Tuesday, July 21, 2026, 9 a.m. (Austin time), Austin City Hall
Committee: Austin Energy Utility Oversight Committee
The Austin Energy Utility Oversight Committee, chaired by Council Member Vela, met with no public speakers and approved minutes unanimously. General Manager Stuart Riley presented on summer preparedness, the ERCOT 2026 summer outlook (a forecast peak demand record of roughly 92 gigawatts), a new public Electric System Resiliency Plan dashboard, and increased solar incentives effective July 1. Deputy General Manager Lisa Martin delivered the semi-annual Resource Generation and Climate Protection Plan update, reporting 67% carbon-free energy to date, record-low stack emissions, and near-term goals on local solar, batteries, efficiency, and demand response. Chief Customer Officer Kerry Overton briefed the committee on customer care programs, including the Customer Assistance Program, the Medical Vulnerable Registry, and proposed reductions in overnight 311 hours. No substantive votes were taken beyond minutes approval.
0:01 Thank you very much, Mayor.
0:03 I will call the meeting of the Austin energy utility oversight committee to order at, uh, 9 0 3.
0:11 Um, and we will first check on any public speakers.
0:14 Do we have any speakers today?
0:18 No, sir. There are no speakers.
0:19 Thank you very much.
0:20 Then we will go ahead and go to the, uh, agenda.
0:25 The first item on the agenda is the approval of the minutes, uh, and, uh, the Mayor motions
0:32 and Council Member Duchen seconds, uh, approval of the minutes.
0:35 All in favor, please indicate by rise your hands unanimous approval of the minutes.
0:42 And we will then go to the second item on the agenda, which is our general manager's report.
0:53 Welcome. Thank you, chair.
0:55 Good morning committee members.
0:57 I'm stuart riley, Austin, energy general manager, and let's see.
1:04 Thank you. Lemme just get this remote going.
1:07 All right. Um, I have four topics to go through this morning.
1:11 Uh, I'll provide updates on Austin energy summer preparedness.
1:14 I'll give some updates on the ercot summer 2026 outlook.
1:18 Um, I'll let you know about our new electric system resiliency plan dashboard and give updates on our
1:24 new solar program incentives.
1:28 So first, starting with Austin energy summer preparedness.
1:30 Obviously we're already well into the summer, but we do have the hottest summer weather yet to go,
1:36 um, for Austin energy.
1:38 Any outages this time of year, whether it's power plant outages, distribution, transmission outages, these are particularly impactful
1:45 to us and to our customers.
1:47 So we go through a very comprehensive process leading up to the summer.
1:51 Um, really that work starts as soon as we get out of the winter season.
1:55 And so during the spring, we perform seasonal maintenance and weatherization across our system and our power plants.
2:00 This ensures that we've done maintenance and testing of equipment to limit unexpected outages.
2:05 We're also ensuring we have all the supplies necessary to be able to respond to anything that pops
2:10 up this summer. Um, we have our cooling systems ready at our power plants to be able to
2:15 operate in extreme hot weather.
2:17 And then also we're reviewing our emergency processes.
2:20 And so all of these actions and much more go into us being able to submit our summer
2:26 attestation to ercot. And this attestation declares that we have taken all actions necessary, uh, for seasonal emergency
2:34 preparation, and we're meeting all state rules and regulations for that of, of course, I'm, I'm focusing here
2:41 on this slide on our electric system summer preparedness.
2:44 Carrie overton's gonna provide an update in a little bit about our customer programs, but we also do
2:48 a lot to prepare our customers going into the summer, um, to get through these difficult summer months.
2:53 And so all of these actions, whether it's on our system or with our customers, is aimed to
2:57 keep power flowing, keep customers safe and energized, uh, through this difficult time of year.
3:03 And if any customers need to see our current conditions, they can go to Austin energy.com/alerts.
3:11 That page, along with the ercot app, uh, is also a great resource for thetans notifications.
3:17 Um, of course, we amplify those messages across all of our communications channels, but just in case there
3:22 are any alerts that come across this summer for conservation notices or any larger grid impacts, however, ercot
3:29 is communicating now that they do anticipate that there will be enough power generation to meet customer demand
3:35 this summer. Um, like Austin energy, ercot has a very significant, um, forecasting process.
