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Austin Energy
October 7, 2009
Roger Duncan, Austin Energy's GM, to retire
Roger Duncan, the general manager of Austin Energy and chief architect of many of the city’s conservation programs, announced this morning he is retiring.
Duncan, 62, said he plans to travel, teach and finish a book on energy issues.
He will step down in March. Hopefully, he said in an interview, that’s enough time to make fundamental changes in the way Austin Energy runs as a business, as well as win City Council approval for an ambitious plan to wean the city off coal and other energy sources that contribute to global warming.
City Manager Marc Ott will conduct a nationwide search in the coming months to find Duncan’s replacement, Duncan said.
Austin Energy’s general manager is a key position in the city government. The general manager oversees an organization that provides electricity to nearly the entire city and that has a budget of a more than $1 billion.
Whoever is running the utility’s day-to-day operations must navigate an industry going through fundamental changes. Many experts think that rising worldwide energy demand and possible caps on carbon-emitting sources will cause electricity prices to soar in the coming years, something the next general manager will likely have to deal with.
Duncan first became a public figure in the 1970s as an anti-nuclear activist. In 1981, he was elected to the Austin City Council, where he pushed through the city’s first program offering subsidies for energy-efficiency improvements such as weather stripping.
He left the council after two terms and returned in the late 1980s as an assistant director of the city’s environmental department.
In two decades of working in the city bureaucracy in various capacities, Duncan has been primarily responsible for the nationally acclaimed Green Building Program, which was among the nation’s first to establish a rating system for a new building’s environmental friendliness. He was also behind GreenChoice, the nationally recognized program that sells wind-generated electricity to customers who want it.
Duncan worked with former Mayor Will Wynn to craft the city’s Climate Protection Plan, which calls for Austin to get 30 percent of its electricity by 2020 from renewable sources such as wind and solar. The city now gets about 12 percent of its electricity from those sources.
Duncan — charged with crafting a specific road map of sorts to reach that goal — proposed in August to increase it to 35 percent by 2020. That plan is now being debated.
Duncan said he also wants to establish a new business model at the utility. As its focus turns to energy conservation, revenues will probably decline. This, Duncan said, will probably require Austin Energy to find new ways of doing business or face severe financial difficulties in the coming years.
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March 6, 2009
Our prospective mayors' takes on the solar plant
The story in today’s paper on the city’s $250 million solar plant focused largely on the where, when, why and costs. But, as environmental activist Paul Robbins jokingly put it to me, there’s enough material for a book.
As it’s election season, let’s start with a rundown of how Austin’s major mayoral hopefuls fell on the project, which was approved Thursday by the City Council:
Brewster McCracken: For it. McCracken, a City Council member, pushed for the project’s approval three weeks ago, saying the city should move as quickly as possible. Doing so, he said, would demonstrate Austin’s commitment to solar energy, a commitment he said would help attract solar-based employers to Austin. Attracting solar businesses has become a cause of McCracken’s.
Lee Leffingwell: For it. Leffingwell, also a City Council member, pushed three weeks ago for a short delay. He argued along with Council Member Mike Martinez that the delay would allow the city to determine if the solar energy should be offered as a separate, Green Choice package, as opposed to selling the power to everyone and increasing everyone’s bills. The suggestion came partly in response to concerns that the city’s large industrial users in particular could be hurt by the increased cost of solar.
By waiting three weeks, the city was also able to insert provisions into the solar contract that could reduce the cost to Austin customers by as much as a third if the project receives new federal tax credits.
- Carole Keeton Strayhorn: Against it. Strayhorn argued the cost is too high given the economic downturn. Estimates put the cost of the energy will be buying at 16.5 cents per kilowatt hour, higher than other forms of electrical generation. Other types of power plants, though generally also come with additional construction costs, while the 16.5 cent charge from the solar array includes the cost of both construction and generation.
Strayhorn said not many customers would buy a Green Choice offering, given the city’s struggles to sell the current batch of wind energy. She said that, if elected, she would try to undo the solar contract.
(Strayhorn says she supports solar and other renewables, but only at costs lower than the solar plant).
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February 12, 2009
Solar vote delayed, new idea considered
A new idea emerged earlier today when the Austin City Council decided to delay voting on a proposed $250, million, 300-acre solar plant near Webberville until March 5.
Council Member Mike Martinez requested the delay, saying that the city should conduct more research. One idea Martinez floated is selling solar power to individual residential and business customers in a separate package they can choose to purchase.
By making solar an optional purchase for customers, Martinez said, the city might address the concerns of several big businesses that are concerned about having the cost of solar power passed on to them. Solar is generally more expensive than other types of power.
Council Member Brewster McCracken argued against the delay. He said swift approval would help raise Austin’s profile in the solar energy industry.
