[00:00:03]
[CALL MEETING TO ORDER ]
THIS IS THE ELECTRICITY UTILITY COMMISSION.UH, IT'S CALLED A MEETING TO ORDER.
[PUBLIC COMMUNICATION: GENERAL]
COMMUNICATIONS.THE FIRST SPEAKER IS DALE BULA.
ONCE YOU GET UP TO THE PODIUM, YOU WILL HAVE THREE MINUTES.
MY NAME IS DALE BULA AND MY UNDER PUT MICROPHONE, YOUR FACE.
CAN WE START OVER AGAIN ON MY THREE MINUTES?
UH, I AM, UH, GOING TO TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT SOLAR.
UM, I'M TALKING FIRST OF ALL ABOUT PROMOTING BATTERIES.
BATTERIES HAVE HELPED KEEP WHOLESALE ENERGY PRICES LOWER IN ERCOT, AND THEY HAVE SAVED TAXPAYERS BILLIONS OF DOLLARS.
LOCAL UTILITY SCALE BATTERIES WOULD ADDRESS THE CONGESTION ISSUES THAT AUSTIN ENERGY HAS, WHICH COULD SAVE THE UTILITY MONEY AS WELL.
AND INVESTING IN LOCAL BATTERIES IS CRITICAL FOR THE DECARBONIZATION OF AUSTIN ENERGY AND IS A KEY COMMITMENT IN THE AUSTIN ENERGY RESOURCES GENERATION AND CLIMATE PROTECTION PLAN.
THE EUC ASKED THE UTILITY TO EXPEND EXPAND THE ENERGY EFFICIENCY AND DEMAND RESPONSE WHILE BEEFING OFF ITS LOCAL SOLAR AND BATTERY STORAGE INFRASTRUCTURE.
AND AUSTIN ENERGY SHOULD ADD AT LEAST, AT LEAST 500 MEGAWATTS OF SOLAR AND 2000 MEGAWATTS OF BATTERY STORAGE AND 50 MEGAWATTS OF GEOTHERMAL ENERGY WHILE REDUCING PEAK DEMAND BY AT LEAST 600 MEGAWATTS AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.
IT AIN'T GETTING ANY COOLER OUTSIDE PROMOTING SOLAR ON CITY BUILDINGS.
I'VE BEEN PROMOTING THIS FOR A LONG TIME, AND HOPEFULLY IT WILL ACTUALLY HAPPEN.
I SUPPORT THE DRAFT RESOLUTION THAT, UH, RYAN ALTER, UH, PRESENTED, UH, THAT DIRECTS THE DISTRICT MANAGER TO MAKE RECOMMENDATIONS ON PUTTING SOLAR ON CITY BUILDINGS AND OTHER PUBLIC BUILDINGS, WHICH SEEMS LIKE A NO-BRAINER TO ME.
THERE IS THE POTENTIAL FOR ABOUT 2.3 MILLION IN ANNUAL SAVINGS AND ROUGHLY 12,000 MEGAWATTS OF ENERGY THAT'S PRODUCED EACH YEAR.
THIS INVESTMENT WILL PAY OFF IN SIX YEARS OR LESS, SO IT SHOULD NOT BE DELAYED.
IF PREDICTIONS COME TRUE BY THE MID-CENTURY, CENTRAL TEXAS WILL NEED ABOUT 200 PLUS TRIPLE DIGIT DAYS OF TEMPERATURE EACH YEAR, AND THERE WILL BE LESS PEDESTRIAN AND BIKERS UNDER THOSE CONDITIONS.
SO LET'S TRY TO PREVENT THIS FUTURE BY STOP BURNING FOSSIL FUELS AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.
THERE IS NO PLANET B AND TONIGHT YOU'LL HEAR ABOUT OTHER PEOPLE THAT ARE TRYING TO DO THAT, BUT THEY'VE HIT SNAGS WITH AUSTIN ENERGY NOT GETTING THEIR SOLAR APPROVED WAITING MONTHS.
WE HAD SEVERAL, UH, NEIGHBORS THAT PAID FOR THEIR PANELS, PUT 'EM ON THE ROOF AND WAITED MONTHS AND MONTHS AND MONTHS AND MONTHS FOR AUSTIN ENERGY TO CONNECT THEM.
SO I THINK THERE, THERE'S ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT THERE.
SECOND SPEAKER IS DAVID HOGAN.
I'M THE LEAD TECHNICAL PERSON AT ST.
MATTHEW'S EPISCOPAL CHURCH IN NORTHWEST AUSTIN, AND WE JUST INSTALLED A HUNDRED AND TILL 110 KILOWATTS SYSTEM ON OUR LARGEST BUILDING.
DESPITE OUR UPFRONT PLANNING WITH AUSTIN ENERGY THROUGH OUR VENDOR, LIGHTHOUSE SOLAR, UH, AUSTIN ENERGY HAS BALKED AT THE LAST STEP OF CONNECTING US TO THE ENERGY GRID.
LIGHTHOUSE DEVELOPED AN IMPLEMENTATION PLAN, WHICH GOT PRE-APPROVAL BY AUSTIN ENERGY AND INCLUDED SITE VISITS THAT WALKED THE CAMPUS AND, UH, APPROVED THE PLAN AS A RATIONAL APPROACH.
UM, LIGHTHOUSE DID THE IMPLEMENTATION, DID THE UNIT TESTING, CALLED FOR AE TO DO FINAL INSPECTION ON MARCH 17, WHICH FINALLY TOOK PLACE AT MARCH 27TH.
AND WE ALSO RECEIVED A LETTER ON MARCH 27TH THAT WE PASSED INSPECTION AND WE WERE HAD PERMISSION TO OPERATE.
ALSO IN THAT LETTER WAS A NOTE THAT SAID
[00:05:01]
WE COULD EXPECT TO BE CONNECTED IN FIVE TO 10 DAYS.WELL, AFTER THE 10 DAY LIMIT HAD ELAPSED, WE LEARNED THROUGH OUR VENDOR THAT THE METERING DEPARTMENT WAS, WAS REQUIRING US TO MODERNIZE OUR SERVICE INTERFACE.
THIS INPUT WAS ONLY VERBAL AND ONLY TO OUR VENDOR.
OUR VENDOR SENT A, A LETTER ON APRIL 18TH TO TIM HARVEY, THE SOLAR PROGRAM MANAGER, TO DISCUSS MAJOR, MAJOR POINTS TO THAT DATE.
I BELIEVE I AL BRADEN, I BELIEVE, GOT A COPY OF THAT AND CIRCULATED THAT TO THE ENTIRE COMMITTEE.
SO THE OTHER MAIN POINTS OF THAT MESSAGE WAS IT QUESTIONED THE NECESSITY FOR THE MODERNIZATION AND REQUESTED THAT THE UNWRITTEN INSTRUCTIONS THAT HE HEARD OVER THE TELEPHONE, UH, BE RETRACTED.
THE MODERNIZATION WOULD REQUIRE SIGNIFICANT UNPLANNED EXPENSES, INCLUDING NEW CURRENT TRANSFORMERS, COMMONLY CALLED CTS THAT SENSE THE FLOW OF ENERGY ONE DIRECTION OR THE OTHER.
ON MAY 11, WE SURPRISINGLY RECEIVED OUR $99,000 REBATE CHECK.
ON MAY 12, WE GOT A LETTER FROM AE NOTIFYING US THAT THE EARLIER INSPECTION PASS WAS AN ADMINISTRATIVE ERROR, NEW CTS WOULD BE REQUIRED, SAID THE METERING SHOP.
THE RATIONALE FOR THIS MODERNIZATION WAS NOT EXPLAINED.
WE CONTACTED OUR CITY COUNCIL, MARK MARK UCHIN, AND WE HAD A CONFERENCE CALL ON MAY 23, AND WE IN, WE INVITED MR. GENESEE TO THAT AND WELL, HE WASN'T ABLE TO MAKE IT.
WE ULTIMATELY GOT A RESPONSE FROM THE CHIEF OF STAFF, ANNA KUMAR, WHO SAID A WAY FORWARD WOULD BE COMMUNICATED TO US SHORTLY.
WE HAVE A SENSE OF URGENCY BECAUSE WE, WE PLANNED IN OUR BUDGET THAT WE'D BE SAVING A THOUSAND DOLLARS A MONTH AND WE'RE NOT EVEN CONNECTED YET.
SO WHAT WE WOULD ASK THE EUC IS THE FOLLOWING.
CAN CAN I ASK A FOLLOW UP? YES, PLEASE.
WHAT, WHAT'S, UH, CYRUS HERE, OVER HERE? SO WHAT'S, WHAT'S, WHAT ARE YOU, WHAT ARE YOU ASKING US FOR? WHAT'S YOUR RECOMMENDATION? WE WOULD LIKE TO BE CONNECTED, BE UNDER THE APPROVED PLAN THAT WE SUBMITTED INITIALLY UP FRONT.
IF STANDARDS HAVE CHANGED, WE SHOULD BE GRANDFATHERED UNDER THAT OLD PLAN.
UH, STRATEGICALLY, I WOULD RECOMMEND THAT YOU LOOK AT THIS NEED FOR MODERNIZATION.
I DON'T THINK IT'S APPROPRIATE FOR THE SOLAR PROGRAM TO BE USED AS AN INSTRUMENT TO MODERNIZE CUSTOMER PREMISE EQUIPMENT.
AND FINALLY, WOULD, WE WOULD REQUEST THAT ALL CUSTOMER INSTALLATION REQUIREMENTS BE REVIEWED ACROSS ALL DEPARTMENTS, HARMONIZED, THEN DOCUMENTED IN THE, IN THE GUIDELINES THAT ARE ONLINE, SPECIFICALLY THE PERFORMANCE BASED INCENTIVE GUIDELINES AND THE CAPACITY BASED GUIDELINES.
'CAUSE YOU KNOW, I WENT THROUGH THAT LINE BY LINE AND CHECKING OFF THIS AND THAT TO MAKE SURE WE CONFORMED TO ALL THE GUIDELINES, BUT THERE WAS NOTHING IN THERE ABOUT HAVING MODERN METERS.
TABBY, YOU HAVE A QUESTION ONLINE.
I, I, SORRY I DIDN'T CATCH YOUR NAME, BUT, UM, DAVID HOGAN.
UM, I'M SORRY THAT YOU'RE EXPERIENCING THIS.
UM, I WOULD, I MIGHT, I GUESS I REALLY JUST KIND OF HAVE A REQUEST THAT, UM, IF SOMEBODY FROM AUSTIN ENERGY, I REALIZE WE CAN'T HAVE A FULL DISCUSSION ABOUT THIS HERE TODAY, BUT IF, IF SOMEBODY CAN FOLLOW UP, UH, CERTAINLY WITH ME, BUT IT SOUNDS LIKE MAYBE THERE ARE OTHERS WHO ARE INTERESTED, UH, AS WELL.
I WOULD, I WOULD LIKE TO BETTER UNDERSTAND WHAT'S GOING ON WITH THE METER UPGRADE BECAUSE I, I DO AGREE IT DOESN'T MAKE SENSE IF A, IF AN UPGRADE IS NEEDED, WHY, WHY SOMEBODY NEEDS TO PAY FOR IT ON THEIR OWN DIME JUST BECAUSE THEY'RE GETTING SOLAR, UM, DOESN'T QUITE MAKE SENSE.
STUART, WHAT DO YOU RECOMMEND WE DO? GOOD EVENING.
STUART RILEY, INTERIM GENERAL MANAGER.
UM, RICHARD GENESEE JUST INFORMED ME THAT THIS IS ON OUR RADAR AND WE'LL CERTAINLY FOLLOW UP WITH MR. HOGAN AND WORK THROUGH THE ISSUES.
AND WE WILL, UM, LET THE EEC KNOW AN UPDATE ONCE THAT IS RESOLVED.
YEAH, I JUST, UH, WANTED TO COMMENT.
I'D ENCOURAGE DAVID TO COME AND PRESENT THIS, BUT ALSO IT TIES IN WITH WHAT, UH, DALE REPORTED OF NEIGHBORS HAVING LONG TIMES TO HOOK UP.
AND I THINK WE'LL HEAR MORE FROM STAN.
THE, I KNOW THAT CUSTOMER SOLUTIONS DOES A GREAT JOB TRYING TO GET THESE PROJECTS GOING.
IT WAS MEASURED, IT WAS ALL DOCUMENTED AND, AND
[00:10:01]
APPROVED, AND EVEN YOU ALL EVEN SENT THE CHECK.SO
SO, UH, MAYBE A THANK YOU ALL FOR COMING AND MAYBE A OMBUDSMAN FOR THE PURPOSE.
I MEAN, I, I, I DON'T KNOW THE DETAILS WHETHER IT COULD JUST BE A, A SET OF SPECS THAT CUSTOMER ENERGY GOES BY THAT KNOWS WHAT'S GONNA BE GOOD WITH THE METER PEOPLE, OR IF METER PEOPLE NEED TO BE AT THE TABLE, YOU KNOW, IT MAY DEPEND ON THE SIZE OF THE PROJECT OR WHO KNOWS, BUT, BUT SOME, SOME CLEAR WAY THAT THERE'S, THAT RICHARD CAN AND HIS PEOPLE CAN GO, WE REPRESENTED AUSTIN ENERGY, LET'S GET THIS THING WIRED UP.
SO THAT'S WHAT I'D LIKE TO SEE.
CYRUS? YEAH, I MEAN, I THINK THE, UM, MR. HOGAN'S THIRD RECOMMENDATION MAKES A LOT OF SENSE TO ME, MAKING SURE THAT THE REQUIREMENTS ARE HARMONIZED AND DOCUMENTED SO THAT ANYONE GOING THROUGH THE PROCESS KNOWS THESE ARE THE REQUIREMENTS.
I MEAN, AT LEAST FOR THE, THE COMMERCIAL YEAH, I WAS READING I PER THE EMAIL THAT ALL HAD FORWARDED ON EARLIER.
AND, UM, I THINK THEY DESERVE AT LEAST AN EXPLANATION IF IT WAS ADMINISTRATIVE ERROR AND THERE'S A SAFETY ISSUE AND THE NEW CTS ARE REQUIRED BECAUSE IT'S A SUBSTANTIAL SYSTEM, JUST EXPLAIN IT.
AND I THINK THEY DESERVE A RESPONSE AT THE VERY LEAST.
SO I THINK WE'VE GOT YOU ON THE RADAR.
WE HOPE THERE'S GONNA BE VERY GOOD PROGRESS.
UH, I'LL UNDERSCORE A FEW OF THOSE POINTS.
I THINK, UH, SOME OF THIS DISCUSSION IS, IS GERMANE TO WHAT I WAS GONNA SAY.
SO I RUN LIGHTHOUSE SOLAR, WE'RE THE VENDOR IN QUESTION.
UM, AND I'VE BEEN WORKING WITH AUSTIN ENERGY FOR ABOUT 17 YEARS.
UH, THIS IS NOT UNFORTUNATELY NEW.
UM, BUT I THINK THERE'S A POINT AT WHICH WE EXPECT EVOLVING TECHNOLOGIES TO, TO SORT OF GO THROUGH SOME TOUGH BITS.
UM, WHAT'S PARTICULARLY TROUBLING AND CHALLENGING, I THINK FOR US COLLECTIVELY, AND NOT JUST THIS PROJECT, BUT IF WE'RE TO SCALE THIS UP AND IMAGINE THAT THIS CAN BE REPEATED, UM, I WAS COMMENTING THAT I'VE BEEN WORKING WITH DAVID FOR 14 YEARS ON THIS PROJECT, UH, THROUGH VARIOUS ITERATIONS TO GET TO THIS POINT.
AND IT LITERALLY IS AT THE LAST, UH, THE LAST STEP THAT THERE'S A MAJOR BLOCKAGE.
AND, UM, TO THE, TO THE POINT OF WRITTEN GUIDELINES, THERE ARE GUIDELINES, BUT THEY'RE, IN MY MY VIEW, THEY'RE POORLY WRITTEN, UH, TO THE, TO THE EXTENT THAT IT'S NOT CLEAR HOW SOMEBODY WOULD PREDICT AND BUDGET FOR THIS KIND OF, UM, NEED, WHETHER IT'S A SAFETY OR JUST A REQUIREMENT.
I THINK THE, UM, DAVID AND THIS, YOU KNOW, THIS CONGREGATION, LIKE ANY CUSTOMER OF AUSTIN INJURY, THEY MAKE A DELIBERATE CHOICE TO DO SOLAR.
UM, AND OUR MODEL PERSONALLY, OUR BUSINESS IS BASED ON TRANSPARENCY AND PREDICTABILITY.
SO IT'S A FIXED DESIGN BUILD FEE, WHICH IS A, A CHALLENGE, UM, ON ITS OWN.
I THINK THIS KIND OF IMPACT, THIS KIND OF DETAIL THAT BUBBLES UP COULD BE, I WAS THINKING ABOUT IT.
AND THERE'S OTHER COMPANIES THAT HAVE, THAT HAVE TALKED ABOUT THIS A 10% UP TO A HUNDRED PERCENT, UM, THE VALUE OF THE SOLAR PROJECT.
AND, UM, IF IT'S COMING AT THE END, IT'S REALLY JUST NOT TENABLE AT ALL.
SO I WOULD PUT THIS IN THE CONTEXT OF, UM, KIND OF HIGH ALERT GIVEN THE, THE, THE GEN PLANS, UM, UH, ASPIRATIONAL IDEAS OF DE DEPLOY DISTRIBUTED SOLAR IN SMALL COMMERCIAL IN PARTICULAR, UH, WHAT DALE SPOKE TO AS A POTENTIAL.
UM, EACH ONE OF THOSE PROJECTS IF, UH, CONSUME WITH THIS KIND OF, UH, THESE KIND OF ROADBLOCKS WOULD, UM, IT WOULD KIND OF WEAR OUT THE ENTIRE INDUSTRY AND I THINK WOULD LEAD TO CUSTOMER DISSATISFACTION.
I WILL SAY, I'VE BEEN WORKING WITH TIM AND RICHARD AND HIS DEPARTMENT FOR A LONG TIME AS WELL.
