR EQUITY.
THOSE TOOLS FOR EQUITY COULD JUST BE DIRECT SUBSIDIZATION OF, UM, OF LOW INCOME CUSTOMERS.
AND THEN, UM, AND THEN THIRD SOLAR CUSTOMERS ARE MAKING AN INVESTMENT WITH A NET POSITIVE EXTERNAL VALUE.
SO IT'S NOT AS THOUGH BY, UM, GETTING SOLAR PANELS ON YOUR HOUSE, YOU ARE SOMEHOW LIKE OPT YOU ARE SOMEHOW OPTING OUT OF THE SYSTEM ENTIRELY.
UM, YOU ARE MAKING AN INVESTMENT THAT HAS A NET POSITIVE VALUE TO OTHERS, UM, AS WELL.
AND THE SECOND ARGUMENT THAT'S WORTH, WORTH MENTIONING IS THAT VALUE SOLAR ENCOURAGES ENERGY SAVINGS MORE THAN NET METERING.
THIS IS A BIT OF A REPEAT FROM THE POINT OF, UM, OF EVS AND, AND, UH, AND HEAT PUMPS, BUT IT BEARS IT'S WORTH REPEATING IS THAT THE, THE GOAL IS NOT TO SAVE AND DISCOURAGE ELECTRICAL ENERGY USE.
THE GOAL IS TO DISCOURAGE ELECTRICAL ENERGY AND ALL TYPES OF ENERGY WASTE.
AND THE CASE WHERE YOU BUY AN EV AND HEAT PUMP WILL INCREASE YOUR ELECTRICAL ENERGY USE AND THAT SHOULD NOT BE, UH, PENALIZED.
UM, LAST ONE IS NET METERING AVOIDS COSTS WHICH GET PUSHED TO OTHER CUSTOMERS.
THIS IS A, THIS ONE IS A, A BIT CHALLENGING.
LIKE IT DOES, IT DOES DEPEND AND IT DEPENDS ON WHAT THE COSTS, UM, OF THE PAID BACK SOLAR IS TO THE CUSTOMER.
SO YOU CAN ALWAYS HAVE NET METERING WITH A PAID BACK SOLAR COST OF ZERO.
UM, AND THAT, AND JUST BY CHANGING WHAT THAT VALUE IS, YOU, YOU CHANGE HOW MUCH SOLAR CUSTOMERS ARE ARE CHARGED.
SO THOSE, THOSE, UM, OTHER COSTS CAN BE RETAINED BY SOLAR CUSTOMERS.
JUST USING NET METERING DOES NOT SHIELD DOES NOT NECESSARILY PUSH PEOPLE PUSH THOSE COSTS, UM, TO OTHER CUSTOMERS.
UM, SO YEAH, WHAT, WHAT NOW WHY DID, WHY DID WE TALK ABOUT THIS? NUMBER ONE, THANK YOU.
THANK YOU FOR LISTENING, ESPECIALLY THIS LATE.
MY CALL TO ACTION HERE IS, IS JUST TAKE, TAKE TIME AND THINK ABOUT THIS.
UM, I LOVE QUESTIONS ABOUT THIS.
I I DON'T WANT TO CONVINCE EVERYONE THAT THIS IS RIGHT.
I, I WANT TO HAVE THE RIGHT POSITION.
I WANT US ALL TO LIKE AGREE ON WHAT THE RIGHT POSITION IS.
SO IF WE'RE TO TAKE ACTION, WE FEEL COMFORTABLE THAT IT'S, IT'S CLEAR ON WHAT THE RIGHT ACTION IS.
UM, AND THEN OTHER, UH, YOU KNOW, I THINK WE CAN ASK FOR SOME ACTION FROM AUSTIN ENERGY AND WE CAN ASK FOR THEIR STUDY ON, CAN YOU SHOW US HOW VALUE OF SOLAR IS MORE CONSISTENT THAN NET METERING WITH THE RESEARCH GENERATION CLIMATE ACTION CLIMATE PROTECTION PLAN, INCLUDING THE COST ACCOUNTING, THE COST OF THE METER AND METER BOX.
