[00:00:02]
[CALL TO ORDER]
GONNA CALL THE MEETING TO ORDER.UM, BEFORE WE GET GOING ON OUR AGENDA, IS THERE ANYBODY THAT'S GONNA HAVE TO DROP OFF AT ANY PARTICULAR TIME THIS EVENING? JUST 'CAUSE WE DO HAVE A COUPLE ACTION ITEMS AND WE ALSO HAVE SOME BRIEFINGS.
I HAVE TO LEAVE BETWEEN SEVEN AND SEVEN 30.
I TEXTED, BUT MIGHT NOT HAVE GONE THROUGH YET.
UM, SO WE HAVE WHAT, UH, WE HAVE EXACTLY ELEVEN'S AND WE NEED 11, RIGHT? WE NEED 10.
SO IF EVERYBODY ELSE IS ON FOR THE, FOR THE DURATION, UH, THEN WE CAN GO IN THE ORDER, UH, THAT'S POSTED.
UNLESS HEATHER, WOULD YOU PREFER TO, UM, HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY? WE COULD.
WHY DON'T WE JUST SWITCH THINGS AROUND IN THE, IN THE INTEREST OF, OF GIVING YOU THE OPPORTUNITY TO VOTE ON OUR ACTION ITEMS. BUT WE WILL START,
[PUBLIC COMMUNICATION: GENERAL ]
UH, FIRST WITH ANY CITIZEN COMMUNICATION.DO WE HAVE ANYBODY SIGNED UP TO SPEAK? YES.
A TOOL, PROBABLY THE, THE MOST IMPORTANT TOOL FOR CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS TO CHANGE OR IMPROVE THINGS WITH THE CITY OF AUSTIN IS LIKELY THE BUDGET PROCESS.
SOME OF YOU KNOW ALREADY THAT THE COUNCIL MEMBERS ASK BUDGET QUESTIONS AND THEY'RE EXPECTING ANSWERS IN A WEEK'S TIME OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT, AND THEY NORMALLY GET ANSWERED BY THE BEGINNING OF AUGUST.
I WANTED TO SHARE THIS WITH YOU ALL, 'CAUSE SOME OF YOU ARE NEWER TO THE JSC AND THEREFORE MAY NOT KNOW ABOUT THIS RESOURCE AND HOW TO FIND IT AND ALL.
I'VE SELECTED SOME ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS THAT RELATE TO ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AND THE CLIMATE EQUITY PLAN.
ONE OF THEM THAT I'VE WORKED ON, THAT YOU'VE HEARD ME SPEAK ABOUT IS THIS IDEA OF ELECTRIFICATION FOR EQUIPMENT AND FOR VEHICLES, BUT PARTICULARLY ON THE EQUIPMENT SIDE, BECAUSE WHILE THAT'S HAPPENING, IT'S HAPPENING SLOWLY.
WE NEED THE INFRASTRUCTURE FOR IT.
AND ONCE THAT'S UP, IF YOU COULD SCROLL DOWN A LITTLE, THIS CAME FROM COUNCIL MEMBER RYAN ALTER, WHO'S BEEN THE PERSON THAT I'VE SEEN PUT FORWARD THE MOST COUNCIL RESOLUTIONS AND, UH, HAS BEEN WORKING DILIGENTLY WITH HIS STAFF ON THIS ISSUE AND OTHER ISSUES.
SO IF YOU, IF YOU LOOK THERE, THERE IS AN INTEREST TO DO IT.
IT'S GONNA REQUIRE SIGNIFICANT MONEY.
AS YOU SEE IN THE FIRST PARAGRAPH, A HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS.
THERE IS ACTION BY STAFF, INCLUDING FROM OFFICE OF SUSTAINABILITY.
ZACH IS WORKING ON IT TO, UH, MOVE THIS ALONG.
AND RIGHT NOW, UH, THERE, IF YOU'LL SCROLL DOWN JUST A LITTLE MORE TO NUMBER FOUR, YOU CAN SEE THAT THE CHARGING INFRASTRUCTURE IS BEING WORKED ON AND A PLAN HAS TO EMERGE.
UH, FOR EXAMPLE, 90 LEVEL TWO CHARGING STATIONS HAVE BEEN ALLOCATED AND IT GIVES YOU THE PRICE, ET CETERA, ET CETERA.
SO THIS IS SOMETHING THAT I CARE ABOUT, BUT IT'S GONNA TAKE SOME TIME.
HOPEFULLY THIS TIME NEXT YEAR WE CAN, WE CAN SEE SOME PROGRESS ON THIS.
THE SECOND ATTACHMENT, PLEASE.
SOMETHING THAT'S VERY IMPORTANT TO THE JSC AND MEMBERS OF THE EUC IS THIS IDEA OF CAN THE CITY OF AUSTIN BUILD OUT THE SOLAR CAPACITY TO OFFSET THE ENERGY USE FROM THE BUILDINGS? AND SO THIS IS ONE THAT BUILDING SERVICES FIELDED.
AND THE FIRST QUESTION AND THE ANSWER TO THE FIRST QUESTION IS, IS TELLING THAT THEY WOULD NEED 3.15 MEGAWATTS OF SOLAR WOULD BE NEEDED TO OFFSET 25% OF THE BUILDING SERVICES DEPARTMENT'S ANNUAL CONSUMPTION OF 17.8 GIGAWATT HOURS.
IT'S, THESE ARE THINGS THAT YOU COULD ACCESS BY SEARCHING FOR CITY OF AUSTIN.
BUDGET QUESTIONS, ANSWERS FROM THE FISCAL YEAR 2025 BUDGET, WHICH IS THE ONE THAT WE'RE IN NOW SINCE OCTOBER 1ST, THE THIRD PDF FILE, PLEASE.
THIS ONE THAT'S VERY IMPORTANT TO ME.
THIS IS I THE IDEA OF EXPANDING WEATHERIZATION FROM THE CURRENT LEVEL OF
[00:05:01]
80% OF MEDIUM FAMILY INCOME TO A HUNDRED PERCENT.THIS QUESTION WAS ALSO ASKED BY RYAN ALTER'S OFFICE, AND THE INFORMATION IS THAT THEY ARE INCREASING PARTICIPATION AND THEREFORE THEY'RE GETTING GAINS.
COULD THEY GET MORE? POSSIBLY.
BUT SOMETIMES JUST HAVING IT MORE ACCESSIBLE DOESN'T MEAN THAT THERE'S MORE UPTAKE IN THAT PARTICULAR AREA, BUT I KNOW THAT THIS PROGRAM IS IMPORTANT IN MANY WAYS, ENVIRONMENTALLY, ECONOMICALLY, AND SOCIALLY.
SO THIS IS A RESOURCE, I, I HOPE THEY ALL WILL USE IT.
THE ANSWERS NOW ARE DATED BECAUSE THEY CAME IN LATE JULY OR EARLY AUGUST OF 2024.
BUT HOPEFULLY SOME UPDATES WILL BE COMING BASED ON YOUR REQUEST OR BASED ON STAFF GIVING PRESENTATIONS ABOUT THE CLIMATE EQUITY PLAN.
SCOTT, DID YOU EMAIL THESE TO US? I SENT THEM TO, TO ANGELA AND, AND ANGELA CAN SEND THEM TO, TO Y'ALL.
NOT, IT'S NOT THE ENTIRETY OF BUDGET QUESTIONS.
THEY'RE 170 AND MOST OF THEM WERE NOT ABOUT THE ENVIRONMENT.
[1. Approval of minutes from the October 23rd, 2024 meeting of the Joint Sustainability Committee.]
WILL MOVE TO ITEM ONE, WHICH IS THE MINUTES FROM OUR OCTOBER 23RD MEETING.MOTION TO APPROVE THE MINUTES.
WE'VE GOT A MOTION TO APPROVE.
UH, OR, UH, MAYBE A QUESTION IS, IS IT NECESSARY TO ENUMERATE WITHIN THE MINUTES, THE TIME AT WHICH COMMITTEE MEMBERS DROP OFF? THERE IS SOME CONFUSION IN THERE.
THERE'S SOME NOTATION OF COMMITTEE MEMBERS DROPPED OFF AT X TIME AND THEN THEY DROPPED OFF AGAIN FIVE MINUTES LATER.
IT'S JUST A LITTLE, IT, IT READ WEIRD TO ME.
I DO SEE ANNA LEAVING AT 7 34 AND AT 7 35.
SO PROBABLY AT LEAST ONE OF THOSE CAN BE DELETED.
WERE WERE THERE ANY OTHER DUPLICATES? UM, OH, IT, SAME THING FOR MELISSA, RIGHT? YEAH, THERE WERE A COUPLE OF THEM.
AND THEN THE OTHER, I HAD ONE OTHER, UM, ITEM, WHICH WAS, IF I CAN FIND IT MINUTES.
ON THE DISCUSSION, ITEM NUMBER FIVE, DISCUSSION OF AGRICULTURAL LAND ACQUISITION AND POTENTIAL WORKING FARMS FUND PILOT.
THERE'S JUST NOTHING UNDER THERE.
UM, TYPICALLY, I THINK WE JUST SAY THAT THE COMMITTEE DISCUSSED THE, UH, LAND ACQUISITION, UM, WISHLIST OR JUST THE, THE COMMITTEE DISCUSSED THE ITEM.
IT'S THE ONLY ONE WITH NOTHING.
WITH NO WHICH ITEM? IT'S NUMBER FIVE.
IT'S THE ONLY ONE WITH NOTHING UNDERNEATH IT, BUT WE DID JUST LIKE SOMETHING, WE DID DISCUSS IT.
JUST TO NOTE THAT THE COMMITTEE DISCUSSED IT.
SO IT SOUNDS LIKE THE EDITS THAT WE'RE ASKING FOR ARE TO REMOVE THE DUPLICATES OF WHEN MELISSA AND ANNA LEFT THE MEETING TO NOTE UNDER NUMBER FIVE THAT WE DID DISCUSS THAT ITEM.
UM, AND THEN I WOULD JUST ADD, IF WE CAN HAVE A LITTLE BIT OF, IF, IF YOU COULD CLEAN UP THE CONSISTENCY OF HOW THE COMMISSIONERS ARE REFERRED TO IN HERE.
BE IT FIRST INITIAL, LAST NAME OR FIRST NAME OR LAST NAME.
