[CALL MEETING TO ORDER]
[00:00:02]
THIS IS THE ELECTRIC UTILITY COMMISSION FOR JUNE 10TH, 2024.
WHY DON'T WE COME AND CALL THE MEETING TO ORDER? DO WE HAVE ANY PUBLIC COMMUNICATIONS? WE DO NOT.
[APPROVAL OF MINUTES]
APPROVAL OF MINUTES.UH, I DON'T HAVE ANY CHANGES FOR THE, THE MINUTES.
ANYBODY ELSE HAVE ANY? SO DO I HAVE A MOTION? MOVE ADOPTION.
DO WE HAVE A SECOND? 'CAUSE WE NEED IT FROM ONLINE.
I, JOSH, I'M GONNA CALL ON YOU THEN.
CAN YOU GUYS HEAR US ONLINE? OH, YEAH.
CAN YOU HEAR US ONLINE? CAN YOU HEAR US ONLINE? NOPE.
SAVE ME FOR SENDING IT TO ME
OKAY, SO WE HAD A MOTION AND WE JUST NEED A SECOND FOR APPROVING THE MINUTES.
AND WE ONLY HAVE TWO PEOPLE HERE, SO THAT MEANS I GUESS I COULD, I COULD, UH, I COULD DO THAT.
RAISE YOUR HANDS ONLINE, PLEASE VERIFY.
CAN HEAR US?
CAN YOU GUYS HEAR NOW? YES, WE CAN HEAR.
CAN YOU HEAR US NOW IN LINE? GIVE US A THUMBS UP IF YOU CAN GIVE, I, I CAN HEAR YOU.
WELL, WE HAVE A MOTION AND A SECOND FOR APPROVING THE MINUTES.
I THINK WE'VE GOT OUR WHITE, NO, IT'S JUST, OKAY.
THERE'S A TOUCH PANEL OF YOUR GRID.
THE TOUCH PANEL IS THERE AND IT'S MUTED UP THERE NOW.
WE HAVE A MOTION AND A SECOND FOR APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES.
WE ESPECIALLY NEED EVERYBODY ONLINE TO, TO, UH, VOTE FOR APPROVAL.
SO PLEASE RAISE YOUR HAND IF YOU APPROVE THE MINUTES.
IT'S ACTUALLY BETTER IF YOU RAISE YOUR HAND THAT WAY WE CAN SEE YOU INSTEAD OF TRYING TO DEDUCE.
[Items 2 - 5]
AND ACTION ITEMS. 2, 3, 4, 5, AND SIX.ANY OF THEM? ANYONE WANT TO PULL THOSE OR DO WE HAVE CONSENT FOR THOSE? ACTUALLY, RANDY, DO YOU WANNA TALK ABOUT SIX? UH, YES.
UH, COMMISSIONER ALVAREZ, UH, PUT A NOTE UP.
CAN OTHER COMM, CAN OTHER ONLINE COMMISSIONERS HEAR? PLEASE RAISE YOUR HAND.
[00:05:03]
OKAY.WILL, UH, MY SUGGESTION IS WE ALLOW COMMISSIONER ALVAREZ TO LOG OFF AND URGE HIM TO SIGN BACK ON THEN CAN YOU TEXT HIM A MESSAGE? I THINK YOU HAVE MESSAGE.
IS THERE A CHAT FUNCTION ON THERE WHERE HE CAN, COMMISSIONER ALVAREZ, CAN YOU HEAR US NOW? YES, MA'AM.
HE, HE, HE'LL MAKE US WAY BACK.
SO DO WE HAVE ANY FURTHER DISCUSSION ON ITEMS 2, 3, 4, 5, OR SIX? RANDY, DID YOU WANNA TALK ABOUT SIX? UH, OR JUST PAUSE THAT ONE.
UH, ITEM, ITEM SIX IS THE, UH, TRAINING AND ORIENTATION.
AND WE HAVE, AT LEAST I'VE RECEIVED NO COMMUNICATION YET FROM FELLOW COMMISSIONERS.
UH, IF ANYONE, DOES ANYBODY, UH, WE TALKED ABOUT IT AT THE LAST MEETING.
DOES ANYBODY HAVE ADDITIONAL COMMENTS AT THIS TIME OR REQUEST? UH, PERTAINING TO THE TRAINING? NOT SEEING NONE.
UH, I RECOMMEND, UH, ADOPTION OF ITEMS TWO THROUGH FIVE, UNLESS THERE ARE OBJECTIONS FROM OUR REQUESTS FROM OTHER COMMISSIONERS.
ANYONE WANT TWO THROUGH FIVE PULLED FOR FURTHER DISCUSSION? OKAY.
RAISE YOUR HANDS LINE, PLEASE.
SO WE HAVE 2, 3, 4, 5, AND SIX OUTTA LINE.
[7. Staff briefing on the Customer Assistance Program by Kerry Overton, Deputy General Manager Chief Customer Officer.]
OKAY.UH, CARRIE OVERTON, CUSTOMER ASSISTANCE PROGRAM.
DID, DID, I THOUGHT RANDY SAID WAS VOTING ON TWO THROUGH FIVE, WAS HE ALSO VOTING ON SIX? I DON'T THINK IT WAS
UH, I DON'T THINK WE NEED TO VOTE ON SIX, BUT IF THERE, OKAY.
IF YOU HAVE ANY, UH, THOUGHTS? COMMISSIONER REED PLE, PLEASE SPEAK.
I DIDN'T KNOW IF IT'S SOMETHING WE NEEDED TO APPROVE OR IT WAS JUST A, UH, IT'S A PROPOSAL THAT WE CAN, THERE THERE'S NOT SPECIFIC DATES ATTACHED TO IT, CORRECT.
YET WE DO NOT HAVE SPECIFIC DATES, SPECIFIC DATES, UH, BE WORKING WITH THE STAFF TO MAKE THAT HAPPEN.
I DIDN'T KNOW WE TAKE VOTING ON IT OR, OR JUST, BUT WE DO NEED TO GET, GET THAT NAILED DOWN SOON.
[00:10:01]
THANKS.BY THE WAY, YOUR MICROPHONE OR IS NOT FOR YOU.
YOU COME THROUGH A LITTLE BIT.
CAN YOU HEAR ME? GOOD AFTERNOON, COMMISSIONERS.
I'M THE DEPUTY GENERAL MANAGER AND CHIEF CUSTOMER OFFICER, UH, HERE AT AUSTIN ENERGY.
UH, THIS IS A COMMISSIONER REQUESTED, UH, UPDATE ON OUR, UH, CAP DISCOUNT PROGRAM.
AND I THOUGHT BECAUSE WE DO HAVE A FEW NEW COMMISSIONERS, I WOULD KIND OF DO A LITTLE BIT OF A, BEFORE WE GO STRAIGHT INTO THE PRESENTATION.
UM, IN CUSTOMER CARE, WE, UM, PROVIDE SERVICES, UM, JOINTLY WITH OTHER, UH, DEPARTMENTS WITHIN THE CITY OF UTILITY AS PART OF ALL THE UTILITY BILLING, BILLING PAYMENTS, AND REMITTANCE PROCESSING AND CALL HANDLING.
SO ALL OF THOSE OPERATIONS GO UNDER THE UMBRELLA OF THE COA UTILITIES, BUT IT'S MANAGED BY THE AUSTIN ENERGY LEADERSHIP TEAM.
UH, WITH THAT SAID, NEXT SLIDE.
WE HAVE A NATIONALLY RECOGNIZED PROGRAM IN WHAT WE DO IN CUSTOMER CARE, UH, PARTICULARLY AS IT RELATES TO OUR CUSTOMER ASSISTANCE PROGRAM.
UH, THERE ARE A HOST OF PROGRAMS THAT WE PROVIDE ON A REGULAR BASIS TO OUR CUSTOMERS, SUCH AS THE UTILITY BILL DISCOUNT, WHICH IS THE ITEM WE'RE GONNA FOCUS A LITTLE BIT MORE ON TODAY.
UM, THIS IS WHERE WE HAVE AUTOMATIC ENROLLMENT FOR THOSE WHO, UM, NEED FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE.
UM, AND THOSE ALSO CAN MANUALLY ENROLL THAT WE'LL DO ASSESSMENT FOR AS WELL WITH INCOMES AT OR BELOW 200% OF THE FEDERAL POVERTY LEVEL.
AND THAT EQUATES VERY CLOSELY AT ABOUT $62,000 FOR A FAMILY.
UM, WE HAVE A WEATHERIZATION PROGRAM, AND ALSO THIS IS ALSO PART OF YOUR REQUESTED, UM, PRESENTATIONS.
WE WILL HAVE A FULL WEATHERIZATION PROGRAM, UH, BRIEFING COMING TO THE UEC, UH, IN JULY, WHICH IS, UH, JUST NEXT MONTH.
UH, I'LL TOUCH ON JUST A LITTLE BIT OF THAT, UM, AS WELL.
BUT THAT IS OUR NO, UH, NO COST HOME ENERGY IMPROVEMENT, UH, PROGRAM TO QUALIFYING CUSTOMERS WITH LOW TO MODERATE, UH, INCOME.
UH, WE ALSO HAVE OUR MEDICAL V UH, VULNERABLE, UH, REGISTRY, WHICH ONE OF OUR STAFF MEMBERS GAVE A PRESENTATION THAT TO YOU LAST MONTH.
AND SO YOU STILL HAVE MATERIALS ON THAT.
AND THAT'S WHERE WE PROVIDE SPECIAL SUPPORT SERVICES FOR THOSE WITH CRITICAL OR LONG-TERM ILLNESSES.
AND WE ALSO PROVIDE, UM, CASE MANAGEMENT IN THAT AREA AS WELL.
AND THEN WE HAVE OUR, UM, EMERGENCY FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAM, BETTER KNOWN AS PLUS ONE.
AND THAT'S AVAILABLE TO OUR CUSTOMERS WHO NEED EMERGENCY ASSISTANCE FOR WHATEVER REASON THEY FIND THEMSELVES, UM, IN A HARDSHIP.
AND, UH, WE PROVIDE, UM, SERVICES TO HELP THEM KEEP THEIR POWER ON.
AND WE ALSO WORK WITH THEM EXTENDED PAYMENT ARRANGEMENTS.
AND THAT PROGRAM WE PUT IN ABOUT $2.5 MILLION A YEAR INTO THAT, THAT PORTION.
SO IF YOU GO AHEAD, LET ME ASK THE 2.5 MILLION, HAS THAT AMOUNT BEEN STEADY OVER THE YEARS, OR HAS IT, AND IS IT, ARE YOU ASKING THAT IT BE INCREASED THIS YEAR? IT'S BEEN INCREASING OVER THE YEARS, AND SO THIS IS AMOUNT, UM, THAT HAS, HAS GROWN, UH, WITH THE PROGRAM.
AND WE, WE, UH, HAVE FOUND A GOOD BALANCE.
BUT ALSO REMEMBER, UM, I'M GONNA TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT OUR OTHER PARTNERS, OUR 59, UH, PARTNERS WHO HELP US.
THESE CUSTOMERS ALSO GET ADDITIONAL MONEY FROM THOSE PARTNERS DIRECTLY AS WELL AND OTHER SERVICE CITY SERVICES, AND ALSO WITH THE TRAVIS COUNTY.
SO THERE'S A LARGER COORDINATION TO MAKE SURE THAT THE NEEDS THAT ARE COMING TO US ARE MET.
AND COMMISSIONER THEN ALSO KNOW THAT CUSTOMERS CAN ALSO PROVIDE AND GIVE, UH, INTO THAT PROGRAM AS ONE ON THE PLUS ONE WITHIN THEIR BILL.
THEY CAN CHECK A BOX, UM, AND ACTUALLY PUT IN ADDITIONAL, UH, AMOUNT.
AND BELIEVE IT OR NOT, WE HAVE A PRETTY, UH, GOOD COMMUNITY HERE THAT LIKES TO GIVE.
AND OBVIOUSLY WE DO BETTER AROUND CERTAIN HOLIDAYS, WE DO MORE ADVERTISEMENTS, SO AT CHRISTMAS THOSE TIMES.
AND CERTAINLY IN THE, IN THE REAL SUMMER AND THE HEAT, WE GET MORE PARTICIPATION, BUT CUSTOMERS CAN PARTICIPATE AS WELL.
I, I, I'VE BEEN IMPRESSED WITH THE BILL STUFFERS AS WELL AS A LOT OF THE PUBLICITY, RECENT PUBLICITY ABOUT THE CAP PROGRAM.
UH, LET ME ASK, WHEN SOMEBODY CALLS AUSTIN ENERGY AND SAYS, I WAS JUST LAID OFF, I CAN'T PAY, CAN'T PAY THE BILL, AND DON'T, CAN'T
[00:15:01]
REALLY COME UP WITH A PAYMENT PLAN 'CAUSE THEY'RE UNEMPLOYED.UNEMPLOYED, UH, OUR AUSTIN ENERGY EMPLOYEES EMPOWERED TO HELP THOSE PEOPLE, OR DO THEY HAVE TO TELL THEM TO GO TO SOME AGENCY? UH, UH, THAT'S A VERY GOOD QUESTION.
UH, WE ABSOLUTELY CAN HELP 'EM.
AND OUR EMPLOYEES ARE EMPOWERED.
UM, IF THEY CAN'T ANSWER THAT DIRECTLY ON ANY KIND OF PROGRAM OR SPECIAL NEEDS PLUS ONE, THEY CAN MAKE THAT DETERMINATION.
UM, BUT WHAT THEY DO IS REFER IT TO OUR CAP, UH, PROGRAM, AND THEY GET A SPECIALIST.
AND, UH, AND I'M JUST GONNA KIND OF JUMP AHEAD RIGHT HERE SINCE YOU ASKED THAT QUESTION, AND I WAS GONNA TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THE CAP PROGRAM IN THEIR RESUME.
WE SPECIFICALLY HIRE, UM, ON THIS RESUME ABOUT, WE HAVE 18 STAFF MEMBERS PLUS A MANAGEMENT TEAM WHO WOULD GET THAT REFERRAL FROM THAT, UH, CALL HANDLER.
