* This transcript was created by voice-to-text technology. The transcript has not been edited for errors or omissions, it is for reference only and is not the official minutes of the meeting. [CALL TO ORDER] [00:00:03] THIS IS THE ELECTRIC UTILITY COMMISSION FOR OCTOBER 19TH, 2026. THIS COME TO ORDER. LEMME CALL. ROLL VIA VICE CHAIR BRADEN. COMMISSIONER ALVAREZ? NOT YET, NIKKI? NOT YET. NOT YET. OKAY. COMMISSIONER BELLA, CHECK. COMMISSIONER BENAVIDEZ? NOT YET. COMMISSIONER BLACKBURN HERE. COMMISSIONER. THANK YOU. COMMISSIONER GILLETTE. COMMISSIONER KIRKSEY, UH, COMMISSIONER NAER. AND WELCOME. I WANTED TO SAY WELCOME TO YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. AND COMMISSIONER REED. AND WE DON'T HAVE COMMISSIONER WHITE YET, BUT WE STILL HAVE A QUORUM, SO WE'LL GO. SO, UH, I, WE ALL WELCOME YOU, UM, TO THE COMMISSION. OH, GREAT. THANKS FOR SHOWING UP. UM, DO YOU WANT [Additional Item] TO INTRODUCE YOURSELF? TELL US A LITTLE BIT ABOUT YOURSELVES. ELLU, SORRY. MY WEBEX SKILLS ARE MUCH, UH, LOWER THAN ZOOM AND OTHER PLATFORMS. BEAR WITH ME. UM, THANKS ALL. UM, I'M ELLU NASSER. I'VE BEEN IN AUSTIN RESIDENT SINCE, UH, 2014, AND I LIVE IN THE CLARKSVILLE OLD WEST AUSTIN NEIGHBORHOOD. UM, I'VE BEEN REALLY ACTIVELY INVOLVED IN OUR NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION ANA, UM, SINCE ABOUT 2018 AND HAVE BEEN SERVING ON ITS BOARD AND THE BOARD OF OUR FRIENDS OF THE WEST AUSTIN PARK. UM, BUT I'M REALLY EXCITED ABOUT THIS NEW ROLE PROFESSIONALLY. I'M THE HEAD OF OPERATIONS FOR THE ZERO NOW FUND, WHICH IS THE PHILANTHROPIC COLLABORATIVE FOCUSED ON ACCELERATING THE TRANSITION TO ZERO EMISSION TRANSPORTATION. SO IN THAT WORK, I, UM, WORK A LOT IN THE UTILITY SPACE. UM, AND I'M REALLY PASSIONATE ABOUT CLIMATE ISSUES AND CLIMATE SOLUTIONS AND INNOVATIVE, UM, TECH SOLUTIONS. AND, BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY, I'M REALLY EXCITED TO SERVE THE LOCAL COMMUNITY AND HELP MAKE AUSTIN A MORE SUSTAINABLE, LIVABLE, VIBRANT PLACE FOR EVERYBODY. SO I'M EXCITED TO BE PART OF, UH, THIS COMMISSION AND I'M GLAD TO JOIN THE CONVERSATION TODAY. WELL, WELCOME. THANKS. UM, WE COULD GO AROUND THE ROOM AND INTRODUCE OURSELVES JUST BRIEFLY. LAUREN. HI, I'M LAUREN BELLAMY. UM, I'M REPRESENTING THE CITY AT LARGE. I'M THE MAYOR'S APPOINTEE AND I'M LOOKING FORWARD TO SERVING WITH YOU. CHRIS? YES, I'M CHRIS KIRKEY. UH, I'M ACTUALLY THE NON-CITY OF AUSTIN RESIDENT ON THE COMMISSION. SO I AM AN AUSTIN ENERGY CUSTOMER, BUT I DO NOT LIVE IN THE CITY OF AUSTIN. AND YOU HAVE A LOT OF EXPERIENCE WITH AUSTIN ENERGY AND, AND I'M AN AUSTIN ENERGY RETIRING. OKAY. I'M DAVE TUTTLE. I'M THE CHAIR. UM, I HAVE ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING AND, AND BUSINESS BACKGROUND, AND I TEACH, UH, ELECTRICITY MARKETS AND SYSTEMS AT UT AL AL BRADEN, UH, FROM DISTRICT SEVEN. UH, I'VE BEEN A CLIMATE ACTIVIST AND WORKING WITH AUSTIN ENERGY AND AUSTIN ENERGY GENERATION PLAN ISSUES FOR OVER A DECADE. AND, UH, FINALLY WITH, UH, BLESSING OF MIKE SIEGEL. I HAVE A SEAT AT THE TABLE. SO, UH, HAPPY TO BE HERE AND LOOK FORWARD TO WORKING WITH YOU. CESAR. HELLO, UH, MY NAME IS CESAR BENAVIDEZ, UH, REPRESENTING DISTRICT FOUR, AND I'M LOOKING FORWARD TO WORKING WITH Y'ALL. CYRUS? YEAH. UM, CYRUS REED, UH, BEEN ON THE COMMISSION FOR A WHILE REPRESENTING DISTRICT NINE. MY DAY JOB IS WORKING FOR THE SIERRA CLUB AS THEIR LEGISLATIVE AND CONSERVATION DIRECTOR FOR THE STATE. UM, I HAPPEN TO BE CLEANING OUT MY OFFICE TODAY 'CAUSE WE'RE MOVING. UM, AND I DISCOVERED, UH, FOLDERS DATING BACK TO 2009 OF, UH, PREVIOUS ITERATIONS OF THE GENERATION PLAN. SO I GUESS I'VE BEEN WORKING ON THIS FOR A WHILE. HOPE, HOPEFULLY I'VE MADE SOME GOOD, I'VE DONE, I'VE DONE SOME GOOD IN THOSE YEARS, I HOPE. UH, BUT LOOKING FORWARD TO WORKING WITH YOU RAUL. UH, GOOD EVENING. UM, RAUL ALVAREZ, UH, DISTRICT THREE, UH, APPOINTEE, UM, COUNCIL MEMBER VELAZQUEZ, I GUESS IT'S MY SECOND STINT ON THE EEC. UM, I WAS 2006, 2007 ISH, APPOINTED BY MIKE MARTINEZ. STILL IN THE, AT LARGE DAYS BACK IN THE DAY. UM, BUT MY DAY JOBS, I WORK WITH COMMUNITY ADVANCEMENT NETWORK CAMP, DOING A LOT OF POLICY, UH, RESEARCH PLANNING AROUND KIND OF COMMUNITY WELLBEING. SO, AND, UM, YEAH, I LOOK FORWARD [00:05:01] TO RO WHEN WERE YOU ON COUNCIL? SORRY TO INTERRUPT. I'M JUST TRYING TO REMEMBER WHEN YOU WERE ON THE CITY COUNCIL. UH, 2000 TO 2006, AND THEN I IMMEDIATELY HOPPED ON THE EUC, SO I GOT TO SERVE WITH CHUI FOR, FOR A LITTLE BIT. DEFINITELY NOT AS LONG AS JUDY, BUT, UH, . I DON'T THINK ANYONE WILL EVER ECLIPSE THAT ANYWAY. BUT, UH, GOOD TO BE HERE AND, UH, WELCOME JONATHAN. OH, DID HE JUST DROP OFF? JUST WENT AWAY. BUT KABA CAME INTO HIS PLACE. YOU WANNA SAY HI TO OUR NEWEST COMMISSIONER? WELL, YEAH, THERE WE GO. I DO. SORRY. IT WAS LIKE NOT ACCEPTING MY, MY TURNING ON VIDEO OR UNMUTING FOR A SECOND, BUT, UM, HI. UH, YEAH, WE'VE ACTUALLY MET, BUT NICE TO SEE YOU. YOU WELCOME TO THE COMMISSION. I'M KABA, UH, REPRESENTING DISTRICT TWO, BUT I LIVE IN DISTRICT THREE AND, UH, AS YOU KNOW, WORK FOR PUBLIC CITIZENS TEXAS OFFICE. WELCOME. AND JONATHAN, YOU JUST POPPED BACK UP. DO YOU WANNA INTRODUCE YOURSELF TOO? SURE. UH, JONATHAN BLACKBURN. GOOD, GOOD TO MEET YOU. UM, IN MY, MY DAY JOB, I WORK IN, UH, DEVELOPMENT AND FINANCE OF, UH, UTILITY SCALE AND CNI, SOLAR AND STORAGE PROJECTS. GREAT. THAT'S A GREAT GROUP. PROUD TO SERVE WITH EVERYBODY. UH, THANK YOU AGAIN. SO, DO WE HAVE ANY LAST MINUTE ADDITIONS TO PUBLIC COMMENTS OR ANYONE SHOW UP? OKAY, THEN WE CAN GO TO [APPROVAL OF MINUTES] THE MINUTES FOR THE LAST MEETING. UH, DO WE HAVE ANY MODIFICATIONS? NOPE. OKAY. WE HAVE A MOTION AND A SECOND MOVE APPROVAL. I'LL SECOND. ALL IN FAVOR? APPROVING THE MINUTES. OKAY, SO LET'S GO [Items 2 - 5] THROUGH 2, 3, 4, 5. AND THEN THERE'S A DISCUSSION. SO 2, 3, 4, 5. ANYONE WANT TO FIND OUT MORE DETAILS? WE'LL PULL THEM. AL DO YOU HAVE I, I'D LIKE TO KNOW MORE DETAILS, BUT ONLY INTELLECTUALLY. I, I DIDN'T SEE ANYTHING TO REALLY CHALLENGE OR QUESTION. OKAY. ANYONE ELSE? SO WE CAN JUST MOVE WITH CONSENT FOR 2, 3, 4, 5. OKAY. MOTION SECOND. ALL IN FAVOR? OKAY. PLEASE RAISE YOUR HANDS ONLINE. SO WE'RE GOING THROUGH, AND THEN [6. Discussion and approval of the 2027 Electric Utility Commission Meeting Schedule.] NIKKI, YOU'RE GONNA PUT UP THE CALENDAR FOR NEXT YEAR FOR NUMBER SIX. DAVID. HI DAVID. COULD YOU PUT THAT UP PLEASE? THIS IS THE 2027 EUC MEETING SCHEDULE. OKAY. AND ON THE LEFT IS THE MEETING DATE. AND ON THE RIGHT IS THE, THE CUTOFF DATE FOR ADDING TO THE AGENDA OR MODIFYING THE AGENDA. AND IN THE MIDDLE WAS THE SORT OF THE DEFAULT DATE THAT GOT MOVED OR CANCELED. RIGHT. SO DO WE HAVE ANY DISCUSSION ON THIS OR DO WE WANNA APPROVE IT? I THINK JUNE, NIKKI, WHAT, WHAT WAS YOUR, UH, IS THAT RIGHT? IN THE BUDGET CYCLE? JUNE 14TH, COUNCIL GOES IN RECESSION IN SESSION RECESS. RECESS DURING THAT TIME. OKAY. AND WE WILL HAVE NO RCAS TO BRING FORWARD IN JUNE. THEY WILL BE IN JULY FOR THE JULY MEETING. SO, OKAY. AND PLUS, JUST WITH VACATIONS AND RECESS. SOUNDS GOOD. AND THEN THE JULY 12TH ORIGINAL GOING TO JULY 19TH, THAT, THAT WAS TO ALIGN WITH BUDGET MEETINGS, I GUESS? THAT IS CORRECT. OKAY. AND THEN MOVING DOWN TO OCTOBER 11TH, GOING TO 18TH, YOU WANNA REMIND US WHAT THE RATIONAL THAT IS FOR COLUMBUS AND INDIGENOUS DAY. OKAY. AND WE HAVE NO MEETING IN DECEMBER? CORRECT. OKAY. ANY COM OH, KABI, YOU HAVE YOUR HAND UP? YES. UM, THANK YOU. UM, I RESPECTFULLY, I'M GONNA ONCE AGAIN OBJECT TO US BEING HELD TO A DIFFERENT STANDARD THAN THE DEPARTMENT, UH, THAN TO AUSTIN ENERGY OR TO EVEN TO CITY COUNCIL IN TERMS OF THESE, UM, SUBMITTAL DATES. I HAVE NO OBJECTION WITH THAT BEING, YOU KNOW, A GENERAL GOAL FOR, YOU KNOW, REQUESTING BRIEFINGS OR, YOU KNOW, SOMETHING THAT IS NOT, UM, TIME SENSITIVE OR RESPONSIVE. UH, BUT WE HAVE [00:10:01] EXPERIENCED ON THIS COMMISSION BEING BROUGHT ITEMS THAT WE DID NOT SEE ANY ITEM FOR UNTIL THE FRIDAY BEFORE OUR MONDAY MEETING, AND WE HAD TO VOTE ON THOSE. SO I, I REALLY DO TAKE ISSUE WITH US BEING TOLD THAT WE NEED TO SUBMIT ITEMS THIS FAR IN ADVANCE. I'M FINE WITH THAT AS LIKE A GOAL, BUT IT SHOULD NOT BE A HARD AND FAST RULE. AND I, I REALLY, YOU KNOW, I DON'T SEE IT ON OTHER COMMISSIONS EITHER. SO IT'S, IT'S UNIQUE HERE AND IT IS SOMETHING THAT WE COULD CHANGE PER THE CLERK'S OFFICE. IT IS UP TO THE DEPARTMENT'S DISCRETION AND THEY ARE ABLE TO PROVIDE A DUE DATE, BUT IT HAS TO BE PUBLISHED. AND WE'VE DONE IT THE PAST TWO YEARS, UM, WITH EUC AND RMC THAT I'VE BEEN HERE. AND I DON'T KNOW IF IT GOES BACK MUCH FURTHER THAN THAT. WELL, ACTUALLY THE CLERK'S OFFICE DID NOT SAY IT WAS UP TO THE DEPARTMENT. IT'S UP TO THE CHAIR, UM, AND UP TO THE BODY. SO IT'S, YOU KNOW, UM, YEAH, I, WHATEVER I I THINK AGAIN, IT'S IF WE'RE WE'RE ADOPTING THIS FOR A REASON, IF IF IT WASN'T UP TO US, THEN WE WOULDN'T NEED TO ADOPT THIS. UM, AND I'M ASKING IF OTHERS WOULD LIKE MORE FLEXIBILITY, UM, JUST AS THE DEPARTMENT BRINGING ITEMS TO US HAS A LOT MORE FLEXIBILITY IN THIS, UM, IT MAKES IT SO THAT, YOU KNOW, WE CAN BE PRESENTED WITH ITEMS AT THE LAST SECOND, UM, BUT WE COULDN'T PUT ANYTHING ON TO RESPOND TO THOSE ITEMS IN THE SAME TIMEFRAME. WELL, I THINK THIS GIVES THEM ENOUGH TIME TO GO RUN THROUGH THE PROCESS, GET THE SUBJECT MATTER EXPERTS, DO THEIR REVIEW CYCLE, UM, IF WE HAVE ANY ISSUES. NO, BUT IT DOESN'T ALWAYS REQUIRE A SUBJECT MATTER EXPERT. RIGHT. YEAH. I'M SORRY, COULD YOU REPEAT THAT? I GUESS I'M, I I'M SAYING I UNDERSTAND IF WE ARE REQUESTING A SUBJECT MATTER EXPERT, YES, BUT WE ARE NOT NECESSARILY TO PUT AN ITEM ON AN AGENDA DOES NOT ALWAYS IMPLY THAT WE ARE ASKING AE FOR A SUBJECT MATTER EXPERT. SOMETIMES IT'S JUST US PUTTING AN ITEM ON AN AGENDA. SO, UM, AND JUST, YOU KNOW, IN THE WAY THAT WE HAVE TO ADJUST WHEN THEY GET US STUFF LATE, UM, YOU KNOW, IT, I THINK IT, IT NEEDS TO, IT NEEDS TO BE BALANCED IN MY OPINION. WELL, WHY DON'T WE LOOK FOR AND SEE IF WE HAVE ANY EXCEPTIONS AND WE WANNA PUSH DURING THE COURSE OF THE YEAR WHERE WE HAVE ISSUES AND USE THIS AS THE DEFAULT. CYRUS HAS HIS HAND UP. I'M, I'M SORRY, I COULDN'T HEAR CYRUS. OKAY. BUT JUST SAID THAT I HAVE MY HAND UP. OKAY, CYRUS. YEAH, I JUST WONDER, UM, WHAT WOULD BE THE PRACTICAL IMPLICATION IF WE JUST MADE IT INSTEAD OF TWO WEEKS EARLIER, A WEEK EARLIER, WHICH SEEMS MORE REASONABLE TO ME, UH, AND MADE THAT THE DEF YOU KNOW, KIND OF THE DEFAULT FOR SUBMITTING THINGS. SO IN, YOU KNOW, AS AN EXAMPLE, INSTEAD OF OCTOBER 4TH, FOR OCTOBER 18TH, IT WOULD BE