3:40 So we look at our, our forecast and models to make sure we're well positioned going into the
3:45 summer. Um, similarly, ercot iss looking at a range of what it expects to occur this summer.
3:51 And right now what what's most expected is a summer that's more similar to 2012.
3:57 That's the 17th hottest summer.
3:59 Um, they're also prepared for a summer that's more similar to 2023, which is our second hottest summer
4:04 on record. So, um, not as favorable as last year, 2025, but also not as bad as what
4:10 we've experienced here in recent years.
4:12 So some somewhat of the new normal, I guess, is what we're looking at this summer.
4:16 Um, with that weather and with all of the significant load growth across ercot, ercot is expecting a
4:24 new peak demand record this summer.
4:26 So it will, uh, it's expected to increase the peak demand record, uh, by about 8% from the
4:33 prior peak demand record.
4:34 So from about 85 gigawatts to about 92 gigawatts.
4:39 And that's just a forecast at this point.
4:41 We'll see what actually, um, takes place this summer.
4:45 Moving back to, um, Austin energy specifically, um, our, we recently launched our electric system resiliency plan dashboard.
4:54 And so just as a reminder, our electric system resiliency plan, sometimes you'll hear us refer to that
4:58 as our esrp. So that plan is our comprehensive 10 year, $735 million plan.
5:05 It's a roadmap for how to make our system, uh, withstand more, recover faster, and also support new
5:11 technologies across our grid.
5:13 And, um, as, as we went through the public stakeholder process for our esrp, and even during the
5:20 budget process last year, we heard from stakeholders and customers that, um, customers wanted to see that we
5:27 were making the investments in our grid, that we are doing what we said we would do for
5:32 reliability and resiliency. And so this new public facing dashboard can be found on the Austin energy website,
5:37 and it shows information on a quarterly basis of how much progress we've made for the year on
5:43 things like, um, circuits hardened wildfire mitigation, completed vegetation management, completed installation of smart devices across our system
5:51 that help us minimize outages and recover faster.
5:55 So all of this is intended to show our customers and, and provide the transparency and accountability that
6:01 we are making the infrastructure improvements on our system for a more reliable, more resilient grid.
6:09 And lastly, um, of course, we've made a lot of enhancements to our solar programs, uh, in, in
6:16 the past year or two.
6:17 Uh, on July 1st, we increased our solar incentives to customers.
6:22 So effective on July 1st, we increased the residential incentive from $2,500 to $4,000 per residential customer installation.
6:32 Uh, that's a 60% increase.
6:34 Uh, we also increased our commercial incentives, both the capacity based incentives and performance based incentives.
6:40 So for a commercial customer, they're seeing about a 25 to 50% increase in their incentives depending on
6:46 system size. And for our nonprofit customers are seeing a 66% increase in the incentives.
6:52 And so these incentives are meant to increase local solar adoption, support our climate goals, and support our
7:00 local solar installer community, uh, just to get more solar uptake in Austin and help us meet our
7:05 goals. Chair, that's what I have for you this morning.
7:08 I'm happy to answer any questions.
7:09 Well, thank you, uh, very much.
7:11 Any questions for our general manager, Council Member?
7:14 Lane? Thank you very much for this report.
7:17 Um, I'm wondering, uh, I really like to see the information and I have a question about the
7:23 solar incentives. Um, as, as you know, a significant part of my district is in pec instead of
7:28 Austin energy. And because of that, I sometimes hear from constituents about, um, how pec is handling certain
7:35 things versus Austin energy.
7:36 And I'm wondering if you have ever made a comparison of the way that residential solar is incentivized
7:43 by pec? You know, um, I, I know that they've made some updates in recent years.
7:50 I, I don't think that they have upfront incentives anymore for customers, and I believe they've reduced the
7:56 amount of, of sort of, of payback.
7:59 But I, I would need to go back and look at, uh, those can get updated on a,
8:03 on a fairly regular basis.
8:04 So I don't want to miss misstate.
8:05 Mm-hmm <affirmative>. I, I do know just in talking with our colleagues across the industry, um, in terms
8:10 of our value of solar rate, like our buyback rate is, um, favorable compared to most other utilities
8:17 that I've encountered, as well as our upfront incentives.
