[00:00:04]
[CALL MEETING TO ORDER]
UH, LET'S CALL THE MEETING TO ORDER AND CALL THE FIRST[PUBLIC COMMUNICATION: GENERAL]
PUBLIC SPEAKER.UM, GOOD EVENING, UH, COMMISSION MEMBERS AND STAFF.
I REVIEWED THE MEMO THAT WAS SENT OUT JUST TODAY ON THE ELECTRIC LANDSCAPING EQUIPMENT, AND I'M GLAD THE EXCHANGE IS HAPPENING.
THAT'S THE WAY THAT IT'S ALWAYS BEEN WITH THE ORIGINAL AUSTIN ENERGY PROGRAM FROM 1997 THAT I INSTIGATED AND ALL THE OTHER FOLLOW-UP PROGRAMS THAT I MANAGED PROFESSIONALLY RAISING, NORMALLY RAISING MONEY ON MY OWN TO MANAGE THEM.
SO, UH, WHAT I WAS JUST TALKING TO STAFF ABOUT WAS THAT THE MEMO THAT WAS SENT TO THE COMMISSIONERS DOES NOT REFLECT THAT THE CONTINUED IN-STORE PROGRAM WHERE PEOPLE GET AN INSTANT REBATE WHEN THEY BUY THE MOWER, THAT'S STILL GOING ON.
AND IF THE, THE AMOUNT IS THE SAME AS IT WAS BEFORE, IT'S $30 FOR AN ELECTRIC LAWNMOWER PURCHASE AT PARTICIPATING RETAILERS.
AND IT'S $15 FOR HANDHELD EQUIPMENT, LINE TRIMMERS AND LEAF BLOWERS.
AND WHAT I FOUND OUT, AND I TOLD THIS TO, TO THE STAFF THAT'S DIRECTLY OVER IT, WHEN WE HAD A MEETING EARLIER THIS WEEK, WELL, SORRY, LAST WEEK, WAS THAT WHEN I CHECKED WITH HOME DEPOT STAFF, FOR EXAMPLE, AT THE, AT THE MILLER HOME DEPOT, THAT'S THE GERMAN PRONUNCIATION FOR THIS, UH, THE PERSON WHO'S THE LAWN CARE PERSON WITHIN THE STORE, THEY DIDN'T KNOW ABOUT IT.
AND THEN I ASKED SOME OTHER PEOPLE WHO ARE IN THE STORE BUYING IT AND THEY DIDN'T EITHER.
SO NOT TRYING TO HIGHLY CRITICIZE STAFF, BUT MORE NEEDS TO BE DONE TO MAKE THE COMMUNITY AWARE IF THE PROGRAM IS TO BE WORTHWHILE.
AND BECAUSE THEY'RE NOT ABLE TO TRADE IN MOWERS AND THEN GET THE DISCOUNT BECAUSE THEY'RE TRADING IN THEIR GAS POWERED MOWER.
AS I STATED LAST YEAR WHEN I WAS HERE TALKING ABOUT IT IN THE SPRING, THE MAIN ENVIRONMENTAL BENEFIT IS SCRAPPING THE PERSON'S EXISTING GAS POWERED LAWNMOWER.
AND THAT CONTINUES TO BE THE CASE.
SO THAT PROGRAM THERE SHOULD BE REFLECTED IN THE MEMO.
AND IF IT'S NOT, I'M SHARING IT WITH YOU NOW, ULTIMATELY, BECAUSE PEOPLE DON'T NECESSARILY KNOW ABOUT IT UNTIL THEY LOOK AT THEIR RECEIPT AND SAY, OH, I GOT AN, AN INSTANT REBATE.
THE PROGRAM IS NOT, IS NOT HIGHLY EFFECTIVE.
EVEN IF IT'S GIVING EXPOSURE TO AUSTIN ENERGY, WHICH IS ONE OF THE CRITERIA THAT STAFF TOLD ME IS USED, THAT'S FINE.
BUT THERE, BUT THERE ARE OTHER WAYS TO GET IT.
AND SO I WOULD HIGHLY ENCOURAGE THE MANAGEMENT FOR AUSTIN ENERGY TO LOOK, WHILE THE BUDGET PROCESS FOR FISCAL YEAR 26 IS BEING DEVELOPED, THAT THAT PROGRAM SHOULD BE PAUSED, AS I SAID LAST YEAR, MARCH, APRIL OF 2024.
AND THEN LOOK TO PUT THOSE FUNDS INTO AN EXISTING SCRAPPAGE PROGRAM.
IF THE ONE THAT'S BEING DONE LATER THIS MONTH PROVES TO BE EFFECTIVE.
EVEN THOUGH THE MONEY IS NOT A TREMENDOUS AMOUNT OF YOUR BUDGET, IT IS THE CASE.
AS SOME OF YOU KNOW, THE CITY MANAGER HAS ASKED FOR CUTS TO BE IDENTIFIED, WHETHER THEY'RE ACTED ON OR NOT BY ALL THE DEPARTMENTS.
YEAH, PLEASE KEEP THAT IN MIND.
CHAIR CU IF YOU WOULD PLEASE CALL ROLL BEFORE YOU BEGIN THE ITEMS. OKAY.
CHRIS COURT, CYRUS, UH, CYRUS REED.
[00:05:01]
I THINK THAT'S ALL.COMMISSIONER ALVAREZ EMAIL FOR THE LOGIN INFORMATION, WHICH I'VE SENT SO HE MAY BE JOINING AT SOME POINT REMOTELY.
[APPROVAL OF MINUTES]
APPROVAL OF MINUTES.ITEM NUMBER ONE, IS THERE ANY INPUT ON THAT? ANY CORRECTIONS? OKAY.
SO DO WE HAVE A MOTION? I MOVE.
[2. Recommend approval authorizing an amendment to a contract for continued energy-related research services for Austin Energy with The University of Texas at Austin, to increase the amount by $300,000 and to extend the term by three years for a revised total contract amount not to exceed $874,000. Funding: $300,000 is available in Austin Energy’s Operating Budget. Funding for the remaining contract term is contingent upon available funding in future budgets. (Part 1 of 2)]
WE HAVE ITEMS DISCUSSION AND ACTION ITEMS TWO THROUGH 10.I THINK WE OUGHT TO SEPARATE THEM, HAVE THE CHAIR AND VICE CHAIR ELECTION AND THEN APPROVING A REPRESENTATIVE.
SO LET'S JUST DO TWO THROUGH EIGHT.
ARE THERE ANY THAT ANY OF THE COMMISSIONERS WANNA PULL AND HAVE ADDITIONAL CONVERSATION ON? I JUST NEED TO SHOW RECUSAL ON TWO.
UM, I'VE GOT A QUESTIONS ON TWO AND EIGHT.
I HAD, I HAD QUESTIONS ON THOSE SAME TWO ITEMS. TWO AND EIGHT.
COULD YOU REPEAT THAT CYRUS, PLEASE? UH, SAME AS AL TWO AND EIGHT I HAD QUESTIONS ON.
YOU WANNA ADD TO THE ROLE? CESAR PLEASE.
[Items 3 - 7]
SO WHEN DON'T WE MOVE? I'M LOOKING FOR A MOTION.I THEN A SECOND FOR 3, 4, 5, 6, 7.
ALL IN FAVOR OF THREE THROUGH SEVEN.
ARE YOU NOT INCLUDING TWO WITH THAT? EXACTLY.
'CAUSE WE PULLED IT TWO APOLOGIES.
[2. Recommend approval authorizing an amendment to a contract for continued energy-related research services for Austin Energy with The University of Texas at Austin, to increase the amount by $300,000 and to extend the term by three years for a revised total contract amount not to exceed $874,000. Funding: $300,000 is available in Austin Energy’s Operating Budget. Funding for the remaining contract term is contingent upon available funding in future budgets. (Part 2 of 2)]
TALK TO US ABOUT NUMBER TWO? HI THERE.ELAINE VIELKA, VICE PRESIDENT OF TECHNOLOGY AND DATA.
AND I THINK I HAVE BOTH TWO AND EIGHT.
UH, I JUST HAD SOME QUES, I MEAN, I'M ALL IN FAVOR OF RESEARCH WITH UT.
I JUST WANTED TO KNOW IF THIS APPLIES TO SPECIFIC TOPICS THAT WE'D BE INTERESTED IN, OR IS IT JUST A GENERAL BUDGET FOR THINGS THAT AS THEY COME UP IT'S, UH, AS NEEDED? UM, ON, ON THINGS THAT COME UP.
UM, LONGSTANDING AGREEMENT WITH UT.
UM, AND WE'VE HAD SOME, UH, YOU KNOW, IN THE CONSERVATION REALM, LOW GROWTH, UM, NEW EV, SPACE SOLAR FOR ALL THINGS THAT MIGHT COME UP.
THE FIRST ONE, IS THIS WITH A SPECIFIC DEPARTMENT WITHIN UT OR IT'S IT'S ANYBODY WHO WORKS AT UT THAT DOES RESEARCH THAT MIGHT BE USEFUL? IT'S FOR THE, THE WEBER.
AND THEN MY SECOND QUESTION WAS, UM, IS THERE A REASON FOR, YOU KNOW, EXTENDING IT BY THREE YEAR? IS THAT NORMAL SEEMS LIKE A LONG TIME TO EXTEND A CONTRACT? IT'S ALL, BUT, UM, I BELIEVE THIS IS, UM, AND, AND AGAIN, THESE ARE LONGSTANDING AGREEMENTS.
I BELIEVE THEY TYPICALLY GO FOR LONGER PERIOD, UH, TERMS. AND WHILE WE'RE WORKING ON A NEW, UM, INTERLOCAL AGREEMENT WITH UT, THIS IS KIND OF A, A BRIDGE FOR THAT.
AND WAS THE, THE WORK THAT THE WEBER DID, UM, THE WEBER GROUP DID DURING THE, UM, GEN PLAN UPDATE LAST YEAR, WAS THAT PART OF THIS CONTRACT? OR THAT WAS A SEPARATE PART OF DEAL? YES.
OH, PART OF THIS CONTRACT? MM-HMM
WELL THEN IT MAKES SENSE TO ME.
ANY OTHER QUESTIONS ON TWO KADA? YEAH, I'M WONDERING, UM, WHY, GIVEN THAT IT'S A THREE YEAR EXTENSION, THAT THERE'S NOT A COMPETITIVE BID PROCESS TO SEE IF ANYBODY ELSE, YOU KNOW, MIGHT WANNA CONTRIBUTE TO THIS HELP?
[00:10:01]
YEAH, IT'S A, IT'S A INTERLOCAL AGREEMENT, SO IT'S NOT LIKE A, A REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS OR LIKE A STANDARD PURCHASING ITEM.IT'S AN INTERLOCAL AGREEMENT WITH UT.
UM, SO I GUESS THAT'S JUST A CHOICE TO DO AN INTER INTERLOCAL AGREEMENT INSTEAD OF DOING AN RFP, IS THAT WHAT YOU'RE SAYING? YES.
IT'S NOT A TRADITIONAL PURCHASING ITEM, YES.
AND I GUESS THEN MY QUESTION IS, WHY, WHY DO THAT? WHY DO THAT INSTEAD OF HAVING A MORE OPEN COMPETITIVE PROCESS? THOUGHTS SPECIFIC TO THE, THE ENERGY GROUP? YEAH, SO, UH, LISA MARTIN, CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER, I CAN JUST TELL YOU A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THE HISTORY AND I, I I'M SORRY, I MAY HAVE MISSPOKE IT.
I'M NOT SURE IF IT, I THINK IT'S A MASTER SERVICES AGREEMENT.
UM, SO PROFESSIONAL SERVICES, BUT IN THIS GRAND SCHEME OF THINGS, IT'S RELATED TO RESEARCH.
IT, IT, THE AGREEMENT STARTED BACK WHEN WE WERE DOING AUSTIN SHINES AND THERE'S BEEN SEVERAL DIFFERENT SCOPES OF WORK UNDER IT THAT HAVE RELATED TO, UM, ALL THE TOPICS THAT, THAT, UM, ELAINE HAS MENTIONED.
SO IT'S, AND IT'S NOT A GUARANTEED PAYMENT FOR RIGHT? IT'S JUST, UH, IT'S AN AUTHORIZATION WE ASK FOR COUNSEL AND THEN AS WE COME UP WITH SCOPES OF WORK THAT WOULD BENEFIT FROM ACADEMIA RESEARCH, UM, WE HAVE, YOU KNOW, UT RIGHT HERE IN OUR OWN BACKYARD AND A LOT OF THE WORK THAT HAPPENS IN WEBER GROUP ALIGNS WITH OUR WORK.
AND SO THEN WE, YOU KNOW, DECIDE WHETHER OR NOT WE'RE GONNA, WE'RE GONNA SPEND.
UM, NOT SOMETHING THAT, I DON'T KNOW IF WE'RE TALKING ABOUT A SOLICITATION WITH OTHER ACADEMIC ENTITIES, I DON'T, I JUST DON'T THINK THAT'S THE WAY THIS TYPE OF WORK IS DONE.
UH, WHEN YOU SAY IT'S NOT DONE, YOU MEAN IT'S NOT DONE WITH ACADEMIC ENTITIES IN PARTICULAR? I'M SORRY, I DON'T UNDERSTAND THE QUESTION.
UM, YOU JUST SAID THAT, UM, IT, IT JUST WASN'T, IT'S NOT DONE THAT WAY.
AND I'M JUST TRYING TO UNDERSTAND WHAT THAT MEANS.
IS THAT JUST AS IT PERTAINS TO ACADEMIC INSTITUTIONS OR NO, NO.
JUST BACK TO WHAT ELAINE HAD SAID, THIS IS JUST NOT A RIGHT.
WE'RE NOT BUYING, YOU KNOW, UM, GOODS.
WE'RE, IT'S, IT'S REALLY SO YOU'RE BUYING THE SERVICE? YES.
WHICH DOESN'T NECESSARILY REQUIRE A COMPETITIVE SOLICITATION.
I MEAN, I SEE OTHER COMPETITIVE SOLICITATIONS FOR OUR SERVICES.
I'M NOT SURE WHY THIS IS FUNDAMENTALLY DIFFERENT, BUT THANKS FOR THE RESPONSE.
ANY OTHER QUESTIONS FOR TWO? OKAY.
DO WE HAVE A MOTION? UH, I'LL MAKE A MOTION TO GO WITH UT.
BUT DO YOU HAVE YOUR HAND UP? I CAN'T SEE.
ELAINE, THANK YOU FOR STAYING UP THERE.
[8. Recommend approval authorizing a contract for data analysis software platform and applications for the Austin Energy App for Austin Energy with PicoTera Systems, LLC, for an initial term of three years with up to two one-year extension options in an amount not to exceed $2,400,000. Funding: $200,000 is available in Austin Energy’s 2024-2025 Operating Budget. Funding for the remaining contract term is contingent upon available funding in future budgets. ]
EIGHT.UH, JUST WANTED TO KNOW MORE A, ABOUT WHAT THIS DOES AND HOW IT, IT LOOKS LIKE IT'S GONNA GIVE CONSUMERS AN APP WHO CAN NOW BE ABLE TO JUDGE THEIR ELECTRIC USE.
