Transparency: A Cornerstone of Public Policy, But Not Austin’s Energy
By Axel Gerdau for PowerSmack.org
A budget shortfall is threatening institutions of civic life in Austin. The newly elected City Council is scrutinizing municipal expenditures in order to save at least $43 million this year, and its members are considering shutting down swimming pools, cutting police services and reducing funding for...
Read More “Who Brainwashed Texas on Renewable Energy?”
“Who Brainwashed Texas on Renewable Energy?”, asks John Geesman, the former Energy Commissioner of the State of California, on the eve of a grand scale lobby effort by the fossil fuel industry in Texas (see "Town Hall" for related news). The companies are urging the Senate to make business-friendly changes...
Read More Coal Lobby Plans to Infiltrate Town Hall Meetings
The New York Times is reporting that coal energy’s biggest lobbying group is launching a $1 million campaign, which will send 225 000 volunteers (dubbed “America’s Power Army”) to town hall meetings across the country in order ask Senate Democrats poignant questions about energy policy. In this effort the American...
Read More GreenChoice
By Mike Sloan for PowerSmack.org
They blinked!
Austin Energy has proposed that its GreenChoice Batch 6 charge be lowered to a much more affordable price point (5.7 cents/kWh down from a current level of 8.0 to 9.5 cents/kWh). This is a positive development for electric consumers in Austin.
But In reading the 7/25/09...
Read More Austin is Overcharging for Green Power
As chairman of the City task force that planned Austin’s green power program in 1997, it was with keen interest I read two Statesman articles during the past week suggesting that Wind Power is too expensive for Austin.
The current lack of sales is simple: as you point out, GreenChoice is...
Read More Los Angeles Gets Out of Coal
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa announced a dramatic shift in Los Angeles' energy policy: The city will phase out all its coal-based electricity by 2020 and replace it with power from cleaner and renewable sources of energy. Currently, 40 Percent of the electricity delivered by Los Angeles' Department of Water and Power...
Read More PowerSmack 2009 at Solar Austin
Mike Sloan discussed Austin's energy future at the May 13 Solar Austin meeting and announced the launch of the PowerSmack web site. Goals for Austin's energy future:
Decouple city funding from burning
Take the lead on things the world needs.
Maximize energy efficiency and encourage self-generation.
"De-stinkify" - more clean energy, split utility.
Check out...
Read More PowerSmack at Solar Austin Happy Hour – WEDNESDAY, May 13
Austin Energy has an ongoing public input process that will help determine what kind of energy resources will be used locally, and whether Austin will lead in developing the green technologies of the future.Wednesday’s presentation by Mike Sloan will take a fundamental look at energy issues facing the City and...
Read More Texas Electric Rates Falling, but Not in Austin
There is a common perception that municipally-owned utilities (like Austin Energy) have lower electric rates than competitive “For Profit” utilities in Texas. While that has generally been true in the past, it is not necessarily true today in light of lower fuel costs.Austin Energy’s rates are based on the TOTAL...
Read More Austin Energy to Provide Many Planning Options to Council
Last week, Austin Energy announced a revised Draft Generation Plan responding to the slowed economy. The resulting plan: continued use of all existing power plants including COAL through at least 2020, delaying additions of MORE fossil fuel generation and ELIMINATING 75 MW of renewables from the original plan.
On April 30,...
Read More 