I KNOW THIS CONVERSATION IS HAPPENING, IT'S AT THE TABLE AND IT'S, I'M SURE IT'S DIFFICULT.
I WOULD JUST RAISE IT TO THE LEVEL WHERE IT IS A REAL BLOCKAGE, UM, AND A REAL IMPEDIMENT TO ANY KIND OF EFFICIENCIES THAT OUR INDUSTRY WOULD, WOULD DANE TO, TO DELIVER.
SO, UM, I THINK THAT'S, UH, THE RECOMMENDATIONS I WOULD ACTUALLY ECHO.
UM, AND I WOULD JUST UNDERSCORE THAT COMING UP WITH GUIDELINES THAT ARE KNOWN AND ACTIONABLE AND VERY CLEAR AS TO WHAT WOULD NEED TO HAPPEN ON THE FRONT END, UH, WITHOUT A, WITHOUT FEES.
UM, SO THAT'S PART OF THE ISSUE THAT'S COME UP NOW.
IN ORDER TO GET AN EVALUATION, YOU ESSENTIALLY HAVE TO GET A PERMIT AND PAY FEES TO
[00:15:01]
GET A RULING.AND SOMETIMES FOLKS THAT ARE TRYING TO DETERMINE GO NO GO, UM, AREN'T WILLING TO PUT OUT MONEY AHEAD OF SOME, SOME CLARITY.
SO APPRECIATE YOUR TIME AND, UH, UM, THANK YOU.
UM, YEAH, STAN, I WAS JUST WONDERING IF, I KNOW YOU DO WORK, YOU KNOW, OUTSIDE OF AUSTIN ENERGY TERRITORY, IF THERE'S ANYWHERE THAT YOU WOULD RECOMMEND THAT WE LOOK TO IN TERMS OF BEST PRACTICES, IN TERMS OF POLICIES FOR THIS KIND OF THING.
UM, AND PERHAPS ALSO, YOU KNOW, BEST PRACTICES THERE OR, OR MODEL GUIDELINES THAT ARE MAYBE WRITTEN BETTER.
IS THERE ANYWHERE THAT WE, WE MIGHT LOOK TO OR DO WE JUST NEED TO, UM, DO IT BETTER HERE? UH, THE QUESTION IS, ARE THERE ANY NEARBY, UH, COROLLARIES OR ANALOGS? I MEAN, THERE'S SOME PLACES THAT ARE MUCH LAXER OR NOT NEARBY EITHER
WELL, SO THERE ARE, JUST IN THIS AREA, THERE ARE DIFFERENT GUIDELINES.
I'M NOT SURE THOSE WOULD BE MODELS FOR AUSTIN ENERGY.
I'D SAY AUSTIN ENERGY IS A, UH, A MODERN APPROACH TO UTILITY, VERY DIFFERENT, UH, GOALS AND ASPIRATIONS.
UM, I HAVE TALKED TO SOME FOLKS AROUND THE COUNTRY, UM, THE QUESTIONS THAT COME UP AROUND THE SPECIFIC GUIDELINES THAT SORT OF TRIGGER A LOT OF THIS, THERE'S JUST NOT A LOT OF CONSENSUS OF WHY THAT'S NECESSARY.
SO IT'S BASICALLY UPGRADING SERVICES TO CURRENT STANDARDS.
UM, AND THE SPECIFICS OF THOSE GUIDELINES ARE VERY IMPACTFUL FOR ANY BUILDING, UH, OF ANY SIZE OR STATURE.
SO I THINK DIGGING INTO THOSE AND TRYING TO UNDERSTAND, LIKE IT WAS MENTIONED BEFORE, IS THAT A SAFETY? IS IT RELIABILITY? IS IT, UM, UM, YOU KNOW, JUST THERE'S OLD AND OUTDATED EQUIPMENT.
WHAT DOES THAT REALLY MEAN? UM, BEING VERY CLEAR ABOUT WHAT THE PUBLIC GOOD OF THOSE, THOSE UPGRADES ARE, I THINK WOULD, WOULD GO A LONG WAYS TOWARDS RATIONALIZING.
SO I, I, I THINK THERE ARE OTHER PLACES THAT DO IT VERY DIFFERENTLY, BUT I THINK THIS IS, IT'S QUITE UNIQUE WHAT WE'RE UP TO HERE.
SO NOT SURE JUST MODELING IT, BUT I'D LOOK CAREFULLY AT THE REQUIREMENTS AND SEE WHAT, YOU KNOW, WHAT, WHAT OPPORTUNITIES THERE ARE TO OPTIMIZE.
UH, THANK YOU FOR, FOR COMING STAND AND BRINGING ALL THIS EXPERTISE TO THE, TO THE FLOOR.
IS, IS THERE, THIS IS A COMMERCIAL SIZE PROJECT.
UH, IS THERE ANY, ANY KIND OF STATISTICAL IDEAS THAT YOU HAVE? IS IT EASIER WITH SMALL RESIDENTIAL THINGS? DO THEY GO THROUGH EASIER OR NOT SO EASY? OR, OR IS COMMERCIAL HARDER? WHAT, HOW, WHERE WOULD YOU PUT YOUR EFFORT TO BREAK TO MAKE THIS FLOW BETTER? YEAH, I, I HONESTLY, I'M SOMEWHAT AGNOSTIC 'CAUSE I THINK THE, THE IMPULSE TO UPGRADE INFRASTRUCTURE IS SPREAD ACROSS COMMERCIAL AND RESIDENTIAL.
I THINK THERE'S SOME INTIMATIONS THAT RESIDENTIAL MIGHT HAVE A, UH, AN APPROACH TO UPGRADE METERS, FOR EXAMPLE.
UM, SO I DON'T THINK IT'S ISOLATED TO COMMERCIAL OR RESIDENTIAL COMMERCIAL.
THE DOLLAR IMPACT ON A GIVEN PROJECT IS SUBSTANTIAL RESIDENTIAL.
IT'S, IT IS CERTAINLY ANNOYING.
IT TAKES TIME AND IT, IT, IT DOESN'T, UH, LEAD TO GOOD CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE.
UM, BUT IT'S, THE DOLLAR FIGURE IS A LITTLE LE LESS IMPACTFUL.
I THINK THE, IF YOU LOOKING CAREFULLY TO SAY WHAT'S THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN, UH, AN INCENTIVE PROGRAM THAT ATTRACTS INVESTORS FOR NEW TECHNOLOGY AND INFRASTRUCTURAL UPGRADE IS THE CORE QUESTION FOR ME.
AND THAT'S KIND OF ACROSS THE, YOU KNOW, THE, THE AREAS.
UH, BUT SMALL COMMERCIAL IS PROBABLY WHERE THE BIGGEST IMPACT RELATIVE, THE SYSTEM SIZE INVESTMENT IS JUST BECAUSE OF, YOU KNOW, IT'S A, IT'S ONE THING, THE SYSTEM MAY NOT BE THAT BIG, BUT IT'S A, IT'S A BIG DOLLAR IMPACT, BUT IT DOES, UH, JUST, I MEAN, IT TAKES TIME.
I THINK EVERYBODY SUFFERS THE TIME BOTH ADMINISTRATIVELY ON THE AUSTIN ENERGY SIDE, WHAT I'VE SEEN, STAFFING, IT'S INCREDIBLY CUMBERSOME.
EVERYBODY'S IMPACTED FOR SURE.
HELLO, CAN YOU HEAR ME? UH, GOOD EVENING.
I'M AN AUSTIN ENERGY REPAIR, AN ACTIVE MEMBER OF THIRD ACT TEXAS.
WELL, I HAVE SPOKEN IN THIS FORUM IN THE PAST TO CRITICIZE SOME OF, UH, AUSTIN ENERGY PLANTS, IN PARTICULAR, YOUR HYDROGEN CAPABLE GAS PLANT, AND MORE RECENTLY YOUR GAS PICKER, UH, PLANT.
UH, CLEARLY HORRIBLE IDEAS IN OUR OPINION.
I WANT TO FOCUS TODAY ON WHAT I THINK YOU'RE DOING RIGHT AND ENCOURAGE YOU TO DO MORE AND FASTER.
I THINK THE SOLAR STANDARD OFFER IS AN OUTSTANDING IDEA AND LOOK FORWARD TO HEARING HOW THE EARLY PROJECTS ARE GOING.
[00:20:01]
I ALSO UNDERSTAND THAT YOU ARE CONSIDERING EXTENDING THAT PROGRAM TO RESIDENTIAL CUSTOMERS.THAT WOULD BE A REAL, UH, GAME CHANGER.
SO I WOULD ENCOURAGE YOU TO, TO START THE, THAT PROGRAM AS QUICKLY AND, AND INCLUDE AS MANY HOMES AS POSSIBLE.
I'M ALSO VERY ENCOURAGED THAT YOU'RE PLANNING TO SUBSTANTIALLY INCREASE THE BATTERY STORAGE THAT YOU CURRENTLY HAVE PER TO PERHAPS 200, UH, MEGAWATTS.
I THINK THAT YOU SHOULD PLAN FOR A LOT MORE.
UH, AT MINIMUM YOU SHOULD PLAN TO HAVE THE SAME PROPORTION OF BATTERY STORAGE THAT AIR CO CURRENTLY HAVE, WHICH IS AROUND 15% OF THE MAXIMUM CAPACITY.
I AGREE THAT IT SHOULD, UH, TAKE YOU AT LEAST A MINIMUM 500 MEGAWATTS AND WITH MINIMUM TWO HOURS, UH, DURATION.
I HOPE YOU WILL ALSO EMBRACE THE RECENT RESOLUTION OF THE AUSTIN, UH, CITY COUNCIL TO INSTALL SOLAR AND HOPEFULLY BATTERY STORAGE IN AS MANY AUSTIN CITY PROPERTIES AS POSSIBLE.
SAN ANTONIO CPS IS DOING, UH, THAT ALREADY, AND WE CAN NOW LET SAN ANTONIO GET AHEAD OF AUSTIN FOR SOLAR AND BATTERY STORAGE PROGRAMS. TO BE SUCCESSFUL, YOU'LL NEED TO STREAMLINE PERMITTING AND APPROVAL PROCESS.
AS AN EXAMPLE OF WHAT NEEDS TO BE STREAMLINED IS THE SOLAR INSTALLATION AT ST.
MATTHEWS PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH THAT WE RECENTLY SPOKE.
THEIR APPROVAL PROCESS HAS BEEN ONGOING FOR MANY MONTHS.
WE'RE NOT TOTALLY FAMILIAR WITH ALL THE ISSUES, IS CLEAR THAT THEY'RE NOT BEING ADDRESSED BY AUSTIN ENERGY IN AN EFFICIENT AND PROLONG WAY.
THIS LACK OF EFFICIENCY IN THE PERMITTING AND APPROVAL PROCESS WILL MAKE YOUR BEST INITIATIVES INEFFECTIVE.
FINALLY, I WOULD LIKE TO ENCOURAGE YOU TO ABANDON THE IDEA OF A GAS PEAKER IN AUSTIN.
GIVEN HOW FAST SOLAR AND BATTERIES ARE COMING DOWN IN PRICE, THERE IS NO NEED TO POLLUTE THE CITY WITH THESE OBSOLETE TECHNOLOGIES.
I ALSO LOOK FORWARD TO HEARING FROM YOU YOUR PLAN TO QUICKLY EXIT OUT OF FAYETTE POWER PLANT.
IT'S REALLY A DARK MARK IN THE SOUL OF THE CITY.
NEXT APPROVAL OF MINUTES FROM MAY 12TH.
UM, I'M SORRY, COULD I JUST, UM, I WAS GETTING SOME INFORMATION FROM THE TEAM ABOUT THE SOLAR ISSUE THAT WE HEARD ABOUT.
I WAS NOT FAMILIAR WITH IT AND, UM, DID, JUST DIDN'T WANNA MISSPEAK EARLIER.
SO, UM, THE ISSUE HERE WAS THAT THE SOLAR TEAM, UM, HAD NOT GOTTEN THE GUIDANCE YET FROM THE METERING TEAM.
SO THE METERING TEAM IS IN OUR FIELD OPERATIONS GROUP, AND THEY ARE, UM, AS YOU STATED, YOU KNOW, MOSTLY FOCUSED ON SAFETY AND THOSE TYPES OF ISSUES IN TERMS OF, UM, HAVING SYSTEMS THAT ARE, UM, UP TO CODE, UP TO DATE.
UM, WHAT I HAVE HEARD FROM THE TEAM IS THAT WE HAD BEEN WORKING ON THAT.
THERE'S A, A DATE IN MR. HOGAN'S LETTER ABOUT REQUESTING INSPECTION ON THE 27TH OF MAY.
I BELIEVE THAT WAS THE DAY BEFORE THE STORM.
UM, OUR CHIEF OF STAFF'S EMAIL TO HIM WAS DURING THE STORM ON MAY 29TH.
WE WERE STILL IN STORM RESPONSE.
THIS JUST KIND OF GOT CAUGHT UP IN THAT WE HAVE NOT YET RESPONDED, BUT WE HAVE THE GO AHEAD TO GO AHEAD AND, AND HOOK UP THAT SYSTEM AS IT IS, AND WITH FURTHER INSTRUCTION TO OUR METERING TEAM TO, TO HAVE, UM, MORE COLLABORATION WITH OUR SOLAR TEAM TO MAKE SURE THESE TYPES OF ISSUES DON'T RECUR.
SO ANYWAY, THAT WE SHOULD BE MOVING FORWARD ON THIS, UH, SYSTEM NOW.
YEAH, THANK YOU, UH, MR. RILEY.
AND, AND YOU ALSO BROUGHT UP THE STORM, WHICH I, I GUESS WE SHOULD AT SOME POINT SAY KUDOS FOR ALL THE WORK THAT YOU AND YOUR GUYS DID TO PUT EVERYBODY BACK ONLINE.
THAT WAS A ONE OF THOSE THAT COMES OUTTA NOWHERE.
AND, UH, YOU DID A GREAT, IT CERTAINLY DID.
IT WAS, IT WAS A LOT OF WORK, BUT THANK YOU.
HOW MUCH WAS THE DAMAGE, BY THE WAY, OF THAT STORM? OF THE STORM? YEAH.
UM, DAMAGE IN TERMS OF, WELL, I, I MEAN, ANECDOTALLY, I'LL TELL YOU WHAT I SAW WAS I SAW AN INCREDIBLE AMOUNT OF DAMAGE, UH, BOTH TO OUR INFRASTRUCTURE AND TO PEOPLE'S HOMES.
UH, OUR FIELD OPERATIONS TEAMS TOLD ME, UH, THAT THEY'VE SEEN DAMAGE LIKE THEY'VE NEVER SEEN BEFORE.
AND THESE ARE FROM, UM, CREWS THAT HAVE SEEN A LOT OF DAMAGE.
UM, TREES UPROOTED AND TURNED UPSIDE DOWN AND STUCK INTO THE GROUND ROOFS, UH, YOU KNOW, ONE CREW MEMBER MENTIONED A ROOF THAT WAS PULLED, TORN OFF A HOUSE AND WAS, UH, STUCK UP IN A TREE WITH INSULATION EVERYWHERE.
UH, SO THINGS THAT SOUND LIKE KIND OF TORN TORNADIC, UM, ACTIVITY.
UM, OF COURSE HERE, WE, WE NOW KNOW THIS TO BE A MICROBURST STORM, BUT WE DID SEE, UH, A WHOLE LOT OF DAMAGE, UM, FROM KIND OF THIS, IN THIS BAND.
KIND OF GOING FROM NORTHWEST HILLS DIAGONALLY SOUTHEAST DOWN TO ABOUT MLK AND SPRINGDALE, WHERE WE HAD A GREAT DEAL OF DAMAGE AS WELL, CUTTING ACROSS AND CUTTING ACROSS
[00:25:01]
HYDE PARK, CHERRYWOOD, UH, AND ENDING UP OVER AT MLK IN, IN SPRINGDALE.SO DON'T, DON'T FORGET HORNSBY BEND AND AND BEYOND TO HORN HORNSBY BEND.
SO, UM, YEAH, THAT, THAT BAND WAS VERY, VERY HEAVILY HIT AND IT WAS VERY LOCALIZED TO THAT AREA.
SO WHILE HERE IN MILLER, WE SAW, YOU KNOW, UH, HOMES WITH ALL OF THEIR WINDOWS BROKEN OUT FROM, FROM HAIL AND MOUNDS OF, OF HAIL ON THE GROUND JUST NORTH OF HERE.
AND, UM, WINDSOR PARK, UNIVERSITY HILLS, UM, REALLY JUST HEAVY RAIN AND SOME WIND, BUT, BUT NO HAIL AND, AND NONE OF THE DAMAGE THAT WE SAW RIGHT HERE.
SO VERY, VERY LOCALIZED, BUT LOTS OF DAMAGE.
AND YOU BROUGHT IN A LOT OF DIFFERENT TEAMS FROM OTHER PLACES TO HELP OUT.
WE HAD MUTUAL AID ASSISTANCE THAT WE CALLED IN FROM CPS ENERGY, UH, SAN MARCO CENTER POINT, AND I BELIEVE I'M LEAVING SOMEBODY AT ENCORE.
AND WE HAD OVER 250 MUTUAL AID CREWS, UM, REPLACING POLES, UH, RESTRAINING CONDUCTOR, UM, CHANGING OUT TRANSFORMERS AND, AND SO FORTH.
WELL, THANK YOU AND YOUR TEAM FOR THAT.
AND I MEAN, YOU KNOW, WE, WE LEARNED A LOT OF LESSONS IN PRIOR STORMS THAT WE PUT INTO ACTION IN THAT STORM.
UM, I WILL SAY THAT MUTUAL AID COORDINATION WAS A BIG ONE FROM OUR AFTER ACTION REVIEWS THAT WE HAD DONE BEFORE.
AND WE IMPLEMENTED, UM, ENHANCED RESPONSE AND, AND, AND STAGING AND COORDINATION OF THOSE MUTUAL AID CREWS.
ALSO, THE RESTORATION 1, 2, 3 PROCESS OF THE THREE PHASE RESTORATION THAT WENT VERY WELL.
