Sep 30, 2024 Special Electric Utility Commission

[00:00:02]

OKAY, SO THIS

[CALL MEETING TO ORDER]

CALL TO ORDER, FIRST ORDER OF BUSINESS.

UM, JUST TAKE ATTENDANCE FIRST OF THEM ALL, SAY THEY'RE HERE.

AND THIS IS COMMISSIONER KIRKSEY'S FIRST MEETING.

SO WELCOME COMMISSIONER KIRKSEY.

ANYTIME YOU SPEAK OR VOTE ON ANYTHING, YOU NEED TO BE ON CAMERA.

AND, AND THAT INCLUDES FOR ATTENDANCE.

I WAS GONNA ASK HIM TO INTRODUCE HIMSELF.

WELCOME.

AND DO YOU WANNA GIVE US SOME BACKGROUND? HARRY? HERE HE COMES.

I THINK HE COULDN'T.

OKAY, WELL LET'S JUST START WITH THE ROLL CALL.

.

WELL, YOU MAY HAVE HAD IT.

YEAH.

TOO MUCH PRESSURE.

COMMUNICATION PROBLEM WITH, UM, WELL, IT'S THE FIRST THING ON THE AGENDA, SO TAKE IT HERE IN THE NEXT 10 MINUTES.

OH, MAYBE THIS, ARE YOU HERE? HERE, HE JUST TURNED THE CALL AGAIN.

OKAY.

HE'S BACK.

WE HAVE A NEW COMMISSIONER.

WOULD YOU LIKE TO INTRODUCE YOURSELF? UH, I CAN'T GET MY CAMERA FOR SOME REASON, BUT, UH, THIS IS CHRIS GARCIA.

HAPPY TO, UH, BE ON THE COMMISSION.

UH, LOOKING FORWARD TO WORKING WITH EVERYBODY.

A MEETING.

THOSE OF YOU THAT I DON'T KNOW ALREADY.

YEAH, WE'RE HAVING A DIFFICULT TIME HEARING YOU.

YEAH, LET ME, LET ME TRY SOMETHING ELSE HERE.

ALL RIGHT, WELL, LET'S, UH, JUST DO THE ROLL CALL FOR EVERYBODY ELSE THEN.

SO WE HAVE TO MY LEFT, UM, I WHITE.

I'M DAVE TUTTLE, JOSH RHODES, CYRUS REED, AND WE HAVE AT LEAST THREE OR FOUR COMMISSIONERS ONLINE.

IT'S DIFFICULT TO SEE CESAR EZ HERE.

BLACKBURN BRO ALVAREZ, AND OUR NEWEST EUC COMMISSIONER CHRIS KIRKEY, AND WHEN HIS COMMUNICATION.

AND BRANDON CHAPMAN.

ANDREW CHAPMAN, PLEASE.

THANK YOU.

SO WHEN CHRIS'S COMPUTER WORKS WELL, HE CAN INTRODUCE HIMSELF.

SO ANY GENERAL, YEAH.

UM, SO WE'LL START WITH

[PUBLIC COMMUNICATION: GENERAL ]

WE HAVE THREE SPEAKERS TONIGHT.

UM, THE FIRST IS JEN KRIEGER.

WE'LL HAVE THREE MINUTES.

ALL RIGHT.

GOOD MORNING COMMISSIONERS AND AUSTIN ENERGY STAFF.

AND BY MORNING I OF COURSE MEAN EVENING.

UM, MY NAME IS JEN KRIEGER.

I AM COMMENTING ON AGENDA ITEM THREE, THE REGARDING THE RESOURCE PLAN.

UM, FIRST OFF, I WANT TO THANK AUSTIN ENERGY STAFF FOR INCLUDING THE KNOX SOCKS AND PARTICULATE MATTER.

UM, AS I REQUESTED AT THE UTILITY OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE MEETING LAST WEEK, UM, I WOULD LIKE TO ASK Y'ALL TO GO A STEP FURTHER IF YOU HAVEN'T ALREADY, WHICH IS TO ASK YOU TO PLEASE INCLUDE THE ACTUAL DOLLAR COST OF THAT POLLUTION FROM THE DIFFERENT RESOURCE PORTFOLIOS THAT MOVE FORWARD FROM THIS EVENING.

UM, SPECIFICALLY I'D LIKE TO INCLUDE THAT, UH, THIS INCLUDE THE FINANCIAL ANALYSIS FOR THE GREENHOUSE GASES, CARBON DIOXIDE, METHANE, AND NITROUS OXIDE.

AND FOR THE LOCAL CRITERIA, POLLUTANTS KNOCKS SOCKS IN PARTICULATE MATTER.

UM, AND I WOULD PREFER TO SEE A THIRD PARTY GOVERNMENT BACKED SOURCE FOR THOSE DOLLAR PER MEGAWATT HOUR COST ASSOCIATED WITH THAT ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION.

I THINK THAT WOULD PUT EVERYTHING ON A FAIR FOOTING TO COMPARE ALL OF THE GENERATION RESOURCE OPTIONS AGAINST EACH OTHER.

UM, AND TO BACK THAT UP, YOU KNOW, THE AIR POLLUTION FROM FOSSIL FUEL COMBUSTION AND HYDROGEN COMBUSTION POSES A VERY REAL HEALTH THREAT TO ALL OF US.

AND IMP IMPAIRS OUR QUALITY OF LIFE, ESPECIALLY FOR THOSE FRENCH LINE COMMUNITIES ALREADY OVERBURDENED BY POLLUTION AROUND AUSTIN ENERGY'S EXISTING POWER PLANTS.

UM, AND ALSO THERE IS A COMPOUNDING COST TO NOT TAKING ACTION TO TRANSITION OFF OF FOSSIL FUELS.

UM, FROM MY PERSPECTIVE, IT'S UNACCEPTABLE TO PASS THESE COSTS ONTO OUR FUTURE SELVES AND FUTURE GENERATIONS.

[00:05:02]

I WILL ADMIT THAT MOVING AWAY FROM FOSSIL FUELS AND TOWARDS RENEWABLE ENERGY AND ENERGY STORAGE TECHNOLOGY HAS PRESENT DAY COST, BUT SO DOES INACTION OR WORSE ACTION TOWARDS NEW INVESTMENTS IN FOSSIL FUEL INFRASTRUCTURE.

AS JOURNALIST AND AUTHOR JASON MARK PUTS IT, WE UNDERSTAND THE MORAL CLARITY OF ZERO MEANING ULTIMATELY ZERO CARBON, ZERO FOSSIL FUEL RESOURCES.

WE HAVE TO STOP BURNING THINGS IN ORDER TO REACH OUR COMMUNITY'S CARBON REDUCTION GOALS.

ALLOWING CLIMATE CHANGE TO WORSEN BY CONTINUING TO INVEST IN FOSSIL FUELS WILL ONLY EXACERBATE RELIABILITY AND AFFORDABILITY CHALLENGES OF THE IN THE FUTURE, PLEASE, LET'S NOT MAKE THESE THINGS HARDER FOR OURSELVES DOWN THE LINE.

SECOND, I WOULD LIKE TO PROVIDE MORE SPECIFICITY ABOUT MY PREVIOUS REQUEST FOR GREATER TRANSPARENCY.

AS I NOTED AT LAST TUESDAY, LAST TUESDAY'S UTILITY OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE MEETING, IT IS DARN NEAR IMPOSSIBLE TO FIND ALL FOUR OF THE PREVIOUS RESOURCE PLANS ON ANY WEBSITE.

AND IT'S ESPECIALLY HARD TO FIND ANY STUDIES OR MATERIALS THAT INFORM DEVELOPMENT OF THOSE PLANS.

I BELIEVE IT'S IMPORTANT FOR DECISION MAKERS AND FOR THE PUBLIC TO HAVE ACCESS TO THE FULL HISTORY OF AUSTIN ENERGY'S RESOURCE PLANNING PROCESS, SO THAT WE CAN SEE THE INCREDIBLE PROGRESS THAT WE'VE MADE WITH EACH AND EVERY PLAN AND THE POTENTIAL REGRESSION WE WOULD BE MAKING IF WE BACKTRACK ON PREVIOUS COMMITMENTS TO STEADILY REDUCE EMISSIONS AND TO NOT PURSUE NEW SOURCES OF CARBON.

I BELIEVE THAT MEANS MY TIME IS UP.

SO I LOOK FORWARD TO HEARING MORE ABOUT THESE TOPICS DURING TONIGHT'S PRESENTATIONS, AND I'M AVAILABLE TO DISCUSS FURTHER.