AND THEY WOULD DO THE CALLBACK AND THEY WOULD TALK TO THE CUSTOMER.
SO THEY'LL GET ANY KIND OF KEY INDICATOR, I JUST GOT FIRED, OR I, I JUST CAN'T AFFORD IT.
THERE ARE, THERE ARE A HOST OF KEY INDICATORS THAT WOULD COME OUT OF THAT CONVERSATION.
THEY GET THE REFERRAL, AND THIS GROUP, UH, WILL THEN BEGIN A CONVERSATION OF PROVIDING, UH, SOME DISCUSSION WITH THAT CUSTOMER.
AND THEY WILL THEN, AND THEY HAVE SPECIAL PROVISIONS WHERE THEY CAN, UM, EXTEND, UM, AND HALT ANY KIND OF COLLECTION ACTIONS ON THAT ACCOUNT.
AND THEY WILL WORK OUT A DEAL AND THEY WILL TURN THAT INTO A CASE MANAGEMENT.
AND IF IT MEANS THAT THEY NEED A FACE-TO-FACE VISIT, THEY WILL DO THAT AS WELL.
THEY WILL GO INTO THE HOME, THEY WOULD EVEN DO IT VIRTUALLY.
UM, OR THEY CAN COME INTO OUR OFFICE AND THEY WILL SIT DOWN AND WORK OUT A PLAN.
SO YES, WE CAN HANDLE THAT WITH HOUSE.
AND ALSO WHEN WE SEE SOME OF THE ADDITIONAL NEEDS THAT COME OUT OF THAT CONVERSATION, WE WILL REFER 'EM TO OUR AGENCIES AS WELL.
NOW, I MIGHT REPEAT THAT IN MY PRESENTATION.
SO TELL ME, SAY, HEY, YOU ALREADY, YOU ALREADY COVERED THAT
UH, SO AS YOU CAN SEE, WE WORK, THE, THE 59 PARTNERS THAT I'M REFERRING TO, THEY, THEY, THEY'RE PART OF THE FAITH BASE, UH, THE SOCIAL SERVICE ORGANIZATIONS AND NONPROFITS, UH, THROUGHOUT, UM, OUR SERVICE TERRITORY.
AND THEY PROVIDE ADDITIONAL, UH, REFERRAL SERVICES IN ADDITION TO THESE DISCOUNTS THAT WE ARE SPEAKING TO THE ACCOUNT MANAGEMENT, UM, THAT HELPS CUSTOMERS WITH THE PAYMENTS.
UM, AND WITH SPECIAL ACCOUNT OVERSIGHT, UH, A LITTLE BIT OF WHAT WE WERE JUST TALKING ABOUT WITH COMMISSIONER CHAPMAN.
UM, AND THEN THE COMMUNITY OUTREACH.
THIS IS AN ADDITIONAL EXTENDED SERVICE BEYOND JUST RECEIVING THE DISCOUNT IN THE OUTREACH.
IT IS THOSE, UM, SPECIALISTS THAT ARE PART OF OUR CAPS PROGRAM THAT ACT, UH, THAT ACTUALLY, UM, DO A LOT OF REACHING OUT TO THOSE CUSTOMERS.
AND THEN WE HAVE SPECIAL EVENTS LIKE JUST THIS, THIS WEEK, IN FACT, TUESDAY, WEDNESDAY, THURSDAY, WE HAVE SOME POPUP EVENTS THAT ARE GOING TO BE HAPPENING, UM, WITHIN THE COMMUNITY AT OUR BRANCHES.
AND SO OUR MARKETING, OUR COMMUNICATIONS TEAM HAS ALREADY STARTED A GOOD DEAL OF THE, UM, THE MARKETING AND ADVERTISEMENT FOR THAT.
AND CUSTOMERS CAN COME INTO OUR BRANCHES AND THEY RECEIVE A HOST OF, OF, UM, ITEMS THAT COULD HELP 'EM WITH CONSERVATION TIPS.
THEY WILL TALK WITH EXPERTS, UM, ABOUT, UM, NOT JUST, UM, ON THEIR ELECTRICAL SIDE, BUT ON WATER.
UM, AND THEN WE HAVE A LOT OF, UM, GIVEAWAYS THAT WOULD HELP THEM.
WE COORDINATE THAT WITH A RR FOR RESOURCE RECOVERY.
AND SO THEY CAN WALK AWAY NOT ONLY WITH A LOT OF INFORMATION ABOUT HOW THAT THEY CAN MANAGE THEIR ACCOUNT AND THEIR HOUSEHOLD, BUT THEY ACTUALLY GET TOOLS LIKE WE HAVE, UM, UM, A WINDUP RADIO AND FOR OUTAGES WHERE THEY CAN ALSO CHARGE UP THEIR PHONE, UH, TO STAY IN CONTACT WITH US.
AND THEY HAVE SOME OTHER ITEMS THAT ARE GONNA, UH, BE PROVIDED TO 'EM.
AND LIKE WATER, I THINK IS GONNA GIVE A LOW PRESSURE, UH, WATER, UM, WATER SHOWER HEAD REPLACEMENT.
UM, AND SO THIS IS AN EVENT THAT WE DO AND IT'S WELL RECEIVED.
AND ANOTHER COMMUNITY OUTREACH THAT WE DO, THE, ONE OF THE LARGEST ONES THAT WE DO IS EACH YEAR WE DO THE COMMUNITY CONNECTIONS.
AND THAT'S WHERE WE HAVE MULTIPLE CITY DEPARTMENTS THAT PARTNER WITH US AND, UM, AND EVEN OUTSIDE, UH, VENDORS, PRIVATE VENDORS, AND NO NONPROFITS TO PROVIDE A HOST OF SERVICES, UM, AT THAT EVENT.
UM, AND I'LL JUST, MAYBE I COULD GO DOWN THE LIST OF THE KIND OF SERVICES THAT THEY RECEIVE, BUT ONE OF THEM, ANYWHERE FOR THIS POPULATION, ANYWHERE WHERE THERE ARE, UM, ANY KIND OF HEALTHCARE SCREENINGS WITH THE MOBILE UNITS THAT WE ATTRACT TO OUR EVENT.
UM, THAT'S MANY TIMES MANY OF THESE CUSTOMERS HAVE ACTUALLY SEEN, UH, A PHYSICIAN OR CARE, UH, PERSON FROM THE MEDICAL FIELD REAL TIME, UM, WHEN THEY COME TO OUR EVENT.
AND THEN THAT LEADS TO OTHER REFERRALS THAT WORK WITH THE, UM, AUSTIN PUBLIC HEALTH IN THE, IN THE MEDICAL, UH, SIDE.
THE, AS WE SAY, THE CUSTOMER ASSISTANCE PROGRAM, UM, OFFERS THE HOST OF, UM, BENEFITS, BUT MORE SPECIFICALLY, THE AVERAGE MONTHLY DISCOUNT IS ANYWHERE RANGING FROM 76 TO $91, UM, FOR A
[00:20:01]
LOW INCOME CUSTOMER.AND WE, UM, THEY ALSO GET DISCOUNTS, UM, FOR OTHER CITY SERVICES AS WELL.
AND ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE'VE DONE IN TERMS OF, UM, YOU KNOW, THESE CUSTOMERS, THEY DON'T PAY A CUSTOMER SERVICE CHARGE.
UM, THEY BENEFIT FROM, UH, WHAT WE DO IN TERMS OF THE BILL CREDITS THAT, THAT ARE PROVIDED.
THEY GET THE, UH, 10%, UH, DISCOUNT.
THEY ALSO HAVE OTHER CHARGES, UM, AS ASSOCIATED WITH, UM, WELL WATER WASTEWATER AND OTHER, UM, ACTIVITIES AS WELL.
BUT OUR COMMUNICATIONS TEAM HAD PUT TOGETHER SOME REALLY GOOD CLIPS HERE.
ONE TAKES ABOUT 15 SECONDS, THE OTHER ONE'S ABOUT 30 SECONDS.
AND WE HAVE SEVERAL OF THESE THAT, UH, WE REALLY IN THE LAST FEW YEARS HAVE REALLY STEPPED UP OUR, OUR CAMPAIGN AND IT'S BEEN GOING WELL.
PEOPLE ARE RECOGNIZING THAT THEY'RE SEEING THIS INFORMATION ON THE WEBSITE, BUT ALSO, UM, ON NEWS STATIONS AND IN PRINT MEDIA, ET CETERA.
BUT THESE ARE TWO VIDEO CLIPS THAT WILL KIND OF SELF-EXPLANATORY, BUT TELL YOU THAT WE DO EVERYTHING IN, UH, BOTH LANGUAGES, ENGLISH AND SPANISH.
AND, UM, WELL, LET'S LET IT ROLL AND LET IT SPEAK FOR ITSELF.
WE'LL START WITH THE, UH, FIRST VERSION.
ARE YOU STRUGGLING TO PAY YOUR UTILITY BILL? THE CITY OF AUSTIN'S CUSTOMER ASSISTANCE PROGRAM OFFERS FLEXIBLE PAYMENT OPTIONS, BILL DISCOUNTS, AND EMERGENCY ASSISTANCE.
TO LEARN MORE, CALL 5 1 2 4 9 4 9400 OR VISIT AUSTIN BILL HELP.COM.
IN ADDITION TO THESE, WE HAVE, UM, OTHERS THAT GO, UM, ONE ENTIRE MINUTE DEPENDING ON THE MEDIUM THAT WE'RE GOING TO, UM, PUT THIS INFORMATION.
AND OVER THE TIME WE REDUCE IT DOWN, UM, WE ALSO PROVIDE, UH, YOUTUBE, UM, PROGRAMMING, UM, ASSOCIATED WITH HOW TO ENROLL AND HOW TO CONTACT US SO THEY EVEN GO BEYOND THIS AND THEY CAN TAKE EACH CUSTOMER THROUGH.
AND, UH, WE HAVE TEACHING TOOLS THAT EVEN WHEN THEY'RE NOT TALKING TO THOSE CAP SPECIALIST AGENTS THAT I WAS SPEAKING TO, THEY CAN FOLLOW UP WITH THAT ON THEIR OWN BECAUSE THEY'RE, WE GIVE THEM A LINK AND THERE'S A TOOL THAT WOULD ALSO TEACH THEM ABOUT THE BENEFITS OF THE PROGRAMS, AND THEY CAN GET TO IT ON THEIR OWN, UM, SCHEDULE.
AND THAT'S ALSO A YOUTUBE, UM, VIDEO CLIP AND IT'S A TEACHING ONE.
SO, AS YOU CAN SEE, IN OUR OPINION, WE HAVE BEEN PROVIDING A LOT OF SUCCESS IN THE WORK THAT WE'VE BEEN DOING.
AND IF YOU LOOK AT OUR CURRENT STATE, WE ARE GOING TO CONTINUE, UM, TO IDENTIFY, UH, INCOME ELIGIBLE, UH, PARTICIPANTS.
UH, MOST OF THAT IS THROUGH, UM, OPPORTUNITIES AND WORKING WITH THE SCHOOL DISTRICTS AND OTHER, UM, PLACES WHERE SCHOOL LUNCH PROGRAMS AND OTHER KIND OF QUALIFYING FACTORS WILL COME INTO PLAY.
WE'RE TRYING TO MOVE TO, UM, YOU KNOW, BASICALLY THE WAY WE DEAL WITH THE PROGRAM IS AN OPT OUT, UM, YOU KNOW, PROGRAM.
AND SO THAT AUTOMATIC ENROLLMENT REALLY ALLOWS US TO BRING A LOT OF PEOPLE IN, UH, THE CHALLENGES.
IF, IF YOU LOOK AT OUR BENCHMARK GROUPS, UM, A LOT OF PEOPLE HAVE IT THE OPPOSITE.
AND THAT IS A, UM, YOU KNOW, AN OPT-IN.
UM, ALTHOUGH THAT CAN WORK, THAT'S NOT OUR PREFERENCE BECAUSE, UM, IT, YOU KNOW, SOMETIMES IT TAKES, UM, 10, MAYBE 12 TIMES THE EFFORT AND THE COST, UH, TO GET THOSE INDIVIDUALS SIGNED UP.
AND SO THIS HAS BEEN VERY, VERY EFFECTIVE FOR US.
UM, BUT ALSO AT TIMES WE HAVE TO TAKE OUR LEAD FROM OUR CONTRACT NEGOTIATIONS WITH THOSE ENTITIES THAT WE'RE WORKING WITH IN TERMS OF THEIR COMFORT ZONE WITH PROVIDING THAT, THAT DATA.
AND SO SOMETIMES THOSE ARE, YOU KNOW, DON'T TURN AROUND OVERNIGHT.
UH, SO IN THE FUTURE, WE'RE GONNA CONTINUE TO WORK WITH HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, UH, FOR PROGRAMS AND ALSO HAKA THE NEW HOUSING, UM, AUTHORITY AND, UM, KEEPING PACE WITH THEIR VOUCHERING PROGRAM SO THAT WE CAN HAVE THAT PART OF OUR REFERRAL SYSTEM.
WE ALSO, AS PART OF THE FUTURE, UM, IN OUR EXPANSION WORKING, UH, EXTENSIVELY WITH TRAVIS COUNTY, UH, IN THE INDI INDIGENT VOUCHER, UM, PROGRAM AS WELL.
SO WE'RE SITTING DOWN WITH ALL OF THESE ORGANIZATIONS ON A REGULAR BASIS, MAKING SURE THAT WE ARE TAKING A COLLABORATIVE AND COMPREHENSIVE APPROACH TO THE WAY WE PROVIDE, UH, SERVICES GOING FORWARD INTO THE FUTURE.
THIS IS, I THINK WHAT THE, THE NEXT SLIDE IS WHAT THE COMMISSIONERS, UM, WANTED AS TO SORT OF THE CAPSTONE TO THIS PRESENTATION.
UH, IN 19, UH, IN 22, 20 22, THE COUNCIL, UM, PROVIDED A DIRECTION THAT THEY WANTED TO INCREASE THE CA UH, THE CAP PROGRAM AND EXPAND IT.