UM, AND THEN FINALLY IN, IN A WORLD WHERE VALUE OF SOLAR STAYS, HOW DO WE ADDRESS PROBLEMS ONE THROUGH THREE, UM, WHICH WERE THE EV EV ONE, UH, BATTERIES AND DISCOURAGING LARGE SOLAR, UM, SOLAR INSTALLS.
SO I THINK THAT ACTUALLY CAN BE DONE, UM, AS WELL IF, UM, CHANGING VALUE OF SOLAR IS, IS YEAH, TOO BIG OF A FISH TO FRY, IF WE WILL.
UM, YEAH, THANKS FOR YOUR TIME AND ATTENTION QUESTIONS.
UM, QUESTION I HAVE IS, I MEAN, WE DON'T HAVE A RESOLUTION TO VOTE ON, SO THIS IS REALLY MORE JUST, YOU KNOW, FEEDING US LIKE A BABY BIRD TONIGHT SO THAT WE CAN KIND OF UNDERSTAND THINGS.
UM, WHAT DO YOU ULTIMATELY WANT TO SEE AS SOME SORT OF AN ACTION ITEM TO COME OUT OF THE COMMISSION? OR IS THIS JUST TO HELP LAY THE GENERAL GROUNDWORK FOR US FOR FUTURE, UH, CONSIDERATION OF THINGS? UH, ULTIMATELY I WANT AUSTIN ENERGY'S POLICY TO BE VERY, UM, WHAT'S THE WORD I'M LOOKING FOR? VERY PRO SOLAR AND BATTERIES AND IN ALL THE WAYS THAT IT, IT CAN BE, UM, SO TO BE CONSISTENT WITH THE GENERATION RESEARCH GENERATION PLAN.
AND SO IF THAT MEANS A RESOLUTION TO ASK COUNCIL TO ASK AUSTIN ENERGY TO RECONSIDER VALUE OF SOLAR, THEN THAT IS ONE POTENTIAL OUTCOME OR CONSIDER A, UM, ADDITIONAL, IT WAS MY THIRD POINT THERE.
JUST CAN YOU COME UP WITH AN SOME, A PLAN ON AN, ON A DIFFERENT AXIS WHICH ADDRESSES THE VALUE OF SOLAR PROBLEMS WITHOUT DELETING VALUE OF SOLAR? THE, I'D SAY THAT'S THE MAIN, LIKE ACTION.
HAVE YOU GONE ONE-ON-ONE WITH FOLKS OVER AT AUSTIN ENERGY AND HAD THAT DISCUSSION TO TRY TO GET THE ANSWER TO SOME OF THESE QUESTIONS? UH, WE HAD I'D SAY ONE, ONE CHAT OF I HOPE MANY.
I, I, I MEAN I OBVIOUSLY, YOU KNOW, PAUL AND I JOKE ABOUT THIS QUITE OFTEN THAT I KNOW WHAT I DON'T KNOW.
AND SO I SPEND A LOT OF TIME ASKING THOSE QUESTIONS.
UM, SO, YOU KNOW, I WAS JUST KIND OF CURIOUS IF THEY HAVE BEEN ENGAGING WITH
[02:05:01]
YOU ON THIS ISSUE.UH, 'CAUSE I BELIEVE YOU ALSO WANT TO TALK AGAIN NEXT MEETING ABOUT SOMETHING THAT'S IN THE SAME WHEELHOUSE, BUT A LITTLE DIFFERENT.
UH, COMMISSIONER S CITI, I SEE YOU THERE WITH A, A NOVELTY HAND UP.
UM, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THIS PRESENTATION.
I THINK IT WAS REALLY HELPFUL AND JUST, UM, I KEPT FEELING LIKE MY QUESTIONS WERE ANSWERED ON THE NEXT SLIDE, SO AS QUESTIONS HAD COME UP, YOU ALREADY HAD THEM ANSWERED.
I, I WAS A LITTLE BIT IN THE SAME CAMP OF, UM, YOU KNOW, LIKE WHAT NOW? I MEAN THIS PRESENTATION, AND I AM BY NO MEANS AN EXPERT ON THIS SUBJECT, BUT, UM, IT MAKES ME THINK THIS IS VERY OBVIOUS CHOICE.