THANK YOU.

THANK YOU.

OUR NEXT SPEAKER IS AL BRADEN.

UH, GOOD EVENING COMMISSIONERS AND AUSTIN ENERGY STAFF.

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

I'D LIKE TO FIGURE THINGS OUT WITH MODELED EXPERIMENTS.

IN THAT SPIRIT, I APPROACH TONIGHT'S DATA EXPERIMENTS, MINIMIZE OUTSIDE INFLUENCE.

A BELL JAR IS A GOOD EXAMPLE.

EVERYTHING IN THE EXPERIMENT IS KEPT IN AND EVERYTHING OUTSIDE IS KEPT OUT.

WHAT HAPPENS IN THE BELL JAR STAYS IN THE BELL JAR, AS IT WERE SO FAR SO GOOD.

BUT MAKE NO MISTAKE ON EARTH, WHAT HAPPENS IN THE BELL JAR DOESN'T STAY IN THE BELL JAR.

IT SPEWS INTO THE ATMOSPHERE, THE WATER, THE SOIL.

THESE EXTERNALITIES ARE REAL AND CONSEQUENTIAL.

WE KNOW THAT OUR HOME EARTH IS WARMING.

EACH YEAR IS NOW THE COOLEST YEAR THAT HUMANS WILL LIKELY KNOW.

OCEANS HAVE ABSORBED THE BULK OF THE HEAT INCREASE, KILLING CORALS, THREATENING OCEAN CIRCULATION, MELTING THE ARCTIC GLACIER ANTARCTIC GLACIERS FROM BELOW.

THIS WEEK, WE FACE HURRICANES AND FLOODS OF EVER GREATER POWER AND DESTRUCTION.

THE POWER PLANT DOESN'T STAY IN THE BELL JAR.

IT THREATENS US FASTER THAN OUR ABILITY TO ADAPT.

WE MUST LOOK AT THE BIGGER PICTURE, BIGGER THAN OUR GEN PLANT CHARTS BIGGER THAN OUR AUSTIN CLIMATE EQUITY GOALS.

SEE THE WORLDWIDE CONSEQUENCES, 2000 FOURTEENS COUNCIL DECREE, WE WOULD END FOSSIL FUEL POWER GENERATION AND CLOSE THE COAL PLANT.

WE WOULD NEVER BUILD ANOTHER FOSSIL FUEL PLANT.

COUNCIL AFTER COUNCIL HAVE ENDORSED THESE GOALS AND MADE THEM STRONGER.

THIS 2020 GEN PLAN THAT WE ARE NOW UPDATING SAYS IT ONCE AGAIN, NO MORE FOSSIL FUEL PLANTS.

COUNCIL SUPPORTS AUSTIN ENERGY AND MEETING THEIR GOALS IN INNOVATIVE AND LEADING WAYS, AND OFTEN WITH SUCCESS.

BUT LOOKING AT TONIGHT'S EXPERIMENT, WE SEE HIGHLIGHTS OF MORE METHANE PLANTS OR GREEN HYDROGEN, WHICH IS JUST A GREEN FOIL WRAPPER ON A METHANE PLANT.

GREEN HYDROGEN DOES NOT EXIST AT ANY SCALE TODAY.

ANY GREEN HYDROGEN PRODUCED AT THE HOUSTON HUB WILL BE FOR PETROCHEMICAL OR FERTILIZER PRODUCTION, STEEL AND CEMENT, AND OTHER HARD TO ABATE INDUSTRIES.

THOSE ARE TOP PRIORITY.

RUNNING A SPECIAL LOW LEAKAGE PIPELINE TO AUSTIN FOR ELECTRICITY IS VERY LOW ON THE LIST.

ULTIMATELY, THE KILLER IS EFFICIENCY.

IF YOU SOLAR TO ELECTROLYZE WATER TO SEPARATE OUT THE HYDROGEN TO PIPE IT TO AUSTIN TO BURN FOR ELECTRICITY, YOUR NET EFFICIENCY IS ABOUT 30%.

CONTRAST WITH BATTERIES THAT HAVE EFFICIENCIES, LIKE 85% STORE SOLAR ON SITE FOR BEST MARKET CONDITIONS, OR PREPOSITION IT IN AUSTIN FOR USE WHEN NEEDED, YOU'LL GET 85% BACK.

HOW CAN THE COMPLEXITY, RISK AND SUBSIDIES OF GREEN HYDROGEN EVER COMPETE WITH THAT? HOUSTON JUST ANNOUNCED A 200 MEGAWATT TIMES TWO HOUR BATTERY IN SAN ANTONIO.

400 MEGAWATT TIMES FOUR HOUR BATTERY AND ADDITIONAL 200 MEGAWATT BATTERY ALL AT OLD COAL PLANTS.

[00:10:01]

ERCOT BATTERY FLEET WILL BE 10 GIGAWATTS BY YEAR END AND 20 GIGAWATTS IN 2025.

REAL OPERATING BATTERIES.

NOW, NOT GREEN.

FUTURE, NOT SPECULATION.

SO WHERE IS AUSTIN? I ASK YOU ONCE AGAIN, DO THE STUDIES, FIND THE BEST COMBINATIONS, AND THEN GET TO WORK BUILDING THE BEST MIX OF RENEWABLE STORAGE AND TECHNOLOGY TO GET THE JOB DONE.

WE'LL STILL HAVE GAS TILL 2035 AND THE NUKE TILL 2046, BUT WE CAN MOVE FORWARD WITHOUT MORE HARM TO OUR HEALTH AND CLIMATE.

THANK YOU VERY MUCH.

THANK YOU VERY MUCH.

NEXT SPEAKER IS SUSAN LIPMAN.

UH, GOOD EVENING COMMISSIONERS.

THANK YOU FOR BEING HERE TONIGHT.

UM, I WANT, I'M SUSAN LIPMAN AND I LIVE IN SOUTH AUSTIN IN DISTRICT FIVE OFF SLAUGHTER LANE.

I'M AN AUSTIN ENERGY CUSTOMER, AND I HAVE BEEN SINCE IN 1967, I'D SAY.

UM, I'M ASKING YOU TO PASS THE, UM, RESOURCE PLAN THIS YEAR.

HAVE NO NEW GAS PLANT, ESPECIALLY EVEN IF IT'S HYDROGEN CAPABLE, WHICH HAS, UM, A LOT OF ARGUMENTS AGAINST IT.

PRIORITIZE LOCAL SOLAR BATTERIES AND MULTI AND, UH, EXPANDED ENERGY SAVINGS, INCLUDING SOLAR FOR RENTERS AND MULTIFAMILY DWELLINGS AND NEW PROGRAMS TO HELP PEOPLE LOWER THEIR BILLS.

I WOULD LIKE TO SEE THE FA AT COAL PLANT CLOSED SOONER RATHER THAN LATER AND ACHIEVE A HUNDRED PERCENT CARBON FREE ENERGY BY 2035.

UH, AL BRADEN HAS SPOKEN ABOUT GREEN HYDROGEN AND HOW IT'S, UH, INEFFICIENT COMPARED TO BATTERIES.

UM, AND IF WE BUILT THAT PLANT AND IT LASTS 30 OR 40 YEARS, THAT'S A A LOT OF SUNK COST TO BE GETTING OUT OF SOMETHING THAT MAY NOT BE THE MOST EFFICIENT THING.

IF BATTERIES ARE ONLY LOSING 20% AND HYDROGEN IS LOSING 70% OF ITS ENERGY BEFORE IT HITS OUR GRID, UM, IT'S PRETTY WELL KNOWN THAT, UH, SOLAR COSTS ARE FALLING SO QUICKLY THAT, UM, IN GERMANY, PEOPLE ARE USING SOLAR PANELS JUST, UH, TO PUT FENCES AROUND THEIR GARDENS BECAUSE IT DOESN'T EVEN MATTER THAT MUCH IF IT'S FACING THE SUN AT JUST THE PERFECT ANGLE.

UM, IT'S STILL PRODUCING SOME ELECTRICITY THAT ISN'T AT BENEFIT FOR THEM.

AND, UM, THERE'S AN ARTICLE THAT I GOT FROM DAVID WALLACE WELLS AT THE NEW YORK TIMES.

THE TITLE IS THE SHOCKING RISE OF SOLAR IS RESHAPING THE ENERGY LANDSCAPE.