AND AT THAT TIME, THAT WAS BASED ON US ACHIEVING, UM, A GOAL THAT HAPPENED OVER A THREE YEAR PERIOD,
[00:25:01]
UH, REACHING, UM, AT 40% IN THE FIRST YEAR IN 23, UM, UP TO 72% OF THOSE THAT WE IDENTIFIED AT ABOUT, UM, 89 OR 90,000, UH, POTENTIAL CUSTOMERS.AND THEN RIGHT AT, RIGHT AT, UH, I THINK IT'S LIKE, IS IT 80? ABOUT NINE OH, 90%, 90% OF ABOUT 90,000 CUSTOMERS IN THE THIRD YEAR.
WE'RE IN THE SECOND YEAR OF THAT MANDATE THAT WAS GIVEN TO US.
AND AS YOU CAN SEE, THE ORANGE IS THE GOAL FROM WHERE WE WERE, OUR BASE WAS ABOUT 33,000 ENROLLEES.
UM, IF YOU ADD THAT FRACTION, UH, WHAT WE AGREED TO WITH COUNCIL, UH, TO GET IT TO 42,000 IN THE FIRST YEAR, 66,000 IN THE SECOND YEAR, AND SO FORTH.
WE MET, WE, WE ARE RIGHT AT MEETING OR EXCEEDING, UH, THAT AMOUNT.
AND WE'RE TRACKING THE DIFFERENCE THAT YOU DON'T SEE RIGHT NOW AT THE 63.
WE'RE A LITTLE BIT OFF OF THE 66 BECAUSE WE WON'T KNOW UNTIL WE FINISH OUR COMPLETE JUNE DATA OF OUR ENROLLMENT, AND WE'LL PUT OUT THAT REPORT IN JULY.
UM, AND SO WE'RE STILL WORKING ON THAT.
AND THEN, UM, OUR THIRD YEAR, UH, TO GET JUST, UM, BELOW 80, 87, 80 8,000 CUSTOMERS, UM, ENROLLED.
UM, NOW WE WOULD SAY WE'RE JUST PUTTING A LITTLE, OUR OWN DISCLAIMER HERE.
WE'VE BEEN WORKING WITH A LOT OF COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS TO GET THERE, AND PARTICULARLY THE SCHOOL DISTRICTS.
AND AS I SAID, THE HEALTH SERVICES DEPARTMENTS, UM, THAT LAST YEAR IS GONNA BE REALLY TOUGH BECAUSE WE ARE, WE'RE JUST ABOUT SATURATING EVERYWHERE WHERE WE COULD NEGOTIATE CONTRACTS TO DO THE AUTOMATIC ENROLLMENT.
UM, WE'RE, WE'RE ABOUT TAPPED OUT ON THAT, AND SO WE'RE GONNA HAVE TO, WE'RE GONNA BE VERY, VERY CREATIVE, BUT WE'RE GONNA LOOK AT OTHER OPTIONS SUCH AS WHAT THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT USE AND SOME OF THEIR DEFINITION OF THOSE THAT MEET, UH, THE 200% OF FPL OR OTHER REQUIREMENTS AS THEY LOOK AT, UM, UM, YOU KNOW, BLOCK, UM, ENROLLMENT AND THINGS OF THAT NATURE.
SO WE'RE GONNA BE PRETTY, UH, CREATIVE AND INNOVATIVE IN, IN TERMS OF REACHING THAT GOAL THAT COUNCIL HAS PROVIDED TO US, BUT WE ARE ON TRACK.
WITH THAT BEING SAID, UM, I, I PUT THIS PIECE, THIS LAST PIECE IN HERE JUST TO MAKE THE NOTION THAT WE DO OFFER A, THE WEATHERIZATION PROGRAM, AND THOUGH A PRE A FULL PRESENTATION IS COMING NEXT MONTH, I KNOW, UH, UH, COMMISSIONER CHAPMAN WANTED TO JUST LEAST, UM, IDENTIFY THIS.
UM, BUT WE DO OFFER A NO-COST WEATHERIZATION PROGRAM.
UM, THIS HELPS ALL OF OUR CUSTOMERS, UH, TO MAKE SURE THAT THEY, UM, HAVE HOMES OF COMFORT AND SAFETY, UH, AND ALSO ENERGY EFFICIENT, WHETHER THEY ARE ACTUALLY THE OWNERS OF THAT HOME OR, UH, THE OCCUPANTS.
WHAT WE TRY TO DO IS WE HAVE, UM, A, A NUMBER OF PROGRAMS IN TERMS OF WHAT WE DO WITH IT.
UH, IT IS FOCUSED ON SEALING THE BUILDING ENVELOPE AND INSTALLING SAFETY MEASURES SUCH AS CARBON MONOXIDE AND SMOKE DETECTORS.
UM, IT GOES ON TO ALL OTHER KIND OF ENERGY EFFICIENCY, UM, INSTALLATIONS, UM, AS PART OF THAT PROGRAM.
AND AT THIS TIME, UM, AS IT RELATES TO THE CAP DISCUSSION, WE HAVE NO BACKLOG ON ALL CUSTOMERS THAT ARE NOW REQUESTING OR BEING REFERRED FOR THE WEATHERIZATION PROGRAM.
THEY ARE BEING WORKED IN THE PROCESS.
SO WITH THAT BEING SAID, I'M GONNA BRING, OH, I HEAR A QUESTION.
A QUICK QUESTION ON THE WEATHERIZATION, UHHUH
I THOUGHT WE WERE DOING KIND OF TUNEUPS.
OR IS THAT A DIFFERENT PROGRAM? YEAH, SO THAT'S QUESTION NUMBER ONE.
THERE IS A, THERE'S A PORTION OF IT THAT RICHARD IS GOING TO SPEAK OF.
HE'S IN THE ENERGY EFFICIENCY AREA.
AND THEN, AND THEN MY SECOND QUESTION WAS, I REMEMBER ALSO FOR CERTAIN PARTICIPANTS, UM, BEING ALLOWED TO GET WINDOW UNITS, AC WINDOW UNITS, MAYBE THAT WAS FOR THE MEDICALLY VULNERABLE.
I WAS JUST, MY QUESTION'S ABOUT AC AND WHETHER ANY, ANY PART OF AC IS INCLUDED IN, IN THE CAP WEATHERIZATION PROGRAM.
YEAH, THERE'S A SEPARATE, THIS IS RICHARD GEN, UH, GOOD EVENING COMMISSIONERS.
RICHARD GENESEE, VICE PRESIDENT OF CUSTOMER ENERGY SOLUTIONS FOR AUSTIN ENERGY.
THERE IS A SEPARATE HVAC TUNEUP PROGRAM THAT IS AVAILABLE TO CUSTOMERS, WHICH WOULD ADDRESS, UH, WHAT YOU'RE, WHAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT, UH, COMMISSIONER REED.
AND IS THAT FREE FOR THOSE AT 200% OR BELOW, OR IS THERE A COST FOR, FOR HOMEOWNERS OR, OR RENTERS? I BELIEVE THERE IS A COST.
UH, I DON'T BELIEVE THAT IS PART OF THE CAP, UH, WEATHERIZATION PROGRAM OR CAP, UH, YEAH, THE CAP WEATHERIZATION PROGRAM.
[00:30:01]
YES, COMMISSIONER, I HAVE A FEW, FEW COMMENTS OR QUESTIONS.UH, AND AGAIN, I, I APPLAUD THE RECENT OUTREACH.
UH, WHICH, UH, YOU MENTIONED, UH, SCHOOL DISTRICTS, WE DON'T HAVE THEM ALL ON BOARD FOR AUTOMATIC ENROLLMENT.
WHICH ONES DO WE HAVE ON BOARD? UH, WELL, WE HAVE, UH, SOME, A PROGRAM WE WORKED CLOSELY WITH, STARTED OUT WITH, UM, AUSTIN INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT.
UM, WE DO HAVE, UM, A, THEIR LEADERSHIP IS VERY MUCH INVOLVED.
UM, THEY ARE TAKING, THEY WANT TO DIVIDE IT INTO TWO OR THREE STAGES BEFORE THEY DO AUTOMATIC ENROLLMENT.
UH, THEY WANTED TO DO, UH, MAKE THEIR LIST OF CONTACTS FOR THOSE HOUSEHOLDS, UM, AVAILABLE.
AND SO WE'RE WORKING OUT AN AGREEMENT WITH THEM, BUT THEY PREFER AT THIS STAGE, UM, A, UM, OPT-IN PROGRAM.
AND WE'RE STILL WORKING WITH THEIR LEADERSHIP TO, UH, AND I AGREE WITH I JUST SEEING YOUR FACIAL EXPRESSION
AND RIGHT NOW, EVERY TIME WE COME BACK WITH NEW EVIDENCE AND DATA, UM, I THINK THEY'RE NO LONGER WORRIED AS MUCH ABOUT, UM, THE, THE GIVING, THE DISCOUNTS AND THE COMMUNITY THAT WE'RE GONNA BE HELPING.
I THINK THEY'RE STILL WORKING INTERNALLY THROUGH WHAT THEY BELIEVE IN THE DATA SHARING, CYBERSECURITY AND OTHER KINDS OF ISSUES.
AND SO I THINK IF AS THEY CAN GET MORE COMFORTABLE WITH THEIR, UM, IT AND SECURITY TEAM, I THINK WE WILL BE ABLE TO MAKE SOME HEADWAY THERE.
WHICH, UH, ARE THERE SOME DISTRICTS THAT NO PUSHBACK? UH, WELL, THE OTHER ONES I THINK ARE PRETTY OPEN, BUT WE'RE GONNA IMMEDIATELY, WE'RE GONNA FIND OUT BEFORE, UM, BEFORE WE GET INTO THE NOVEMBER PERIOD, WE'RE GONNA FIND OUT WHERE PFLUGERVILLE AND DELL VALLEY, UM, AND THERE'S A FEW OTHER AREAS.
THE NUMBERS ARE, ARE SMALL, BUT WHAT WE WOULD LIKE TO DO IS WE'RE, WE'RE WORKING WITH THEM PARALLEL.
SO ONCE WE CAN GET THE FULL AGREEMENTS THERE, WE'LL USE THIS TO, IN OUR CONVERSATIONS AND NEGOTIATIONS WITH A ISD AND, UH, HOW, HOW MANY, UH, HOUSEHOLDS, UH, LOOKING AT THAT GRAPH EARLIER, HOW MANY HOUSEHOLDS HAVE WE PICKED UP THROUGH THE, THROUGH THE ENROLLMENT OF, OF THE KI OF THE, UH, SCHOOL LUNCH? DO DO YOU HAVE THOSE NUMBERS? UM, I DON'T HAVE A SPECIFICALLY, BUT I, I KNOW WHEN WE STARTED THAT PROGRAM, IF YOU LOOK AT WHEN WE MADE THE LEAP, UM, FROM ABOUT 40,000 TO 60, THEY, YOU KNOW, THOSE THAT ARE ON THAT PROGRAM, WERE A PART OF THAT GROWTH.
I DON'T KNOW, I I CAN'T SAY IT'S, UH, THE ENTIRE 20,000, BUT THERE'S, UM, UM, A GOOD PROGRAM AND, AND, AND JUST, JUST BY COMPARISON, HOW, HOW MANY OF THE CURRENT ENROLLEES, UH, OR PERCENTAGE OF THE CURRENT ENROLLEES ARE, BECAUSE A DAY AUTOMATIC ENROLLMENT OR DATA MATCH WITH HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES COMMISSION FOR SNAP MEDICAID VERSUS, UH, VERSUS SELF-ENROLLMENT OR OTHER, IT, IT IS PROBABLY GONNA BE SOMEWHERE AROUND 95% TO FIVE.
SO, SO THAT 5% IS WHERE, WHERE WE NEED TO REALLY SEE GROWTH, THEN.
AND, AND THAT'S WHERE THE MOST OF THE WORK IS.
AND SO EVEN WHY WE ARE NOT GETTING ALWAYS AN ENROLLMENT, WE ARE STILL TALKING, BUT I'LL BE VERY HONEST WITH YOU, WE, WE'VE DONE A LOT OF ADVERTISEMENT.
WE TALK WITH CUSTOMERS, THEY QUALIFY, BUT THEY'RE MAKING THEIR OWN.
I MEAN, THERE'S A HOST OF DECISIONS THAT, UM, THANK YOU, BUT WE DON'T, WE DON'T WANT TO SIGN UP FOR THE PROGRAM.
UM, AND THEY'RE JUST A HOST OF REASONS FOR THAT.
IF WE HADN'T CONTACTED 'EM IN FIVE OR SIX MONTHS, WE'LL CIRCLE BACK AND SEE IF THEY HAD A CHANGE.
UM, AND, YOU KNOW, AND THOUGHT THERE, UM, THERE'S, THERE'S JUST A HOST OF REASONS THAT SOME PEOPLE QUALIFY, UM, THAT THEY'RE NOT THERE.
AND OBVIOUSLY OUR TEAM, UM, IN THAT LAST PORTION, UM, YOU KNOW, IT'S REVISITING.
WE, WE, WE MIGHT TAKE, UM, EIGHT TO NINE VISITS TO THAT HOUSE.
AND, AND, UH, YOU THE, UH, YOU MENTIONED THE ENROLLMENT, UH, INCLUDING WHAT'S GOING ON THIS WEEK AT THE AUSTIN ENERGY, AT THE AUSTIN ENERGY, UH, PAYMENT STATIONS CENTERS.
UH, HAS THERE BEEN ANY TYPE OF TARGETED OUTREACH THROUGH, UH, THE PUBLIC LIBRARIES? 'CAUSE I, AT AT LEAST MY LOCAL BRANCH, I'VE SEEN NOTHING.
AND, UH, AND THE OTHER RELATED TO THAT IS, UH, A LOT OF, SEEMS TO ME LIKE A LOT OF PEOPLE, UH, GO INTO THE GROCERY STORE LIKE FIESTA DOWN THE ROAD, UH, GO IN EVERY WEEK FOR GROCERIES, BUT THEY MAY NOT GO TO AUSTIN ENERGY PAYMENT CENTER,
[00:35:01]
UH, AT ALL.WELL, I THINK WE HAVE TO DO BOTH.
UM, AND I WOULD SAY, UH, WE ACTUALLY DO GET A LOT OF VISITORS.