DOES IT, IS IT ANY PART OF THE IMPLEMENTATION OF, OF DEMAND MANAGEMENT WORK OR IS THIS JUST A, A INFORMATION APP FOR, FOR CONSUMERS? AND IF SO, HOW SOON MIGHT IT LAUNCH? IT'S, UH, ACTUALLY BEEN LAUNCHED FOR QUITE A WHILE.
UM, WE'VE, UH, HAD THE AUSTIN ENERGY APP FOR, I WANT TO SAY MAYBE 10 YEARS.
UM, IT'S, IT'S USED BY A SMALL NUMBER.
UM, THE MAJORITY OF CUSTOMERS CAN GET THEIR USAGE THROUGH, UM, THE CITY OF AUSTIN'S UTILITY PORTAL AND THEY CAN SEE THEIR ENERGY USAGE ON THERE AND, AND GET ALERTS AND OTHER THINGS THAT WAY.
UM, THIS APP WAS BUILT FOR, UM, SOME INTERNAL USE.
SO, UH, SOME OF OUR, UH, FOLKS WITHIN THE UTILITY LOOK AT LOOK AT IT FOR, FOR DATA ANALYTICS FOR DIFFERENT REASONS.
UM, AND THEN THERE'S ABOUT 25,000, UM, END USERS.
SO, UH, CITY OF AUSTIN OR AUSTIN ENERGY CUSTOMERS WHO ARE, UM, PROBABLY, UH, RESIDENTIAL SOLAR OR
[00:15:01]
SOME, SOME OF OUR LARGER, UH, KEY ACCOUNTS, COMMERCIAL INDUSTRIAL ACCOUNTS.THEY USE IT BECAUSE IT HAS A DIFFERENT, UH, FLAVOR OF INFORMATION THAT'S PRESENTED THAN WHAT YOU CAN GET THROUGH THE STANDARD CITY OF AUSTIN UTILITIES APP.
SO IT'S A, IT'S A LIMITED, LIMITED POOL OF END USERS.
IS IT, I, WHEN I, WHEN I SAW THIS, I IMMEDIATELY WENT TO THE APP STORE AND THOUGHT I NEED TO GET THIS.
AND I LOOKED UP BOSTON ENERGY, I DIDN'T SEE ANYTHING.
SO IS THERE A PARTICULAR NAME I SHOULD YEAH, IT, IT'S NOT LIKE AN APP, LIKE ON THE APP STORE.
IT'S, IT'S A, UM, IT'S A WHAT WEBSITE? WEBSITE? IT'S, IT'S, UH, IT'S, IT'S BUILT SPECIFICALLY FOR CERTAIN CUSTOMERS FOR CERTAIN USES.
SO IT'S, IT'S NOT LIKE A COMMERCIALLY AVAILABLE APP.
EVEN WE CALL IT THE AUSTIN ENERGY APP AND, AND I KNOW IT CAN BE CONFUSING.
SO IF, IF I HAD A RELEVANT NEED FOR IT, LIKE SOLAR PANELS OR A BATTERY OR OTHER THINGS, I WOULD THEN FIND OUT ABOUT IT AND I COULD NAVIGATE OVER THERE AND USE IT.
AND YOU WOULD, YOU WOULD, YOU WOULD MORE THAN LIKELY KNOW BY NOW, UM, IF YOU HAD THAT NEED FOR IT.
SO THE, WHAT'S YOUR UPGRADE STRATEGY FOR IT? ARE YOU INCLUDING, WHAT ARE YOU GONNA BUNDLE TO MAKE IT DIFFERENT THAN THE CITY OF AUSTIN PORTAL THAT YOU CAN FIND YOUR BILL OR GO TO THE OUTAGE MAP REPORT AN OUTAGE, ET CETERA? YEP.
THAT'S AGAIN, THE CITY OF AUSTIN UTILITIES PORTAL IS FOR THE VAST MAJORITY OF OUR CUSTOMERS.
THIS IS, IT'S, IT'S, THIS IS TAILORED MORE TOWARDS LIKE OUR KEY ACCOUNT CUSTOMERS.
SO OUR LARGER COMMERCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL CUSTOMERS, IT HAS A LITTLE BIT, UM, YOU KNOW, THE CITY OF AUSTIN UTILITIES PORTAL IS COMMERCIALLY AVAILABLE.
AND SO IT DOESN'T HAVE, UM, IT, IT, WE MAY HAVE SPECIFIC REQUIREMENTS THAT'S NOT BUILT INTO THAT PORTAL.
SO THIS KIND OF SOLVES THAT NEED.
UM, WE ARE CONTINUING AND HAVE BEEN FOR YEARS TO LOOK AT, YOU KNOW, WHAT, WHAT NEEDS TO GO INTO THIS APP AND THEN WHAT IF, IF THERE'S SOMETHING IN THE APP THAT WE CAN MIGRATE TO THE CITY OF AUSTIN UTILITIES PORTAL.
UM, IT MAY NOT EVER BE A ONE SIZE FITS ALL, BUT WE'RE ALWAYS LOOKING TO, TO SEE WHAT CAN BE DONE.
TYRUS, YOU HAD QUESTIONS ON EIGHT ALSO? YEAH, CA IF EVA, IF YOU WANNA GO AHEAD, SHE'S GOT OUR HAND UP AND THEN I'LL ASK THANKS SARAH.
UM, I WAS JUST WONDERING, UM, IF IT COULD ACTUALLY BE AN APP.
I DON'T KNOW WHY IT SAYS A MOBILE APPLICATION.
'CAUSE THAT DOES STRONGLY SEEM TO IMPLY THAT IT IS AN ACTUAL APPLICATION AND LIKE YOU SAID, IT'S A WEBSITE, BUT I THINK IT WOULD BE WONDERFUL TO HAVE AN ACTUAL APPLICATION AND I'M WONDERING IF THAT COULD, LIKE, IS THAT PART OF THE PLAN? UM, MAYBE NOT FOR THE AE APP AND WE'RE, WE'RE CONTINUING TO HAVE DISCUSSIONS, UM, ON THE BEST WAY FOR END USERS, IF IT IS.
AND SO SOMETIMES THINGS ARE, ARE AN APP, IT'S JUST NOT, AGAIN, COMMERCIALLY AVAILABLE IN THE APP STORE, BUT IT COULD BE A WEBSITE THAT YOU USE ON YOUR MOBILE DEVICE.
AND SO THAT'S ALSO, PEOPLE REFER TO THAT AS THE APP.
AGAIN, I KNOW THE NAME'S A LITTLE BIT CONFUSING, UM, BUT THE CITY OF AUSTIN UTILITIES PORTAL IS THE SAME WAY.
YOU CAN STILL DO IT ON YOUR PHONE WITHOUT NECESSARILY HAVING TO GO HAVE A, UM, SEPARATE APP DOWNLOADED.
SO, SO ARE YOU LOOKING FOR THIS APPLICATION FOR AN APP OR THE CITY OF AUSTIN UTILITIES PORTAL AS AN APP? 'CAUSE WE'RE, WE'RE, YOU KNOW, THIS ONE, THIS, THE, THE THE AUSTIN ENERGY APP.
'CAUSE LIKE, THERE ARE A LOT OF PEOPLE WHO, YOU KNOW, THAT'S THE PRIMARY WAY THAT THEY DO A LOT OF THINGS IS ON THEIR PHONE AND, AND THROUGH DEDICATED APPLICATIONS.
SO I THINK IT, I THINK YOU MIGHT HAVE MORE, UM, IF YOU MADE IT AN ACTUAL APP.
YEAH, I ACTUALLY HAD THE SAME, THE SAME SORT OF QUESTION OR COMMENT.
YOU KNOW, EVERYBODY'S GOT AN APP NOW, ER'S GOT AN APP THAT YOU CAN CHECK, UM, WHICH IS ALSO ON THEIR WEBSITE BASICALLY THE SAME, ALMOST THE SAME INFORMATION, BUT A LOT OF PEOPLE DO USE APPS.
SO TO THE EXTENT IF WE'RE GONNA SPEND THIS MONEY, WE CAN MAKE IT EASY AND WIDELY AVAILABLE TO FOLKS WHO MIGHT NOT BE INTERESTED IN DEMAND MANAGEMENT OR DER AT THE MOMENT, BUT MAYBE THEY WOULD, MAYBE THE APP WOULD CONVINCE THEM THAT IT COULD BE A GOOD IDEA.
SO, UH, JUST A THOUGHT, NOT TELLING YOU WHAT TO DO, BUT I THINK AS PART OF IT, IT'D BE, IT'D BE, UM, NICE TO LOOK AT THAT OPTION.
AND AS, AS, UM, YOU KNOW, AGAIN, RIGHT NOW IT'S, IT'S BEEN BUILT FOR A, A, A SMALL, UM, GROUP OF EXTERNAL CUSTOMERS BECAUSE OF A NEED.
BUT AS WE CONTINUE TO LOOK, UM, ON BOTH FRONTS, WE'LL WE'LL INVESTIGATE IS, IS AN APP, UM, A A SOLID OPTION?
[00:20:02]
YEAH.JUST, JUST TO CHIME IN ON THAT MM-HMM
I THINK PEOPLE YOUNGER THAN MYSELF LIVE ON THEIR APPS.
AND, UH, IF, IF THAT WAS A WAY TO PRESENT THE REGULAR BILLING INFORMATION THAT'S ON A OLD FASHIONED WEBSITE, BUT PUT IT ON A, PUT THE SAME STUFF ON THE APP, A MAYBE A WHOLE BUNCH OF YOUNGER PEOPLE WOULD ENGAGE WITH IT AND COULD THEN GET MORE ENGAGED IN PROMOTIONAL CONTENT ABOUT ELECTRIFICATION AND ENERGY SAVINGS.
AND IT, IT, IT JUST SEEMS LIKE A MODERN WAY TO GO.
SO IF YOU COULD TAKE KABA AND CYRUS'S COMMENTS AND MINE AND, UH, APPRECIATE, JUST THINKING ABOUT IT AS A WAY TO PRESENT THAT MM-HMM
AND, YOU KNOW, AN APP LIKE, UM, IN THE APP STORE, AN APP ACTUALLY REQUIRES A, UM, A DIFFERENT UPKEEP AND CARE AND FEEDING.
AND SO THAT'S SOMETHING TO BE CONSIDERED AS WELL VERSUS A LOT OF, UM, THINGS NOW, LIKE CITY OF AUSTIN UTILITIES PORTAL ON YOUR PHONE, YOU HAVE THE SAME FUNCTIONALITY AS YOU DO ON THE WEB.
UM, IT'S, IT'S DEVICE AGNOSTIC AND, AND WITHOUT AN ADDITIONAL LAYER OF UPKEEP THAT'S REQUIRED.
SO, YOU KNOW, WE HAVE HAD THESE DISCUSSIONS WITH VENDORS TOO, IF AN APP IS WHAT, WHAT OTHER UTILITIES ARE DOING AND KIND OF WHAT'S, WHAT'S THE THING IN THE SPACE.
SO WE'LL CONTINUE TO LOOK AT IT.
SOMETIME IN THE FUTURE, IF YOU COULD JUST GIVE US AN UPDATE QUICK.
ON WHAT DO YOU HAVE SPECIAL THERE FOR I GUESS C AND I CUSTOMERS.
AND THEN, UH, IS THERE ANYTHING MORE FOR, LIKE, I HAVE PV ON MY HOUSE, BUT I, I DON'T KNOW WHERE I WOULD LOOK FOR THE, I GUESS THE CITY OF AUSTIN BILLING PORTAL.
COULD I SEE, UM, 15 MINUTE DATA ON WHAT PORTAL? YEAH, I'M ON THE, ON THE SOLAR.
IS IT ON THE CITY OF AUSTIN UTILITY? YES.
IS IT, IT'S ON COA UTILITIES, THE USAGE, LINDA? YES.
UM, WITH ABOUT TWO WEEKS OLD NOW.
SO IT, YOU, THERE'S, THERE'S SOME CROSSOVER AND A LITTLE BIT OF, UM, AGAIN, AS I SAID, IF YOU, IF YOU NEEDED TO HAVE ACCESS TO THIS, YOU WOULD PROBABLY MORE THAN LIKELY KNOW ABOUT IT.
UM, BECAUSE IT, IT HAS TO DEPEND WHAT, UH, IT DEPENDS ON WHAT TYPE OF METER YOU HAVE AND KIND, YOU KNOW, WHAT, WHAT LEVEL OF SOLAR AND SOME OTHER THINGS.
SO I CAN GET YOU SOME MORE DETAILS AROUND IT.
YEAH, BECAUSE THERE'S THE NEW PROGRAMS, YOU KNOW, MAYBE SOME OTHER, ON THE EXISTING COMMUNITY LEVEL SOLAR PLANTS.
COULD BE AN EDUCATIONAL, UM, TOOL ALSO, YOU KNOW, WE MM-HMM
COME UP WITH SOME BRAINSTORM IDEAS.
WE'VE GOT A LOT OF CREATIVE PEOPLE THAT THINK IT'S NEAT AND, UM, WE'D JUST LIKE TO LEARN A LITTLE BIT MORE.
I CAN GET SOME MORE DETAILS ON THE SPECIFICS ABOUT WHAT IS IS ON, UH, THIS APP VERSUS CITY OF BOSTON UTILITIES PORTAL.
AND I CAN APPRECIATE NOT WANTING TO HAVE ANOTHER PLATFORM.
I THINK WHEN IT'S IN AN APP STORE, YOU HAVE TO PAY A CERTAIN AMOUNT TO POST IT AS WELL AS HAVE A SEPARATE PLATFORM TO MAINTAIN.
THERE'S, THERE'S SOME ADDITIONAL THINGS AROUND THAT, AS I MENTIONED, CARE AND FEEDING.
SO IT COULD BE ADDITIONAL COST, IT COULD BE AN ADDITIONAL INTERNAL RESOURCES TO, TO MANAGE THAT.
ANY OTHER QUESTIONS? DO WE HAVE A MOTION ON EIGHT? I'D SAY I MOVE APPROVAL EVEN THOUGH IT'S, IT'S NOT WHAT WE ALL BRAINSTORMED ABOUT.
[9. Conduct officer elections for the Chair and Vice Chair of the Electric Utility Commission.]
MOVE ON TO NINE, UM, CANDIDATES FOR CHAIR AND VICE CHAIR.I'LL, I HAVE A NEW LEASE ON LIFE, SO I'LL THROW MY RING IN THE HAT.
UM, UH, FOR CHAIR, AGAIN, KABA, BUT NOT YOUR KIDNEY.
THEY ACTUALLY PULLED OUT TWO AND PUT ONE NEW ONE IN.
YOU'RE, YOU'RE THROWING YOUR HAT IN THE RING ALSO FOR VICE CHAIR.
YEAH, I WOULD BE HAPPY TO CONTINUE ON AS VICE CHAIR.