THE OTHER TITLE OF IT IS, WHAT WILL WE DO WITH ALL THIS POWER THAT'S VIRTUALLY FREE? SO, UM, I'M GONNA READ SOME EXCERPTS FROM THAT UNTIL I RUN OUT OF TIME, BUT FIRST I WANNA SHARE A COUPLE, UH, PIECES ABOUT BATTERY STORAGE COSTS.

ACCORDING TO REAL CLEAR ENERGY OVER THE PAST DECADE, THE COST HAS FALLEN BY 80%.

DOES THAT MEAN IT'S GONNA KEEP FALLING? UH, AN ARTICLE BY ROUTERS.COM FROM THE INTERNATIONAL ENERGY AGENCY DATA SAYS THAT THE TOTAL CAPITAL COSTS ARE DUE TO TUMBLE UP TO 40% BY 2030.

WE SHOULD CAREFULLY COMPARE HOW MUCH BATTERY STORAGE COSTS HAVE FALLEN AND SOLAR HAS FALLEN AND NOTE THE TREND TO FOLLOW.

WE RISK BEING LOCKED INTO OUTDATED AND EXPENSIVE GENERATION FOR DECADES IF WE DON'T CONSIDER THAT.

AND THIS IS, UM, A LITTLE BIT ABOUT SOLAR POWER, THE BLOOMBERG, UM, NEW ENERGY FUTURES ANALYST.

WELL, ANYWAY, I WISH I COULD TELL YOU MORE.

THANK YOU.

THANK YOU SO MUCH.

UM, AND WE HAVE ONE LATE EDITION SPEAKER, BEN SOTHEBY.

HELLO.

UH, FIRST A DISCLAIMER, I'M HERE NOT ON BEHALF OF MY OFFICE IN WHICH I WORK, OR, UH, ON ANY, UM, ANY NONPROFIT BOARD I SIT ON AND NOT ON BEHALF OF MY UNION.

I'M HERE AS AN INDIVIDUAL.

UH, AND I I WANNA START OFF BY, UH, ACKNOWLEDGING THE SPEAKERS WHO SPOKE BEFORE ME.

THEY SAID IT MUCH MORE ELOQUENTLY THAN I COULD WITH MORE SPECIFICS, BUT I DO WANNA SHARE WITH YOU WHAT I'M HEARING IN MY NEIGHBORHOOD.

UH, I LIVE IN A NEIGHBORHOOD SURROUNDED BY HIGHWAYS, UH, MAJORITY BLACK AND LATINO WORKING CLASS NEIGHBORHOOD.

WE MOSTLY RIDE

[00:15:01]

AND WHEN I HEAR ABOUT WHAT THEIR DESIRES ARE, YES, IT'S ABOUT PRICES.

YES, IT'S ABOUT RELIABILITY, BUT INCREASINGLY I'M HEARING FROM WORKING CLASS PEOPLE WHO WANT THERE TO BE A GREEN FUTURE, GOOD UNION JOBS.

THAT'S A, A COMPONENT OF IT.

BUT THEY SEE THE VALUE IN HAVING BATTERY STORAGE AND SOLAR.

THEY SEE THAT THE BENEFITS THAT ARE HAPPENING IN OTHER COMMUNITIES, UH, YOU KNOW, LARGE FAMILIES SPREAD OUT ACROSS TEXAS.

YOU HEAR ABOUT THE GOOD THINGS HAPPENING IN SAN ANTONIO, RIGHT? AND IF THEY CAN DO A BATTERY, AUSTIN CAN DO BATTERIES, WE CAN DO, WE CAN DO MORE THAN THEM, RIGHT? UH, SO I SEE THIS AS AN OPPORTUNITY FOR OUR COMMUNITY TO SHOW THE, THE WAY THAT WE CAN DO GOOD AND CALCULATE THE WAY, THE WAY THINGS ARE GOING.

WE'RE LOOKING AT THE IMPACTS OF ALL THESE EXTERNALITIES OF, OF OUR FOSSIL FUELS, UH, OF, YOU KNOW, DECADES AND DECADES OF IT.

WE'RE SEEING IT NOW IN THE NEWS, WHAT'S HAPPENING IN THE SOUTH, UH, THE IMPACT OF COMMUNITIES.

AND WE'RE NOT, WE'RE NOT, YOU KNOW, ESCAPING IT EITHER, WHETHER IT'S FROM FREEZES OR OTHER TYPES OF NATURAL DISASTERS.

THEY'RE GONNA BE BIGGER AND MORE FREQUENT.

AND WE HAVE TO RECOGNIZE OUR, OUR PART OF IT.

I WAS JUST AT A TOWN HALL WHERE 75 TO 80 PEOPLE WERE GATHERED AND TALKING ABOUT THE SAME THING.

THERE'S NO COMMUNITY APPETITE FOR ANY FURTHER FOSSIL FUELS.

IT HAS BEEN MADE CLEAR TO COUNCIL UPON COUNCIL.

THE REAL DIRECTION THAT WE NEED TO BE LOOKING AT IS HOW QUICKLY CAN WE IMPLEMENT THESE NEW TECHNOLOGIES THAT ARE ALREADY REAPING BENEFITS THAT PEOPLE DIDN'T EVEN SEE COMING? LIKE THE BATTERIES, LIKE OTHER FORMS OF STORAGE.

THERE'S OTHER TECHNOLOGIES COMING ON, AND HOW MUCH WE CAN GET FROM TEXAS SOLAR, TEXAS WIND, AND PUTTING IT INTO STORAGE SO THAT WE CAN SMOOTH OUT THOSE LUMPS.

AND HEY, WE, WE DON'T EVEN NEED TO BUILD ALL THESE PEAKER PLANTS.

UH, I AGREE THAT THIS, UH, YOU KNOW, CLEAN OR GREEN HYDROGEN, IT'S A MIRAGE.

IT'S, IT'S, YOU KNOW, GREENWASHING.

THERE'S NO PIPELINES FOR, FOR HYDROGEN ACROSS TEXAS, BUT THERE IS FOR NATURAL GAS, THERE IS FOR FOSSIL FUELS, AND THAT'S WHAT'S GONNA ACTUALLY END UP EARNING IN THOSE PLANTS.

THANK YOU.

THANK YOU VERY MUCH.

THAT'S ALL THE SPEAKERS WE HAVE.

WELL, THANKS TO ALL THE SPEAKERS.

THIS WAS ACTUALLY THE TIME I WAS GOING TO ASK CHRIS IF HE WANTED TO INTRODUCE HIMSELF.

LET'S SEE IF THE TECHNOLOGY IS WORKING RIGHT NOW.

CHRIS, CAN WE, HOW IS THIS, CAN YOU SPEAK UP? THAT SOUND BETTER? YEAH, CAN YOU HEAR ME? IT'S VERY, YES.

WE CAN JUST SPEAK UP A LITTLE BIT.

OKAY.

UH, SORRY ABOUT THIS.

UH, I'M TRAVELING THIS WEEK AND, UH, IT'S NOT OPTIMUM, BUT, UH, HAPPY TO BE ON THE COMMISSION.

I LOOK FORWARD TO GETTING TO KNOW THOSE OF YOU THAT I DON'T ALREADY KNOW.

AND FOR SOME OF YOU, IT'S GOOD TO SEE SOME FRIENDLY FACES THERE.

SO THANKS FOR, UH, THANKS FOR WELCOMING ME.

OKAY, SO LET'S MOVE ON

[1. Recommend conducting a public hearing and consider proposed terms, rate and fee changes for Austin Energy – Solar Standard Offer Rider – Solar Integrator; High Load Factor Primary Voltage (Demand greater than or equal to 20,000 kW); and High Load Factor Transmission Voltage (Demand greater than or equal to 20 MW).]

THE FIRST ONE IS THE RCA.

RICHARD, DO YOU WANNA INTRODUCE IT? GOOD EVENING COMMISSIONERS.

RICHARD GENESEE, VICE PRESIDENT OF CUSTOMER ENERGY SOLUTIONS.

UH, THIS IS THE RCA FOR SOLAR STANDARD OFFER.

UM, AND WE HAVE A, UH, BOARD COMMISSION RECOMMENDATION ON THIS ITEM AS WELL.

UH, AND WE'VE WORKED, UH, PRETTY HARD ON THIS OFFERING.

VERY EXCITED ABOUT THIS OFFERING.

THIS IS, UH, GOING TO BE, UH, OUR MEANS TO EXPAND COMMUNITY SOLAR.

AND, UM, WE ARE EXCITED TO SCALE THIS EVENTUALLY, UH, TO, YOU KNOW, IT'S GOING TO START WITH A 20, UH, MEGAWATT, UM, PAUSE.