UM, I THINK WE PROBABLY BRING IN ABOUT OVER A MILLION DOLLAR OR MORE A MONTH IN THESE, IN THESE PAY STATIONS IS HEAVILY TRAFFICKED.
THERE ARE A LOT OF OUR CUSTOMERS ARE CASH BASED IN THEIR OPERATIONS, SO WE GET A LOT OF, UM, AND THOSE THAT ALSO ARE PAYING, THEY ALSO HAVE SOMEONE AT TIMES WHO ARE ASSISTING THEM, AND THEY FIND OUT MORE INFORMATION THAT THEY TAKE TO OTHER FAMILY MEMBERS OR PART OF THE REFERRAL PROCESS.
BUT I WOULD AGREE WITH YOU, EVERY OPPORTUNITY WE HAVE TO, UM, PUT ADVERTISEMENT IN THE FIESTA, UM, ANY OF THE OTHER STATIONS, THIS IS WHERE WE'RE BUILDING.
WE, WE, UM, ADDED SOME MONEY INTO OUR, OUR BUDGET.
WE'RE DOING A LOT IN TERMS OF SOCIAL MEDIA.
WE'RE DOING A LOT IN TERMS OF THE BUILD STUFFER.
UM, AND WE'VE ALSO HAD SOME, UM, TV SPOTS.
AND SO, UH, THAT AREA IS GROWING.
WE, WE PROBABLY CAN'T DO ENOUGH, AND WE'LL JUST KEEP DOING EVERYTHING WE CAN FOR WITH ALL THE DOLLARS WE HAVE, THE, UH, ALL, ALL OF WHICH IS, UH, MY LAST QUE OKAY.
I THINK, UH, FOR PURPOSES OF THE MEETING NEXT MONTH ON THE, UH, REFERRING TO THE CAP WEATHERIZATION PROGRAM, RIGHT? MM-HMM.
UH, WHERE WE ARE DOING TUNEUPS, THEY MAY BE DOING REPLA UH, REPLACEMENTS.
UH, AND ONE OF THE THINGS I'M WANT TO KNOW IS HOW MANY, SO-CALLED WALKAWAYS, UH, WHERE THERE'S JUST TOO MUCH TO BE DONE.
UH, THE ROOF HAS A HOLE IN IT.
UH, THERE'S, UH, YOU KNOW, MEASURES THAT AREN'T BEING HOW NEIGHBORHOOD OF HOUSING ISN'T DOING OR CONNECTING WITH IT, THAT WHAT I'M HEARING FROM SOME PEOPLE IS WE'RE THE NUMBERS ARE NOT WHAT THEY COULD BE BECAUSE WE'RE NOT PROVIDING CREW WRAPAROUND SERVICES AND WE'RE NOT DOING THE MEASURES.
THAT LITTLE WINDOW UNIT THAT'S RUNNING ALL THE TIME, UH, MAY NEED NOT JUST A LITTLE BIT OF CLEANING OR FREON, BUT MAY NEED, YOU KNOW, REPLACEMENT.
AND THOSE ARE THE TYPES OF QUESTIONS I'D LIKE TO SEE ANSWERED WHEN WE TALK, TALK NEXT MONTH.
SO, UH, THANK YOU FOR, UM, CLARIFYING THAT AND WE'LL BRING THAT FORWARD.
AND I WANNA MAKE SURE I'M CLEAR THOUGH, UM, UH, WE ALWAYS HAVE A GOOD PARTNERSHIP WITH, UH, CPS WITH SAN ANTONIO.
YOUR REFERRAL IS MORE, A CONVERSATION IS MORE ABOUT ON THE, UM, ON THE AC AND THE OTHER ITEMS IN TERMS OF HOUSE, BUT NOT ABOUT WHAT WE'RE DOING RELATIVE TO THE DISCOUNT PROGRAM.
IS, UH, YOU KNOW, WE'RE, MOST OF THE UTILITIES ARE HERE ON THAT SIDE WANTING TO KIND OF MODEL OUR PROGRAM, AND SO WE FEEL PRETTY GOOD ABOUT THAT.
BUT WE'LL DEFINITELY BRING YOUR QUESTION, UH, AND A RESPONSE NEXT WEEK.
THANKS, UH, MR. OVERTON, UH, FOR THESE AMAZING PROGRAMS. YEAH, IT'S JUST BEEN, UH, AN AMAZING, UH, TO SEE THE EVOLUTION RIGHT, OF THIS OVER THE YEARS.
I REMEMBER WHEN WE WERE TALKING ABOUT AUTOMATIC ENROLLMENT AND NOW, AND NOW WE HAVE IT, AND YOU SEE THE NUMBERS, IT'S JUST UNREAL.
UM, I DID HAVE ONE QUESTION BECAUSE I KNOW THAT, UM, THERE'S A, UH, SENIOR REBATE IN ADDITION TO THE ONE THAT'S KIND OF INCOME BASED.
IS THAT ALSO GONNA AUTO ENROLL? OR, I DON'T KNOW IF YOU CAN ADDRESS THAT.
UH, CAN YOU EXPLAIN, I APOLOGIZE, COMMISSIONER, THE SENIOR REBATE, CAN YOU EXPLAIN A LITTLE BIT MORE? WE, I'M NOT FAMILIAR THAT WE HAVE THAT AS PART OF OUR AUTOMATIC ENROLLMENT.
I THOUGHT THAT THERE WAS A, UH, EXEMPTION FOR SENIORS, BUT IT MIGHT ALL JUST BE INCOME BASED.
SO THAT, THAT'S REALLY THE QUESTION, RIGHT? IS THERE A SENIOR? UM, THE ONLY THING I CAN THINK ABOUT REBATE? YEAH.
[00:40:01]
YOU? NO, SIR.UH, THE ONLY THING I CAN THINK ABOUT IS THAT, UM, OFTENTIMES WHEN SENIORS AT AN AGE, THEY DO GET A TRANSPORTATION USER'S FEE BECAUSE OF THEIR AGE, THEY'LL BE EXEMPTED FROM THAT FEE.
AND WE ALSO, WHEN, UH, SUCH AS I MENTIONED TO COMMISSIONER CHAPMAN, IF THEY SAY ANYTHING ABOUT THAT IN THE PHONE, ANY KEY INDICATIONS ABOUT, UM, I DON'T DRIVE ANYMORE, I DON'T HAVE A CAR, OR, OR SOMETHING ABOUT THE AGE, THAT CONVERSATION COMES INTO PLAY AND THEY'LL GET AN EXEMPTION FROM THAT FEE.
I THINK, YOU KNOW, I'M GETTING MY, WHAT'S THE AGE THRESHOLD ON THAT?
WELL, AND THEN MY LAST QUESTION, UH, IS JUST, UH, IF WE COULD GET LIKE A SIMILAR CHART SENT TO US, CHART NUMBER SIX OR SLIDE NUMBER SIX, BUT FOR THE, UH, THE PLUS ONE UTILITY ASSISTANCE, RIGHT.
THE UTILITY ASSISTANCE PROVIDED THROUGH PLUS ONE, IT WOULD BE, AGAIN, JUST KIND OF HELPFUL TO SEE THE EVOLUTION OF THAT OVER TIME.
AND, UH, IN ENDING, IF THERE ARE NO ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS, ARE THERE ANY ONLINE, WE ACTUALLY HAVE A BROCHURE HERE, AND WE'LL SEND IT TO, UM, EVERYBODY ONLINE ELECTRONICALLY.
WE HAVE A BROCHURE HERE THAT OUTLINES A LOT OF THE PROGRAM, UM, ITEMS. I'M GONNA STAY AT THE MIC AS I'M GETTING READY TO, UM, JERRY, CAN SOMEBODY HELP ME PROVIDE THOSE, AT LEAST TO THE COMMISSIONERS THAT ARE HERE, UH, UH, TO THOSE, AND EVERYBODY ELSE WILL, WILL, WILL MAKE SURE THAT YOU GET IT OUT, UM, ELECTRONICALLY.
IT DESCRIBES THE PROGRAMS, IT DESCRIBES ALL OF THE BENEFITS, HOW YOU QUALIFY, AND THAT, UH, THAT BROCHURE IS IN ENGLISH AND IN SPANISH.
AND ONCE YOU GET THE LINK, WE ASK PEOPLE TO SHARE IT WITH ANYBODY THAT THEY MIGHT KNOW WHO NEEDS TO CONTACT US ABOUT SIGNING UP.
SO WE THEN RECRUIT YOU AS PART OF AN EXTENSION OF OUR WORK, UM, OUR WORKFORCE, UH, TO MAKE SURE ANYBODY YOU BELIEVE A NEIGHBOR THAT SHOULD BE ON THE PROGRAM, MAKE SURE THAT THEY GET HOLD TO US.
AND YOU'LL FIND A LOT OF INFORMATION IN THAT BROCHURE.
THANK YOU FOR, UH, OH, YOUR QUESTIONS.
UH, JUST FOLLOWING UP, UH, ON WHAT, UH, WHAT WAS ASKED A MINUTE AGO, IT, DOES AUSTIN ENERGY MAINTAIN THE TRANSPORTATION FEE? UH, I THINK I SAW ON K VIEW THAT, UH, A LOT OF PEOPLE DON'T KNOW ABOUT IT, AND I'VE SEEN IT IN A BILL STUFFER, UH, BUT ALL OF WHICH IS, IS THERE SOME WAY OF IDENTIFYING, DO, DOES AUSTIN ENERGY THERE WHEN PEOPLE IN RURAL, UH, SIGN UP FOR SERVICE? OR IS THERE SOME WAY OF AUTOMATING THAT? WHEN PEOPLE TURN 65? THE, THE, THE DEPARTMENT, UM, UH, TRANSPORTATION, THEY ARE ACTUALLY THE MANAGERS OF THE PROGRAM, AND THEY'VE, THEY'VE ACTUALLY INCREASED THEIR PROMOTION OF IT.
SO WHAT WE WOULD DO IS WE APPLY IT TO THE BILL AND PROVIDE INFORMATION AND SERVICES AROUND HOW IT WORKS.
AND I THINK EACH YEAR YOU MAY HAVE HEARD FROM THEIR DEPARTMENT DIRECTOR THAT THEY'VE LOOKED AT, UM, WAYS IN WHICH THEY COULD AUTOMATE THAT IN TERMS OF, UM, TAKING THE INFORMATION UP FRONT.
BUT WE DON'T REQUIRE THAT OF CUSTOMERS WHEN THEY FIRST SIGN UP, UH, IN THE SYSTEM, UM, IN ORDER TO GIVE US ALL OF THE INFORMATION IN TERMS OF THEIR AGE IN ORDER TO HAVE AN ACCOUNT.
YEAH, I, I'M JUST THINKING AT THE LA AT THE LAST MEETING, WE, THE CITY JUST EXTENDED A CONTRACT WITH A, WITH A DATABASE COMPANY.
WE TALKED ABOUT IT TO DO BACKGROUND FOR NEW CUSTOMERS.
AND I, I WOULD THINK THE CONTRACTOR, WHEN YOU DEAL WITH THEM, THEY WOULD BE ABLE TO TELL YOU NOT JUST THEIR SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER, BUT PRESUMABLY THEIR, THEIR AGE.
WE, WE DON'T HAVE THAT CAPTURED, BUT WHATEVER ADVANCES THAT THEY MAKE, UM, IN TERMS OF THEIR NEGOTIATIONS AND, AND THEIR WORK, WE'LL ADD IT TO THE CONTRACT.
BUT I WILL, UM, EVEN THOUGH WE'RE COMING BACK OR SENDING SOME INFORMATION ABOUT THE PLUS ONE CHART, UH, THAT WAS ASKED, UM, WE'LL SEND YOU SOME INFORMATION ON WHERE THEIR STATUS IS, BUT THAT'S MANAGED BY THE, UM, UH, THE TRANSPORTATION DEPARTMENT.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR QUESTIONS AND YOUR TIME THROUGH THE PRESENTATION.
ANY OTHER QUESTIONS ONLINE? OKAY, THANK YOU VERY MUCH.
[8. Staff briefing and process update on the Resource, Generation, and Climate Protection Plan by Lisa Martin, Deputy General Manager and Chief Operating Officer and Lynda Rife, President of Rifeline.]
WE HAVE ITEM NUMBER EIGHT, STAFF BRIEFING ON THE RESOURCE GEN PLAN AND CLIMATE PROTECTION PLAN.[00:45:03]
ALL RIGHT.UM, GOOD EVENING, CHAIR, TUTTLE AND COMMISSIONERS.
I'M LISA MARTIN, AUSTIN ENERGY'S CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER, HERE TO PROVIDE THE JUNE UPDATE FOR THE RESOURCE GENERATION AND CLIMATE PROTECTION PLAN TO 2035.
LAST WEEK, I WAS PLEASED TO HAVE A DISCUSSION WITH YOUR LEADERSHIP AND UNDERSTAND SOME OF THE PREFERRED WAYS TO INVOLVE YOU, UM, AS WE CONTINUE THROUGHOUT THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE PLAN TO 2035, WE'LL DISCUSS THAT FURTHER IN A FEW SLIDES.
BUT BEFORE I GET STARTED, I DO WANNA HIGHLIGHT THAT WE HAVE SET A DATE FOR A MEETING WITH THE EUC WORKING GROUP MEMBERS WHO WISH TO DISCUSS THE RECOMMENDATION DRAFTED EARLIER THIS YEAR.
THAT MEETING IS SET FOR JUNE 24TH, AND VICE CHAIR WHITE HAS AGREED TO SHARE THAT INVITATION WITH ALL THE WORKING GROUP MEMBERS.
SO, TONIGHT WE'LL REVIEW A SUMMARY OF THE WORK STREAMS THAT ARE UNDERWAY FOR THE 2035 PLAN, AND THEN I'LL PROVIDE AN OVERVIEW OF THE WAYS WE ANTICIPATE EUC BEING INVOLVED IN THE PROCESS.
AND THEN I'LL SHARE THE FLOOR WITH LINDA RIFE, WHO WILL PROVIDE AN UPDATE ON THE COMMUNITY FACILITATION WORK AND GATHER YOUR FEEDBACK.
