Austin Energy

Last updated
Austin Energy
Company type Public utility
Industry Electric power
Founded1895 (1895)
Headquarters Austin, Texas
Area served
Travis & Williamson counties, Texas
Owner City of Austin
Website austinenergy.com

Austin Energy is a publicly owned utility providing electrical power to the city of Austin, Texas and surrounding areas. Established in 1895, the utility is a department of the City of Austin and returns its profits to the city's general fund to finance other city services. Austin Energy is the United States' 7th largest public utility, serving more than 500,000 customers and more than one million residents (as of 2019) within a service area of approximately 437 square miles (1,130 km2), including Austin, Travis County and a small portion of Williamson County. [1]

Contents

Energy generation

Austin Energy’s total generation capacity is more than 3,000 megawatts (MW), provided by a mixture of wind power, solar power, biomass, natural gas, nuclear power, and coal. [2] All of Austin Energy's generation is sold into the ERCOT wholesale market; all of the retail load is served by purchasing power from ERCOT. [3]

Generation assets

Austin Energy owns and operates two natural gas-fired power plants in the Austin area: the Decker Creek Power Station and the Sand Hill Energy Center. The utility also owns 50% of units 1 and 2 at the coal-fired Fayette Power Project in La Grange and 16% of the South Texas Nuclear Project in Bay City (near Houston). [2] The STNP was the subject of a binding citizen referendum (November 3, 1981) to sell Austin's part in the project. STNP went online in 1986. No council has sold Austin's STNP, telling citizens that "no one wanted our 16 percent".

Austin Energy's 2030 generation resource plan called for the retirement of its share in the coal-fired Fayette Power Project by the end of 2022, but multi-year negotiations with co-owner LCRA stalled in late 2021. [4]

Unit [2] FuelCapacity (MW)Construction Year
Decker Creek Power Station (Austin)Gas2001967–1978
Fayette Power Project (La Grange, 50% Share)Coal6001979–1980
Robert Mueller Energy Center (Austin)Gas4.62006
Sand Hill Energy Center (Del Valle)Gas5952001–2010
South Texas Project (Bay City, 16% Share)Nuclear4301988–1989

Renewable energy

As of July 2014, renewable energy represented roughly 23% of Austin Energy's generation portfolio, which included wind, solar, landfill methane and biomass projects. [5] The utility's 2014 generation plan indicated that it aimed to produce 50% of power from renewable sources and 75% from carbon-free sources by 2025. [6] Since that time, new green energy generation assets have rapidly been brought online. As of August 2019, green energy had jumped to 43% of Austin Energy's generation mix, and by February 2020 included 1,425.6 MW of wind turbines and 644.6 MW of solar panels. [7]

Renewable Resources [5] Fuel TypeInstalled Capacity (MW)First Operation YearContract Expiration Date
Sunset FarmsLandfill Methane419962021
Tessman Road LandfillLandfill Methane7.820032017
Nacogdoches Power Biomass 1052012
Webberville Solar Project Solar 3020112036
Roserock Solar Solar157.520162036
East Pecos (Bootleg)Solar118.520172031
Upton County (SPTX12B1)Solar157.520172042
La Loma Community SolarSolar2.620182043
WaymarkSolar178.520182043
Whirlwind Energy Center Wind 59.820072027
Hackberry Wind Project Wind165.620082023
Los Vientos IIWind201.620132037
WhitetailWind92.320132037
Los Vientos IIIWind20020152040
Jumbo RoadWind299.720152033
Los Vientos IVWind20020162041
Midway Solar [8] Solar23620182038
KarankawaWind206.6420192034
Gulf Wind [9] Wind271.420092040

On April 23, 2019, Austin Energy reached an agreement to purchase the Nacogdoches biomass facility for $460 million. Since Austin Energy entered into the 20-year Power Purchase Agreement with the biomass facility the price of natural gas has come down significantly. The purchase – one of Austin's single largest purchases ever [10] – is anticipated to allow the city to avoid $275 million in additional costs. [11]

Energy conservation

Austin Energy operates an energy efficiency program to help customers identify ways to reduce their energy consumption and save on utility bills. The utility offers various subsidies and rebates for efficiency improvements, including HVAC, insulation, efficient lighting, and photovoltaic panels. [12]

In 1992, Austin Energy developed the nation's first local Green Building program. [13] It shares the distinction of being the largest and best established green building program in the country along with Built Green Colorado in Denver. [14]

[15]

Electric vehicle program

Austin Energy’s Plug-In EVerywhere network, powered by 100% renewable energy, expanded to 186 public charging stations to help drive a two-year, 300% Austin EV growth rate. Austin Energy led a 10-county, regional effort to develop a community plan that supports the adoption of EVs and successfully deployed the first-of-its-kind EV home charging Demand Response program.