OCTOBER 11TH. I MEAN, THAT, I CAN SEE THE NEED TO HAVE SOME KIND OF DEADLINE CUTOFF, BUT TWO WEEKS IS A LONG TIME. SO JUST A SUGGESTION. I MEAN, WE DON'T, I DON'T KNOW IF WE HAVE TO VOTE ON THIS TODAY OR WE COULD WAIT, BUT, UH, THAT MIGHT BE A MORE REASONABLE, YOU KNOW, FOR EVERYBODY. I WOULD LIKE TO CLARIFY ON THE TIMING DUE TO THE NEW STATE LAW, IN ORDER TO POST FOR A MONDAY NIGHT MEETING, I HAVE TO UPLOAD THE MONDAY BEFORE. SO ALL THE BACKUP AND AGENDA WENT UP LAST TUESDAY. IT NO LONGER GOES UP ON FRIDAY. THAT CHANGE HAPPENED LAST SEPTEMBER. SO OUR DUE DATES GOT PUSHED BACK. AND SO IT'S REALLY ONE WEEK PRIOR. WHAT, SO THERE WAS A NEW, WAS THERE A NEW STATE LAW THAT REQUIRED POSTING? YES, THERE WAS A NEW STATE LAW THAT WENT INTO EFFECT LAST SEPTEMBER, AND WE ADJUSTED ALL OF THE UPLOAD DATES. SO WE STOPPED UPLOADING THE AGENDAS IN THE BACKUP MATERIALS ON FRIDAYS. AND SINCE LAST OCTOBER, YOU RECEIVED THEM ON TUESDAYS PRIOR TO THE MONDAY MEETING. OKAY, WELL THAT'S NEW INFORMATION. I DIDN'T REALIZE THAT. BUT EVEN SO I MEAN THAT IF, IF IT'S JUST THAT WE NEED TO GET AN AGENDA ITEM TO YOU, YOU KNOW, WITH THE, THE LANGUAGE FOR [00:15:01] THE AGENDA, UM, YOU KNOW, THAT'S, THAT'S PRETTY STRAIGHTFORWARD. AND IF, YOU KNOW, IF WE CAN'T GET IT TO YOU IN A, A WAY THAT CAN BE POSTED FOR SOME REASON, THEN I GUESS THAT'S ON US. BUT, UM, IT JUST, AND, AND AGAIN, LIKE Y Y'ALL HAVE BEEN REQUIRING NOT ONLY THAT WE GIVE YOU THE AGENDA ITEM, BUT THAT WE GIVE YOU THE FULL BACKUP MATERIAL, BUT WE HAVE NOT BEEN AFFORDED THAT COURTESY IN RETURN. SO I WOULD LIKE IT TO BE BALANCED AGAIN, YOU KNOW, SO THAT IF WE HAVE TO PROVIDE THE BACKUP. SO DO Y'ALL SO THAT WE DON'T GET SURPRISES ON A FRIDAY NIGHT. THERE SHOULDN'T BE ANY SURPRISES ON FRIDAYS? NO. BY STATE LAW, THE AGENDA HAS TO POST ON TUESDAY. WELL, THE AGENDA DOES, BUT NOT THE, NOT THE BACKUP. I MEAN, WE SAW THAT WE, IN THE VERY RECENT PAST WE'VE HAD SINCE, SINCE THE CHANGE IN THE SCHEDULE HAS HAPPENED, WE HAD THE, WE HAD THE GAS PEAKER ITEM THAT WE DID NOT ACTUALLY SEE UNTIL THE FRIDAY BEFORE THE MONDAY MEETING. SO NIKKI, IS IT JUST THE AGENDA IS POSTED OR AGENDA PLUS OTHER ITEMS? JUST THE LAW IS JUST THE AGENDA, BUT I TRY TO HAVE EVERYTHING UPLOADED, ALL BRIEFINGS AND RCAS UPLOADED WITH THE AGENDA. OKAY. SO WHY DON'T WE MOVE FORWARD ON THIS, USE THESE AS DEFAULTS AND THEN WE'LL JUST PUSH THE ENVELOPE WHERE WE NEED TO. DOES THAT SOUND OKAY? IT'S NOT, NO, IT DOESN'T BECAUSE THE DEFAULT HAS BEEN, THE AE DOES NOT PROVIDE, WHEN IT'S A CONTROVERSIAL ITEM, DOES NOT PROVIDE US THAT SORT OF HEADS UP. SO WE'RE BEING ASKED TO PROVIDE SOMETHING TWO WEEKS IN ADVANCE AND THEY'RE NOT COMMITTING TO PROVIDE IT TO US IN ADVANCE AT ALL. COMMISSIONER BELLAMY. YEAH, I UNDERSTAND THAT. YOU KNOW, THAT'S NOT IDEAL, BUT I DON'T WANNA NORMALIZE THIS TIMELINE OF PROVIDING THINGS THE FRIDAY BEFORE THE MONDAY THAT WE'RE VOTING, SO, AGREED. AGREED. YEAH, I WOULD. SO I DON'T WANNA USE THAT AS OUR WELL, IF THEY DO IT, WE GET TO DO IT TOO, SO. RIGHT. I LIKE, I LIKE THE SCHEDULE THAT'S PRESENTED. WOULD YOU BE AMENABLE TO CLARIFYING THAT IT IS THE AGENDA THAT IS DUE THEN? AND MAYBE WE NEED TO CLARIFY WHEN ANYBODY WHO'S PUTTING AN ITEM ON NEEDS TO PROVIDE THE ACTUAL BACKUP. I MEAN, I THINK WE'RE JUST CONSIDERING THE SCHEDULE RIGHT NOW. AND SO THAT'S REALLY ALL I'M CONSIDERING. OKAY. SO THIS IS NOT THE BACKUP THEN. THIS IS JUST WHEN WE HAVE TO GET AN ITEM, I DO REQUEST THE BACKUP AS WELL, BUT I HAVE WORKED VERY ACCOMMODATING THROUGHOUT THIS YEAR TO TAKE LATE BACKUP AND RECOMMENDATIONS THAT HAVE GONE THROUGH, UH, TWEAKS AND CHANGES UP UNTIL THE DAY BEFORE I HAVE TO POST. SO I HAVE WORKED WITH THE COMMISSION OVER THE LAST YEAR UNDER THOSE PARAMETERS. BUT YES, MY GOAL WOULD BE TO DRIVE TO THE SCHEDULE AND IF THERE'S AN EXCEPTION, WE CAN WORK THOSE EXCEPTIONS. BUT THE POSTING LANGUAGE AND THE SPONSOR AND CO-SPONSOR MUST BE GIVEN ON THE DATE ON THE SCHEDULE. SO I, I'VE OBSERVED SOME FLEXIBILITY ON THAT IN THE PAST. SO, YOU KNOW, I THINK THAT'S ALSO, THAT'S THE THING IS THAT WHEN THE RULES ARE, UM, WRITTEN IN A WAY, IT MAKES IT SO THAT SOME PEOPLE CAN BE DENIED AN ITEM OR DENIED POSTING SOMETHING AND OTHERS GET FLEXIBILITY. AND THAT'S, UH, WHAT I'M HOPING THAT WE CAN AVOID AND JUST HAVE A CLEAR SET OF RULES THAT IS REASONABLE AND GETTING, GETTING BOTH THE ITEM FULLY DRAFTED AND POSTED. UM, AND, YOU KNOW, AS WELL AS THE AGENDA ITEM TWO FULL WEEKS IN ADVANCE JUST SEEMS, UM, EXCESSIVE. AND AGAIN, IT, IT AE HAS STILL NOT COMMITTING TO DO THAT THEMSELVES. WE DON'T SEE IT UNTIL A WEEK AFTER THAT AT BEST. IS THAT REALLY THREE OR FOUR WEEKS FOR THOSE? SORRY, WHAT IS IT? THREE OR FOUR WEEKS AHEAD OF TIME? I MEAN, SOMETIMES DURING THE HOLIDAY I COULD MAYBE UNDERSTAND THAT, BUT I DIDN'T THINK IT WAS THAT LONG. NO, I SAID A COUP TWO WEEKS. IT'S TWO WEEKS. OKAY. TWO WEEKS. YEAH, TWO. [00:20:01] OKAY. I DUNNO. I THINK IT HAS MEANINGFULLY IMPACTED OUR WORK. THAT'S WHY I'M RAISING IT NOT JUST TO BE A THORN. UM, UM, IN MY EXPERIENCE, HAVING A SCHEDULE KIND OF FORCED PEOPLE TO THINK A LITTLE BIT EARLIER AND GET IT IN AT A DEADLINE EARLIER, IT'S JUST LIKE LEAVING FOR WORK TO GET THERE ON TIME WITH TRAFFIC. SO YOU LEAVE EARLIER. SO I DON'T SEE THIS AS A BIG IMPEDIMENT. I JUST SEE IT AS SOMETHING YOU CAN TRY TO, YOU CAN ALL TRY TO WORK AROUND AND THEN ASK AND NEGOTIATE SOME FLEXIBILITY WHERE WE NEED TO. I, I THINK THE FRUSTRATION IS THAT IT APPLIES TO US EARLY AND DOESN'T SEEM SEEM TO APPLY TO AUSTIN ENERGY EARLY, BUT I DON'T SEE A HOOK IN HERE TO TELL AUSTIN ENERGY WHAT TO DO, UH, UNLESS WE NEGOTIATE THAT. YEAH. WE ALWAYS HAVE THE BACKUP. WE ALWAYS HAVE THE AGENDA READY TO GO WELL IN ADVANCE. IN FACT, IT'S, YOU KNOW, WE'RE ALREADY WORKING ON NEXT MONTH'S AGENDA, SO I GUESS WE'RE, WE'RE TALKING, IT'S REALLY CONCERN ABOUT THE BACKUP MA THE AGENDA IS AN EASY ITEM TO GIVE YOU. AND POST HAVING ALL THE BACKUP MATERIAL READY TO LAUNCH TWO WEEKS EARLY IS A CHALLENGE WHEN YOU'RE GOING TO POST IT A WEEK EARLY. BUT I, THAT PROBABLY THAT GIVES YOU A LITTLE TIME TO LOOK AT IT, BUT, UH, IT, IT JUST PUTS US HAVING TO HAVE THINGS READY MORE EARLY THAN STAFF HAS TO HAVE THINGS READY. I I JUST PERCEIVE THAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT FAIRNESS IN A WAY MORE THAN LOGISTICS BECAUSE WE CAN JUST TALK ABOUT IT THE NEXT MONTH UNLESS IT'S SOMETHING CRITICAL THAT HAS TO GET PUT IN PLACE. IF THERE'S SOMETHING THAT'S OF SERIOUS CONCERN THAT, THAT WE NEED TO, THEN WE CAN JUST RAISE AN EXCEPTION. I MEAN, I AGREE. I DON'T THINK ASKING FOR MATERIALS A WEEK AHEAD OF POSTING IS UNREASONABLE AT ALL. I WOULD SUPPORT THAT. I WOULD SUPPORT GHANA IN A WEEK. UH, BUT OR YOU MEAN A WEEK AHEAD OF WHY DOES A NEED OF THE POSTING, WHY, WHY DO THEY NEED TO SIT ON IT FOR A WEEK? THEY DON'T NEED TO DO ANYTHING WITH IT. THEY JUST UPLOAD IT. NIKKI, YOU WANNA RESPOND? YEAH, I MEAN WE, AS YOU KNOW, WE HAVE TO GO THROUGH SEVERAL ROUNDS OF APPROVAL ON ANY POSTING LANGUAGE, WHICH WE, IF YOU WERE HAVE BEEN WATCHING THE RMC, THEY, UM, HAD AN ITEM THAT HAD TO BE REWRITTEN, YOU KNOW, ET CETERA. SO WE HAVE TO GO THROUGH THE LAW DEPARTMENT, GET APPROVAL ON LANGUAGE AND YES, THIS IS TECHNICALLY JUST THE AGENDA ITEM ITSELF. SO THE ITEM ITSELF, WE REQUEST THAT YOU DO YOUR BEST TO PROVIDE BACKUP IN A FAIR AMOUNT OF TIME SO THAT WE HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO REVIEW WHAT YOU ARE BRINGING FORWARD, FORWARD. AND, AND AGAIN, WE, WE WORK FOR WEEKS AND WEEKS ON OUR PRESENTATIONS THAT COME HERE. THEY'RE NOT JUST CREATED, YOU KNOW, A WEEK BEFORE THEY GET POSTED. RIGHT? BUT THEN WHEN YOU HAD THE MOST CONTROVERSIAL ITEM THAT HAS COME BEFORE THIS COMMISSION IN YEARS, WE HAD THE WEEKEND TO REVIEW IT. THAT WAS IT. AND BUT THE SAME THING HAPPENED ACTUALLY WITH THE RESOURCE PLAN AS WELL. THAT ONE WAS TECHNICALLY A FEW MORE DAYS, BUT IT WAS, UH, RELEASED LATE AFTERNOON THE WEDNESDAY BEFORE THANKSGIVING, AND WE HAD TO VOTE ON IT ON MONDAY. YOU KNOW, I THINK THIS IS NOT, UM, IT'S NOT ALLOWING THIS COMMISSION TO DO ITS WORK PROPERLY WHEN WE GET ITEMS LIKE THAT. SO I DO AGREE WITH TIMELY POSTING. I JUST WOULD LIKE IT TO BE FROM EVERYBODY. YOU KNOW, IF THERE, IF EVERYTHING NEEDS TO BE POSTED, UH, YOU KNOW, BY TUESDAY BEFORE THEN, THEN GREAT. LIKE, LET'S ALL POST THINGS BY TUESDAY BEFORE. OKAY. CYRUS, CYRUS, YOU HAVE YOUR HAND UP. THANKS. YEAH, I WAS JUST GONNA SAY [00:25:01] TO, SO JUST TO CLARIFY, THE, THE DATES, UH, ON WHAT'S BEFORE US IS JUST FOR THE AGENDA ITEM SUBMITTAL. AND WE'VE HEARD FROM NIKKI THAT SHE WOULD LIKE THE BACKUP, BUT THERE IS FLEXIBILITY ON THE BACKUP, UH, HAPPENING LATER. AND SO MAYBE WE CAN AIM TO GET ALL AGENDA ITEMS TWO WEEKS BEFORE AND EVERYBODY GET BACK UP AT LEAST, YOU KNOW, ONE, AT LEAST ONE WEEK BEFORE. SO IT CAN BE POSTED ON THE, ON THE TUESDAY. I MEAN THAT MAYBE THAT'S THE GENERAL PRINCIPLES WE OPERATE UNDER. UM, AND OBVIOUSLY IF YOU CAN, IF YOU CAN PROVIDE THE BACKUP TWO WEEKS BEFORE, THAT'S GREAT, BUT SOMETIMES AS EVA SAYS, IT'S NOT POSSIBLE. 