UH, SO THIS SLIDE HIGHLIGHTS THE SIX MAIN WORK STREAMS THAT WE HAVE UNDERWAY.
THEY'RE ALL RUNNING IN PARALLEL.
AS WE DEVELOP THE OPTIONS THAT WE'LL RECOMMEND TO COUNCIL, UM, FOR COUNCIL APPROVAL TOWARDS THE END OF THIS YEAR, YOU'LL NOTICE A MORE ROBUST APPROACH WHERE WE ARE IMPLEMENTING THE FULL SET OF RESOURCES, UH, NEEDED TO CREATE A 2035 PLAN INSTEAD OF JUST A 2030 UPDATE.
THE FIRST TIME THROUGH, WE CONSIDERED OUR SCOPE TO BE MORE LIMITED, AND WE WERE FOCUSED ON VERY IMMEDIATE RISK.
THIS IS A BROADER SCOPE WITH A LONGER TERM PLANNING HORIZON, AND WE'VE ENGAGED WITH SEVERAL EXTERNAL PARTIES WITH SUBJECT MATTER EXPERTISE TO HELP THROUGHOUT THE PROCESS.
UM, I'VE INCLUDED A SUMMARY OF THE ROLE.
EACH THIRD PARTY IS PLAYING TO HELP INFORM ALL OF THE WORK THAT WE WILL COLLECTIVELY DO, AND THAT'S INCLUDED IN THE BACKUP TO TONIGHT'S MEETING, UH, DOCUMENTATION.
AND I BELIEVE COMMISSIONER REED, THAT YOU HAD ASKED FOR THAT LAST TIME.
UM, BUT LET ME WALK THROUGH SOME OF THE HIGHLIGHTS HERE.
SO THE FIRST WORK STREAM IS COMMUNITY FACILITATION BY LIFELINE, AND LAST MONTH LINDA WALKED THROUGH HER SCOPE AND A SUMMARY OF THE WORKSHOPS.
WE'VE ALSO ENGAGED WITH DR. MICHAEL WEBER AND WEBER ENERGY GROUP OF UT TO SHARE THEIR EXPERTISE ON THE CURRENT AND FUTURE STATE OF AUSTIN ENERGY IN THE ERCOT MARKET, AS WELL AS NEAR AND LONG-TERM RISKS AND OPTIONS TO MITIGATE THEM.
DR. WEBER WILL WILL BE A PRESENTER AT THE SECOND, UH, RIF LINE WORKSHOP, AND HIS TEAM WILL BE DEVELOPING A REPORT TO INFORM OUR WORK.
AND I'M HOPEFUL WE'LL BE ABLE TO SHARE A SUMMARY AND UPCOMING EUC MEETING SHORTLY.
MOVING TO NUMBER THREE, COUNCIL APPROVED A CONTRACT WITH DNV ENERGY INSIGHTS LAST MONTH TO CONDUCT A MARKET STUDY ON DEMAND SIDE MANAGEMENT AND LOCAL SOLAR FOR AUSTIN ENERGY.
AS WE DISCUSSED PREVIOUSLY, THAT SCOPE OF WORK WAS INFORMED BY THE EUC WORKING GROUP RECOMMENDATIONS, AND THIS WORK WILL FEED INTO THE OPTIONS PRESENTED TO COUNCIL FOR THE 2035 PLAN.
NUMBER FOUR IS PORTFOLIO MODELING.
WE EXTENDED A CONTRACT WITH ASCEND FOR THIRD PARTY ANALYTICS TO PROVIDE ADDITIONAL INSIGHT INTO THE MODELING WORK THAT'S GONNA BE ASSOCIATED WITH THIS RESOURCE GENERATION PLAN.
WE INTEND TO WORK WITH YOU FOR A COMMON UNDERSTANDING ON THE MODELING WORK, THE INPUTS, AND THE RESULTS WE PREVIOUSLY DISCUSSED NUMBER FIVE, WHICH IS THE REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS, BUT AS A REMINDER RESPONSE FOR THE RENEWABLE RFP.
WERE DUE LAST FRIDAY, JUNE 7TH, AND OUR TEAM IS REVIEWING THE PROPOSALS TO DETERMINE IF ANY ARE VIABLE FOR RECOMMENDATION.
WE'RE EAGER TO EXTEND OUR EXISTING PORTFOLIO OF RENEWABLE ENERGY WITH THE RIGHT OFFERS, AND WE'LL RETURN TO YOU IN THE COMING MONTHS WITH A SUMMARY AND ANY RECOMMENDATIONS.
AND THEN, UH, QUICK QUESTION ON THAT.
DID THAT, DID THAT INCLUDE BATTERY STORAGE? OR WAS THE BATTERY STORAGE JUST SEPARATE? THIS DID INCLUDE BATTERY STORAGE, THANKS.
AND THEN FINALLY NUMBER SIX IS THAT WE'RE TAPPING INTO OUR INDUSTRY CONTACTS AT ESOURCE AND EPRI, BOTH OF WHICH HAVE DEEP KNOWLEDGE OF SUBJECTS RELEVANT TO THE RESOURCE GENERATION PLANS SUCH AS ENERGY EFFICIENCY, DEMAND RESPONSE, ENERGY STORAGE, AND DECARBONIZATION METHODS.
SO, AS I MENTIONED AT THE BEGINNING, WE ANTICIPATE WORKING CLOSELY WITH ALL OF YOU THROUGHOUT THE PROCESS IN VARIOUS WAYS, AND THIS PROVIDE, THIS SLIDE PROVIDES AN OVERVIEW, UM, AND THAT IS DIRECTLY RELATED TO FEEDBACK FROM YOUR LEADERSHIP.
AND IF WE NEED TO ADJUST ALONG THE WAY, WE CERTAINLY WILL.
SO FIRST, TWO OF YOUR COMMISSIONERS, BOTH CHAIR TUTTLE AND VICE CHAIR WHITE, ARE PARTICIPANTS IN THE LIFELINE WORKSHOPS AS REPRESENTATIVES FOR THE ENTITIES THAT THEY WORK FOR.
LINDA'S GONNA SHARE A FULL LIST OF STAKEHOLDER ORGANIZATIONS MOMENTARILY, BUT I'D ALSO LIKE TO HIGHLIGHT THAT IN TOTAL, 50% OF THE WORKING GROUP MEMBERS ARE ON THE STAKEHOLDER GROUP REPRESENTING THEIR ORGANIZATIONS.
IN SOME CASES, IT'S A DIFFERENT PERSON LIKE SHANE JOHNSON INSTEAD OF COMMISSIONER REED FOR, UH, SIERRA CLUB.
BUT IN TOTAL, THERE ARE SEVEN FROM THE WORKING GROUP.
AND FOR THOSE OF YOU THAT WILL NOT, THAT DON'T
[00:50:01]
PLAN TO ATTEND THE WORKSHOPS, UM, LYNDA WILL PROVIDE MONTHLY UPDATES AT EUC MEETINGS.WE ALSO PLAN TO HAVE ACTIVE COLLABORATION AND DIALOGUE WITH YOU AT THESE MEETINGS, UM, THROUGHOUT THE PLAN DEVELOPMENT.
AND THEN WE WILL ALSO SHARE PRESENTATIONS OF THE THIRD PARTY RESEARCH AS THOSE COME THROUGH.
OUR ULTIMATE OBJECTIVE AS VICE CHAIR WHITE PUT IT LAST WEEK, IS TO GIVE YOU MORE THAN JUST A BRIEF UPDATE ALONG THE WAY AND THEN PUT A PLAN IN FRONT OF YOU TO VOTE FOR.
SO ESSENTIALLY, WE'RE GONNA, UM, SHE SAID YOU NEED SOME WAY OR SOME SPACE OF DIGGING INTO THE DETAILS OF THE PLAN BEFORE IT'S BROUGHT BEFORE YOU.
AND SO I COMMITTED THAT WE'RE GONNA WALK THIS PATH TOGETHER.
SO AS WE LOOK FORWARD TO WHAT THE 2035 PLAN WILL BE, I WANNA LEAVE YOU WITH A FEW INITIAL THOUGHTS ON WHY OUR PROCESS LOOKS DIFFERENT THAN, UH, OR WHY OUR PROCESS LOOKS THE WAY THAT IT DOES.
WE DISCUSSED THIS IN A BIT MORE DEPTH AT THE FIRST RIFLE LINE WORKSHOP LAST FRIDAY, AND I ENCOURAGE YOU TO VIEW THOSE SLIDES.
THE OPTIONS THAT WE RECOMMEND TO COUNCIL WILL BE ROOTED IN A GOAL OF CARBON FREE BY 2035, AND WE'LL INCLUDE OTHER OBJECTIVES AS WELL AS THOSE, UH, WILL BE DEFINED TO ALIGN WITH COMMUNITY VALUES AND PRIORITIES.
WE'LL CONSIDER THE EUC WORKING GROUP RECOMMENDATIONS AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE.
AND AS YOU SAID, CHAIR TUTTLE, WE'RE ALL IN FAVOR OF THE BIG FIVE ENERGY EFFICIENCY, DEMAND RESPONSE, SOLAR STORAGE AND TRANSMISSION.
THE 2035 PLAN WILL BE AN OBJECTIVE-BASED PLAN ROOTED IN COMMUNITY VALUES AND PRIORITIES, RECOGNIZING THAT THERE ARE TRADE-OFFS BETWEEN VARIOUS OPTIONS.
WE WANNA EMBRACE ALL THE VALUES THAT WE SHARE, BUT WE DO HAVE TO RECOGNIZE THAT PREVIOUS PLANS WERE ABLE TO EMPHASIZE ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY, WHILE NEVER PUT IN RELIABILITY AND AFFORDABILITY AT RISK.
THOSE VALUES HARDLY HAD TO EVEN BE MENTIONED.
THEY JUST WERE INHERENT IN THE WORK THAT WE WERE DOING.
BUT NOW, WITH THE CURRENT MARKET AND WORLD CONDITIONS, PLUS THE FACT THAT WE'RE GETTING MUCH CLOSER TO THE CARBON FREE GOAL, IT'S MUCH MORE CHALLENGING TO MEET ALL OF THE OBJECTIVES.
SO THOSE TRADE-OFFS ARE INEVITABLE, AND WE WANT THOSE TRADE-OFFS TO BE ALIGNED WITH THE COMMUNITY'S PRIORITIES.
SO ACROSS THE GLOBE, THERE ARE DYNAMIC FACTORS DRIVING A CHANGE OF HOW ALL UTILITIES ARE APPROACHING RESOURCE PLANNING.
AND AS A RESULT OF THOSE DRIVERS, RESOURCE PLANS ARE BEING STRUCTURED TO ALLOW FLEXIBILITY TO RESPOND TO CHANGING CIRCUMSTANCES AND SET ANOTHER WAY.
OUR 2035 PLAN NEEDS TO BE STRUCTURED TO HOLD UP TO UNCERTAINTY.
SO WE LOOK FORWARD TO WORKING WITH YOU AND PRESENTING OPTIONS FOR RECOMMENDATIONS IN SEPTEMBER, ULTIMATELY LEADING TO A COUNCIL VOTE BEFORE THE END OF CALENDAR YEAR 24.
AND NOW I'LL PASS THE, UH, FLOOR OVER TO LINDA RIFE.
BEFORE YOU GET OFF STAGE, UM, ARE THERE ANY BACKGROUND MATERIALS THAT YOU COULD PROVIDE US FROM, SAY, EPRI THAT TALKS ABOUT THIS, THAT GIVES SOME MORE BACKGROUND THAT IT'D BE WORTHWHILE FOR US TO READ BEFORE THE MEETINGS? BECAUSE IT MAY BE, YOU KNOW, SOME NUMBER OF PAGES.
I WILL CERTAINLY HAVE THE TEAM LOOK INTO WHAT ARE SOME OF THE MOST SALIENT DOCUMENTS FROM EPRI? MM-HMM.
HEY, JUST WANNA THANK YOU, UM, FOR PROVIDING THIS INFORMATION, PARTICULARLY ABOUT THE DIFFERENT CONTRACTS AND WHO THE COMPANIES ARE.
UM, AS, UH, WE JUST HEARD, UH, WE HOSTED OUR FIRST OF THE MONTHLY SERIES OF MEETINGS LAST FRIDAY FROM 1130 TO ONE 30.
WE HAD A GREAT TURNOUT, AND THE PURPOSE OF THAT WORKSHOP WAS REALLY TO START TO GET, UH, GATHER INITIAL FEEDBACK AND INPUT FROM LOCAL STAKEHOLDERS AND TO HAVE IDENTIFIED COMMUNITY VALUES, PRIORITIES, AND METRICS FOR AUSTIN ENERGY'S GENERATION RESOURCE PLAN.
2035 STAKEHOLDERS REPRESENTED LOCAL ORGANIZATIONS THAT PROVIDED A VOICE TO AUSTIN ENERGY.
AND IF I COULD HAVE THE NEXT SLIDE, YOU CAN SEE THAT THE STAKEHOLDER GROUPS WERE DIVERSE.
UM, WE HAD PEOPLE THAT WERE PARTICULARLY INTERESTED IN CLEAN OR SUSTAINABILITY, BUT AFFORDABILITY WAS IMPORTANT, RELIABILITY WAS IMPORTANT.
WE HAD A HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT, WELL, ONE THAT JUST GRADUATED, SO I GUESS SHE'S A UT STUDENT NOW.
UH, WE HAD A A RP, SO WE TRIED TO COVER KIND OF THE WHOLE GAMUT, UH, OF THINGS THERE.
SO YOU CAN SEE IT WAS PRETTY DIVERSE.
STAKEHOLDERS WERE BROKEN OUT INTO FOUR BREAKOUT GROUPS AND ENGAGED IN SMALL GROUPS.
YOU WILL ALL RECEIVE A REPORT BY THE END OF THE WEEK THAT HAS KIND OF AN OA QUICK OVERVIEW, AND THEN EXACTLY, UM, THE, THE MAJOR POINTS THAT WERE WRITTEN ON THE FLIP CHARTS, UM, SO THAT YOU CAN TAKE A LOOK AT THAT.
