Tagged: Austin Energy Rate Hike

Effective today, Austin's electric bills will be increasing an average of seven percent. Austin Energy is increasing its rates and updating it's electric rate structure this October. The Austin City Council approved the increase in June.

The good news is that it's getting colder, so the average user won't see much of an increase. Austin Energy estimates average users will only increase $3-$29 during the non-summer months.

The company has also reduced the time frame of their summer rate from six months to four months. However during the summer months (June to September), average users could see increases of $13 to  $44.

New Record Set for July Power Usage

Keeping the A.C. on all day may be a good way to stay cool, but not to help Texas' electric grid.

A new July record was set yesterday when the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) reported that demand on their electric grid peaked at 65,790 megawatts (MW). The previous record was set last July, during one of the hottest summers on record, at 65,432 MW.

With Austin’s growth comes some changes. This morning, the Public Utility Commission voted to adopt a new area code for the Austin area. The 737 area code will be introduced to the 512 in July of 2013.

Commissioner Ken Anderson says the transition shouldn’t be difficult for Austinites.

“We’ve had ten digit dialing in North Texas for a long time. So welcome to the 21st century,” said Anderson.

Ten digit dialing will be phased in starting this December.

The Electric Utility Commission (EUC) may be about to get a lot more popular. The commission is responsible for helping the city council formulate their energy policy.

The seven-person committee meets tonight at the Town Lake Center. Several mundane items are on their agenda, but one topic is sure to bring lots of discussion: Item 15, a staff report and discussion regarding Austin Energy’s electric rate review process.

Austin Energy’s proposed rate increase has been in the works for months, but it wasn’t until a recent public hearing before the Austin City Council that citizens had a chance to sound off. The response was overwhelmingly negative, so much so that Mayor Lee Leffingwell recently announced he did not support the increases as currently proposed.

The Austin City Council is holding a special-called work session this morning to tackle Austin Energy’s proposed rate increases.

Council got an earful from citizens opposed to the increase at their last meeting. Since then, Mayor Lee Leffingwell has said he too opposes the increase as drafted.

You can add one more voice to the chorus opposing Austin Energy’s proposed rate increases: Mayor Lee Leffingwell, who announced this weekend that he does not support the current proposal from the utility.

As seen in the uniformly negative public reaction to Austin Energy’s proposal at City Council’s last meeting, the rate increase – potentially the first in 17 years – has struck a nerve.

UT Study Ranks it 2nd in Efficiency

A new study says UT Austin is tied with the University of Illinois for second in the nation when it comes to the most efficient public universities. The study was done by an associate dean in UT's College of Liberal Arts.