'CAUSE WE'RE STILL, YOU KNOW, WORKING ON STUFF. SO I'M, I'M OKAY WITH THIS AS LONG AS WE UNDERSTAND THERE'S FLEXIBILITY IN, IN THE BACKUP ITEMS. YES, I AGREE. IF I CAN HAVE THE POSTING LANGUAGE SPONSOR, CO-SPONSOR ON THE DATE ON HERE, AND THEN IF I CAN GET THE BACKUP AS CLOSE TO, AND THEN EVEN IF IT'S AFTER THE POSTING DATE, IT'S GONNA GET ADDED AS LATE BACKUP BECAUSE IT'S ALREADY GONNA BE ON THE AGENDA. AND SO I HAVE IN THE PAST EVEN DONE LATE BACKUP AND WE'LL CONTINUE TO DO THAT SO THAT YOUR RECOMMENDATION, UM, CAN BE IN THE BACKUP AT LEAST PRIOR TO THE MEETING INSTEAD OF HAVING TO READ THE WHOLE THING, UM, ON THE FLY AT THE MEETING. GOT IT. OKAY. SO WITH THAT, DO WE HAVE A MOTION TO ACCEPT THIS? AND A SECOND? SECOND. OKAY. ALL IN FAVOR? OPPOSED? OKAY. GABBY ARE ABSTAINING OR I DIDN'T SEE YOUR VOTE. I'M ABSTAINING. I'M FINE. LIKE WHATEVER. I CAN LIVE WITH THIS. I JUST, I STILL DO NOT HEAR AE COMMITTEE INTO CHANGING THEIR PRACTICE OF DROPPING CONTROVERSIAL ITEMS AT THE LAST MINUTE FOR US. SO I'M GONNA ABSTAIN. I'LL PUT AN ASTERISK WITH CYRUS'S UNDERSTANDING OF IT. MM-HMM . AND NIKKI'S. SURE. WELL YET I, WE HAVE IT ON VIDEO. OKAY. LET'S [7. Staff briefing on Advanced Metering Infrastructure by Bill Kelly, Distribution Process Manager. ] MOVE FORWARD TO ITEM SEVEN, STAFF BRIEFING ON ADVANCED ING INFRASTRUCTURE. GOOD EVENING EVERYBODY. MY NAME'S BILL KELLY. I'M A PROCESS MANAGER WITH OUR ADVANCED GRID TECHNOLOGIES GROUP, UH, ONE OF WHICH IS OUR A MI PROGRAM. SO WE'RE HERE TO TALK ABOUT, UH, WHAT WE'VE BEEN UP TO, WHAT'S NEW AND WHAT'S NEXT AND HOW WE TREAT, UM, CUSTOMER OUTAGES DURING STORMS. NEXT SLIDE. SO TONIGHT WE'LL GO OVER A LITTLE BIT OF, UM, HISTORY IN THE CURRENT STATE, JUST TO SET THE TABLE, UM, TALK ABOUT SOME OF OUR NETWORK OPTIMIZATION EFFORTS, UM, AND THE METERS THEMSELVES, UM, AND HOW WE USE THEM MORE THAN JUST THE, UH, UTILITY CASH REGISTER, UH, AND HOW WE USE THEM SPECIFICALLY FOR VISIBILITY AND AWARENESS DURING, UH, DURING OUTAGES. NEXT SLIDE. ALL RIGHT. SO AUSTIN ENERGY WAS A REALLY, UH, EARLY ADOPTER IN ADVANCED METERING, UH, GOING ALL THE WAY BACK TO 2001 WHEN WE FIRST IMPLEMENTED, UM, AN AUTOMATED METER READING SYSTEM, WHICH IS BASICALLY OUR ELECTRO MECHANICAL METERS WITH A COMMUNICATION DEVICE ON IT. SO INITIALLY THOSE METERS WERE ONE WAY COMMUNICATING, SO IT WOULD SEND US A READ. AND THEN ALSO ABOUT FOUR DIFFERENT PIECES OF INFORMATION OUTAGE RESTORATION, UH, MAGNETIZATION. UM, SO WE COULD TELL WHEN THE, UH, ROTATION WAS SLOWING DOWN AND, UH, REVERSE ROTATION AS WELL. SO REALLY RUDIMENTARY, UM, BACK IN 2001 AND THEN TWO-WAY METERING CAME IN AROUND 2004, 2005. UH, AND AUSTIN ENERGY MADE THE DECISION TO DEPLOY A BLENDED ONE-WAY, TWO-WAY NETWORK WITH SOME REALLY SIMPLISTIC, UM, TWO-WAY METERS. SO, UM, STORED SOME BASIC INFORMATION, ALLOWED US TO REQUEST A READ, UM, BUT NOT EXACTLY REMOTE SERVICE SWITCH CAPABLE OR FULLY, UM, INTERVAL DATA RECORDING METERS. THOSE CAME ALONG AROUND 2015 WHEN WE DECIDED TO, UH, REMOVE OUR ONE-WAY METERS AND GO FULL TWO-WAY A MI. AND BY 2019, WE WERE FULL ADVANCED METERING, UH, AS FAR AS THE NETWORK WAS CONCERNED. SO WE REPLACED ALL OF OUR SIMPLE TWO-WAY METERS. AND NOW ALL OF OUR RESIDENTIAL METERS, UM, VAST MAJORITY OF THEM ARE REMOTE SERVICE SWITCH CABLE. WE COLLECT INTERVAL DATA, UH, AMONGST A HOST OF ALL KINDS OF OTHER INFORMATION AS WELL. NEXT SLIDE. WELL, CAN YOU STAY ON THAT FOR A SECOND? I SURE CAN. OKAY. SO WHAT'S NEXT? IS THIS A MATURE TECHNOLOGY THAT HAS NO FURTHER ENHANCEMENTS OR THAT'S IT, WE'RE NOT DOING IT. NO, I'M JUST KIDDING. . UH, IT, IT DOES, THERE'S, UM, COMMUNICATION PROTOCOLS THAT ARE COMING OUT. IN FACT, ALL OF THE DIFFERENT VENDORS ARE ACTUALLY WORKING ON, UH, WE OPERATE, UM, I'M [00:30:01] JUMPING AHEAD A LITTLE BIT, BUT WE DO, WE ARE OPERATING AN RF MESH NETWORK RIGHT NOW, UM, OVER THE, UH, 900 MEGAHERTZ, UH, FREQUENCY, THE OPEN LICENSE ONE, THERE IS AN ADVANCEMENT, UM, THAT'S COMING UP THAT MANY OF THE VENDORS ARE LOOKING INTO, WHICH IS MESH IP. IT'S A MORE, A LITTLE MORE OF A SECURE, UH, PROTOCOL, A LITTLE MORE, MORE ONE-TO-ONE. UM, IT IS AS MUCH INFORMATION AS ACTUALLY HAS COME OUT ON IT. UM, IT REALLY HAS NOT BEEN THOROUGHLY ADOPTED IN THE INDUSTRY AND, AND MATURED, RIGHT? SO WHAT WE LIKE TO SAY HERE, ESPECIALLY WITH A MI, IS WE WOULD LIKE TO BE LEADING EDGE WITH A LOT OF OUR OPTIMIZATION AND NOT BLEEDING EDGE WITH THE TECHNOLOGY. SO AS, UH, AS THE INDUSTRY SETTLES, UH, OVER THE COURSE OF TIME AND THE WAY THAT WE HAVE OUR CONTRACT STRUCTURED, WE HAVE DECISION POINTS WHERE WE CAN GO FORWARD. IT, IT'S A MASSIVE, UM, INVESTMENT AND IT IS A TECHNOLOGY CHURN. AND SO RIGHT NOW WE'RE REALLY FOCUSED ON, UH, EXTRACTING AS MUCH VALUE AS YOU POSSIBLY CAN OVER THE SIGNIFICANT INVESTMENT THAT WE'VE MADE. AND WE DO THINK THAT THERE'S MORE HEADROOM, UM, IN THERE THAT WE HAVEN'T TOUCHED ON YET. SO, OH, YOU GOT MORE QUESTIONS? YEAH, WELL, GO AHEAD. UH, THERE'S A BUNCH OF CARS GOING BY WHEN YOU WERE DESCRIBING ADVANCE. SO I'M JUST TRYING TO LEARN MORE ABOUT WHAT ADVANCE MEANS AND DOES THAT GET US TO, UH, VEHICLE TO GRID TO DEMAND RESPONSE TO OTHER THINGS? IS THIS THE METER PART OF THAT OR AM I LOOKING AT THE WRONG THING? THE METER'S ONLY PART OF THAT IN, IN SO FAR AS, UH, THE CODES FOR HOW WE METER THINGS AND ALSO, UM, THE, THE WAY THAT WE BILL, RIGHT? SO, UH, THE METER CAN BE PROGRAMMED TO COLLECT ANY NUMBER OF PIECES OF INFORMATION. WE CAN GET INTO WHAT THAT LOOKS LIKE, BUT IT DOESN'T PRECLUDE US FROM DOING THOSE. IN FACT, IT ONLY, UM, SERVES TO HELP US, UH, WHEN WE'RE COLLECTING DATA FOR EVEN FOR VEHICLE TO GRID, RIGHT? SO RIGHT NOW, WHEN WE DO ANY DER RELATED, WE'RE, WE'RE GETTING, UH, BOTH DELIVERED AND RECEIVED INFORMATION. SO VEHICLE TO GRID WOULD BE SIMILAR TO THAT. NOW, THIS HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE PROGRAM ITSELF OR US ROLLING THAT OUT. THERE ARE OTHER DEPARTMENTS THAT WOULD HANDLE THAT, BUT, UM, THERE'S NOTHING ON THE METER SIDE THAT WOULD PRECLUDE US. UH, IT'S JUST ANOTHER PIECE OF INFORMATION WE GATHER FOR TO, UH, IT'S GIVING YOU THE REALTIME INFORMATION ABOUT WHAT'S HAPPENING ON THAT CIRCUIT, WHICH WOULD THEN HELP SOMEONE ELSE MANAGE A BATTERY DISCHARGE OR SOMETHING. YEAH. SO IT JUST DEPENDS, RIGHT? SO REALTIME INFORMATION, IT'S NOT REALLY FULL. UM, SCADA INFORMATION OR, OR RE NOT EVERY SINGLE ELECTRON IS BEING TRANSMITTED REALTIME. THE REAL TIME INFORMATION THAT WE COLLECT IS OUTAGE RESTORATION INFORMATION RIGHT NOW. RIGHT. AND SO WE CAN GET A PUSH OF DIFFERENT LEVELS OF INFORMATION, BUT REALLY WHAT WE'RE FOCUSED ON FROM A REAL TIME, REAL, REAL TIME PERSPECTIVE IS OUTAGE AND RESTORATION. SO I'M NOT SURE I'M, I'M, I'M HITTING YOUR, UH, WHAT YOUR QUESTION IS SPECIFICALLY, THE METER ISN'T A GATING FACTOR FOR US TO INVESTIGATE OTHER WAYS. UH, BUT THE, THE METER IS, UH, COMPATIBLE THEN WITH OTHER CIRCUITS THAT WOULD PROVIDE BATTERY DISCHARGE OR VEHICLE TO GRID OR THINGS LIKE THAT? IT WOULD, RIGHT? SO IT WOULD, SURE, YES. IN THEORY, YES. UHHUH , YOU WOULDN'T GET DOWN TO 2030 AND SAY, OH, NOW WE NEED ALL NEW METERS. WELL, WAIT A MINUTE. I, I WONDER ABOUT THIS. SO LAST TIME I CHECKED PEOPLE, UTILITIES WERE NOT RUNNING THEIR DEMAND RESPONSE SIGNALS THROUGH THEIR A MI BACKBONE. CORRECT. IF THAT'S THE QUESTION THAT WE'RE ASKING. WE'RE NOT RUNNING DEMAND RESPONSE. THEY'RE TOTALLY SEPARATE. ONE'S A CASH REGISTER PLUS OUTAGE PLUS, PLUS PLUS. RIGHT. BUT IT'S REALLY MORE OF A SCADA FUNCTION AND CASH REGISTER FUNCTION VERSUS THE MANAGING THE VPP AND HAVING SIGNALS SENT OUT. EXACTLY. EXACTLY. THAT'S A DIFFERENT NETWORK. EXACTLY. OKAY. AND THERE'S SECURITY IMPLICATIONS, I THINK, THINGS LIKE THAT. UH, HOW LONG DO THESE METERS LAST? THE, THE BOOK SAYS 20, RIGHT? THE MARKETING MATERIALS SAY ABOUT 20 YEARS, BUT REALLY WE, WE FIND THEY LAST ABOUT 12 TO 15 YEARS. OKAY. AND SO YOU'RE GONNA TRY TO GET IN THE RHYTHM OF, YOU KNOW, LETTING THIS TECHNOLOGY MATURE, GETTING THE MOST OUT OF THESE PARTICULAR MEETING METERS, AND THEN SOMETIME 2029, REFRESH THEM AGAIN WITH THE NEXT GENERATION, RIGHT? IF THE NEXT GENERATION HAS, HAS MATURED. RIGHT? SO THERE'S NO REASON FOR US RIGHT NOW TO JUMP IN HEADLONG INTO THE, INTO THE WAVES, UH, FOR A TECHNOLOGY THAT'S NOT PROVEN OUT YET, RIGHT? WE WANT THE WATER TO BE A LITTLE SMOOTHER LIKE GLASS RATHER THAN, UH, UH, CHOPPY. SO, UH, IN THE NEXT THREE OR FOUR YEARS, THERE WILL BE MOST LIKELY A KIND OF A SETTLING ON WHAT THE NEXT COMMUNICATION PROTOCOL IS. THERE ARE NEW METERS THAT ARE COMING OUT THAT WE CAN TRY ON OUR EXISTING NETWORK. UH, AND THAT'S WHAT WE AIM TO DO. HOWEVER, WHEN IT COMES TO A WHOLE RESALE, UH, A WHOLE, UM, [00:35:01] UH, REFRESH, WHOLESALE REFRESH OF OUR NETWORK AND OUR METER POPULATION, WE WANNA BE VERY CAUTIOUS ABOUT THAT. WE WOULD PREFER THAT OTHER UTILITIES, LARGER UTILITIES SETTLE IN, AND THERE ARE SOME WHO ARE ADOPTING RF MESH AND I MEAN MESH IP AND OTHER PROTOCOLS TOO. SO WE WOULD MUCH PREFER THE TECHNOLOGY TO BE SETTLED, UH, BEFORE WE START MAKING AN INVESTMENT IN THAT AREA. YOU KNOW, UH, SCOTT JARMAN USED TO BE DOING AN EXPERIMENT WITH A ZIGBEE ENABLED MEETING. THAT'S RIGHT. OKAY. AND IT DIDN'T WORK OUT OBVIOUSLY, OTHERWISE IT WOULD'VE BEEN DEPLOYED, RIGHT? THAT'S CORRECT. WE DID TRY THAT HERE. YEAH. OKAY. HOW MANY WAS THAT A DECADE AGO? UH, MAN, YOU JUST MADE ME FEEL REALLY OLD. THAT PROBABLY WAS A DECADE AGO. YEAH. CAN YOU DESCRIBE THAT BECAUSE SURE. YOU KNOW, SOME OF US HAVE E GAUGES ON OUR HOUSES, AND IF YOU REALLY WANNA SMART HOUSE, IT'S GREAT TO HAVE THE MEASUREMENT AND THE METER COULD, I KNOW THAT IT MAYBE SENDS DATA EVERY 15 MINUTES MM-HMM . OR BUNCHES THEM UP AND THEN SENDS THEM AS A HUGE PACKET. BUT IF YOU'RE A HOMEOWNER AND YOU HAVE A HOME ENERGY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM, IT WOULD BE A GREAT WHOLE HOUSE MEASUREMENT DEVICE. AND IF IT COULD GIVE YOU THE DATA JUST OFF TO THE SIDE, YOU COULD HAVE SOME ZIGBEE RADIO THAT TALKED TO IT AND YOU PAIRED IT LIKE BLUETOOTH OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT. IT COULD BE SOMETHING THAT HELPS REDUCE THE PRICE OF DEPLOYING HIMS OR OTHER SMART DEVICES AND DERS AT THE HOUSE. SO IS THAT IDEA DEAD OR IS THAT MAYBE PART OF THE, THE BLEEDING EDGE THAT YOU SEE? OR IF PEOPLE JUST SAID, FORGET IT. YEAH, I, THAT'S A GREAT POINT. UM, IS IT DEAD? NOT AT ALL. I THINK GRID EDGE, UM, IS WHERE, UH, AND GRID EDGE INTELLIGENCE IS WHERE METERING IS GOING. A AMI METERING IS GOING WHOLESALE, AND THAT IS GONNA BE SOMETHING WITH MESH IP WHERE ALL THESE VENDORS ARE COMING OUT WITH YOUR ABILITY TO QUOTE UNQUOTE DROP APPS ONTO A METER. AND ONE OF THEM WOULD BE A HOME ENERGY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM MONITOR, RIGHT? AND SO IN SOME UTILITY IMPLEMENTATIONS, THEY'RE CUSTOMER FOCUSED. OURS WOULD BE, UM, A BLENDED CUSTOMER AND UTILITY FOCUSED. UM, BUT IT'S, IT'S, AGAIN, IT'S NOT PROVEN OUT. AND I THINK ZIGBEE IS ACTUALLY A GREAT EXAMPLE WHERE ZIGBEE WAS ALL THE RAGE. EVERYBODY WAS TALKING ABOUT IT. WE TRIED, UM, FOR MONTHS TO GET IT UP AND RUNNING AND WORKING. AND THE PROBLEM IS THAT THE CONNECTION WAS NEVER SECURE ENOUGH TO BE ABLE TO HAVE A CONSISTENT CONNECTION WITH IT, RIGHT? SO WE, WE PILOTED IT WITH ABOUT 10 OR 12, INCLUDING MY OWN HOME, UM, TO SEE IF WE COULD GET IT TO WORK, AND IT JUST WOULD NOT BE STABLE ENOUGH FOR US TO WORK ON IT. AND THERE'S A UTILITY UP NORTH, UM, WHO WAS A LITTLE BIT LARGER THAN US. THEY TRIED TO PILOT WITH ABOUT 3000 CUSTOMERS, UM, AND WITHIN SIX MONTHS THEY WHOLESALE ABANDONED IT, JUST FOR THE SAME REASONS. IT JUST WASN'T STABLE ENOUGH. UM, SO FUTURE TECHNOLOGY, I THINK IT IS, UM, POSSIBLE. UH, BUT WE'LL HAVE TO INVESTIGATE THAT, UM, AT THE TIME. OTHER, ANY OTHER QUESTIONS ON THIS PARTICULAR CHART? THANKS. I THINK, UH, BILL IS GONNA COVER A LOT OF GROUND, SO IF YOU MAYBE WANNA HOLD YOUR QUESTIONS, MAYBE HE'LL COVER SOME OF THE ONES WE THINK ABOUT. YEAH, THAT'S GONNA BE IMPOSSIBLE. THIS . I'LL JUST HAVE TO INFORM YOU. THAT'S ALL RIGHT. SOMEONE JUST WAVE