I'M GONNA GIVE YOU A QUICK OVERVIEW TONIGHT ABOUT WHAT THOSE MAIN TAKEAWAYS WERE.
SO, UH, WHEN WE ASK ABOUT THE ADDITION TO THE MISSION PILLARS, FIRST OF ALL, WORKSHOP PARTICIPANTS FELT GOOD ABOUT AUSTIN ENERGY'S MISSION, AND THEY MENTIONED THE COMPLEXITY OF THE MARKET AND THE DIFFICULTY OF BALANCING THE THREE MISSION PILLARS.
[00:55:01]
SO THEY RECOGNIZE YOUR CHALLENGE AND ARE EXCITED ABOUT BEING HERE TO HELP YOU WITH THAT, THEY SUGGESTED ADDING EQUITY AND TRANSPARENCY SOMEHOW INTO THE AUSTIN ENERGY'S MISSION.EQUITY WAS DEFINED AS ENSURING SERVICES THAT NEEDED TO THOSE THAT NEED IT THE MOST.
IT WASN'T ABOUT THE GEOGRAPHY LOCATION, IT WAS ABOUT THE SERVICES TO THOSE WHO NEEDED MOST.
THAT CAME OUT IN BOTH THE AFFORDABILITY AND THE RELIABILITY CONVERSATIONS.
TRANSPARENCY, SPECIFICALLY EASY ACCESSIBLE INFORMATION REGARDING RESIDENTIAL CUSTOMER FEES AND RATES.
UM, PARTICIPANTS WANTED TO SEE MORE PROACTIVE COMMUNICATION FROM AUSTIN ENERGY REGARDING OUTAGES AND DISASTER RESPONSE.
PARTICIPANTS URGED AUSTIN ENERGY TO PRIORITIZE COLLECTING COMMUNITY FEEDBACK AND FOSTERING MORE COORDINATION WITH LOCAL ORGANIZATIONS AND GROUPS.
AND THEY WERE EXCITED TO RAISE THEIR HAND TO BE WITH THOSE GROUPS.
SO I THINK WE'VE STARTED A GOOD, UM, DIALOGUE WITH THEM IN BUILDING SOME TRUST FOR A NICE COALITION GOING FORWARD.
SUSTAINABILITY AND INNOVATION WORKSHOP PARTICIPANTS FOCUSED ON A CRADLE TO GRAVE OR LIKE LIFECYCLE ASSESSMENT REGARDING SUSTAINABILITY.
THEY STATED THAT THE MISSION SHOULD BE HOLISTIC, INCLUDING RESTORATIVE ENERGY PRACTICES, INNOVATIVE SOLUTIONS AND DEMAND MANAGEMENT.
PARTICIPANTS WOULD LIKE TO SEE FLEXIBILITY VERSUS SPECIFICITY, UH, PRIORITIZING THE GENERATION RESOURCE PLAN IN REGARD TO CUSTOMER RATES AND AFFORDABILITY.
I THINK WE KIND OF GOT OFF INTO SOME RATE CASE STUFF, SO, EXCUSE ME, BUT THIS IS WHAT WE SAID.
SO THAT'S MY JOB AS REPORTING OUT, BUT WE MIGHT WANNA TAKE ANOTHER LOOK AT THAT IN THE FUTURE.
UM, FUTURE WORKSHOPS THAT WE'RE HAVING, THE WORKSHOP PARTICIPANTS CONTINUED THE EQUITY TEAM THEME WHEN DISCUSSING AFFORDABILITY.
AUSTIN ENERGY MUST CONSIDER THE POPULATION THAT NEEDS ENERGY THE MOST, INCLUDING THE MEDICALLY VULNERABLE, AND THOSE WHO ARE LOW INCOME ARE ON FIXED INCOMES.
AND ADDRESSING THE ENERGY BURDEN OF AFFORDABILITY, NOT JUST A FIXED RATE.
ENERGY BURDEN WAS DISCUSSED AS A MEASURE INSTEAD OF A PERCENTAGE OF INCREASE.
AND THERE WAS NO SPECIFIC DISCUSSION ON AFFORDABILITY WITH COMMERCIAL CUSTOMERS.
SO I'M GONNA HAVE TO GET BETTER AT CALLING ON COMMERCIAL CUSTOMERS TO SPEAK UP.
UM, RELIABILITY VERSUS PREDICTABILITY.
I THOUGHT THIS WAS REALLY INTERESTING.
WORKSHOP PARTICIPANTS RECOGNIZE THAT A HUNDRED PERCENT RELIABILITY CANNOT BE IN OBTAINED, AND THAT SOME OUT OUTAGES ARE INEVITABLE.
HOWEVER, THEY ENCOURAGE AUSTIN ENERGY TO BE PREDICTABLE.
THIS INCLUDES THE NUMBER OF HOURS OF IMPACT WHEN OUTAGES OCCUR, AND TO RECEIVE NOTIFICATIONS, NOTIFICATIONS AHEAD OF TIME.
THERE ARE SOME GROUPS WHERE A HUNDRED PERCENT RELIABILITY IS VERY IMPORTANT, INCLUDING TO THOSE THAT ARE MEDICALLY COMPROMISED AND FRAGILE.
AND THE PA PLAN MAY WANT TO INCLUDE RESILIENT TUBS TO HAVE WATER, FOOD, AND STORED CLEAN ENERGY.
ONE GROUP SUGGESTED COMPARING A ENERGY TO ERCOT NUMBERS, OR THERE ARE OTHER RESOURCES TO ANALYZE FREQUENCY AND DURATION OF OUTAGES COMPARED TO HOUSTON OR DALLAS.
THEY ALSO HAD SOME SUGGESTIONS ON WHAT THEY'D LIKE TO TALK ABOUT IN RELATIONSHIP TO RESOURCE GENERATIONS FOR FUTURE MEETINGS.
THOSE INCLUDED HYPER-LOCAL AND ONSITE ENERGY GENERATION, BATTERY STORAGE AND ENER ENERGY STORAGE OUTSIDE OF BATTERIES.
DEMAND MANAGEMENT LOCALLY SOURCED ENERGY OPTIONS TO REDUCE COST OF TRANSMISSION, CRADLE TO GRAVE OR LIFECYCLE ASSESSMENTS OF RESOURCES, RELIABILITY AND AFFORDABILITY BY ENERGY SOURCE UPDATE ON THE FAYETTE POWER PLANT PROJECT.
NEW ENERGY GENERATION TECHNOLOGIES, NUCLEAR ENERGY, GEOTHERMAL ENERGY, GREEN HYDROGEN AND TRANSMISSION LINE STATEWIDE.
AND I KNOW THAT SEVERAL PEOPLE SHOWED UP.
AND, UM, I KNOW THAT RO WAS HERE AS WELL, AND EVA, UM, WAS THERE ANYTHING THAT I, BIG PICTURES THAT I MISSED THAT YOU'D LIKE TO ADD? I THINK THAT'S A GREAT SUMMARY.
I THOUGHT IT WAS A CONSTRUCTIVE MEETING.
I THINK THERE ARE A NUMBER OF THINGS THAT YOU, UH, AE RDS PROGRAMS ON, LIKE, FOR EXAMPLE, THE MEDICALLY VULNERABLE PLAN.
ALSO, THERE WAS ONE ABOUT WHAT ABOUT THE, THE POTENTIAL TAX OF EVS ON THE GRID.
WELL, I WAS GONNA GET RICHARD AND SEE IF HE'S GONNA COMMENT EITHER TODAY OR NEXT MONTH ABOUT HIS NEW PROGRAM THAT HE JUST WENT ONLINE AS FAR AS INTELLIGENT CHARGING.
SO I THINK THERE'S A NUMBER OF THINGS THAT I BET YOU'VE ALREADY GOT TICKED OFF THAT YOU CAN TALK ABOUT.
UM, IN ADDITION TO THE CAP PROGRAM THAT AE ISS ALREADY WORKING ON TO HELP FULFILL IT, THE LCA LIFECYCLE ASSESSMENT, I WOULD, UH, YOU KNOW, I'VE SEEN MANY GOOD ONES THAT ARE CREDIBLE AND I'VE SEEN SOME ONES THAT ARE OBVIOUSLY FLAWED, DEEPLY FLAWED.
[01:00:01]
COMES UP SOMETIMES FOR PEOPLE WHO SAY, WELL, I'VE HEARD THIS RUMOR THAT A WIND TURBINE FARM NEVER MAKES BACK ITS REDUCTION IN EMISSIONS.THAT'S A VERY FLAWED ANALYSIS.
SO I THINK THAT THOSE LC LCAS FOR THE WIND AND SOLAR FARMS THAT YOU'VE GOT ALREADY, THAT CAN, CAN SHOW THOSE FROM CREDIBLE SOURCES THAT, THAT TALK ABOUT THE PAYBACK.
THAT'S FAIRLY QUICKLY AS FAR AS EMISSIONS REDUCTIONS.
I THINK IT WOULD BE USEFUL TO DISTRIBUTE.
YEAH, THOSE ARE THE, THE TOP THINGS THAT I THINK IT WAS, I THOUGHT IT WAS A WELL RUN MEETING.
ANYTHING, UM, RAUL OR ANYBODY ELSE WHO ATTENDED? AND THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR BEING THERE AND COMING.
THEN I'M GONNA ASK YOU A COUPLE OF QUESTIONS HERE.
UM, JUST FOR YOU TO, AS FEEDBACK, WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT EQUITY, UM, AS FAR AS YOUR, AS THE AUSTIN ENERGY MISSION? ANY THOUGHTS IN REGARD TO WHAT THEY WERE SUGGESTING ON EQUITY? I KNOW IT'S BRAND NEW, BUT JUST THOUGHT I'D ASK.
UM, WE, WE, WE DIDN'T REALLY HAVE A SPECIFIC, MAYBE IT WASN'T IN THE MISSION, UM, BUT WE CERTAINLY HAD AFFORDABILITY AND WE CERTAINLY TALKED ABOUT MAKING SURE THE PROGRAMS LIKE THE ENERGY EFFICIENCY PROGRAMS AND THE SOLAR PROGRAMS WERE ACCESSIBLE TO ALL PEOPLE.
AND SO I DON'T KNOW THAT WE SPELLED IT OUT IN THAT WAY IN THE PREVIOUS VERSION OF THE GENERATION PLAN, BUT WE CERTAINLY HAD COMPONENTS OF EQUITY IN IT.
UM, BUT SO, SO THAT COULD BE SOMETHING EXPLORED, JUST MAKING SURE ALL THE DIFFERENT PROGRAMS ARE AVAILABLE AND ACCESSIBLE TO ALL PEOPLE, INCLUDING CAB CUSTOMERS.
AND IT WAS ALSO DISCUSSED IN THE RELIABILITY PORTION OF THAT MISSION STATEMENT.
SO IT WASN'T JUST AFFORDABILITY, BUT, UM, SO IT SOUNDS LIKE IT WAS THERE AND WE MIGHT JUST NEED TO CALL IT OUT IN THIS NEW PLAN, IS WHAT I'M HEARING, SOMEHOW FLAG IT LIKE CYRUS IS SAYING.
BUT I WOULD, I WOULD THINK THAT WHEN AE HAS ITS TOP 10 OR 20 WORST FEEDERS, YOU DON'T, YOU JUST LOOK AT THE WORST AND TRY TO EQUITABLY TAKE CARE OF EVERYBODY AND IMPROVE THEM.
AND SO IN A WAY THAT'S TAKING CARE OF THAT.
UM, SO I GUESS I WOULD JUST ASK WHAT OTHER THINGS WOULD BE INVOLVED? THE CAP PROGRAM IS INCOME BASED AND, AND THERE'S OTHER PROGRAMS THAT WERE JUST DESCRIBED TODAY.
SO I GUESS I'M STRUGGLING WITH WHAT ADDITIONAL THINGS IN THE, THE BUCKET OF MANY THINGS THAT CONTRIBUTE TO THAT CONCEPT WOULD WE BE TALKING ABOUT.
WE DON'T HAVE TO SOLVE IT NOW.
JUST WANTED TO KNOW IF YOU WANTED, YOU KNOW, WHAT YOUR THOUGHTS WERE ON IT AND WHERE IT'S GOING.
I'M HEARING THAT EQUITY IS PROBABLY A GOOD THING AND WE JUST NEED TO FIGURE OUT HOW IT FITS.
I, I DON'T KNOW IF THIS FITS IN.
CERTAINLY EQUITY ACROSS THE BOARD IN TERMS OF CITY PROGRAMS IS, AND SUSTAINABILITY IS IMPORTANT.
UH, CERTAINLY NOTE IN TERMS OF RELIABILITY OF SERVICE, THOSE, THOSE PEOPLE THAT ARE LIVING IN NEWER HOMES PROBABLY HAVE UNDERGROUND WIRING.
UH, AND I KNOW THAT THERE'S A WHOLE SEPARATE STUDY THERE, BUT ALL OF WHICH IS, UH, FOR A LOT OF NEIGHBORHOODS THAT ARE A LOT, INCLUDING EAST AUSTIN, UH, THAT HAVE ABOVE GROUND TO, TO MEASURE EQUITY WOULD CERTAINLY, UH, MIGHT INCLUDE AN ANALYSIS.
MY, MY ONE ONE REQUEST IS A LOT OF ORGANIZATIONS LISTED HERE, AND NOT NECESSARILY ALL, ALL OF WHICH IS SENT SOMEBODY.
I, I'D APPRECIATE IT WHEN YOU SEND OUT THE MATERIALS LATER THIS WEEK, IF YOU'D INDICATE, UH, WHO, WHO THE PEOPLE ARE, THE NAMES.
AND, AND I ATTENDED THE BEGINNING UHHUH, THE, AND THE MATERIALS THAT WERE, UH, THE SLIDES THAT WERE PRESENTED I THOUGHT WERE NEUTRAL AND VERY INFORMATIVE.
UH, YOU KNOW, IT WAS A FIRST STAGE I THINK.
WE WORKED REAL HARD ON DOING THAT.
WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT RELIABILITY AS RELIABILITY VERSUS LIKE PREDICTABILITY? I THOUGHT THAT WAS AN INTERESTING CONCEPT.