I DON'T REALLY HAVE A PREFERENCE, BUT I THINK I'M REFERRED TO TWO DIFFERENT WAYS IN HERE, WHICH MIGHT BE CONFUSING TO THE READER WHO DOESN'T KNOW WHO KAY WHITE IS.
AND I THINK EVERYBODY ELSE IS BY LAST NAME.
WELL, NO, SOME, YEAH, IT'S, IT'S A HODGEPODGE.
SOME PEOPLE ARE THEIR FULL NAME.
I, IT'S NOT A BIG DEAL, BUT I DO THINK IT WOULD BE JUST GOOD TO HAVE A CONSISTENT METHOD THERE.
ANYTHING ELSE ON THE MINUTES? OKAY.
UM, AS YOU MAKE MOTIONS THOUGH, UH, PLEASE LET ME KNOW YOUR NAME.
SO WE HAD HARRIS AS THE, UH, MOTION.
AND THEN CHRIS, CHRIS IS THE SECOND.
[00:10:01]
UH, ALL IN FAVOR, RAISE YOUR HAND.OKAY, SO SINCE HEATHER IS, IS NOT GONNA BE WITH US FOR THE DURATION OF THE MEETING, WE ARE GONNA MOVE NOW, LET'S DO THE LAST ITEM FIRST BECAUSE I THINK IT WILL PROBABLY BE RELATIVELY QUICK.
UH, WE ACTUALLY HEARD ABOUT THIS, UM, GRANT OPPORTUNITY FOR LOW CARBON, UM, TRANSPORTATION CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS, UH, FROM OUR EPA SPEAKER LAST MONTH.
AND IT TURNS OUT THAT THE CITY IS INDEED SEEKING THOSE FUNDS.
SO WE HAVE ON OUR, UM, AGENDA A, A, UH, AN, AN ITEM TO, OKAY, AND THIS IS NOT ACTUALLY THE LAST ITEM, I APOLOGIZE.
[7. Recommendation in support of the City pursuing a Low Carbon Transportation Materials Grant]
UM, UNDER DISCUSSION AND ACTION ITEMS, A SUPPORT LETTER FOR PURSUING THIS GRANT FOR LOW CARBON TRANSPORTATION MATERIALS.GRANT, I, I'M SUPPORTIVE OF THIS.
IS THERE ANY SPECIFIC DISCUSSION ITEMS FOR THIS OR IT IT'S JUST A MATTER OF US VOTING TO SIGN ONTO THIS LETTER OR IF WE HAVE ANY, UM, YOU KNOW, IF WE WANT TO EDIT THE LETTER, WE COULD, BUT, UM, THAT'S, THAT'S THE INTENTION HERE.
COULD WE BRING IT UP ON THE SCREEN? WHOSE HAND WAS UP? I'M SORRY.
WHO DID YOU SEE? NO, I WAS ASKING IF WE COULD BRING THE LETTER.
I THOUGHT YOU SAID SOMEBODY'S HAND WAS UP ON THE SCREEN.
UM, YEAH, IF WE THANK YOU AND, AND I AM WORKING TO GET SOME OTHER ORGANIZATIONS SIGNED ONTO THIS AS WELL.
JUST WANNA, UH, CLARIFY OR FOR MY OWN, UH, EDUCATION THAT THIS ESSENTIALLY WOULD BE A LETTER FROM THE JOINT SUSTAINABILITY COMMITTEE KIND OF ENDORSING THE CITY OF AUSTIN'S, UM, APPLICATION FOR, UH, FOR THIS FUNDING.
AND BASICALLY IT SAYS THAT WE WANT, WE SUPPORT THE IDEA OF GOING TO LOW CARBON TRANSPORTATION MATERIALS.
SO THIS ALIGNS WITH, YOU KNOW, THE, I THINK THE PLAN THAT THE CITY HAS AND ALSO I THINK OUR GOALS OF TRYING TO MOVE THINGS FORWARD IN A MORE EXPEDITED WAY.
SO I SEE THIS IS, I SEE NO REASON WHY I WOULD NOT SUPPORT THIS.
YEAH, I GUESS I JUST HAVE A QUESTION, BUT WE DO LIKE A RECOMMENDATION OR WE JUST WRITING A LETTER, LIKE IT WOULD JUST BE VOTING TO ADD THE JOINT SUSTAINABILITY COMMITTEE TO THIS LETTER.
AND AS I MENTIONED, MY INTENTION IS THAT WE WILL HAVE SOME OTHER LOCAL ORGANIZATIONS MM-HMM.
UM, THE APPLICATION IS DUE ON MONDAY, SO I DON'T THINK THERE'S GONNA BE OPPORTUNITY FOR OTHER COMMISSIONS, UNFORTUNATELY.
BUT, UM, YEAH, SOME OTHER ORGANIZATIONS I THINK WILL SIGN ON.
UH, I MAKE A MOTION THAT THE JSC BE ADDED AS A SIGNATORY.
OKAY, SO WE HAVE DIANA MAKING A MOTION AND ANNA MAKING THE SECOND.
ALRIGHT, ALL IN FAVOR? RAISE YOUR HAND PLEASE.
DIANA, IF YOU'RE RAISING YOUR HAND.
YEAH, SORRY, CAN YOU NOT? YES, YES.
PROBABLY THE YELLOW BACKGROUND.
I DON'T KNOW IF IT'S IF YOU'RE ON YOUR PHONE OR WHAT, BUT YOU'RE VERY NARROW.
YEAH, AND SORRY, I'M HAVING SOME CAMERA DIFFICULTIES.
I'LL FIX IT, BUT MY HAND IS RAISED.
UNFORTUNATELY, I DON'T THINK WE'RE ALLOWED TO COUNT IT, BUT I THINK IT STILL PASSES.
WE HAVE 10 YESES THERE, RIGHT? EVERYBODY WHO IS ON CAMERA HAD THEIR HAND RAISED, I BELIEVE.
[00:15:03]
OH, YOU WERE THERE.WE HAD YOU FOR A SECOND, DAVE, ME, OH, SO CLOSE.
UM, THE NEXT, OR THE NEXT ITEM
[6. Recommendation on Austin Energy Generation Plan]
UP FROM THAT IS ITEM SIX REGARDING THE AUSTIN ENERGY RESOURCE GENERATION AND CLIMATE PROTECTION PLAN.IF WE CAN TAKE THIS ONE DOWN AND GET THAT, I SENT AROUND A NEW RECOMMENDATION, AND I'M SORRY TO SAY I DID NOT INCLUDE YOU ON THAT, BUT MAYBE DOES THAT WITH YOUR
ROHAN AND, AND LETTY SAYS REVISED.
SO HOPING LET'S SCROLL DOWN AND SEE IF THERE'S ANY, UH, RED LINE, IF THERE'S NOT.
THERE'S A ONE THAT, ARE YOU SEEING THAT FROM ME? BRADEN? I'M SEEING IT.
SORRY ANGELA, I DIDN'T KNOW, I DIDN'T KNOW YOU WERE GONNA BE OUR, OUR LADY IN CHARGE HERE,
UM, WHILE YOU GUYS ARE PULLING THAT UP, AND NOT TO JUMP THE GUN ON THIS, BUT I'M NOT TOTALLY CLEAR WHAT THE RESOURCE GENERATION PLAN IS, AND BASED OFF OF MY ATTENDING OF THE UTILITY OVERSIGHT COMMISSION MEETING, I'M NOT CLEAR THAT COUNCIL DOES, IS THERE A FIXED VERSION OF THE RESOURCE GENERATION PLAN THAT WE ARE REACTING TO? OR ARE WE ZOOMING OUT A LITTLE BIT AND RESPONDING TO A MORE GENERALIZED PLAN THAT WE'RE KIND OF GETTING THE VIBES FROM? YOU'RE NOT THE ONLY ONE WHO'S CONFUSED.
UM, UNFORTUNATELY, EVEN THOUGH WE'VE BEEN AT THIS PLANNING PROCESS FOR A YEAR AND A HALF NOW, THERE IS NO PLAN RELEASED.
WE HAVE CONCEPTS OF CONCEPTS, WE HAVE CONCEPTS OF SOMETHING THAT I WOULD NOT PERSONALLY LISA CARED IN HER WAY.
ANSWER SOME OF THESE QUESTIONS.
HONESTLY, THE, THE PLAN, THE PLAN THAT WE HAVE CURRENTLY HAS A LOT OF DETAILED GOALS.
WHAT WE'VE SEEN PRESENTED IS A LIST OF TOOLS, AKA RESOURCES AND STRATEGIES THAT AE WOULD BE ABLE TO USE.
UM, WHETHER ONE WANTS TO CALL THAT A PLAN OR NOT, I SUPPOSE IS IN THE EYE OF THE BEHOLDER.
UM, BUT IN ANY CASE, THE DRAFT IS NOT GONNA BE RELEASED UNTIL NEXT WEDNESDAY.
AND THEN, AND THEN IT'S SET TO BE VOTED ON WHAT DATE? ON DECEMBER 12TH.
SO, YOU KNOW, IT, IT IS WHAT IT IS.
UM, BUT IT DOES LEAVE, UM, IT DOES LEAVE US IN THE POSITION OF IF WE, IF WE WANNA WEIGH IN ON IT, THEN NOW IS THE TIME THE ELECTRIC UTILITY COMMISSION UNFORTUNATELY, IS GONNA BE MEETING, YOU KNOW, THE DAY WE GET BACK FROM THANKSGIVING TO READ THE PLAN THAT IT'S RELEASED THE DAY BEFORE THANKSGIVING.
YOU KNOW, AGAIN, IT, THAT JUST IS WHAT IT IS.
SO, YOU KNOW, I THINK ALL WE CAN DO IS, UM, YOU KNOW, EITHER DECIDE TO DECIDE TO WEIGH IN OR NOT.
SO, UM, I'M WONDERING IF WE CAN MAYBE, UH, ASK, UH, AUSTIN ENERGY TO COME AND JUST GIVE US AN OUTLINE OF KIND OF WHAT THE YEAH.
LISA, DO YOU WANNA GIVE US AN OVERVIEW, PLEASE.
I'M AUSTIN ENERGY'S CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER.
AND, UM, YEAH, I'D LOVE TO TELL YOU JUST A LITTLE BIT ABOUT, UH, THE AUSTIN ENERGY RESOURCE GENERATION AND CLIMATE PROTECTION PLAN TO 2035.