YOUR HAND IF I'M NERDING OUT TOO MUCH. UH, NEXT SLIDE PLEASE. SO, OH MAN, WE REALLY HAVE A WAY TO GO. SO TODAY, , WE HAVE, UH, ABOUT 591,000, UM, A MI METERS THROUGHOUT THE SERVICE TERRITORY AND ABOUT 1500, UH, PIECES OF, UH, NET FIELD NETWORK EQUIPMENT. AGAIN, AROUND THE SERVICE TERRITORY. WE OPERATE, AS I MENTIONED, ON THE 900 MEGAHERTZ SPECTRUM. WE ARE A MANAGED SERVICE, WHICH MEANS WE DO HAVE A LOCAL, UM, LANIS AND GEAR PRESENCE THAT MAINTAINS THE, THE FIELD NETWORK FOR US, UM, IMPLEMENTS THE, OR INSTALLS THE NEW EQUIPMENT AND MAINTAINS THE EXISTING EQUIPMENT. UH, AND ALSO THE, UH, THE BACKEND HEADEND SYSTEM. SO THEY HAVE A NETWORK OPERATIONS CENTER IN LENEXA, KANSAS. UH, WE RECENTLY SIGNED A 10 YEAR AGREEMENT. UH, WE'RE ABOUT IN YEAR TWO OF THAT 10 YEAR AGREEMENT. UM, AND IT IS A PERFORMANCE BASED CONTRACT, SO WE ONLY PAY WHEN WE GET THE, UM, THE MINIMUM REQUIREMENT OF, UM, DATA, ESPECIALLY FROM THE BILLING PERSPECTIVE. AND WE DO HAVE, UH, INDUSTRY LEADING PERFORMANCE. SO WE GET ABOUT 99.8, 9.9% OF ALL OF OUR BILLING READS AND HIGH NINETIES AND ALL OF OUR ON-DEMAND READS, UH, ON-DEMAND REQUESTS, UH, REMOTE SERVICE SWITCH, THINGS OF THAT NATURE. UM, JUST ONE NOTE, THE METERS THEMSELVES, IT'S NOT TIED ONE-TO-ONE. SO WE DON'T HAVE TO SPECIFICALLY PURCHASE LANTIS AND GEARS OUR PROVIDER. WE DON'T HAVE TO PURCHASE LANIS AND GEAR METERS, ALTHOUGH WE ARE, UM, UH, MAINLY A LANIS, ANDER, UM, METER PROVIDER. BUT WE DO USE OTHERS, OTHER, UH, VENDORS AS WELL. NEXT SLIDE. SO SOME OF THE ENHANCEMENTS THAT WE HAVE, UM, YOU CAN LET ME KNOW IF I'M NOT SPEAKING INTO THE MICROPHONE. UH, SOME OF THE ENHANCEMENTS THAT WE DO HAVE WITH THE NEW CONTRACT, SPECIFICALLY CENTER AROUND OUR ABILITY TO LEVERAGE THE SYSTEM AND MAXIMIZE IT AS MUCH AS HUMANLY POSSIBLE, INCLUDING OUR INVESTMENT IN THE NETWORK. AND THAT'S PRIMARILY WHERE WE WENT. [00:40:01] UH, WE WANTED TO GET A FULLY REDUNDANT NETWORK, ESPECIALLY GIVEN, UM, SOME OF THE LESSONS WE LEARNED FROM WINTER STORM MARA AND YURI, WHERE WHEN YOU HAVE HALF OF YOUR SERVICE TERRITORY DOWN, YOU REALLY NEED AN N PLUS ONE OR A REDUNDANT NETWORK TO BE ABLE TO HEAR FROM, UH, FROM THOSE, UM, UH, FROM YOUR METERS. AND SO WHAT WE WANTED TO DO IS EXPEND SOME, UM, SOME ENERGY IN THAT AREA AND ALSO THAT ON A BLUE SKY DAY, WE'LL JUST LIMIT US DOWN. UM, OUR NETWORK HOPS EVERY HOPS ABOUT A SECOND. SO IF IT'S FIVE HOPS OUT, FIVE HOPS BACK, IT'S ABOUT TEN SECOND RESPONSE TIME. SO WE'VE SEEN SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENTS IN THAT AREA AS WELL. UH, IT IS FUTURE PROOF. SO IF WE DID DECIDE TO GO WITH LANIS AND GEAR AND GO WITH A MESH IP SOLUTION, THE CURRENT NETWORK EQUIPMENT THAT WE HAVE OUT THERE TODAY CAN BE UPGRADED TO THAT. UM, IN ADDITION TO THAT, WE ALSO, UH, NEGOTIATED A COST REDUCTION, SO BENEFITS ALL THE WAY AROUND. NEXT SLIDE. OH, OH, YEAH, YEAH. OKAY. SO SINCE WE TALKED ABOUT WINTER STORMS IN THE LOWER LEFT, SO THE QUESTION CAME UP AFTER YURI IS CAN YOU USE THE A MI NETWORK? AND GIVEN THERE YOU COULD DISCONNECT AND HOPEFULLY CONNECT MM-HMM . TO HAVE FINER GRANULARITY FOR THE ROLLING BLACKOUTS. YEAH. SO THE ANSWER WAS NO BACK THEN, YOU KNOW, POSTERIOR ABOUT DOING THAT. IS THERE ANY NEW TECHNOLOGY THAT MIGHT ENABLE THAT TO HAVE FINER GRANULARITY? THE ANSWER IS NO AS WELL. UM, AND I, I'M PRE, I THINK I MIGHT'VE BEEN THE ONE TO, TO HELP WITH THAT PRESENTATION BACK AFTER YURI THE, EVEN WITH THE ADVANCED NETWORK, RIGHT? IT'S, UM, YOU NEED TO BE, YOU NEED TO OPERATE AT, AT A VOLUME AND A VELOCITY THAT MATCHES WHAT ERCOT WOULD NEED FOR LOAD. SHE, RIGHT? SO WE HAVE TO RESPOND WITHIN 30 MINUTES AND WE HAVE TO RESPOND WITH, UM, YOU KNOW, MEGAWATTS. AND SO IF YOU CONSIDER THAT ONLY RIGHT NOW, SINGLE PHASE, UH, METERS, LIKE RESIDENTIAL METERS BY AND LARGE ARE THE ONES TO, TO BE ABLE TO, UM, UH, TO SERVICE DISCONNECT IN THAT MANNER, IT WOULD TAKE A TREMENDOUS LIFT FOR US TO BE ABLE TO, UH, SEND COMMANDS THROUGH THIS NETWORK AND GET, UM, SOME FORM OF CONFIRMATION THAT WE HAD SIGNIFICANT MEGAWATT REDUCTION IN THAT, IN THAT TIME. SO RIGHT NOW THE TECHNOLOGY IS NOT THERE, AND WE, WE HAVE, WE DID DEVELOP A PLAN, A BREAK GLASS PLAN TO BE ABLE TO DO THAT. WE STILL HAVE THAT IN ABSOLUTE EMERGENCIES, BUT THE, THE VOLUME AND VELOCITY BY WHICH WE WOULD HAVE TO RESPOND, IT'S JUST NOT WHAT AN RF MESHER, EVEN A MESH IP NETWORK IS CAPABLE OF. OKAY. THANK YOU FOR THAT QUESTION. QUESTION CESAR, UM, CESAR BEES, UH, WHAT REMEDIES, UH, KICK IN OR, YOU KNOW, ARE ENFORCED IF, UH, THE VENDOR DOESN'T MEET THE PERFORMANCE METRICS? YEP. WE TRACK THROUGH LIQUIDATED DAMAGES. SO LET'S SAY THE VENDOR CONSISTENTLY, UM, DOES NOT MEET THE SERVICE LEVEL AGREEMENTS THAT WE HAVE, WE THEN HAVE REMEDIES TO GO BACK AND SAY, UH, THIS VIOLATION EQUALS X AMOUNT OF DOLLARS. AND THEN ULTIMATELY AT THE VERY END, AND THAT'S A MONTH TO MONTH RECONCILIATION THAT WE DO. AND SO IF THEY'RE NOT MEETING WHAT OUR SLAS ARE, THEN WE DO HAVE THE ABILITY TO, UM, COLLECT LIQUIDATED DAMAGES FROM THEM. THANK YOU. MM-HMM . I DON'T SEE ANY HANDS RAISED ONLINE. ANY OTHER QUESTIONS ON THIS SLIDE? OKAY. YOU GUYS ARE GREAT. I DIDN'T KNOW WE WERE GONNA GET THIS MANY QUESTIONS. NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE. SO, JUST A LITTLE BIT ON THE NETWORK OPTIMIZATION, LIKE I SAID, WE'RE NOW FULLY REDUNDANT. UM, WE'VE DOUBLED THE, UM, THE NETWORK COVERAGE. UH, WE HAVE GONE FROM 57 TO 205 GATEWAYS. THOSE ARE THE NODES THAT ARE DIRECTLY CONNECTED TO CELL BASE. SO THAT'S YOUR FIRST LAYER OF, UH, RECEIVING A COMMAND ON THE NETWORK AND YOUR LAST, AND THEN OUR ROUTERS, WE ADDED ABOUT 110 ROUTERS, BUT WE ALSO REPLACED ABOUT 915 FOR TO UPGRADE. SO AGAIN, ALL OF OUR NETWORK EQUIPMENT IS FULLY, UM, FUTURE-PROOF, READY TO GO. SHOULD WE CHOOSE TO MOVE TO, UH, LANTIS SYNC GEARS MESH IP NETWORK. NEXT QUESTION. OUR NEXT SLIDE? . OH, IT'S COMING. OH, I'M, I'M SURE IT IS. I WELCOME THEM. SO AS I MENTIONED BEFORE, WE DON'T TYPICALLY, OR WE DON'T JUST, UH, FOCUS ON THE CASH REGISTER ASPECT OF OUR METERS. WE ARE TRYING TO LEVERAGE THEM AS MUCH AS WE POSSIBLY CAN. OUR METERS PROVIDE THINGS LIKE REAL TIME OUTAGE AND RESTORATION INFORMATION AS WE TALKED ABOUT. BUT THEY ALSO ALLOW US TO REACH OUT TO THE METER, UH, FOR BILLING READS, FOR INTERVAL READS, UH, FOR ANY ALARMS, EVENTS AND FLAGS THAT WE DON'T ORGANICALLY GET BACK INTO THE SYSTEM. UH, TAMPERING ALERTS, UH, INSTANTANEOUS VOLTAGE READINGS, LIKE I SAID, INTERVAL DATA COLLECTION. WE DO USE IT FOR SOME RUDIMENTARY POWER QUALITY MONITORING AS WELL. UM, SO THERE'S A WHOLE HOST OF THINGS THAT WE USE OUR METERS FOR IN ADVANCE OF, UH, ACTUALLY JUST, UH, FOR BILLING PURPOSES. NEXT SLIDE. OH, NOT YET. OKAY. OKAY. SO, UM, ON THE POWER QUALITY, [00:45:01] SO CAN YOU MEASURE THD OR JUST POWER FACTOR? WHAT ABOUT DROOP AND SURGE AND WHAT OTHER THINGS CAN YOU MONITOR? SO RIGHT NOW WE'RE FOCUSED MORE ON JUST VOLTAGE, SAGS AND SWELLS. WE DO GET POWER FACTOR FROM A BILLING PERSPECTIVE. UM, THE POWER QUALITY, THE TRUE POWER QUALITY, UM, ELEMENTS THAT WE'RE DOING, WE USE DIFFERENT METERS FOR, UM, FOR THE A MI NETWORK ITSELF, THE NEXT GENERATION OF METERS THAT ARE COMING OUT, UM, WILL HAVE MORE ADVANCED POWER QUALITY MEASUREMENTS IN THERE, AND WE'LL HAVE TO TEST THEM OUT JUST TO MAKE SURE THAT, UM, UH, THEY KIND OF LINE UP WITH WHAT OUR EXPECTATIONS ARE. SO THAT'S MORE OF A FUTURE, FUTURE LOOKING ITEM, THE POWER QUALITY. OKAY. AND THEN WHEN YOU LOOK AT THE CAPABILITIES THAT YOU ALL HAVE MM-HMM . HOW DOES IT COMPARE WITH WHAT YOU'D GET FROM ENCORE CENTER POINT THROUGH ERCOT AND THE, THE SMART METER TEXAS PORTAL? DO YOU HAVE SURE. THE SAME OR MORE FUNCTION AND WHY? WE HAVE THE SAME FUNCTION. SO SMART METER TEXAS IS, IT'S THE INTENT FOR SMART METER TEXAS IS FOR THE, THE METER TO FOLLOW A CUSTOMER, ESPECIALLY WHEN YOU'RE AN ENCORE. AND YOU COULD PURCHASE IT FROM BILL KELLY ELECTRIC, GREEN POWER, GREEN MOUNTAIN, ANYTHING LIKE THAT. SO, UM, SMART METER, TEXAS, THE BASIC INFORMATION THAT IS COLLECTED AND PROVISIONED BY THAT, WE ALSO HAVE ALL THAT INFORMATION FOR SURE. OKAY. OTHER QUESTIONS? AND ONE, UH, JUST THE, FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF OUTAGE NOTIFICATION IS, IS THAT SYSTEM PASSIVE OR DOES THE, THE HOMEOWNER STILL HAVE TO NOTIFY, SAY, HEY, I'VE GOT AN OUTAGE, OR WILL IT, WILL THE SYSTEM IDENTIFY THAT SOMEBODY HAS AN OUTAGE? THAT'S A GREAT QUESTION. I ACTUALLY HAVE SOMETHING THAT SLIGHTLY ADDRESSES THAT IN A SECOND IF YOU'D LIKE TO. OKAY. SO HAVE YOU SEEN AN IMPROVEMENT OVER THE YEARS OF DEPLOYING THE EVER MORE POWERFUL A MI METERS IN UPDATING THE OUTAGE CHART, THE OUTAGE, UH, MAP AND TRUCK ROLLS, HOW FAST YOU CAN GET IT GOING? I MEAN, WHEN I LOOK, WHEN I THINK IN MY MIND, BUT I HAVEN'T SEEN IT LATELY OF THE KATY, WOULD YOU LOOK AT THE KATY INDEX OR DO YOU HAVE SOME INTERNAL INDICES THAT HAVE SHOWN WHAT THIS CAPABILITY HAS DONE IN RESTORATION TIMES FOR THE CUSTOMERS? SURE. I SORT OF GET INTO THAT IN THE NEXT SLIDE, BUT I'M HAPPY TO TALK ABOUT IT NOW AS WELL. SO FROM A, FROM A RELIABILITY METRICS PERSPECTIVE, WE DEFINITELY LOOK AT A MI INFORMATION TO BALANCE AGAINST WHERE WE PULL IT FROM, WHICH IS OUR ADVANCED DISTRIBUTION MANAGEMENT SYSTEM, RIGHT? SO THAT'S WHERE WE ARE. WE ARE ESSENTIALLY ROLLING TRUCKS. OUR A MI INFORMATION, OUR OUTAGE AND RESTORATION INFORMATION FEEDS INTO THE A DMS ITSELF. THE, THE BLUE SKY INDIVIDUAL OUTAGE INFORMATION WHEN IT COMES IN, IT'S HELD UNTIL THERE'S A SECOND CONFIRMED METER THAT COMES ON A SPECIFIC TRANSFORMER. SO WE HAVE A METER TO TRANSFORMER RELATIONSHIP. AND THEN IF WE RECEIVED EVERY SINGLE OUTAGE, IF SOMEONE WAS MOVING IN OR MOVING OUT, WE WERE PULLING A METER, UM, DID A REMOTE CONNECT DISCONNECT, SOMETHING LIKE THAT, WE WOULD RECEIVE ALL THE OUTAGE, UH, INFORMATION. IT WOULD BE, IT WOULD BE CONSIDERED KIND OF, KIND OF NOISE, RIGHT? SO THE WAY WE TREAT OUTAGES, WE HAVE AN INFERENCE LOGIC, WHICH MEANS IF YOU SEE TWO METERS TIED TO ONE TRANSFORMER, THE SYSTEM INFERS THAT EVERYBODY IS OUT AND SENDS THAT ALONG TO OUR A DMS SYSTEM FOR NOTIFICATION, RIGHT? SO IN ORDER TO KIND OF MINIMIZE THE WHITE NOISE OF ROLLING TRUCKS WHEN WE DON'T NEED TO, WE DO WAIT FOR THAT CONFIRMATION. NOW, A CUSTOMER CAN CALL IN AND A CUSTOMER CAN STILL USE THE OUTAGE MAP TO, TO, UM, UH, PUT THEIR OUTAGE IN. UM, AND WE DO RECEIVE ALL OF THE OUTAGE NOTIFICATIONS AS WELL, BUT WE DO ADD A LITTLE LAYER OF INFERENCE LOGIC SO THAT, UH, WE SEE WHEN MORE THAN ONE PERSON IS OUT. AND THAT'S, UM, YOU KNOW, THE, THAT'S THE MAJOR BENEFIT OF THE, THE