I DON'T KNOW WHERE WE GO WITH IT.
I THOUGHT, I THOUGHT HE JUST FIXED THE AUDIOS.
I MEAN, UM, SO I GUESS YOU COULD HAVE PREDICTIVE ANALYTICS IN TERMS OF EQUIPMENT'S FAILING AND THEN ROLL IT IN SOME WAY.
BUT MAYBE I WOULD ASK HIM WHAT KIND OF AI OR NEW TECHNOLOGIES MIGHT BE INVOLVED THAT WOULD HELP BE PREDICTIVE.
[01:05:01]
BUT A LOT OF TIMES IT'S A STORM IS COME COMING, IT IMPACTS THE DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM, AND THEN YOU'RE DEALING WITH FIXING IT.AND SO THEN IT'S A MATTER OF HOW WELL DO YOU COMMUNICATE, YOU KNOW, THAT IS OUTAGE.
I, YOU KNOW, AS A PERSONAL RECIPIENT OF THE AE TEXT I THOUGHT IT WAS VERY POSITIVE THAT SAID, WE ACKNOWLEDGE, WE KNOW THAT YOU'RE OUT, WHICH IS GOOD.
SO YOU DON'T HAVE TO TRY TO FIGURE, YOU KNOW, OUT, DOES THE UTILITY KNOW, UM, THEN AN ESTIMATED TIME OF, OF REPAIR, WHICH IS VERY HELPFUL BECAUSE THEN YOU'RE, YOU KIND OF UNDERSTAND WHETHER YOU JUST WANNA STAY IN YOUR HOUSE OR FLEE OR GO OUT TO DINNER,
IF IT STILL ISN'T, THEN LET US KNOW.
I THINK THOSE, AND THEN THE IMPROVEMENTS THAT HAVE BEEN MADE IN THE OUTAGE MAP, SO I THINK THAT'S A TOUGH ONE.
I, I WOULD KIND OF PUT HIM ON THE SPOT.
ABOUT WHAT DEGREE? WELL, WE'RE NOT ANSWERING IT TODAY.
WE'RE JUST ASKING ABOUT WHAT YOUR THOUGHTS ARE ON WHERE WE GO AND LOOK AT THAT.
BUT IT SOUNDS LIKE SOMETHING THAT YOU'RE, IT'S WORTH EXPLORING TO SEE.
UM, ANY THOUGHTS ON, THERE WAS A LOT OF, IN, THERE WAS A LOT GOING ON ABOUT COMMUNICATIONS AND TRANSPARENCY.
SO MR. ALVAREZ HAD HAD HIS HEAD, OH, I'M SORRY.
UH, YEAH, I WAS GONNA GO BACK TO THE EQUITY QUESTION.
IS THERE LIKE A MISSION FOR THE PLAN ITSELF, OR ARE WE WORTH MISSING ENERGY? THE PLAN IS REALLY WELL, MISSION STATEMENT.
THE PLAN SHOULD REFLECT YOUR MISSION STATEMENT.
AND THE MISSION STATEMENT IS BASICALLY CLEANER, SUSTAINABLE, AFFORDABLE AND RELIABLE ENERGY IS WHAT YOU'RE PRODUCING.
WHEN WE TALKED TO THE PARTICIPANTS, THEY SAID ONE THING YOU MIGHT WANNA LOOK AT IN YOUR PLAN IS EQUITY.
SO I'M NOT, AGAIN EXACTLY SURE WHAT THAT MEANS.
SO JUST LOOKING IT THROUGH THAT LENS, THEY'D LIKE THE PLAN TO BE SEEN AS THAT.
I DON'T KNOW IF THAT MEANS GOING BACK AND CHANGING MISSIONS AND ALL THAT.
I DON'T WANNA GO PAST THE GENERATION PLAN, BUT EQUITY SEEMED TO BE A THEME THAT KEPT COMING UP.
I DEFINITELY THINK IT IMPORTANT THING TO FACTOR IN OR INFORM THE PLAN.
AND, UH, AND IF YOU, IF US AND ENERGY WANTS TO OPEN UP THE MISSION STATEMENT, LET'S GO
I'M JUST OPENING UP THE PLAN
UM, WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS, SINCE YOU'RE TALKING AND YOU WERE THERE BEFORE, WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ABOUT COMMUNICATION AND TRANSPARENCY AND ALL OF THOSE THINGS? IS THAT PART OF THIS GENERATION PLAN OR THIS RESOURCE PLAN? UM, I MEAN, I, I MEAN, OBVIOUSLY, UH, IT'S IMPORTANT.
UH, I MEAN, TO ME IT SEEMED LIKE FOLKS WERE TALKING GENERALLY ABOUT HOW AUSTIN ENERGY OPERATES, RIGHT? RIGHT.
WITH TRANSPARENCY AND GOOD COMMUNICATION.
AND, UM, I DO THINK, UH, YOU KNOW, COMMUNICATION AROUND, UM, OBVIOUSLY THERE'S, THERE'S ONE THING ABOUT THE PLAN AND THE PROCESS ITSELF, YOU KNOW, BUT, UH, I THINK COMMUNICATION STILL, PEOPLE HAVE A BAD TASTE IN THEIR MOUTH FROM THE WINTER STORM ONE AND MAYBE SOME ABOUT WINTER STORM TWO.
SO I DO THINK, UH, UH, AND WE HAVE SEEN SOME IMPROVEMENTS, BUT I DO THINK FOLKS ARE ALWAYS, UM, I THINK STILL PEOPLE ARE, ARE WANTING TO SEE BETTER COMMUNICATION AROUND THIS CRITICAL EVENTS.
AND I DON'T KNOW HOW THAT FITS INTO A RESOURCE GENERATION PLAN, BUT, UH, DEFINITELY SOMETHING THAT, UH, THE, THE, A MESSAGE THAT AE SHOULD TAKE AWAY FROM THESE CONVERSATIONS IS HOW MUCH PEOPLE REALLY, UH, HARPED ON THOSE, THOSE TWO MM-HMM.
AND I WAS LOOKING AT IT MORE AS, AS A, AS AN INSTITUTION, NOT SO MUCH JUST FOR THE RESOURCE PLAN, BUT CLEARLY THERE'S THOSE ISSUES FOR THE PLANNING PROCESS ITSELF.
ANY OTHER QUE ANY OTHER STATEMENTS OR THOUGHTS ON THE, THE VALUE OF COMMUNICATION AND TRANSPARENCY AND YEAH, I, I THINK OBVIOUSLY IT CAN ALWAYS BE IMPROVED.
THERE, THERE WAS SOMETHING WE TALKED ABOUT AFTER URI ABOUT A DRIPPER DRAIN PLAN.
AND I, I'M GONNA HIT ON THAT AGAIN.
AND THAT'S WHERE YOU, YOU GIVE TUTORIALS ON PEOPLE TO, WHEN IS IT TO WHERE THEY SHOULD GO AND DRAIN, TURN OFF THEIR WATER AND JUST DRAIN THEIR LOWEST HOSE BIB BECAUSE THE POWER'S GONNA BE OUT LONG ENOUGH SO THAT THEY DON'T WANT FREEZING PIPES.
THE DRIP IS WHERE YOU'RE, YOU'RE GONNA BE IN THERE FOR A WHILE AND YOU SHOULD JUST DRIP A FAUCET.
AND I KNOW THIS CAN BE COMPLEX, BUT I THINK SOME YOUTUBE VISIOS,
[01:10:01]
I KNOW AT LEAST AT LEAST TWO PEOPLE WHO LOST THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS IN THOSE TANKLESS WATER HEATERS BECAUSE THEY DIDN'T KNOW DURING URI TO HOW TO JUST UNDO THE FLESH VALVES FOR THEM TO DRAIN 'EM.AND, UM, SO I KNOW THAT CAN'T BE COMPLEX 'CAUSE IT COULD BE DIFFERENT CIRCUMSTANCES.
UM, SO I'M GONNA BUG STEWART ON IT.
I JUST WROTE DRIP OR DRAIN, AND I NOW KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS.
WHEN I FIRST WROTE IT DOWN, I WASN'T QUITE SO SURE.
UM, AND THE OTHER THING IS WE WANT, WE, IT'S REALLY EASY TO START TALKING ABOUT SOLUTIONS.
EVERYBODY WANTS TO PICK SOLUTIONS AND THINK ABOUT IT, BUT UNLESS YOU KNOW WHAT YOUR VALUES ARE, ANY, AND IF YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT, WHERE YOU WANNA GO, ANY ROAD WILL GET YOU THERE.
IS THERE ANYTHING THAT WE NEED TO THINK ABOUT AS WE START DOWN THIS DEVELOPMENT OF THIS, UM, GENERATION RESOURCE PLAN? WHAT, WHAT VALUES ARE IMPORTANT TO YOU? WHAT SHOULD WE BE THINKING ABOUT? I, I THINK THERE'S AN EXTRA DIMENSION THAT WE KIND OF TOUCHED ON IN A PREVIOUS DISCUSSION ABOUT RISK MANAGING RISK.
AND IT'S AN ABSTRACT ENOUGH CONCEPT, AND IT'S VERY COMPLEX WITH WHAT SOME OF THE STAFF HAS TO GO THROUGH TO MAKE SURE THAT WHAT HAPPENED TO BRAZOS CO-OP WITH BILLIONS OF DOLLARS OF LOSS AND BANKRUPTCY, UH, AFTER YURI DOESN'T HAPPEN TO AUSTIN ENERGY.
AND I, I FIRMLY BELIEVE THERE ARE A LOT OF DEDICATED PEOPLE ON THE STAFF WHO ARE, WHO ARE TRYING TO, THEY LIVE AND BREATHE IT EVERY DAY, BUT THERE NEEDS TO BE SOME EXPLANATION OF THAT.
AND IT MAY TAKE SOME TIME TO TRY TO BRIDGE THAT LEVEL OF SORT OF FINANCIAL HEDGING SOPHISTICATION AND THEN BRINGING IT FORWARD SO THE COMMUNITY COMMUNITY CAN UNDERSTAND THE IMPLICATIONS OF THOSE AND WHAT IS INVOLVED IN RISK MANAGEMENT.
BECAUSE PART OF WHAT AN INTERMEDIARY LIKE A MUNI DOES IS THEY INTERMEDIATE BETWEEN THE WHOLESALE MARKET AND THE RETAIL MARKET THAT WE PURCHASE FROM.
AND SO I DON'T HAVE AN ANSWER, BUT I THINK I HAVE AN IDEA OF THE LEVEL OF CHALLENGE IT IS TO GET LIKE A MIND MELD OF, UM, MATT, THE COMMUNICATOR WITH MICHAEL, THE FINANCIAL EXPERT.
YOU GONNA SAY SOMETHING? OKAY.
ANYBODY ONLINE? ANYTHING THAT WE NEED TO KNOW AS WE START PLANNING THE NEXT MEETING? OR ANYTHING ON VALUES OR THOUGHTS THAT YOU HEARD, OR ANYTHING YOU WANNA SECOND OR ANY OF THAT KINDA STUFF LOOKING AT THE SCREEN? OH, DARN IT.
I REALLY AM BAD AT WALKING AROUND.
MY QUESTION WAS, UM, IS THERE ANYTHING THAT YOU HEARD THAT YOU WANNA SECOND, ANYTHING ADVICE AS WE MOVE FORWARD INTO THIS NEXT SESSION OF PLANNING WORKSHOPS OR ANYTHING ON VALUES THAT YOU WANNA SAY, JUST OPENING IT UP FOR YOU TO SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS, VALUES, HOPES? I AM SEEING NO ANSWERS.
GO AHEAD, RAUL, IF YOU, IF YOU, I CAN WAIT, IF YOU WANNA SAY, YEAH, THAT'S REAL QUICK.
I MEAN, I THINK I WANNA ECHO, YOU KNOW, SOME OF THE THINGS I ALREADY MENTIONED, LIKE EQUITY, COMMUNICATION AND TRANSPARENCY.
UM, I THINK ONE THING, YOU KNOW, UM, THAT WE ALSO, UH, WANT TO BE, UH, KEEP IN MIND, AND AGAIN, FOR ME IT'S, IT'S ABOUT HOW DO WE KEEP AUSTIN ENERGY PUBLIC, RIGHT? SO THAT'S WHY IF YOU MESS TOO MUCH WITH THE RATES, IF THEY GET TOO HIGH, YOU KNOW, IF YOU TAKE AWAY THE GENERAL FUND TRANSFER, YOU KNOW, YOU KNOW, THESE ARE SOME OF THE THINGS, THE LOW RATES AND THE FEDERAL FUND TRANSFER, YOU KNOW, THESE ARE THE PLUSES TO THE COMMUNITY OF HAVING A PUBLIC UTILITY, YOU KNOW, BEING ABLE TO REALLY PUSH THE ENVELOPE ON SUSTAINABILITY.
UM, I THINK THESE ARE SOME OF THE THINGS THAT, UH, UM, ARE PILLARS, RIGHT? FOR OUR PUBLIC UTILITY FOR, FOR DECADES NOW.
AND SO I THINK KEEPING IN MIND THAT, AGAIN, IT, IF YOU HARM OR YOU TAKE AWAY FROM THOSE PILLARS THAT, YOU KNOW, UH, PEOPLE HAVE COME TO EXPECT FROM OUR ELECTRIC UTILITY, THEN YOU ALSO ARM, UM, OUR ABILITY, UH, OR OUR INTEREST IN, UH, IN FIGHTING OFF THE LEGISLATURE'S ATTEMPTS RIGHT AT, AT, UH, UH, OPENING EVERYTHING UP TO THE, UH, TO THE PRIVATE MARKET.