The solar plant would be among the largest in the nation. City officials say it would be a major step toward meeting the city’s goal of getting one-third of its power from renewable energy sources by 2020. The city now gets around 11 percent of its power from renewables.
A private company, Gemini Solar Development, would build and operate the facility on land owned by Austin Energy, the city-owned utility. Austin Energy would pay $10 million a year over 25 years for the power generated by the facility.
Gemini Solar’s bid expires in mid-March, though, making that the effective deadline, according to Austin Energy officials.
Austin Energy says the plant would raise the average monthly bill for a homeowner by around 60 cents if the cost were passed on to all customers. The plant would add about 30 megawatts to Austin’s generating capacity of 2,900 megawatts.
Some of Austin’s large power-using companies, such as Freescale Semiconductor and St. David’s Medical Center, have expressed concerns about the cost of the solar power.
Earlier this week, Martinez suggested that the city wait until summer, when the next fiscal year’s budget takes shape, before making a decision about the solar plant.
That could have killed the deal.
But on Thursday, he and Council Member Lee Leffingwell requested the shorter delay. They suggested selling the power generated by the plant in a separate fund — the city’s “Green Choice Plan”.
Under that proposal, Austin Energy’s individual customers could agree to buy power from the solar plant. If not all the power is purchased individually, the remainder would lumped in with the rest of the city’s power and passed on to all customers.
The city, citing state privacy laws, won’t say exactly how much the solar-plant’s power would cost.
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Austin Energy: Input split on nuclear
Austin residents, so far, appear almost evenly split on the issue of nuclear power, according to Austin Energy surveys.
The city-owned utility is holding a series of public meetings to gather input on its long-term energy plans. A roughly equal number of people are pro- and anti-nuclear, Roger Duncan, the head of the utility, told the City Council Thursday.
“It’s a divisive issue,” Duncan said, summing up the public comments that followed regarding a proposal for the city to invest in a nuclear-plant expansion in South Texas. (The council rejected the idea).
All five speakers who addressed the council described themselves as environmentalists. Even within that narrowed sphere of priority, nuclear has caused a split.
Matthew Johnson, a representative of Public Citizen, a consumer advocate/environmental watchdog group, lauded the City Council for voting against being part of an expanded nuclear facility.
Environmental activist Paul Robbins followed and openly scoffed at the recent “nuclear Renaissance” (using finger quotes to make his skepticism point clearer). He is well ensconced the anti-nuclear camp.
Robert Duncan, an astrophysics researcher who’s studied Austin’s energy situation for years, then argued that nuclear power is a needed alternative to coal. In pamphlets he’s distributed at public meetings, he says nuclear doesn’t get a fair hearing in Austin because of irrational fears of a Chernobyl-style meltdown, and has not been shy about saying that publicly.
The pro-nuclear and anti-nuclear wings have point-counterpoint arguments lined up. (See a previous story here, http://tinyurl.com/d5e2b7).
Just think how widely the debate could have spanned Thursday if people outside the environmental-advocacy sphere had decided to weigh in.
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Council rejects nuclear-plant proposal
The Austin City Council has unanimously rejected a proposal to invest in the expansion of a nuclear plant in South Texas.
There was little discussion from the dais, but council members previously had said they have concerns about the project’s cost and the possibility of cost overruns.
The expansion was proposed by NRG Energy Inc., a partner in the South Texas Project nuclear facility in Matagorda County, near the coast. Austin owns 16 percent of the facility. San Antonio’s gas and electric utility, CPS Power, is also a partner.
NRG wants to double the size of the facility. A year ago, the company asked for Austin ‘s participation, and initial estimates put the total construction costs of all partners at $6 billion.
Austin does not have to participate for the expansion to go forward. A year ago, Austin rejected the proposal based on the possibility of overruns and delays and worries about whether the city had enough data.
Late last year, NRG asked Austin to reconsider and provided more information. Austin’s consultant then concluded the expansion could actually cost as much as $10 billion. The consultant said Austin could be on the hook for $2 billion and would have too few protections in case of delays or cost overruns.
Investing in the deal would be too risky for the City of Austin even under the most optimistic financial projections, the consultant said.
“If we have to put up large amounts of money without getting anyu energy for a long time, that puts our bond rating at risk,” making other projects harder to finance, said Roger Duncan, the head of city-owned electric utility Austin Energy.
“This is a final no, in my opinion,” Mayor Will Wynn said moments before the vote, drawing scattered applause from the audience.
Prior to Thursday’s vote, council members and officials with Austin’s electric utility stressed the vote is not an indictment of nuclear power itself. Nuclear power is still an option worthy of serious consideration, they said.