A MI SYSTEM. DOES YOUR SYSTEM REACT FASTER IF SOMEBODY CALLS IN OR TEXT THE AE TEXT NUMBER? THAT ONE IS A LITTLE BIT BEYOND MY KNOWLEDGE. I, I'M NOT OVER THE OUTAGE MAP MYSELF PERSONALLY. AND THEN, UH, GETTING BACK TO THE ERCOT MM-HMM . AND YOUR CAPABILITY. SO ERCOT HAS HAD THIS GREEN BUTTON. SO WHEN I DOWNLOADED ON THE AE WEBSITE, THE GREEN BUTTON DATA FOR THE INTERVAL DATA FOR MM-HMM . MY LOAD, FOR EXAMPLE, MY HOUSE, YES, IT SEEMS LIKE IT WAS NET LOAD AND NOT THE DE THAT I SEE ON THE, UH, BILL BECAUSE OF THE PHOTOVOLTAIC OUTPUT THAT I HAVE. SO, UM, ARE YOU FAM IF YOU'RE NOT FAMILIAR WITH IT, WE'LL MOVE ON, BUT I'M NOT NECESSARILY FAMILIAR WITH THE PORTAL THAT WE'RE, YOU'RE DOWNLOADING IT FROM ON, IS IT THE AE SMART, THE BOSTON UTILITIES AE? OH, I SEE WHAT YOU'RE, YOU'RE DOWN SURE. GREEN BUTTON. I'D HAVE TO LOOK INTO WHAT INFORMATION ON, ON WHICH, UM, DIFFERENT REGISTERS ACTUALLY AVAILABLE ON A NET METER. YEAH, I, I CAN'T GET, SEEM TO GET IT TO MATCH UP WITH MY ACTUAL BILL. AND [00:50:01] THE BILL IS YOUR CASH REGISTER, AND THAT'S REVENUE GRADE. SO I'M JUST WONDERING WHAT THE DIFFERENCE IS AND OKAY. I'M, I'M HAPPY TO TAKE A NOTE ON THAT AND, AND LOOK INTO IT. OKAY. ALL RIGHT. NEXT SLIDE. SO ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE'VE DONE RECENTLY IS SPUN UP A GRID ANALYTICS PROGRAM, AND A LOT OF IT IS CENTERED AROUND, UM, LEVERAGING THE A MI DATA THAT WE HAVE. SO WE DO USE A MI DATA, AGAIN IN CONFIRMING AND AIDING OUR RELIABILITY METRICS, CALCULATIONS, SADIE SAFETY, KATIE, UH, WE USE IT IN OUR RESILIENCY WORK PRIORITIZATION. SO OUR ELECTRIC SYSTEM RESILIENCY PLAN, A LOT OF THAT IS ALSO SUPPORTED BY, UM, SOME OF THE INFORMATION WE GET BACK WHEN WE'RE SELECTING WHICH FEEDERS OR WHICH AREAS ON A FEEDER THAT WE'RE ACTUALLY GONNA LOOK TO, UM, UH, TO ENHANCE OR UPGRADE. WE DO USE OUR METERS AS BELLWETHER METERS, WE GET INSTANTANEOUS VOLTAGE. UM, SO WE CAN DO SOME VOLTAGE OPTIMIZATION, UH, ASSET LOADING AND OVERLOADING. WE DO TAKE A LOOK AT OUR TRANSFORMERS, AND WE ALSO, OUR ENGINEERING TEAM USES IT WHEN, UH, THEY'RE REVIEWING PERMITS FOR, FOR FOLKS WHO WANNA UPGRADE, UM, THEIR EXISTING SYSTEM OR SERVICE, EXCUSE ME. UM, AND ONE OF THE BIGGEST THINGS WE DO IS, UH, OUTAGE AWARENESS AND STORM RESPONSE. MM-HMM . WHAT DO YOU SEE AS FAR AS LOSSES? SO IF YOU TAKE ALL YOUR METERS, I MEAN, AND YOU COULD TAKE ONE FEEDER FROM THERE, AND YOU HAVE MEASUREMENTS AT THE TRANSFORMER IN THE SUBSTATION, AND SO YOU COULD HAVE A MEASUREMENT THERE. AND THEN IF YOU MEASURED ALL THE INDIVIDUAL METERS MM-HMM . COULDN'T YOU SEE THE LOSSES FOR THAT PARTICULAR FEEDER? AND WHAT DO THEY GENERALLY RUN? AND DOES THAT GIVE YOU AN INDICATOR OF, HEY, YOU MIGHT WANT TO GO IN AND INVEST TO REDUCE THE LOSSES? THEORETICALLY, YOU COULD. THERE'S SOME UNMETERED ASSETS ON THERE AS WELL, SO YOU'D HAVE TO, UM, LIKE OUR LIGHT POLES AND THINGS LIKE THAT, THEY'RE NOT METERED. SO, UM, I DON'T KNOW NECESSARILY THAT WE, THAT WE'VE TAKEN A HARD LOOK AT THAT USING A MI DATA. UM, BUT CERTAINLY IT WOULD BE INTERESTING FOR US TO DO SO I CAN TAKE A NOTE ON IT. SO FOR EXAMPLE, THE SMART WATER METERS REALLY HAVE HELPED THEM IDENTIFY HOW MUCH WATER LEAKAGE IN THEIR DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM. SO I JUST WONDERED AND, UM, OKAY, THANKS. YEAH, NO PROBLEM. UH, NEXT SLIDE. SO WHAT THINGS ARE WE DOING WITH, WITH OUTAGE? UM, AGAIN, IN ADVANCE OF US JUST GETTING INDIVIDUAL NOTIFICATIONS, SOME OF THE THINGS THAT WE'VE DEVELOPED, UM, DURING STORMS AND MAJOR STORMS, UM, THAT HAVE COME OUT OF THIS, HAVE BEEN OUR NESTED OUTAGE MAP. SO INTERNALLY, WE, WE'VE DEVELOPED, UH, A NUMBER OF TOOLS FOR US TO BE ABLE TO LOOK EVEN BEYOND WHAT OUR, UM, OUR A DMS SYSTEM SEES. NESTED OUTAGES IS ONE OF THOSE. SO WHEN YOU HAVE FEEDER LEVEL OUTAGES AND YOU BRING A FEEDER BACK ONLINE, YOU MAY STILL HAVE POCKETS OF OUTAGES, RIGHT? AND SO WE'VE BEEN ABLE TO SUCCESSFULLY DEVELOP TOOLS FOR US TO IDENTIFY WHERE THOSE POCKETED OUTAGES HAVE BEEN BY PULLING THE SYSTEM, BRINGING THE INFORMATION BACK IN AND SAYING, OKAY, THIS CLUSTER OVER HERE MIGHT HAVE A PROBLEM WITH, UH, WITH A TRANSFORMER, OR THIS CLUSTER OVER HERE MIGHT BE BEHIND A FUSE THAT IS BLOWN. SO THERE'S SEVERAL DIFFERENT WAYS THAT WE USE, UM, THAT, UM, THAT REPORT WHEN WE, UH, ENABLE IT FOR, FOR STORM RESPONSE. FROM THAT, WE'VE ALSO CREATED INDIVIDUAL, UM, MAPPING SOLUTIONS FOR OTHER CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE LIKE AUSTIN WATER, UM, PUMP STATIONS, UM, AND ALSO OUR MEDICALLY VULNERABLE CUSTOMERS. SO WE'VE BEEN ABLE TO CREATE, UM, TOOLS FOR OUR INTERNAL TEAM TO BE ABLE TO REACH OUT TO MEDICALLY VULNERABLE CUSTOMERS WHEN WE SEE THAT THEY ARE OUT, UM, OR THE METER IS REPORTING THAT THEY'RE OUT. SO IT ENHANCES OUR, UM, UH, RONNIE MENDOZA AND HIS CAP TEAM, WHO I'M SURE YOU HAVE HEARD OF BEFORE. UH, IT ENHANCES THEIR ABILITY TO REACH OUT TO MEDICALLY VULNERABLE CUSTOMERS PROACTIVELY RATHER THAN REACTIVELY. MM-HMM . HOW MANY MEDICALLY VULNERABLE CUSTOMERS DOES THEY HAVE? OOH, I DON'T KNOW THAT NUMBER. I MEAN, IS IT IN THE HUNDREDS OR A THOUSAND OR 500? SEEN THE HUNDREDS? IT'S IN THE HUNDREDS. OKAY. AND WITH, WITH THE NEW CAPABILITY, I MEAN, THERE'S THE PLAN TO PUT RECLOSERS IN AND DO OTHER HARDENING. MM-HMM . DOES THIS DATA, OR IS THIS DATA, OR HAS IT BEEN USED FOR UNDERSTANDING MORE QUICKLY HOW MAYBE SOME LINES NEED TO HAVE INSULATED CONDUCTORS, FOR EXAMPLE? SO WHAT ARE DIFFERENT WAYS THAT YOU CAN HELP OUT IN THAT HARDENING? YOU MENTIONED SOME, BUT YEAH, SURE, FOR SURE. SO FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF, UM, IDENT, I MEAN, AS PART OF OUR ELECTRIC SYSTEM RESILIENCY PEN, SOME OF OUR CIRCUIT HARDENING PROGRAM, UM, DEALS WITH THE STRATEGIC PLACEMENT OF RECLOSERS, RIGHT? SO, UM, THAT'S MORE ABOUT IDENTIF IDENTIFYING, UM, CRITICAL LOAD CUSTOMERS, THINGS OF THAT NATURE, RIGHT? SO YOU WANNA MAKE SURE THAT YOU CAN ISOLATE BEFORE AND AFTER THEM. UM, ALL OF THOSE, UM, DECISIONS AND ALL THAT ANALYSIS IS DONE BY OUR DISTRIBUTION RELIABILITY TEAM. SO EVEN FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF, OF COVERED CONDUCTOR, [00:55:01] COVERED CONDUCTOR, WHICH IS TYPICALLY USED FOR IN, IN HIGH WILDFIRE AREAS, THAT'S MORE, THAT'S LESS, UM, INFORMED BY SPECIFIC METER DATA AND MORE INFORMED BY, YOU KNOW, WHERE OUR HIGHEST WILDFIRE RISK IS ACCORDING TO, UM, WILDFIRE RISK MAPS. THANK YOU. SURE. ANY OTHER QUESTIONS? NEXT SLIDE. OKAY. SO ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE'RE ACTUALLY LOOKING FOR IS NOT JUST A REACTIVE, BUT A PROACTIVE APPROACH TO IDENTIFYING WHEN OUTAGES MIGHT OCCUR. SO WITH ALL OF THIS, UM, METER INFORMATION THAT WE ARE GETTING IN, IS IT POSSIBLE FOR US TO IDENTIFY AN OUTAGE BEFORE IT HAPPENS? RIGHT? AND SPECIFICALLY WHEN WE'RE TALKING ABOUT VEGETATION ENCROACHMENT, UM, THERE ARE SIGNALS THAT COME OUR WAY WHERE WE FEEL LIKE WE COULD, UM, IDENTIFY, UH, THAT, UH, THAT OUTAGE BEFORE IT ACTUALLY HAPPENS. SO WHAT WE'VE PILOTED AND WHAT WE'RE STARTING TO WORK ON NOW IS, IS PAIRING VOLTAGE SAG INFORMATION AND MOMENTARY OUTAGES. AND I DON'T, UH, WE'RE NOT REFERRING TO OUTAGES THAT WE WOULD TRADITIONALLY GET IN AS AN OUTAGE. IT'S MORE LIKE A BLINK, LIKE COMING HOME AND SEEING YOUR LIGHTS FLICKER AND THEN ALL OF A SUDDEN YOU HAVE TO RESET YOUR MICROWAVE. WE DO HAVE ACCESS, THE METERS DO STORE THAT INFORMATION. AND SO WHAT WE'RE LOOKING TO DO IS PAIR VOLTAGE SAGS WITH MOMENTARY TO SEE IF WE CAN GET A PATTERN OF SAG SAG, BLANK BLANK, SAG BLANK, AND THEN SUSTAINED OUTAGE. AND WE HAVE HAD SUCCESS IN IDENTIFYING SEVERAL DIFFERENT LOCATIONS THAT DID HAVE VEGETATION ENCROACHMENT THAT WE WEREN'T AWARE OF BEFORE, AND POTENTIALLY HAVE STAVED OFF OUTAGES. SO WE, AS WE, UH, START TO USE OUR A MI INFORMATION FOR PATTERN RECOGNITION, WE ARE, UM, ROLLING THAT, THAT PROJECT OUT. SO, SO FAR WE'VE HAD, UM, SEVERAL KIND OF, UM, FALSE ALARMS, BUT, UH, UH, MORE THAN A FEW HAVE RETURNED BACK WITH, UM, POTENTIAL ENCROACHMENT ISSUES. AND SO THAT'S REALLY THE EXCITING STUFF WE'RE LOOKING AT GETTING INTO, NOT JUST WITH METERING DATA, BUT EVERYTHING IS THE PREDICTIVE ANALYTICS SIDE OF IT. CAN WE GET AHEAD OF AN OUTAGE BEFORE IT OCCURS? SO SOME REALLY EXCITING STUFF COMING THERE. UM, AND, YOU KNOW, HOPEFULLY MORE TO COME NEXT SLIDE. AND THAT IS IT. WELL, THANK YOU. NO PROBLEM. WAS I ABLE TO ANSWER YOUR OUTAGE QUESTION? OKAY. ALL RIGHT. GREAT. ALL RIGHT, WELL THANK YOU EVERYBODY. APPRECIATE IT. OKAY, [8. Staff briefing on Overview of Electric Vehicle Charging Network by Heidi Kasper, Director of Energy Efficiency Services. ] NEXT, NUMBER EIGHT, WE HAVE A STAFF BRIEFING ON THE ELECTRIC VEHICLE CHARGING NETWORK. GOOD EVENING COMMISSIONERS. UH, HEIDI CASPER. I AM DIRECTOR FOR GREEN BUILDING AND EMERGING TECH HERE AT AUSTIN ENERGY. UM, AND AS YOU SAID, I'M GONNA BE GIVING AN OVERVIEW OF OUR DC FAST CHARGING TONIGHT. NEXT SLIDE. UH, IN THE PRESENTATION, I'LL COVER OUR CURRENT PORTFOLIO, UM, OUR MAINTENANCE EFFORTS FOR THAT PORTFOLIO, SPECIFICALLY FOR THE DC FAST, SOME PRIVATE SECTOR GROWTH, UM, OF WHAT WE'RE SEEING FOR FAST CHARGING IN THE PRIVATE SECTOR, AS WELL AS OUR CURRENT VISION FOR GROWTH. NEXT SLIDE. SO WITHIN OUR EV UH, CHARGING PORTFOLIO, AUSTIN ENERGY MANAGES MORE THAN 1300 LEVEL TWO CHARGING STATIONS THAT, UH, SUPPORT PUBLIC CHARGING. UM, AND THEN THOSE ARE THROUGHOUT THE CITY AT VARIOUS, UH, PLACES. SOME OF THOSE ARE HOSTED, UH, BY OTHER COMPANIES, UM, TO MEET OUR FAST CHARGING NEEDS. WE ALSO OPERATE 30 DIRECT CURRENT, UM, DC FAST CHARGERS ACROSS THE SERVICE AREA. OF THOSE 26 ARE PUBLIC CHARGERS, AND MOST OF THESE WERE INSTALLED ABOUT SIX TO SEVEN YEARS AGO USING GRANT FUNDING. SO THERE WAS A TEXAS COMMISSION ON THE ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY TCAQ GRANT THAT, UH, ALLOWED US TO GET THE FUNDING TO PUT THESE IN THE CURRENT HARDWARE. YOU CAN SEE A PICTURE OF IT THERE. UM, SO IT'S, THESE ARE, UH, CHARGEPOINT EXPRESS TWO 50, UH, DC FAST CHARGERS. THEY DELIVER AN OUTPUT OF UP TO 62.5 KILOWATTS, WHICH IS BY TODAY'S STANDARDS KIND OF ON THE SLOWER SIDE. UM, BUT THAT'S WHAT WE HAVE. AND THOSE ARE ALL, HAVE THE AUSTIN ENERGY BRANDING. SO THAT'S WHAT YOU WOULD SEE AROUND TOWN THAT WOULD INDICATE THOSE, THOSE ARE AE WHAT DO YOU HAVE AS AN EXPECTATION FOR THE LIFE OF THOSE OLD CHARGERS? SO, UM, , I THINK THERE'S, THERE'S THE BOOK AND THEN THERE'S THE REALITY, RIGHT? SO I, I THINK ANYTHING FROM LIKE EIGHT TO 10 YEARS IS REALISTIC ON THE LIFETIME. SO SOME OF THESE ARE, AND I'LL TALK ABOUT THE OPERATIONAL