ARE THERE ANY OTHER CANDIDATES, EUC COMMISSIONERS WHO WOULD LIKE TO PRESENT AN ALTERNATIVE? I THINK YOU BOTH DO A GREAT JOB, SCOTT
OKAY, SO LET'S START WITH THE CHAIR.
ALL IN FAVOR? DAVE TUTTLE CONTINU AS CHAIR SAY AYE.
A MOTION AND A SECOND, PLEASE.
OH, I MOVE THAT WE NOMINATE DAVE TUNNEL AS CHAIR.
[00:25:01]
OKAY.AND I'LL MOVE FOR KABA TO BE VICE CHAIR.
WELL THANK YOU FOR YOUR, YOUR SUPPORT.
[10. Approve a representative and an alternate to serve on the Joint Sustainability Committee.]
UH, NUMBER 10.MOVING ON TO NUMBER 10, EVA, YOU ARE OUR REPRESENTATIVE TO THE JOINT SUSTAINABILITY COMMITTEE, AREN'T YOU? YES, I'VE BEEN CHAIRING THAT COMMITTEE, AND I WOULD LIKE TO CONTINUE, BUT WE DEFINITELY DO NEED TO HAVE AN ALTERNATE FOR THE RARE OCCASIONS WHEN I CAN'T ATTEND UNLESS SOMEBODY, YOU KNOW, IT, IT SEEMS TO TAKE MY PLACE AS THE PRIMARY.
DO WE HAVE ANY EUC COMMISSIONERS WHO WOULD LIKE TO BE AN ALTERNATE? WHEN DOES THE SUSTAINABILITY COMMITTEE MEET AND HOW OFTEN? IT'S MONTHLY AND IT'S THE FOURTH WEDNESDAY OF THE MONTH, USUALLY AT CITY HALL.
BUT REMOTE IS OBVIOUSLY AN OPTION TOO.
I COULD, I COULD CONSIDER THAT IF, UH, I, I, I AS THE CHAIR.
WELL, I MAKE A MOTION FOR AL BRADEN BEING THE ALTERNATE AND KABA CONTINUING TO BE OUR REPRESENTATIVE.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME ON THAT.
UM, JUST SINCE WE'RE WE'RE ON THAT, UM, I, YOU ALL SHOULD HAVE RECEIVED, UH, TO YOUR, UM, BC EMAILS PROBABLY AN INVITATION TO A, A WORKSHOP THAT THE OFFICE OF, UH, CLIMATE ACTION AND RESILIENCE IS HOSTING THIS FRIDAY.
UH, IT'S TITLED SUSTAINABLE BUILDINGS AND SO ENCOMPASSES EVERYTHING, UH, YOU KNOW, ENERGY RELATED.
SO IF ANYBODY'S INTERESTED IN PARTICIPATING IN THAT, CHECK YOUR BC EMAIL.
[11. Staff briefing on Distribution Reliability, Resiliency and Results of Underground Feasibility Study by Lisa Martin, Deputy General Manager and Chief Operating Officer and David Tomczyszyn, Vice President, Electric System Engineering & Technical Services and Arlin Mire, 1898 & Co.]
I THINK WE GO ON TO STAFF BRIEFINGS.AND THIS IS DAVID TALKING ABOUT DISTRIBUTION RELIABILITY.
SO I'M JUST SETTING THE STAGE.
UM, AND THEN I'LL COME BACK IN A LITTLE BIT.
SO, LISA MARTIN, I'M AUSTIN ENERGY'S CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER.
UM, THIS IS A PRESENTATION THAT WE GAVE TO CITY COUNCIL AT THE UTILITY OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE, UM, LAST, UH, MONTH, AND WE WANTED TO MAKE SURE THAT WE BROUGHT IT TO Y'ALL AS WELL.
UM, IT LOOKS LIKE THE REPORT, THE UNDERGROUND FEASIBILITY REPORT HAS ALSO BEEN PUBLISHED AS PART OF YOUR BACKUP.
UM, BUT SO TODAY, UH, DAVID'S GONNA KIND OF SET THE STAGE FOR, UM, THE STUDY AND, AND WHAT'S TO COME, UH, LIKE HOW IT'S PART OF A BIGGER OVERARCHING, UM, EFFORT.
AND THEN ARLAN IS FROM, UM, 1898, AND THEY'RE THE THIRD PARTY CONSULTANT THAT DID THIS STUDY.
UM, HE'LL, UH, BE JOINING US VIRTUALLY, AND THEN I'LL COME BACK UP AT THE END TO WRAP IT UP AND ANSWER SOME OF YOUR QUESTIONS.
SO I'LL TURN IT OVER TO DAVID.
UM, GOOD EVENING, C UH, COMMISSIONERS.
UH, MY NAME IS DAVID DOM CHESON.
I'M VICE PRESIDENT OF ELECTRIC SYSTEM ENGINEERING AND TECHNICAL SERVICES AT AUSTIN ENERGY.
UH, FOR OUR AGENDA TODAY, UH, WE'RE, I'M GONNA START WITH, UH, PROVIDING A LITTLE BACKGROUND INFORMATION TO SET THE STAGE FOR ARLIN WHO WILL BE RIGHT AFTER ME.
AGAIN, HE'LL BE PRESENTED VIRTUALLY AND THEN, UH, HE'LL REVIEW THE STUDY AND THE RESULTS.
AND THEN LISA'S GONNA COME BACK AND KIND OF PULL IT ALL TOGETHER AND WRAP IT UP AND TALK ABOUT NEXT STEPS, UH, AS WELL AS OPENING UP FOR ANY QUESTIONS THAT YOU MAY HAVE.
AND, UH, SO AS FAR AS THE, IF YOU DON'T MIND, CLICK ALL THE WAY THROUGH.
UH, IN RECENT YEARS, AUSTIN ENERGY HAS CREATED, UH, SEVERAL RELIABILITY IMPROVEMENT PROGRAMS SUCH AS WILDFIRE MITIGATION, UNDERPERFORMING FEEDERS, AND ADDING SMART EQUIPMENT TO SECTIONALIZE OUR, OUR SYSTEM.
AND WHILE THESE EFFORTS HAVE HISTORICALLY BEEN SEPARATE INITIATIVES, WE'RE NOW SEEING A NEED TO BRING THOSE ALL TOGETHER, UH, WITH LESSONS LEARNED FROM, UH, BOTH THE STUDIES THAT, THAT WE'RE GONNA TALK ABOUT HERE SHORTLY.
UH, THE UNDERGROUNDING FEASIBILITY, AND THEN, UH, THE OVERHEAD HARDENING, WHICH WILL BE AT A, A LATER DATE THAT WILL BE COMING TO PRESENT THAT TO YOU AS WELL.
BUT TO DEVELOP ONE COMPREHENSIVE DISTRIBUTION RESILIENCY PLAN, THIS LIVING PLAN WILL OUTLINE HOW WE MAKE OUR GRID, UH, MORE RELIABLE AND RESILIENT FOR THE DECADES TO COME.
SO TODAY, AGAIN, WE'RE GONNA HEAR ABOUT JUST ONE PART OR ONE STUDY, UH, THAT WILL FEED INTO A MORE COMPREHENSIVE PLAN.
THERE'S PROS AND CONS OF EVERY APPROACH, AND WE BELIEVE, UH, THERE MAY BE, IT MAY NOT BE JUST ONE SOLUTION THAT SOLVES EVERY CHALLENGE THAT, THAT, UH, WE RUN INTO, BUT BY BRINGING EVERY, ALL THESE PROGRAMS
[00:30:01]
TOGETHERS AND, YOU KNOW, LESSONS LEARNED FROM THE STUDIES WILL YIELD THE BEST OVERALL, UH, SOLUTIONS FOR OUR COMMUNITY.AND SO THOSE, THOSE THREE COMPONENTS THAT REALLY FEED INTO THE DISTRIBUTION RESILIENCY PLAN FOR LATER THIS YEAR IS, UH, YOU KNOW, AT THE BOTTOM THERE IS THE EXISTING RELIABILITY PROGRAMS THAT HAVE KIND OF SPOKE ABOUT THAT, BEEN MORE, YOU KNOW, SEPARATE.
UH, UH, TODAY WE'RE GONNA TALK ABOUT THE RESULTS OF THE UNDERGROUND FEASIBILITY STUDY AND THEN, UH, COMING UP AT A, A, A FUTURE, UH, MEETING.
WE'LL BE TALKING ABOUT THE RESULTS OF THE OVERHEAD HARDENING STUDY, AND THEN TOGETHER ALL THOSE WILL FEED INTO THE COMPREHENSIVE DISTRIBUTION RESILIENCY PLAN.
AGAIN, UH, LIVING PLAN WILL CARRY US, UH, FOR THE YEARS TO COME.
SO, HOW DID WE GET HERE? ELECTRIC ELECTRICITY HAS MOVED FROM BEING A LUXURY, UH, IN THE EARLY 19 HUNDREDS TO A NECESSITY TODAY.
AND DURING THAT TIME, WHAT HAS ALSO CHANGED IS OUR CLIMATE WEATHER EXTREMES, UH, ARE STARTING TO BECOME MORE COMMON.
OUR SUMMERS ARE GETTING HOTTER, WINTERS ARE GETTING COLDER, AND ADD THAT TO THE CYCLE OF DROUGHTS AND FLOODS.
AND OUR GRID HAS A NEED TO BE MORE RESILIENT AS EVER.
IN RECENT YEARS, WE'VE SEEN WINTER STORMS, SUCH AS YURI AND MARROW, WHERE WE'VE HAD, UH, UH, MORE THAN A QUARTER OF AN INCH OR THREE QUARTERS OF AN INCH IN ICE.
AND, AND IN THE LAST FEW WEEKS, WE'VE SEEN EVEN THIS PAST WEEKEND, UM, WE, WE SAW EXTREME WINDS, AND IN, IN SOME CASES, EVEN WILDFIRES, ADD TO ALL THIS HIGH GROWTH, UH, BEING AUSTIN IS AS POPULAR AS EVER AND ADD IN OTHER DRIVERS, SUCH AS BUILDING OUT AI, ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE, AND ELECTRIFICATION OF JUST ABOUT EVERYTHING.
AND THERE'S NO SIGNS OF THINGS SLOWING DOWN.
SO WE NEED TO KEEP THE LIGHTS ON AND PROTECT OUR ENVIRONMENT AND DOING IT WHILE KEEPING THINGS AFFORDABLE.
ALL THE, ALL OF THESE THINGS ARE, ARE OUR VALUES, AND A IS COMMITTED TO FIGHTING CLIMATE CHANGE AND SAFEGUARDING OUR CUSTOMERS.
Y'ALL SEEN, UH, BOTH THIS SLIDE AND THE NEXT SLIDE, BUT I, I DO WANT TO GO AHEAD AND, UH, BEFORE, BUT I WANNA GO AHEAD AND RECAP IT.
UM, IT JUST KIND OF SETS THE, THE, THE STAGE.
SO NOW THAT WE COVERED HOW WE GOT HERE, UM, I'M GONNA PROVIDE A LITTLE BACKGROUND GOING INTO ARLEN'S PORTION OF THE PRESENTATION, RELIABILITY AND RESILIENCY.
I WANNA START OFF BY, UH, PROVIDING SOME DEFINITIONS OF EACH, BOTH IN A TRADITIONAL DICTIONARY SENSE AS WELL AS, UH, THE ELECTRIC UTILITY APPLICATION.
RELIABILITY SPEAKS TO CONSISTENT PERFORMANCE AND PERFORMANCE AS INTENDED.
RESILIENCY IS HOW WELL, UH, HOW WELL THINGS REACT TO OR RECOVER SPRING BACK, IF YOU WILL.
UH, FROM A NON-STANDARD EVENT, WITH REGARD TO OUR DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM, AT A HIGH LEVEL, WE BUILD, MAINTAIN, AND OPERATE THE SYSTEM TO PROVIDE STABLE AND CONSISTENT SERVICE.
THIS IS RELIABILITY, RESILIENCY TAKES IT ONE STEP FURTHER, AND IT INCLUDES THINGS LIKE SYSTEM AUTOMATION, HARDENING OF OUR INFRASTRUCTURE AND APPLICATION OF TECHNOLOGY TO CREATE A SELF-HEALING SYSTEM.
WE NEED BOTH, AND WHERE THEY COME TOGETHER IS THE DISTRIBUTION RESILIENCY PLAN.
AND THIS WILL BE MY FINAL SLIDE, UM, AND THEN I'LL BE, UH, HANDING IT OVER TO ARLAN TO TALK ABOUT THE, THE, THE STUDY AND THE RESULTS, UH, ON YOUR SCREEN FROM LEFT TO RIGHT, I JUST WANNA GIVE AN OVERVIEW OF OER ENERGY'S, UH, SYSTEM, JUST, UH, AGAIN, FOR PERSPECTIVE, UH, FROM LEFT TO RIGHT, WE HAVE OER ENERGY'S TRANSMISSION SYSTEM, AND WE HAVE 600 MILES OF, OF TRANSMISSION LINES.
THOSE ARE THOSE TALL TOWERS THAT YOU, THAT YOU SEE.
THOSE ARE NOT PART OF THIS UNDERGROUNDING STUDY.
UH, THEN WE HAVE 80 SUBSTATIONS WHERE POWER IS TRANSFORMED OR STEPPED DOWN, UH, TO LOWER, UH, DISTRIBUTION VOLTAGES.
UH, AND FINALLY, OUR DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM, WHICH IS EVERYTHING YOU SEE TO THE RIGHT OF THE SCREEN.
AND, AND WHAT THE STUDY ACTUALLY LOOKED AT, IT CONSISTS OF APPROXIMATELY 12,000 MILES OF DISTRIBUTION LINES.
7,000 MILES ARE ALREADY UNDERGROUND AND APPROXIMATELY 5,000 MILES ARE, ARE STILL OVERHEAD.
AND IT, IT, THERE'S ABOUT 175,000 POLES AND 90,000 TRANSFORMERS SPLIT BETWEEN OVERHEAD AND AND UNDERGROUND.
BUT FOR THOSE KEEPING TRACK, THAT MEANS APPROXIMATELY 58% OF OUR DISTRIBUTION LINES TODAY ARE ALREADY UNDERGROUND.
THAT'S A, THAT, THAT'S A FIGURE THAT SURPRISES A LOT OF, A LOT OF FOLKS THAT WE'RE, WE ARE MAJORITY UNDERGROUND ALREADY.
SO NOW I'LL TURN IT OVER TO ARLIN AGAIN.
HE'S, HE'LL BE ON ONLINE PRESENTING, UH, TO PRESENT THE FINDINGS OF THE FEASIBILITY STUDY, WHICH FOCUSED ON, UH, ON WHAT IT WOULD TAKE TO UNDERGROUND THE REMAINING 5,000 MILES OF, OF LINES.
AND THEN AFTER THAT, UH, I THINK LISA WILL COME AND, UH, CLOSE THIS OUT.
ARLAN, STEVEN, ALL GOING THROUGH.
SO, UH, YEAH, THANK YOU ALL FOR HAVING ME.
UM, ARLA, ME, UM, BASED OUT OF KANSAS CITY, AND I AM WITH 1898 AND CO AND, UH, 1898 AND CO IS A, A PART OF BURNS MCDONALD.