UM, ESSENTIALLY THE PLAN HAS A, A, THE, THE PURPOSE OF THE WHOLE THING IS ESSENTIALLY TO FIND A WAY TO MEET AUSTIN'S GROWING ENERGY NEEDS WHILE CREATING, UH, AN EQUITABLE CLEAN ENERGY TRANSITION AND, UM, WORKING TOWARDS THE COMMUNITY'S VALUES AND PRIORITIES, WHICH INCLUDE RELIABILITY, UH, AFFORDABILITY AND ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY.
AND SO, UH, WHAT'S HAPPENED IS THAT THE, UH, RESOURCE GEN PLAN HAS BEEN, UM, THERE'S
[00:20:01]
BEEN SEVERAL THAT HAVE BEEN ADOPTED YEAR OVER YEAR.UM, I SAY THAT IT'S NOT EVERY YEAR, BUT THERE'S BEEN SEVERAL SINCE 2010 WHEN THE FIRST ONE WAS ADOPTED, AND THE LAST ONE WAS ADOPTED IN 2020.
AND A LOT OF THINGS HAVE CHANGED SINCE THEN.
THERE'S A LOT OF RISKS, UM, THAT ARE, ARE WE ARE FACED IN TRYING TO SERVE OUR CUSTOMERS ENERGY NEEDS AND TO DO SO WHILE MEETING ALL OF THEIR VALUES.
AND THOSE THINGS INCLUDE GROWTH IN POPULATION AND A LOT OF GREAT THINGS LIKE ELECTRIC VEHICLES OR THE FUTURE DATA CENTERS OR AI, BUT ALSO, UM, CHANGES IN EXTREME WEATHER AND, AND CLIMATE IMPACTS.
UM, AND THEN THERE'S BEEN A LOT OF CHANGES IN THE ERCOT MARKET, WHICH WE HAVE TO, UH, WORK WITHIN, UM, IN ORDER TO, UH, DO OUR JOB.
IT'S JUST BY LAW WE'RE REQUIRED TO PARTICIPATE IN THE ERCOT MARKET.
AND SO, UM, THERE'S A, A MULTIFACETED PROBLEM THAT WE'RE TRYING TO SOLVE.
AND, UM, WE'VE, WE, UH, CITY COUNCIL BACK IN DECEMBER OF 22, UM, FROM BASED OFF OF RECOMMENDATION FROM THE ELECTRIC UTILITY COMMISSION, UH, TOLD US THAT WE NEEDED TO UPDATE THE PLAN, AND WE AGREED WITH THAT THE, THE WAY THE PLAN WAS WRITTEN DID NOT GIVE US ALL THE FLEXIBILITY THAT WE NEEDED TO ADAPT TO CHANGING ENERGY LANDSCAPES.
AND SO WE HAVE BEEN WORKING ON A VERY EXTENSIVE PROCESS FOR THE BETTER PART OF TWO YEARS NOW.
UM, AND THAT'S BEEN HEAVILY INVOLVED WITH THE ELECTRIC UTILITY COMMISSION WITH A LARGE STAKEHOLDER GROUP, UM, AS WELL THAT'S, UH, GOT 40 DIFFERENT, UH, DIVERSE ORGANIZATIONS, UM, REPRESENTING THOUSANDS OF AUSTINITES AND COME COLLECTIVELY WE'RE BRINGING, WE'RE AT A POINT WHERE WE ARE, UM, LISTENING TO EVERYBODY AND RECOGNIZING A NEED TO COHESIVELY MEET ALL OF THEIR NEEDS TOWARDS OUR AGGRESSIVE CLEAN ENERGY GOALS, BUT ALSO DOING THAT IN A RELIABLE AND AFFORDABLE WAY.
AND SO, UM, THE PLAN THAT WE, THE PLAN'S NOT EVEN OUT YET.
IT'S GONNA BE PUBLISHED AND SHARED NEXT WEEK, UM, BUT IN IT, IN ITS DRAFT FORM AND CITY COUNCIL WILL BE VOTING ON IT IN DECEMBER.
UM, AND THE ELECTRIC UTILITY COMMISSION WILL BE VOTING ON IT, UH, IN DECEMBER AS WELL, DECEMBER 2ND.
UM, AND SO, UH, THE PLAN IN AND OF ITSELF, UM, FOCUSES ON, UM, ADDRESSING THE MULTIFACETED RISKS BY STARTING WITH, UH, UH, PRIORITIZING CUSTOMER ENERGY SOLUTIONS.
SO AS MUCH, UM, LOCAL, LIKE HYPER-LOCAL AND, UH, ENERGY EFFICIENCY DEMAND RESPONSE TYPE PROGRAMS TO BEGIN WITH.
AND THEN IT STARTS TO SAY THAT IF YOU MAX THOSE OUT, UM, DO AS MUCH AS YOU POSSIBLY CAN.
DOES THAT SOLVE ALL OF THE RISKS THAT WE ARE FACING NOW AND THAT WE SEE, UH, IN THE FUTURE? AND THE ANSWER IS THAT IT DOESN'T.
AND SO THEN WHAT ELSE CAN WE DO? UM, AND ONE THING IS TO INCREASE OUR TRANSMISSION IMPORT CAPACITY TO TRY TO BRING IN MORE RENEWABLES FROM OTHER PARTS OF THE STATE.
AND THEN ALSO, UM, WHAT CAN WE DO LOCALLY TO PROVIDE ADDITIONAL SUPPLY TO ADDRESS THE RISKS THAT WE FACE? AND THAT INCLUDES THINGS LIKE LOCAL BATTERIES, LOCAL SOLAR AND LOCAL NATURAL GAS GENERATION.
UM, AND SO THERE ARE NATURAL GAS PEAKING UNITS, UM, IN THE PROPOSED PLAN AS WELL.
AND, UM, ALL OF THAT IS TO ADDRESS OUR NEAR TERM RISK COLLECTIVELY.
BUT THEN WE HAVE, UM, REALLY AGGRESSIVE GOALS TO ACHIEVE DECARBONIZATION.
AND THE GOAL THAT IS IN THE PLAN IS TO BE CARBON FREE BY 2035.
UM, AND THAT GOAL HAS BEEN IN THE LA UM, THAT GOAL EXISTS IN THE CURRENT PLAN, AND WE WILL CONTINUE TO CARRY THAT ONE FORWARD.
BUT WITH TODAY'S TECHNOLOGY, WE'RE NOT SURE THAT WE HAVE A PATH TO GET THERE, UM, BECAUSE, UH, THERE'S, THERE'S NOT REALLY A WAY TO SERVE, UM, ALL OF OUR, UH, ENERGY NEEDS A HUNDRED PERCENT CARBON FREE TODAY.
AND, UM, WE'RE NOT SURE, LIKE WE HOPE THAT WILL EXIST IN 2035.
AND SO, UM, ONE OF THE LAST COMPONENTS OF THE PLAN IS TO, UH, FOSTER A CULTURE OF INNOVATION SO THAT WE CAN MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE STAYING ON TOP OF EMERGING AND EVOLVING TECHNOLOGIES AND, UM, BE PREPARED TO ADOPT THOSE TECHNOLOGIES WHEN THEY BECOME AVAILABLE TO HELP US ACHIEVE THAT GOAL, UM, AND REPLACE ANYTHING THAT IS NOT CARBON FREE IN OUR PORTFOLIO.
UM, I WILL SAY THAT ONE OF THE MAIN, UM, COMPONENTS OF OUR PORTFOLIO TODAY THAT, UH, STANDS IN THE WAY OF OUR CARBON FREE GOALS IS OUR PARTICIPATION IN AND OWNERSHIP OF THE FAYETTE, UH, POWER PLANT OR FAY FAYETTE POWER PROJECT.
AND SO, UM, EXITING COAL, UM, AND, UH, UNTIL WE DO SO CONTINUING TO REDUCE THE EMISSIONS THAT COME OUT OF THAT PLANT, UM, CONTINUES TO BE A GOAL AS WELL.
SO THERE'S A LOT OF ASPECTS OF IT THAT ARE WORKING TOWARDS MAINTAINING THOSE CLEAN ENERGY GOALS.
AND, UM, AND THE PLAN LOOKS TO TAKE A HOLISTIC VIEW AT HOW WE CAN, UH, RESPOND TO CURRENT CHANGE AND ADDRESS AND MEET OUR FUTURE ENERGY NEEDS.
SO, UM, THAT IN A NUTSHELL IS WHAT WE'RE ATTEMPTING.
WE'VE, UM, WORKED ON THE PLAN FOR A LONG TIME WITH A
[00:25:01]
LOT OF FOLKS, AND WE HAVE A LOT OF CONFIDENCE IN WHERE IT CAN GO.UM, AND, UH, I THINK THAT, UM, I TOOK A A MOMENT TO, TO, UH, DIG IN FURTHER INTO, UM, OUR, OUR CLIMATE EQUITY PLAN.
AND I THINK IT, IT HELPS TO, UM, AUGMENT THE CLIMATE EQUITY PLAN, UM, IN THE SENSE THAT, UH, THE GOAL CONTINUES TO BE, UH, MORE AGGRESSIVE THAN THE OVERARCHING CITY GOAL.
SO I THINK IT WOULD BE A HUGE CONTRIBUTION TO THAT.
AND I THINK THAT, UM, THE WORK THAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT DOING WILL ALLOW US TO, UH, REACH, UM, AND MEET RISING ENERGY NEEDS, ESPECIALLY, UM, AS THE TRANSPORTATION SECTOR STARTS TO TURN MORE AND MORE ELECTRIC, UM, WE NEED TO MAKE SURE WE HAVE POWER TO BE ABLE TO PROVIDE FOR THAT.
AND SO I THINK THAT THE OFFSETS THAT YOU'LL SEE, UM, IN THE TRANSPORTATION SECTOR ALONE WILL BE SUBSTANTIAL.
UM, AND OUR PLAN AS A WHOLE ULTIMATELY LOOKS TO HAVE CLEANER, UM, ENERGY EVERY STEP OF THE WAY, UM, BETWEEN NOW AND, AND 2035 WHEN WE'LL BE CARBON FREE.
DOES ANYBODY HAVE QUESTIONS FOR LISA BEFORE WE DIG INTO THIS RESOLUTION? I, I MEAN, I HAVE SO MANY QUESTIONS, BUT I, I JUST DON'T KNOW IF THEY'RE APPROPRIATE IN THIS CONTEXT.