UM, AND I WOULD HAVE TO THINK THAT AUSTIN ENERGY HAS THEIR REASONS FOR DOING IT THE OTHER WAY, THE VALUE OF SOLAR WAY.
UM, I'M VERY CONVINCED THAT THIS WAY MAKES MORE SENSE.
SO I WOULD PERSONALLY, I WOULD LOVE TO SEE, UH, AUSTIN ENERGY RESPOND SPECIFICALLY TO THIS PRESENTATION ON IF THEY'VE THOUGHT ABOUT NET METERING, WHY THEY DIDN'T GO WITH IT, WHAT THEIR, WHAT THEIR ARGUMENTS COULD BE, BECAUSE THIS SEEMS LIKE SUCH AN OBVIOUS YES.
UM, I'M LOOKING AT THE WRONG SCREEN.
SORRY, I HAVE TWO SCREENS UP,
UM, SO YEAH, I WOULD, I, I MYSELF FEEL VERY, UM, GALVANIZED BY THIS IDEA.
AND TO THE EXTENT I CAN BE HELPFUL ON THIS, PLEASE LET ME KNOW, BUT I WOULD LIKE AUSTIN ENERGY TO RESPOND TO THIS IF THEY'RE WILLING.
UM, ONCE UPON A TIME, AUSTIN ENERGY DID HAVE NET METERING AND WHEN THEY ADOPTED VALUE OF SOLAR 15 YEARS AGO, 12 YEARS AGO, IT WAS A BIG DEAL AT THE TIME AND IT WAS A PROCESS THAT HAD A LOT OF INPUT AND, AND, AND WAS CONTINUED, CONSIDERED TO BE REVOLUTIONARY IN A REASONABLE WAY BY THE REST OF THE INDUSTRY AT THE TIME.
UM, I DON'T KNOW ALL OF THOSE REASONS, BUT I WOULD LIKE TO, AND I DON'T KNOW WHAT THE NEXT MEETING AGENDA LOOKS LIKE, BUT I'D LIKE TO CONSIDER INVITING AUSTIN ENERGY TO GIVE US A, UM, RELATIVELY BRIEF EXPLANATION OF WHY THE TRANSITION ORIGINALLY FROM NET METERING TO VALUE OF SOLAR WAS VIEWED AS A GOOD THING AT THE TIME.
AND WHETHER THERE IS ANYTHING THAT THEY WOULD CONSIDER CHANGING AT THIS TIME TO MAKE IT MORE APPROPRIATE TO, TO MAKE IT APPROPRIATE OR, OR WHETHER THEY WANNA GO BACK TO VALUE OF SERVICE OR SOMETHING ELSE.
I HAVE SOMETHING ELSE, IDEAS IN MIND THAT I'D SURE LIKE TO SEE HAS THE HONOR OF BOTH SOLAR AND A BATTERY, BUT THANK YOU.
UM, IT MIGHT, I'M JUST TRYING TO BE HELPFUL HERE.
IT MIGHT BE BETTER IF YOU ACTUALLY HAD THE ADVOCATES TALK ABOUT IT BECAUSE THE, WHEN THIS WAS INSTITUTED, UH, THE PEOPLE IN CHARGE ARE NOT THAT, THAT WERE IN CHARGE THEN ARE NOT HERE.
UM, LESLIE, LIBBY, UH, DEBBIE KIMBERLY, THERE WERE OTHERS THERE.
UH, MY SUGGESTION, UH, WOULD BE TIM TIM'S STILL STANDING
BUT RESPECTFULLY, TIM, YOU, YOU WERE NOT IN CHARGE.
UM, YOU MIGHT WANT ASK TOM SMITH, COMMISSIONER SILVERSTEIN.
UM, I AM I, YES, BUT LET'S, LET'S GO AWAY.
WE COULD ASK SMITTY, BUT, BUT I'D LIKE TO START WITH, CAN, CAN Y'ALL GIVE US AN EXPLANATION OF WHY WE, TIM, WHY IN YOUR RECOLLECTION, WHY WE WENT TO WHERE WE ARE AND, UM, ARE THERE MODIFICATIONS THAT YOU ALL WOULD CONSIDER MAKING TO IT TODAY IN LIGHT OF THEIR VERY REASONABLE CONCERNS THAT, THAT COMMISSIONER SA AND OTHERS HAVE HAVE EXPRESSED? THANK YOU.
