What is Austin Energy to do?
City Council faces a tough decision on the utility's direction.
If there is one thing I wish the typical Austinite understood, it's that most of the property taxes they pay do not go to the city but every cent of their electric bill does.
Austin Energy is arguably the city's most powerful policy tool –– on the environment, affordability, and disaster preparedness. City Council members have the power to decide what types of energy the utility will use, the rates it will charge and the measures it will take to avoid disastrous power outages.
A big decision is coming up next month when City Council is scheduled to vote on a 10-year Resource, Generation and Climate Protection Plan that will guide the utility's energy investments over the next decade.
Both the utility and City Council are contending with three competing policy objectives:
- Keep bills low
- Minimize the risk of outages
- Reduce carbon emissions