METRICS. SOME OF THEM ARE PERFORMING GREAT, AND SOME OF 'EM ARE, ARE NOT AS RELIABLE. UM, SO, UH, IN ADDITION TO THE PUBLIC NETWORK, UH, WE ALSO HAVE FOUR DC FAST CHARGER FOR THE CITY'S MUNICIPAL FLEET. SO A LOT OF THE WORK THAT WE'RE DOING IS ALSO FOR [01:00:01] FLEET. SO AUSTIN FLEET SERVICES IS MAKING A LOT OF PROGRESS ON, UH, ELECTRIFYING THE CITY, UH, EV INFRASTRUCTURE. AND SO WE'RE HELPING THEM, UH, SUPPORT THAT TRANSITION AS WELL. SO, NEXT SLIDE. SO ON THE OPERATIONS SIDE, UM, OUR DC FAST, UH, THEY'RE EXPERIENCING PRETTY HIGH USAGE, CONSISTENTLY AVERAGING APPROXIMATELY 230 MEGAWATTS OF ENERGY DISPERSED EVERY MONTH. UM, SO OVER THE PAST YEAR, THAT TOTAL IS MORE THAN 2.8 GIGAWATTS OF POWER DELIVERED THROUGH JUST THE DC FAST STATIONS. UM, AND WE ESTIMATE THAT SUPPORTS APPROXIMATELY 9.8 MILLION MILES OF ELECTRIC, UH, MILES DRIVEN IN THE CITY. SO, UM, ONE OF OUR GOALS IS FOR 40% OF THE MILES DRIVEN, UH, IN AUSTIN TO BE ELECTRIC. SO THAT'S ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE'RE WORKING TOWARD. UM, WE ARE ALSO TRACKING THE USAGE OF THESE. SO PEAK DEMAND ON THESE OCCURS DURING THAT AFTER WORK WINDOW FROM SIX TO SEVEN. SO THAT MAY BECOME A PROBLEM AS THIS GROWS, BUT THAT'S SOMETHING THAT WE'RE LOOKING AT AND LOOKING AT WAYS WE CAN MANAGE. UM, MAINTAINING THAT STATION UPTIME IS A MAJOR OPERATIONAL PRIORITY FOR US. IT'S, UH, A VERY ACTIVE ENDEAVOR, AND IT'S CURRENTLY A CHALLENGE. UM, THE STATIONS REQUIRE ATTENTION FOR A WIDE VARIETY OF DIFFERENT ISSUES. UM, SOMETIMES IT'S JUST BASIC CONNECTIVITY PROBLEMS, A WIFI AUDIT OR A, A SEARCH. UM, OTHER TIMES IT CAN BE VANDALISM, CUT CHARGING CORDS, UM, OR INTERNAL HARDWARE FAILURES, BROKEN CLIPS, ET CETERA. UM, SO WE BECOME ALERTED TO THE PROBLEMS EITHER THROUGH CHARGEPOINT AND THEIR DASHBOARD, BUT IF IT'S A BROKEN CLIP, UM, OR A HARDWARE ISSUE, WE MAY NOT BE ABLE TO SEE THAT ON OUR DASHBOARD. SO WE MAY BE RELYING ON CUSTOMERS TO BE, UH, REPORTING THOSE EITHER THROUGH THE CHARGEPOINT APP OR THROUGH 3 1 1. SO WE'RE CONSTANTLY MONITORING AND LOOKING FOR THOSE TO COME IN. AND SO SOME OF THOSE ISSUES ARE RESOLVED REALLY QUICKLY. UM, WE CAN GO OUT THERE, WE DO A POWER CYCLE AND EVERYTHING COMES BACK. OTHERS, UH, IT'S A LOT MORE COMPLICATED AND WE MIGHT BE WAITING ON PARTS SO THEY CAN TAKE LONGER. UM, WE RELY ON TWO PRIMARY SERVICE PATHWAYS TO DO THIS MAINTENANCE. SO WE HAVE A MAINTENANCE CONTRACT THAT I BELIEVE CAME BEFORE THIS, UH, COMMISSION A FEW MONTHS AGO. UM, THAT'S WITH NATIONAL CARD, UH, CHARGE. AND, UM, SO WE'RE, WE WORK WITH THEM. AND THEN WE HAVE ALL OF THE DC FAST STATIONS ALSO ENROLLED IN CHARGEPOINT ASSURE. SO THAT'S SORT OF THEIR EXTENDED, UM, SERVICE PROGRAM FOR THESE. SO THERE'S TWO AVENUES THAT WE CAN GET SERVICE, UH, TO THESE STATIONS. UM, SO THROUGH THE EFFORTS, WE HAVE IMPROVED UPTIME FROM 89% ABOUT A YEAR AGO TO OVER 95% NOW. UM, THAT'S ABOUT THE SAME AS WHAT WE WOULD SEE FOR THE AVERAGE UPTIME ACROSS TEXAS. UM, IT'S GREAT PROGRESS. IT'S NOT WHERE WE WANNA BE. SO I WILL JUST ACKNOWLEDGE THAT 5% DOWNTIME IS STILL A LOT, AND WE'RE TRYING TO FIGURE OUT HOW WE CONTINUE TO CLOSE THAT GAP AND DO BETTER. SO IF YOU COULD STAY ON, SO THOSE 30 AE CHARGERS, THE FOUR THAT ARE PRIVATE FOR THE FLEET, ARE THEY FAR MORE RELIABLE? SO IT'S A 26, AND IS THERE A SUBSET OF ILL BEHAVING, YOU KNOW, FOUR OR FIVE DC FAST CHARGERS THAT ARE JUST MOST OF THE PROBLEM? UM, SO I WOULD, I, I HAVEN'T ACTUALLY LOOKED TO SEE HOW THE FLEET ONES ARE COMPARING RELATIVE TO THE PUBLIC ONES. I WOULDN'T SUSPECT THAT THERE'S A NECESSARILY A HUGE DIFFERENCE THERE. I WILL SAY ON THE PUBLIC NETWORK OF THE 26 THAT WE HAVE, THERE ARE SOME THAT ARE FAR MORE PROBLEMATIC THAN OTHERS. SO YES, THERE ARE A HANDFUL. UM, I THINK IN TERMS OF THEIR UPTIME RELIABILITY, WE RANGE FROM 52% AT THE WORST STATION. UM, SOME OF 'EM IN THE SEVENTIES TO SOME THAT ARE 99, A HUNDRED PERCENT. SO, UM, IT IS, IT'S ALL, IT'S ALSO YOU HAVE TO TAKE IT WITH A GRAIN OF SALT, UM, BECAUSE THE UPTIME METRICS ARE NOT PERFECT REAL WORLD INFORMATION. MM-HMM . AS I SAID, WE'RE GETTING UPTIME FROM CHARGEPOINT IN THEIR DASHBOARD. SOMETIMES WHAT'S BEING REFLECTED ON THE FIELD IS NOT MATCHING WHAT WE'RE SEEING, UM, BEING REPORTED BY THE TECHNOLOGY. SO WE, WE CAN HAVE A STATION THAT'S REPORTING THAT IT'S FINE, AND THEN WE GET USERS COMING IN AND SAYING, I TRIED TO CHARGE AND IT'S NOT CHARGING, SO THEN WE HAVE TO PUT IN A TICKET AND THAT IT'S JUST A LITTLE BIT MESSY. WE'VE ALSO HAD THE REVERSE WHERE CHARGEPOINT IS SAYING, THE MACHINE IS FAULTED, YOU GO OUT AND YOU CAN CHARGE JUST FINE. SO WE HA IT'S, THAT LOOKS WORK, IT'S THE BEST INFORMATION WE HAVE, BUT IT'S GRAINY. SO IS IS THERE A PLAN TO REPLACE THOSE TROUBLESOME, OR HOW LONG BEFORE YOU GET RID OF THAT WHOLE FLEET OF OLD IRON AND GET SOME [01:05:01] MODERN STUFF? THAT RIGHT. IS FAR MORE RELIABLE. AND SECONDLY, UM, SINCE YOU PROVIDE THE ENERGY FOR ALL THE OTHER, I GUESS 343 DC FAST CHARGERS, MINUS 30, YOU COULD DEDUCE WITHOUT RELEASING CUSTOMER DATA, YOU KNOW, SOME METRIC OF THEIR UPTIME. YEAH, RIGHT. AND SO MY EXPERIENCE WITH ONE NETWORK IS 99.99. MY EXPERIENCE WITH THIS IS FAR LOWER. YEAH. RIGHT. AND SO I'VE EXPERIENCED PERSONALLY, OH, IT'S SAYING IT'S UP AND IT'S DOWN. YEP. OR, YOU KNOW, YOU SEE SOME POOR LADY THERE WITH HER, HER BABY OVER AT HEB AT MUELLER, AND SHE'S HAVING TO GO FIGURE OUT HOW TO GET IT. SO I'M ANXIOUS TO SEE AS MUCH AS YOU'VE VERY TACTFULLY PHRASED IT, AS FAR AS MAINTAINING OPERATIONAL UPTIME IS AN EXTREMELY ACTIVE AND CHALLENGE. I THINK YOU DID A WONDERFUL JOB WORDSMITHING THAT TO BE KIND AND GENEROUS TO THAT. I MEAN, WHEN DO YOU, WHEN CAN YOU GET RID OF THAT IRON? UM, SO WE WE'RE, WE'RE WORKING ON A PLAN RIGHT NOW AND, UH, THOUGH NOTHING'S BEEN APPROVED OR, OR TIMELINES, WE WERE HOPING TO GET SOME OF THAT DONE THROUGH SOME OF THE GRANTS THAT WE HAD, UM, PREVIOUSLY WON. SO WE WON A MAINTENANCE GRANT THAT WAS GONNA REPLA BE USED TO REPLACE SOME OF THE OLDER, LESS RELIABLE EQUIPMENT, BUT THAT MONEY, UM, NO LONGER AVAILABLE TO US, UH, AS WELL AS MONEY THAT WAS GONNA BE USED TO EXPAND SOME OF THE, THE NETWORK AND, UM, OTHER AREAS. SO WE'RE, WE'RE LOOKING AT WHAT WE CAN DO INTERNALLY WITH THE LIMITED FUNDING THAT WE AT AUSTIN ENERGY HAVE. 'CAUSE THESE ARE FAIRLY, THESE ARE NOT NECESSARILY THE CHEAPEST, UH, EQUIPMENT TO PUT IN. SO TRYING TO FIGURE OUT HOW WE DO THAT, BUT WE DO IT COST EFFECTIVELY AND IN A WAY THAT'S, UM, MEETS GOALS, BUT, UH, IS RESPECTFUL OF OUR BUDGET AS WELL. . ALL RIGHT. NEXT SLIDE. OKAY. SO TURNING TO THE PRIVATE SECTOR DEPLOYMENT, WE'RE SEEING, UH, SIGNIFICANT GROWTH IN, UM, DC FAST, UH, CHARGING ACROSS THE AREA. UM, INVESTMENT HERE HAS INCREASED RAPIDLY, UH, AS THE EV ADOPTION IN OUR AREA HAS ALSO BEEN GROWING PRETTY RAPIDLY. PRIVATE CHARGING PROVIDERS, ELECTRIFY AMERICA, EV GO, ARE CONTINUING TO EXPAND THEIR NETWORKS. I'VE ACTUALLY SEEN SOME REPORTS THAT THEIR RELIABILITY HAS COME UP FROM WHAT IT WAS, UH, IN THE PAST AS WELL. UM, WE'RE SEEING PARTNERSHIPS WITH LARGE RETAILERS THAT WANT TO OFFER CHARGING AS AN AMENITY. UM, SO, AND THEN IN PARALLEL WE'VE GOT FLEET OPERATORS, UH, WHO ARE MAKING, UM, BIG INVESTMENTS, UH, THAT ARE REFLECTING, UH, BROADER ELECTRIFICATION FOR THINGS LIKE RIDE HAIL, UM, AUTONOMOUS VEHICLE SERVICES, AND THEN JUST LIKE DELIVERY SERVICES AND OTHER FLEETS, JUST LIKE WE'RE DOING AS A CITY. UH, YOU BEAT ME TO THE PUNCH. YES, THERE ARE 343 . UM, DO YOU SEE FAST CHARGERS OPERATING IN THE AUSTIN ROUND ROCK REGION? SO OUR, OUR 26 PUBLIC STATIONS HAVE A VERY SMALL PIECE OF THAT LANDSCAPE AT THIS POINT IN TIME. UM, TESLA HAS THE MARKET SHARE OF THOSE. UM, UH, IN ADDITION, WE'VE RECEIVED REQUESTS OVER THE PAST, UH, FEW YEARS FOR MORE THAN 700, UH, NEW DC FAST CHARGES REQUIRING OTHER CAPACITY STUDIES OR ENERGIZATION. UM, WE DON'T THINK ALL OF THOSE WILL NECESSARILY BE BUILT, BUT IT IS A HUGE AMOUNT OF INTEREST THAT WE'RE SEEING THERE. AND, UM, APPROXIMATELY TWO THIRDS OF THOSE ARE FOR YOUR FLEET, UH, OPERATIONS. THEY'RE TIED TO YOUR WAYMO'S, YOUR ZOOX, UM, TESLA AV RIDE, THOSE KIND OF SERVICES. UH, BUT THE OTHER, THE OTHER THIRD IS, UH, FOR PUBLIC USE. SO WE'RE SEEING BOTH. UM, SO COLLECTIVELY, UH, THOSE ARE REPRESENTING MORE THAN 92 MEGAWATTS OF ADDITIONAL PLANNED, UH, FAST CHARGING. UM, SO NOT ALL OF THE PROPOSED SITES ARE ADVANCING. THIS CAN BE DUE TO CHALLENGES SUCH AS SITE SELECTION, LAND ACQUISITION. UM, WE PLAY A VITAL ROLE IN THE PROCESS BY CONDUCTING THE CAPACITY STUDIES, SUPPORTING THE DESIGN AND IZATION, AND GUIDING OUR CUSTOMERS THROUGH, UH, THE DIFFERENT RATE STRUCTURES WE HAVE AVAILABLE ONCE THOSE SITES ARE, UM, UP AND READY TO GO. UM, NEXT SLIDE. SO, UH, WHERE DO WE SEE US, UH, GOING IN THIS, UH, CHANGING, CHANGING ENVIRONMENT? SO WE SEE OUR ROLE AS A MUNICIPAL UTILITY, UM, SHIFTING. SO FOR A LONG TIME, THE INDUSTRY NEEDED TO GET GOING. WE NEEDED MARKET TRANSFORMATION, AND WE WERE THE ONLY GAME IN TOWN, SO WE NEEDED [01:10:01] TO GET FOLKS INTO EVS. AND IN ORDER TO GET INTO EVS, THEY HAD TO BE ASSURED THAT THERE WAS A CHARGING NETWORK. SO IT WAS A LITTLE CHICKEN AND EGG SITUATION. UM, BUT NOW, AS I JUST TALKED ABOUT THAT PRIVATE SECTOR REALLY HAS, UH, GOTTEN MOMENTUM. WE'VE GOTTEN MOMENTUM IN TERMS OF EV ADOPTION. UM, SO WHAT IS OUR ROLE THEN? SO WE, WE THINK WE NEED TO BE, UM, FILLING THE MARKET GAPS. WE'RE SHIFTING OUR USE, OUR SORT OF, UH, AREA FOR GROWTH TO MORE OF THE MUNICIPAL GROWTH. SO PUTTING EVS AT OUR MUNICIPAL BUILDINGS, CITY BUILDINGS FOR EMPLOYEES, VISITORS, AND A FLEET. AND THEN ALSO LOOKING AT AREAS OF TOWN, LIKE LOW INCOME AREAS OF TOWN WHERE THIS GROWTH MIGHT NOT HAPPEN NATURALLY, UH, THERE. SO TRYING NOT TO, UH, COMPETE WITH, BUT SUPPLEMENT. UM, AS I MENTIONED BEFORE, WE'RE SEEING THOSE LARGE RETAILERS, UH, SEEKING THAT PORTFOLIO WIDE CONSISTENCY. UM, THEY'RE LOOKING FOR UPGRADED EQUIPMENT. THEY'RE LOOKING FOR A BUSINESS MODEL THAT ALIGNS WITH THEIR BRAND. UM, ONE EXAMPLE IS THE HEB SITE. SO IF YOU HAVEN'T BEEN OVER THERE, THEY ACTUALLY ASKED US TO REMOVE THE DC FAST STATIONS WE HAD AT THAT LOCATION BECAUSE THEY'RE UPGRADING TO A CONSISTENT A B CHARGING PORTFOLIO ACROSS THEIR WHOLE MARKET. SO THEY WANT TO HAVE SOME CONSISTENCY AND TO OWN THIS AND TO HAVE IT PART OF THEIR BRAND. SO I ACTUALLY SEE THAT AS A SUCCESS STORY ABOUT WHERE THAT INDUSTRY IS GROWING. HEB DOESN'T NEED US ANYMORE. THEY WANT TO DO IT THEMSELVES AND TO OWN THAT EXPERIENCE AS PART OF THE EXPERIENCE OF THE STORE. CAN YOU DESCRIBE WHAT THEY'RE GOING TO DO? HAVE THEY