LIKE, WHY DON'T YOU ASK 'EM AND SEE
WELL, SO I MEAN, LET ME JUST START WITH THIS.
I MEAN THE, THE, THE, YOU KNOW, JOY AND THE BENEFIT, UM, BUT ALSO THE DOWNSIDE OF ENERGY SYSTEMS MODELING IS LIKE, MY INSTINCT HERE IS TO SAY, OKAY, LIKE, YOU KNOW, WHAT, WHAT ARE THE, AS LIKE, WHAT ARE THE COST ASSUMPTIONS THAT WE'RE USING? SO, OKAY, SO I'LL START WITH MAYBE WHAT MIGHT BE LIKE A, A TERRIBLE RUMOR THAT I'VE HEARD, WHICH IS THAT THE, THE MODELING THAT WE'VE DONE HAS ASSUMED A FLAT AND NOT DECLINING COST CURVE FOR RENEWABLE ENERGY AND BATTERY ENERGY SYSTEM STORAGE.
IS, IS THAT TRUE? AND LIKE, CAN YOU SPEAK TO WHAT COST ASSUMPTIONS WE'RE USING AND LIKE, HAVE THEY COME OUT YOU, LIKE, HAVE THEY ALIGNED WITH KNOW, DOE'S LIFTOFF REPORTS IN THE LAST COUPLE YEARS, ARE WE STILL ASSUMING WE'RE AT THIS POINT WHERE THE, LIKE BATTERY COSTS HAVE GONE UP, BUT LIKE NOW WE KNOW, YOU KNOW, COMING OUT OF CHINA, THEY'RE STARTING TO GO BACK DOWN? I'LL PAUSE THERE.
UM, SO THERE'S A MYRIAD OF ASSUMPTIONS THAT WERE PUT INTO THE ROBUST MODELING WORK THAT WENT INTO THIS.
AND, AND WE SPENT MONTHS AND MONTHS WORKING DEEPLY WITH THE ELECTRIC UTILITY COMMISSION, UM, RUNNING MODELS.
WE HAD SOME WITH, UM, THIRD PARTY, UH, ANALYTICS FIRMS. AND, UH, THE COST ASSUMPTIONS ARE ALL LAID OUT, UM, IN A FILE THAT IS POSTED ON THE SPEAK UP AUSTIN SITE.
AND, UM, TO, TO TALK, SPEAK TO YOUR QUESTION IN GENERAL.
SO WHAT WE DID WAS WE DID, UH, WE USED REAL TIME DATA TO, UH, TO, TO SET THE, TO SET THE, UH, FOUNDATION FOR THE ASSUMPTIONS.
SO WE DID A REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS TO SEE WHAT'S THE, YOU KNOW, GOING RATE FOR, UH, CARBON FREE SOLUTIONS IN, UH, AND AROUND TEXAS.
UM, AND THAT INCLUDED SOLAR BATTERIES AND WHATNOT.
AND, UM, AND THEN WE BAKED THOSE ASSUMPTIONS INTO THE MODELING.
UM, AT THE START OF IT, AS WE MOVED FORWARD, THERE WERE SOME ASSUMPTIONS ABOUT INCLU, UH, INCREASES IN INFLATION.
UM, WE DID HAVE SOME QUESTIONS ABOUT WHETHER OR NOT WE SHOULD BE LOOKING AT DECLINING PRICES, PRICE CURVES.
UM, AND SO, UH, WE DID DO THAT KIND OF SENSITIVITY ANALYSIS SPECIFICALLY FOR BATTERIES.
WE SAW THAT THE NUMBERS DIDN'T CHANGE DRASTICALLY, UM, IN THE END.
BUT, UM, YOU KNOW, ALL OF THAT DATA IS AVAILABLE, UM, IN A NUMBER OF DIFFERENT WAYS.
UH, THE THING THAT ULTIMATELY WE KNOW ABOUT MODELING IS THAT, UM, AND IT SOUNDS LIKE YOU MIGHT KNOW THIS AS WELL, IS THAT ALL MODELS ARE WRONG, BUT A LOT OF THEM ARE USEFUL BECAUSE THEY GIVE YOU INFORMATION TO HELP YOU, UM, MAKE DECISIONS.
AND SO WE DIDN'T DO MODELING TO SAY, WHAT IS, WHAT SHOULD THE PLAN BE? WHICH, YOU KNOW, WHICH APPROACH SHOULD WE ULTIMATELY PUT INTO THE PLAN AND SAY, BUILD THIS AT THIS TIME AND DO THIS AT THAT TIME.
AND IT'S, IT'S NOT, THAT'S NOT WHAT THIS PLAN IS.
IT'S MORE OF A POLICY-BASED DOCUMENT THAT SETS THE DIRECTION OF HOW WE'LL MEET OUR FUTURE ENERGY NEEDS AND PROVIDES THE FLEXIBILITY TO ADAPT TO THE CHANGING LANDSCAPE.
SO, UM, YOU KNOW, LIKE I SAID, THE MODELING INFORMATION IS ALL OUT THERE, BUT, UM, YOU KNOW, THE KEY INSIGHTS IS REALLY WHAT'S IMPORTANT THERE.
SO I THINK YOU SAID A REALLY IMPORTANT THING THERE OF, YOU KNOW, SOME MODELING IS USEFUL.
AND SO ONE OF THE THINGS I, I DID, BY THE WAY, IS I, I WENT BACK AND I LOOKED AT WHAT WERE, YOU KNOW, THE EIA, THE I A'S FORECASTING GOING BACK IN 2004 AND 2014, WHAT COULD THAT INFORM ABOUT GOING FORWARDS? AND, AND FOR ME, THE THING I'VE SEEN IS THAT ALL OF OUR FUTURE FORECASTING HAS BEEN HORRENDOUSLY WRONG, AND WE'VE BEEN TREMENDOUSLY LUCKY IN SOME JURISDICTIONS AND OTHER PLACES HAVE MA MADE BAD DECISIONS.
WHERE WE'VE BEEN TREMENDOUSLY WRONG IS WE'VE OVER FORECASTED THE PRICE OF RENEWABLES, AS I'M SURE YOU'RE KEENLY AWARE.
[00:30:01]
UM, AND WE'VE ALSO MIS FORECASTED DEMAND.I'VE NO DOUBT THAT DEMAND IS GOING UP DUE TO ELECTRIFICATION GROWTH, ALL THIS OTHER STUFF.
BUT LIKE IN MY MIND, WE'VE BEEN HERE BEFORE WHERE WE'VE SAID, OKAY, WE HAVE DEMAND THAT'S GOING UP AND UP AND UP AND LIKE, AH, WE NEED TO DO SOMETHING.
AND SOME JURISDICTIONS WENT AHEAD AND LIKE 2007 WENT FORWARDS WITH BUILDING COAL IN RESPONSE TO PREDICTED DEMAND FROM DATA CENTERS.
AND LIKE LO AND BEHOLDEN COLORADO RATE PAYERS ARE HAD FOR EXCEL ARE HAVING TO PAY TO SHUTTER THOSE PLANTS EARLY.
NOW, MAYBE THAT'S NEVER GONNA HAPPEN IN A STATE WHERE WE DON'T HAVE SUPPORTIVE STATE LEGISLATORS WHO ARE GONNA BE AS CONCERNED ABOUT LOCAL AIR POLLUTION.
BUT MY QUESTION IS THIS, LIKE, WHAT IS DIFFERENT THIS TIME WHEN WE'RE SAYING, HEY, WE'RE GONNA HAVE A LOT OF DEMAND AND FOSSIL FUELS ARE THE CHEAPEST AND THUS THE BEST AND MOST RELIABLE SOLUTIONS, LIKE WHAT TO SHORE UP THE GRID, RIGHT? AND I AGREE THAT THERE'S LIKE A NUANCE HERE, RIGHT? I'M NOT SAYING LIKE, YOU COULD EVEN CONVINCE ME THAT WE NEED MORE GAS PEAKER PLANTS.
HONESTLY, I JUST LIKE, I HAVEN'T SEEN THAT EVIDENCE.
AND SO WHAT I'M HEARING IS THAT WE'RE USING THE SAME MODELING FRAMEWORK THAT GOT US TO WHERE WE ARE TODAY, BUT IT WAS WRONG.
SO, SO A NUMBER OF THINGS I WANNA ADDRESS IN THERE FIRST, AND I KNOW IT WAS JUST AN EXAMPLE, BUT WE ARE ABSOLUTELY POSITIVELY NOT RECOMMENDING BUILDING A COAL PLANT.
UM, AND I JUST WANNA BE ABUNDANTLY CLEAR ABOUT THAT.
AND AS A MATTER OF FACT, THAT'S EXPLICITLY LISTED IN THE, IN THE, IN THE PROPOSED PLAN.
UM, WHAT, WHAT, UH, IF IF RISING DEMAND AND FORECAST WERE THE ONLY THING THAT WE WERE TRYING TO ADDRESS, THEN I, I SEE WHAT YOUR, WHERE YOUR CONCERN MAKES SENSE.
BUT WHAT'S THE PROBLEM IS, IS THAT WE'RE SITTING IN A PLACE RIGHT NOW, WE'RE WORKING IN A, A LOCAL GENERATION OR LOCAL SUPPLY DEFICIT.
UM, RIGHT NOW WE HAVE A LOCAL RELIABILITY RISK AND WE HAVE AFFORDABILITY RISK.
WE, WE, UH, SOMETIMES HAVE, UH, HUNDREDS OF MILLION DOLLARS OF COSTS, UM, IN WHAT'S CALLED CONGESTION COSTS TO SERVE OUR CUSTOMERS THAT WE PASS ON DIRECTLY TO OUR CUSTOMERS, BECAUSE THAT'S THE WAY THAT THE MARKET AND THE STRUCTURE WORKS.
AND SO, UM, WHAT WE, WE ARE SAYING IS THAT WE'RE SITTING HERE RIGHT NOW, UM, PUTTING ON THE SHOULDERS OF OUR CUSTOMERS, UM, THE RISK OF HAVING LOCALIZED POWER OUTAGES AND, UM, AND ADDITIONAL AFFORDABILITY THAT WE COULD MITIGATE IF WE HAD, WERE WORKED IN A DIFFERENT WAY.
AND SO THE FIRST WAY TO DO THAT, OF COURSE, BEFORE YOU GO BUILD ANYTHING, AND YOU, BECAUSE IT'S, IT'S ABSOLUTELY NOT, OH, THIS IS THE CHEAPEST SOLUTION, LET'S GO THAT ROUTE.