I SAW COMMISSIONER DAVIS REACH FOR HER MIC FIRST, SO, OH, I WAS JUST GONNA MENTION THAT I BELIEVE THERE IS A, THERE IS A INPUT PROCESS THAT IS ONGOING ON SOLAR STANDARD OFFER.
UM, I DON'T KNOW IF THAT PLAYS INTO THAT,
[02:10:01]
THE VALUE OF SOLAR ON THERE, BUT SOME CONVERSATIONS ARE ONGOING ABOUT THAT.COMMISSIONER STI, YOU'VE HAD A HAND UP THERE FOR A LITTLE WHILE, OR IS THAT AN OLD HAND? THAT'S AN OLD HAND.
COMMISSIONER FARMER, YOU'RE UP.
UM, I JUST WANTED TO, UH, I GUESS LIKE MAKE SURE THAT THE TIME OF USE AND THE LIKE REBATE CONVERSATION AROUND BATTERIES ARE ALSO LIKE WHEN Y'ALL COME TO US, THAT THAT'S BEING ADDRESSED IN ADDITIONAL NET METERING.
UM, AND THEN ALSO I THINK LIKE ONE OF THE THINGS IN THE JSC RECOMMENDATIONS THAT WE PASSED EARLIER WAS LOOKING AT LIKE WAYS THAT THE CITY OR AUSTIN ENERGY COULD LIKE SHARE ROOFTOPS.
AND I THINK ONE OF THE POINTS YOU MADE WAS LIKE, A LOT OF THE COST, ESPECIALLY AS THE EQUIPMENT GOES DOWN, IS JUST IN LIKE PERMITTING AND GETTING PEOPLE ON THE ROOF.
SO RIGHT SIZING SYSTEMS OR EVEN HAVING SMALLER SYSTEMS BE INSTALLED AS OPPOSED TO MAXING OUT EVERY ROOFTOP IN THE CITY SEEMS KIND OF RIDICULOUS GIVEN OUR GOALS.
SO I THINK THAT'S ANOTHER PIECE OF IT THAT LIKE, I WANT TO, I DON'T KNOW HOW THAT GETS HANDLED, BUT THAT SEEMS LIKE SOMETHING THAT WE SHOULD BE LOOKING AT.
VICE CHAIR ROBBINS, UH, I AGAIN, MAKE A SUGGESTION THAT, UH, IF YOU'RE GOING TO HAVE THAT CONVERSATION, YOU INVITE THE ADVOCATES, NOT ONLY SMITTY, BUT UM, CYRUS REED AND KABA WHITE, UM, WHO WERE BOTH QUITE ACTIVE DURING THE ELECTRIC RATE CASE, UH, DEFENDING, UH, RENEWABLE ENERGY RATES.
UM, REGARDING TIME OF USE, I, PAUL ROBBINS MIGHT BE ONE OF THE ONLY PEOPLE IN THE ENTIRE CITY THAT IS ON TIME OF USE RATES.
THE CITY HAS DONE ALMOST NOTHING WITH IT.
UH, WHEN I APPLIED FOR IT, UH, I ASKED THE GUY ENROLLING ME HOW MANY OTHERS WERE, UH, HAD JOINED AND HE SAID, YOU'RE THE THIRD PERSON.
UM, IT'S, UM, A VERY UNEXPLORED WAY, UM, AN UNEXPLORED METHOD OF DEMAND SIDE MANAGEMENT IN THIS, UH, UTILITY THAT IS QUITE COMMON IN OTHER UTILITIES.
I, UM, I'M ALSO NOT GOING TO SAY, I'M ABOUT TO SAY SOMETHING THAT PROBABLY ALL OF, YOU KNOW, GENERICALLY, BUT PROBABLY FEW OF YOU KNOW, SPECIFICALLY, WHICH IS THAT, UM, ABOUT A YEAR AGO I ASKED SOMEONE AT AUSTIN ENERGY TO GET ME THEIR, UM, THEIR QUARTER MINUTE RATES FOR THE ENTIRE YEAR.