AND THEN WE'RE GOING TO SCALE IT AND EVENTUALLY ALSO EXPAND IT TO, UH, RESIDENTIAL.

SO, UM, I ASK YOUR SUPPORT FOR THIS, UH, RCA DISCUSSION.

I, I JUST WANNA SAY THANK YOU TO RICHARD AND HIS TEAM.

YOU KNOW, I, I KNOW YOU HEARD SOME, SOME FEEDBACK HERE AND, AND AT CITY COUNCIL, AND I APPRECIATE THAT YOU, YOU KNOW, HEARD THAT AND MADE ADJUSTMENTS TO THE OFFERING.

AND I ALSO REALLY LOOK FORWARD TO THE NEXT PHASE WITH THE ROLLING IN THE RESIDENTIAL.

SO THANK YOU.

[00:20:02]

ANY QUESTIONS ONLINE? UH, RICHARD, UH, HOW DOES THIS HAVE ANY EFFECT ON REMAINING CUSTOMERS IN TERMS OF THE O OVERALL IMPACT ON, ON PRICES? IS THERE ANY SUBSIDY, IN OTHER WORDS, ANY SUBSIDY BUILT IN AS A RESULT? UM, I BELIEVE, UH, TIM HARVEY IS ON LINE AND, UM, I'D LIKE TO HAVE HIM ADDRESS THAT QUESTION.

I'M TIM CUSTOMER.

OH, TIM.

TIM, WE CAN'T HEAR YOU.

YES.

CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW? YES, WE CAN.

ALRIGHT.

WOW, THAT WORKED.

UM, I'M TIM HARVEY.

I AM THE CUSTOMER RENEWABLE SOLUTIONS MANAGER AT AUSTIN ENERGY.

UM, SO NO, THIS SHOULDN'T HAVE ANY, UH, ILL EFFECT ON PRICES.

SO THE WAY THIS WORKS IS WE'RE, WE'RE BASICALLY PASSING THROUGH OUR AVOIDED COSTS, UM, TO THE INTAKER OF THIS RATE.

SO THE RATE WILL FLUCTUATE OVER TIME WITH OUR AVOIDED COSTS ON THE MARKET, BASED ON THE SAME, UM, METHODOLOGY THAT WE USE FOR THE AVOIDED COSTS FOR VALUES OF VALUE OF SOLAR.

THANK YOU.

MM-HMM, , ONE, ONE FOLLOW UP, UH, QUE QUESTION, RICHARD.

UH, YOU MENTIONED GOING FORWARD, UH, HAVING A STANDARD OFFER FOR, UH, RESIDENTIAL, UH, IS THERE, HAVE THE CUSTOMER PROTECTIONS THAT ARE NECESSARY FOR THAT, UH, BEEN STUDIED? I KNOW THERE'S, I KNOW THE NATIONAL CONSUMER LAW CENTER HA HAS DONE SOME MAPPING NATIONALLY, THAT AREA.

YEAH.

UM, THE GLIDE PATH FOR DOING THAT IS GOING TO START WITH STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT ON, IN DECEMBER OF THIS YEAR.

AND ALL OF THAT WILL BE WORKED OUT AS WE MOVE FORWARD THROUGH THE PROCESS.

AND WE ANTICIPATE, UM, BEING ABLE TO ROLL FORWARD POTENTIALLY WITH AN OFFERING IN JANUARY OF 2026.

SO, UM, I EXPECT WHAT YOU'RE ADDRESSING WILL BE PART OF OUR STAKEHOLDER DISCUSSIONS STARTING IN DECEMBER.

THANK YOU.

I, THAT CONCLUDES MY QUESTION.

CAN, CAN I FOLLOW UP ON, WELL, ACTUALLY CYRUS, YOU HAD A QUESTION? NO, I JUST, I REALLY JUST WANTED TO THANK, UM, BOTH COMMISSIONER WHITE FOR EFFORTS, UH, TOWARDS REACHING A CONSENSUS ON THIS AND ALSO AUSTIN ENERGY STAFF.

UM, I, I KNOW I'VE ASKED THIS BEFORE, BUT THE SEPARATE POT OF MONEY, UM, THROUGH THE SOLAR FOR ALL FEDERAL GRANT IS SEPARATE FROM THIS STAND.

IT'S A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT PROGRAM, CORRECT? YES, IT'S COMPLETELY SEPARATE.

OKAY, THANKS.

YEP.

JOSH, DO YOU, UH, NO.

NO, MA'AM.

OKAY.

WHAT OTHER QUESTIONS ONLINE? OKAY.

BUT YOU HAD QUESTIONS? YEAH, I JUST WANTED TO FOLLOW UP SINCE RANDY ASKED ABOUT THE RATES AND, AND TIM MENTIONED THAT THIS, UH, TARIFF WILL BE BASED ON THE AVOIDED COSTS, BUT JUST WANTED TO GET, UH, CLARIFICATION ON THAT.

THERE IS AGREEMENT ON WHAT'S IN THE RESOLUTION, WHICH IS THE, IN ROUND TWO, WHEN THE RESIDENTIAL, UM, SIDE OF THE PROGRAM IS LAUNCHED, THAT THE COMMUNITY SOLAR REVENUE WILL BE USED TOWARDS THAT, UH, WILL, WILL GO TOWARDS COMPENSATING THOSE RESIDENTIAL INSTALLATIONS.

JUST YEAH, WANTED TO, LIKE, FOR THE RECORD, RECORD, HAVE THAT BE PART OF THIS, NOT JUST THE AVOIDED COST PIECE OF IT.

WE RECOGNIZE THAT PART OF THE RESOLUTION, BUT THOSE DETAILS WE ARE GONNA WORK THROUGH AS PART OF OUR, UH, DECEMBER STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT.

SO, RIGHT.

BUT THAT MONEY ISN'T JUST GONNA KIND OF GET SWEPT INTO SOME OTHER PURPOSE, RIGHT? IT'S GONNA GO TOWARDS THE INSTALLATIONS.

YEAH.

WE DON'T HAVE THE, THE DETAILS RIGHT NOW, BUT YEAH, THAT'S UNDERSTANDING.

AND I DON'T HAVE THE, YOU KNOW, I'M NOT EVEN PROPOSING ONE METHOD OR ANOTHER.

I JUST THINK IT'S REALLY IMPORTANT THAT WHEN WE HAVE A VOLUNTARY OFFERING AND CUSTOMERS STEP UP AND WANT TO PAY A LITTLE MORE FOR SOMETHING THAT WE MAKE SURE WE USE THOSE FUNDS FOR THAT PURPOSE.

SO, THANKS.

[00:25:03]

SO AMY, WE'RE LOOKING FOR A VOTE ON THIS.

I'LL MOVE APPROVAL.

NO SECOND.

JOSHUA SECOND.

ALL IN FAVOR SAY AYE.

AYE.

AYE.

RANDY, WE DIDN'T SEE YOUR HAND UP, PLEASE.

OKAY.

THANKS.

OKAY, PASSED.

NEXT

[2. Recommend approval of the Solar Standard Offer Program.]

THIS IS THE RECOMMENDED APPROVAL FOR THE SOLAR STANDARD OFFER PROGRAM.

I THINK THIS IS MEANING TO BE THE RESOLUTION THAT YOU DRAFTED.

YES.

OKAY.

AND THERE WAS A, AN ORIGINAL, THEN A REVISED POSTED ONLINE.

DO YOU WANT TO DESCRIBE MORE? I HAVE A HARD COPY.

YEAH.

SO, UM, THAT'S OKAY, I GOT IT HERE.

SO ORIGINALLY, UM, THIS WAS FOCUSED ON THE GETTING THE FULL, UH, VALUE OF SOLAR, BUT, YOU KNOW, WE, WE DID HAVE ADDITIONAL DISCUSSION, AND SO IT'S REALLY JUST AGREEING TO WHAT WE JUST DISCUSSED AND WHAT'S IN THE TARIFF.

INITIAL TARIFF WILL BE THE AVERAGE OF THE LAST THREE YEARS, AVOIDED COST, WHICH, UH, DOES BOOST THE INITIAL OFFERING SIGNIFICANTLY.

AND I THINK WE'LL PUT THE PROGRAM ON A, ON A GOOD PLACE TO LAUNCH AND, UH, IS ALSO STILL GONNA BE NOT A, ANY NET COST INCREASE TO THE UTILITY OR OTHER CUSTOMERS.