THIS WAS THE FIRST TIME WE'VE IMPLEMENTED ONE OF THE OTHER FINDINGS THAT WE HAD FROM THE PRIOR STORM, WHICH WAS, UM, DAMAGE, IMPLEMENTING DAMAGE ASSESSORS.
AND SO WE HAD DAMAGE ASSESSORS ACROSS OUR SYSTEM, LOOKING AT WHAT NEEDED TO BE DONE, AND GETTING THAT INFORMATION BACK SO WE COULD EFFECTIVELY DISPATCH THE RIGHT CREW TO THE RIGHT PLACE TO, TO MORE EFFICIENTLY AND EFFECTIVELY RESTORE POWER.
UM, ALSO JUST OUR ENHANCED COMMUNICATIONS.
AND, UM, AND, AND SO JUST A LOT OF LESSONS, I'M LEAVING OTHER THINGS OUT.
UH, BUT A LOT OF LESSONS LEARNED AND A LOT OF ENHANCEMENTS THAT WENT INTO THAT.
UM, I, I BELIEVE WE HAD AT, UH, AT, AT THE PEAK, 72,500 CUSTOMERS OUT.
BUT IN TERMS OF TOTAL CUSTOMERS RESTORED, THAT NUMBER IS CLOSER TO 130,000, ABOUT 129,000 CUSTOMERS.
UH, SO BY COMPARISON, I BELIEVE AT THE PEAK OF WINTER STORM, MARA, THAT WAS ABOUT 173,000 CUSTOMERS.
SO, UH, IN TERMS OF SCALE, THIS STORM WAS REALLY QUITE LARGE.
AL YOU HAD ANY OTHER COMMENTS? UH, IT, IT JUST SHOWS THAT, UH, YOU'VE LEARNED YOUR LESSONS LEARNED.
EVERY STORM IS DIFFERENT, BUT YOU LEARNED A LOT FROM BEFORE.
AND, AND I APPRECIATE IT VERY MUCH TO SEE WHAT YOU'VE DONE.
IF YOU'RE GONNA GIVE A PRESENTATION ON THAT TO THE COUNCIL AND YOU ALREADY HAVE IT, WE'D LOVE TO SEE IT IN THE FUTURE.
UM, WE, WE DON'T HAVE A PRESENTATION YET.
I BELIEVE WE'LL BE PRESENTING, UM, AT THE JULY A-E-U-O-C, SO WE CAN GIVE, UM, A PRESENTATION TO THIS COMMISSION AROUND THE SAME TIME.
SO THEN IT WOULD BE ON THE AGENDA AND WE COULD ACTUALLY ASK QUESTIONS ABOUT IT.
YEAH, SORRY I OPENED THE DOOR THERE, SO I JUST WENT FOR IT.
AND THE MAIN POINT HERE IS WE'RE MOVING ON THAT.
I HAD A QUICK QUESTION, QUESTION,
I'M GLAD THE PROJECT IS GONNA BE, UH, ELECTRIFIED AND, AND ALL OF THAT.
UM, I AM A LITTLE WORRIED THOUGH JUST ABOUT, UM, WHATEVER THE POLICY IS, UH, FOR GOING FORWARD.
UH, THIS DOES SEEM LIKE IT POTENTIALLY COULD BE A, YOU KNOW, A REAL, UM, YOU KNOW, I GUESS DETRACTOR FROM SOLAR IF BY GETTING SOLAR, YOU, UH, TRIGGER THIS NEED FOR, FOR AN UPGRADE THAT SEEMS LIKE MAYBE IT EXISTS ANYWAY.
SO I'M WONDERING IF WE COULD MAYBE GET MORE OF A BRIEFING ON IF, IF IT'S THAT PART OF THE LINE EXTENSION POLICY, WHERE, WHERE, WHERE DOES THIS REQUIREMENT COME IN? IS THAT SOMETHING WE COULD MAYBE PUT ON OUR JULY AGENDA TO JUST DIG INTO A LITTLE BIT? YES, CERTAINLY WE CAN GIVE SOME UPDATES ON THAT GOING FORWARD.
I WILL JUST SAY, UH, IN KIND OF MY, UM, DUMBED DOWN WAY OF, OF THINKING OF IT AND MY UNDERSTANDING OF THE SITUATION RIGHT NOW, JUST FROM COMMUNICATING WITH THE TEAM QUITE QUICKLY AS I WAS SITTING THERE, IS THAT, UM, WE, WE CAN'T REQUIRE, YOU KNOW, NICE TO HAVES.
WE NEED TO FOCUS ON MUST-HAVES.
AND SO IN TERMS OF WHAT TYPES OF EQUIPMENT ARE NEEDED ON THE CUSTOMER SIDE, UM, IT HAS TO BE LIMITED TO MUST-HAVES.
AND EVEN IF THAT'S NOT UP TO KIND OF THE MODERN STANDARD, UM, IF IT, IF IT'S, IF THAT, THAT I WOULD
[00:30:01]
CHARACTERIZE MORE AS A NICE TO HAVE.SO THAT'S WHAT THE FIELD OPERATIONS METERING TEAM AND THE SOLAR TEAM ARE WORKING ON TOGETHER TO MAKE SURE THAT, UM, WE'RE, WE'RE, UM, HITTING THE MARK ON THAT.
AND I'LL ALSO SAY, JUST IN TERMS OF TIMELINES FOR THE DISCONNECTS AND RECONNECTS FOR SOLAR INSTALLATIONS, WE HAD OUR, OUR QUALITY GROUP AT AUSTIN ENERGY, WE CALL 'EM CORPORATE QUALITY SERVICES, BUT IT'S AN INTERNAL TEAM THAT WE HAVE AT AUSTIN ENERGY THAT LOOKS AT QUALITY IMPROVEMENTS AND PROCESS IMPROVEMENTS ON A CONTINUING BASIS.
WE HAD THEM LOOK AT, UM, WHAT EFFICIENCIES WE CAN, UH, IMPLEMENT IN THE TIMELINES FOR CUSTOMERS, BECAUSE THIS IS A, A BIG ISSUE FOR US.
WE WANT TO ENABLE PEOPLE TO GET CONNECTED, TO CONNECT THEIR SOLAR AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE.
UM, AS THE SPEAKERS HAVE MENTIONED, THIS IS A, A, A VERY IMPORTANT PILLAR OF OUR RESOURCE GENERATION PLAN TO HAVE LOCAL SOLAR, AND WE WANT TO ENABLE THAT AS EFFICIENTLY AS WE CAN.
SO WE HAD OUR CORPORATE, UH, QUALITY SERVICES GROUP, UH, WE HAVE SOME RECOMMENDATIONS FROM THAT RECENTLY COMPLETED, UH, LOOK AT OUR PROCESSES.
THAT ALSO INVOLVES THE DEVELOPMENT SERVICES DEPARTMENT IN TERMS OF THE PERMITTING AND INSPECTION PROCESS.
AND SO WE JUST NEED TO IMPLEMENT SOME OF THOSE FINDINGS AND THOSE RECOMMENDATIONS.
BUT PART OF WHAT WAS EVEN BAKED INTO THE RESOURCE GENERATION PLAN, UH, IT'S EXPLICIT IN THAT PLAN THAT PART OF WHAT WE WANT TO DO IS INCREASE THE EFFICIENCY OF OUR PERMITTING PROCESS AND OUR DISCONNECT, RECONNECT PROCESS FOR GETTING THOSE SOLAR SYSTEMS ONLINE.
AND SO SPEEDING UP THAT, THAT TIMELINE IS VERY IMPORTANT TO US.
UM, THERE'S ALSO, I'M SORRY, GO AHEAD, EVA.
I WAS JUST GONNA SAY, I KNOW THAT'S BEEN AN ONGOING PROBLEM WITH IF YOU NEED A SERVICE DISCONNECT FOR SOLAR, LIKE A LENGTHY DELAY THERE.
SO I'M, I'M REALLY GLAD YOUR ATTENTION IS ON THAT.
AND YEAH, WHETHER IT'S JULY OR AUGUST, WE'D LOVE TO JUST, YOU KNOW, HAVE KIND OF A FULL DEBRIEF SO WE CAN UNDERSTAND THE STATUS OF THINGS.
YEAH, I WAS JUST GONNA SAY, THE OTHER SOMEWHAT COMPLICATING FACTOR IS THERE WERE TWO BILLS PASSED BY THE LEGISLATURE.
I'M SURE YOU'RE AWARE, SB 1202 AND SB 1252, BOTH OF WHICH I THINK COULD IMPACT AUSTIN ENERGY AND CITY OF AUSTIN PERMITTING.
UM, SO I, I CAN'T REMEMBER IF THEY'VE BEEN SIGNED BY THE GOVERNOR YET OR WHERE, YOU KNOW, WHERE THEY ARE IN THE PROCESS, BUT I DON'T BELIEVE SO.
BUT WE DID MANAGE TO GET INTO, UM, INTO THOSE BILLS, IF THEY'RE THE ONES THAT I'M THINKING OF.
WE DID MANAGE TO, EVEN THOUGH CITIES, UM, HAVE TO ALLOW THESE THIRD PARTY, UH, YOU KNOW, INSPECTIONS, UM, THAT WE AS AN ELECTRIC UTILITY, A MUNICIPALLY OWNED ELECTRIC UTILITY CAN STILL LOOK AT IT FROM A SAFETY PERSPECTIVE TO PREVENT BACK FEEDING IF THERE'S AN OUTAGE JUST FOR LINE WORKER SAFETY.
THAT WAS THOSE TYPES OF THINGS.
BUT I DON'T KNOW IF THE, IN TERMS OF THE, THOSE BILLS DO ESTABLISH SOME, AT LEAST 1202, SOME TIMELINES OF WHEN SHOT HAVE TO HAPPEN IN TERMS OF PERMITTING.
SO WE'RE NOT IN THE RIGHT PART OF THE AGENDA TO TALK ABOUT FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS, BUT MAYBE, MAYBE THERE'S A WAY WE CAN ADDRESS ALL THAT THESE, THESE ISSUES, BUT ALSO GOING FORWARD, HOW DOES THAT IMPACT HOW YOU GUYS, UM, PERMIT, UH, STORAGE, I GUESS JUST BOTH STORAGE AND SOLAR, RIGHT ON ONSITE STORAGE AND SOLAR.
UM, SO WHAT WAS THE SECOND BILL? 1252.
UM, AND AGAIN, IN BOTH, HE'S RIGHT IN BOTH THOSE BILLS PROVISIONS WERE ADDED, WHICH I THINK ARE REALLY IMPORTANT TO ALLOW MUNICIPAL UTILITIES TO CONTINUE TO LOOK FOR THINGS LIKE SAFETY, WHICH IS OBVIOUSLY VERY IMPORTANT.
UM, BUT THEY DO SORT OF EASE, UH, UM, TRY TO, UM, INCENTIVIZE FASTER PERMITTING, BASICALLY.
[APPROVAL OF MINUTES]
APPROVING THE MINUTES.DO I HAVE A MOTION? MOVE APPROVAL? SECOND.
ALL IN FAVOR? I'M NOT HAVING TROUBLE GETTING ON LINE TO SEE THE MINUTES.
[2. Staff briefing on the Green Building Program by Heidi Kasper, Director Energy Efficiency Services.]
NUMBER TWO ON THE GREEN BUILDING PROGRAM.I AM HEIDI CASPER, DIRECTOR OF GREEN BUILDING.
UH, I BELIEVE COMMISSIONER ALVAREZ HAD REQUESTED AN UPDATE ON THE IMPACT OUR GREEN BUILDING PROGRAM IS MAKING.
SO I'M GOING TO GIVE YOU A LITTLE BIT OF AN OVERVIEW OF OUR GREEN BUILDING PROGRAM AND OUR IMPACT OVER THE YEARS.
SO THIS IS ONE OF OUR OLDEST PROGRAMS. UM, IT WAS FOUNDED BACK IN 1991 WITH THE HELP OF A DOE GRANT.
[00:35:01]
BACK IN 1993, STARTING WITH 13 HOMES.AND WE'VE EXPANDED DRAMATICALLY SINCE.
UM, ONE IS THE DRIVING IDEAS BEHIND THE PROGRAM WAS FOR THIS TO BE A PLACE WHERE YOU COULD THINK ABOUT THE CITY'S CONSERVATION AND SUSTAINABILITY GOALS HOLISTICALLY.
SO IT'S A FULL SUSTAINABILITY PROGRAM, AND WE CONTINUE TO UPDATE IT, UH, APPROXIMATELY EVERY THREE YEARS.
WE WILL UPDATE OUR, OUR RATINGS, UM, AND ALIGN THEM WITH CURRENT TECHNOLOGY, BEST PRACTICES, CODES, AND THE CITY'S GOALS.
THERE'S ESSENTIALLY THREE BUCKETS.
AND THE WAY THAT WE GET OUR WORK DONE, WE HAVE RATINGS, WHICH ARE, WE ARE WORKING DIRECTLY WITH PROJECT TEAMS AND OFFERING A ONE TO FIVE STAR RATING ON THE SUSTAINABILITY OF SINGLE FAMILY, MULTI-FAMILY OR COMMERCIAL BUILDINGS.
AND THAT'S VERY MUCH A CON CONSULTATIVE, UM, PROCESS.
WE ALSO DO A LOT OF EDUCATION AND OUTREACH.
SO THE EDUCATION AND OUTREACH IS BOTH TO THE GENERAL PUBLIC AND TO, UH, BUILDING AND DESIGN PROFESSIONALS.
SO THE IDEA THERE IS THAT WE, A, DRIVE DEMAND FOR SUSTAINABLE BUILDING PRACTICES, UM, WITH OUR EDUCATION TO THE GENERAL PUBLIC.
AND THEN B, BUILD THE CAPACITY OF OUR LOCAL DESIGNERS AND, UM, BUILDERS TO BE ABLE TO DELIVER ON THOSE GREEN BUILDINGS.
AND THEN THE THIRD, UH, PIECE OF THIS IS POLICIES AND CODES.
SO A LOT OF THE LESSONS THAT WE LEARNED THROUGH THE GREEN BUILDING RATING, UH, PROCESS THEN WIND UP, UH, INFLUENCING CODES.
SO WE LEARN THE LESSONS WHERE WE CAN DO IT MORE FLEXIBLY IN THE RATING, AND THEN, UM, IT EVOLVES INTO CODE, UH, EVENTUALLY.
SO, AND A RECENT EXAMPLE WOULD BE THE WILDLAND URBAN INTERFACE CODE, UM, WHERE WE WORKED WITH THE FIRE DEPARTMENT BEFORE THEY WERE IMPLEMENTING THAT CODE AS TO WHAT SORT OF THINGS WOULD BE REQUIRED, PUT THOSE IN THE RATINGS FIRST, AND THEN WE WERE ALLOWED, WE WERE ABLE TO GIVE THEM FEEDBACK ON WHERE THE BUILDERS WERE HAVING DIFFICULTY, WHAT THE, WHAT THE LESSONS LEARNED WERE FROM THAT PROCESS, AND IT MAKES THE CODE ADOPTION GO SMOOTHER.
UM, SO THE, THE POLICY THAT DRIVES WHAT GOES INTO THE RATINGS, UH, COMES FROM VARIOUS, UM, INITIATIVES.
SO WE HAVE, UM, CONSERVATION GOALS THAT ARE OUTLINED IN OUR CITY PLAN.
SO THE CLIMATE EQUITY PLAN, THE ZERO WASTE PLAN, THE WATER FORWARD PLAN.
WE LOOK AT THOSE POLICIES AND WE TRY AND DEVELOP BEST PRACTICES FOR BUILDINGS AND INCLUDE THOSE IN THE RATINGS TO HELP MOVE THE MARKET THAT DIRECTION.
WE ALSO HAVE QUALITY OF LIFE THAT WE'RE TRYING TO ADDRESS THROUGH THE RATINGS.
SO THESE THINGS SPEAK TO, UM, THINGS LIKE HEALTH, SO INDOOR AIR QUALITY.
UM, IT ALSO ADDRESSES OUTDOOR, UM, FLOODING, SITE SITE DEVELOPMENT, AND EVEN EQUITY ISSUES.
SO LOOKING AT THINGS LIKE CONSTRUCTION WORKER SAFETY.
ALL OF OUR RATINGS ARE DESIGNED WITH A SET OF BASIC REQUIREMENTS THAT ALL PROJECTS MUST ACHIEVE, AND THEN THEY GET A MENU OF POINTS.
UM, SO THE, UH, PIE CHART THERE REPRESENTS THE DIFFERENT CATEGORIES THAT WE HAVE POINTS IN.
SO IF YOU MEET ALL OF THE BASIC REQUIREMENTS, YOU EARN A ONE STAR.
AND THEN DEPENDING ON HOW MANY OF THE POINTS, UM, IN THE VARIOUS CATEGORIES YOU EARN, YOU CAN EARN UP TO FIVE STARS.
UM, THIS PARTICULAR POINT SCALE IS BASED ON OUR 2023 SINGLE FAMILY RATING.
UM, THEY, EACH RATING VARIES A LITTLE BIT, BUT THEY ALL WORK ESSENTIALLY THE SAME.
UM, SO OVER THE YEARS, WE'VE, UH, MADE A LOT OF IMPACT AND WORKED WITH A LOT OF BUILDINGS, UM, OVER 20,000 SINGLE FAMILY HOMES SINCE OUR INCEPTION.
UM, OVER 249 MULTI-FAMILY, UH, DEVELOPMENTS AND ALL ALMOST 400, UM, COMMERCIAL DEVELOPMENTS.
THIS IS, UM, FROM THE INCEPTION OF THE PROGRAM BACK IN 1991 TO LAST THROUGH THE END OF LAST FISCAL YEAR.
UM, ONE OF THE UNIQUE THINGS ABOUT THIS PROGRAM, IT THAT DRIVES THE PARTICIPATION IS THAT IT'S INCENTIVIZED THROUGH, UH, VARIOUS ZONING AND CITY AGREEMENTS.
SO, UM, THE PUDS, THE PLAN UNIT DEVELOPMENTS ALL NOW HAVE, UH, A TIER ONE REQUIREMENT THAT IF YOU'RE GOING TO GET A PUD ZONING AGREEMENT, THEN YOU'RE GOING TO ALSO AGREE TO A TWO STAR GREEN BUILDING RATING.