Criticism

Austin energy has been criticized for increasing energy prices to fund renewable energy projects and for the 2011 rolling blackouts. [16] It has also been criticized for its handling of the Texas freeze in early 2021. [17] Critics have called Austin Energy a "monopoly", since Austin didn't follow suit in the deregulation that approximately 1/3rd of Texas cities have been part of.

Austin Energy received significant criticism, including calls for its executive team to resign, during an ice storm that occurred on February 1, 2023 for failing to prepare for adverse weather, poorly communicating with customers, and not being able to restore power to customers within a reasonable time frame. [18]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lower Colorado River Authority</span> Public utility in Texas that manages the lower Colorado River

The Lower Colorado River Authority (LCRA) is a nonprofit public utility created in November 1934 by the Texas Legislature. LCRA's mission is to enhance the lives of the Texans it serves through water stewardship, energy and community service. LCRA provides public power, manages the lower Colorado River, builds and operates transmission lines, owns public parks, and offers community services.

India is the third largest producer of electricity in the world. During the fiscal year (FY) 2023–24, the total electricity generation in the country was 1,949 TWh, of which 1,734 TWh was generated by utilities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Duke Energy</span> American electrical power and natural gas company

Duke Energy Corporation is an American electric power and natural gas holding company headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. The company ranked as the 141st largest company in the United States in 2024 – its highest-ever placement on the Fortune 500 list.

NV Energy is a public utility which generates, transmits and distributes electric service in northern and southern Nevada, including the Las Vegas Valley, and provides natural gas service in the Reno–Sparks metropolitan area of northern Nevada. Based in Las Vegas, Nevada, it serves about 1.3 million customers and over 40 million tourists annually.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Electric Reliability Council of Texas</span> Regional energy transmission organization in Texas

The Electric Reliability Council of Texas, Inc. (ERCOT) is an American organization that operates Texas's electrical grid, the Texas Interconnection, which supplies power to more than 25 million Texas customers and represents 90 percent of the state's electric load. ERCOT is the first independent system operator (ISO) in the United States. ERCOT works with the Texas Reliability Entity (TRE), one of six regional entities within the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) that coordinate to improve reliability of the bulk power grid.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NRG Energy</span> Energy company serving customers in the northeast United States and Texas

NRG Energy, Inc. is an American energy company, headquartered in Houston, Texas. It was formerly the wholesale arm of Northern States Power Company (NSP), which became Xcel Energy, but became independent in 2000. NRG Energy is involved in energy generation and retail electricity. Their portfolio includes natural gas generation, coal generation, oil generation, nuclear generation, wind generation, utility-scale generation, and distributed solar generation. NRG serves over 7 million retail customers in 24 US states including Texas, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio; the District of Columbia, and eight provinces in Canada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Texas Interconnection</span> Power grid providing power to most of Texas

The Texas Interconnection is an alternating current (AC) power grid – a wide area synchronous grid – that covers most of the state of Texas. The grid is managed by the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wind power in Texas</span> Electricity from wind in one U.S. state

Wind power in Texas, a portion of total energy in Texas, consists of over 150 wind farms, which together have a total nameplate capacity of over 30,000 MW. If Texas were a country, it would rank fifth in the world; the installed wind capacity in Texas exceeds installed wind capacity in all countries but China, the United States, Germany and India. Texas produces the most wind power of any U.S. state. According to the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), wind power accounted for at least 15.7% of the electricity generated in Texas during 2017, as wind was 17.4% of electricity generated in ERCOT, which manages 90% of Texas's power. ERCOT set a new wind output record of nearly 19.7 GW at 7:19 pm Central Standard Time on Monday, January 21, 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Renewable energy in the United States</span>

According to data from the US Energy Information Administration, renewable energy accounted for 8.4% of total primary energy production and 21% of total utility-scale electricity generation in the United States in 2022.