AND THEN JUST STATING THAT THERE WILL BE, UM, A PROCESS FOR, UM, UPDATING THAT, THAT WILL ALIGN WITH THE VALUE OF SOLAR.

SO IT WILL NOT BE THE SAME AS THE VALUE OF SOLAR TARIFF, BUT IT WILL UPDATE ON THE SAME CYCLE BECAUSE THE AVOIDED COST PORTION IS THE SAME.

AND THAT, THAT'LL START IN MARCH OF 2026.

AND, UH, THEN JUST THE PIECE THAT WE JUST DISCUSSED ABOUT THE STAKEHOLDER MEETINGS STARTING IN DECEMBER TO WORK OUT THE DETAILS OF EXPANDING INTO THE RESIDENTIAL, UH, SECTOR FOR SYSTEMS DOWN TO THREE KILOWATTS.

UH, AND WITH THE INTENTION OF LAUNCHING THAT BY JANUARY OF 2026, AND THAT, THAT REVENUE FROM THE COMMUNITY SOLAR PROGRAM WILL BE USED TOWARDS THAT SEGMENT OF THE PROGRAM SINCE THOSE INSTALLATIONS WOULD LIKELY BE A BIT MORE COSTLY.

AND THEN FINALLY, A RECOMMENDATION THAT THE CITY COUNCIL REQUEST QUARTERLY UPDATES ON THIS.

UM, AND I THINK ONE OF THE THINGS THAT I THINK WE CAN TRY TO KEEP AN EYE ON AS A COMMISSION, AND I HOPE WE WILL, IS NEED FOR STAFFING AS THIS PROGRAM IS IMPLEMENTED.

UM, YOU KNOW, IT, IT IS, I THINK, GONNA BE A, A SUBSTANTIAL INCREASE IN WHAT THE SOLAR TEAM HAS TO PROCESS IN TERMS OF, IN OUR CONNECTIONS, AND LIKELY EVEN JUST KIND OF QUESTIONS FROM THE PUBLIC.

SO I THINK, UH, WE CAN HELP IT BE SUCCESSFUL, BUT, YOU KNOW, WHEN BUDGET TIME ROLLS AROUND, MAKING SURE THAT THE AE AND THE, THE SOLAR PROGRAM IN PARTICULAR HAVE THE STAFFING THEY NEED.

BUT THE IDEA IS TO HOPEFULLY GET THEM, GET COUNCIL MEMBERS THOSE UPDATES PERIODICALLY SO THEY KNOW IF THERE'S LIKE A HUGE RUSH ON THIS PROGRAM AND STAFF IS OVERWHELMED.

DISCUSSION AND QUESTIONS? ANY, ANY QUESTIONS ONLINE? SO MOVED.

I'LL SECOND THOSE IN FAVOR SAY AYE.

AYE.

AYE.

AYE.

AYE.

OKAY.

PASS.

OKAY.

LET'S MOVE ON TO

[3. Staff briefing on the initial modeling results for Austin Energy’s Resource, Generation, and Climate Protection Plan by Lisa Martin, Deputy General Manager and Chief Operating Officer]

LISA MARTIN.

ALL RIGHT.

GOOD EVENING, CHAIR, TUTTLE, VICE CHAIR, WHITE AND COMMISSIONERS.

I'M LISA MARTIN, AUSTIN ENERGY'S CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER.

AND I JUST WANNA THANK YOU FOR COMING TOGETHER FOR THIS SPECIAL CALLED ELECTRIC UTILITY COMMISSION MEETING.

WE'RE AT A VERY IMPORTANT MILESTONE ON OUR RESOURCE PLANNING JOURNEY, AND WE HAVE OUR FIRST SET OF MODELING RESULTS, AND WE APPRECIATE YOU ALL MAKING THE TIME FOR IT.

BEFORE WE GET STARTED, I WANNA SET THE STAGE FOR WHAT YOU CAN EXPECT TONIGHT.

UH, NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE.

SO, FIRST OF ALL, A SOLID DISCLAIMER.

IN FULL TRANSPARENCY, IT'S IMPORTANT THAT WE ALL REALIZE THERE ARE NO RECOMMENDATIONS COMING OUT OF TONIGHT'S MEETING.

THERE WILL DEFINITELY BE NEXT STEPS, BUT WE HAVE NOT PRE ANALYZED THE DATA AND DECIDED HOW TO MOVE FORWARD.

WE'RE GONNA DO THAT TOGETHER, AND WE ALL HAVE TO REMEMBER THAT MODELS PROVIDE INFORMATION.

THEY ARE NOT THE PLAN, AND THEY WILL NOT PROVIDE THE ANSWER OR THE SOLUTION THAT GOES INTO THE RESOURCE GENERATION AND CLIMATE PROTECTION PLAN TO 2035 MODELS, TURN

[00:30:01]

AND I ALSO WANNA, UM, UH, NOTE THAT ALL THE MODELING REFLECTS THE INPUT ASSUMPTIONS COORDINATED WITH YOU EARLIER THIS YEAR.

OKAY, NEXT SLIDE.

ALL RIGHT.

SO TONIGHT WE HAVE A FULL AGENDA DEDICATED TO THE RESOURCE GENERATION PLAN.

YOU'LL HEAR FROM SEVERAL OF US.

I'M GONNA START US OUT.

I'LL PASS IT OFF TO MICHAEL ANGER.

AND THEN, UH, WE HAVE BEN ANDERSON, UH, FROM ASCEND ANALYTICS, WHO HAS JOINED US VIRTUALLY.

AT THE CONCLUSION WE'LL BRING UP SOME OF THE MODELING TEAM MEMBERS, HAVE SOME DISCUSSION AND COLLABORATION, AND ULTIMATELY DETERMINE HOW THAT WILL CARRY OVER INTO OFFICE HOURS FOR INDIVIDUALS OR SMALLER GROUPS THROUGHOUT THE REST OF THE WEEK.

NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE.

RIGHT.

THIS IS ALSO AN IMPORTANT SLIDE FOR ME, AND I JUST WANNA WALK THROUGH IT BIT BY BIT.

I KNOW IT'S A LOT OF TEXT, UM, BUT IT LAYS THE GROUNDWORK FOR WHAT YOU CAN EXPECT TONIGHT.

SO, FIRST OF ALL, THERE ARE 17 PORTFOLIOS TO DATE, 17 DIFFERENT TECHNOLOGY MIXES.

YOU'LL SEE RESULTS FROM ALL OF THOSE TONIGHT, BUT YOU'LL SEE THEM IN TWO PARTS.

SO FIRST, YOU'LL SEE THE RESULTS OF THE 13 PORTFOLIOS THAT WERE DEFINED BY AUSTIN ENERGY AND THE ELECTRIC UTILITY COMMISSION.

UM, THOSE WERE THE TECHNOLOGY MIX THAT, THAT WE AGREED UPON IN AUGUST, UM, INCLUDING TWO THAT YOU DEFINED YOURSELF.

AND MIKE'S GONNA SUMMARIZE THOSE.

AND THEN THERE ARE FOUR ADDITIONAL PORTFOLIOS CREATED BY ASCEND ANALYTICS.

WE'LL TALK MORE ABOUT THOSE LATER THIS EVENING.

SEVERAL OF THE PORTFOLIOS ARE INCLUDED FOR REFERENCE ONLY.

THESE ARE EDGE CASES PURPOSEFULLY DEFINED TO HELP UNDERSTAND THE BOUNDARIES OF THE SPACE THAT WE'RE WORKING WITHIN.

AND THESE ARE CLEARLY MARKED AS YOU LOOK THROUGHOUT THE PRESENTATION.

I WOULDN'T EXPECT ANY OF THESE TO END UP ON THE FINAL SET OF OPTIONS.

THE TRADE-OFFS ARE JUST TOO EXTREME, BUT AGAIN, THEY ARE BOUNDARY CASES.

AND THEN YOU'RE GONNA SEE A LOT OF DATA, BUT NOT A LOT OF TAKEAWAYS.

THIS IS RAW DATA THAT SHOWS HOW EACH PORTFOLIO COMPARES TO THE OTHERS FOR ANY GIVEN OUTPUT METRIC.

WHEN YOU REVIEW THIS, YOU MAY FEEL OVERWHELMED BY THE SHEER AMOUNT OF DATA PROVIDED.

THERE ARE A LOT OF CHARTS, AND WHEN YOU PUT IT TOGETHER INTO A TABLE, IT'S A LOT.