UM, WE'VE ALSO HAD A LONGSTANDING AGREEMENT WITH THE CITY'S HOUSING PROGRAM, WHEREBY ALL SMART HOUSING PROJECTS ALSO ARE REQUIRED TO EARN A ONE STAR GREEN BUILDING RATING.
AND SO A LOT OF THE INCENTIVE,
[00:40:01]
UM, FOR THESE PROJECTS COMES THROUGH ZONING.AND THEN HOPEFULLY ALSO THEY SEE A BENEFIT IN THE QUALITY ASSURANCE THAT'S PROVIDED BY OUR STAFF.
UM, WE END UP RATING ABOUT 20 TO 30% OF THE NEW CONSTRUCTION IN AUSTIN THESE DAYS.
WE STARTED TRACKING SAVINGS ASSOCIATED WITH THE PROGRAM IN 2007, AND THIS CORRESPONDED WITH THE ADOPTION OF THE CITY'S FIRST CLIMATE CLIMATE PLAN.
UM, THESE SAVINGS, UH, THAT YOU SEE HERE ARE BASED ON FIRST YEAR SAVINGS.
SO EVEN THOUGH WE EXPECT THE LIFETIME OF THE BUILDINGS TO LAST, UM, OUR SAVINGS METHODOLOGY IS BASED ON FIRST YEAR FOR DEMAND AND ELECTRICITY SAVINGS.
THOSE NUMBERS ALSO INCLUDE SAVINGS FOR, FROM THE ADOPTION OF VARIOUS ENERGY CODES ON THE ENERGY CODE.
WE, UM, BECAUSE OUR STAFF HAS A, HAS A ROLE TO PLAY IN THE ADOPTION OF THAT CODE AND THE TECHNICAL, UM, DEVELOPMENT OF THAT CODE, WE CLAIM THOSE SAVINGS AND IT'S BASED ON THE CURRENT CODE, OVER THE PREVIOUS CODE IS HOW WE'RE DOING THOSE SAVINGS TODAY.
UM, CO2, UH, IS ALSO BASED ON, UH, AUSTIN ENERGIES MIX.
SO OUR GENERATION MIX, AND WE LOOK AT THAT FOR THE CO2 SAVINGS.
AND THEN WE CREATED SOME EQUIVALENT IMPACTS.
UM, I WON'T READ THEM TO YOU, BUT JUST TO PUT IT IN LAY TERMS, UM, HOW THESE ADD UP OVER THE YEARS.
AND I THINK THAT MIGHT BE MY LAST SLIDE.
CAN YOU REMIND US HOW OFTEN YOU UPDATE THE, UM, ENERGY STATE STAR RATINGS? WE DO IT APPROXIMATELY EVERY THREE YEARS, UM, IN ALIGNMENT WITH THE ENERGY CODES, WITH THE CODES.
OCCASIONALLY WE MIGHT COME OUT WITH A LIGHT UPDATE IF THERE'S SOMETHING THAT WE DECIDE NEEDS TO BE FIXED, BUT, UM, USUALLY IT'S WITH THE ENERGY CODES.
AND MY SECOND QUESTION IS, UM, BECAUSE THIS IS, EVEN THOUGH WE MIGHT REQUIRE IT FOR SOME PUDS, THIS IS ALL A VOLUNTARY PROGRAM, CORRECT? CORRECT.
SO O OTHER THAN IF YOU'RE IN ONE OF THESE PUDS, YOU HAVE TO MEET A CERTAIN LEVEL, BUT EVEN ON THE ON MEET MEETING, THOSE CERTAIN LEVELS, YOU'RE NOT TELLING ANY HOME BUILDERS THEY HAVE TO DO X, Y, AND Z, YOU'RE SAYING HERE'S A MENU OF OPTIONS YOU CAN CHOOSE FROM TO MEET THAT NUMBER OF STARS, BASICALLY.
BASICALLY, WITH THE EXCEPTION OF THE BASIC REQUIREMENTS OF THE BASIC CODE REQUIREMENTS.
SO WE, WE HAVE ABOUT 10 RE BASIC REQUIREMENTS AND THOSE REQUIRE THINGS, UM, A LITTLE BIT OF ENERGY EFFICIENCY ABOVE CODE, UM, A LITTLE BIT OF WATER SAVINGS, A LITTLE BIT OF ADDRESSING INDOOR AIR QUALITY.
SO THE BASIC REQUIREMENTS KIND OF RUN THE GAMUT OF THE CATEGORIES THAT WE'RE ADDRESSING.
UM, AND I WOULD CALL THEM, YOU KNOW, A BETTER THAN, BETTER THAN CODE.
UM, BUT, BUT, BUT THE BUILDER CHOOSES, YOU SAY YOU'VE GOTTA DO X PERCENT BETTER THAN THE BASIC CODE, RIGHT? BUT THEY CHOOSE WHICH, HOW TO GET THERE.
I WAS THINKING OF A CERTAIN LAW THAT WAS PASSED IN 2019.
THIS DOES NOT, THIS IS, WE HAVE, WE HAVE TRIED TO NEGOTIATE AND DESIGN THEM TO AVOID COMING INTO CONFLICT WITH THAT STATE LAW.
EVA, THANKS FOR THE PRESENTATION.
MY QUESTION IS, IS SIMILAR TO WHAT CYRUS WAS ASKING.
SO JUST TO CLARIFY, IF YOU'RE GOING BEYOND ONE STAR, UM, DO YOU NOT HAVE TO DO SOMETHING FROM LIKE EVERY CATEGORY? LIKE COULD YOU IGNORE, SAY, ENERGY AND JUST, UM, YOU KNOW, DO A LOT MORE IN THE OTHER CATEGORIES AND GET TO HIGHER A STAR RATINGS? UM, THEORETICALLY YES.
UM, I'VE NEVER SEEN ANYBODY, UM, DO THAT, UH, WITHIN THE SINGLE FAMILY RATING.
WE DO HAVE SOME GATEKEEPER REQUIREMENTS.
THERE'S A LOT MORE, THERE'S A LOT LONGER LIST OF CHOICES IN THE SINGLE FAMILY RATING THAN THERE ARE IN THE OTHER TWO.
AND WE HAVE CREATED, UM, WHAT WE CALL STAR LEVEL REQUIREMENTS.
SO YOU'LL, IF YOU LOOK AT THE MENU OF POINTS, THERE'LL BE CERTAIN THINGS THAT ARE FLAGGED AS A TWO STAR REQUIREMENT OR A THREE STAR REQUIREMENT.
AND THOSE THINGS HAVE TO BE DONE IN ORDER TO EARN THAT MANY STARS.
WHAT OTHER QUESTIONS HERE, CYRUS? OH, JUST,
[00:45:01]
UM, WHAT ABOUT, UM, BUILDINGS THAT ARE BUILT FOR, UM, CITY ACTIVITIES? ARE THOSE REQUIRED TO MEET CERTAIN GREEN BUILDING STANDARDS? YES.SO THE CITY HAS A GREEN BUILDING POLICY FOR CITY BUILDINGS.
I THINK THAT'S WHAT YOU'RE ASKING ABOUT.
UM, GENERALLY HISTORICALLY, THOSE HAVE, UH, LEANED ON LEAD, UH, AND DONE LEAD RATINGS, AND WE FACILITATE THOSE.
UM, WE DO SEE A LOT OF THOSE PROJECTS CHOOSE TO DO BOTH.
THIS BUILDING, FOR EXAMPLE, DID, UM, LEAD OUR RATING AUSTIN ENERGY GREEN BUILDING RATING.
AND WELL, UM, SO WE DO SEE A MIX THERE.
PART OF THE HISTORY OF THAT WAS, UH, SOME RETICENCE TO BE RATING OURSELVES AS AN ENTITY.
SO WANTING TO MAINTAIN THAT THIRD PARTY CREDIBILITY THAT IT'S, UM, TRULY A THIRD PARTY DOING IT.
OBVIOUSLY AUSTIN ENERGY'S FAIRLY SEPARATE FROM PUBLIC WORKS, SO IT, YOU KNOW, THE EXTENT THAT THAT'S AN ISSUE IS MAYBE WE'RE, WE'RE NOT AS WORRIED ABOUT IT AS WE USED TO BE, I THINK.
SO I HAVE A MORE TECHNICAL QUESTION.
IS THE DATA NORMALIZED FOR THE AVERAGE SQUARE FOOTAGE OF A HOME? AND I GUESS ONE OF THE DRIVING FORCES FOR THIS QUESTION IS THE AVERAGE SIZE OF A HOME HAS INCREASED OVER TIME.
SO DO YOU NORMALIZE IT IN SOME WAY? UM, YES.
I DON'T KNOW HOW OFTEN WE UPDATE THE AVERAGE SIZE OF THE HOME HERE IN AUSTIN, BUT WE, ALL OF THOSE EQUIVALENCIES WERE BASED ON AN AVERAGE AUSTIN HOME.
AND THEN ANOTHER QUESTION IS, UM, YOU KNOW, SO GOING THROUGH BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS TRAINING RECENTLY.
SO THE VISION OF AUSTIN IS BEING THE MOST LIVABLE CITY AND THE MISSION IS THE BEST MANAGED CITY.
AND IT STRUCK ME WHILE I WAS, UH, GOING THROUGH THAT, BUT THIS OLD BUSINESS CASE, WE STUDIED ABOUT STAPLE YOURSELF TO AN INVOICE AND A SET OF EXECUTIVES SITTING IN MEETINGS ALL THE TIME.
EXAMPLE, SORT OF WAS GIVEN A, UM, 1960S AMERICAN AUTO COMPANIES WHERE THE EXECUTIVES ALL GOT TO DRIVE CARS.
AND THE CARS THAT THEY WERE GIVEN MANUFACTURED BY THEIR COMPANY WERE SPECIALLY MAINTAINED.
THEY DIDN'T EXPERIENCE WHAT REAL CUSTOMERS WERE DOING.
AND THE OTHER SIDE OF THE EXAMPLE IS WHERE PEOPLE ACTUALLY WENT OUT AND WENT PARTNER WITH A CUSTOMER AND WENT THROUGH AND JUST SAW WHAT THEY'VE EXPERIENCED ALONG THE WAY.
AND YOU'VE GOT A COMPLEX ORGANIZATION, 14,000 EMPLOYEES, ALL THESE DIFFERENT INNOVATIVE PROGRAMS. YOU'LL SEE SO MUCH COMMUNITY SUPPORT FOR THIS.
AND THEN OFFERING IDEAS ABOUT HOW DO YOU TAKE THIS COMPLEX ORGANIZATION SET OF PROCESSES AND IMPROVE IT.
YOU KNOW? AND SO I JUST WONDERED IF THERE'S THOUGHTS IN THE MANAGEMENT CHAIN ABOUT FIGURING OUT HOW YOU HAVE EXECUTIVE PARTNERSHIPS WHERE YOU GO OUT AND YOU EFFECTIVELY STAPLE YOURSELF TO, UM, SOME OF THE SOLAR VENDORS, YOU KNOW, STAPLE YOURSELF TO, TO STAND RICHARD
AND THERE MAY BE SOME THINGS THAT YOU'D DISCOVER ON THAT.
DO YOU HAVE ANY COMMENT OR MAYBE WE CAN PUT THAT ON A FUTURE DISCUSSION OR WE CAN TALK OFFLINE? YEAH, I MEAN, I THINK ONE OF THE LUXURIES THAT WE HAVE WITH OUR PROGRAM, BECAUSE IT'S SO CONSULTATIVE AND EACH PROJECT IS ASSIGNED A GREEN BUILDING RATING REP IN SOME CASES TOO.
UM, AND WE'RE WORKING WITH THEM FROM DESIGN ALL THE WAY THROUGH CONSTRUCTION.
WE HEAR VERY CLOSELY, UM, WHAT THE HURDLES ARE AND WHAT THEIR CONCERNS ARE.
AND WE HELP THEM WITH GOAL SETTING.
SO WE DO GET A LOT OF FEEDBACK ALONG THE WAY ABOUT, UM, WHAT WORKS AND WHAT DOESN'T.
AND WE TRY AND USE THAT AND INCORPORATE IT BOTH IN FUTURE UPDATES TO OUR PROGRAM AS WELL AS IN, UM, THE UPDATES TO THE CODE.
I WON'T SAY THAT WE AVOID, UM, ALL
UM, BUT I THINK WE DO GET, IT DOES GIVE US THE OPPORTUNITY TO GET A LOT OF FIRSTHAND, UM, FEEDBACK AND THE STAFF ARE GOING OUT ON PROJECT SITES AND SEEING WHERE THE GAPS IN KNOWLEDGE ARE TOO.
SO THAT HELPS DEVELOP THE EDUCATION.
OTHER QUESTIONS, RAUL? YEAH, THANK YOU VERY MUCH.
I HAD A COUPLE QUICK QUESTIONS.
UH, UM, 'CAUSE WE TALKED ABOUT OBVIOUSLY THE, THE RATING SYSTEM FOR PRIVATE PROJECTS, BUT I KNOW, UH, THE CITY ITSELF, YOU KNOW, LEADS IN TERMS OF ITS CAPITAL PROJECTS, RIGHT? UM, IN TERMS OF GREEN BUILDINGS.
SO, AND AGAIN, I'M, I WAS USED TO THE TERMINOLOGY OF GOLD AND PLATINUM RATINGS,
[00:50:01]
SO I GUESS IT CHANGED TO STARS AT SOME POINT.WELL, LEAD USES GOLD AND PLATINUM
SO THAT'S PROBABLY, IT'S THE LEAD RATE.
SO I WAS JUST CURIOUS IF THERE WERE ANY, UH, UM, UPCOMING PROJECTS WHERE THE CITY ITSELF IS TRYING TO REACH THE, THE PLATINUM OR THE FIVE STAR OR WHATEVER, WHATEVER WE'RE, UM, GOING WITH.
YEAH, I DON'T KNOW ABOUT PLATINUM AND FIVE STAR.
I DO KNOW THAT ON ALL SIZEABLE PROJECTS THAT THEY DO, UM, LOOK TO ACHIEVE LEAD RATINGS.
WE'RE WORKING VERY CLOSELY WITH THE AIRPORT ON THEIR EXPANSION, DOING A LOT OF SUSTAINABILITY WORK WITH THEM.
UM, THE NEW CONVENTION CENTER, I HAVE BEEN TOLD HAS SOME VERY LOFTY SUSTAINABILITY GOALS.
THIS BU THIS BUILDING, UM, WAS FIVE STAR LEAD PLATINUM.
I THINK, UH, ONE OF THE THINGS I LIKE ABOUT WORKING AT THE CITY IS THAT WE, WE DO TRY AND, UM, DO WHAT WE'RE TELLING OTHER PEOPLE IS THE RIGHT THING AS WELL.
WELL, THAT, WELL I THINK IT'S IMPORTANT TO SHOW IT CAN BE MADE TO WORK, RIGHT? YEP.
YOU KNOW, IT ISN'T JUST PIE IN THE SKY STUFF, RIGHT.
UM, BUT, UH, AND YOU ALSO MENTIONED, UH, 'CAUSE I KNOW AGAIN, THE CITY'S BEEN A LEADER IN THIS AREA NATIONALLY OR INTERNATIONALLY FOR SOME TIME.
BUT YOU MENTIONED UPDATING THE, THE CRITERIA, RIGHT? FOR THE RATINGS.
AND SORT OF HOW DO YOU, UH, 'CAUSE AGAIN, I KNOW THERE'S A LOT OF LOCAL PROFESSIONALS THAT ARE VERY INTERESTED IN SORT OF, UH, GREEN BUILDING AND UM, SO HOW DOES THAT WORK? IS IT, IS IT, WHEN WE UPDATE OUR, OUR STANDARDS, UH, FOR THE DIFFERENT, UH, LEVELS? IS IT KIND OF STAFF THAT DOES IT, IS IT STAFF WORKING WITH LOCAL CONSTITUENTS OR STAFF WORKING WITH NATIONAL, UM, STAKEHOLDERS OR OTHER UTILITIES RIGHT.
WHO ARE ALSO INTERESTED IN THESE KIND OF ISSUES? OR HOW, HOW DOES THAT PROCESS WORK OF TRYING TO UH, UP UPDATE THE THE PARAMETERS? YEAH, I WOULD SAY, UM, SO IT STARTS WITH STAFF, UM, GATHERING OUR OWN INPUT FROM FEEDBACK THAT WE'VE HAD WITH OUR CUSTOMERS.
LOOKING AT NATIONAL BEST PRACTICES, LOOKING AT THE LEAD RATING, UM, AND COMING UP WITH, UM, SOME DRAFTS.
AND, UH, I WILL SAY THE MULTI-FAMILY RATING IS IN THAT STAGE RIGHT NOW.
UM, AND THEN WHEN WE GET IT TO A POINT, WE WILL PUT OUT DRAFT RATINGS, UH, FOR GENERAL PUBLIC, UH, STAKEHOLDER COMMENT AND WE USE THE PUBLIC INPUT, UM, SPEAK UP AUSTIN SITE FOR THAT.
UH, AND THEN THE LAST QUESTION IS, I KNOW THERE'S AUSTIN GREEN AWARDS, UH, LIKE FOR GREEN BUILDING YEP.
UH, OR A TX GREEN AWARDS, SOMETHING LIKE THAT.
BUT, UH, UH, THAT'S ALWAYS A FUN EVENT, UH, THAT I ASSUME A AUSTIN ENERGY HAS SOME KIND OF ROLE IN OR PARTICIPATES IN OR SUPPORTS OR SOMETHING.
WE HAVE BEEN THE HEADLINE SPONSOR FOR THAT EVENT EVERY YEAR IT'S BEEN HELD.
'CAUSE AGAIN, I THINK IT'S ELEVATING THOSE PROJECTS, UM, THAT ARE, UH, SETTING THE STANDARD, RIGHT.
AND SHOWING, UH, DEFINITELY TRYING TO GET OTHERS TO FOLLOW SUIT.
RIGHT? I THINK THAT THAT'S WHAT IT'S ABOUT.