SO IF YOU'LL GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE, TALK ABOUT THAT REAL BRIEFLY.
SO, UH, MARON MCDONALD IS A, IS A PRETTY LARGE ENGINEERING FIRM, UH, FOUNDED IN 1898.
WE'VE GOT ABOUT 14,000 PROFESSIONALS, UH, WORLDWIDE CONSISTING LARGELY, UH, LARGELY OF ENGINEERS, BUT LOTS OF OTHER TYPES OF, UH, SPECIALTIES
[00:35:01]
AS WELL.WE ARE, UH, HEAVILY INVOLVED IN THE POWER INDUSTRY.
WE ALSO HAVE AVIATION, UM, FEDERAL GROUPS, WATER, UM, OIL AND GAS AND, AND LOTS OF OTHER GROUPS.
AND THEN 1898 AND CO IS THE CONSULTING ARM WITHIN BURNS AND MCDONALD'S.
SO WE PERFORMED A LOT OF, UM, A A LOT OF STUDIES, FEASIBILITY STUDIES, UH, ASSET MANAGEMENT STUDIES, FINANCIAL ANALYSIS.
WE HAVE A, A TECHNOLOGY GROUP.
AND SO WE HELP OUR CLIENTS KIND OF STUDY, UH, STUDY THE ELECTRIC SYSTEM AND HELP TO KIND OF GAIN INSIGHTS AND HELP OUR CLIENTS, UM, YOU KNOW, PLAN, PLAN FOR THE FUTURE.
SO IN OUR TEAM, UH, UTILITY INVESTMENT PLANNING, WE SPECIALIZE REALLY IN, WE CALL IT DATA-DRIVEN CAPITAL PORTFOLIOS.
SO WE'RE HELPING OUR CLIENTS DEVELOP INVESTMENT STRATEGIES IN AND, AND INSIGHTS, YOU KNOW, WHAT ARE YOUR OBJECTIVES? UH, MAYBE THEY ARE RELIABILITY, MAYBE THEY'RE RESILIENCE, MAYBE THEY'RE LOWERING LIFECYCLE COSTS, AND WE'RE DEVELOPING, UH, PORTFOLIOS.
UH, WHAT SORT OF, WHERE MIGHT YOU INVEST? WHAT MIGHT YOU DO? HOW MIGHT YOU RECONFIGURE THIS SYSTEM? AND HOW DO YOU SORT OF JUSTIFY THOSE? THAT KIND OF RECONFIGURATION.
AND AGAIN, WE MAY DO THAT FOR RESILIENCE, RELIABILITY, GRID MODERNIZATION, THERE'S LOTS OF THINGS THAT KIND OF GO ALONG WITH THAT, UH, KIND OF CATERING TO OUR CLIENT'S NEEDS.
AND OUR GROUP MAY ALSO HELP WITH, UH, EXECUTING THESE PORTFOLIOS AND KIND OF MANAGING THEM AS WELL.
AND AT THE BOTTOM, UH, YOU KNOW, WE'VE DONE UNDERGROUNDING AS A, EITHER AS A STUDY, AS PART OF A LARGER STUDY, UH, ACROSS LOTS OF UTILITIES ACROSS THE COUNTRY, OR WE'VE GOT A FEW KIND OF MENTIONED HERE.
SO WE'VE BEEN DOING A LOT IN TEXAS WITH, UH, THE HOUSE BILL THAT WAS PASSED, ASKING UTILITIES TO DEVELOP, DEVELOP A RESILIENCE PLAN, RIGHT? WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO HARDEN THE SYSTEM AGAINST LOTS OF DIFFERENT TYPES OF EVENTS.
AND SO WE WERE LOOKING AT PLACES WHERE, LIKE IN AP TEXAS, UH, THEY HAVE KIND OF TERRITORY ACROSS THE STATE, BUT YOU KNOW, DOWN IN CORPUS WHERE, YOU KNOW, HURRICANES AND, AND CYCLONE TYPE EVENTS ARE A REAL, A REAL CONCERN ALL THE WAY UP THROUGH ENCORE, WHERE IT'S REALLY NOT A CONCERN, BUT THEY HAVE LOTS OF OTHER TYPES OF WEATHER EVENTS THAT, THAT ARE CONCERNING.
AND AS PART OF THAT, WE INCORPORATE UNDERGROUNDING AS AN OPTION INSIDE ALL OF THOSE KIND OF LARGER STUDIES AND PORTFOLIOS.
SO WHAT DO WE DO HERE? SO FOR THE, THE AUSTIN ENERGY FEASIBILITY STUDY, WE BROKE UP THE ENTIRE OVERHEAD SYSTEM INTO WHAT CAME OUT TO BE ABOUT 5,000 SECTIONS.
AND FOR EACH OF THOSE SECTIONS, WE SAID, OKAY, LET'S ESTIMATE THE COST OF UNDERGROUNDING THOSE, WHAT DO WE KIND OF KNOW ABOUT THE TERRAIN? WHAT DO WE KNOW ABOUT THE PART OF TOWN? WHAT DO WE KNOW ABOUT, UH, YOU KNOW, WHAT OTHER, UH, ENVIRONMENTAL OR OTHER SORT OF EXTERNAL FACTORS MIGHT DRIVE A LITTLE VARIATION IN COST, WHERE WE CAN, WHERE WE CAN PULL THAT IN.
UH, WE DID THAT FOR ALL 5,000 SECTIONS.
AND THEN WE WANT TO UNDERSTAND, OKAY, WHAT ABOUT THE LIFECYCLE BENEFIT, RIGHT? WHAT DO WE GAIN BY UNDERGROUNDING, THIS SECTION THAT WAS ALREADY OVERHEAD? AND SO WE'RE LOOKING AT THAT FROM TWO MAJOR PERSPECTIVES.
ONE OF THOSE IS REDUCING FUTURE COSTS, RIGHT? THAT'S A BENEFIT, RIGHT? YOU'RE REDUCING COSTS FROM EQUIPMENT REPAIRS, UH, POLE INSPECTIONS, VEGETATION MANAGEMENT, UM, UH, YOU KNOW, ALL THE THINGS THAT YOU MIGHT IMAGINE YOU SORT OF AVOID BY TAKING POLES AND WIRES AND PLACING THEM UNDERGROUND.
THE OTHER PIECE, WHICH IS OF COURSE A MAJOR BENEFIT, ESPECIALLY FROM A RESILIENCE PERSPECTIVE, BUT IT ALSO HELPS RELIABILITY AS WELL, IS THAT YOU ARE REDUCING FUTURE CUSTOMER OUTAGES, RIGHT? UH, YOU'RE REDUCING LOTS OF DIFFERENT TYPES OF OUTAGES THAT CAUSE, UM, THAT CAN BE CAUSED BY LOTS OF DIFFERENT THINGS, ANIMALS, LIGHTNING, WEATHER, TREES, YOU NAME IT.
AND WE ARE CONVERTING THAT INTO A MONETARY VALUE, KIND OF A SOCIETAL BA VALUE IN ORDER TO THEN COME UP WITH A LIFECYCLE BENEFIT OF UNDERGROUNDING EACH SECTION, RIGHT? AND SO THOSE BENEFITS ARE THE REDUCED FUTURE COSTS, PLUS THIS REDUCED MONETIZED CUSTOMER OUTAGE TO GET THERE.
AND THEN WE'RE COMPARING EACH SECTION'S BENEFITS TO THE COST TO DEVELOP A RATIO, A BENEFIT COST RATIO.
AND WHAT WE'RE LOOKING AT, UH, AS WE LIST ALL THOSE 5,000 SECTIONS, ABOUT 33 OF THOSE, ABOUT 120 MILES OR SO, HAVE A BENEFIT COST RATIO OF 1.0 OR GREATER, RIGHT? MEANING THAT THE BENEFITS OF DOING IT IN THESE SECTIONS MAY EXCEED THE COST OF DOING IT BASED ON KIND OF A, A SYSTEM WIDE COST, UH, COST PER MILE ACROSS THE ENTIRE SYSTEM.
SO WE PUT A LOT OF DATA INTO CALCULATING COSTS AND CALCULATING BENEFITS AS WELL.
SO WE LOOKED AT, UH, THE GEOSPATIAL INFORMATION FOR AUSTIN ENERGY UNDERSTANDING WHERE ARE ALL THE POLES AND WIRES ACROSS
[00:40:01]
THE ENTIRE SYSTEM, AND WE LOOKED AT THE AGE OF THE SYSTEM, RIGHT? IN, IN SOME PLACES WHERE THINGS ARE NEWER, UH, IT MAY BE A LITTLE BIT MORE DIFFICULT TO JUSTIFY, BUT IF THINGS ARE ALREADY OLDER, MAYBE YOU HAVE A LITTLE BIT MORE, UH, WEIGHT TOWARDS REPLACING SOME OF THOSE.WE ALSO LOOKED AT THE PROTECTION ZONE.
IT'S THE WAY THE SYSTEM SORT OF RESPONDS AND REACTS TO OUTAGES.
AND IF SOMETHING HAPPENS ON A LINE, WHO ENDS UP OUT OF POWER? AND FOR HOW LONG? WE LOOK AT HISTORICAL OUTAGES, GETTING A SENSE FOR WHERE THOSE OCCURRED AND WHY THOSE HAVE OCCURRED ACROSS THE SYSTEM.
WE ATTACH CUSTOMERS TO ALL THE ASSETS.
SO WE HAVE A, A, A PRETTY GOOD UNDERSTANDING OF IF THIS POLE FALLS OR IF THIS LINE GOES OUT, WE KNOW WHAT TYPES OF CUSTOMERS AND HOW MANY ARE OUT.
WE LOOK AT VEGETATION DENSITY, RIGHT? WHERE YOU HAVE CERTAIN, UH, HEAVY TREE CANOPY AREAS, THOSE ARE GOING TO MAKE RISK, UH, A LITTLE BIT HIGHER FROM A RESILIENCE PERSPECTIVE FOR THOSE KINDS OF OUTAGES.
WE LOOKED AT PHYSICAL CONNECTIVITY OF ASSETS, RIGHT? POLES AND WIRES KIND OF PHYSICALLY, UH, MAPPED TOGETHER.
WE LOOKED AT HOW FAR AWAY, UH, CERTAIN PIECES OF EQUIPMENT WERE FROM THE ROAD.
THE FURTHER AWAY IT IS FROM THE ROAD, UH, THE MORE IT ACTUALLY COSTS A LITTLE BIT TO REPAIR.
AND THE LONGER IT MAY TAKE TO GET THOSE, THOSE ITEMS REPAIRED, IF THEY DO HAPPEN TO FAIL.
UH, AGAIN, WE BROKE IT UP INTO 5,000 SECTIONS.
WE ALSO INCLUDED, UH, FLOOD AND, AND FEMA RISKS AS WELL.
SO WE PUT LOTS OF CORE DATA ITEMS INTO THE, INTO THE MODEL, UH, INTO THE RESULTS.
AND LET'S GO AHEAD AND GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE AND KIND OF GET INTO, UH, A COUPLE OF, COUPLE OF MORE DETAILED ITEMS. OH, OH, MY APOLOGIES.
OH, AGAIN, THINKING ABOUT UNDERGROUNDING BENEFITS AND REALLY THE GRAPHIC, I THINK ON THE RIGHT SIDE IS THE, UH, KIND OF THE KEY PIECE HERE, RIGHT? I REMEMBER LIFECYCLE BENEFITS.
SO OVER, I BELIEVE 40 YEARS OF, OF PRESENT VALUE, WE'RE TAKING THE AVOIDED FUTURE AUSTIN ENERGY COST BY UNDERGROUNDING SOMETHING, AND WE'RE ADDING THE AVOIDED FUTURE OUTAGES AS WELL, THE MONETIZED VERSION OF THAT.
AND LOOKING DOWN ON THE LEFT HAND SIDE, UNDER AVOIDED FUTURE CUSTOMER OUTAGES, AS I MENTIONED, UNDERGROUNDING REALLY HELPS EQUIPMENT, VEGETATION, WEATHER, ANIMAL, ALL KINDS OF OUTAGES.
AND WE CONVERT THAT TO WHAT WE CALL KIND OF ECONOMIC DOLLAR BENEFITS.
AND WE'RE USING THE DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY'S INTERRUPTION COST ESTIMATOR, OTHERWISE KNOWN AS THE ICE CALCULATOR TO HELP COMPARE, YOU KNOW, THE TYPE OF CUSTOMER, THE LENGTH OF THE OUTAGE, AND DEVELOP A, A AVOIDED COST, IF YOU WILL, ASSOCIATED WITH THOSE OUTAGES.
SO ONE OF THE ITEMS WE LOOKED AT WAS TRYING TO GET A SENSE FOR HOW FAR AS WE DIG DO YOU KIND OF HIT ROCKY SOIL, RIGHT? BECAUSE WHEN YOU HIT A ROCK LAYER, IT MAKES, UH, IT MAKES LIFE A LITTLE MORE COSTLY.
IT THINGS TAKE A LITTLE MORE TIME TO TO TO DO, RIGHT? SO IF YOU'RE GONNA, UH, UNDERGROUND SOMETHING IT TAKES, YOU HAVE TO INCORPORATE THAT INTO YOUR SCHEDULE.
YOU ARE GOING TO, UH, NEED TO PLAN FOR IT IF YOU HAVE SPECIAL EQUIPMENT.
UM, AND AS YOU CAN KIND OF SEE IN THE MAP, UH, FAIRLY WELL, IF YOU KNOW THE AREA OF AUSTIN, THERE'S A LOOKING AT ABOUT UNDERGROUND CABLE TO ABOUT A FOUR FOOT DEPTH.
THERE'S LOTS OF SECTIONS OF THE SYSTEM THAT GET KIND OF RESTRICTIVE WITHIN, YOU KNOW, ONE TO FOUR FEET WHERE YOU START TO HIT ROCKY SOIL.
SO THOSE AREAS ARE GONNA COST A LITTLE MORE.
WE REFLECTED THAT IN THE MODEL, UH, TO TRY AND LOOK AT DIFFERENT PARTS OF THE SYSTEM AND UNDERSTAND HOW MIGHT ROCKY SOIL AFFECT COST AND HOW MIGHT IT AFFECT, UH, TIME REQUIRED TO GET SOMETHING DONE.
ANOTHER THING WE LOOKED AT WAS THE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT.
UH, WE HAVE A GROUP, UH, ACTUALLY THAT'S IN AUSTIN THAT HANDLES, UH, ENVIRONMENTAL, UM, AREAS AS WELL AS ARCHEOLOGICAL, UH, AND OTHER TYPES OF SENSITIVE AREAS WHEN IT COMES TO, UM, YOU KNOW, UH, BUILDING, CONSTRUCTING, UH, PERMITTING AND WHATNOT.
AND SO WE, WE ASKED THAT TEAM AND SAID, HEY, WHAT CAN WE UNDERSTAND ABOUT WHERE WE MIGHT ENCOUNTER SOME SORT OF ENVIRONMENTALLY SENSITIVE AREAS? AND SO YOU CAN SEE HERE, THEY LOOKED AT CAR STONE, UH, HABITATS, WETLANDS PRESERVES AND WHATNOT.
