The city of Austin owns its own electric utility, Austin Energy. The Austin City Council serves as the Board of Directors of this utility.
Austin is currently writing a plan for how they will generate, buy and sell electricity in the near future. This is the Resource, Generation and Climate Protection Plan. Austin Energy staff wants to promote additional utility solar, local solar, energy efficiency, demand response, some batteries, potentially microgrids, and new gas peaker plants.
Third Act Power Up Communities is working to promote everything Austin Energy wants, EXCEPT the new gas peakers.
We believe Austin can meet its electric needs and goals without adding new fossil fuel burning plants that will pollute the climate with heat-trapping gasses and the local community with air pollution. Peaker plants are less efficient and more polluting than combined cycle base load gas plants. Peakers are used mostly when energy on the grid is tight, and electricity is expensive, so owners of these plants can fire them up for fairly short periods of time to make lots of money.
Austin passed a previous plan for its electric generation that disavowed any new fossil fuel-burning plant. We are asking the Austin City Council to stick with this plan by increasing the amount of clean, renewable energy in their new plan and forgoing any new gas plant.
Here are ways you can help with this effort:
- Sign this petition to Austin City Council: https://act.citizen.org/page/74464/petition/1
- Come to the Austin Energy Oversight Committee meeting on Tuesday, November 19th, 9 am, Austin City Council Chambers, 301 W 2nd Street, Austin, TX. At the meeting, you can sign up and speak, hold up signs that we’ll have pre-made, make your own sign to hold up, and support our speakers. There is free parking (with validation) in the garage at City Hall where Council meets.
- If you live in Austin, email your Council Member and let them know that you hope they will support a new generation plan that does not include a new gas plant. Here’s the link: https://www.austintexas.gov/austin-city-council
- If you live in Austin, ask to meet with your city council member and tell them why you are a Third Act member and why the climate crisis is important to you. Ask that they support clean, renewable energy in the new Austin Energy resource plan. We can send a knowledgeable person to the meeting with you if you like. Most council meetings with constituents are virtual these days.
For more information contact:
Beki Halpin
Third Act Texas Power Up Communities Coordinator
Beki.halpin@gmail.com