SO WE APPRECIATE, UH, AUSTIN ENERGY'S, UH, CONTINUING TO LEAD IN THIS ARENA.
UH, THE, THE NEW, UH, GENIUSES AT THE EPA SEEM TO WANT TO BE KILLING THE, UH, ENERGY STAR PROGRAM, WHICH SEEMS TO ME TO BE VITAL IN THIS KIND OF WORK.
I MEAN, FOR ME TO GO LOOK AT A WINDOW THAT'S ENERGY STAR AND WHEN THAT'S NOT, IT HELPS ME DECIDE WHAT WINDOW TO BUY.
AND IT OBVIOUSLY INFORMS ALL THE PROJECTS.
IS THERE ANY KIND OF WORK AROUND IF THAT PROGRAM GOES DOWN, UH, DO, DOES THE PRIVATE SECTOR TAKE IT ON? OR HOW DO YOU, HOW, HOW DO WE GO FORWARD AND HAVE SUCH OBJECTIVE INFORMATION ABOUT APPLIANCES, WINDOWS, INSULATION, ET CETERA, THAT WE, THAT WE'RE USED TO HAVING? YEAH, IT, I THINK IT'S GONNA MAKE IT MUCH MORE CHALLENGING.
SO WE HAVE THE ABILITY NOW AND WE DO LOOK UP WHAT THE TECHNICAL SPECS ARE BEHIND THE ENERGY STAR CERTIFICATIONS, BUT IT WILL BE VERY DIFFICULT TO UNDERSTAND NATIONALLY WHERE APPLIANCE MANUFACTURERS ARE AT WITHOUT THAT STANDARD.
SO I GUESS IT, YEAH, IF IT GOES AWAY, IT'LL MAKE OUR JOB A LOT HARDER.
[00:55:01]
THANKS.UM, I WAS JUST, UH, WONDERING IF, WHEN YOU, YOU MENTIONED THAT WHEN YOU GET YOUR DRAFT TO A CERTAIN, UH, POINT, YOU'LL PUT IT ON SPEAK UP.
IF YOU COULD, UH, EMAIL THE COMMISSION WHEN THAT DOES GO LIVE, I'D APPRECIATE IT.
CHRIS, DOES THE PROGRAM EXTEND THROUGHOUT ALL OF AUSTIN ENERGY'S SERVICE TERRITORY? OR IS IT LIMITED TO BUILDINGS INSIDE THE CITY OF LIMITS? IT EXTENDS TO ALL OF AUSTIN ENERGY'S SERVICE TERRITORY.
UM, AND THEN FOR SINGLE FAMILY, WE ACTUALLY HAVE AN EXTENDED AREA RADAR PROGRAM, UH, ESPECIALLY FOR DEVELOPMENTS LIKE WHISPER VALLEY OR ESTANCIA, WHERE THEY'RE PARTLY IN AUSTIN ENERGY SERVICE TERRITORY AND THEY'RE PARTLY IN ANOTHER SERVICE TERRITORY.
UM, WE TRAIN AND DO QAQC REVIEW ON A SET OF FOLKS THAT WE HAVE AUTHORIZED TO ADMINISTER THE RATING OUTSIDE OF OUR SERVICE TERRITORY.
UM, SO THAT MEANS WE DON'T HAVE TO EXTEND A LOT OF STAFF RESOURCES ON SOMETHING THAT'S NOT PROVIDING ANY SAVINGS, BUT ALLOWS BUILDERS, ESPECIALLY IN THOSE CIRCUMSTANCES, TO APPLY ONE RATING TO THE ENTIRE DEVELOPMENT.
ANY OTHER QUESTIONS OR DISCUSSION? OKAY, WELL THANK YOU HEIDI.
[3. Discuss and approve a recommendation on changing city code that relates to allowable methods for board and commission communications.]
ACTION ITEMS. NUMBER THREE IS DISCUSS AND APPROVE A RECOMMENDATION ON CHANGING CITY CODE THAT RELATES TO ALLOWABLE METHODS FOR BOARDS AND COMMISSION COMMUNICATIONS.SO, UM, KABI, DO YOU WANNA START WITH THIS? SURE.
UM, AND I APOLOGIZE THAT I DID NOT GET THIS AROUND, UH, QUICKER TO EVERYBODY.
AND SO I'LL JUST SAY LIKE, WE PUT THIS ON FOR POSSIBLE ACTION, BUT IF WE DISCUSS IT AND FOLKS WANT MORE TIME TO DIGEST, THEN YOU KNOW, IT'LL STILL BE JUST AS VALID, UH, NEXT MONTH AS IT IS NOW.
UM, BUT I KNOW SOME OF US ON THIS COMMISSION AS WELL AS SOME ON OTHER COMMISSIONS, UM, HAVE, YOU KNOW, KIND OF STRUGGLED WITH KEEPING UP WITH, UH, AN ADDITIONAL EMAIL ADDRESS.
AND A LOT OF US HAD AT ONE POINT BEEN FORWARDING EMAILS AND THE CITY HAS TURNED OFF THAT FUNCTION FROM BC ADDRESSES, UM, OR MAYBE ALL CITY EMAIL ADDRESSES, UM, AND HAVE GIVEN, UH, GUIDANCE THROUGH AT LEAST SOME OF THE LIAISONS, UM, THAT THEY CANNOT, UH, COPY US, UH, AT OUR PERSONAL EMAIL ADDRESSES.
AND, UM, SOMEBODY ASKED ABOUT THIS IN THE TRAINING, YOU KNOW, UH, DAVE AND I, AND PROBABLY SOME OF Y'ALL JUST GOT, YOU KNOW, REAPPOINTED.
SO WE HAD TO REDO THE TRAINING AND SOMEBODY ASKED ABOUT IT AND I ASKED A FOLLOW UP QUESTION AND I WAS LIKE, WELL, WHAT, YOU KNOW, UM, IS THERE ANYTHING THAT WE CAN DO ABOUT THIS? AND THE THE CLERK'S OFFICE RESPONSE WAS, THEY DON'T HAVE ANY, UH, PARTICULAR, UM, YOU KNOW, STRONG FEELING ABOUT THIS REQUIREMENT.
IT'S JUST SIMPLY THEIR JOB TO, YOU KNOW, ENFORCE WHAT'S IN THE CITY CODE.
AND, UH, THEY RECOMMENDED THAT IF COMMISSIONERS DID NOT, UH, APPRECIATE THE CURRENT, UH, REQUIREMENT THAT WE MAKE A RECOMMENDATION TO COUNCIL TO, UM, UPDATE THE CODE TO ALLOW FOR, YOU KNOW, AT LEAST COPYING OUR PERSONAL OR WORK EMAILS, WHATEVER, AN EMAIL ADDRESS THAT WE'RE MAYBE LOGGED INTO AND WATCHING MORE THAN WE ARE OUR BC EMAILS.
SO THAT'S ALL THIS IS, IS JUST, UM, RECOMMENDING THE COUNSEL, UM, ALLOW FOR THAT BECAUSE ALREADY, EVEN IF YOU DO USE YOUR PERSONAL, UM, EMAIL OR TEXTING OR ANYTHING ELSE, IT'S STILL SUBJECT TO THE PUBLIC INFORMATION, THE TEXAS PUBLIC INFORMATION ACT.
SO THERE'S NO GETTING AWAY FROM THAT.
UM, AND THIS WOULD JUST ALLOW US TO ALL HOPEFULLY GET COMMUNICATIONS, UH, A LITTLE BIT EASIER THAN WE ARE RIGHT NOW.
AND I CAN SHARE THE TEXT IF ANYBODY WANTS THAT.
BUT HOPEFULLY YOU ALL SAW, UM,
YEAH, IF WE, IF IT SEEMS LIKE WE, UM, COLLECTIVELY WANNA MOVE FORWARD, THEN I WILL READ IT INTO THE RECORD.
SO IT'S GONNA BE READ IN OR IS SHE SENDING IT TO YOU? IF THERE'S A MOTION TO MOVE FORWARD THAT YOU GUYS WANNA VOTE ON IT, THEN IT'LL NEED TO BE READ IN BECAUSE IT CAME IN TOO LATE TO PUT IT IN BACK UP.
SO WE'LL JUST NEED TO HAVE IT READ INTO THE RECORD.
BUT I, I NEED TO SEE IT PERSONALLY BEFORE I CAN DO ANYTHING.
[01:00:01]
PUT IT IN EVERYONE'S, UM, PACKET.SO IT'S, UM, LABELED ITEM THREE.
IT'LL BE RIGHT AFTER THE GREEN BUILDER PRESENTATION.
AND THEN I MADE COPIES FOR EVERYONE ELSE AND UH, ALSO EMAIL THE COPIES AND IF THOSE REMOTE WOULD LIKE TO SEE IT ON THE SCREEN, I CAN ASK IT TO SHARE THAT ITEM.
SO IF YOU COULD PUT IT UP AND THEN HOW ABOUT WE TAKE A FEW MINUTES TO READ THIS ITEM THREE I COMMENTS.
HAS ANYONE RUN INTO THIS BEFORE? CYRUS? WELL, AS A PERSON WHO HAS MISSED SOME KEY EMAILS,
UM, 'CAUSE I FOUND IT EASIER WHEN THINGS ARE FORWARDED TO MY PERSONAL EMAIL, YOU KNOW, 'CAUSE I ALSO GET MY, I HAVE MY WORK EMAIL ALL SENT TO MY YOUR HOME.
UM, I FIND IT MUCH EASIER, UM, PERSONALLY, BUT, UM, I DON'T KNOW IF THERE'S ANY, UH, I DON'T THINK THERE SHOULD BE ANY LEGAL CONCERN BECAUSE, YOU KNOW, AS SHE SAID IN THE TRAINING, IT'S CLEAR THAT THIS INFORMATION IS CITY, YOU KNOW, IT'S CITY BUSINESS.
BUT, UM, IF AUSTIN ENERGY HAS ANY RESPONSE TO THAT, SOMETHING THEY'RE CONCERNED ABOUT WITH THIS POLICY, I'M NOT SURE IF THEY DO.
ANYONE ELSE HAVE EXPERIENCE? YOU KNOW, WE HAVE THE RIGHT TO, TO HAVE THIS, UM, IF WE'RE IN THE CIRCLE OF USING THE BC EMAIL, WE CAN COPY OUR OWN EMAIL JUST TO HAVE A COPY BECAUSE ONCE WE LEAVE THE BOARD, UM, WE WON'T TO HAVE ACCESS TO THAT, THAT TEXT.
AND SO WE DESERVE TO HAVE OUR OWN RECORD OF THAT, RIGHT.
SO I DON'T THINK THAT'S IN DEBATE.
WE'VE HEARD FROM LIAISON THAT THAT'S NOT, I THINK IT'S A MATTER OF THE FORWARDING FUNCTION, THE FORWARDING FUNCTION, AS WELL AS JUST GENERAL COPYING.
AND PENETRATING, LIKE IF YOU, IF I HAVE A, UM, SOME KIND OF ARTICLE I WANT TO, TO SEND TO SOMEBODY, UM, IT'S VERY AWKWARD TO GO MAYBE CAPTURE THE URL FOR THAT AND THEN JUMP INTO BC EMAIL, SEND THAT OUT.
AND IT JUST CONSUMES TIME AND CREATES COMPLEXITY WHEN I CAN JUST COPY THE BC EMAIL.
AND THAT WAY THE CITY HAS AN EASY WAY TO GET THE INFORMATION.
UM, IF WE SEND ANYTHING TO AN AUSTIN ENERGY OR CITY OF AUSTIN EMPLOYEE, IT'S AUTOMATICALLY IN THE SYSTEM THERE TOO, I WOULD BELIEVE.
RIGHT? SO, UM, I I THINK IT NEEDS TO BE STREAMLINED.
I CAN UNDERSTAND THE DESIRE, ESPECIALLY WHEN CITY STAFF MAY BE CONSTRAINED TO TRY TO HAVE ALL THE COMMUNICATIONS VERY NEATLY DONE IN INSIDE THE, THE EMAIL SYSTEM.
BUT I, I THINK THERE NEEDS TO BE A FEW, JUST A FEW TWEAKS TO MAKE IT EASIER FOR THE PEOPLE WHO VOLUNTEER THEIR TIME.
NOW, I, I'M JUST ASKING, UH, FOR CLARIFICATION, DOES THIS MEAN I CAN SEND AN EMAIL JUST TO YOU, CYRUS? OR DO I SEND IT TO CYRUS AND TO CYRUS AT BC AT THE SAME TIME? IS THAT WHAT THIS IS ASKING FOR? WELL, I THINK THIS IS MORE OF A GENERIC, LET'S STUDY THIS.
OR IS THAT, THAT WE DON'T HAVE TO DO THAT ANYMORE? WELL, I THINK WHAT WHAT THIS DOES IS TO ALLOW FOR COPYING SO IT'S NOT EVEN SUGGESTING THAT YOU NOT ALSO HAVE YOUR BC EMAIL THERE SO THAT EVERYTHING THAT'S CITY RELATED IDEALLY WILL ALSO BE IN THAT BC ACCOUNT.
UM, BUT IT'S REALLY KINDA LIKE WHAT CYRUS AND, AND DAVE ARE TALKING ABOUT.
[01:05:01]
YOU'RE GETTING THE NOTICE THAT YOU, YOU HOPEFULLY DON'T SEE LIKE A WEEK LATER AFTER THE THING HAS PASSED.LAUREN, I KNOW YOU'VE HAD YOUR HAND UP FOR A WHILE.
UM, I GENERALLY SUPPORT THIS PROPOSAL.
I HAD A QUESTION ABOUT WHETHER THE INTENT WAS TO, TO MAINTAIN A COPY OF THE BC OR BECAUSE I WOULD HAVE CONCERNS ABOUT MOVING COMMUNICATIONS EXCLUSIVELY TO PERSONAL EMAIL ADDRESSES, THOUGH LIKE YOU SAID, WE WOULD ALL STILL BE UNDER THE SAME REQUIREMENTS OF THE PUBLIC INFORMATION ACT.
AND I'M, I'M SUPPORTIVE AS WELL.
I THINK IT'S, UH, ESPECIALLY ON COMMUNICATIONS FROM STAFF RIGHT TO US, UM, THAT THEY'D BE ABLE TO COPY US BECAUSE AGAIN, IF THE, IF THE EXPECTATION FOR US AS COMMISSIONERS IS WE'LL RESPOND WITH OUR, WITH OUR BC YOU KNOW, THEN WE CAN GO AND LOG IN AND RESPOND WITH OUR BC BUT WE, WE NEVER SAW THAT THERE WAS A COMMUNICATION OR A REQUEST, THEN YOU MAY NEVER HEAR FROM US.
AND, UM, AND I, AND THEN, AND THEN THE OTHER THING IS I, AND IT MAY NOT BE AS BIG AN ISSUE NOW, IS SOMETIMES I GET LOCKED OUT OF MY BC UH, EMAIL AND IT'S HARD TO GET, AT LEAST IN THE PAST IT WAS HARD TO GET BACK ON.
UH, I RECENTLY KIND OF HAD TO RESET MY PASSWORD AND THAT WAS ACTUALLY PRETTY EASY.
BUT, UH, UM, BUT THAT'S ANOTHER REASON WHY SOMETIMES IT'S, IT'S GOOD TO HAVE AT LEAST A COPY FROM COMMUNICATIONS COMING TOWARD US.
AND IF THE RULES FOR US SENDING STUFF OUT ARE, YOU KNOW, MORE STRINGENT, I'M FINE WITH THAT.
IT'S MORE MAKING SURE WE'RE INFORMED AND, AND ARE WEIGHING IN AND NOT SLOWING THE PROCESS DOWN.
YOU KNOW, UH, WHEN WE GET INQUIRIES OR REQUESTS.
SO, BUT THANKS FOR BRINGING THIS FORWARD.
SO, LAURA, ALL RIGHT, YOU'RE ONE OF THE LAWYERS ONLINE HERE.
UM, DO YOU THINK WE NEED TO ADD SOME TEXT ABOUT NOT ENTIRELY MOVING IT TO PERSONAL.
I MEAN, THERE'S ABSOLUTELY THINGS THAT SHOULD BE PROBABLY OFF, UH, OUT OF BOUNDS, NOT ENTIRELY IN PERSONAL EMAILS.
I MEAN, AT LEAST BEING COPIED.
DO YOU HAVE AN IDEA OF SOME OF THE PARTICULAR PRESCRIPTIVE, UM, JARGON THAT WE MAY WANT TO INCLUDE? WELL, I MEAN, TO BE CLEAR, WE'RE NOT AMENDING THE CITY CODE, AND I HAVEN'T REALLY HAD A CHANCE TO LOOK AT IT.
BUT I THINK, UM, THE LANGUAGE IN THE DOCUMENT I'M VIEWING SAYING, ALLOWED TO COPY PERSONAL EMAIL ADDRESSES, UM, SHOULD BE INCLUDED.
UM, BUT I DON'T, YOU KNOW, WITHOUT SEEING THE CODE ITSELF, I CAN'T RECOMMEND SPECIFIC LANGUAGE, BUT I THINK THAT IS AN IMPORTANT LIMITATION THAT SHOULD BE INCLUDED.
AGAIN, NOT BECAUSE IT WOULD BE LEGALLY REQUIRED, AND OBVIOUSLY I'M NOT ADVISING THIS BODY BECAUSE WE DON'T HAVE THAT KIND OF RELATIONSHIP.
UM, BUT I THINK IT WOULD BE MORE PALATABLE TO EVERYONE IN THE PUBLIC AS WELL.
YEAH, THAT'S DEFINITELY THE INTENT HERE, AND THAT'S WHY IT SAYS COPY, UM, NOT NOT TRYING TO REMOVE THE CITY, UM, EMAIL ADDRESS AS PART OF THE COMMUNICATION STREAM, JUST MM-HMM
DO YOU HAVE ANY COMMENTS FROM AUSTIN ENERGY ON THIS? OKAY, WE DON'T.
WELL, SO I'M GONNA, I'M GONNA MAKE THE MOTION TO, UH, TO ADOPT THIS RECOMMENDATION, WHICH I AM GOING TO READ ALOUD NOW.
