Before passage on consent last Thurdsay, Council Member Greg Casar made special note of the approval of the recent wind contract and the Austin Energy's progress towards more renewable energy while remaining one of the most affordable utilities in Texas. (Photo credit: Al Braden)
Austin Energy has been a leader for many years on the development of renewable energy and energy efficiency. With the approval of new wind energy contracts last Thursday (passed on consent agenda - item 2), the municipally-owned utility will soon generate 56% of its power from renewable energy. This keeps Austin on pace to meet its goal of 65% renewable energy by 2027 easily, and it pegs the city at 80% carbon neutral energy.
Councilmember Greg Casar highlighted this progress before the consent agenda was approved, noting that Austin Energy is the third largest municipally owned utility in the country and Austin has the second lowest average residential electric bill in Texas.
Not too shabby, but let’s not forget that part of the plan adopted in 2017 directs Austin Energy to look at 80% by 2027 and 100% renewable energy by 2035.
The goals were established with the adoption of the 2027 Austin Energy Generation Plan in 2017 with support from a wide variety of stakeholders, including the Sierra Club.. The study on getting to 80% by 2027 should be developed over the summer.
Since adopting its generation plan, Austin Energy has been issuing a yearly Request for Proposals (RFP) to the market to get the best values in renewable energy. Since then, two great projects have been contracted. The one approved on Thursday, Gulf Wind 2 LLC, has been contracted for up to 20 years, up to 170 megawatts of electricity from a utility-scale wind-generation facility. This latest contract follows a recent contract for 144 megawatts of electricity from a solar facility within Travis County.
Both contracts should keep energy prices affordable for Austin Energy customers, demonstrating once again that renewable energy and affordability go together.
City Council, the board of directors of Austin Energy, has set Austin Energy on a clean and affordable path. In the coming years, as Austin Energy adds affordable renewable energy contracts and energy storage facilities, they will also begin retiring some of our oldest and dirtiest fossil fuel plants, including the natural gas turbines at Decker Lake and our share of the Fayette coal-burning power plant.
Austin is a national leader in clean energy because of the thousands of Austinites who’ve organized over the last decade to demand the absolute best from the managers of our publicly owned utility. Without the calls, emails, rallies, marches and testimonials by residents, our energy portfolio would look dramatically different. As we march toward 100% clean energy we must build on this legacy and ensure a fair, equitable, and just transition is in place for power plant workers, low-income residents, and local small businesses.