| Press Release Archive
Austin in forefront of green power movement
Austin Energy, the City of Austin's electric
utility, is emerging as one of the largest providers of green
power among public power utilities in the nation. The utility's
renewable energy portfolio now includes over 100 megawatts
of renewable energy including the output from 59 recently
installed state-of-the-art wind turbines located on King Mountain,
south of Midland.
The new energy source brings to 87 megawatts
(MW), the wind-generated power flowing into the Austin Energy
system. The utility has contracted for another 13 MW of power
to be generated from landfill methane gas with those projects
scheduled to come online next spring. In addition Austin Energy
hopes to add an additional 25 MW of wind powered generation
in 2002.
"Austin is an environmentally progressive
community with a strong quality-of-life emphasis," said
Chuck Manning, Austin Energy General Manager. "We try
to operate our electric utility in a like manner."
While only a year old, subscribers to Austin
Energy's renewable energy program, GreenChoiceSM, include 117
small businesses, 25 large companies and over 6,000 residential
customers. Subscriptions to date total 182 million kilowatt-hours
(kWh) annually.
A key feature of the GreenChoice program
is that subscribers see the fuel charge on their electric
bill replaced by a "green power charge" that will
remain fixed for 10 years, the length of green power contracts.
The green power charge is currently only six-tenths-of-a-cent
per kWh more than the standard fuel charge. This represents
the lowest premium in the nation for a green power program.
"The green power we import replaces
natural gas-fueled generation so when gas prices are high
as they have been over recent time, a fixed green power charge
allows GreenChoice subscribers to share in the savings that
can result from high avoided gas costs," said Roger Duncan,
Austin Energy Vice President for Conservation and Renewables.
Austin Energy has established itself as
an environmental leader in the electric utility industry on
a number of fronts. This summer, the utility teamed with Enron
to build four 45 MW peaking units in Austin. The units were
outfitted with pollution control equipment above and beyond
that required, making them some of the cleanest operating
units of their type in the nation.
Austin Energy's 350,000 customers are also
afforded the most comprehensive energy efficiency program
in Texas and much of the nation. Each year over 6,000 Austin
Energy customers use rebates and low-interest loans to make
home energy improvements. This is part of the reason why Austin
Energy residential customers have the lowest average monthly
electric usage and bill of any major city in Texas.
The utility also sponsors the nation's largest
program to assist construction professionals in the design
and construction of energy and resource efficient homes and
commercial buildings. The Austin Energy Green Building program,
as it is called, is averaging almost 700 new homes annually
rated with green features. This represents almost a third
of the homes built each year in the Austin area. The commercial
component of the Green Building Program worked with various
design teams to improve the energy efficiency of over 4 million
square feet of commercial space last year.
For more information, contact Ed
Clark, Public Information.
Phone: (512) 322-6514
Pager: (512) 802-2000
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