SO I JUST ASK THAT YOU HANG IN THERE WITH US, EMBRACE THAT OVERWHELMING FEELING THAT ALL OF US HAVE FELT WHEN WE LOOKED THROUGH THIS DATA AND KNOW THAT WE'LL SORT THROUGH IT TOGETHER.

WE'VE PURPOSELY NOT PULLED OUT KEY HIGHLIGHTS OR USED HEAT MAP CHARTS TO IDENTIFY GOOD OR BAD OUTCOMES.

WE WANNA DRAW THOSE CONCLUSIONS TOGETHER.

ALL RIGHT, SO THAT BRINGS ME TO THE FINAL POINT ON THIS SLIDE, WHICH IS THAT TONIGHT WE'RE GONNA REVIEW, UM, ASCEND AND AE RESULTS.

THERE ARE TWO DIFFERENT MODELS TO PROVIDE INFORMATION FOR NEXT STEPS.

OUR NEXT STEP IS GOING TO BE TO ASK WHAT IF, WHAT IF THIS PORTFOLIO LOOKED THIS WAY OR WHAT IF IT LOOKED THAT WAY? AND THEN WE'LL REFINE THE PORTFOLIOS MIX AND MATCH TECHNOLOGIES.

AND OUR GOAL IS TO FIND A SUBSET, UH, THAT WE CAN RUN AGAIN AND, UH, THAT WILL PROVIDE A MORE ACCEPTABLE SET OF TRADE-OFFS.

NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE.

SO WE'RE GONNA BEGIN THAT WORK TONIGHT.

UM, I DON'T EXPECT WE'RE GONNA FINISH TONIGHT.

SOME OF YOU WILL NEED TO SIT WITH THIS INFORMATION AND DIG INTO IT FURTHER.

AND FOR THAT WE HAVE ESTABLISHED OFFICE HOURS.

YOU CAN USE THEM FOR ANY OR ALL OF THE LISTED OBJECTIVES.

AND I WILL CIRCLE BACK TO THIS AT THE END OF TONIGHT'S MEETING.

SO BEFORE I PASS IT OFF TO MIKE, I HAVE ONE FINAL, UM, THING TO SHARE IS THAT, SO YOU ALL SHOULD HAVE A A, A BINDER, UM, WHICH WILL HELP YOU, UH, NAVIGATE THROUGH THE CONVERSATION TONIGHT.

THOSE OF YOU VIRTUALLY SHOULD HAVE AN ELECTRONIC BINDER.

WE HAVE SOME, UM, REFERENCE, UH, KIND OF QUICK CHEAT SHEETS OR CHARTS, UM, IN THE, UM, FOLDERS, I'M SORRY, IN THE YES, IN THE, IN THE SIDE POCKETS.

AND THEN, UM, THIS FIRST SECTION BEHIND THE FIRST, UH, TAB IS A SET OF, UH, REFERENCE INFORMATION.

MIKE'S GONNA EXPLAIN HOW YOU WOULD READ THAT.

UM, BUT WE EXPECT THAT YOU MAY BE FLIPPING THROUGH THAT AS WE GO THROUGH THE PRESENTATION.

THE PRESENTATION IS BEHIND THE SECOND TAB, AND THEN THE APPENDICES ARE BEHIND THE THIRD TAB.

SO I WILL PASS IT OFF TO MIKE AND WE'LL BE AROUND QUESTION, VERY QUICK PROCESS QUESTION.

YES, SIR.

UM, CAN YOU REMIND US WHEN THE NEXT EUC MEETING IS? OCTOBER 21ST? OCTO.

OH, OKAY.

SO IT'S THE, OKAY, GOT IT.

SO THERE IS A LITTLE TIME TO RUN.

GOT IT.

NOT MUCH, BUT WE'LL BE WORKING ON NOT MUCH, BUT SOMETIME.

THANK YOU.

ALL RIGHT, MIKE, NEXT SLIDE PLEASE.

DID YOU WANT ME TO GO OVER TO MODELING TIMELINE POLICIES? YES.

SO, YES.

AND SO JUST TO, TO WRAP THINGS UP, UH, HERE'S THE MODELING TIMELINE OF WHAT WE HAVE DONE, UM, SO FAR, UH, AND THEN NEXT STEPS AS WELL.

ALRIGHT, WELL THANK YOU.

GOOD EVENING COMMISSIONERS.

MY NAME IS MICHAEL ENGER.

I'M THE VICE PRESIDENT OF ENERGY MARKET OPERATIONS AND RESOURCE PLANNING.

AND I'LL BE HERE TO TALK ABOUT THE AE RESULTS FROM FROM MODELING.

UH, NEXT SLIDE PLEASE.

SO TO REITERATE AND, AND SHOW THIS SLIDE, UH, AGAIN, UH, THIS IS JUST IMPORTANT CONTEXT FOR DISCUSSION

[00:35:01]

WE ARE NOT PROPOSING ANY RESOURCE PLANS TODAY.

UH, NONE OF THESE PORTFOLIOS ARE PROPOSED RESOURCE PLAN.

IT'S MORE SO THAT WE CAN LOOK AT THE RE RISK TRADE-OFFS OR THE TRADE-OFFS BETWEEN DIFFERENT TECHNOLOGIES AS WELL AS THE RISK WITHIN DIFFERENT PORTFOLIOS.

NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE.

UH, SO YOU'RE GONNA HAVE A REFERENCE GUIDE, I THINK THAT WAS MENTIONED A LITTLE BIT EARLIER, UH, WHERE YOU HAVE ALL THE PORTFOLIOS ONE THROUGH 13 HERE.

YOU HAVE THE PORTFOLIO WITH, WITH KIND OF A, A, A NAME OR NOMENCLATURE FOR THAT, AS WELL AS A SHORT DESCRIPTION.

YOU'LL PROBABLY WANT TO KEEP THIS OUT TO BE ABLE TO REFER BACK TO IT.

A LOT OF THE CHARTS WE'RE GONNA SHOW, YOU KNOW, TO MAKE EVERYTHING FIT.

WE, WE ARE REFERRING BACK TO THE NUMBERS AND NOT THE ACTUAL PORTFOLIO PORTFOLIO DESCRIPTION.

AND SO BY HAVING THIS REFERENCE GUIDE OUT, IT'LL BE HELPFUL FOR YOU TO KIND OF GO BACK AND SEE, OKAY, WELL WHICH PORTFOLIO WAS THAT? THAT'S, YOU KNOW, HERE ON THE GRAPH, FOR EXAMPLE.

NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE.

UH, WE'VE ALSO INCLUDED A GLOSSARY OF TERMS. I DON'T THINK THIS IS ALL INCLUSIVE.

SO IF THERE'S ANY TERM THAT I I SAY AS WE GO THROUGH THIS OR YOU SEE ON ANYTHING ON THE SLIDE THAT DOESN'T MAKE SENSE, UH, PLEASE LET ME KNOW.

I KNOW, UH, DAVE AND I TALKED A LITTLE BIT EARLIER ABOUT THE A HUNDRED PERCENT CF AND THAT'S A HUNDRED PERCENT CARBON FREE, NOT CAPACITY FACTOR.

SO IF YOU, IF YOU CATCH ANY KIND OF LITTLE ACRONYMS LIKE THAT OR ANY KIND OF, UH, ABBREVIATIONS, UH, THAT DON'T MAKE SENSE, PLEASE LET ME KNOW SO THAT WE CAN JUMP INTO THOSE AND ADDRESS THOSE.

BUT HERE'S JUST A, A GLOSSARY OF SOME OF THOSE TERMS AND, AND WHAT WE ALL MEAN BY THOSE TERMS. UH, NEXT SLIDE PLEASE.

UH, AND SO I WANTED TO START OFF AND JUST, UH, REITERATE, WE SHOWED THE SLIDE A LITTLE BIT AGO.

THIS IS THE DEMAND SIDE MANAGEMENT IN 2035 SLIDE.

UH, THIS IS A COMBINATION OF WHAT AUSTIN ENERGY HAS ALREADY COMMITTED IN OUR CURRENT RESOURCE PLANS.

THAT IS THE DARK ORANGE NUMBER.

AND THAT IS FROM 2025 ON THROUGH 2035.

AND SO YOU'LL SEE THERE IS ABOUT 812 MEGAWATTS OF ADDITIONAL DEMAND SIDE MANAGEMENT OR DEMAND SIDE RESPONSE THAT WE'RE LOOKING TO ACCOMPLISH, EITHER THROUGH DEMAND, UH, DEMAND RESPONSE, LOCAL SOLAR OR ENERGY EFFICIENCY.