SO I DO THINK FOR ME, UM, THAT'S WHY WHEN WE, EVEN WHEN I TALK ABOUT THE GENERATION PLAN, I ALSO TALK ABOUT THE GENERAL FUND TRANSFER BECAUSE AGAIN, THE, THAT'S THE DIVIDEND TO THE COMMUNITY, RIGHT? FROM
[01:15:01]
HAVING A PUBLIC UTILITY IN ADDITION TO, YOU KNOW, THE, WHAT WE CAN DO AROUND AFFORDABILITY AND SUSTAINABILITY.UM, BUT HOW DO WE BALANCE THOSE RELIABILITY, UH, SUSTAINABILITY AND AFFORDABILITY IN A WAY THAT, UH, UM, THAT AGAIN IS, IS A, IS A GOOD BALANCE THAT, THAT THE PUBLIC UNDERSTANDS, UH, AND WILL HAVE OUR BACK, RIGHT? WHENEVER, WHENEVER THESE ATTACKS HAPPEN ON OUR PUBLIC UTILITY, THAT OUR COMMUNITY'S GONNA HAVE OUR BACK.
SO FOR ME, THAT'S ALWAYS IN THE BACK OF MY HEAD IS HOW DO WE, HOW IS THE PUBLIC GONNA REACT AND, AND, AND JUST STAND UP FOR WHAT THE UTILITY'S TRYING TO DO.
I WROTE THAT DOWN AND WE'LL DEFINITELY ADD IT TO THE NOTES.
CYRUS, DID YOU HAVE SOMETHING? I JUST SAYING ONE OF THE VALUE, I DON'T KNOW IF IT'S A VALUE EXACTLY, BUT ONE OF THE CONSIDERATIONS IS TO ALWAYS CONSIDER THE EXTERNALITIES OF ANY, UM, SORRY, THE DOGS ARE SHRINKING TO BARK
SO, UM, CONSIDERING, YOU KNOW, THINGS LIKE WATER USE AND HOW, HOW DO THE, HOW DO THE RESOURCES THAT YOU'RE GONNA INVEST IN, UM, HOW DO THEY IMPACT THE CITY'S WATER FORWARD PLAN? CAN THEY BE, YOU KNOW, CAN THEY BE EASILY INCORPORATED INTO IT OR NOT? OR DO THEY CREATE A CONFLICT? UM, DO THE, DO THE RESOURCES THAT YOU INVEST IN, ARE THEY GONNA MAKE IT HARDER FOR THE CITY TO BE IN COMPLIANCE WITH, UM, CLEAN AIR RULES? SO JUST ALWAYS, WE ALWAYS HAVE TO THINK ABOUT, WE, WE CAN'T JUST LOOK AT ALL ENERGY IN A VACUUM.
WE HAVE TO THINK ABOUT THE OTHER PARTS OF THE, THE CITY STRUCTURE THAT ARE ALSO TRYING TO MEET CERTAIN GOALS.
SO JUST SOME CONSIDERATION OF THE INTERRELATED ASPECTS OF THOSE OF, OF, YOU KNOW, WATER, AIR QUALITY, WASTE MANAGEMENT, ALL THOSE THINGS ARE IMPORTANT.
ANYTHING ELSE FROM ANYBODY ONLINE? ALL RIGHT, WELL, I, OH, GO AHEAD.
ONE MORE THING ABOUT TRANSPARENCY.
I THINK THAT IT'D BE WORTHWHILE WHEN CUSTOMERS ARE SEEING THE RECENT PRICE COST INCREASES, UM, TO BE TRANSPARENT ABOUT HOW MUCH OF THOSE ARE REALLY SYSTEM LEVEL ERCOT LEVEL COSTS PASSED DOWN BECAUSE, UH, THE UNDERSTANDABLE RESPONSE TO YURI WAS RUNNING THE GRID FAR MORE CONSERVATIVELY.
AND IF YOU LOOK AT THE DATA FROM THE INDEPENDENT MARKET MONITOR, THERE'S DEBATE ABOUT IS IT BEING RUN OVERLY CONSERVATIVELY AND THAT MEANS HIGHER COSTS.
AND SO IF YOU TAKE WHAT LOAD RATED AVERAGE OF 4% AND YOU TAKE BILLIONS OF DOLLARS THAT COULD HAVE BEEN, UH, MORE EFFICIENTLY RUN, THEN WHAT'S THE PASS THROUGH THAT AUSTIN RATE PAYERS ARE PAYING FOR THAT MORE CONSERVATIVELY RUN TEXAS GRID.
I GREATLY APPRECIATE EVERYBODY'S INPUT THOUGHTS.
I THINK YOU'VE ALL GOT MY EMAIL.
IF YOU'VE GOT OTHERS, PLEASE SEND THEM ON AND WE'LL START PLANNING FOR OUR MEETING ON JULY 26TH.
UM, BOB CON, GENERAL MANAGER, I JUST WANTED TO, UH, THROW MY 2 CENTS WORTH IN ON EQUITY.
I KNOW THERE'LL BE FURTHER DISCUSSIONS ON THIS, IT SOUNDS LIKE, BUT, UH, MY BELIEF IS THAT EQUITY IS EMBEDDED IN EVERYTHING WE DO, EVEN THOUGH IT'S NOT MENTIONED, IT IS EMBEDDED EVERYWHERE WHAT WE DO.
AND I KNOW THERE'LL BE FURTHER DISCUSSIONS, BUT THAT'S JUST MY 2 CENTS WORTH.
SO DO WE MOVE ON TO NUMBER NINE? DO WE HAVE ANY DISCUSSION ABOUT THOSE CITY COUNCIL ACTIONS? ONLY IF YOU DO
ANY DISCUSSION ON NUMBER NINE? NO, I THINK WE CAN GO THAT FUTURE
[FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS]
AGENDA ITEMS. UM, I'D LIKE AN UPDATE ON THE NEW INTELLIGENT EV CHARGING PROGRAM.SOMETHING THAT YOU SHOULD BE PROUD OF.
ALSO, ALSO, UH, THE LANDSCAPING ELECTRIFICATION INCENTIVES.
YOU KNOW, I, I KNOW THAT'S AN ONGOING CONVERSATION.
THERE WAS A NICE DEMO ON THAT.
UM, BUT WHAT ARE THE LATEST THOUGHTS ON THAT? AND I THINK WE HAVE, UH, TOP OF MIND, DON'T WE HAVE AN UPDATE IN JULY? OR IS IT AUGUST ON THE BATTERY PLUS PB TARIFF? I THINK IT'S JULY.
SO THOSE ARE THE THINGS, OFF THE TOP OF MY HEAD, UH, RANDY OR ANYBODY ONLINE, WHAT ARE OTHER FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS THAT YOU WOULD LIKE TO SEE? UM, THIS, UH, JOSHUA RHODES, UM,
[01:20:01]
IN, IN KIND OF ADDITION TO SOME OF THE, SO WE'RE TALKING ABOUT WITH THE WEATHERIZATION PROGRAM AND, AND STUFF, BUT I THINK IT'D BE INTERESTING TO GET AN UPDATE ON KIND OF, UH, THE EAD PROGRAM BECAUSE THAT'S LIKE TAKING, YOU KNOW, AUDITS OF BUILDINGS, UM, IN THE, UM, IN THE, IN IN AUSTIN.IT'D BE, IT'D BE GOOD TO GET AN UPDATE ON KIND OF HOW THAT PROGRAM'S GOING AND, UM, YOU KNOW, HOW, HOW, HOW, HOW USEFUL THOSE DATA ARE.
OTHERS, I DON'T KNOW IF, UH, IF THIS IS A AGENDA ITEM, BUT UH, I KNOW THAT WE SWITCHED FROM DOING AN UPDATE OF THE 2030 PLAN TO ACTUALLY CREATING A 2035 PLAN.
UM, 'CAUSE I'M STILL TRYING TO DIVE, DIG INTO ALL THOSE PROJECTIONS THAT WERE USED BY THE WORK GROUP, RIGHT, IN DEVELOPING THEIR PLAN.
BUT IS THE DATA PROVIDED TO THE WORK GROUP GO OUT TO 2035? YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN? I GUESS I'M TRYING TO SEE IS LIKE, DO WE HAVE WHAT WE NEED TO LOOK AT SOME OF THOSE FACTORS THAT MAYBE GO BEYOND MAYBE WHAT THE WORK GROUP THOUGHT THEY WERE CHARGED WITH DOING? UH, AND MAYBE SOME OF THE WORK GROUP MEMBERS OR STAFF CAN ANSWER THAT, BUT, UH, 'CAUSE I'M STILL, I STILL WOULD LIKE TO SEE A LOT OF THOSE PROTECTIONS MYSELF AND, UM, DEMAND PROJECTIONS, RIGHT? YOU KNOW, WHAT ARE THE COSTS OF DIFFERENT OPTIONS FOR MEETING THAT DEMAND AND, UM, AND UM, IMPACT ON RATES.
AGAIN, KIND OF WHEN YOU PROJECT OUT FOR THAT MANY YEARS, YOU KNOW, THEN, YOU KNOW, WHAT ARE ALL THE ASSUMPTIONS ON ALL THESE THINGS THAT ARE INTERLOCKED, RIGHT? AND INTERRELATED, INCLUDING SUSTAINABILITY AND AFFORDABILITY.
SO, UM, SO ANYWAY, SO I GUESS THAT'S MY QUESTION.
AND MAYBE THAT CAN JUST BE A FOLLOW UP OF A, UM, JUST FOR ME IT'S LIKE, WELL, DO WE HAVE AS COMMISSIONERS SOME OF THOSE PROJECTIONS THAT WE CAN LOOK AT TO BEGIN FORMULATING, UM, OR THINKING ABOUT THE ISSUES THAT WE WILL HAVE TO TACKLE WHEN WE HAVE TO LOOK AT THE WORK GROUP PLAN THAT'S ALREADY BEEN DEVELOPED AND SUBMITTED, AND THEN WE'LL HAVE SOME, SOME KIND OF A, UH, SUBMISSION FROM THE STAKEHOLDER GROUP THAT'S CURRENTLY ACTIVE.
AND, UM, I, I STILL HAVEN'T SEEN KIND OF THE, I MEAN, I'D LIKE TO SEE SOME OF THOSE, UH, SOME OF THOSE PROJECTIONS I'VE HAD 20, 35 AND TO ME, IT SOUNDS LIKE A PRESENTATION TO THE COMMISSION, BUT, UH, IF IT'S, UH, A BUNCH OF STUFF Y'ALL WANNA SHARE WITH US ALSO, I JUST AM NOT SURE, IS IT ALREADY SOMEWHERE IN THAT DATA THAT WAS REQUESTED BY THE WORK GROUP THAT WE COULD LOOK AT? I JUST DON'T KNOW IF, AGAIN, IF IT STOPPED AT 2030 OR IF ACTUALLY THOSE PROJECTIONS DID GO TO 2035.
LISA MARTIN'S GONNA COME ANSWER PART OF YOUR QUESTION.
HEY, COMMISSIONER ALVAREZ, UH, LISA MARTIN.
UM, SO I CAN'T SPEAK TO EVERY, UM, BIT OF INFORMATION THAT THE WORKING GROUP PRESENTED OR PROVIDED ON THE, THE WEBSITE, BUT I CAN TELL YOU THAT, UM, ONE OF OUR INTENTIONS FOR, UM, AN UPCOMING EUC MEETING IS TO ENGAGE WITH Y'ALL AND TALK THROUGH IN ADVANCE THE ASSUMPTIONS THAT WE'LL GO INTO MODELING THIS TIME AROUND MODELING SOLUTIONS OUT TO 2035 AND, UM, GETTING GENERAL, YOU KNOW, CONSENSUS AND EXPLANATION AROUND THAT.
AND, UM, I THINK THAT, UM, UH, THAT KIND OF MODELING FRAMEWORK IS GOING TO BE KEY MOVING FORWARD, UM, WHETHER IT COMES FROM, YOU KNOW, THIRD PARTY SOURCES, UM, OR FROM RFP, YOU KNOW, BOUNCED AGAINST THE RFP RESULTS THAT, UM, OR PROPOSALS THAT WE RECEIVED AND WHATNOT.
SO I ANTICIPATE THAT IS, UM, IN A VERY NEAR TERM MEETING AND, UH, WE'LL TALK MORE AS TIME GOES FORWARD.
I WAS GONNA, I WAS, MY ANSWER WAS GONNA BE YES, WE WERE PROVIDED, UH, DATA THROUGH 2035, BUT IT CAME WITH CERTAIN ASSUMPTIONS AND IT CAME USING A, A CERTAIN MODEL, THE U PLAN MODEL.
UM, AND THEN I THINK THE INTENT, WHICH LISA JUST SAID IS A GOOD ONE, WHICH IS TO USE THE RFP AND USE THE THIRD PARTY CONSULTANTS AND USE THE CONVERSATION TO, YOU KNOW, TO ENRICH THAT DATA.
SO I THINK WE WERE SOMEWHAT LIMITED.
WE FELT PRETTY LIMITED AND, YOU KNOW, UM,
[01:25:01]
I THINK WE, WE, WE GAVE THE BEST ANSWERS WE COULD GIVEN THE INFORMATION, BUT WE, WE HAD, BUT I, I, I THINK WE ALL FELT SOMEWHAT UNCOMFORTABLE THAT WE DIDN'T HAVE ALL THE INFORMATION WE NEEDED.SO I THINK TAKING A LITTLE MORE TIME IS GOOD.
AND, AND I, UM, COMMISSIONER REED, YOUR POINT REMINDED ME OF THE OTHER ONE I WAS TRYING TO MAKE IS THAT AS WE MOVE FORWARD LOOKING TO A 2035 PLAN, UM, AND WE DO SOME MORE MODELING, I ANTICIPATE THAT WE'LL BE MODELING EITHER THE RECOMMENDATIONS FROM THE WORKING GROUP EXACTLY AS THEY WERE PROVIDED, OR IF AFTER OUR DISCUSSION LATER THIS MONTH, THEY WISH TO ADJUST THAT IN ANY WAY, WE'LL ULTIMATELY MODEL THAT AS WELL.
SO, UM, I THINK YOU'LL HAVE, UH, PLENTY OF TIME AS WE MOVE FORWARD TO KINDA WALK TOGETHER THROUGH THIS AS OPPOSED TO HAVING TO GO BACK AND TRY TO, YOU KNOW, SELF-EDUCATE ON ALL THE PREVIOUS ITEMS. ALRIGHT, THANKS TO BOTH OF YOU.
ANY OTHER DISCUSSION ON FUTURE ITEMS? MOVE? WE ADJOURN? LET'S ADJOURN THEN.