UM, ALSO GOT A SENSE FOR, UH, WHAT TYPES OF SPECIES, UH, MIGHT BE IMPACTED ACROSS THE SYSTEMS LIKE, UH, LIKE GOLDEN CHEEK WARBLERS, RIGHT? AND SOME OF THESE, WHAT ARE THE KINDS OF RISKS THAT WE MAY COME, YOU KNOW, MAY COME, UH, BE EXPOSED TO WHILE DOING THE OVERHEAD WORK, RIGHT? UM, IF YOU'RE GONNA GO UNDERGROUND, YOU'RE GONNA HAVE TO MAYBE, UH, YOU WOULDN'T MAYBE DISTURB, UH, SOME SORT OF BIRD HABITAT OR SOME OTHER HABITATS IF YOU GOT TO DO LARGE SCALE TRENCHING, RIGHT? YOU CAN'T REALLY DO THAT IN WETLANDS, OR MAYBE THAT'S MORE DIFFICULT.
SO THERE'S LOTS OF DIFFERENT PIECES.
AND WE WANTED TO, TO UNDERSTAND.
SO WE LOOKED AT ALL THESE, UH, AREAS YOU SEE HERE, UH, APPLIED THEM USING THE GEOSPATIAL MAPPING AND SAID, OKAY, THIS SECTION OF THE SYSTEM RIGHT, IS 5,000 SECTIONS.
THIS SECTION IS IN A HIGH AREA, THIS IS IN A, A MEDIUM AREA.
THIS IS MAYBE IN A NEUTRAL ENVIRONMENTAL RISK AREA.
[00:45:01]
WE BROUGHT ALL THAT INTO, UH, THE RISK OF ACTUALLY DOING THE UNDERGROUNDING WORK ITSELF FOR ANOTHER PIECE.UH, FOLKS AT AUSTIN ENERGY SAID, LOOK, WE WANT YOUR TEAMS TO COME OUT AND ACTUALLY TAKE A LOOK AT THE SYSTEM, RIGHT? GET A SENSE FOR THE TYPES OF CHALLENGES WE'RE WE MIGHT SEE IF WE'RE GOING TO DO ANY SORT OF LARGE SCALE UNDERGROUNDING.
AND SO WE VISITED OVER 40 SECTIONS ACROSS THE TERRITORY AND WE KIND OF DISTRIBUTED IT ACROSS THE DIFFERENT DISTRICTS AND THE UNINCORPORATED AREA TO GET A SENSE FOR WHAT, YOU KNOW, WE HAVE A DESKTOP VIEW OF THE ASSETS, BUT WHAT DO WE SEE WHEN WE'RE OUT THERE, RIGHT? WHAT ARE THE ASSET CONDITIONS? UH, HOW ARE STRUCTURES SORT OF CONFIGURED? DO YOU HAVE LOTS OF, UM, YOU KNOW,
I THINK YOU HAVE 30 SOME ODD COMMUNICATION COMPANIES, TELECOM COMPANIES, UH, THERE ARE KIND OF TIGHT AREAS, RIGHT? HOW DO THE RIGHT OF WAY CONDITIONS LOOK, WHAT KIND OF TECHNICAL AND ENGINEERING CHALLENGES CAN WE JUST SEE AND GET A SENSE FOR? AND SO OUR TEAMS DID, UH, IN QUITE A BIT OF FIELD OBSERVATION, UH, TOOK SOME NOTES, TOOK SOME PICTURES, AND TRIED TO KIND OF DOCUMENT THAT SO THAT WE COULD USE THAT WHEN TRYING TO DEVELOP, UH, WHAT IT MIGHT COST AND WHAT IT MIGHT TAKE TO, TO UNDERGO UNDERGROUNDING ACROSS THE SYSTEM.
SO, YOU KNOW, WE'VE GOT, UH, UNCERTAINTY, UH, ACROSS WHAT MIGHT IT COST TO REALLY DO UNDERGROUNDING, I THINK AT, AT SCALE, RIGHT? AND THERE'S LOTS OF DIFFERENT THINGS THAT AFFECT HOW YOU PLAN A PROJECT.
HOW DO YOU ENGINEER IT? WHAT ABOUT THE COST TO ACTUALLY CONSTRUCT IT? UM, AND, AND SO WHAT SORT OF ENGINEERING AND TECHNICAL CHALLENGES MIGHT WE, MIGHT WE ENCOUNTER? BECAUSE WHEN YOU GO TO PLAN THIS OUT, YOU CAN, YOU CAN HAVE LIKE SOME AVERAGE TYPE COSTS, BUT WHAT WE FOUND IS FOR SOME OF THESE, YOU MAY NOT KNOW WHAT IT REALLY COSTS TO DO A PROJECT UNTIL YOU ACTUALLY GO OUT THERE AND REALLY START TO GET A SENSE FOR THE AREA, GET A SENSE FOR WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE, GET A SENSE FOR WHAT'S UNDERGROUND.
SO WHILE WE CAN DO SOME ESTIMATING AT A HIGH LEVEL, A LOT OF THESE PROJECTS MAY REQUIRE REALLY DETAILED KIND OF SITE SPECIFIC EVALUATION TO GET A GOOD ESTIMATE OF COSTS.
UH, INCLUDING WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO, YOU KNOW, RELOCATE TELECOM, HOW LONG IS IT GONNA TAKE? IF YOU HAVE MULTIPLE TELECOMMUNICATION TELECOMMUNICATION COMPANIES ON THE POLE, YOU HAVE TO KIND OF CONTACT THEM AND GO THROUGH THE PROCESS OF SCHEDULING, OKAY, WE'RE GONNA BE MOVING THIS, YOU NEED TO BE HERE ON THIS DATE, FOLKS NEED TO BE ON THAT DATE, AND WE'RE GONNA KIND OF MOVE THINGS UNDERGROUND.
SO THERE'S A LOT OF COORDINATION THAT HAS TO HAPPEN.
HOW DO WE HANDLE, UH, SECONDARY RIGHT, IF IT COMES FROM THE TRANSFORMER, UH, DOWN TO, TO THE HOUSE, FOR INSTANCE.
THERE'S, HOW DO YOU HANDLE THOSE? DO THEY STAY ABOVE GROUND? DO YOU NEED TO MOVE THEM TO THE FRONT LOT? DO THEY NEED TO BE UNDERGROUNDED? WHO HANDLES THOSE COSTS? UH, IF YOU HAVE TO UNDERGROUND AT SCALE, A LOT OF TIMES OUR CLIENTS END UP LOOKING TO HIRE CONTRACTORS TO HELP IN SOME PART OF THAT PLANNING, ENGINEERING, CONSTRUCTION PROCESS.
THERE'S A LOT OF TIGHT SPACE WITHIN EXISTING EASEMENTS AND, AND THE COST TO ACQUIRE ADDITIONAL EASEMENTS AS WELL IS, IS A BIT UNCERTAIN.
YOU HAVE A LOT OF DENSE VEGETATION AREAS, YOU'VE GOT CRITICAL ROOT ZONES, YOU'VE GOT HIGH CUSTOMER DENSITY, SO THERE'S TRAFFIC COSTS AND UH, AND OF COURSE ENVIRONMENTAL RISK AS WELL.
SO, YOU KNOW, WE, WE CAME ACROSS LOTS OF DIFFERENT, UH, UNCERTAINTIES IN THE AUSTIN ENERGY TERRITORY.
AND I THINK WHILE WE'VE SEEN, WE HAVE SIMILAR UNCERTAINTIES FOR, FOR OTHER CLIENTS, YOU ALL HAVE A, A, A PRETTY LARGE AMOUNT WITHIN KIND OF A SMALL, A SMALL AREA RELATIVELY.
UM, SO THERE'S A LOT OF CONSIDERATIONS THAT MAKE COSTING A A BIT OF A CHALLENGE.
SO GOING TO MY LAST SLIDE HERE, WHAT, WHAT DO WE COME UP WITH THIS STUDY? WE SAID, YOU KNOW, 1898 AND CO IS NOT CURRENTLY RECOMMENDING A SYSTEM-WIDE OVERHEAD TO UNDERGROUND CONVERSION OF THE, THE DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM.
AND THE BIGGEST REASON IS COST, EVEN AT THE SORT OF AVERAGE DOLLAR PER MILE VALUE, UH, IT'S PROBABLY ABOUT 50 BILLION TO MOVE ALL OF THE OVERHEAD TO UNDERGROUND.
AND WHEN WE LOOK AT THE, THE BENEFIT COST ANALYSIS, RIGHT? ONLY A FEW SECTIONS HAVE BENEFITS THAT EXCEED THE COST, LIKE WE SAID, 33 OUT OF THE 5,000.
BUT WHAT SORT OF NEEDS TO BE CONSIDERED EVEN THERE, IS YOU MAY HAVE OTHER PROJECT SOLUTIONS EVEN FOR THOSE 33 SECTIONS THAT MIGHT HAVE A BETTER SORT OF RETURN PER DOLLAR, RIGHT? SO A BENEFIT COST RATIO OF 1.0 GREATER DOESN'T NECESSARILY MEAN, HEY, YOU GOTTA GO UNDERGROUND THIS SECTION, BUT IT IT MEANS THAT, HEY, THIS IS A PLACE WHERE YOU MIGHT CONSIDER IT, UM, AMONG OTHER TYPES OF SOLUTIONS, RIGHT? UM, SO, YOU KNOW, THERE'S A WIDE RANGE OF
[00:50:01]
TECHNICAL CHALLENGES, AS I MENTIONED, YOU KNOW, ENVIRONMENTAL SPACE AND EASEMENTS, THINGS LIKE THAT, ROCKY SOILS.UH, BUT ONE THING WE ARE RECOMMENDING IS THAT AUSTIN ENERGY DEVELOP A, A HIGHLY STRATEGIC APPROACH TO UNDERGROUNDING, INCLUDING THESE RESULTS IN KIND OF A LARGER STRATEGY FOR RELIABILITY RESILIENCE.
I THINK DAVID MAYBE HAD MENTIONED THIS EARLIER, AND THAT KIND OF FALLS IN LINE TO BE HONEST WITH A LOT OF THE OTHER RESULTS WE SAW FROM OUR CLIENTS WHERE WE'RE DOING KINDA LARGE, LARGE RESILIENCE STUDIES LOOKING AT LOTS OF DIFFERENT SOLUTIONS.
UNDERGROUNDING IS STRATEGIC FOR SPECIFIC EXAMPLES WHERE, UH, ONE OF OUR CLIENTS IS USING UNDERGROUNDING TO SAY, OKAY, IN OUR, WE HAVE HURRICANE EVACUATION ZONES AND WE WANNA MAKE SURE THAT WE DON'T HAVE LINES ACROSS THE INTERSTATES.
AND SO FOR A LOT OF THOSE, THEY'RE GONNA START TACKLING UNDERGROUNDING SPECIFIC SECTIONS OF THE SYSTEM, UH, WHERE THEY WOULD OTHERWISE GO ACROSS HIGHWAYS.
AND SO, UM, YOU KNOW, THEY THINK IT'S FOR THEM, IT'S, IT'S VALUABLE.
THEY KNOW WHERE THEY ARE, THEY CAN KIND LIST 'EM AND START KIND OF WORKING ON THEM PIECE BY PIECE.
SO THERE'S LOTS OF DIFFERENT WAYS OUR CLIENTS ARE USING UNDERGROUNDING, UH, OF EXISTING ASSETS.
UM, BUT FOR THE MOST PART, AGAIN, RECOMMENDING KIND OF A STRATEGIC APPROACH TO UNDERGROUNDING, UH, BASED ON WHAT WE FOUND IN THIS STUDY.
UH, LISA, COULD WE GET SOME KIND OF SCALE HERE? SO 50 BILLION, HOW MANY TIMES X IS THAT OF AUSTIN ENERGY? YEARLY REVENUE? WELL, OUR YEARLY REVENUE, STEWART
I WAS GONNA SAY, BUT I HAVE MORE TO SAY, RIGHT? I, I, LISA'S GONNA FINISH THE PRESENTATION, BUT, UH, I WILL SAY THAT OUR, UM, FIVE YEAR CIP BUDGET FOR THE UPCOMING FIVE YEARS IS ABOUT 1.6 BILLION FOR FIVE YEARS.
THAT'S THE RELEVANT NUMBER, NOT THE REVENUE, BUT HOW MUCH YOU PLAN TO SPEND ON YOUR INFRASTRUCTURE.
SO WHAT, WHAT YOU SAID ONE POINT, 1.65 WOULD BE OVER FIVE YEARS.
AND THAT'S, THAT'S IN ALL ASPECTS OF OUR SYSTEM.
SO CAN WE GO THROUGH A ONE MORE? SO THAT'S SLIDE NIKKI.
SO WE'LL TAKE QUESTIONS IN JUST A SECOND.
OF COURSE, WE ALL SHARE THE SAME KEY OBJECTIVE, IT'S RELIABILITY PLUS RESILIENCY.
UM, BUT YOU KNOW, GIVEN THE RESULTS THAT ARLAN JUST SHARED, HOW DO WE MOVE FORWARD FROM HERE? SO FIRST AND FOREMOST, WE'RE GONNA CONTINUE TO SUPPORT UNDERGROUNDING SERVICE DESIGN FOR NEW DEVELOPMENT AUSTIN AND ENERGY.
WE MAINTAIN AN UNDERGROUND STANDARD, AND ALTHOUGH IT'S NOT REQUIRED FOR NEW DEVELOPMENT, MANY, AND ACTUALLY MOST DEVELOPERS ARE OPTING FOR THAT STANDARD, UM, TO AID IN THE VALUE AESTHETICS AND DESIRABILITY OF THEIR NEW DEVELOPMENTS.
AND WE KNOW THAT, UH, PUTTING SOMETHING UNDERGROUND FROM THE GET-GO IS MUCH LESS EXPENSIVE.
IT'S MUCH MORE COST EFFECTIVE THAN GOING BACK AND RETROFITTING.
UM, WE WILL CONTINUE TO FOCUS ON OUR HIGHEST PRIORITY RISKS, SO WILDFIRE AND TREES TOO CLOSE TO THE WIRES, WHICH IS PROBLEMATIC DURING WIND, ICE, DROUGHT, ET CETERA.
OUR TREE TRIMMING AND WILDFIRE MITIGATION PROGRAMS HAVE THOSE AT THE TOP OF THE LIST.
WE WILL EXAMINE WHERE STRATEGIC UNDERGROUNDING CONVERSION MAKES SENSE, AND WE'LL DO THAT IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE RESULTS OF THE NEXT STUDY, WHICH IS THE OVERHEAD HARDENING STUDY.
AND THAT WILL PROVIDE ADDITIONAL RESILIENCY SOLUTIONS TO CONSIDER, WHICH, WHICH MAY EVEN BE MORE COST EFFECTIVE FOR THE SECTIONS HERE THAT WERE, YOU KNOW, ON THE, ON THE POSITIVE SIDE, UM, WE WILL ENGAGE WITH STAKEHOLDERS AND FIND OUT WHAT THEY THINK ABOUT ALL THIS AND WHAT THEIR PREFERENCES ARE, AND THEN WE'LL INCORPORATE THEIR FEEDBACK.