SO THIS IS RECOMMENDATION, UH, 20 25 0 6 0 9 3 FOR JUNE 9TH, 2025.
THE SUBJECT IS PERSONAL USE OF EMAIL ADDRESSES BY CITY OF AUSTIN VOLUNTEER COMMISSIONERS.
THE RECOMMENDATION IS ALLOW FOR COMMUNICATIONS TO AND FROM CITY OF AUSTIN VOLUNTEER BOARD AND COMMISSION MEMBERS TO GO TO BOTH OFFICIAL CITY EMAIL ADDRESSES AND PERSONAL EMAIL.
UH, EMAIL ADDRESSES, DESCRIPTION OF RECOMMENDATION TO COUNCIL, THE ELECTRIC UTILITY COMMISSION.
RESPECTFULLY REQUEST THAT THE AUSTIN CITY COUNCIL AMEND THE CITY CODE TO ALLOW VOLUNTEERS SERVING ON CITY COMMISSIONS TO USE COMBINATION OF PERSONAL AND CITY EMAIL ACCOUNTS.
SPECIFICALLY COMMERS COMMISSIONERS AND CITY STAFF SHOULD BE EXPLICITLY ALLOWED TO COPY PERSONAL EMAIL ADDRESSES WHEN EMAILING COMMISSIONERS AND CITY BC EMAIL ADDRESSES RATIONALE.
THE CITY OF AUSTIN'S CLERKS CLERK'S OFFICE HAS BEGUN INFORMING STAFF LIAISONS FOR CITY OF AUSTIN BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS THAT THEY MUST ONLY USE COMMISSIONER'S OFFICIAL CITY EMAIL ADDRESSES DUE TO A, A REQUIREMENT IN CITY CODE.
PRIOR TO THIS RECENT GUIDANCE, SOME COMMISSIONERS HAD
[01:10:01]
REQUESTED THAT CORRESPONDENCE BE DIRECTED TO BOTH THEIR CITY EMAIL ADDRESSES AND A PERSONAL EMAIL ADDRESS THAT THEY CHECK MARKED FREQUENTLY.THIS ENABLED VOLUNTEER COMMISSIONERS TO AVOID MISSING COMMUNICATIONS FROM LIAISONS, OTHER CITY STAFF, FELLOW COMMISSIONERS, AND THE PUBLIC MAKING, COMMUNICATING WITH STAFF AND FELLOW COMMISSIONERS EASIER CAN MAKE SERVING ON BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS MORE ACCESSIBLE AND ALLOW COMMISSIONERS TO BE MORE PRODUCTIVE.
ON BEHALF OF THE CITY OF AUSTIN, MANY VOLUNTEER COMMISSIONERS ARE ALSO WORKING AT LEAST ONE FULL-TIME JOB.
MANY ALSO HAVE OTHER FAMILY AND COMMUNITY RESPONSIBILITIES AND COMMITMENTS.
MANY ALREADY HAVE MORE THAN ONE EMAIL ACCOUNT TO KEEP UP WITH.
AND ADDING ANOTHER CAN BE A SIGNIFICANT BURDEN FOR SOME COMMISSIONERS.
COMMISSIONERS ARE INFORMED DURING THE MANDATORY TRAININGS FOR COMMISSIONS COMMISSIONERS THAT ALL COMMUNICATIONS ABOUT BOARD OR COMMISSION BUSINESS ARE SUBJECT TO DISCLOSURE UNDER THE TEXAS PUBLIC INFORMATION ACT, REGARDLESS OF WHAT COMMUNICATION CHANNEL, CITY, OR PERSONAL THAT THE COMMISSIONER USES.
CAN I, UM, MAKE ONE, I GUESS PROPOSED AMENDMENT TO THAT PLEASE? EXCEPT THE VERY END OF THE DESCRIPTION OF RECOMMENDATION TO COUNCIL.
ADDING ONE ADDITIONAL SENTENCE.
I THINK TIES UP THE DISCUSSION WE'VE HAD THAT SAYS, UM, A COMMISSIONER'S OFFICIAL CITY EMAIL ADDRESS SHOULD BE INCLUDED ON ALL COMMUNICATIONS.
UH, COMMISSIONERS OFFICIAL CITY EMAIL ADDRESS SHOULD STILL BE INCLUDED ON ALL OFFICIAL COMMUNICATIONS.
I'VE ADDED THAT TO THE END OF THE DESCRIPTION OF RECOMMENDATION TO COUNSEL.
WE HAVE A UNANIMOUS VOTE ON THIS.
WHO IS THE SECOND? RAUL? RAUL, THANK YOU.
[4. Discussion of electric landscaping equipment distribution event. ]
NUMBER FOUR, DISCUSSION OF ELECTRIC LANDSCAPE EQUIPMENT DISTRIBUTION EVENT.I GUESS THIS IS, UH, DID WE GET THE MEMO? I DIDN'T SEE IT.
HELLO? WE CAN PUT IT IN THE PACKAGE.
IT WAS EMAILED TO ALL B AND C EMAIL ACCOUNTS ON FRIDAY, AND THEN IT WAS ALSO INCLUDED IN THE UPDATED MATERIALS PACKET TODAY.
NIKKI BUDGETED 50,000 FOR ELECTRIC LAWN CARE EXCHANGE EVENTS.
61 GAS UNITS TOOK POSSESSION AND RESPONSIBLY RECYCLED THE GAS UNITS.
THEY WERE REPLACED BY ELECTRIC ADDITIONAL EVENTS TO BE ELIGIBLE TO EXCHANGE.
NEXT EVENT SATURDAY, JUNE 28TH AT HABITAT FOR HUMANITY RESTORE ON BEN WHITE, 500 WEST BEN WHITE BOULEVARD FROM 7:00 AM TO 11:00 AM AND AHAD CHAUDRY IS COORDINATING THE VET.
ANY DISCUSSION? I HAD A QUESTION.
NO, UH, IN LOOKING AT THE NUMBERS, ARE THERE, ARE THERE NO LAWNMOWERS OR WAS THAT NOT PART OF THE PROGRAM? I FORGOT FROM THE MONTH AGO WHAT Y'ALL WERE, WERE YOU OFFERING LAWNMOWER EXCHANGE? GOOD EVENING COMMISSIONERS.
RICHARD GENESEE, VICE PRESIDENT OF CUSTOMER ENERGY SOLUTIONS, UH, IN CONSULTING AND WORKING WITH, UH, AUSTIN RESOURCE RECOVERY, UH, LAWNMOWERS, WERE NOT PART OF THE ORIGINAL, UM,
[01:15:02]
UH, SCOPE OF THE EXCHANGE.UM, AND WE ARE WORKING WITH THEM TO INVESTIGATE A CONSIDERATION OF THEM FOR THE FUTURE EVENT ON JUNE 28TH.
UM, THANKS FOR SHARING THIS INFORMATION.
UM, I WAS JUST WONDERING ABOUT THE, UM, DEMOGRAPHICS OF WHO ACTUALLY SHOWED UP.
I KNOW IT WAS MARKETED TO THE LOW INCOME CUSTOMERS.
UM, IS THAT WHO SHOWED UP AND IF SOMEBODY WHO WASN'T A LOW INCOME CUSTOMER SHOWED UP, WERE THEY STILL ALLOWED TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE OFFER? OR WAS IT LIMITED? YES, THE EVENT WAS MARKETED TO, UH, LOW INCOME CUSTOMERS, BUT WE DID NOT TURN ANYONE AWAY IF THEY SHOWED UP TO THE EVENT.
SO THERE WASN'T NECESSARILY LIKE DEMOGRAPHIC INFORMATION COLLECTED, IT WAS KIND OF LIKE, IF YOU SHOW UP, THEN YOU WERE THE SITUATION.
WELL, NO AC ACTUALLY, FOLKS WERE REQUIRED TO REGISTER FOR THE EVENT AND WE DID CHECK PEOPLE IN ONCE THEY, UH, ARRIVED AT THE EVENT.
I'M JUST SPECIFYING THAT IF SOMEONE SHOWED UP WHO DID NOT REGISTER, WE DIDN'T TURN ANYONE AWAY.
DID THAT HAPPEN AT, AT LEAST IN ONE CASE? YES, THAT I'M AWARE OF.
UM, YOU KNOW, I DO THINK THAT'S A GREAT TARGET, UH, POPULATION TO, TO FOCUS ON.
UM, BUT YOU KNOW, ALSO THINKING ABOUT THAT THERE ARE OTHER PEOPLE WHO ARE, YOU KNOW, WHATEVER, THEY'RE STILL USING THEIR GAS POWERED, UM, DEVICES, AND THIS MIGHT BE A WAY TO NUDGE THEM OUT OF THAT.
UM, WHAT Y'ALL ARE THINKING FOR FUTURE EVENTS, IF IT'S GOING TO BE, UM, YOU KNOW, EXCLUSIVELY KIND OF MARKETED TO CAP CUSTOMERS OR IF YOU MIGHT BROADEN IT OUT, UH, TO THE GENERAL AUSTIN ENERGY CUSTOMER BASE.
THE SECOND EVENT THAT WE'RE PLANNING IS ALSO INTENDED TO BE MARKETED TO LOW INCOME CUSTOMERS, BUT THAT DOESN'T MEAN THAT WE WOULDN'T CONSIDER FOR POTENTIAL FUTURE EVENTS, OTHER POPULATIONS.
AGAIN, I, I DO THINK IT'S NICE TO FOCUS, UM, ON THOSE FOLKS, BUT I DON'T KNOW, I'M JUST THINKING ABOUT, I MEAN, MY NEIGHBOR, NOT LOW INCOME, BUT HE RUNS HIS GAS POWERED LEAF BLOWER MULTIPLE TIMES A DAY.
SO, WHICH THERE ARE A LOT OF TIMES TO GET A NOTICE THAT THE CITY'S GIVING AWAY FOR THE ELECTRIC
SO RICHARD, WERE ALL THESE BATTERY POWERED AND NONE OF THEM CORDED? UM, YOU KNOW WHAT? I'M NOT SURE OF THAT.
I THINK THEY WERE ALL BATTERY POWERED, BUT YEAH, AHAD IS, UH, NODDING YES.
THEY WERE ALL BATTERY POWERED.
I THINK, YOU KNOW, WITH THE, THE BUDGET AND THE, THE SCOPE OF 250 UNITS, SENDING THOSE TO LOW INCOME PEOPLE IS GOOD.
I
IT'S A PRETTY SMALL PROGRAM RIGHT NOW.
I WOULD ARGUE THAT LIKE, GIVEN THE AIR QUALITY IMPACT OF GAS POWERED LAWN EQUIPMENT, IT'S PROBABLY ONE THAT WOULD BE WORTH PERHAPS SCALING UP.
AND, YOU KNOW, DEPENDING ON, IF IT SEEMS LIKE THIS IS CONTINUING TO BE A SUCCESSFUL MODEL, MAYBE WE SHOULD, YOU KNOW, DISCUSS THAT, UH, YOU KNOW, BE MORE THAN A $50,000 PROGRAM, WHICH IS VERY SMALL.
THE EMISSIONS PAYBACK IS ENORMOUS.
I THINK A LOT OF THESE ARE TWO STROKE THAT THEY BURN AN OIL GAS MIX, WHICH IS PARTICULARLY DIRTY.
IS IT 900 TO ONE OR WHAT'S THE, THE RATIO OF WHAT, I'VE HEARD SOMETHING IN THE PAST WHERE EACH ONE OF THESE WEED EATERS COULD BE EQUIVALENT TO A HUNDRED CAR.
I DON'T KNOW WHAT THE EXACT NUMBER WAS, BUT IT WAS AN ENORMOUS NUMBER OF CARS.
I THINK AFTER THIS NEXT EVENT WE'LL BE IN A BETTER POSITION TO EVALUATE THIS SUCCESS AND POTENTIALLY PLAN FOR THE FUTURE IF WE EVEN HAD ANY NEED FOR ADDITIONAL EVENTS, BECAUSE WE MAY BE EXHAUSTED THE 250 THAT WE ALLOCATED.
WELL THANK YOU FOR YOUR EFFORTS IN THIS.
ANY OTHER DISCUSSIONS? UM, ONE OTHER QUICK QUESTION.
ANY OTHER DISCUSSION ON THIS? I WAS JUST WONDERING WHAT THE BUDGET, UM, IF, IF Y'ALL HAVE, IF THIS IS, AND I REALIZE
[01:20:01]
YOU PROBABLY CAN'T ANSWER THIS, BUT I DON'T KNOW IN CASE YOU CAN.UM, IS THIS SOMETHING THAT IS INCLUDED, UM, AS AN ADDITIONAL ITEM IN THE UPCOMING BUDGET? THIS IS, THIS IS NOT, THIS WAS A PART OF THIS YEAR'S BUDGET, UM, AND WORKING OUT, UH, WORKING THIS, UH, ITEM WITH, UH, COUNCIL MEMBER RYAN ALTER, SO IT IS NOT IN NEXT YEAR'S BUDGET.
UM, WE WOULD HAVE TO ADD IT AS AN ITEM, WHICH WE WILL HAVE THE DATA FOR AFTER WE EVALUATE THE SUCCESS OF THIS, UH, NEXT EVENT.
[5. Discussion and approval of changes to the 2025 EUC meeting schedule. ]
DISCUSSION AND APPROVAL OF CHANGES TO THE 2025 EUC MEETING SCHEDULED.NIKKI, DO YOU WANNA ARTICULATE THE THOUGHTS OF WHAT WE'RE FIRST I'LL ASK KABA IF SHE WANTS TO TAKE IT.
KABA ITEM FIVE, NIKKI, I THINK, I THINK YOU KNOW WHAT'S UP,
UH, THE EUCS NEXT MEETING IS ON MONDAY, JULY 14TH.
THE BUDGET WILL BE RELEASED ON JULY 11TH, THAT FRIDAY TO COUNCIL.
HOWEVER, IT WILL NOT BE OFFICIALLY PRESENTED TO THE COUNCIL UNTIL TUESDAY, JULY 15TH.
CITY STAFF IS UNABLE TO DO ANY PRESENTATIONS REGARDING THE BUDGET UNTIL IT IS PRESENTED TO THE COUNCIL ON JULY 15TH.
SO, BECAUSE WE WON'T BE ABLE TO HAVE IT ON THE AGENDA ITEM AS AN AGENDA ITEM ON JULY 14TH, YOUR NEXT MEETING THEN IS AUGUST 11TH, THE WEEK OF THE BUDGET ADOPTION PROCESS.
SO KABA AND DAVE, UH, RECOMMENDED TO GO AHEAD AND PUT THIS ON THIS MONTH'S AGENDA TO LOOK AT THE SCHEDULE.
UM, BECAUSE THAT WAS LATE ON THURSDAY, UH, I WAS ABLE TO REACH OUT, I DON'T HAVE A FULL ANSWER YET ON THE AVAILABILITY OF THIS ROOM.
SO THAT HAS TO BE CONSIDERED ALONG WITH ALL OF THE EXECUTIVES WHO AND OTHER STAFF THAT ARE SCHEDULED TO PRESENT IN THE JULY MEETING.
UM, BECAUSE MOST FOLKS DO KIND OF BUILD THEIR SCHEDULE, ESPECIALLY IN THE SUMMER AROUND THE, THE SCHEDULE.
SO WE'LL NEED TO LOOK AT BOTH OF THOSE AVAILABILITY AND THEN ALSO THE AVAILABILITY OF THE COMMISSION AS WELL TO ENSURE THAT WE HAVE, UH, QUORUM.
UM, SO I WOULD, I WOULD LIKE, UM, HOPEFULLY IF YOU GUYS COULD DO A LOOSE RECOMMENDATION TO JUST SAY WHETHER OR NOT YOU VOTED UP AS A BODY OF THE WHOLE TO POTENTIALLY CANCEL THE JULY 14TH MEETING AND HAVE A SPECIAL CALLED MEETING AT ANOTHER DATE IN JULY.
UH, ONCE WE CAN IDENTIFY THAT ALL THREE OF THOSE VARIABLES WILL HAVE AVAILABILITY, UM, WE DO NOT HAVE TO HAVE A VOTE FOR A SPECIFIC DATE FOR THE SPECIAL CALLED, AND THAT'S WHY I'M ASKING TO KEEP IT KIND OF LOOSE.
AND THEN ONCE WE KNOW THE AVAILABILITY OF THE ROOM, THE EXECUTIVES WILL REACH OUT TO YOU, HAVE A POLL, MAKE SURE, UM, AND THEN IT ALSO LEADS UP TO OTHER OPTIONS AS WELL.
PERHAPS THE MEETING STAYS ON THE 14TH, AND THEN WE'LL JUST DO ANOTHER SPECIAL CALL JUST FOR THE BUDGET COMPONENT.
UM, WE CAN'T LET THE JULY MEETING PUSH OUT TOO FAR BECAUSE THERE'LL BE A LOT OF RCAS ON THAT, THAT WILL NEED TO BE, UH, REVIEWED PRIOR TO THE JULY 24TH CITY COUNCIL MEETING.
SO WE CAN EITHER CANCEL THE 14TH AND JUST HAVE A SPECIALLY CALLED MEETING, OR WE CAN KEEP THE 14TH AND THEN ALSO HAVE A SPECIALLY CALLED MEETING.
AND I THINK YOU LEAVE IT OPEN TO BOTH BECAUSE WE DO NOT KNOW THE AVAILABILITY YET FOR EVERYONE.
SO I, I THINK YOU JUST NEED TO BE OPEN THAT YOU ARE GONNA BE WILLING TO EITHER CANCEL, HAVE A SPECIAL CALLED OR KEEP IT AND HAVE A SPECIAL CALL.
I THINK THAT THAT'S ALL RIGHT.
AND, UM, MAYBE WE COULD JUMPSTART THE PROCESS OF AVAILABILITY RIGHT NOW.
'CAUSE I KNOW OUR FEW KIND OF DATES THAT WE WERE, UH, KIND OF HONED IN ON WERE THE JULY 16TH AND 17TH.