UH, YOU'LL ALSO NOTICE A LITTLE YELLOW BAR ON TOP OF THAT.

THAT IS, UH, THE ADDITIONAL CAPACITY FROM THE DMV STUDY THAT WE MIGHT BE ABLE TO ACCOMPLISH.

UM, SO YOU CAN SEE WE'VE ALREADY DONE A, A REALLY GREAT JOB OF, OF TRYING TO, TO REALLY WORK ON DEMAND SIDE MANAGEMENT THAT THERE MIGHT STILL BE A LITTLE BIT MORE THAT WE CAN CAN ACHIEVE.

AND THIS IS, LIKE I SAID, THIS IS GOING FORWARD.

SO IT'S ABOUT ONE GIGAWATT OF ADDITIONAL DEMAND SIDE MANAGEMENT FROM 2025 TO 2035.

AND THAT DOES NOT INCLUDE ALL OF THE GAINS WE'VE ALREADY MADE.

SO, FOR EXAMPLE, ON ENERGY EFFICIENCY, I THINK WE'VE ALREADY, UH, ACCOMPLISHED ABOUT 828 MEGAWATTS OF ENERGY EFFICIENCY UP TO THIS DAY.

UM, NEXT SLIDE PLEASE.

UM, AND THEN NEXT SLIDE.

SO WE ARE GONNA START OFF WITH, UH, PORTFOLIO COMPARISONS ON FINANCIAL IMPACT.

SO WE'LL KIND OF GO THROUGH, UH, FINANCIAL IMPACTS, EMISSIONS AND RELIABILITY, AND WE'LL JUST KIND OF TALK THROUGH THE DIFFERENT METRICS.

UH, BUT TO START OFF, FOR EVERY SINGLE PORTFOLIO ONE THROUGH 13 FOR THE AE PORTFOLIOS, YOU'LL HAVE A GRAPHIC LIKE THIS.

AND SO WE'LL GO AND COMPARE DIFFERENT PORTFOLIOS THROUGHOUT THIS PRESENTATION, UH, TO DIFFERENT PORTFOLIOS.

THIS IS A, A GREAT WAY TO JUST LOOK AT THE PORTFOLIO AND LOOK AT ALL THE METRICS JUST RIGHT IN ONE SPOT.

SO IF YOU WANTED TO WALK THROUGH AND SEE HOW IT COMPARED THROUGH ALL THE DIFFERENT OUTPUT METRICS THAT'S ON YOUR TOP LEFT THERE WHERE YOU CAN SEE WHERE IT RANKED AND WHAT THE OVERALL VALUE IS.

UH, SOME OF THE STATS ON THE ASSUMPTIONS HERE, FOR EXAMPLE, WHEN FPP IS RETIRED IN THE MODELING STUDY, UH, WHAT THE RENEWABLE ENERGY GOAL WOULD BE, THAT'S OUR E GOAL THERE.

UH, IF WE REACHED A HUNDRED PERCENT CARBON FREE GOAL, UH, AND THEN HOW MUCH NEW ADDITIONAL LOCAL STORAGE AND GAS IS ADDED.

AND THEN OVER ON THE RIGHT YOU CAN LOOK AT THE DIFFERENT GENERATION, UH, INSTALLED CAPACITY MIX BY YEAR, UH, UH, WITHIN THAT PORTFOLIO.

SO YOU HAVE ONE OF THOSE FOR ALL 13 OF THE PORTFOLIOS.

AND THAT'S, I BELIEVE IN YOUR APPENDICES.

UH, SO YOU CAN REFERENCE BACK TO THAT AS WELL.

UH, NEXT SLIDE PLEASE.

SO WE'RE GONNA START OFF WITH NET COSTS.

SO FIRST WE WANNA TALK ABOUT WHAT NET COST IS.

THIS IS NOT A LEVELIZED COST OF ELECTRICITY OR JUST THE CAPITAL COST.

SO THE NET COST IS THE TOTAL CAPITAL COST AS WELL AS THE O AND M COST, THE OPERATIONS AND MAINTENANCE COST IN ORDER TO BE ABLE TO GENERATE THAT POWER LESS THE TOTAL REVENUE FROM THE SALE OF THAT POWER INTO THE ERCO MARKET.

UM, THE CAPITAL COSTS FOR ALL NEW ASSETS ARE AMORTIZED OVER THE LIFE OF THE ASSETS.

SO WE'RE NOT JUST PUTTING IT ALL IN ONE YEAR, WE'RE AMORTIZING IT MUCH LIKE WE WOULD DO ON OUR FINANCIAL, UH, BALANCE STATEMENTS.

UM, THE O AND M COSTS INCLUDE FUEL PERSONNEL AND REGULAR MAINTENANCE, THINGS THAT ARE EXPECTED, NOT, UH, UNEXPECTED MAINTENANCE.

UM, AND TO COMPARE THE SINGLE NET COST ACROSS ALL THE DIFFERENT PORTFOLIOS.

WE LOOKED AT THE ANNUAL COSTS AND WE BROUGHT, BROUGHT IT BACK TO A NET PRESENT VALUE WHERE WE USED A DISCOUNT FACTOR OF 7.8% AND WE USED 7.8%.

'CAUSE I BELIEVE THAT IS THE WEIGHTED, UH, AVERAGE COST OF CAPITAL FOR AUSTIN ENERGY PER OUR LAST RESOURCE PLAN OR SORRY, PER OUR LAST RATE CASE.

VERY, VERY QUICK QUESTION.

HOW, WHAT DO YOU DO FOR PPA IF YOU'RE DOING A NEW PPA FOR UTILITY, WIND OR SOLAR, HOW DO YOU FIGURE OUT THAT TOTAL COST OR YOU JUST TAKE THAT

[00:40:01]

OKAY, THANKS.

WE HAVE A QUESTION FOR RANDY ONLINE.

UH, YES, RANDY, EXCUSE ME, UH, ON THAT PRIOR CHART FOR PORTFOLIO FIVE MM-HMM, , DO I UNDERSTAND THAT'S A $68 INCREASE IN RESIDENTIAL BILL PER MONTH.

SO THAT IS, UH, 2035 AND WE'LL ACTUALLY GO TO THAT SLIDE AND LOOK AT ALL DIFFERENT PORTFOLIOS AND EXPLAIN THAT A LITTLE BIT BETTER.

BUT THAT WOULD BE IN NOMINAL DOLLARS AND THAT WOULD SAY, VERSUS THE AVERAGE BILL TODAY IN, IN YEAR 2035, THAT IS WHAT THE AVERAGE BILL INCREASE WOULD BE.

THANK YOU.

SO ACTUALLY, WHY DON'T YOU TALK ABOUT THAT.

SO WHAT'S THE AVERAGE BILL TODAY AND THEN WHAT'S THE NOMINAL BILL IN 2035 THAT YOU'D ADD ON TO? RIGHT.

AND AND I DO WANNA POINT OUT, AND WE GET TO THE SLIDE I WAS GONNA MENTION THAT IS IT, IT'S NOT GONNA BE YOUR TOTAL BILL.

THIS IS THE IMPACT OF THE PORTFOLIO ON THE BILL.

THIS WOULD NOT TAKE INTO ACCOUNT ANY OTHER CAPITAL COST ON THE TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION SIDE.

SO IT'S NOT AN ACCURATE DEPICTION OF THE OVERALL BILL IN 2035.

IT IS JUST THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN WHERE WE ARE TODAY AS WE ADD THESE NEW RESOURCES AND OPERATE IN THE WHOLESALE MARKET.

WHAT THAT WOULD BE, UH, WITH OUR AVERAGE BILL IS TODAY IS OUR AVERAGE CUSTOMER USES ABOUT 860 KILOWATT HOURS OF ENERGY.

I'M GONNA STOP HERE, I MIGHT HAVE TO LOOK THAT UP.

IS RIGHT AROUND 110 TO $115 I BELIEVE IS 102 IS THE AVERAGE COST TODAY.

SO THAT WOULD BE ABOUT A 50% INCREASE IN THE ELECTRIC BILL AND THAT DOESN'T COUNT ANY, UH, ADDITIONAL COSTS, UH, THAT MAY BE REQUIRED FOR TRANSMISSION.

THAT IS CORRECT.

THIS IS NOT, NOT ALL INCLUSIVE OF THE UTILITY.

THIS IS JUST FOCUSING ON THE RESOURCE PLAN AND, AND THE GENERATION PORTION.

THANK YOU.

ALRIGHT, NEXT SLIDE PLEASE.