AND THEN JUST A REMINDER, AND DAVID EMPHASIZED THIS ALREADY, BUT I CAN'T EMPHASIZE IT ENOUGH, TODAY'S RESULTS ARE ONLY STEP ONE.
WE STILL HAVE WORK TO DO TO DEVELOP A COMPREHENSIVE DISTRIBUTION RESILIENCY PLAN.
IF YOU COULD GO ONE MORE SLIDE FORWARD FOR ME.
UM, HERE'S OUR GENERAL FLOW FOR THAT WORK.
SO RIGHT NOW OUR TEAMS ARE CONTINUING TO ANALYZE THE UNDERGROUNDING STUDY RESULTS.
AND 1898, A DIFFERENT, UH, SECTION OF 1898 IS WORKING ON THE OVERHEAD HARDENING STUDY.
WE'LL EXPECT WHAT, WE'LL BE ABLE TO SHARE THOSE RESULTS IN A FEW MONTHS, AND THEN WE'LL USE BOTH STUDIES FURTHER ANALYSIS STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT TO INFORM OUR NEAR AND LONG-TERM PRIORITIES.
AND LATER THIS YEAR WE'LL BE RETURNING TO PRESENT THE DISTRIBUTION RESILIENCY PLAN, UM, AND SPECIFICALLY TO, TO Y'ALL AND TO COUNCIL FOR REVIEW AND FEEDBACK.
AND SO NOW THANK YOU FOR, UH, ALLOWING ME TO INTERRUPT YOUR QUESTIONS.
WHAT QUESTIONS DO YOU HAVE FOR US? I GUESS WE, WE TALKED ABOUT WILDFLOWER WILD FIRE RISK, UH, WHEN WE MET LAST WEEK AND I SHARED THE 2015 MAP AND ABOUT TWO DAYS LATER THE NEW MAP CAME OUT, WHICH SEEMS TO JUST REALLY BRING THE WILDFIRE RISK EVEN CLOSER INTO TOWN.
UH, WILL THAT, OR, OR HOW MUCH WILL THAT NEW MAP AND INFORMATION BE ABLE TO BE INCORPORATED INTO THE, MOSTLY THE OVERHEAD RESILIENCY STUDY, I WOULD GUESS?
[00:55:01]
YEAH, NO, NO DOUBT.WE TALKED ABOUT THIS, UM, WHEN WE MET, UM, WITH, WITH A FEW OF YOU, UM, A WEEK OR SO AGO.
UM, NO DOUBT THE WILDFIRE MAP CHANGES IS, IS, IS GOING TO, UH, PUT MORE OF OUR INFRASTRUCTURE IN THE, YOU KNOW, PRIORITY AREA.
UM, BUT, YOU KNOW, WILDFIRE MITIGATION AND UM, UH, WILDFIRE RISK MITIGATION HAS ALWAYS BEEN TOP OF MIND.
AND ALL THOSE EXISTING PROGRAMS THAT DAVID MENTIONED ARE KEY TO FOCUSING ON NOT ONLY THE PERFORMING, THE FEEDERS THAT HAVE THE MOST OUTAGES, BUT ALSO THE ONES THAT ARE IN THE WILDFIRE RISK AREAS.
SO EVERYTHING WE'RE DOING TODAY AND END-TO-END CIRCUIT, UH, HARDENING, UM, AND, UH, ANYTHING, YOU KNOW, WE ARE, WE'RE WORKING ON UM, UH, WILDFIRE EQUIPMENT STANDARDS AS WELL.
SO ALL OF THAT, UM, WILL COME INTO PLAY INTO A COMPREHENSIVE DISTRIBUTION RESILIENCY PLAN.
AND, UM, I ALSO COME INTO CONSIDERATION WHEN IT TALKS ABOUT STRATEGIC UNDERGROUNDING.
SO, OKAY, SO, UM, YOU HAVE TO DIVIDE UP THE WORK BETWEEN AUSTIN ENERGY AND 1898, BUT THERE ARE MANY GOOD POINTS IN THE STUDY, AND ONE OF THEM THAT I FOUND INTERESTING THAT REALLY WASN'T DOLLARIZED, BUT IT WAS FLAGGED, IS THIS ISN'T JUST, NOT ONLY DOES THE COMMUNITY SOCIALIZE OR AE SOCIALIZE THE COST OF THIS, SO EVEN IF YOU'RE IN A NEIGHBORHOOD THAT'S ALREADY UNDERGROUND, YOU'RE GONNA BE PAYING FOR OTHER, OTHER NEIGHBORHOODS THAT AREN'T TO GET UPGRADED IF THAT WERE TO HAPPEN.
BUT SECONDLY, UM, THE COST FOR THE CUSTOMER TO CHANGE THEIR SERVICE ENTRANCE BEYOND THE METER BECAUSE IT DOESN'T AE TAKE CARE OF EVERYTHING TO THE METER.
AND THEN THE CUSTOMER WOULD HAVE TO PAY FOR UPGRADING.
THEY WOULD BE REQUIRED TO UPGRADE INSTEAD OF GRANDFATHER THE CODE TO MEET CODE, AND THEY WOULD HAVE TO CHANGE SOMETHING, I WOULD ASSUME IN THEIR SERVICE ENTRANCE.
AND SO COULD YOU GIVE SOME GENERAL RANGE SO THAT AUSTIN ENERGY CUSTOMERS MIGHT REALIZE HOW MUCH THEY MAY BE ON THE HOOK FOR BEYOND WHAT GOES THROUGH THEIR BILL? YEAH, I THINK ARLEN UM, MENTIONED THIS A LITTLE BIT AND WE'LL HAVE DAVID COME UP TO HELP, UM, IN A SECOND.
BUT THERE'S A, UH, YOU KNOW, WHAT DAVID'S TALKING ABOUT IS, UM, YOU KNOW, RIGHT NOW PEOPLE WHO HAVE OVERHEAD FEED, THEY COME IN THROUGH, YOU KNOW, A WEATHERHEAD OVER SOMEONE'S ROOF AND THEN WOULD HAVE TO, YOU KNOW, RETROFIT THE EQUIPMENT ON THAT'S CUSTOMER OWNED EQUIPMENT TO, UH, SERVE FROM UNDERGROUND.
AND, UM, YOU KNOW, DIFFERENT UTILITIES HANDLE THIS IN A DIFFERENT WAY.
SO THERE'S NO LIKE GUARANTEE THAT WE KNOW EXACTLY HOW THAT WOULD PROCESS OUT.
UM, BUT ESSENTIALLY, UH, THE WAY THINGS ARE RIGHT NOW, THERE'S A, THERE'S A CLEAR LINE OF WHAT'S UTILITY AND WHAT'S CUSTOMER OWNED EQUIPMENT, AND IF THEY, UM, AND WHEN YOU, WHEN YOU, UH, PULL PERMITS TO DO WORK RIGHT ON THE, ON THE CUSTOMER SIDE, THEN THEY WOULD HAVE TO BRING EVERYTHING UP TO CODE.
AND SO, UM, THAT'S THE COMPLICATIONS THAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT.
DO YOU HAVE ANY LIKE SENSE OF LIKE, MAYBE YOU WANNA JUST GIVE A FEW ANECDOTES? YEAH, I MEAN THE COSTS ARE, I MEAN, IT'S, IT'S REALLY HARD TO QUANTIFY 'CAUSE YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU'RE GONNA RUN INTO, UH, YOU KNOW, EVERY SINGLE THING, YOU KNOW, BUT IF YOU TOUCH ANY SERVICE BY CODE, YOU HAVE TO BRING IT UP.
UH, AND THEN ALSO JUST, NOT EVEN JUST THAT IS IF NOW IT'S COME, IF IT'S, UH, CURRENTLY COMING FROM AN OVERHEAD SERVICE DROP AND NOW IT NEEDS TO COME UNDERGROUND, YOU GOT OTHER STUFF, UH, AS WELL.
AND, AND THEN, YOU KNOW, HOW DOES THAT AFFECT, YOU KNOW, HOW IT'S PHYSICALLY ATTACHED TO THE HOUSE.
AND THEN OF COURSE, YOU KNOW, ANY OTHER, UNFORTUNATELY SOMETIMES IS HOW FAR DOES THE CODE GO? SO IT'S THAT, THAT'S, THAT'S, I'M SORRY.
WELL, YEAH, AND I, I HAVEN'T EVEN GOT INTO EASEMENTS.
UM, YOU KNOW, EASEMENTS IS REALLY AN UNKNOWN AS WELL.
I MEAN, THINK ABOUT IT, IF YOU HAD A, IF YOU HAD A NEIGHBORHOOD AND YOU WOULD THINK EVERYBODY WOULD BE LIKE, YES, THIS SOUNDS GREAT.
I I'M NOT SURE THAT EVERYBODY IS, IS GONNA WANNA, SOME PEOPLE ARE SAY, YOU KNOW, I'M FINE WITH THE WAY MY HOUSE IS.
I'M NOT LOOKING TO MAKE ANY CHANGES.
I DEFINITELY DON'T WANNA OCCUR COST OR, UH, I CAN'T AFFORD TO DO SO.
UM, NOW YOU GET IN A SITUATION WHERE YOU CAN'T REALLY GO UP, DOWN, UP, DOWN, UP, DOWN THROUGH A NEIGHBORHOOD, IT REALLY HAS TO BE KIND OF ALL OR NOTHING.
AND, UM, AT THAT POINT IN TIME, IF, IF PEOPLE ARE NOT INTERESTED IN IT, YOU, I MEAN, THE ONLY WAY YOU COULD DO THAT IS, IS POTENTIALLY CONDEMNED AND THEN YOU GOTTA PAY FOR EASEMENTS AND, AND SO FORTH.
THERE'S JUST A LOT OF UNKNOWNS THAT FRANKLY PROBABLY ARE NOT EVEN QUITE COVERED IN, IN THE, IN THAT 50 BILLION THAT YOU'D RUN INTO.
AND AS ARLEN STATED IS YOU REALLY DON'T KNOW THE SPECIFICS IN, UM, THE, THE UNIQUE SITUATIONS OF EVERY, UH, UH, EITHER NEIGHBORHOOD OR LOCATIONAL SYSTEM UNTIL YOU PHYSICALLY GO OUT THERE.
SO DOES THE CUSTOMER PAY FOR THE METER CAN, IT'S AN AUSTIN ENERGY METER THAT PLUGS IN, BUT DOES THE CUSTOMER HAVE TO PAY FOR ELECTRICIAN TO DO THE METER CAN? YES, SIR.
SO THAT WOULD BE THE MINIMUM, RIGHT, THAT THEY WOULD HAVE TO GET, LET ALONE ANY UPGRADES.
AND SO CAN YOU, CAN ANY OF THE AE EXECUTIVES DESCRIBE SOME OF THE IMPEDIMENTS THAT WE SEE IN THE REBATE PROGRAMS TO GET ENERGY EFFICIENCY IN PLACE THAT ARE PROBABLY HESITANT? THE PEOPLE ARE HESITANT, EVEN THOUGH THEY COULD BENEFIT
[01:00:01]
OR THEIR, OR THEIR TENANTS COULD BENEFIT, IS THAT THEY DON'T WANT INSPECTORS ANYWHERE AROUND BECAUSE THEN THEY MAY HAVE TO GO WITH, FOR THIS NEW PROGRAM, GET TRIGGERED TO LOSE THEIR GRANDFATHERING AND HAVE TO UPGRADE THEIR SERVICE OR SOME OTHER ASPECT OF THEIR ELECTRIC DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM WITH THE BUILDING.MY UNDERSTANDING IS THAT IS A MEANINGFUL IMPEDIMENT TO THE FURTHER ADOPTION OF ACCEPTING REBATES AND GETTING MORE OF THE LOAD MORE EFFICIENT.
CAN, CAN YOU KIND OF PUT THAT IN SCALE AT ALL? I DON'T WANNA PUT ANYBODY ON THE SPOT.
I DON'T, WE MAY NOT HAVE THE OKAY.
UH, GOOD EVENING COMMISSIONERS.
RICHARD GENESEE, VICE PRESIDENT OF CUSTOMER ENERGY SOLUTIONS.
I'M NOT SURE HOW MUCH I CAN PUT IT IN SCALE FOR YOU, BUT I CAN JUST AFFIRM WHAT YOU SAID.
IT IS AN IMPEDIMENT TO CUSTOMERS, UH, POTENTIALLY ADOPTING, UH, NEW PROGRAMS BECAUSE THEY'RE FEARFUL THAT THEY HAVE TO BRING OUT ALL OF THEIR SERVICE UP TO CODE.
OTHER QUESTIONS? I'VE GOT MORE
UM, YOU KNOW, SO THERE ARE GONNA BE PLACES WHERE IT JUST MAKE, IT MAKES SENSE AND THAT NEEDS TO BE A CONSIDERATION, UH, AS WE'RE EVALUATING.
AND THAT'LL BE PART, YOU KNOW, YOU KNOW, AS FAR AS THE DISTRIBUTION RESILIENCY PLAN.
SO THERE WILL BE SECTIONS THAT IT, YOU KNOW, AGAIN, AS IT MAY BE, UM, YOU KNOW, YOU KNOW, MENTIONED LIKE, YOU KNOW, UH, UH, ESCAPE ROUTE OR, YOU KNOW, SO FORTH EMERGENCY ROUTE, YOU KNOW, THERE'S, THERE'S STUFF LIKE THAT NEEDS TO BE CONSIDERED.
BUT, BUT I ALSO WANNA JUST STATE IS, UM, I THINK I'VE, I'VE COME, I THINK I'VE COME AND PRESENTED ON, UM, SOME OF THE ALTERNATIVES THAT WE'RE, THAT WE'RE PILOTING RIGHT NOW AND WORKING ON IN REGARDS TO WILDFIRE MITIGATION.
AND SO THAT'S THINGS LIKE COVERED CONDUCTORS.
SO YOU SEE THAT OUT LIKE IN CALIFORNIA AND SO FORTH, THAT EVEN IF A TREE TOUCHES IT OR SO FORTH THAT IT, IT'S, IT'S NOT NECESSARILY GOING TO FAULT.
UM, THERE'S, UH, NEW POLES, UM, UH, YOU KNOW, LIKE DUCTILE IRON POLES, UH, OR COMPOSITE RESIN POLES THAT YOU CAN PUT UP THAT CAN WITHSTAND HEAT FOR MUCH LONGER PERIODS OF TIME WITHOUT DAMAGE OR MINIMAL DAMAGE.
THEY EVEN MAKE THINGS LIKE A FIRE WRAP, UM, THAT GOES AROUND EVEN JUST A TRADITIONAL WOOD POLE, UH, VERY COST EFFECTIVE TO ADD.
AND IT'S ESSENTIALLY THINKING LIKE AN OVEN, MIT, YOU KNOW, ON THE, ON THE POLE.