SO, UM, THAT'S I BELIEVE A WEDNESDAY AND A THURSDAY IS ANYBODY, IF ANYBODY ISN'T AVAILABLE ONE OF THOSE DAYS, IT WOULD BE HELPFUL TO KNOW.
NOW, JUST AS WE'RE COLLECTING DATA DISCUSSION 16TH AND 17TH OF JULY, I, I MEAN, IS THAT ENOUGH? AND THAT WOULD BE ENOUGH TIME FOR STAFF? WELL, THEY WOULD BE MAKING A PRESENTATION TO THE CITY COUNCIL, SO IT WOULD BE, THEY WOULD BE ABLE TO MAKE THE PRESENTATION.
I WOULD THINK THAT IF IT'S 16TH OR 17TH, MAYBE CANCEL THE 14TH.
[01:25:01]
BUT IF IT HAS TO MOVE TO THE WEEK AFTER THAT, THE WEEK OF 21ST THROUGH THE 25TH WORK WEEK, THEN MAYBE KEEP THE 14TH, BUT YET HAVE A SPECIAL CALL.IS THAT A REASONABLE SET OF THINGS? BUT YOU DON'T WANT US TO OVER CONSTRAIN IT BECAUSE YOU HAVE TO DO ALL THIS LEGWORK.
SO HOW DO WE NOT OVERLY CONSTRAIN THE, THE ISSUE, BUT GET YOU LAUNCHED TO GO HELP WITH THIS AND GIVE YOU FEEDBACK? I'M HOPING FOR A RECOMMENDATION THAT SAYS UPON EVALUATION OF ROOM AVAILABILITY, AUSTIN ENERGY STAFF AVAILABILITY AND QUORUM OF THE EUC COMMISSION, THE JULY 14TH COUNCIL MEETING MAY BE CANCELED AND OR A SPECIAL CALL MEETING WILL TAKE PLACE IN JULY.
WHAT SHE SAID, WHAT SHE SAY? WHATEVER SHE SAID.
YOU WANNA RE YES, THAT'LL WORK.
BY THE WAY, I DON'T THINK WE TECHNICALLY NEED TO VOTE ON THIS.
I'M, I'M ALL FOR VOTING ON IT SINCE WE'RE HERE AND WE'VE GOT IT ON OUR AGENDA, BUT JUST YEAH, THINK THE CHAIR AGREED.
I THINK WE'RE JUST BEING SAFE.
CAN WE, UH, WELL, CAN I JUST, UH, YEAH.
WOULD THE 21ST BE AN OPTION? BECAUSE AGAIN, I'M STILL TRYING TO FIGURE OUT HOW DO WE, IF WE'RE POLLING THE COMMISSION, YOU ARE TAKING A, YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN? YOU'RE KIND OF LIKE TAKING A VOTE ON SOMETHING.
I DO KNOW THAT THIS ROOM IS NOT AVAILABLE ON THE 21ST, SO THAT IS NOT AN OPTION.
AND WE CAN, NIKKI, YOU COULD REACH OUT TO THE OTHER COMMISSIONERS WHO AREN'T HERE AND ASK THEM ABOUT THEIR AVAILABILITY TOO.
SO YEAH, WE'RE NOT SELECTING A DATE RIGHT NOW.
RAEL, WE'RE JUST, UM, JUST SAYING WE MIGHT MOVE THINGS.
HOW ABOUT WE JUST VOTE AND CLEAR THIS SO THAT SHE CAN GO DO THIS? I, OKAY.
THANK YOU FOR HELPING WITH THIS NIKKI.
[6. Discussion and approval of recommendations on hiring process for new Austin Energy general manager.]
SIX, DISCUSSION AND APPROVAL OF RECOMMENDATIONS ON HIRING THE NEW AE GENERAL MANAGER AND KIVA.SO THIS WAS ENTERED IN TIME, SO IT DOESN'T NEED TO GET READ IN NIKKI, RIGHT? OH NO, IT DOES.
UM, AND AGAIN, YOU KNOW, IF WE CHOOSE NOT TO ACT TODAY, IT WOULD PROBABLY STILL BE TIMELY IN, UM, IN JULY.
I DON'T KNOW WHAT THE TIMELINE IS FOR THIS HIRE, UM, BUT THAT WE SHOULD AT LEAST DISCUSS THE TOPIC.
'CAUSE THAT, YOU KNOW, IT'S A BIG DEAL GETTING A NEW GENERAL MANAGER.
SO I DON'T KNOW HOW MANY FOLKS WE'RE, I DON'T KNOW, INVOLVED, UH, WHEN JACKIE WAS HIRED, BUT WHEN SHE WAS HIRED, AND I THINK I'VE HEARD THAT IT WAS MAYBE SIMILAR WITH THE GENERAL MANAGER BEFORE HER.
UM, THERE WAS A LIKE, SHORTLIST OF CANDIDATES THAT WERE BROUGHT IN FOR A GROUP INTERVIEW WITH, UM, YOU KNOW, I DON'T KNOW, I DON'T KNOW HOW WE WERE SELECTED, A GROUP OF US THAT WERE SELECTED TO INTERVIEW AND KIND OF GIVE SOME FEEDBACK.
UM, I PERSONALLY THOUGHT THAT WAS LIKE BETTER THAN NOTHING, BUT NOT IDEAL BECAUSE NOBODY GETS TO HEAR WHAT QUESTIONS ARE ASKED OR WHAT THE RESPONSES WERE OR ANYTHING.
UM, AND IN CONTRAST, THE, UM, THE CITY MANAGER, THERE'S, THERE'S GENERALLY BEEN A, A PUBLIC FORUM FOR THE SHORT LIST OF CANDIDATES AND, YOU KNOW, I MEAN, THESE ARE DIFFERENT POSITIONS, BUT I THINK THE REALITY IS IS THE AUSTIN ENERGY, UM, DOES PLAY SUCH AN IMPORTANT ROLE IN THE CITY THAT THE AUSTIN ENERGY GENERAL MANAGER, YOU KNOW, REALLY IS, IS KIND OF LIKE SECOND TO THE, UM, TO THE CITY MANAGER IN TERMS OF LIKE VISIBILITY AND, UM, YOU KNOW, I THINK IMPORTANCE OF THE ROLE.
SO, UM, THAT'S ONE OF THE SUGGESTIONS IS JUST, YOU KNOW, TO HAVE SOME SORT OF PUBLIC FORUM FOR PEOPLE TO GET TO MEET THE CANDIDATES, JUST LIKE IS DONE FOR, FOR CITY MANAGER.
AND THEN THE OTHER WOULD JUST, UH, NUMBER ONE JUST REALLY HAS TO DO WITH, UM, CRITERIA.
AND THIS VERY WELL MIGHT ALREADY BE IN THE CRITERIA.
UM, BUT JUST MAKING SURE THAT, UM, WHOEVER IS SELECTED FOR THE POSITION IS FULLY BOUGHT INTO THE DECARBONIZATION, UM,
[01:30:01]
GOAL BECAUSE IT IS SOMETHING THAT I THINK IS, MAKES AUSTIN ENERGY DIFFERENT FROM SOME OTHER UTILITIES.OF COURSE, YOU NEED SOMEBODY WHO LIKE KNOWS THE FINANCES AND THE OPERATIONS, LIKE IT'S KIND OF A GIVEN.
UM, BUT NOT EVERY UTILITY HAS STATED THAT THEY ARE, YOU KNOW, TRYING TO DECARBONIZE AND AUSTIN ENERGY HAS.
SO WE REALLY NEED SOMEBODY WHO HAS SOME EXPERIENCE IN THAT REALM AND, AND IS BOUGHT INTO IT.
SO WHY DON'T WE READ THIS IN I IF IT'S CLEAR.
I CAN READ IT IN FROM HERE IF WE WANNA DO THAT OR KABA.
DO YOU WANNA DO IT FROM THERE OR LET ME READ IT IN.
YOU ELECTRIC UTILITY COMMISSION RECOMMENDATION 20 25 0 6 0 9 DASH 0 0 6.
SUBJECT, HIRING NEW AUSTIN ENERGY GENERAL MANAGER.
RECOMMENDATION, ESTABLISH DECARBONIZATION EXPERIENCE CRITERIA FOR CANDIDATES AND HOST PUBLIC FORUM FOR A FINALIST DESCRIPTION OF RECOMMENDATION TO COUNCIL.
THE ELECTRIC UTILITY COMMISSION RECOMMENDS THE, THAT THE FOLLOWING BE INCLUDED IN THE HIRING PROCESS FOR THE NEXT AUSTIN ENERGY GENERAL MANAGER.
NUMBER ONE, ESTABLISHMENT OF CLEAR CRITERIA FOR EXPERIENCE THAT ALIGN WITH THE DECARBONIZATION GOALS OF AUSTIN ENERGY.
THE NEXT GENERAL MANAGER SHOULD HAVE A DEMONSTRATED PASSION AND SKILL SET FOR TRANSITIONING FROM FOSSIL FUELS TO CLEAN RENEWABLE ENERGY IN A WAY THAT BENEFITS COMMUNITIES BY REDUCING EMISSIONS AND KEEPING BILLS AFFORDABLE.
NUMBER TWO, ONE OR MORE HYBRID FORMAT.
PUBLIC FORUMS FOR A SHORT LIST, SAY THREE TO FIVE OF FINALISTS FOR THE POSITION THAT ARE OPEN TO THE PUBLIC.
AND RECORDED ATTENDEES SHOULD HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO ASK QUESTIONS OF THE CANDIDATES RATIONALE.
THE GENERAL MANAGER OF AUSTIN ENERGY NEEDS TO BE PREPARED FOR MORE THAN JUST OPERATING AN ELECTRIC UTILITY.
AUSTIN ENERGY IS DIFFERENT FROM MANY UTILITIES BECAUSE IT IS PUBLICLY OWNED AND IT IS DIFFERENT EVEN FROM MANY PUBLICLY OWNED UTILITIES BECAUSE OF THE PRIORITIES OF THE AUSTIN COMMUNITY AND THE AUSTIN CITY COUNCIL.
THE AUSTIN CITY COUNCIL HAS REPEATEDLY ADOPTED PLANS THAT ENVISION THE PHASING OUT OF FOSSIL FUELS AT THE UTILITY.
DOING SO WILL REQUIRE SEVERAL CHANGES IN PROGRAMS, OPERATIONS AND POLICIES AT THE UTILITY.
THE NEXT GENERAL MANAGER MUST BECOME, MUST BE SOMEONE WHO EMBRACES THE CHALLENGE AND IS EAGER TO FIND SOLUTIONS TO DIFFICULT PROBLEMS. THE AUSTIN ENERGY GENERAL MANAGER MUST BE COMFORTABLE WITH RESPONDING TO THE PUBLIC IN A PRODUCTIVE WAY IN TIMES OF CRISIS.
AND AS A REGULAR COURSE OF BUSINESS, THE AUSTIN ENERGY GENERAL MANAGER AT TIMES BECOMES THE MOST VISIBLE FACE OF THE CITY GOVERNMENT.
ENGAGING THE PUBLIC IN A WAY THAT BUILDS TRUST IS ESSENTIAL.
PARTICIPATING IN AT LEAST ONE PUBLIC FORUM PRIOR TO BEING HIRED IS ONE WAY TO GET A TASTE OF HOW THE CANDIDATE WILL APPROACH RESPONDING TO THE PUBLIC MOVE APPROVAL.
I I HAD A QUESTION ABOUT NUMBER ONE.
UM, IT SAYS, ESTABLISHMENT OF CLEAR CRITERIA FOR EXPERIENCE ALIGNED WITH THE DECARBONIZATION GOALS OF AUSTIN ENERGY.
I MEAN, IT'S THE DECARBONIZATION GOALS OF AUSTIN ENERGY AS SET BY THE CITY COUNCIL, BUT IS THAT IMPLICIT? BECAUSE AUSTIN ENERGY'S BOARD OF DIRECTORS IS CITY COUNCIL, IT'S NOT REALLY THEIR DECARBONIZATION GOALS, RIGHT? IT'S IT'S THE GOALS THAT THE POLICY SET.
SO I DON'T KNOW, I THINK IT'S WORTHWHILE TO PUT THAT IN.
I DON'T KNOW IF WE SHOULD SAY THE LINE WITH THE DECARBONIZATION GOALS OF AUSTIN ENERGY AS ESTABLISHED BY CITY COUNCIL.
I DON'T KNOW IF THAT'S NEEDED OR NOT.
UM, AND THEN THE NEXT SENTENCE SAYS, THE NEXT GENERAL MANAGER SHOULD HAVE A DEMONSTRATED PASSION AND SKILLSET SET FOR TRANSITIONING FOR FOSSIL FUELS TO CLEAN RENEWABLE ENERGY.
UM, IT'S NOT JUST CLEAN RENEWABLE ENERGY, RIGHT? WHERE THERE ARE OTHER THINGS IN OUR GENERATION PLAN.
SO I DON'T KNOW IF, IF WE WANT TO, IT'S REALLY ZERO CARBON, ISN'T IT? YEAH.
UM, YEAH, IT'S REALLY ZERO BECAUSE IT INCLUDES, YOU KNOW, STORAGE AND OTHER THINGS AND LOOKING AT OTHER TECHNOLOGIES AS WELL.
UM, I DON'T KNOW IF THERE'S A WAY TO SAY THAT THAT'S MORE INCLUSIVE.
MAYBE CLEAN CARBON FREE RESOURCES.
YEAH, ENERGY RESOURCES THAT WOULD INCLUDE ENERGY EFFICIENCY AND OTHER THINGS.
[01:35:03]
OKAY.SO WHAT WOULD YOU STRIKE? SO INSTEAD OF CLEAN RENEWABLE ENERGY, YOU BROADEN THAT TO ZERO CARBON.
I PUT, OR YEAH, I PUT CLEAN COMMA CARBON FREE ENERGY RESOURCES IN A WAY THAT YEAH.
SO WHAT ABOUT, UH, CARBON NEUTRAL? TELL US ABOUT THE SENSITIVITIES WITH THAT CARBON FREE OR CARBON NEUTRAL.
I MEAN, I THINK THE GOAL IS CARBON FREE, RIGHT? UM, YEAH.
BUT I THINK, AND WHEN YOU LOOK AT A LIFE CYCLE, THERE MAY BE TECHNOLOGIES THAT YOU DON'T WANT TO EXCLUDE.
I THINK WHAT WE'RE TRYING TO SAY IS WE WANT THE NEW GENERAL MANAGER TO BUY INTO THE POLICY SET BY CITY COUNCIL, ESSENTIALLY, AND THAT THEY HAVE THE SKILLS TO DO THAT.
SO, HOWEVER, YEAH, DEFINITELY.
I'M TRYING TO REFINE THE POLICY HERE SO MUCH AS JUST SAY, MAYBE WE SHOULD JUST SAY, UM, THE DECARBONIZATION GOALS IN BOSTON ENERGY RESOURCE GENERATION AND CLIMATE PROTECTION PLAN.
I I'M JUST A LITTLE, I MEAN, I, I I UNDERSTAND THE INTENT.
I'M JUST A LITTLE CONCERNED THAT WE'RE OVERSTEPPING OUR DUTIES AND PURPOSE HERE BY TRYING TO BE TOO PRESCRIPTIVE AND DESCRIPTIVE ABOUT THIS.
ESPECIALLY WITHOUT KNOWING, I MEAN, I DON'T KNOW THAT I, I, IF IT'S AVAILABLE, I DON'T KNOW THAT I'VE SEEN THE JOB DESCRIPTION THAT THE CITY MANAGER HAS PUT TOGETHER, OR IF THERE IS ONE THAT'S BEEN PUT TOGETHER YET.
UH, SO MAYBE THIS IS A LITTLE PREMATURE, MAYBE NOT, BUT JUST, I'M JUST CONCERNED ABOUT GETTING A LITTLE TOO FAR AHEAD OF OURSELVES WITHOUT REALLY KNOWING WHAT THE CITY MANAGER WANTS TO DO, WHAT THE, THE CITY COUNCIL MAY HAVE DIRECTED HIM TO DO.
UH, BECAUSE IN THE END, THIS IS, THIS IS THEIR ROLE, THIS IS THEIR JOB, THIS IS THE CITY MANAGER'S JOB TO MAKE THIS HIGHER.
IT IS JUST, I THINK THERE'S A SENSITIVITY THAT IN THE PAST THERE HAVE BEEN OPEN FORUMS, BUT IN THE LAST GO AROUND, I GUESS THERE WASN'T, AND KIBA, YOU'D HAVE SOME MORE HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE ON THIS.
I MEAN, I THINK I ALREADY SHARED WHAT I KNOW ABOUT, UM, THE LAST, LAST TIME AROUND.
UM, I, I DO KNOW THAT, UH, A SEARCH FIRM HAS BEEN SELECTED AND COUNSEL, I BELIEVE APPROVED THAT CONTRACT, UM, I THINK MAYBE LAST WEEK, VERY RECENTLY FOR SURE.
UM, SO IT'S POSSIBLE THAT THEY HAVEN'T ENTIRELY, UM, FINISHED THE JOB DESCRIPTION, WHICH I THINK IS THE TIME THAT IDEALLY, THAT WE WOULD GIVE OUR INPUT BEFORE THEY'VE FINALIZED IT.
I THINK ONCE THEY FINALIZE IT AND IT'S OUT THERE AND WE'VE SEEN IT, UM, IT'S KIND OF UNLIKELY THAT THEY'LL CHANGE IT.
UM, BUT YOU NEVER KNOW, UM, CERTAINLY NOT TRYING TO BE OVERLY PRESCRIPTIVE, JUST TRYING TO, UM, ENSURE THAT, THAT THEY ARE TAKING INTO CONSIDERATION THE, THE GOALS THAT HAVE BEEN SET FOR AUSTIN ENERGY AND FINDING, FINDING SOMEBODY WHO, WHO MATCHES UP AND ALIGNS WITH THAT.
UM, MAYBE THERE'S A WAY THAT WE COULD, UM, REFINE THE LANGUAGE TO, I MEAN, WE COULD JUST TAKE OUT THE SECOND SENTENCE AND JUST SAY THAT ALIGNED WITH THE DECARBONIZATION GOALS OF AUSTIN ENERGY IS SET BY CITY COUNCIL, YOU KNOW? YEAH.