THAT'S JUST NOT THE WAY AUSTIN DOES THINGS.
IT'S DEFINITELY NOT THE WAY AUSTIN ENERGY DOES THINGS.
UM, AND SO THE FIRST THING IS, WHAT CAN WE REDUCE, RIGHT? WE'RE ALREADY DOING A TON IN ENERGY EFFICIENCY, DEMAND RESPONSE AND WHATNOT.
THIS PLAN GOES EVEN FURTHER TO TALK ABOUT THINGS LIKE BENEFICIAL ELECTRIFICATION, AND LET'S MAKE SURE THAT WHILE WE'RE MATURING OUR PLAN, LET'S CHANGE FROM A, A, A FRAMEWORK OF MEGAWATT REDUCTION TO GREENHOUSE GAS AVOIDANCE TO JUST RECOGNIZE THAT THAT'S ALSO GONNA PUT US INTO A CLEANER SPACE, UM, TO LIVE AND BE AROUND.
UM, SO IT STARTS WITH EVERYTHING THAT'S ABOUT REDUCING AND MANAGING THE DEMAND TO BEGIN WITH.
AND THEN IT SAYS, WHAT ELSE CAN I DO? AND WHEN WE THINK WE'RE DOING THE MOST WE CAN, AND THEN SOMETIMES, YOU KNOW, THAT'S WITH THE LOCAL SOLUTIONS, UM, WE GET TO THE POINT WHERE WE STILL HAVE RISK AFTER LAYERING ALL THE THINGS THAT WE SAY, YOU KNOW, WHAT, WHAT'S GONNA MITIGATE THAT RISK? AND SO, UH, BATTERIES WILL MITIGATE SOME OF THAT RISK, SHORT DURATION RISK.
THEY HAVE THEIR OWN, UM, TRADE-OFFS, IF YOU WILL.
THEY HAVE SOME, WE HAVE SOME CONCERNS ABOUT BATTERIES AS WELL.
COULD YOU SPEAK TO WHAT THOSE CONCERNS ARE? SURE, YEAH.
AND AS A MATTER OF FACT, I'M, I'M RESPONSIBLE FOR DOING THE, UH, LARGER SCALE UTILITY SCALE BATTERY STORAGES THAT WE DO HAVE AT AUSTIN ENERGY.
SO I HAVE A LOT OF PERSONAL EXPERIENCE WITH IT.
SO, UM, FIRST THE, THE BIGGEST ONE HAS TO DO WITH THE DURATION, RIGHT? WHICH EVERYONE'S GONNA BE FAMILIAR WITH, BUT TYPICALLY IN THE ERCOT MARKET, UM, AND REALLY ACROSS THE BOARD, RIGHT, THE DURATION IS THAT THEY'RE TWO HOURS TO FOUR HOURS, RIGHT? AND SO, UM, WE HAVE, UM, SITUATIONS WHERE ON SUMMER DAYS, THE, UH, PRICE SEPARATION OR THE CONGESTION COSTS ARE EXCEEDING THAT TIME PERIOD BY FAR.
SOMETIMES IT'S, IT'S HAPPENING AT, YOU KNOW, BATTERIES MIGHT BE GREAT FOR THE SHORT DURATION OF SOLAR RAMP DOWN, BUT IF THE WIND DOESN'T PICK UP APPROPRIATELY, YOU'VE GOTTA HAVE SOMETHING ELSE TO FILL IN THE GAP.
AND 'CAUSE WHEN YOU, OBVIOUSLY, WHEN YOU DISCHARGE IT THEN, AND YOU'RE IN A NEED, YOU CAN'T JUST STOP AND RECHARGE IT, YOU'RE JUST MAKING PROBLEM WORSE.
ARE YOU JUST TALKING SPECIFICALLY ABOUT ONE OR TWO HOUR BEST SYSTEMS? FOUR.
WE'RE LOOKING AT FOUR HOUR BATTERIES.
AND SO, UM, UH, THEN WE'RE ALSO, UM, THERE'S, THERE'S CONCERN ABOUT, UM, SO THE TECHNOLOGY, THE BATTERY STORAGE SYSTEMS THAT I INSTALLED, UM, WERE, ARE, ARE LITHIUM ION.
AND SO I KNOW THAT THAT TECHNOLOGY IS CHANGING.
UM, BUT THE IDEA OF THE EVOLVING ASPECT OF IT AND THE SAFETY STANDARDS AND THE REGULATIONS
[00:35:01]
AROUND IT, THEY'RE ALL CATCHING UP.SO WHEN I WAS BUILDING THE ONES THAT WE HAVE ACTUALLY IN THIS NEIGHBORHOOD, THERE WERE ALL THESE QUESTIONS ABOUT, WELL, HOW COULD WE, LIKE, HOW FAR APART DO THEY HAVE TO BE? HOW MUCH LAND SPACE DO WE NEED? WHAT ABOUT, YOU KNOW, ALL THESE QUESTIONS BECAUSE IT IS, YOU'RE SPEAKING ABOUT LIKE FIRE RISK AND THERMAL RUNWAY ISSUES, ALL OF THOSE THINGS.
AND PEOPLE WERE WORRIED ABOUT THE SOUND.
PEOPLE STILL ARE CONCERNED ABOUT SOUND.
SO THERE'S THIS, NOT IN MY BACKYARD CONCEPT, IT'S NOT TO SAY THAT IT CAN'T BE OVERCOME, BUT IT'S NOT TO SAY THAT IT'S JUST LIKE A SMOOTH SAILING EASY TO GO DEAL, RIGHT? AND SO, UM, WHAT REALLY, WHEN IT COMES DOWN TO IT, I MEAN, I COULD TALK TO YOU FOR, YOU KNOW, INTEROPERABILITY AND ALL THESE KINDS OF THINGS, STUFF WHERE, YOU KNOW, I'LL, I'LL TRY TO BE RESPECTFUL OF YOUR TIME FOR SURE.
WE MIGHT NEED TO GO HAVE COFFEE SOMETIME AND HAVE MORE OF A CONVERSATION.
BUT, UM, THE FACT IS, IS THAT WHEN YOU HAVE THE LONG DURATION RISK, YOU HAVE TO HAVE SOMETHING TO HELP FILL THE GAP.
AND SO, UM, WE HAD ORIGINALLY MODELED, UH, A NUMBER OF DIFFERENT SOLUTIONS.
WE DIDN'T MODEL A COAL PLANT, BUT WE DID MODEL COMBINED CYCLE.
WE, WE MODELED HYDROGEN CAPABLE, UH, UNITS AND, YOU KNOW, AS A FUTURE TECHNOLOGY, AND ULTIMATELY LANDED ON WHAT WE THINK IS THE MINIMAL AMOUNT THAT CAN HELP US, UM, MOVE MORE CLOSELY TO OUR CLEAN ENERGY GOALS WHILE, UM, WHILE, UH, WHILE STILL MEETING OUR NEAR TERM RISK.
AND, AND SO NATURAL GAS PEAKERS OFFER THAT LONG DURATION, UH, YOU KNOW, WHEN I, THE FEW TIMES A YEAR THAT I NEED THAT LONG DURATION OPTION.
UM, AND ESSENTIALLY IN OUR MODELING, WE CHECKED AND SAID, WELL, SO WELL, LET'S JUST PUT GUARDRAILS ON THEM, RUN THEM JUST ONLY WHEN NEEDED.
AND THE, UM, THE MODELING SHOWED WHAT WE EXPECTED.
PEAKER UNITS RUN ABOUT 12% OF THE TIME.
UM, AND THEY'RE THERE ESSENTIALLY WHEN DEMAND IS HIGH.
AND THEN THEY HELP US MITIGATE BOTH THE RELIABILITY AND THE AFFORDABILITY RISK.
I HAVE A, I'VE CERTAINLY GOT MORE QUESTIONS, BUT I DON'T WANT TO MONOPOLIZE THIS.
DO OTHERS HAVE QUESTIONS? BECAUSE I THINK IF OTHER, IF OTHERS DON'T, THEN THEN KEEP ASKING YOU QUESTIONS.
BUT, UM, YEAH, FOR, FOR WHEN WE'RE TALKING ABOUT PEAKER PLANTS, YOU KNOW, ONE OF THE, THE DISCUSSIONS THAT CAME UP AND THE CONCERNS THAT WERE BROUGHT BY COUNCIL WAS, WAS WHERE DO WE PUT THESE? RIGHT? AND, AND LIKE, I APPRECIATE THAT I GET TO SIT HERE AND BE LIKE, WHY DON'T YOU GUYS JUST SOLVE THIS VERY COMPLEX PROBLEM? RIGHT? I, I APPRECIATE THAT.
AND THAT'S, I GUESS ONE OF THE JOYS OF SOMEHOW GETTING ON THIS, YOU KNOW, A BOARD AND COMMISSION.
UM, ONE OF THE CHARGES WAS THAT THESE PEAKERS ARE ONLY GOING TO BE ABLE TO GO REALISTICALLY IN A COUPLE OF PLACES.
UM, HAVE YOU GUYS THOUGHT ABOUT THAT? IS LIKE LOCATE LOCATION, HAS THAT COME UP IN DISCUSSIONS? SO WE'VE ABSOLUTELY HEARD THE CONCERNS.
WE HAVE ABSOLUTELY THOUGHT ABOUT IT AT THE, AT THE MOMENT, RIGHT? WE DON'T HAVE A LOCATION AS TO WHERE ANY NEW PEAKER PLANTS WOULD GO.
AND THAT'S LARGELY BECAUSE THAT'S JUST NOT WHAT'S HAPPENING AT THIS POINT OF THE GAME.
RIGHT NOW, OUR CURRENT PLAN HAS A PROHIBITION ON ANY TYPE OF, UH, NATURAL GAS GENERATION.
SO WE HAVE NOT BEEN THINKING OR LOOKING AT WHAT IT WOULD TAKE TO BUILD NEW NATURAL GAS PEAKERS.
WE'RE TRYING TO CHANGE THE POLICY TO MAKE IT MORE FLEXIBLE SO THAT WE ULTIMATELY CAN CREATE A MORE HOLISTIC SOLUTION AND PERHAPS A MORE CREATIVE WAY.
UM, AND SO, UH, WE HAVEN'T DECIDED, YOU KNOW, WE, WE DON'T KNOW WHERE THEY GO.