SO YOU HAVE STUFF, YOU HAVE STUFF LIKE THAT.
AND THEN EVEN, UM, YOU KNOW, THEY HAVE, UH, DIFFERENT TYPES OF, UH, UH, DEVICES OUT THERE THAT, UM, YOU KNOW, UH, IS FULLY ENCLOSED SO THAT WHEN THEY, THEY TRIP THAT, YOU KNOW, THERE'S NO, UH, UH, NO POTENTIAL FOR ANY TYPE OF SPARKS OR ANYTHING LIKE THAT.
SO THERE'S, THERE'S LOTS OF THINGS THAT WE, WE HAVE IN THE HOPPER RIGHT NOW.
WE'VE DEVELOPED STANDARDS FOR THEM, UH, WORKING TO PILOT 'EM, SEE WHERE IT MAKES SENSE AND SO FORTH.
THAT IS ADDITIONAL, WHEN I TALK ABOUT THOSE EXISTING PROGRAMS, THAT WILL FEED INTO THE DISTRIBUTION RESILIENCY PLAN TO CONSIDER ALL THE OPTIONS THAT ARE MOST COST EFFECTIVE, UH, AND AND NET THE, THE, THE, THE GREATEST BENEFIT FOR OUR COMMUNITY.
UH, THAT BEING SAID, THERE STILL MAY BE SOME CONVERSATIONS WE HAVE ABOUT, YOU KNOW, SPECIFIC AREAS OF, OF WHAT OUR COMMUNITY WOULD LIKE TO SEE, SO.
SO, AND WE'RE LOOKING FORWARD TO SEEING YOUR A DMS UPGRADE PLAN AS PART OF THAT.
THAT'S IT, YOUR AUTOMATED DISTRIBUTION MANAGEMENT SYSTEM.
AND ALSO, UM, WE'VE HAD DISCUSSIONS ABOUT SEXUALIZATION SINCE, UH, YURI MM-HMM
AND I THINK THE DEFINITION HAS SORT OF EVOLVED, AND SO IT WOULD BE GOOD TO SEE HOW IT'S EVOLVED AND SEE YOUR LATEST THOUGHTS ON THAT, WHAT MAKES IT MOST SENSE.
AND THEN ALSO, UM, THERE ARE OTHER ENTITIES THAT HAVE TRIED TO UNDERGROUND POST CONSTRUCTION IN GOOGLE.
I DON'T KNOW IF YOU'VE GOTTEN ANY INPUTS FROM GOOGLE FIBER IN JUST THEIR CHALLENGES WITH A ZERO VOLTAGE OR LOW VOLTAGE LINE THAT'S VERY SMALL COMPARED TO THE COMPLEXITY OF WHAT YOU WOULD BE DOING IN TRYING TO RETROFIT OTHER, OTHER, UH, HAVE YOU HAD ANY ENGAGEMENTS WITH ANYONE WHO'S TRIED THIS IN THE PAST OR OTHER UTILITIES? UM, MY UNDERSTANDING IS PG E AFTER ITS BANKRUPTCY, FROM THE FIRES FROM ITS T AND D CONTRIBUTION TO THOSE, BASICALLY ITS ENTIRE MARKET CAP EQUIVALENT, IF NOT MORE, WOULD BE REQUIRED TO UNDERGROUND.
SO IT JUST, I'M NOT SURE HOW MUCH THEY'RE GONNA DO IT, BUT HAVE YOU TALKED TO OTHER UTILITIES ABOUT WHERE THEY'VE DONE IT BESIDES SOME STRATEGIC PLACES WHERE YOU DON'T WANT TO IMPACT ESCAPE ROUTES WHERE IT'S JUST NOT A DOLLARIZED ANALYSIS? YEAH.
SO, UM, A COUPLE THINGS YOU SAID THERE.
ONE, WE DO HAVE RELATIONSHIPS WITH TELECOM COMPANIES AND CAN TALK TO THEM ABOUT WHAT IT, YOU KNOW, YOU, YOU'VE MENTIONED GOOGLE WHEN WE, UM, MET LAST WEEK, AND WE CAN TALK TO THEM ABOUT THEIR EXPERIENCE.
THEY GO ABOUT SIX INCHES DOWN, RIGHT? WE'RE TALKING ABOUT FOUR FEET, BUT YES.
UM, AND THEN, UH, OTHER UTILITIES.
SO, UM, ACTUALLY WE, A A NUMBER OF US WENT OUT TO, UH, WORK WITH SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA EDISON, UH, AFTER WINTER STORM RA, JUST TO LEARN SOME BEST PRACTICES.
AND ONE OF THE THINGS THAT THEY MENTIONED WAS THAT, UH, PG AND E HAD DONE A, A SIGNIFICANT AMOUNT
[01:05:01]
OF, OF, UH, COST TO PUT STUFF UNDERGROUND, WHEREAS, UM, SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA EDISON, UH, DID SOME STRATEGIC UNDERGROUNDING, BUT, BUT FOCUSED MORE ON THESE, UH, HARDENING, UH, WITH THE WILDFIRE STANDARDS THAT, THAT DAVID WAS JUST TALKING ABOUT AND, AND MADE A LOT MORE HEADWAY IN TERMS OF BEING ABLE TO, UM, COST EFFECTIVELY, COST EFFECTIVELY.IT'S EXPENSIVE, BUT IT'S STILL, UH, COMPARED TO THE ALTERNATIVES, UH, YOU KNOW, REDUCE SOME OF THEIR RISK.
UM, I WAS, UH, AT A MEETING WITH OPERATIONS EXECUTIVES FOR THE LARGE PUBLIC POWER COUNCIL LAST WEEK, AND, UH, STRATEGIC UNDERGROUNDING, UM, AND OR OTHER HARDENING ALTERNATIVES, UH, WILDFIRE MITIGATION, VEGETATION MANAGEMENT, ALL THESE WERE VERY HOT TOPICS THAT WE WERE TALKING ABOUT.
SO YES, THERE'S LOTS OF, OF, UM, YOU KNOW, OTHER, UH, UTILITIES WHERE WE CAN GET A FAIR AMOUNT OF INDUSTRY BEST PRACTICES AND EXPERIENCES.
OTHER QUESTIONS FROM ANYONE ONLINE? WE'RE HERE.
YEAH, I JUST HAD A QUESTION ABOUT THE 33 PLACES THAT YOU IDENTIFIED THAT MIGHT, THAT MIGHT, UM, BE BENEFICIAL TO, TO PUT UNDERGROUND.
WAS THERE ANYTHING IN PARTICULAR THAT THOSE 33 HAVE IN COMMON, OR IT WAS JUST SORT OF SECTION BY SECTION? WHAT WAS IT THAT MADE IT BENEFICIAL TO PUT THOSE UNDERGROUND? I, I I, AND I ASSUME THOSE ARE ALL, SORRY, SECOND, THOSE ARE ALL DISTRIBUTION LEVEL, OR WERE ANY OF THEM TRANSMISSION LINES? SO THE STUDY WAS ONLY FOR DISTRIBUTION.
AND SO THEY ONLY, THEY TOOK THE 5,000 MILES OF, OF OVERHEAD DISTRIBUTION BROKE UP INTO 5,000 SECTIONS.
SO THOSE 33 SECTIONS TOTAL TO BE ABOUT 120 MILES.
AND, UM, ONE THING I'LL SAY IS THAT, UM, THEY ARE KIND OF DISTRIBUTED ACROSS THE SERVICE TERRITORY.
UM, BUT SOME OF THEM ARE IN AREAS THAT HAVE A SIGNIFICANT ROCK, UH, WHICH WOULD ADD TO THE UNCERTAINTY OF THE, OF THE COST.
UM, AND SOME OF THEM ARE IN, UM, EITHER MEDIUM OR HIGH ENVIRONMENTAL SENSITIVITY AREAS.
SO, UM, SO THERE'S FURTHER ANALYSIS TO BE DONE.
ONE THING THAT I FOUND THAT WAS INTERESTING WHEN YOU LOOK ACROSS, UM, THOSE SECTIONS IS THAT, UH, YOU KNOW, DAVE WAS ASKING A LOT OF QUESTIONS ABOUT NEIGHBORHOODS.
MOST OF THESE ARE NOT IN NEIGHBORHOODS.
THEY'RE REALLY THE MAIN LINE THAT'S COMING OUT OF THE SUBSTATION, UM, THAT, YOU KNOW, WHEREAS ACTUALLY THE DOWNSTREAM IN SOME CASES MAY ALREADY BE UNDERGROUND.
UM, BUT, UH, YOU KNOW, VERY FEW OF THEM WERE ACTUALLY, UH, WHAT WE WOULD CALL LATERALS OR RUNNING THROUGH NEIGHBORHOODS.
AND, SORRY, FOLLOW UP QUESTION.
DO WE, WE DON'T KNOW THE COST OF THOSE.
IF THE WHOLE THING WAS $50 BILLION, WHAT IS THE COST OF JUST DOING THAT 120 MILES? DO WE KNOW OR NOT? YOU WOULDN'T KNOW UNTIL YOU FURTHER.
1.6, 1.6 BILLION, THE NUMBER CAME TO MY HEAD AND I THOUGHT THAT'S THE NUMBER.
STEWART JUST SAID THAT IS NOT OUR FIVE YEAR CIP PLAN
WE CAN'T FIND THAT ON THE COUCH.
OTHER QUESTIONS?
THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT TO, TO MANY OF US, MOST OF US, IF NOT ALL OF US.
SO WE'RE LOOKING FORWARD TO, TO SEEING THE PLANS AND HOW THEY MAY EVOLVE.
WE KNOW THAT YOU WON'T HAVE EVERYTHING ALL AT ONE TIME UNTIL LATER IN THE YEAR, BUT, YOU KNOW, IF THERE'S SOME CHECKPOINTS ALONG THE WAY WHERE IT MAKES SENSE TO, TO SHARE WHAT PRELIMINARY ON SOME OF THE SECTIONS THAT, THAT WOULD BE GREAT.
WELL, YOU'LL BE SEEING A LOT OF US THIS YEAR.
UM, WE, YOU KNOW, DISTRIBUTION RESILIENCY IS, IS ONE OF OUR KEY PRIORITIES.
UM, I KNOW THAT WHEN WE TALKED ABOUT RELIABILITY SO MUCH LAST YEAR, YOU PARTICULARLY CHAIR TITLE ASKED, WELL, WAIT, WHAT ABOUT THE WIRES? WE'RE LIKE, THAT'S PART OF OUR WORK TOO.
SO YOU'LL HEAR A LOT FROM US THIS YEAR.
OKAY, SO WE HAVE DISCUSSION AND ACTION ITEMS, UH, FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS.
[FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS ]
WHAT OTHER, WHAT FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS WILL WE WANT TO PUT ON THE TABLE? UH, I'M SORRY IF THIS HAS BEEN COVERED, BUT I CAN'T REUH, MY MIND ISN'T WORKING THAT WELL THESE DAYS.
BUT, UM, IN THE GEN PLAN, ONE OF THE BIG ITEMS THAT WE WANTED TO KIND OF FRONT LOAD WAS LOOKING AT THE, THE BATTERY, UM, YOU KNOW, THE POTENTIAL FOR BATTERIES SOONER RATHER THAN LATER.
AND I BELIEVE THERE WAS AN RFP.
IS, IS THERE GONNA BE SOME SORT OF PRESENTATION ON THAT AT SOME POINT TO THE EUC OR IS THAT GOING STRAIGHT TO CITY COUNCIL OR WHAT? JUST WHAT'S THE TIMING OF THAT? UM, 'CAUSE I CAN'T REMEMBER WHAT WAS IN THE GEN PLAN, BUT I KNOW WE WANTED TO DO SOMETHING RELATIVELY EARLY IN 2025.
YEAH, SO, UM, THERE'S A GOAL TO HAVE SOME, UH, INSTALLED UTILITY SCALE BY 20, UH, SEVEN.
AND SO WE HAVE, UM, THE RFP HAS WHAT HAS GONE OUT, UH, RESPONSES CAME IN LATE MARCH.
[01:10:01]
AND, UM, MICHAEL'S TEAM, UM, IN THE ENERGY MARKET OFFICE IS REVIEWING IT NOW.AND WE ANTICIPATE, I, I THINK YOU TOLD ME EARLY TO MIDSUMMER, UM, WE'LL BE ABLE TO COME BACK WITH, UM, A RECOMMENDATION AND MOVING FORWARD.
SO WE WOULD THINK SOMETIME EARLY SUMMER.
YEAH, I, FOLLOWING UP ON THAT, I THOUGHT IT WAS LIKE THE MAY, E-A-E-U-O-C THAT YOU WERE TARGETING FOR THAT.
SO IS THAT SLIPPED OUT A BIT OR, UM, I, I DON'T KNOW IF THE TEAM IS GOING TO HAVE IT ALL PULLED TOGETHER FOR THE MAY UOC, MY ANTICIPATION IS THAT IT'LL BE JULY, THE JULY A-E-U-O-C UHHUH
WOULD IT COME TO EUC BEFORE THAT? UM, I, I MEAN, SINCE THEY ONLY MEET EVERY OTHER MONTH AND I, I DON'T, YEAH, I'M GONNA SAY, I DON'T KNOW AT THIS TIME.
UM, BUT WE CAN CERTAINLY BRING IT TO Y'ALL.
I JUST DON'T KNOW THE ORDER OF HOW IT WOULD ALL COME TO BE.
IT REALLY DEPENDS ON HOW THE ANALYSIS COMES OUT AND THE TIMING OF IT ALL.
UM, I KNOW THAT, YOU KNOW, SOMETIMES THE, UM, PROPOSALS HAVE ACTUALLY EXPIRED.
UM, WHAT IS, HOW LONG DO Y'ALL HAVE BEFORE THEY EXPIRE? I'M SORRY, DID YOU, ARE YOU ASKING HOW, HOW GOOD, HOW LONG ARE THE OFFERS GOOD FOR? YEAH, SO TYPICALLY IT'S 120 DAYS.
I THINK THAT IS THE CASE HERE.
I CAN GO TRY TO LOOK IT UP REAL QUICK, BUT TYPICALLY IT'S 120 DAYS AND THEY WERE DUE MARCH 24TH.
SO THAT DOESN'T SEEM LIKE IT FITS WITH YOUR INTENDED TIMELINE.
HOW, SO THAT'S, I MEAN, IT'S RIGHT, RIGHT AT THE END OF, OF LIKE, WHEN THEY'RE GONNA EXPIRE IS WHEN YOU PLAN TO INITIATE THE CONVERSATION WITH COUNCIL AND
I THINK THAT THE TEAM HAS LOOKED AT THE CALENDAR AND UH, IF WE CAN BRING IT SOONER, WE WILL, UH, YOU KNOW, IT MAY BE MAY, BUT IT MAY BE JULY, I THINK.
COULD YOU MAYBE JUST SHARE THOSE DATES? 'CAUSE I, I DON'T KNOW, LOOKING AT THE CALENDAR DOESN'T, THAT MAP DOESN'T SEEM TO WORK OUT VERY WELL, BUT IF YOU COULD SHARE THAT JUST BY EMAIL, THAT'S FINE.