AND I DID A SPREADSHEET AND IT BASICALLY SHOWED THE HUGE DIFFERENCES, UH, IN HOURLY, UH, COSTS BOTH YEARLY AND UH, MONTHLY.
UH, IN JULY, FOR EXAMPLE, AT FIVE IN THE MORNING, UH, THE, UH, AVERAGE UH, RATE MIGHT BE SIX AND A HALF CENTS.
AND AT SIX IN THE EVENING IT'S 10 TIMES THAT.
AND IT GOES TO EVERYTHING THAT, UH, WAS SAID ABOUT THE, THE, THE COST EFFECTIVENESS OF HAVING BATTERIES.
I'D BE GLAD TO SHARE THESE CHARTS WITH THE COMMISSION IF IT WOULD BE AT ALL HELPFUL.
ANY FURTHER COMMENT OR DISCUSSION.
ALRIGHT, FOR FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS
[FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS]
THEN, UM, WE ARE GOING TO BE INVITING TEXAS GAS TO COME BACK AGAIN NEXT MONTH AND DO RIGHT BY US ALSO, AUSTIN WATER WILL BE BACK NEXT MONTH TO CATCH UP ON WHAT WASN'T DONE THIS TIME.UM, I BELIEVE YOU HAD INDICATED THAT YOU WILL BE BRINGING A, A PART TWO, SO YOU'LL GO THROUGH THE NORMAL PROCESS OF GETTING A CO-SPONSOR FOR THE DISCUSSION AND WE'LL GO FROM THERE.
UM, ONE THING WHILE I'M THINKING OF IT, UM, FOR MEMBERS OF THIS COMMISSION, WHEN YOU ARE SENDING THINGS IN FOR THE COMMISSION TO, UH, TO BE ADDED TO THE AGENDA, PLEASE SEND EVERYTHING TO OUR LIAISON COMPLETE IN A SINGLE PACKAGE.
DO NOT SEND, HEY, I'M GOING TO BE SENDING THIS
[02:15:01]
THING OVER TO YOU.PLEASE HOLD A SPOT ON THE AGENDA.
HEY, HERE'S THE LANGUAGE FOR THE THING.
AND THEN TODAY, TWO HOURS BEFORE THE MEETING, SEND OVER THE ACTUAL LANGUAGE FOR A RESOLUTION.
WE ARE NOT THE ONLY GROUP THAT SHE WORKS WITH.
UM, AND YOU KNOW, HYPOTHETICALLY, WE SHOULD HAVE BEEN SWITCHED OFF OF AUSTIN ENERGY AT THIS POINT ANYWAY.
AND BY GRACE OF GOD, NATASHA PUTS UP WITH US.
SO LET'S NOT ABUSE THAT RESOURCE, UH, THAT HAVEN'T BEEN SAID.
IS THERE ANYTHING ELSE WE WOULD LIKE TO ADD ON FOR FUTURE CONSIDERATION? NEXT? UH, OH, WE ALSO, WERE GONNA HAVE, ARE YOU ABLE TO COME BACK NEXT MONTH TO YEAH, LET US, UH, NEGOTIATE THAT
SO IF NOT NEXT MONTH, THE MONTH AFTER, BUT SOON.
ARE THERE ANY OTHER ITEMS THAT WE WOULD LIKE TO BRING UP FOR FUTURE DISCUSSION? I SEE YOU RAISING A FINGER OVER THERE.
SO I JUST WANNA CLARIFY FOR AUSTIN WATER, THEY WILL BE BACK NEXT MONTH.
UH, ONE, UM, WOULD BE TO DISCUSS AND A RECOMMENDATION FOR THEIR, UH, DRINKING WATER PROTECTION ZONE, UH, THEIR FIVE YEAR CAPITAL SPENDING PLAN.
AND THEN THEY WILL ALSO BE BACK FOR A STAFF BRIEFING ON THEIR PROPOSED LANDSCAPE TRANSFORMATION ORDINANCE.
UM, NO VOTE THERE, BUT JUST A BRIEFING.
SO THAT'S WHAT THEY'LL COME BACK, UM, WITH FOR JUNE.