ANNOUNCED IT PUBLICLY? THEY HAVE NOT ANNOUNCED IT PUBLICLY, AND ACTUALLY THEY'RE KEEPING IT VERY GENERIC EVEN TO US. OKAY. SO WALMART'S MAKING A HUGE THRUST ACROSS THE COUNTRY. YEAH. AND THE LAST METRIC I HEARD IS THAT 90% OF AMERICA IS WITHIN 10 MILES OF A WALMART. SO THAT'S VERY POSITIVE THAT THEY'RE BUILDING IT OUT. THEY'RE USING A B TWIN TAIL WITH THE CCS AS WELL AS A KN CABLE. SO IS THAT EQUIPMENT THAT YOU'RE CONSIDERING AND HAVE SOME EXPERIENCE WITH? I MEAN, I THINK WE'RE LOOKING AT ALL OF THE DIFFERENT, UM, CONNECTORS, BUT THE WHOLE INDUSTRY IS MOVING TO THE NEXT CONNECTOR, SO YES. OKAY. UM, AND, AND SO YEAH, SPEAKING OF THAT, SO AS WE'RE, UM, PLANNING OUR TECHNOLOGY, WE HAVE TO LOOK AT RIGHT, THE FASTER CHARGING SPEEDS. A LOT OF THIS EQUIPMENT IS EVOLVING AS WELL, SO WE'RE GETTING FASTER CHARGING SPEEDS, WE'RE GETTING SOME MORE STANDARDIZATION IN THE CONNECTOR TYPES. UM, AND THEN THE WHOLE INDUSTRY IS PUSHING FOR RELIABILITY AND STATIONS THAT CAN, UM, BE MORE V RESISTANT, MORE RESISTANT TO WEATHERING, YOU KNOW, SO WE DON'T HAVE THE ISSUES WITH SCREENS AND THINGS THAT, UH, AREN'T RE LEGIBLE BASED ON THE SUN EXPOSURE. SO GROWING AS AN INDUSTRY AND LEARNING AND, UM, MAKING THE EQUIPMENT MORE RELIABLE AND HARDIER. WE ALSO, UM, AS A UTILITY ARE GONNA NEED, UH, TOOLS FOR MANAGING OUR PEAK LOAD. LIKE I SAID, THE PEAK LOAD ON THESE, UH, PEAK CHARGING TIME ON THESE DC FASTS IS KIND OF COINCIDENT WITH OUR PEAK LOAD, WHICH IS MAYBE NOT A GREAT STORY. SO, UM, WE'RE GONNA HAVE TO LOOK AT, THAT MIGHT BE FINE MOST OF THE TIME. BUT WHAT DO WE DO IN A, IN AN EMERGENCY? ARE, ARE THERE WAYS TO THROTTLE BACK? HOW WOULD WE COMMUNICATE THAT WE DON'T REALLY WANT DCFA TO BE THE FIRST PLACE WE DO IT. SO MORE, MORE FOCUSED RIGHT NOW ON MANAGED CHARGING AT THE HOMES, BUT THEN ALSO LOOKING, UM, AT HOPEFULLY DOING A B TWO G PILOT SO THAT WE CAN SEE CAN WE MAKE THESE, ALL THESE VEHICLES, UM, AN ASSET TO THE GRID AS WELL. UM, HELL, YOU GOT A QUESTION? YEAH, I WAS JUST GONNA ASK THAT. YEAH. THE LAST SLIDE. BUT WHEN YOU, WHEN YOU, ARE YOU FINDING THAT YOU CAN GET, UH, LESS EXPENSIVE AND MORE CAPABLE UNITS TO REPLACE SOME OF YOUR PROBLEM OUT HERE? UM, WE CAN DEFINITELY GET MORE CAPABLE. I'M NOT SURE IF WE CAN GET LESS EXPENSIVE, ALTHOUGH A LOT OF THE EXPENSE ON THE DC FAST IS NOT NECESSARILY THE CHARGER ITSELF, NOT THAT THOSE ARE CHEAP, BUT, UM, A LOT OF IT ENDS UP BEING THE SITE DEVELOPMENT THAT GOES ALONG WITH IT AND GETTING THE POWER AND THE TRANSFORMERS, ET CETERA, TO SERVE THE SITE. UHHUH. OKAY. THANK YOU. MM-HMM . UM, I THINK WE HAVE A QUESTION ONLINE. ELLU? NO. HI, MS. CASPER, I'M SORRY IF YOU'RE GONNA GET INTO THIS IN JUST A MINUTE, BUT, UM, YOU MENTIONED HOPING TO DO A V DG, UM, PILOT. IS THERE ANY CERTAINTY AROUND THAT? I KNOW THERE'S SOME STATE LEGISLATION. I JUST WOULD LOVE TO HEAR MOVEMENT AROUND THERE. UM, THERE'S CERTAINTY THAT, THAT WE ARE LOOKING AT IT AND TRYING TO FIGURE OUT HOW TO MAKE IT WORK. UM, THERE'S NO CERTAINTY IN TERMS OF A TIMELINE OR MILESTONES AROUND WHAT THAT LOOKS LIKE OR BY WHEN IT WILL LAUNCH. I THINK THE INDUSTRY HAS TO GET TO N AND THEN GET TO BI-DIRECTIONAL NAX AND HOPEFULLY HAVE AC, [01:15:01] BI-DIRECTIONAL NAS, AS WELL AS MAYBE DC AC FOR RESIDENTIAL DC FOR FLEETS AND, UH, DEPOT CHARGED VEHICLES. UM, SO YOU HAVE THERE IN THE RATE STRUCTURE. YEP. THAT WAS MY NEXT POINT. SO ONE OF THE THINGS OVER THE LAST 15 YEARS THAT I'VE ALWAYS HEARD, AND THERE WERE TOOLS TO LOOK AT THIS YEAH. AND TRY TO, TO DEDUCE, I MEAN, DC FAST CHARGING WITH LOW UTILIZATION, HIGH CAPEX AND HIGH OPEX IS REALLY A TOUGH BUSINESS CASE. YES. AND SO WHEN YOU GET IT TO WHERE YOU HAVE LOWER CAPEX UP FRONT YEP. LIKE THE ACCORDION TYPE OF INSTALLATION, THAT THAT SIMPLIFIES THAT. AND THEN IF YOU, IF YOU GET ENOUGH ASSET UTILIZATION, THAT HELPS WITH THE OP OPEX, 'CAUSE THE DEMAND CHARGES MM-HMM . RIGHT? SO WHAT CAN YOU ALL DO WITH THE, THE RATE DESIGN TO HELP WITH THIS OR OTHER, OTHER WAYS TO HELP REDUCE CAPEX? MAYBE THEY STREAMLINING HER PERMITTING AND I, YOU'VE HAD SHEMS ON THERE FOR YEARS, SO I BET SHE'S REALLY GOOD AT IT. , RIGHT? SHE DOES HER BEST. UM, SO STREAMLINING THAT. YEAH. SO IT'S EASY, BUT TELL US MORE ABOUT HOW YOU'RE MAKING IT TO WHERE THE BUSINESS CASE GETS MORE POSITIVE, HENCE MORE PRIVATE INDUSTRY INVESTS AND IT GROWS THE NETWORK. YEAH, SO I THINK ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE'RE GONNA HAVE TO DO, RIGHT? SO PART OF IT WE HAD A MENTALITY OF, UM, GETTING ADOPTION ROLLING. AND SO AS WE'RE MOVING OUT OF THAT, WE NEED TO MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE NOT UNDERCUTTING PRIVATE MARKET WITH OUR RATES. UM, THAT WE WANT A FAIR, UH, DC FAST RATE, UM, BUT NOT NECESSARILY ONE THAT SUBSIDIZED OR UNDERCUTS, UM, PRIVATE SECTOR. I DON'T THINK WE CAN JUST, 'CAUSE WE DON'T HAVE THE NUMBER STATIONS TO DO IT, BUT THAT'S ONE OF THE THINGS. UM, BALANCING OTHER THINGS LIKE, UH, LOOKING AT, UM, RIGHT NOW THE DC FAST OR ON A PER MINUTE CHARGE, UM, THAT WAS DESIGNED THAT WAY SO THAT YOU DIDN'T GET PEOPLE STAYING IN THOSE SPOTS, TAKING 'EM UP WHEN THEY'RE DONE CHARGING, YOU WANTED FOR A DC FAST, YOU WANT 'EM TO CHARGE AND MOVE ON. UM, BUT WE'RE LOOKING AT NOW PROBABLY BECAUSE IT'S TOO INCONSISTENT, UM, PROBABLY TRANSFERRING THAT TO A KWH CHARGE THAT PLUS AN IDLE FEE. AND THAT SEEMS TO BE WHAT A LOT OF THE PRIVATE SECTOR IS DOING TOO. UM, WE'RE ALSO LOOKING AT THINGS IN TERMS OF MANAGING PEAK. DO WE DO DEMAND PRICING, UM, FOR YOUR ACTUAL CHARGING SESSION RATHER THAN JUST THE DEMAND CHARGING FOR THE SITE? SO DO YOU SPIKE THE CHARGE, UM, AT DIFFERENT, UH, TIMES? UM, SO NOT SAYING THAT WE'RE GOING TO, BUT THOSE ARE SOME OF THE DIFFERENT THINGS THAT WE'RE LOOKING AT ON THE RATE STRUCTURES. SO THE ODD THING IS WHEN I LOOK AT THE TESLA MAP OF A CHARGING, LIKE A SUPERCHARGER MM-HMM . NEAR B CAVES ROAD, IT HAS WHAT YOU'D EXPECT FROM 20 YEARS AGO AS FAR AS TIME OF USE. YEAH. AND THE PEAK RATES ARE DURING THE MIDDLE OF THE DAY. BUT IF YOU LOOK AT THE ERCOT APP AND FOLLOW THE ACTUAL WHOLESALE PRICES, PRICES TEND TO GET MORE HIGH DURING THE NEW NET LOAD PEAK UHHUH AFTER PV GOES DOWN. YEP. SEVEN OR EIGHT O'CLOCK OR WHENEVER THE SUN GOES DOWN. RIGHT. BASED ON THE SEASON. SO I'M, I'M HAVING TO RECONCILE THE, THE WHY THEY CAN PRICE IT LIKE THAT AND WHY WE WOULD WANT TO PRICE IT WHEN THE ACTUAL WHOLESALE HAS A DIFFERENT SHAPE. YEAH, WE, SO FROM A UTILITY PERSPECTIVE, I, LIKE I SAID, WHEN WE ARE LOOKING AT THE OPERATIONS ON OURS, WE'RE NOT SEEING THAT MIDDLE OF THE DAY SPIKE ON THOSE STATIONS. WE'RE SEEING IT THE AFTER WORK TIMEFRAME, SO THE FIVE TO SIX. SO IT'S GETTING REALLY CLOSE TO THAT NET LOW PEAK, NET LOW PEAK. UM, SO THAT'S WHERE I'D BE LOOKING AT IN TERMS OF UTILITY. I THINK YOU NEED TO HAVE A HAPPY HOUR WHEN THE SUN'S STILL UP AND THEN CHARGE FULL PRICE FOR DINNER TIME. THERE YOU GO. OR, OR CHARGE YOUR CAR WHEN YOU GET TO WORK INSTEAD OF AFTER THAT, THAT MORNING. MORNING HOUR WOULD BE MUCH FRIENDLIER FROM A GRID PERSPECTIVE, AT LEAST IN THE SUMMER. OTHER QUESTIONS, I GUESS. OKAY. I THINK THAT'S YOUR LAST SLIDE, ISN'T IT? IT IS MY LAST SLIDE. ANY MORE QUESTIONS? THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANKS. OKAY, VERY GOOD. WORKING [9. Update from the joint RMC/EUC Local Solar + Storage Process Working Group regarding meeting highlights and next steps. (Sponsors: Braden, Tuttle) ] GROUP UPDATES. NUMBER NINE, UPDATE FROM THE R-M-C-E-U-C LOCAL SOLAR. AL DO YOU WANNA DISCUSS THIS? UH, YEAH, QUICKLY. UH, THE EUC LOCAL SOLAR AND A STORAGE WORKING GROUP IS A JOINT COMMISSION OF EUC AND RMC. WE'VE GOT FOUR EUC MEMBERS, TODD, WHITE, BEN, AND ME. THERE'S ROOM FOR ONE MORE IF ANYBODY'S INTERESTED IN JOINING. I DID. HUH? I DIDN'T KNOW I'D JOINED. YOU JOINED. DO YOU WANNA BE ON IT? YOU DON'T. OH, [01:20:01] WELL THERE'S TWO OPENINGS. IF ANYBODY , IF ANYBODY'S INTERESTED. I'LL, I'LL TAKE YOU OFF OF THAT THEN YOU'RE WITH IT. IT'S FUN. OH, OKAY. UH, WE MEET THE THIRD MONDAY OF EACH MONTH, UH, 11:00 AM TO ABOUT 1230 ONLINE. THE NEXT MEETING IS NOVEMBER 3RD, 16TH. WE JUST MET THIS MORNING. UH, THE MISSION IS TO WORK WITH STAFF AND STREAMLINE THE LOCAL SOLAR AND STORAGE PERMITTING, INSTALLATION, INSPECTION, AND INTERCONNECTION PROCESSES TO CUT TIME AND COST FOR EVERYBODY INVOLVED. UH, WITH THE TWO MEETINGS SO FAR, THE FIRST MEETING, INCLUDING PRESENTATION BY, UH, MEGAN BRENHAM FROM AUSTIN ENERGY, WHICH IS A GREAT STARTING POINT, UH, SHE WAS ABLE TO SHOW US SOME, UH, FLOW CHARTS. AND THAT'S ONE OF THE THINGS WE WERE MOST INTERESTED IN. THIS IS A FLOW CHART OF RETAIL, OF A RESIDENTIAL SOLAR PROCESS. AND THIS ONE I HAD TO PRINT OUT. THIS IS A COMMERCIAL ONE. IT, IT'S A LITTLE MORE COMPLICATED, BUT, UH, HAVING THESE IS PRICELESS. I MEAN, IT'S REALLY THE FIRST STEP IN OUR PROCESS IS TO FIGURE OUT, WELL, WHAT THE HELL ARE THE STEPS IN THE PROCESS ? SO, UH, KUDOS, UH, FOR MEGAN. AND, UH, WE HAD A SECOND MEETING TODAY AND TIM HARVEY WAS THERE AND HE COULD ANSWER A LOT MORE QUESTIONS ABOUT IT. SO, UH, IT WAS GOOD TO HAVE TIM. UH, THERE'S APPARENTLY A NEW, UM, DEVELOPMENT SERVICES SOFTWARE IN THE WORKS CALLED CLARITY. UH, AND WE WERE TRYING TO FIGURE OUT, WELL, HOW DOES THAT AFFECT US? WHAT DOES THAT FIT? AND TIM, UH, WAS ABLE TO TELL US, WELL, THE CLARITY IS STILL UNDER NEGOTIATION. IT'S NOT REALLY READY TO IMPLEMENT YET, AND IT'S GONNA COVER THE BIG PICTURE OF ALL THE DEVELOPMENT STANDARDS AND, YOU KNOW, IMPERVIOUS COVER AND HOW TALL BUILDINGS CAN BE. BUT THEY STILL LOOKED AT THE, UH, SOLAR APP PLUS AS A REALLY GOOD EFFECTIVE FRONT END FOR RESIDENTIAL SOLAR INSTALLATION, SO THAT THAT COULD PLUG INTO THIS CLARITY WHEN IT FINALLY COMES AROUND. BUT IN ORDER TO MAKE CLARITY WORK WELL, WE REALLY NEED TO HAVE A LOT OF CLARITY ON WHAT THE HELL ARE ALL THE STEPS IN THE PROCESS. SO I THINK OUR, OUR FIRST, UH, REAL EFFORT IS TO TAKE WHAT MEGAN'S GIVEN US AND, UH, SIT WITH SOME SOLAR INSTALLERS AND TRY TO GO THROUGH IT PIECE BY PIECE AND UNDERSTAND, YOU KNOW, HOW IS IT TO, YOU KNOW, THINGS HAVE CHANGED, THINGS HAVE IMPROVED, BUT WHAT ARE ALL THE STEPS INVOLVED TODAY? WHAT ARE THE BOTTLENECKS? WHAT ARE THE PINCH POINTS? WHERE DO THINGS HAVE TO, WHERE DO THINGS GET STALLED? AND LOOK AT THAT AND THEN TRY TO MAKE SOME RECOMMENDATIONS, THEN TALK TO STAFF ABOUT IT AND, AND SEE WHAT WE CAN IMPROVE. SO REALLY IMPROVING THE REAL PROCESS NOW IS MUCH MORE IMPORTANT THAN WORRYING ABOUT HOW THE SOFTWARE IMPLEMENTATION MIGHT BE A YEAR OR TWO DOWN THE ROAD. UH, WE ALSO, THE MOST IMPORTANT OTHER