A feed-in tariff is a policy mechanism designed to accelerate investment in renewable energy technologies by offering long-term contracts to renewable energy producers. This means promising renewable energy producers an above-market price and providing price certainty and long-term contracts that help finance renewable energy investments. Typically, FITs award different prices to different sources of renewable energy in order to encourage the development of one technology over another. For example, technologies such as wind power and solar PV are awarded a higher price per kWh than tidal power. FITs often include a "digression": a gradual decrease of the price or tariff in order to follow and encourage technological cost reductions.

Madison Gas and Electric Company (MGE) is the primary subsidiary of MGE Energy, Inc.. As a regulated utility, it primarily serves the Madison, Wisconsin metropolitan area with electricity, gas and green energy options.

The United States has the second largest electricity sector in the world, with 4,178 Terawatt-hours of generation in 2023. In 2023 the industry earned $491b in revenue at an average price of $0.127/kWh.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Electricity sector in Sri Lanka</span>

The electricity sector in Sri Lanka has a national grid which is primarily powered by hydroelectric power and thermal power, with sources such as photovoltaics and wind power in early stages of deployment. Although potential sites are being identified, other power sources such as geothermal, nuclear, solar thermal and wave power are not used in the power generation process for the national grid.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Energy in Malta</span>

Energy in Malta describes energy production, consumption and import in Malta. Malta has no domestic resource of fossil fuels and no gas distribution network, and relies overwhelmingly on imports of fossil fuels and electricity to cover its energy needs. Since 2015, the Malta–Sicily interconnector allows Malta to be connected to the European power grid and import a significant share of its electricity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Energy in Hawaii</span> Overview of energy resources in Hawaii, US

Energy in the U.S. state of Hawaii is produced from a mixture of fossil fuel and renewable resources. Producing energy is complicated by the state's isolated location and lack of fossil fuel resources. The state relies heavily on imports of petroleum; Hawaii has the highest share of petroleum use in the United States, with 67% of electricity generation in the state coming from petroleum in 2023, compared to less than 1% nationally.

References

  1. "At-A-Glance". Austin Energy. Retrieved 21 April 2015.
  2. 1 2 3 "Power Plants". Austin Energy. Retrieved 23 May 2022.
  3. "May 31, 2016 Hearing in Austin Energy's Update of the 2009 Cost of Service Study and Proposal to Change Base Electric Rates". AustinTexas.gov. Retrieved 3 May 2018.
  4. "Austin Energy announces update to generation portfolio". Austin Energy. 1 November 2021.
  5. 1 2 "Renewable Power Generation - Austin Energy 2014". Austin Energy. Retrieved 21 April 2015.
  6. "2014 Generation Resource Planning". Austin Energy. Retrieved 21 April 2015.
  7. "Renewable Power Generation". Austin Energy. Retrieved 20 September 2019.
  8. Hanrahan, Zoey (2018-01-29). "Midway Solar Project Will Be the Largest Solar Farm in Texas". SanAngeloLIVE.com. Retrieved 2024-10-23.
  9. Snieckus, Darius (January 6, 2020). "Pattern starts repowering plan at Hurricane Harvey survivor Gulf Wind". Recharge.
  10. Jankowski, Philip (April 18, 2019). "Austin buys troubled power plant". Austin American-Statesman .
  11. "Austin Energy to acquire Nacogdoches Biomass Facility". Archived from the original on 2019-05-31.
  12. "Austin Energy". Energy Star . Retrieved 21 April 2015.
  13. "Green Building: Basic Information". Environmental Protection Agency . Retrieved 21 April 2015.
  14. "Summary of Green Building Programs" (PDF). National Renewable Energy Laboratory . August 2002. Retrieved 21 April 2015.
  15. Alipour, Panteha; Mukherjee, Sayanti; Nateghi, Roshanak (August 2020). "Assessing climate sensitivity of peak electricity load for resilient power systems planning and operation: A study applied to the Texas region". NSF . 185: 1143–1153. doi:10.1016/j.energy.2019.07.074. S2CID   199086614 . Retrieved 21 April 2019.
  16. "All About Austin Energy". National Public Radio . Retrieved 23 November 2021.
  17. "Here's How Austinites Think The City Failed During The Texas Freeze". National Public Radio . 25 August 2021. Retrieved 23 November 2021.
  18. "99.9% of Austin Energy customers have power; nearly 300 continue to deal with outages".