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July 25, 2008
Austin Energy crews help in hurricane cleanup
Austin Energy will be sending repair crews and equipment to South Texas this weekend to help clean up the areas damaged by Hurricane Dolly.
The Austin crews will be heading to the San Benito area southeast of Harlingen on Sunday. American Electric Power, the utility that serves that area, estimates there may be as many as 500 power poles that need to be replaced, said Ed Clark, spokesman for Austin Energy.
Austin Energy will send 24 linemen, seven bucket trucks and three vehicles equipped to dig holes for power poles. They will also send four trailers carrying equipment and five service trucks.
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June 19, 2008
Austin Energy sets another usage record
Austin Energy set another record for all-time peak usage on Wednesday topping the mark set on Tuesday.
The new record — 2,461 megawatts — exceeded Tuesday’s peak demand by 15 megawatts. The previous peak usage record was set in September 2006.
Ed Clark, a spokesman for Austin Energy, said the high demand is tied to high temperatures and air conditioner use. Austin Energy typically sees the most demand between 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. during summer months.
While there is no reason to worry about demand-related outages, Clark said customers are encouraged to conserve energy by running air conditioners less often and turning off appliances and unnecessary lights.
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January 7, 2008
Duncan to run Austin Energy for now
Austin Energy’s Deputy General Manager Roger Duncan will assume temporary leadership of the city-owned utility once Juan Garza leaves in early February.
Garza has been the utility’s general manager since 2002. Last week, Garza took a position as the head of Pedernales Electric Cooperative.
An anti-nuke activist in the 1980s, Duncan served on the Austin City Council from 1981 to 1985. Through Austin Energy, he has made a national name for himself in energy conservation and renewable energy issues.
He assumes leadership as the utility is starting the city’s ambitious climate protection plan and is about to begin soliciting ideas from the public about what fuel should be used for its next power plant.
A national search for a permanent general manager will begin later this year once a new city manager is in place, according to a city news release.
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January 3, 2008
Filling AE top job will wait
Austin Energy General Manager Juan Garza’s impending departure for the Pedernales Electric Cooperative will leave an opening at the top of city-owned utility.
City Manager Toby Futrell said Thursday night she would appoint an acting general manager and leave the permanent appointment to her successor. She expects to name the acting manager in the next day or so.
The utility is in a very stable position, Futrell said, and Garza has several strong seconds who can lead the utility.
Several other key positions, including the public works director and EMS director, are also awaiting permanent occupants.
Garza’s departure is significant loss for Austin beyond the utility, Futrell said. His experience and quiet leadership has been an important addition to the city’s management team, she said.
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December 10, 2007
Nuke meeting cancelled
A Monday night meeting sponsored by three environmental groups opposing the expansion of the nuclear power in Texas has been cancelled.
The issue will be discussed Jan. 8 at the Sierra Club meeting to be held in the LCRA Boardroom, 3700 Lake Austin Blvd.
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December 6, 2007
More power from the nuke?
There is no avoiding the nuke question now.
NRG Energy has formally told Austin Energy that it will be building two new units at the South Texas Project and has given the utility 90 days to say whether Austin wants to participate.
Austin is already a minority stakeholder in the nuclear plant in Matagorda County.
And Austin will need some additional power sources in the not-so-distant future.
Mayor Will Wynn announced on Thursday that Austin will have an extended public discussion about what fuel sources Austin will tap to meet its future need.
Nuke will probably be one of the most explosive topics in that discussion.
Austin has a long history of opposing nuclear power. But none of the options for additional base load capacity are without significant issues.
Just in time, a group of environmental groups are sponsoring a community meeting about nuclear plants.
The meeting is scheduled for Monday, Dec. 10 at 6:30 p.m. at Threadgill’s World Headquarters, 301 W. Riverside Drive.
Should Austin consider getting more power from the nuke?
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October 26, 2007
A precursor to Austin's upcoming nuke debate
Austin City Council Member Jennifer Kim, flanked by a group of environmental leaders, called on San Antonio’s municipal electric utility to slow down its decision to join in the expansion of the South Texas nuclear project. Austin is a minority partner in the project.
The board of CPS Energy is scheduled to vote Monday on whether to pursue more nuclear energy. In September, CPS Energy and NRG Energy Inc. filed the first application in decades to build nuclear reactors at the South Texas location.
“We are urging CPS to slow down,” Karen Hadden, director of the SEED Coalition, said at a news conference Friday. “In Austin, we’re going to take our time.”
Austin will be having this same conversation eventually. As a partner in the nuke, Austin has right of first refusal to the power generated by the new reactors.
Austin also has a tortured history when it comes to nuclear power and a vocal community opposition.
“A decision of this magnitude should not be rushed,” Hadden said.
Kim recommended that CPS join with Austin Energy and other major public power producers, including the Lower Colorado River Authority, to find alternatives to nuclear power.