I DON'T WANNA TAKE UP TIME HERE.
SOME OTHER THINGS THAT ARE ON THE TOP OF MY MIND ARE, UM, IT'S THE LEDGE.
SO TAMMY, IF YOU COULD GIVE US A LEGISLATIVE UPDATE AFTER IT'S CLOSED AGAIN, I THINK THAT'S USEFUL AS YOU DID IN THE MIC, JUST SO EVERYONE CAN HEAR.
TAMMY COOPER, UH, I THINK WE TEND TO DO THAT UPDATE IN THE JULY OR AUGUST TIMEFRAME TO MAKE SURE THAT WE GET PAST THE VETO DEADLINE.
AND THEN, UM, ELAINE WAS TALKING ABOUT THAT APP OR THE MAYBE CNI WEBSITE.
MAYBE YOU HAVE A DIFFERENT TERM FOR IT, BUT, YOU KNOW, WE'D LOVE TO SEE MORE ABOUT THAT AND MAYBE SOME VISIONING ABOUT SOME FUTURE PLANS ON THAT.
UM, SOLAR STANDARD OFFER, YOU KNOW, IT'S JUST AN UPDATE FROM RICHARD OR TIM ON THAT.
AND IS SOLAR FOR ALL, FOR ALL INTENTS AND PURPOSES DEAD, OR, YOU KNOW, WHAT'S GOING ON WITH THAT? GIVEN THE FUNDING CHALLENGES? UH, RICHARD, RICHARD GENESEE, AGAIN, WE, WE ARE HAPPY TO COME BACK AND GIVE A FULL UPDATE ON SOLAR FOR ALL.
I WILL JUST SAY RIGHT HERE THOUGH, THAT THE INTERLOCAL AGREEMENT WAS SIGNED LAST WEEK WITH HARRIS COUNTY, SO THAT I CAN SHARE, UM, WHICH IS, YOU KNOW, FRANKLY WAS THE LAST STEP.
SO WE ARE READY TO MOVE FORWARD ON OUR HIRE FOR SOLAR FOR ALL, UM, AND, AND TO GET THOSE FUNDS REIMBURSED.
SO, BUT WE CAN COME BACK WITH A FULLER THANK YOU.
CAN I, YOU HAVE YOUR HAND UP THAT SAME QUESTION, UH, RICHARD? YEP.
IS, IS THE MONEY STILL AVAILABLE? IS THAT, YES.
UH, JUST TO RECAP, IT'S A REIMBURSEMENT MODEL.
SO THERE IS NO BIG TRANSFER OF FUNDS.
UH, EVERY EXPENSE WE INCUR, WE SUBMIT FOR REIMBURSEMENT, WHICH IS EXACTLY WHAT WE'LL DO WITH, UH, OUR HIRE.
'CAUSE UH, THERE ARE THREE FTES THAT ARE AUTHORIZED WITH THIS GRANT.
AND SO WITH THE SIGNING OF THE INTERLOCAL AGREEMENT, UH, WE'RE GOING TO, UH, PURSUE OUR FIRST HIRE JUST TO BE PRUDENT AND PUT THAT THE EXPENSES FOR THAT HIRE THROUGH TO MAKE SURE THAT THEY ARE FULLY AND REIMBURSED.
AND THEN WE'LL PROCEED WITH THE NEXT TWO AND ALL THE OTHER THINGS THAT
[01:15:01]
ARE IN THE PROJECT PLAN FOR REIMBURSEMENT.JUST KIND OF AS A TEST CASE? YEAH, NO, JUST MEANING THAT ONE, THERE'S NO BIG TRANSFER OF FUNDS.
AND TWO, WE WANT TO PROCEED VERY CAUTIOUSLY TO MAKE SURE THAT LIKE WE DON'T, FOR EXAMPLE, INCUR A LOT OF EXPENSE AND THEN SOMETHING HAPPENS AND WE'RE, WE'RE STUCK WITHOUT BEING REIMBURSED.
UM, MY QUESTION WAS ALSO FOR RICHARD.
UM, I, I WAS LOOKING AND, UH, YOU KNOW, TRY TO KEEP AN EYE ON THE, UM, THE CUSTOMER ENERGY SOLUTIONS UPDATES THAT YOU, ALL THE DOCUMENTS YOU POST ARE, UH, UC WEBSITE AND, UM, I DON'T KNOW IF YOU REMEMBER, BUT WHEN Y'ALL MOVED AWAY FROM, UM, BRINGING EACH OF THE COMMERCIAL PROJECTS, UH, FORWARD TO US, WE HAD A CONVERSATION ABOUT, UM, THOSE UPDATES AND POSTING THEM, WHICH YOU HAVE BEEN DOING.
UM, BUT I HAD ALSO REQUESTED GOING BACK TO WHAT YOU, THE OLD FORMAT USED TO INCLUDE NOT JUST THE YEAR TO DATE PROGRESS, BUT PROGRESS TOWARD THE OVERALL GOALS FOR EFFICIENCY, DEMAND RESPONSE, AND SOLAR.
AND, UM, IT, IT, IT'S JUST REALLY HANDY SO THAT, YOU KNOW, WHEN WE'RE HAVING CONVERSATIONS WITH PEOPLE AND THEY ASK LIKE, YOU KNOW, OH, HOW MANY, HOW MANY MEGAWATTS OR WHATEVER
COULD THAT COME BACK PLEASE? YEAH, I'M, I'M HAPPY TO, UH, UH, UH, COMMISSIONER W TO LOOK BACK INTO THAT.
I HAPPEN TO HAVE OUR NEW DIRECTOR OF ENERGY EFFICIENCY SERVICES, UH, HERE WITH US.
UM, AND SO A LOT OF THIS FALLS WITHIN HIS AREA AND I'M HAPPY TO GO BACK AND, UH, TAKE A LOOK AT THAT.
BUT, UM, UM, SO I CAN FOLLOW UP ON THAT BY THE NEXT MEETING.
AND I, I DO THINK WE WANNA PUT ON THE SCHEDULE SOME UPDATES ON THE ELECTRIC LAWN CARE RESOLUTION, YOU KNOW, WHAT'S, WHAT'S BEING FORMULATED AND THE SURVEYS.
SO IF WE COULD HAVE THAT ON THE LIST TOO, SOONER OR LATER.
AND, AND HOW THE CHAIR CU DID YOU SEE THAT, HOW THE EVENT GOES? SORRY, SORRY.
I WAS GONNA SAY, AND, AND AS PART OF THAT, HOW THE, UM, THE SCRAP THE EXCHANGE OR WHATEVER'S CALLED THE SCRAPPAGE ON, ON APRIL 24TH, LIKE A REPORT ON HOW THAT WENT.
DID PEOPLE SHOW UP? DID THEY ACTUALLY EXCHANGE? SO TODAY A MEMO WENT OUT THAT AMY SENT TO ALL THE EEC COMMISSIONERS.
UM, YOU ARE WANTING TO SEE SOMETHING BEYOND THAT? I MEAN, OTHER THAN, UH, COMMISSIONER REED REQUESTING THE ACTUAL RESULTS FROM THE EVENT, RIGHT? THE EVENTS APRIL 26TH? YES.
YEAH, I MEAN, SOONER OR LATER YOU'RE GONNA PROBABLY REFRESH THE INCENTIVE PLAN, RIGHT? AND IT MAY BE FURTHER OUT IN THE YEAR OR NEXT YEAR, BUT HOW LONG DO YOU THINK IT MIGHT TAKE TO REFRESH, GO FIND THE PLAN? AND I GUESS KIND OF ALONG WITH THAT, I WOULD DEFINITELY NOT LIKE IN NEXT YEAR KIND OF THING, BUT YOU KNOW, IN, IN MAY OR I GUESS JUNE AT THE LATEST, LOVE TO HEAR HOW THE EVENT WENT MORE TO CYRUS'S POINT.
UM, YOU KNOW, I CAN IMAGINE SOME FOLKS HAVING DIFFICULTY WITH, YOU KNOW, THE REQUIREMENT TO BRING THINGS TO A LOCATION.
I'M NOT SAYING IT'S A BAD IDEA, I LIKE IT, BUT WOULD JUST FEEL LIKE TO HEAR A DEBRIEF.
UH, ONE IS JUST AN UPDATE POST EVENT ON HOW IT WENT, WHICH WE CAN CERTAINLY DO AND WE DON'T HAVE TO WAIT, UH, FOR THAT.
WE CAN DO IT, YOU KNOW, AFTER THE EVENT.
UM, AND THEN I HEAR A, ANOTHER REQUEST, UH, RELATED TO JUST THE, UM, UH, THAT PROGRAM AREA, UH, WANTING TO GET AN UPDATE ON HOW THINGS ARE GOING IN THAT PROGRAM AREA.
SO WE CAN DO BOTH OF THOSE THINGS.
UM, I'M NOT SURE IF ITS THE SAME TYPE EVENT, BUT ONE WAS SCHEDULED BEFORE I ACTUALLY WENT TO, I THINK THIRD OR FOURTH QUARTER OF LAST YEAR.
AND I SAW SOME AE FOLKS FROM YOUR GROUP AND IT WAS INTERESTING.
I MEAN, YES, I LIKE LAWN EQUIPMENT.
SO MAYBE IT WAS A LITTLE BIT MORE INTERESTING TO ME THAN MANY OTHERS.
BUT, UH, SOME OF THE INTERESTING ASPECTS OF IT WERE
[01:20:01]
THAT THEY COULD EXTEND THE PEOPLE OR THE COMPANIES WHO GOT THAT EQUIPMENT COULD EXTEND THEIR EFFECTIVE WORK DAYS.AND SO THAT COULD BE AN ECONOMIC BENEFIT AS WELL AS FUEL SAVINGS AND MAINTENANCE SAVINGS AND SUCH.
NOT, SO IT'D BE VERY INTERESTING TO SEE WHAT KIND OF PROGRAMS WOULD ACTUALLY MAKE THEM JUMP FROM WHAT THEY HAVE RIGHT NOW WITH GASOLINE POWER TO ELECTRIC AND MAKE IT ALL WORK OUT AND MAKE IT ATTRACTIVE ENOUGH WHERE YOU NUDGE IT AND THEN THE PROGRAM STARTS GOING AND GETTING MUCH MORE BROADLY ACCEPTED AND THE TECHNOLOGY GETS MORE BROADLY DEPLOYED.
YEAH, WE, WE CAN FOLLOW UP ON THAT.
RICHARD, DO YOU PLAN TO SURVEY THE CAP LIST, UM, AS A WHOLE ON THIS TOPIC, OR JUST THE FOLKS WHO SHOW UP AT THE EXCHANGE EVENT? WELL, THE FOLKS THAT, UM, SHOW UP AT THE EXCHANGE EVENT HAD TO PRE-REGISTER FOR THE EVENT.
SO THERE IS AN OPPORTUNITY TO FOLLOW UP WITH THEM AFTERWARDS BECAUSE WE HAVE ALL OF THEIR INFORMATION.
SO, UM, YOU KNOW, I DON'T KNOW.
I CAN REVISIT WITH THE TEAM IF THAT'S PART OF THE PLAN NOW, BUT WE DO HAVE THEIR FOLLOW UP INFORMATION SO WE WOULD BE ABLE TO GET BACK IN TOUCH WITH THEM.
UM, I WOULD JUST SUGGEST, I KNOW YOU'RE STARTING WITH THE, YOU KNOW, THE WEED EATERS AND, AND THE LEAF BLOWERS, WHICH ARE AT LEAST SMALLER.
UM, AND LIKE, YOU KNOW, YOU COULD CARRY THEM ON A BUS, UM, BUT AN ACTUAL LAWN MOWER, UM, A LOT OF PEOPLE DON'T HAVE ANY, EVEN IF THEY HAVE A CAR, THEY PROBABLY MIGHT NOT HAVE A WAY TO TRANSPORT IT.
AND THAT SEGMENT OF CUSTOMERS IS MUCH LESS LIKELY TO HAVE A CAR.
UM, SO I WOULD JUST SUGGEST THAT DOING SOME OUTREACH FOR THE WHOLE CAP LIST IN TERMS OF WHAT WOULD MEET THEIR NEEDS IN TERMS OF, UH, BEING ABLE TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THIS SORT OF PROGRAM IN THE FUTURE WOULD BE REALLY HELPFUL BECAUSE YOU, THERE MIGHT NEED TO BE DIFFERENT TYPES OF SOLUTIONS, UM, LIKE DROPPING OFF EQUIPMENT OR, YOU KNOW, I DON'T KNOW, BUT, UH, JUST A SUGGESTION TO DO BROAD OUTREACH WITHIN THAT CUSTOMER.
BUT BOB CON, GENERAL MANAGER, WE'LL, WE'LL LOOK AT THAT
WE'RE TALKING ABOUT FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS. SO I THINK WE'RE GOING A LITTLE BEYOND THAT WITH ALL THE QUESTIONS ON THIS PLAN.
WITH THAT, YEAH, I, UH, TWO THINGS I'M, I'M CONCERNED WITH, AND MAYBE THEY'RE FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS. IF, IF PRACTICAL ONE IS, UH, ABOUT THREE WEEKS AGO AT A-E-U-O-C, THERE WAS A CHART PUT UP THAT THAT SHOWED A, A PRETTY SERIOUS DECLINE IN OUR PERCENTAGE OF RENEWABLE ENERGY.
AND I'M TRYING TO FIGURE OUT, WE HAVEN'T COMMITTED TO ANY NEW RENEWABLE IN QUITE A FEW YEARS, SEVERAL YEARS, AND I'D LIKE TO UNDERSTAND HOW WE'RE GOING TO KEEP THAT ON TRACK.
AND I, I KNOW THERE'S TRANSMISSION INVOLVED, I KNOW THERE'S BATTERIES INVOLVED.
I'M, I'D LIKE TO SEE WHAT WE'RE DOING TO, TO REPLACE RENEWABLES.
THAT IS USUALLY PART OF LISA'S QUARTERLY OPERATIONS REPORT, WHICH WILL, YOU'LL RECEIVE IN MAY.
AND THE, ANOTHER QUESTION THAT CAME OUT OF THE GEN PLAN WAS ABOUT BLACK START CAPABILITY.
IT'S, IT'S KIND OF AN ASTERISK ON THE SIDE.
AND Y'ALL SAID DECKER HAD BLACK START CAPABILITY AND THAT WAS A VALUE IN ERCOT.
IS THERE ANY, UH, MARKET FOR US TO, OR TECHNICAL POSSIBILITY TO ADD BLACKSTAR CAPABILITY AT SANDHILL TO THOSE PEAKERS? OR IS THAT MARKET KIND OF FULL UP OR, YOU KNOW, I JUST WONDER IF THERE'S AN OPPORTUNITY THERE OR NOT.
AND MAYBE WE COULD JUST TALK ABOUT THAT ON THE SIDE OR A QUICK REPORT, HOWEVER IT WORKS OUT.
SO WITH THAT, I THINK WE CAN ADJOURN.
THE TIME IS 7:28 PM THANK YOU.