THING IS TO, UH, MEET WITH THE METER DEPARTMENT AND ALSO TO GET AUSTIN DESIGN SERVICES TO BE INVOLVED IN THIS BECAUSE THE PERMITTING IS, YOU KNOW, IS AN EQUALLY BIG COMPLEXITY IN THE BEGINNING, ESPECIALLY WHEN YOU GET TO THE COMMERCIAL PROJECT. SO, UH, MY GOAL IS TO REACH OUT TO THEM AND ASK THEM TO PARTICIPATE, HOPE THEY WILL, UH, HOPE THEY'LL BE AS FORTHCOMING AND AS ENGAGING AS TIM, UH, BECAUSE IF THEY DO THIS, COULD, THIS COULD REALLY HELP US ALL. AND, UH, IN THE BOTTOM LINE, WHATEVER GETS RECOMMENDED HAS TO BE IMPLEMENTED AND, YOU KNOW, ACCEPTED BY THE STAFF ANYWAY. THEY'RE THE ONES THAT DO THE WORK. SO, UH, WE'VE GOTTA GET THOSE OTHER GROUPS INVOLVED. AND, UH, ALSO DAVID LEVESQUE CAN STAN AND OTHER PEOPLE WILL BE WORKING ON THE FLOW CHARTS, TRY TO SAY, OKAY, WHERE CAN, WHERE ARE SOME THINGS THAT WE LIKE TO RECOMMEND? SO THAT'S WHAT I'VE GOT ON THE SOLAR WORKING GROUP. ANY QUESTIONS? ANYBODY WANNA JOIN ALL YOUR PEOPLE ONLINE? I CAN SEE LOTS OF, IT'S PLAYING LOTS. I SEE LOTS OF INITIALS UP THERE. . OKAY, WELL THAT'S OKAY. WELL, [10. Update from the joint RMC/EUC Long Duration Storage Working Group regarding meeting highlights and next steps. (Sponsors: Braden, Tuttle)] WHY DON'T WE MOVE TO 10 ALISON'S REALLY DRAWING OF THAT, BUT HE WANTED DESCRIBE THE LONG DURATION STORY. YES, THE LONG DURATION STORAGE WORKING GROUP IS A JOINT COMMISSION OF THE EUC AND THE RMC. IT HAS FOUR EUC MEMBERS, TOTAL WHITE, GILLETTE, AND ME. AND THERE'S ROOM FOR ONE MORE IF ANYBODY'S INTERESTED. UH, AS, AS YOU SAID, DAVE, UH, ALLISON SILVERSTEIN IS DRIVING THAT AS THE CHAIR FROM THE RC. IT MEETS THURSDAY, FIRST OF THURSDAY OF EACH MONTH FROM TWO TO FOUR ONLINE, AND THE NEXT MEETING WILL BE NOVEMBER 5TH. THE MISSION OF [01:25:01] THE LONG-TERM STORAGE WORKING GROUP IS TO EVALUATE REALISTIC OPTIONS FOR COVERING MULTI-DAY POWER SHORTAGES AND EMERGENCIES. UH, WE'LL LOOK AT LONG DURATION ENERGY STORAGE RESOURCES TO COVER OUR BREADTH OF TYPES TECHNOLOGIES, AND THEY MUST BE MANAGEABLE OR DISPATCHABLE. BUT VDV TWO DG AND COM IS ALSO A POSSIBILITY DOWN THE ROAD AS IT CAN REACH SCALE AND ALSO LOOK AT COMPRESSED AIR STORAGE. UH, WE DIDN'T SAY SO, BUT GEOTHERMAL, WHICH IS NOT A STORAGE COULD BE. OH, IT IS ACTUALLY THE, THE GEO IT CAN BE A STORAGE. STORAGE, YES. IT CAN BE A STORAGE. OH YEAH. OH, GREAT. WELL, LET'S HAVE SOME, NO, HOW DOES IT STORE STORAGE? IT HAS HEAT IN THE EARTH, BUT YEAH, YOU JUST PUT IT IN THERE OR TAKE IT OUT. OH, OKAY. GREAT. OKAY. WELL, WE'LL HAVE THAT ON THE LIST. UH, WE'RE TRYING TO FIND, YOU KNOW, REASONABLY DEPLOYABLE SOLUTIONS, NOT PIE IN THE SKY WAY DOWN THE ROAD THINGS. UH, BUT STORAGE TECHNOLOGIES AND COSTS HAVE BEEN RAPIDLY CHANGING AND THEIR COMPETITIVENESS HAS GREATLY ENHANCED BY, UH, BY LOWERING COSTS AND BY SOME THINGS REACHING SCALE SO THAT THAT COMPARES FAVORABLY TO RAPID INCREASES IN NATURAL GAS COSTS AND HIGHER TURBINE PRICES. UH, WE PROBABLY WANNA LOOK AT A SUITE OF LAYERS OF SOLUTIONS THAT COMPLIMENT EACH OTHER. I DON'T THINK THERE'S ONE SILVER BULLET OUT THERE THAT WE CAN IDENTIFY, BUT TRY TO LOOK AT A MIX OF THINGS THAT WOULD HELP GET US THROUGH VARIOUS SCENARIOS OF A, OF A MULTI-DAY OUT, A LOW POWER SITUATION, UH, AND DO THAT IN GREAT DETAIL CONSIDERING THE CAPITAL COSTS AND THE ENERGY COSTS AND SO FORTH. UH, DAVID LEVESQUE AND CHRIS GILLETTE ARE BOTH DEVELOPING MODELING TOOLS THAT ARE LOOKING TO BE VERY HELPFUL FOR THIS. SO WE'VE NEVER HAD THE WAY TO SIT AROUND THE TABLE AND SAY, WELL, WHAT IF YOU DO THIS AND THAT, AND HOW WOULD THAT COMPARE TO THAT? WE'VE RELIED DURING THE GEN PLAN PROCESS ON AUSTIN ENERGY AND BA IN THE BACK ROOM. HE GOES AWAY FOR A WEEK AND COMES BACK WITH A CHART AND SAYS, HERE'S WHAT YOU GET. BUT WE HAVEN'T BEEN ABLE TO WORK INTER INTERACTIVELY WITH THAT. SO I THINK DAVID AND CHRIS ARE, ARE GETTING US SOME TOOLS THAT WILL BE HELPFUL AND THEN IN FUTURE SCENARIOS WE COULD EVEN COMPARE HOW DOES THAT WORK COMPARED TO AUSTIN ENERGY'S REAL DATA. AND I THINK WE CAN GET CLOSE, UH, THE GROUP HOPES TO PRODUCE A SUMMARY REPORT ON OPTIONS WITHIN, UH, SIX TO NINE MONTHS THAT WE COULD SHARE WITH THE E-U-C-R-M-C AND POTENTIALLY CITY COUNCIL. SO THAT'S OUR PLAN THERE. AND BY THE WAY, ON GEOTHERMAL YEAH, IN TEXAS, THERE'S THIS BAND SORT OF STARTING AT THE EAGLE FORD GOING UP TO THE UPPER RIGHT MM-HMM . THAT'S BETTER FOR POWER GENERATION WHERE WE ARE. YEAH. OUR ROCKS ARE BETTER FOR POTENTIALLY STORAGE WITH GEOTHERMAL. SO THERE'S ACTUALLY WAYS THAT YOU CAN USE DIFFERENT GEOTHERMAL APPLICATIONS AND D DIFFERENT STRATA AND MAYBE HAVE IT MORE OPTIMAL. HMM. OKAY. HADN'T HEARD IT GOING THAT WAY. I KNOW THAT OUT TOWARDS FAYETTE, THE BAND OF, OF KIND OF THE CHORIZO AQUIFER IS KIND OF TRACKS WHERE THE BAND OF HOTTER MATERIAL IS. BUT CYRUS YEAH. FOR THAT SECOND, UM, WORKING GROUP, DO YOU HAVE A, IS THERE A IDENTIFIED PERSON AT AUSTIN ENERGY WHO'S THE LIAISON OR, OR NOT YET? UH, CERTAINLY NOT YET. UH, WE'RE JUST WORKING ON THINGS. I, I THINK ALLISON, UH, HAS REACHED OUT TO PEOPLE. AMY HAS BEEN PART OF THE GROUP, UH, BUT WE DON'T HAVE A LIAISON. WE WE'RE JUST LOOKING AT DIFFERENT POSSIBILITIES RIGHT NOW. UH, WE WOULD HOPE TO ENGAGE STAFF LATER ON 'CAUSE THEY'VE GOT IDEAS TOO, AND WE COULD ALL WORK ON 'EM IN A MORE INFORMAL AND COLLEGIAL SESSION THAN THE GEN PLAN PROCESS PERHAPS. AND THAT WOULD BE BENEFICIAL. I DUNNO IF YOU HAVE ANY NO, I WAS JUST GONNA SAY YES. UM, I'M WORKING WITH LISA TO IDENTIFY, UM, APPROPRIATE STAFF TO PARTICIPATE AND RESPOND TO SPECIFIC ISSUES THAT Y'ALL ARE WORKING ON. OKAY. YEAH, IF THERE'S ROOM FOR ME, I, I WOULDN'T MIND JOINING THAT WITH HESITATION , 'CAUSE I'M ON SO MANY COMMITTEES, BUT, UM, IT'S INFOR IT'S PRETTY INFORMAL RIGHT AT THIS POINT. SO I'D, UM, IF THERE'S ROOM, I'D BE HAPPY TO JOIN THE, UH OKAY. YOU'RE IN. OKAY. YEAH, THE FIRST ONE IS TOO, TOO COMPLICATED FOR ME. THE SECOND ONE I LIKE. YEAH. OKAY, GREAT. WELL, YOU'VE GOT A LOT OF EXPERIENCE IN GEN PLANTS GOING BACK TO THE BEFORE 2010, [01:30:01] SO, UH, YEAH, I KNOW. I JUST LOOKED, AS I SAID, I LOOKED AT ALL THE PAPERS ON MY DESK AND I FOUND STUFF GOING BACK TO 2009, SO I'M LIKE, MAN, WHAT YOU'LL FIND IS A, I BET IS A WHOLE HELL OF A LOT OF STUFF THAT YOU SAY, I WISH WE COULD HAVE THIS, AND NOW WE DO. SO THAT'S, WELL, THE WORLD'S CERTAINLY CHANGED SINCE 2009. YEAH, I'LL SAY THAT. OKAY. GOOD AND BAD. GOOD AND BAD STUFF. YEAH. ANY OTHER COMMENTS, QUESTIONS? OKAY. THAT'S OKAY. ALL RIGHT, CYRUS, UH, THE NEXT MEETING IS NOVEMBER 5TH. WE'LL, WE'LL SEND YOU AN INVITE AND THE SECRET HANDSHAKE. OKAY. THE NEXT ITEM [FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS] IS FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS. WHAT DO WE HAVE? I DON'T HAVE ANY AT THE MOMENT. JUST KEEP ON WORKING ON THESE TWO THINGS, THOSE THINGS, YOU KNOW, I'D LIKE TO SEE, WELL, I GUESS WE SHOULD PROBABLY, I DON'T KNOW IF YOU WANNA REPORT A SHORT REPORT EVERY TIME OR JUST A, IF I'D LIKE TO SEE AN UPDATE OF THE RESILIENCY PLAN, I DON'T KNOW WHAT, HOW OFTEN YOU ALL FEEL COMFORTABLE DOING THAT. IT WOULD SEEM LIKE EVERY SIX, NINE MONTHS OR A YEAR. I WROTE IT DOWN. I WANNA GO BACK TO AL JUST REAL QUICK. I'VE GOT THAT AS A STANDING ITEM FOR A WORKING GROUP UPDATE FOR EACH MONTH. OKAY. UM, AND I'LL LEAVE IT AT THAT UNLESS YOU TELL ME YOU DON'T HAVE ANYTHING TO REPORT. NO, THAT'S GREAT. THAT'S, YEAH, LET'S LEAVE IT. I MEAN, IT MIGHT BE ONE SENTENCE, IT MIGHT BE FIVE MINUTES, BUT SURE. YEAH, LET'S SURE. AND NATASHA AND I HAVE THE RMC AND EUC AGENDA SYNCED UP, UH, WITH THAT SAME LANGUAGE. SO YOU'LL SEE IT MONTHLY ON BOTH AGENDAS. OKAY. APPRECIATE IT. THANK YOU. NO PROBLEM. GABBY, YOU HAVE YOUR HAND UP? YEAH. THANK YOU TARA. UM, I THINK I MADE THIS REQUESTED OUR LAST MEETING, SO MAYBE YOU'VE ALREADY DISCUSSED IT AND SCHEDULED ARE, ARE WE GONNA GET AN UPDATE, UM, FROM THE SOLAR TEAM ABOUT IT IN RESPONSE TO THE, THE COUNCIL RESOLUTION? I KNOW THEY'RE WORKING ON IT. UM, SO YEAH, JUST CHECKING ON IF WE SHOULD BE ABLE TO EXPECT THAT AT OUR NOVEMBER MEETING. 'CAUSE WE DON'T MEET IN DECEMBER, RIGHT? WE DON'T MEET IN DECEMBER. CORRECT. WE DO NOT MEET IN DECEMBER AND I DO NOT HAVE THE NOVEMBER AGENDA FINALIZED AT THIS TIME. HAS THAT TEAM THEN, YOU KNOW, ASK IF THEY CAN DO THAT. HAS THAT REQUEST BEEN MADE? YES, THE REQUEST WAS MADE LAST MONTH. OKAY. DID YOU GET A RESPONSE? I DO NOT HAVE A DATE TO GIVE YOU AT THIS TIME. OKAY. I WAS JUST ASKING IF THEY RESPONDED. OTHER ITEMS. CYRUS, DO YOU HAVE YOUR HAND UP AGAIN OR, UH, I, I DO. UM, I DIDN'T KNOW IF VERY GREAT KI ASKED A QUESTION. I DIDN'T KNOW IF IT WAS GONNA BE ANSWERED OR NOT. THANK YOU, CYRUS. WE, YEAH, WE WE DO HAVE A RESPONSE THAT NEEDS TO GO TO COUNCIL AND SO IT'S JUST ABOUT SCHEDULING THE, THE TIMING WITH BOTH OF THOSE. YEAH. SO WE WILL WORK IT OUT. THANK YOU. AND I HAVE MY HAND UP ON ANOTHER ITEM, WHICH IS A COUPLE OF MONTHS AGO WE, WE PASSED A RESOLUTION THAT WENT TO COUNCIL JUST SAYING, UM, IT WAS OUR OPINION THAT, UM, AUSTIN ENERGY SHOULD START A, YOU KNOW, COST OF SERVICE STUDY NEXT YEAR FOR THE 2026 YEAR TO CONSIDER ANY RATE CHANGES. SO I DON'T, I DON'T REALLY KNOW WHAT I'M ASKING. I GUESS I'M ASKING, UM, TO THE EXTENT AUSTIN ENERGY IS PLANNING TO DO, YOU KNOW, A, A RATE CASE OR AT LEAST A COST OF SERVICE STUDY, IF WE CAN BE UPDATED ON THAT WHENEVER THE APPROPRIATE TIME IS. UM, I'M NOT SURE WHEN THE APPROPRIATE TIME IS, BUT, UM, THAT, THAT COULD ALSO DEPEND ON OBVIOUSLY WHAT CITY COUNCIL'S EXPECTING. BUT, UM, YOU KNOW, JUST SOME SORT OF UPDATE ON THAT, UH, PROCESS. TO THE EXTENT AUSTIN ENERGY'S, UH, MADE A DECISION ON HOW TO PROCEED ON ANY, UH, RATE COST OF SERVICE STUDY AND POTENTIAL RATE CASE IN 2027. SO IS IT STILL THE PLAN TO HAVE 2026 IS THE TEST YEAR IN 2027, YOU HAVE A RATE CASE? UM, I'M, I GUESS I'M ASKING THAT QUESTION. THAT WAS IN OUR RESOLUTION. WE SUGGESTED IT. I DON'T KNOW IF THAT'S WHAT AUSTIN ENERGY IS [01:35:01] PLANNING OR NOT. THAT'S WHAT THE PLAN WAS BEFORE. RIGHT. I THINK I, I DON'T RUN AUSTIN ENERGY, SO I DON'T KNOW, BUT I THINK SO. YEAH. YEAH, WE WILL. WE ARE WORKING ON THAT PROCESS RIGHT NOW. SO WE DON'T HAVE A CLEAR ANSWER FOR YOU RIGHT NOW, BUT YES, WE WILL OF COURSE UPDATE YOU WHEN WE KNOW WHAT THE PROCESS LOOKS LIKE. OTHER ITEMS? NO. ANYONE ONLINE? JONATHAN KABA BROW. OKAY. WELL WITH THAT, LET'S ADJOURN AT 7:37 PM THANKS. THANK YOU. * This transcript was created by voice-to-text technology. The transcript has not been edited for errors or omissions, it is for reference only and is not the official minutes of the meeting.