8:20 Um, not, it's not typical of what you'll see across texas is the upfront incentives, like I was
8:26 talking about our $4,000 incentive.
8:28 Uh, and so most utilities aren't, aren't doing that at all.
8:32 Mm-hmm <affirmative>. So we're really making a big push to get more solar installed.
8:37 Of course, this, the federal tax incentives went away, and so we are trying to do what we
8:42 can to help customers and, and get over the hump and, and make, help them make that decision
8:47 to install solar. Do you view the goal of the solar program to generate as much alternative energy
8:57 into Austin as possible, or, or something else?
9:02 Um, well, lisa martin is gonna provide, uh, our semi-annual update on our resource plan goals.
9:08 And so I, I don't remember off the top of my head where we are in terms of
9:12 our solar pro progress.
9:14 I think we're something like 6% away from our, from reaching our local solar goal.
9:19 So she, but she will provide the exact numbers here in her report in a little bit.
9:24 But we do have goals.
9:25 We're doing well on those goals.
9:27 We had a record year last year and the year before.
9:29 Mm-hmm <affirmative>. It's more of an uphill climb now with the, um, in federal incentives going away mm-hmm
9:35 <affirmative>. Um, but we are doing the best that we can, especially with trying to make more progress
9:40 on, um, the solar standard offer and some other, um, unique programs that we offer here in Austin.
9:46 We'll definitely be sharing back the increased upfront incentives.
9:49 And that's great to know.
9:50 Um, I think that we have an upcoming meeting, and so perhaps we could look at some of
9:56 the data that you have in that meeting in the next week or two.
9:59 Yeah, absolutely. Um, but anecdotally what I have heard is that these neighborhoods that have the dividing line
10:04 between Austin and energy and pec, you see significantly more solar panels on the homes on the pec
10:12 side. And maybe that's because of how they previously structured it.
10:16 I don't know. Um, but I think it, we can have a little more conversation about the theories
10:21 I've heard on why that might be, but I don't have information, you know, straight from pec on
10:26 how they handle things.
10:27 So. Okay. Yeah, we can look at that, but I'd love to take that up in our, in
10:30 our meeting. That's absolutely, yeah.
10:31 Okay. Thanks. All right.
10:32 Thank you. Thank you.
10:35 And did, just to clarify, so the, uh, the installation incentive for a residential homeowner that's putting solar
10:43 panels on their house for the first time is, is going from $2,500 to, to $4,000?
10:48 Correct. Alright. Just for the public to know that if, uh, it's a good time to put some
10:54 and yes. Council Member, len.
10:56 Thank you. Uh, sorry, that reminded me.
10:57 One more question. So these are incentives for a first time installation.
11:00 What about, are there any incentives available when someone has already had solar for a while and then
11:06 that infrastructure that they use breaks and is an expensive replacement cost?
11:10 Because that's another thing that I've heard, is that by the, when things start to break, it's not
11:16 gonna make financial sense for the homeowners to replace because of the way the program's structured.
11:24 I can get back to you on the exact answers on that.
11:27 I think part of that's gonna depend on if they're replacing part of their system, if they have
11:31 one panel that's broken versus if they're installing a, an overall a new system.
11:35 Mm-hmm <affirmative>. So I can make sure I have the best information sounds, discuss it with you.
11:39 Thank you. Thank you.
11:40 Mm-hmm <affirmative>. Council Member altar.
11:42 Maybe it's because pec is so much more expensive than Austin energy, that they are really incentivized to
11:48 put the, the solar on their households.
11:51 Um, I just wanted to take a quick moment to say I really appreciate the work y'all are
11:56 doing in the solar space, recognizing that the landscape is shifting and y'all are adapting to try to
12:01 continue to build out that local solar.
12:03 So just a a thank you very much.
12:05 Thank you. Well, john, man, thank you very much.
12:08 Thank you. And with that, we will go to the next item on our agenda, and the ms. Martin
12:23 welcome, she'll provide an update on the implementation of austin's energy resource generation climate protection plan.
12:31 Uh, from deputy general manager, lisa martin.