UM, IF WE GET THE, THE PERMISSION TO CONSIDER NATURAL GAS PEAKERS AS PART OF OUR, UM, SERVING OUR FUTURE ENERGY NEEDS AND MITIGATING OUR CURRENT RISK, THEN UM, THE SIGHTING ACTUALLY HAPPENS IN THE IMPLEMENTATION PHASE.
AND SO, UH, WE WOULD HAVE TO STUDY ALL DIFFERENT LOCATIONS.
WE ARE COMMITTED TO LOOKING ACROSS THE CITY TO FIND VARIOUS, UM, OPPORTUNITIES FOR WHERE WE MIGHT CITE, UH, NEW NATURAL GAS PEAKER UNITS.
AND, UM, IN THE END THERE, THERE ARE TRADE-OFFS ASSOCIATED WITH, YOU KNOW, TIME AND COST AND PERMITTING AND, AND WE HAVE TO FIGURE ALL THAT OUT.
UM, BUT IT'S SOMETHING THAT WOULD ULTIMATELY GO BEFORE COUNCIL AS THEY GO FORWARD TO APPROVE THE, THE PROPOSED ACTUAL PLANT.
SO REALISTICALLY, LIKE WHAT IS THE, WHAT IS THE DEMAND GAP OR RELIABILITY GAP? LIKE WHAT TIME PERIOD ARE YOU FORECASTING THIS FOR? AND, AND MORE IMPORTANTLY, LIKE WHY DOES, WHAT DOES THAT MEAN ABOUT ACTION NOW, RIGHT? LIKE, 'CAUSE I IMAGINE A PEAKER PLANT, LIKE AS YOU SAID, LIKE IT'S, IT'S JUST A JET ENGINE, RIGHT? IT'S JUST A JET ENGINE.
SO LIKE, WHAT, WHAT'S THE LEAD TIME ON THAT? CONSTRUCTION, PERMITTING, OPERATIONALIZATION, IT LEAD TIME COULD BE, UH, TWO TO THREE YEARS AND LONGER, UM, THAT, THAT'S THE SHORTEST WE COULD DO IT IN PROBABLY.
UM, AND THEN, UH, IT COULD TAKE LONGER DEPENDING ON, UM, LOCATION AND PERMITTING AND IF WE HAD TO BUILD ADDITIONAL INFRASTRUCTURE.
BUT LIKE PRESUMABLY IF YOU JUST WANTED TO PUT SOMETHING WHERE EXISTING INTERCONNECTS WERE, FOR EXAMPLE,
[00:40:01]
LIKE THAT'S, THAT'S SOMETHING THAT POTENTIALLY SPEEDS UP THE PROCESS.AND THEN WHERE'S THAT DEMAND OR, AND OR RELIABILITY GAP, LIKE TIME-WISE THAT YOU'RE LIKE THE IT'S TODAY, IT WAS YESTERDAY, AND IT WILL CONTINUE TO BE IN THE FUTURE AND IT WILL GROW IN THE FUTURE.
THE, THE, THE RELIABILITY, THE COSTS THAT WE'RE SEEING SIGNAL THAT WE HAVE A RELIABILITY RISK.
AND, UH, IN 2022, IT WAS $135 MILLION OF ADDED COST PUSHED TO OUR CUSTOMERS IN 2023, $150 MILLION.
SO THE, THE RISK IS HERE AND IT'S REAL, AND IT JUST TAKES ANOTHER BAD SUMMER OR A, YOU KNOW, A TOUGH WINTER WHEN WE'LL HAVE THOSE DAYS WHEN WE'RE SITTING ON THE EDGE.
SO WHAT I'VE SEEN IN THE SUMMERTIME IS THAT, LIKE, HONESTLY, TEXAS HAS BEEN A WORLDWIDE SUCCESS.
ERCOT SPECIFICALLY BECAUSE OF THE DEPLOYMENT OF BATTERY ENERGY STORAGE SAVED OUR BACON, HAS SAVED US A BUNCH OF OF MONEY.
UM, WHAT, YEAH, WHAT PART OF THAT STORY AREN'T I MISSING? BECAUSE LIKE, AS SOMEBODY WHO IS ADMITTEDLY NOT AN ELECTRICITY EXPERT, LIKE I LOOK AT THESE NUMBERS AND THESE SUCCESS STORIES THAT I'M SEEING AND I'M LIKE, WOW, LIKE THAT SEEMS GREAT.
AND MORE TO THE POINT, LIKE THAT'S WHAT MY FRIENDS AND FAMILY MEMBERS SAY TO ME.
AND SO WHEN I'M MENTIONING THIS PLAN, LIKE, WHAT DO I SAY BACK TO THEM? YEAH, BATTERY, BATTERY STORAGE IS A VERY IMPORTANT PART OF THE SOLUTION, AND IT HELPS YOU, ESPECIALLY DURING LIKE SOLAR RAMP DOWN, IT DOESN'T HELP YOU FOR THE, YOU KNOW, SEVEN DAYS IN A ROW WHERE YOU ARE SITTING IN A HEAT ISLAND OR THERE'S A HEAT DOME AND IT'S BECOME INCREDIBLY HOT.
AIR CONDITIONERS ARE RUNNING LIKE CRAZY AND, AND ALL OF A SUDDEN WE CAN'T BRING ANY MORE POWER IN BECAUSE ALL THE TRANSMISSION LINES ACROSS TEXAS ARE, ARE CONGESTED.
AND SO WE'RE STARTING TO SEE VOLTAGE SUPPLY ISSUES.
AND SO NOW WE'RE TRYING TO FIGURE OUT WHAT, WHAT DO WE DO TO SERVE OUR CUSTOMERS? AND THE BATTERIES WILL WORK FOR THE FIRST, LET'S SAY, FOUR HOURS, RIGHT? UM, BUT THEN, THEN WHAT HAPPENS NOW THAT, YOU KNOW, THIS STARTS AROUND AND LIKE HOW MANY, HOW MANY DAYS PER YEAR OR HOURS PER YEAR ARE WE EXCEEDING? ARE WE NEEDING TO DEPLOY BEYOND THAT FOUR HOUR WINDOW? YOU CAN, YOU CAN LOOK AT, THINK ABOUT HOW MANY DAYS OVER A HUNDRED DEGREES WE HAVE IN AUSTIN IN A SUMMER, AND WHEN YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT, OR HOW MANY TIMES DID WE HAVE, UM, ERCOT CONSERVATION, UM, ALERTS? IT'S, IT'S REALLY THOSE TYPES OF SITUATIONS WHERE PEOPLE ARE SITTING ON THEIR EDGE TRYING TO FIGURE OUT, I DON'T WANNA TURN DOWN MY THERMOSTAT, BUT YOU'RE TELLING ME I HAVE WHY, WHY, WHY AREN'T YOU SOLVING THIS PROBLEM? RIGHT? AND SOMETIMES IT'S AN ERCOT WIDE PROBLEM, AND SOMETIMES IT'S A, IT, IT HAPPENS HERE WHERE WE COULD SUPPORT WHAT, WHAT'S THE RATIO OF THAT, RIGHT? LIKE OF, OF ERCOT RELIABILITY.
IT'S, IT'S, IT'S ALL INTERTWINED.
SORRY, BUT SPECIFICALLY LIKE IN TERMS OF THINGS THAT WE'RE TRYING, WE CAN OR SHOULD BE SOLVING LOCALLY VERSUS STATEWIDE OUTAGES, RIGHT? LIKE, IS IS IT A ONE-TO-ONE, LIKE EVERY DAY THAT ERCOT HAS ISSUES, WE HAVE ISSUES, AND I KNOW I'M LIKE OVERSIMPLIFYING HERE, BUT I, I I GUESS THE METRIC WOULD BE LIKE, YOU KNOW, IF YOU HAVE A RELIABILITY INDEX, HOW MANY DAYS DOES THAT EXCEED THAT HERE AND NOT IN, IN ERCOT VERSUS, AND, AND I WISH I HAD AN EASY ANSWER FOR YOU, BUT WHAT REALLY COMES TO MIND IS STARTING TO ASK HOW MANY DAYS ARE ACCEPTABLE TO TELL YOUR CUSTOMERS THAT WE'RE SITTING AT RISK AND THAT, YOU KNOW, WE, WE COULD HAVE HAD OUTAGES HERE IN AUSTIN WHEN THE REST OF OUR CUT WERE STILL WORKING AND THE LIGHTS WERE ON.
WHAT HAVE YOU GUYS DONE IN TERMS OF AIR QUALITY MODELING, LIKE, OR CONSIDERATION? SO LIKE, SPECIFICALLY I'LL SAY LIKE, AUSTIN IS, WHAT'S THE STAT? LIKE WE'RE THE LARGEST, WE'RE THE LARGEST CITY IN THE NATION.
THAT'S, IT'S NOT NON-ATTAINMENT THAT IS ENTERTAINMENT.
I DON'T EVEN KNOW THE WORDS FOR THIS.
UM, BUT WE'RE RIGHT ON THAT EDGE.
MAYBE THIS PRESUPPOSES THAT WE'RE GONNA MAINTAIN EPA FEDERAL AIR QUALITY STANDARDS.
UM, GAS PEAKERS DON'T DO GREAT FOR AIR QUALITY.
LIKE IT'S ONE REASON THAT CALIFORNIA'S STILL HAVING ISSUES EVEN AS THEY'RE MOVING TO BATTERY, TO, TO BATTERY, BATTERY, ELECTRIC STORAGE SYSTEMS. UM, HAS THIS BEEN PART OF THE CONVERSATION? LOCAL AIR QUALITY IS ABSOLUTELY PART OF THE CONVERSATION AS WE MODELED THEM.
WE INCLUDED, UM, SELECTIVE CO CATALYTIC REDUCTION TO BEGIN WITH.
AND THEN WE'VE, WE RECENTLY HAD CONVERSATIONS WITH COUNCIL AND MOORE AND THEY SAID, WE WANNA KNOW WHAT, WHAT ELSE ARE YOU GONNA DO TO TRY TO MAKE SURE THAT YOU CAN MAINTAIN LOCAL AIR QUALITY IN VARIOUS WAYS? SO WE WANNA MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE MAKING THE MOST RESPONSIBLE DECISIONS AS WE'RE TRYING, RIGHT? WE'RE, WE'RE TRYING TO CONTINUE TO MOVE AS CLOSE AS WE CAN.