IS THERE ANYTHING ELSE THAT YOU WOULD LIKE TO ADD ONTO THE AGENDA OR WE'LL JUST KIND SEE WHAT HAPPENS.
COMMISSIONER RO UH, VICE CHAIR ROBINSON.
UM, THERE ARE SOME, THESE DON'T HAVE TO BE ON THE NEXT AGENDA, UH, BUT I WOULD LIKE, UM, THEM TO BE ON AN AGENDA.
UH, I'LL MENTION THREE THINGS.
UH, I THINK IT WOULD BE IMPORTANT THAT WHEN, UH, TIM HARVEY MAKES HIS PRESENTATION THAT WE INVITE AT LEAST ONE OF THE ADVOCATES THAT WAS HEAVILY INVOLVED IN VALUE OF SOLAR HERE, UH, SO THAT THEY CAN GIVE THEIR HISTORICAL, UH, PERSPECTIVE.
UH, I'VE MENTIONED THREE PEOPLE, THERE'S PROBABLY OTHERS.
UH, SECOND, UH, I WOULD LIKE TO HAVE, UH, UM, AT LEAST A SHORT DISCUSSION ON THE ENERGY CODE, THE ENERGY BUILDING CODE.
AND THIRD, UM, UM, TEXAS GAS SERVICE.
UM, I, UM, WOULD LIKE TO TALK ABOUT, UM, THEIR FRANCHISE AS IT RELATES TO OUR CURRENT PURVIEW, UH, WHICH DEALS WITH, UH, ENERGY, UH, EFFICIENCY AND RENEWABLE ENERGY AND THE RATE STRUCTURE, UH, IF IT IN SENSE, UH, INCENTIVIZES, UH, CONSERVATION.
UH, AND ALSO I WOULD LIKE TO, UH, HAVE A DISCUSSION, UH, EITHER IN THE NEXT FISCAL YEAR OR WHEN THE FRANCHISE IS DISCUSSED ABOUT, UH, THE CITY TAKING OVER THEIR PROGRAMS FOR ENERGY CONSERVATION.
AND, UM, I'D LIKE THESE TO BE ON SOME FUTURE AGENDA.
UM, MY GENERAL THOUGHT IS WE'LL PICK, MAYBE PICK ONE AND WE'LL KIND OF SLOT 'EM IN IN, UH, MEETINGS IN THE FUTURE.
WOULD THAT, THAT WOULD'VE BEEN AUSTIN.
WHO'S COMING IN? NOBODY'S COMING IN JULY RIGHT NOW.
ASSUMING THAT IT STAYS EMPTY, IT'S GONNA BE ROBIN'S TIME, HYPOTHETICALLY IN JULY.
UM, SO YOU WANT TO GO ON AHEAD AND GET YOUR POSTING LANGUAGE TOGETHER, FIND YOUR YOUR CO-SPONSORS AND WE'LL SEE ABOUT SLOTTING THINGS INTO, LIKE I SAID, PROBABLY JULY AND AUGUST.
WE'LL TRY TO SPREAD IT OUT A LITTLE BIT SO THAT WE CAN ALL LEARN A LITTLE BIT AS WE
[02:20:01]
GO.ALL WE'LL HAVE BACK TEXAS GAS SERVICE AUSTIN WATER FOR THEIR QUARTERLY UPDATES.
NOW THAT YOU'VE SAID THAT, NO ONE'S GONNA COME.
IT'S THE BEST KIND OF MEETING IS ONE THAT DOESN'T HAVE QUORUM ANYWAY.
DON'T LOOK AT ME LIKE THAT
ALRIGHT, UH, ANYTHING ELSE THAT WE WANNA DISCUSS FOR THE GOOD OF THE ORDER? IF NOT, I'M MORE THAN HAPPY TO ENTERTAIN A MOTION.
MY FAVORITE MOTION OF ALL, MOVE TO ADJOURN.
MOTION TO ADJOURN BY COMMISSIONER DAVIS.
SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER SILVERSTEIN.
ANY OBJECTIONS BY ACCLIMATION
WE'RE ADJOURNED AT, UH, WAS IT 8 19 8 24.
HAVE A GREAT REST OF THE WEEK.