SO HERE IS THE NET PRESENT VALUE OF THE 20 YEAR ANNUALIZED COSTS.

SO LOOKING AT 2025 THROUGH 2045, UH, PER PORTFOLIO, YOU'LL SEE THAT THE REFERENCE PORTFOLIOS THAT LISA MENTIONED EARLIER ARE KIND OF IN A SHADED GRAY BOX.

AND YOU'LL SEE THAT THROUGHOUT THE PRESENTATION.

UH, AND THEN YOU HAVE PORTFOLIOS SIX THROUGH 13.

THIS IS WHERE THAT REFERENCE GUIDE COULD BE VERY HELPFUL TO SEE WHAT THE DIFFERENT VARIOUS PORTFOLIOS ARE OR THE DESCRIPTIONS OF THEM.

BUT YOU CAN SEE THAT WE KIND OF SIT THERE AND, UH, KIND OF AVERAGE ANYWHERE FROM ABOUT $7 BILLION UP TO THE HIGHER ONE CLOSER TO $12 BILLION.

NEXT SLIDE PLEASE.

UH, THIS IS A, JUST A DIFFERENT WAY TO LOOK AT THAT.

AND THAT'S THE NET PRESENT VALUE COST.

THE ANNUAL COST, WHAT WE SHOWED YOU EARLIER WAS UNDER NORMAL CONDITIONS WE DID RUN A NUMBER OF, OF SENSITIVITIES, UH, AROUND THESE PORTFOLIOS WHERE RISK MAY MATERIALIZE.

AND SO HERE YOU STACK THOSE DIFFERENT RISKS ON TOP OF THE NORMAL, UH, VALUES.

AND FROM HERE YOU CAN KIND OF GET A BETTER PICTURE OF MAYBE THE AMOUNT OF RISK IN EACH PORTFOLIO.

SO IF RISK DID MATERIALIZE, SOME RISKS HAVE A LOT MORE RISK THAT COULD MATERIALIZE THAN, OR SOME PORTFOLIOS HAVE A LOT MORE RISK THAT COULD MATERIALIZE THAN OTHER PORTFOLIOS.

AND SO YOU CAN START TO REALLY SEE WHICH ONE OF THOSE HAVE A LITTLE BIT MORE EXPOSURE AT RISK OR NOT.

AND SO ON ANY GIVEN YEAR, IF YOU HAD SOME OF THOSE RISKS KIND OF MATERIALIZED, THEN THAT COST COULD GO A LITTLE BIT MORE FROM WHERE THOSE NORMAL SCENARIOS ARE.

CAN, CAN YOU PROVIDE US WHAT TRANSMISSION ASSUMPTIONS THERE ARE? 'CAUSE ISN'T THAT A BIG PART OF THIS? SO THE TRANSMISSION ASSUMPTIONS WITHIN THE U PLAN MODEL ARE BASED UPON THE KNOWN TRANSMISSION BUILD OUTS, UH, IN ERCOT THAT HAVE BEEN ANNOUNCED AS WELL AS MAYBE A FEW ASSUMED TRANSMISSION LINES THAT HAVE TO GET BUILT.

BUT THE THINGS THAT ARE IN THE AUSTIN AREA ARE THE THINGS THAT ARE KNOWN, UH, AND THAT HAVE BEEN APPROVED, UM, THROUGH ERCOT, UH, TO BE ADDED.

SO WE USE REFERENCE CASES FROM LCG, WHICH IS THE CONSULTANT THAT DOES U PLAN.

UH, AND THEY BASICALLY TAKE THE REFERENCE CASE FROM THE CURRENT YEAR THAT HAS THE ENTIRE SYSTEM IN IT.

AND THEN THEY GIVE US A REFERENCE CASE FOR FIVE YEARS OUT, I BELIEVE, WHICH HAS ALL THE BUILD OUT OF ALL THE TRANSMISSION ELEMENTS THAT ARE WITHIN THE ERCOT, UH, MARKET THAT HAVE BEEN APPROVED AND PLANNED ON .

SO IT WOULD GO OUT TO FIVE YEARS BUT NOT 10 YEARS.

THAT'S WHERE THE, I BELIEVE THAT'S WHERE THE REFERENCE CASE AT.

I CAN DOUBLE CHECK WITH SOME OF THE MODELING TEAM AND REALIZE YOU GO FURTHER OUT.

IT'S HARDER TO, TO, IT'S, IT'S HARDER AND, AND THEY DON'T APPROVE TRANSMISSION PROJECTS THAT FAR OUT.

UM, AND SO YEAH, THERE WON'T BE LOTS OF TRANSMISSION LINES IN YEAR SAY YEAR 2035 BEING ADDED TO THE MODEL.

SO GO AHEAD JOSH.

SO THE, UM, SO THE ROUGHLY THREE AND A HALF TO 4 BILLION IN, UH, HIGH CONGESTION SCENARIO, LIKE, SO THE MODEL WOULDN'T, IT WOULDN'T HAVE FEEDBACK TO, TO

[00:45:01]

UH, NOT IN THE U PLAN MODEL.

I BELIEVE IN THE U PLAN MODEL, LOOK AT THE HIGH CONGESTION CASE IS MORE IF ALL THE TRANSMISSION IS NOT THERE AS WE EXPECT, WHAT HAPPENS IF WE BUILD THIS PORTFOLIO, RIGHT? 'CAUSE THAT'S, THOSE ARE STILL PROJECTS THAT HAVE TO BE COMPLETED AND THERE'S DEVELOPMENT RISK ON THOSE AS WELL.

OKAY.

AND THEN COULD, UH, YOU THINK, WHAT ARE THE MARKET RULES CHANGE SCENARIO? WHAT, WHICH, SO THAT, THAT IS MAINLY LOOKING AT, UH, THE PERFORMANCE CREDIT ME MECHANISM, PCM.

OKAY.

UH, PCM, UH, BUT THAT'S TO INCORPORATE SOME OF THE MARKET RULE CHANGES THAT HAVEN'T ACTUALLY IMPACTED US YET AS A LOAD, BUT ARE OUT THERE TO BE DEVELOPED AND IMPLEMENTED.

SO THAT WOULD BE IF THE PCM CAME ABOUT YES.

IS THE GREEN, YES.

AND I KNOW THERE'S GONNA BE SOME DISCUSSION AT THE LEGISLATURE THIS YEAR ON THE PCM.

PART OF THAT IS THEY PUT A CAP ON THE TOTAL COST, RIGHT? AND I THINK THE, THE FEEDBACK FROM THE CONSULTANT AS WELL AS THE INDEPENDENT, UH, INDEPENDENT MONITOR WAS MARKET MONITOR WAS THAT AT THAT CAP, THE PCM ACTUALLY DID NOT ACCOMPLISH WHAT IT NEEDED TO DO.

AND SO IT WAS JUST GONNA ADD COST WITHOUT ACTUALLY CREATING MORE RELIABILITY.

AND SO I THINK THAT WILL PROBABLY BE SOMETHING THAT DISCUSSION AT THE LEGISLATURE, UM, I GUESS IN HERE THIS END OF THIS YEAR.

YEAH.

SAYS PCM WITH BILLION DOLLAR CAP.

YES.

OKAY.

THIS IS PCM AS WE KNOW IT TODAY.

OKAY.

ALRIGHT.

UM, NEXT SLIDE.

SO NEXT WE'RE GONNA TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT BILL IMPACT.

SO GOING BACK TO, TO MAYBE RANDY'S QUESTION A LITTLE BIT EARLIER.

AND SO THIS IS THE AVERAGE MONTHLY RESIDENTIAL BILL INCREASE IN NOMINAL DOLLARS IN TODAY'S DOLLARS, UM, IN 2035.

AND SO THAT'S WHAT WE'LL BE LOOKING AT HERE.

UH, THIS IS BASED ON THE NET COST OF EACH PORTFOLIO.

SO LIKE, AS I MENTIONED BEFORE, IT DOES NOT INCLUDE ADDITIONAL CAPITAL COSTS THAT MAY OCCUR FOR THIS UTILITY JUST AS WE GROW.

UH, IT DOESN'T INCLUDE, YOU KNOW, WE'RE, WE'RE MAYBE, UH, SALARIES AND, AND HOW MANY PEOPLE HAVE EMPLOYED IN SAY 2035.

THIS IS SOLELY LOOKING AT THE GENERATION SUPPLY PORTFOLIO AND WHAT THAT IMPACT WILL BE TO THE BILL BASED ON THESE PORTFOLIOS.

UM, NEXT SLIDE PLEASE.