WE ULTIMATELY ARE DOING WHAT WE CAN TO ACHIEVE OUR, UM, OUR CLEAN ENERGY GOALS.
UM, AND SO, UH, BUT WE, AGAIN, WE NEED TO MAKE SURE THAT WE HAVE THE RELIABILITY AND AFFORDABILITY SOLUTIONS.
IT'S REALLY A BALANCE OF ALL THREE OF THOSE THINGS.
SO, BUT SPECIFICALLY, WHAT, IF ANY WORK HAS BEEN DONE FOR THIS RESOURCE PLAN? UH, ARE YOU ASKING ABOUT, UM, HOW,
[00:45:01]
YEAH, LIKE FOR, FOR THE RESOURCE PLAN, RIGHT? LIKE I, I'M AWARE THAT LIKE WEBER'S GROUP DID SOME LIKE DEMAND FORECASTING.IT SOUNDS LIKE THERE'S AN OUTSIDE GROUP THAT DID THE SCENARIO MODELING FOR VARIOUS DIFFERENT LIKE RESOURCE POSSIBILITIES.
DID SOMEONE GO IN AND AND DO LIKE AIR QUALITY MONITORING MODELING PART? PARDON ME? NOT MONITORING.
WE, AS PART OF OUR MODELING, WE DID ANALYSIS ABOUT VARIOUS, UH, PORTFOLIO OPTIONS TO SEE, UM, WHAT WOULD IT LOOK LIKE IN TERMS OF WHAT ARE THE TRADE-OFFS BETWEEN COSTS AND RELIABILITY AND EMISSIONS.
HOW DO WE FIND THE RIGHT BALANCED MIX TO ALIGN WITH OUR COMMUNITY'S VALUES AND PRIORITIES? AND, UM, ULTIMATELY THE OUTPUT METRICS FROM THAT MODELING NOT ONLY INCLUDED, UM, CO2 SAC EMISSIONS, BUT ALSO, UM, SOC NOX AND PMS. OKAY, GREAT.
YOU CAN ANNA, I, I PULLED THIS UP JUST 'CAUSE YOU WERE ASKING ABOUT THE, UM, LOCAL AIR QUALITY AND, AND JUST FYI, WHILE AUSTIN HASN'T, THE AUSTIN REGION HASN'T BEEN DESIGNATED NON-ATTAINMENT, WE ARE NOW OVER THE LIMIT IN TERMS OF OZONE.
UM, YEAH, BUT WE'RE, YEAH, WE'RE NOT DESIGNATED AND WHO KNOWS, THERE MIGHT NOT BE AN EPA TO DESIGNATE US IN A FEW YEARS, BUT, UM, NEVERTHELESS THAT THE AIR IS UN IS NOW UNHEALTHY, BUT THIS IS THE, THE MODELING RESULTS.
UM, AND I KNOW 14, 15, 16 AND 17 DON'T MEAN ANYTHING TO ANYBODY HERE.
SO JUST 14 IS THE ONE THAT ADDS 200 MEGAWATTS OF NATURAL GAS, PEAKERS 15 RETIRES ALL OF THE EXISTING NATURAL GAS BY THE END OF 2024 AND 16 AND 17 DO SIMILAR BUT ADDITIONS OF, OF CLEAN RESOURCES, BUT ALLOW THE NATURAL GAS UNITS THAT AUSTIN ENERGY HAS TO KEEP RUNNING THROUGH THE MODELING PERIOD.
AND FOR CONTEXT, UM, TODAY, UH, WE, UH, HAVE ABOUT 2.5 TO 3 MILLION METRIC TONS, UH, PRODUCED A YEAR FROM OUR STACKS.
AND THESE NUMBERS ARE OVER A 10 YEAR PERIOD.
SO, UM, THESE NUMBERS SHOW A GREAT REDUCTION OVER A 10 YEAR PERIOD COMPARED TO WHERE WE ARE TODAY BECAUSE THEY EXCLUDE FAYETTE, ALL THE MODELING EXCLUDED FAYETTE, JUST TO KIND OF ELIMINATE.
SO THAT, THAT'S MY QUESTION, RIGHT? OBVIOUSLY THAT'S NOT REALITY, BUT YEAH, JUST TO KIND OF COMPARE THE DIFFERENT LOCAL OPTIONS, WE JUST REMOVE THAT, BUT OBVIOUSLY THE EMISSIONS ARE STILL THERE.
I, SO THE QUESTION I WAS GOING GETTING TO WITH THE MODELING, WHICH MAYBE THIS GETS LIKE FAR TOO TECHNICAL RIGHT, IS LIKE, YEAH, I APPRECIATE THE STACK EMISSIONS, BUT THE, THE, THE BIT ABOUT LIKE DO WE, ARE WE AN EXCEEDANCE, UM, OF THOSE, THOSE KNS UM, THRESHOLDS, RIGHT? LIKE THAT COMES FROM REALLY DOING LIKE A LITTLE BIT MORE LIKE ATMOSPHERIC TYPE MODELING AND, AND FIGURING OUT, YOU KNOW, HOW MANY DAYS ARE WE ABOVE, UM, THOSE LIMITS? SO, SO THAT WAS I THINK THE, THE SPECIFIC CONCERN.
UM, CHRIS HAS A QUESTION AND PLEASE, PLEASE SOMEONE ELSE.
CHRIS, CAN YOU ASK, CAN YOU ASK YOUR QUESTION? I MAKE YOUR COMMENT.
WHILE HE'S FIGURING OUT HIS MIC.
I WAS JUST GOING TO SAY THAT I'M, I'M CERTAINLY NOT, UH, AN ENVIRONMENTAL EXPERT.
UM, BUT WE DO HAVE, UH, ENVIRONMENTAL, UH, EXPERTS ON OUR TEAM, UM, WHO HAVE, UH, YOU KNOW, BEEN LOOKING AT HOW DO WE MAKE THE MOST RESPONSIBLE DECISIONS AND WHAT DO WE NEED TO CONSIDER NOW AND WHICH ASPECTS COME INTO PLAY.
UM, AS WE GET FURTHER ALONG A PROCESS, CERTAINLY WE WOULD HAVE TO GO THROUGH THE FULL, UH, PERMITTING PROCESS AND MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE USING THE BEST TECHNOLOGIES AVAILABLE AND INCLUDE THE COMMUNITY STAKEHOLDER COMPONENTS AS WELL.
UM, AND, AND IT'S, IT'S DEFINITELY, YOU KNOW, UH, A HIGHLIGHT AND EXPECTATION FROM CITY COUNCIL.
SO, UM, I THINK THAT, THAT YOU CAN REST ASSURED THAT ALL OF THAT IS CONSIDERED HA HAVE WE EVER NOT BUILT SOMETHING THAT WE'VE LIKE APPROVED THAT, THAT HAS BEEN APPROVED IN PLAN AND HAS LIKE GONE TO PERMITTING AND HAS JUST LIKE NOT GONE THROUGH, JUST CURIOUS.
AS A MATTER OF FACT, THERE WAS A COMBINED CYCLE GENERATOR APPROVED IN A PLAN PREVIOUSLY THAT HAS NEVER GOTTEN BUILT.
MAYBE SOME FOLLOW UPS ON THAT, BUT, UM, WHILE WE'RE WAITING, CHRIS, ARE YOU BACK ON? I STILL CAN'T, YEAH.
CHRIS, I, I DON'T KNOW IF YOU'RE SPEAKING, BUT WE, WE CAN'T HEAR YOU.
UM, GIVE US A WAVE IF YOU CAN HEAR US.
UM, CAN YOU TYPE HIS QUESTION? YEAH, I WAS ABOUT TO SAY, IS THERE A CHAT QUESTION? YEAH, IF, IF YOU TYPE IT, I WOULD SAY TEXT ME, BUT
[00:50:01]
MAYBE TEXT SOMEONE ELSE.UM, WELL, WHILE CHRIS FIGURES THAT OUT, UM, YOU KNOW, ONE THING THAT I HEARD FROM COUNCIL MEMBER ALTER WAS THAT THERE'S A NUMBER OF SCENARIOS THAT CAME OUT OF THE SCENARIO MODELING.
I DON'T KNOW IF THIS WAS IN THE PLAN OR THE, LIKE, APOLOGIES I COULDN'T ACTUALLY FIND THE RIGHT DOCUMENT AND THAT THERE WERE DIFFERENT SCENARIOS AND THAT DIFFERENT SCENARIOS HAD VARIOUS PRICE IMPLICATIONS.
UM, IS IS, DID I HEAR THAT RIGHT? THERE WERE A NUMBER OF, OF COST METRICS THAT WERE INCLUDED, UM, COMING OUT FOR EVERY, YOU KNOW, PORTFOLIO.
SO THERE'S, UM, 17, I THINK AT LEAST DIFFERENT PORTFOLIOS WITH DIFFERENT SCENARIOS OR FUTURE WORLDS APPLIED TO EACH ONE OF THOSE.
AND UM, YES, ALL OF THOSE RESULTS ARE, ARE AVAILABLE EITHER THROUGH THE ELECTRIC UTILITY COMMISSION PRESENTATIONS OR ON THE SPEAK OF AUSTIN WEBSITE.
AND SO SPECIFICALLY WAS THERE, IT SOUNDED LIKE, AND THIS, MAYBE I GOT THIS WRONG, BUT IT SOUNDED LIKE THERE WAS A SCENARIO HE WAS PULLING OUT THAT WAS MAYBE CARBON FREE OR, OR, OR GAS PEAKER FREE.
IS THAT, SO, SO THAT'S NUMBER 15.
IT GETS TO THAT POINT, RIGHT? YEAH.
NONE OF THEM WERE LIKE, SHUT EVERYTHING DOWN.
NOW THE, THE MOST AGGRESSIVE DECARBONIZATION WAS PHASING THEM OUT AND SHUTTING DOWN AT THE END OF 2034.
UM, COULD CHRIS CALL IN, LIKE, JUST CALL ONE OF US AND YEAH, THAT'S NOT A BAD IDEA, CHRIS, IF YOU'RE ABLE TO DO THAT.
WELL, I MEAN, HE SHOULD BE ABLE TO JUST CALL IN THROUGH WEBEX.
UM, SO THERE'S A NUMBER OF DIFFERENT COSTS.