SO HOW WOULD YOU RE REPHRASE ONE AND TWO? SO TWO WOULD BE THE SAME.
ONE WOULD JUST SAY ESTABLISHMENT OF CLEAR CRITERIA FOR EXPERIENCE THAT ALIGN WITH THE DECARBONIZATION GOALS OF A ENERGY AS ESTABLISHED BY CITY COUNCIL.
AND THAT WAY YOU'RE NOT GETTING INTO A NUANCED DISCUSSION OF WHAT'S CARBON NEUTRAL AND WHAT'S CARBON FREE AND WHAT'S RENEWABLE ENERGY.
AND, YOU KNOW, THE BIGGEST CONCERN IS OVER CONSTRAINING THE TECHNOLOGIES.
DOES THAT SOUND PALATABLE TO EVERYBODY? I THINK THE CONCERN IS ALSO NOT GETTING IT.
DO WANT TO GET AHEAD OF IT SO THEY KNOW THERE'S A REQUEST TO HAVE AN OPEN FORUM AS PART OF THE PROCESS.
AL, I, I THINK THAT'S THE IMPORTANT PART, AND I WANT TO THANK YOU AND EVA FOR, FOR PUTTING THIS FORWARD.
I, I WROTE A LETTER TO THE CITY MANAGER AS SOON AS THIS JOB OPENED AND BASICALLY SAID THE SAME THING WITH SOME SENSE OF URGENCY.
BUT THIS, THIS MAKES IT MORE POWERFUL THAN JUST MY EMAIL.
UH, WHEN, WHEN JACKIE SERGEANT WAS HIRED, THERE WAS A BIG OPEN FORUM.
HIM AND I, I REMEMBER LISTENING TO FOUR CANDIDATES AND, UH, BEING IMPRESSED BY SOME AND
[01:40:01]
THINKING THAT SOME OTHERS WERE KIND OF OLD SCHOOL AND WOULDN'T FIT.BUT I, I THINK THAT WAS AN IMPORTANT THING.
AND I THINK THE, UH, CITY MANAGER HAD A SIMILAR OPEN FORUM, UH, FOR THE LATEST, UH, POLICE CHIEF HIRE, ALTHOUGH I DIDN'T PARTICIPATE IN IT.
SO THERE, THERE'S, THERE'S PLENTY OF EXPERIENCE AND, AND TRADITION TO DO THAT, AND I THINK IT REALLY HELPS US TO FIND THE, THE BEST PERSON, UH, WHO'S WILLING TO TAKE THE GEN PLAN FORWARD, YOU KNOW, AND, UH, I'D LIKE TO SEE THAT HAPPEN.
SO THANK YOU FOR PUTTING THIS TOGETHER.
ANY OTHER? YEAH, CHRIS, MY CONCERN WITH HAVING, UH, THIS, THIS PRESCRIPTION THAT THERE SHOULD BE A PUBLIC FORUM IS THAT IT SEEMS LIKE IT WOULD CONSTRAIN THE POOL OF CANDIDATES TO PEOPLE WHO WOULD BE ABLE TO, TO GO THROUGH SOMETHING LIKE THAT.
I MEAN, I IMAGINE THAT A LOT OF THE BEST CANDIDATES FOR THE POSITION WOULD ALREADY BE EMPLOYED SOMEWHERE ELSE, WHERE THERE MIGHT BE AN ISSUE WITH THEM GOING THROUGH THIS PROCESS WHERE IT COULD CREATE AN ISSUE WITH THEIR STATUS OF THEIR EMPLOYMENT OR WITH THE ORGANIZATIONS THAT THEY HELPED TO RUN.
AND SO I WOULDN'T WANT TO ASK THAT THAT BE REQUIRED PART OF THE PROCESS IF IT REDUCES THE POOL OF QUALIFIED CANDIDATES.
I'VE EXPERIENCED THAT IN PRIVATE INDUSTRY.
I JUST DON'T HAVE THE KNOWLEDGE IN THE PUBLIC SPACE, WHETHER YOU, YOU KIND OF WARN THAT YOU'RE, YOU'RE INTERVIEWING ANYWAY AS A COURTESY TO THE EXISTING ONE.
'CAUSE THERE MAY BE MORE MOBILITY IN A WAY THAN SOME OF THIS.
I, I, SO I COULD MAKE A CASE FOR EITHER WAY THAT YOU DON'T WANT TO DISCOURAGE NEW CANDIDATES.
ON THE OTHER HAND, BE TOO FEARFUL OF THAT EVA.
YEAH, I MEAN THIS, THAT'S NOT A NEW, I'VE DEFINITELY HEARD THAT, UM, POINT MADE BEFORE.
I GUESS I WOULD SAY IF SOMEBODY IS DOING A, A GREAT JOB AT THEIR CURRENT ROLE, UM, SIMPLY INTERVIEWING FOR ANOTHER JOB, YOU KNOW, I DON'T THINK IS LIKELY TO GET YOU, UM, AS STOOD, YOU KNOW, IF THERE'S NOT ALREADY AN ISSUE THERE.
UM, AND WE DO WANT SOMEBODY WHO'S, YOU KNOW, I THINK HOPEFULLY COMING, COMING FROM A GOOD SITUATION, UM, NOT LIKE ON THE MARKET BECAUSE THINGS, YOU KNOW, DIDN'T GO WELL AT THEIR LAST POSITION.
I I, I SEE THIS HAPPEN ROUTINELY FOR CITY MANAGERS AND THEY'RE VERY MUCH IN THE SAME KIND OF, UH, POSITION, RIGHT? WHERE SOME OF THEM MIGHT BE ALREADY ON THE MARKET, BUT SOME OF THEM MIGHT NOT.
UM, AND IT SEEMS TO WORK OUT OKAY THERE.
UM, YOU KNOW, I THINK IT'S A PRETTY ATTRACTIVE POSITION.
SO I, I HEAR IT, AND I'M NOT SAYING THAT THERE'S NOT ANYBODY OUT THERE THAT WON'T APPLY, BUT I'M NOT SURE THAT, THAT PEOPLE WHO WON'T APPLY BECAUSE OF THIS ARE PROBABLY MAYBE THE PEOPLE THAT ULTIMATELY WOULD BE ON THE SHORT LIST ANYWAY.
AND ALSO, I, YOU KNOW, I DON'T THINK THAT THEY NEED TO BE PUBLIC AT THE VERY START, RIGHT? THEY, THERE COULD BECOME A POINT WHERE IT'S LIKE, ALL RIGHT, ARE YOU READY FOR THIS? DO YOU WANNA CONTINUE IN THE PROCESS? LET CHRIS TWO.
YEAH, I, I THINK, I THINK HE'S CHRIS ONE
UM, I, I, I STILL THINK IT'S AN ISSUE.
I THINK THERE WILL BE SOME CANDIDATES WHO DON'T WANT THEIR NAME B BASED ON THEIR CURRENT ROLE.
THEY MAY NOT WANT THEIR NAME OUT THERE PUBLICLY UNTIL THEY KNOW THAT THEY HAVE THE JOB.
THE FLIP SIDE TO THAT, TO THAT IS ALSO THERE MAY BE SOME CANDIDATES WHO APPLY WHO REALLY JUST USED THE WHOLE EXERCISE TO GET A RAISE.
SO, UM, I KNOW THAT'S NOT NECESSARILY A, IT, IT JUST MEANS THAT WE'LL BE GOING THROUGH THE EXERCISE WITH SOMEBODY AND, UM, THEY'RE REALLY AND TRULY NOT AVAILABLE.
THEY'RE NOT SERIOUS ABOUT THE JOB.
USING IT AS LEVERAGE
AND IT, IT IS, YOU KNOW, HIRING AT THIS LEVEL IS, IS A KIND OF A MYSTERY PROCESS.
AND THE, THE, THE FIRST ROUND FOR YOU TO THROW YOUR HAT IN AND SAY, I'M APPLYING UNTIL YOU'RE SELECTED AS A FINALIST, YOU, YOU'RE NOT, YOU HAVEN'T IDENTIFIED, YOU'RE NOT EXPOSED.
SO IT'S ONLY REALLY THE FINALIST AND THEY HAVE TO HAVE THE CONVICTION AND THE BELIEF THAT, HEY, I'M GOING FOR THIS.
I MEAN, THE FIRST 16 PEOPLE QUIETLY WENT AWAY, BUT THESE FOUR OR THREE THAT ARE LEFT, UH, I, I THINK IT, THEY OWE IT TO US AND TO, TO BE OPEN IN THE PUBLIC.
UH, AND THE OTHER THING I WOULD SAY, AND MAYBE I'M, I'M JUST BRAGGING HERE, BUT I THINK AUSTIN ENERGY IS, IS A STEP UP FOR A LOT OF PEOPLE.
[01:45:01]
PLACE TO WORK FOR.SO AS POLICE CHIEFS AND CITY MANAGERS FROM EQUAL OR SMALLER TOWNS TRY TO GET THIS JOB, I THINK PEOPLE TRY TO GET THIS JOB.
SO IT'S, IT'S WORTH GOING FOR.
WELL, I, AND I THINK, I THINK THE CITY MANAGER WILL AND THE CITY COUNCIL WILL DECIDE WHICH WAY THEY BELIEVE YEAH.
THEMSELVES, RIGHT? THIS IS JUST A RECOMMENDATION THAT THEY CAN IGNORE OR, OR I THINK YOU'RE EXACTLY RIGHT.
I, I DON'T THINK IT REALLY MATTERS WHAT WE, WHAT WE DO.
I MEAN, BUT, BUT, BUT I THINK THIS IS COMMUNITY INPUT.
I ALSO, I WANNA PUSH BACK A LITTLE BIT ON THE PREMISE THAT THE IDENTITY OF THESE CANDIDATES IS SECRET.
I THINK SOME OF THIS MIGHT BE PUBLIC INFORMATION.
UM, THAT'S A FUN NIGHTMARE WE GOT TO LIVE THROUGH IN THE SPENCER CRO HIRING PROCESS.
UM, SO THERE MIGHT NOT BE THAT MUCH SECRECY IN THIS CANDIDATE POOL, UM, THAT CANDIDATES CAN RELY ON.
I MEAN, WILL THEIR IDENTITIES GET MORE ATTENTION IF THERE'S A PUBLIC FORUM? SURE, OF COURSE.
BUT IF ANYONE'S ENGAGING IN THIS PROCESS THINKING THAT THEIR IDENTITY WILL BE CONCEALED, I, I DON'T THINK THAT THAT'S A CORRECT ASSUMPTION.
AND I THINK THAT IF YOU THROW YOUR HAT IN THE RING, YOU PROBABLY OUGHT TO COUNT ON IT GETTING TO YOUR EMPLOYER ANYWAY.
JUST IN CASE IF YOU GET TO THE FINALIST LEVEL.
SO, UM, HOW ABOUT WE AMEND THIS? AND SO CYRUS, YOUR AMENDMENT WAS JUST SAYING ESTABLISHMENT FOR NUMBER ONE, ESTABLISHMENT OF CLEAN CRITERIA FOR EXPERIENCE CLEAR CRITERIA, CLEAR COLLECT CRITERIA FOR EXPERIENCE THAT ALIGN WITH THE DECARBONIZATION GOALS OF AUSTIN ENERGY ESTABLISHED BY CITY COUNCIL POLICY AS ESTABLISHED BY CITY COUNCIL, AS ESTABLISHED BY CITY COUNCIL.
SO NIKKI, DO YOU HAVE THAT? I HAVE THAT.
AND THEN JUST STRIKE THE NEXT SENTENCE.
SO THAT'S, SO, OKAY, SO HOW ABOUT WE VOTE? WE HAVE MOTION TO SECOND.
SO LET'S COUNT THAT BECAUSE I THINK WE'LL HAVE SOME ABSTAIN OR NAYS.
SO THREE ONLINE OR JONATHAN, ARE YOU OKAY? THREE ONLINE.
RAISE YOUR HAND OR SAY AGAINST
WHAT DO YOU WANT TO SAY? ABSTAIN.
[FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS ]
TO FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS. AND SO WE HAD OUR LIST AND NIKKI, YOU WERE SO KIND TO CREATE A SPREADSHEET TO TAKE THOSE THINGS AND PUT IT IN THE CALENDAR.IT LOOKS LIKE WE HAVE ANOTHER ONE ADDED.
DID YOU SAY HB OR SB 1202 AND 1252.
AND, YOU KNOW, UM, MAYBE THIS IS KIND OF, UM, SO, SO THE PRESENTATION WOULD BE, YOU KNOW, REALLY WHAT CHANGES, IF ANY, DOES AUSTIN ENERGY, UH, NEED TO MAKE, ASSUMING, ASSUMING THESE BILLS BECOME LAW.
AND I, I DON'T KNOW IF THE CORRECT NUMBER OF DAYS HAS PASSED YET.
UM, UH, BUT WE'LL, WE'LL KNOW BY JUNE 22ND, I BELIEVE IS THE LAST DAY FOR THE GOVERNOR TO VETO BILLS OR JUNE 20, I CAN'T REMEMBER THE EXACT DATE, BUT SOMEWHERE IN THAT THING.
SO JUST, UM, YOU KNOW, WHAT, HOW DOES THAT IMPACT, UM, THE PERMITTING OF, UM, BOTH, UH, STORAGE AND, AND SOLAR OR WHAT ADJUSTMENTS ARE NEEDED? SOMETHING LIKE THAT.
YOU GUYS KNOW WHAT TO, TO SAY.
SO COULD WE HIT ROLL THAT INTO TAMMY COOPER'S LEGISLATIVE UPDATE? IT MAYBE, PROBABLY COULD, RIGHT? I'LL TAKE ALL THE INFORMATION.
I'M NOT PREPARED TO MAKE AN ANSWER TODAY.
COULD, COULD YOU WRITE IT A RESOLUTION FOR US?
UM, ANY OTHER FUTURE ITEMS? WE HAVE THE BUDGET ONE, OBVIOUSLY.
WE HAVE THE BUDGET PRESENTATION, RIGHT? AND THAT'S, YEAH, THAT'S WHAT WE'RE WORKING ON.
THAT, THAT'S WHAT THE SPECIAL THING IS.
AND THE DATE THEN WERE WE GETTING A, I ASSUME WE ALREADY COVERED THIS, RIGHT? THERE'S GONNA BE THE, THE BATTERY, A POTENTIAL BATTERY RCA, RIGHT? THAT'S, YEAH, SHE'S GOT A CALENDAR SHE CAN SEND OUT.
YOU MAY HAVE ALREADY SENT IT OUT.
WERE WE GONNA GET AN UPDATE ON THE STORM RESTORATION? OH, THAT'S A NEW ONE.
[01:50:01]
WAS COMING UP PRETTY SOON, RIGHT? WHAT ELSE? LET ME GIVE YOU THE, I DON'T HAVE IT IMMEDIATELY IN FRONT OF ME.THE NICE SPREADSHEET SHE HAD, UH, DISTRIBUTION HARDENING, BASICALLY THAT INCLUDES LIKE PROTECTION SOFTWARE, A DMS, HOPEFULLY BATTERY STORAGE, RFP CUSTOMER CITED, BATTERIES, SOLAR FOR ALL.
WE GOT A LANDSCAPING ELECTRIFICATION UPDATE DEMO.
UM, WILDFIRE MITIGATION MANAGER IN THE FUTURE.
UM, I HAD ON THE LIST, UH, THE THERMOSTAT SITUATION AND WE'RE JUST GONNA GET A MEMO ON THAT, I GUESS, OR AN UPDATE ON THAT BUDGET PRESENTATION JULY.
AND AS FAR AS THE 2024 A REPORT, JUST READ IT AND SEND QUESTIONS.
THAT'S NOT REALLY ON THE AGENDA.
ANY OTHERS YOU SKIPPED DOWN OR, OR PASSED UP ON THE, UH, THE CLEAR RETAILER PROGRAMS? IS THERE, OH, ANY UPDATE ON THAT OR AE COMMENTS ON THE EFFECTIVENESS OF RETAILER PROGRAMS? YEAH, THAT'S CAPTURED FOLLOWING BACK UP WITH YOU.
SO THE, THE OTHER ONE WAS WHAT I WAS ASKING ABOUT, UM, IN RESPONSE TO THE, UH, PUBLIC COMMUNICATION THAT WE GOT.
UM, I WOULD LOVE IF WE COULD HAVE AN AGENDA ITEM, UM, SOONER THAN LATER JUST TO UNDERSTAND EXACTLY HOW THE LINE EXTENSION POLICY AND ANY OTHER AUSTIN ENERGY POLICIES AFFECT, UM, YOU KNOW, CUSTOMERS, UM, THAT MIGHT BE INSTALLING SOLAR OR STORAGE AT THEIR PREMISES.
AND I, UM, YEAH, I BROUGHT UP THE ISSUE OF KIND STREET LIGHTING BEFORE, BUT UH, THERE IS A AUSTIN CITYWIDE LIGHTING PLAN PROCESS ONGOING.
UH, UM, AND THERE'S A COUPLE OF FORUMS FRIDAY AND SATURDAY TO KIND OF OPEN HOUSE OPPORTUNITIES TO GIVE FEEDBACK, BUT, YOU KNOW, SINCE THE CITY IS SOLICITING FEEDBACK, IT MIGHT BE NICE TO GET SOME FEEDBACK FROM THE EUC.
SO I DON'T KNOW IF WE COULD GET A PRESENTATION ON, UH, ON THAT.
UH, WHATEVER'S BEING PUT OUT THERE FOR PUBLIC TARGET.
YOU KNOW, I'M SURE WE, UH, I IS AT A PREMIUM FOR OUR MEETINGS, BUT, UH, UH, IF YOU'RE PERSONALLY INTERESTED, THERE IS A PROCESS FOR BEING INVOLVED AND, AND HAVING A SAY.
BUT, UH, IF THERE HAPPENS TO BE SPACE AT A EUC MEETING, I CERTAINLY WOULD WELCOME HAVING THAT PRESENTATION.
ANY OTHER FURTHER ITEMS? OKAY, WITH THAT, LET'S ADJOURN AT 7 54.