“Austin can’t do it alone,” Kim said. “We could do a lot more with the resources of San Antonio and LCRA.”
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October 17, 2007
Austin might need Lege OK for some climate provisions
Some elements of Austin’s Climate Protection Plan might need a little help from the Texas Legislature if they are ever to take effect, Mayor Will Wynn said Tuesday.
The plan includes requirements that homes undergo energy efficiency upgrades at the time of sale and the home’s historical energy use be disclosed. Wynn acknowledged upfront that the upgrade provision, in particular, would be controversial.
The Austin Board of Realtors claimed Austin was treading on the State of Texas’ turf by dickering with the real estate transaction process.
Turns out the Realtors might have a point.
Wynn said the city might need some “legislative relief” to move forward on both the upgrade requirements and the disclosure issue.
A city task force should be formed by the end of the year to bring everyone to the table and hash out these issues. The Realtors will have a big seat at that table, Wynn said.
Wynn made his comments while discussing the recommendations of the zero-energy capable home task force, which are on the City Council agenda Thursday along with building code changes that begin to implement the recommendations. For the full story go here
The objective of the point-of-sale provisions is to improve the energy efficiency of the existing housing stock, which far exceeds the number of new homes that will be affected by the upcoming building code changes.
“Why should only homebuyers of newly constructed homes benefit from this science and benefit from this very different affordability equation?” Wynn asked.
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October 1, 2007
Holly 'officially retired'
In the shadow of the four units that produced decades of power and protests, Austin Energy General Manager Juan Garza proudly announced this morning that the “Holly plant is officially retired.”
“Wow,” Mayor Will Wynn responded.
The closure had been a decade in the making, which Council Member Mike Martinez credited to the dogged work of neighbors, community activists and members of the City Council, including Gus Garcia and Raul Alvarez.
With the closure, the neighborhood will get the “peace and tranquility” that residents have long wanted, Martinez said.
Both Martinez and Wynn took pains at the morning news conference to dispel the rumors that the site, adjacent to Lady Bird Lake, could be redeveloped into condos.
“There is a strong consensus that this (land) should be and will be dedicated park land,” Wynn said.
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Something new at the Holly plant - silence
Late last night, neighbors of the Holly Power Plant heard a strange sound.
Quiet.
At 11:16 p.m., the last steam turbine generator was taken offline. The plant had been operating for 47 years.
Soon afterward, only crickets could be heard — and cheers from about two dozen residents who had gathered to mark the event with an outdoor candlelight vigil near the Holly Street entrance.
Members of the community who had fought for the plant’s closure but who had died before the plant went silent, such as Robert Donley, former chair of the plant closure committee, were recognized. The event also included remarks from neighborhood residents, Hail Mary prayers and a countdown.
Marcos de Leon called the powering down of the plant “destiny” and “bittersweet.” De Leon is president of East Town Lake Citizens Neighborhood Association, which organized the event, and a member of El Concilio, a coalition of about five Mexican American neighborhood groups in East Austin,
“It has not been a very easy fight,” he said.
Bertha Delgado grew up on Haskell Street about three blocks from the plant. Now 28, Delgado remembers protesting with her mother as a little girl. Last night, she said, “We feel happiness.”
“It provided a great service, but it was time to move on,” said Oscar Backus, Austin Energy’s acting director of environmental care and protection, who attended the event.
“It came to its end.”
Residents will gather again at 6 tonight for a dinner at the plant.
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September 28, 2007
Bidding farewell to Holly
The Holly Power Plant is slated to be silenced this weekend, ending a decades-long battle by East Austin residents.
The last two towers will be shut down on Sunday. By the time the plant is dismantled, the city will have spent almost a half billion dollars to close the plant and ensure the city has the electricity it needs. And without the noise and safety concerns wrought by the plant, the neighborhood seems destined for change.
The neighbors unsuccessfully fought the plant when construction started in 1960, and kept fighting even as the droning of the generators became a constant presence.
From an energy-producing standpoint, the plant’s location on Lady Bird Lake made sense because the lake’s water was used for the plant’s boilers. The plant has produced relatively cheap natural gas-generated power for more than four decades.
Its placement of the industrial plant in a residential neighborhood was allowed under the city’s original zoning plan, adopted in 1931. That plan placed projects like Holly in areas designated for the city’s black and Hispanic residents. Groups like PODER maintain that the plant constitutes a health risk, linking the proximity of the plant to complaints of difficulty sleeping, nosebleeds and other ailments.
The city has since rolled back much of that original zoning. But what was done is not easily undone. The city council passed a resolution 1995 to shut down the plant by 2005. That date was pushed back as the city’s energy needs continued to grow.
The city has planned events for workers and residents on Monday.
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