ONE OF THEM THAT I, THIS MAY HAVE BEEN, I CAN'T REMEMBER WHAT IT WAS THAT, WHICH COMMENT THAT YOU WERE REFERENCING, BUT THIS IS ONE OF THE, UM, I JUST SPECIFICALLY ONE THING LIKE STRUCK OUT TO ME IS, IS, IS COUNCIL MEMBER ALTER WAS SAYING, OKAY, THERE'S A SCENARIO HERE WHERE, YOU KNOW, THERE'S LIKE A $2 DIFFERENCE BETWEEN LIKE SCENARIO A OR $2 PER CUSTOMER PER MONTH, RIGHT? UM, I WAS JUST CURIOUS LIKE WHAT ARE THE, WHAT IS THE PRICE SPREAD ON THE OPTIONS THAT WE HAVE? THERE WE GO.
SO, UM, THE COUNCIL MEMBER WAS, UH, DOING SOME ADDITIONAL MATH ON NUMBERS THAT WE HAVEN'T, WE, YOU KNOW, HE USED, WE, HE ASKED US SOME QUESTIONS, UM, ABOUT, YOU KNOW, NORMALIZING NUMBERS AND BRINGING, UM, AND HE USED OUR DATA FILE TO ULTIMATELY, LIKE THE DATA FILE THAT BASICALLY GIVES THE NUMBERS BEHIND THESE CHARTS.
AND HE DID SOME ADDITIONAL CALCULATIONS.
WE'RE GONNA HAVE TO SIT WITH HIM TO BETTER UNDERSTAND HOW HE CAME OUT, THE NUMBERS THAT HE PROVIDED.
'CAUSE THEY, THEY AREN'T NECESSARILY THE SAME AS WHAT WE SAW.
UM, THIS IS, THIS IS WHAT WE WERE LOOKING AT IN VARIOUS WAYS.
UM, AND SO, UM, ESSENTIALLY THE, THERE'S, THERE'S, UH, WE, WE END UP LOOKING AT THINGS IN TERMS OF, UM, NPV COST.
UM, THERE WAS A, UH, PEOPLE, THAT DOESN'T MEAN A LOT TO A LOT OF PEOPLE.
AND SO THERE WERE TIMES WHEN WE TRIED TO CONVERT IT TO WHAT WAS THE AVERAGE MONTHLY RESIDENTIAL BILL INCREASE.
UM, ONE OF THE BIG TAKEAWAYS HERE WAS THAT NO MATTER WHAT, UM, IF YOU TAKE OUR CURRENT AFFORDABILITY GOAL, WHICH SAYS, UH, TAKE FROM A CERTAIN BASELINE DATE, UH, AND THEN DRAW A 2% INCREASE YEAR OVER YEAR AND DON'T EXCEED THAT, YOU'LL SEE A LOT OF THE PLANS DO EXCEED THAT.
AND OBVIOUSLY THERE'S A, THERE'S A POINT AT WHICH SOMETHING BECOMES TOO COSTLY, ESPECIALLY GIVEN, YOU KNOW, YOU'RE SAYING, WELL, WHAT AM I GETTING FOR THAT COST? UM, BUT REALLY ONE THING THAT, UH, I THINK A LOT I THINK EVERYONE AGREES ON, UM, IS THAT, UH, THE LINE PEOPLE WERE THINKING THAT LINE MEANT YOU COULDN'T, YOU COULDN'T, LIKE ALL OF A SUDDEN A PORTFOLIO WASN'T CONSIDERED BECAUSE WE WERE JUST THROWING IT OUT.
AND THAT'S NOT AT ALL WHAT WE WERE SAYING.
UM, WE RECOGNIZE THAT THE AFFORDABILITY GOAL, UM, ALTHOUGH IT'S SET BY COUNCIL, UH, PROBABLY NEEDS TO BE ADJUSTED.
IT WAS SET AT A TIME WHEN INFLATION PROBABLY WAS MORE LIKE 2%.
AND OBVIOUSLY THINGS ARE DIFFERENT NOW.
AND SO, UM, YOU KNOW, ANYWAY, THERE'S, THERE'S THESE GRAPHS IN SOME WAY, UM, LOSE A LITTLE BIT OF THEIR CONTEXT.
UM, WHEN ONCE YOU RECOGNIZE THAT, THAT THAT LINE WHICH IS THERE TO HELP YOU UNDERSTAND KIND OF WHAT WOULD BE THE EXPECTED BILL INCREASE BE, UM, OR WHAT COULD BE WHAT, WHAT WOULD BE BETTER SAID, WHAT IS SOMETHING THAT COUNCIL MIGHT CONSIDER TO BE AN ACCEPTABLE BILL INCREASE, YOU KNOW, STAYING BELOW THAT NUMBER.
AND, UM, AND WE REALIZED THAT IT MIGHT NEED TO BE HIGHER THAN THAT.
WE HAVE TO BE CAREFUL NOT TO GO INTO SOMETHING LIKE RATE SHOCK, UM, AND SO, UH, IN THE, UH, AND GO LIKE 5% INCREASE.
SO ANYWAY, THE POINT IS, IS THAT THERE'S A NUMBER OF DIFFERENT WAYS THAT WE LOOKED AT COSTS.
UM, BUT THEY'RE ALL PROXIES FOR VARIOUS THINGS.
[00:55:01]
YOU LOOK AT ANY ONE SET OF OUTPUTS BY THEMSELVES, YOU GET INTERESTING INFORMATION.BUT IT'S REALLY ABOUT SAYING, UM, WHAT ARE THE TRADE-OFFS BETWEEN THE VARIOUS, I THINK THERE WERE NINE OR 10 DIFFERENT, UM, OUTPUT METRICS, UM, THAT NOW, UH, A CHAIR WHITE IS, UM, SCROLLING THROUGH HERE.
AND SO, UH, WHAT, YOU KNOW, THE, ONE OF THE THINGS THAT I THINK THAT IS KEY THAT, UM, THE COUNCIL MEMBER WAS TALKING ABOUT WAS HE WAS SAYING, WELL, THERE IS A WAY TO, UM, HAVE, HAVE ITS ADDITIONAL COST, BUT HE WAS SAYING IT'S NOT THAT HIGH.
UM, AND I, I STILL NEED TO SEE THE MATH BEHIND IT TO BETTER UNDERSTAND WHAT HE'S GETTING AT.
BUT HE'S TALKING ABOUT PORTFOLIOS THAT HAVE AMOUNTS OF ENERGY EFFICIENCY, DEMAND RESPONSE, SOLAR AND BATTERIES THAT WELL EXCEED WHAT WE BELIEVE ARE KIND OF THE UPPER LIMITS OF WHAT WE SHOULD ACCOUNT ON OR WHAT WE CAN INCLUDE, UM, AS WE MOVE FORWARD.
UH, IT'S NOT THAT WE DON'T WANT TO DO MORE, IT'S THAT WE THINK THAT THEY ARE, UM, UH, UNREALISTIC EXPECTATIONS, UM, GIVEN HISTORICAL KNOWLEDGE, UM, AND FUTURE OPPORTUNITY FOR PROGRAMS, UM, AND THE ANALYSIS THAT WAS PERFORMED BY A THIRD PARTY.
AND WE DON'T WANT TO, UM, QUOTE UNQUOTE BET ON HAVING MORE THAN, UH, IN THOSE AREAS AND NOT TAKING, UM, RESPONSIBILITY BY, UH, FINDING OTHER SOLUTIONS TO AUGMENT THEM SO THAT WE CAN DO THE LEAST AMOUNT POSSIBLE IN SOME OF THE AREAS THAT HAVE TRADE-OFFS THAT WE, OR, OR THINGS LIKE EMISSIONS THAT WE DON'T WANT.
BUT HOW DO WE CREATE A BALANCED PORTFOLIO THAT ULTIMATELY MITIGATES, UM, RISK AND, UH, HELPS US ON A CLEANER PATH TO OUR GOALS.
SO WHAT'S, WHAT IS THE TIMING ON THIS RATE LIKE, BECAUSE I, AGAIN, IT'S HARD TO HAVE A DISCUSSION ABOUT LIKE, AND MAYBE I SHOULD HAVE FOUND THIS AND LOOKED IT UP SO THAT THAT MIGHT BE ON ME.
UM, BUT UH, WHY DO WE NEED, LIKE IS THERE A DEADLINE TO GET THIS IN THAT'S CREATED BY, UH, IN YEAH, WHAT'S THE, THE DEADLINE WAS THE, I THINK THE FIRST QUARTER OF THE YEAR, SO OF THIS YEAR.
SO, AND LIKE WHAT THE DEAD, THE DEADLINE I THINK, OH, LIKE 20, 24.
LIKE WE WERE PAST THE DEADLINE ALREADY WE'RE, WE'RE PAST THE DEADLINE TO GET THIS DONE.
SO I, I GUESS I WOULD KIND OF SAY THERE CLEARLY WAS NOT AN URGENCY, BUT IF YOU'RE ASKING WHERE THERE WAS A DEADLINE, THERE WAS A DEADLINE IN A RESOLUTION PASSED DECEMBER 1ST, 2022.
AND WE ARE WELL PAST THE DEADLINE AND AS I MENTIONED, THE PROBLEM WAS IS TODAY, THE PROBLEM WAS YESTERDAY AND IT'S JUST GROWING.
SO YEAH, NO, I, I I, I LIKE, I, I TRULY AS SOMEBODY WHO IS, IS ON THIS GRID, LIKE I RECOGNIZE THAT, THAT THERE ARE PROBLEMS THAT, THAT WE ARE UP AGAINST.
I GUESS LIKE, YOU KNOW, WE HAVE AT SOME POINT IN THESE DOCUMENTS, LIKE AT SOME POINT I SHOULD PROBABLY STOP TALKING AND WE SHOULD GET TO LIKE A DISCUSSION AND A DOCUMENT, AND I THINK THERE'S AN OPPORTUNITY HERE TO VOICE STRONG DISAPPROVAL.
THERE'S PROBABLY OPPORTUNITY TO VOICE STRONG APPROVAL.
UM, BUT I THINK THERE'S PROBABLY ALSO A THIRD OPTION, WHICH IS LIKE, YO, LIKE CAN CAN WE TAKE SOME TIME TO, TO DIG INTO SOME OF THESE NUMBERS? 'CAUSE OF, OF EVERYTHING YOU SAID, LIKE, I, I THINK ONE OF THE FUNDAMENTAL QUESTIONS HERE