January 25 , 2005 News Media Release

Austin Energy Doubles Size of its Clean Energy Portfolio

Additional wind-generated electricity began flowing into the Austin Energy grid this week from a new wind farm in West Texas that will more than double the clean energy now available to Austinites through the utility's clean power program, GreenChoice^®.

The new wind power source is located in Nolan County, near Sweetwater, about 40 miles west of Abilene. Austin Energy signed a 12-year contract for 128 megawatts (MW) of electricity from wind generators at the facility. The majority of the wind turbines is in place and will be fully operational by mid-February. Construction of the final one-fourth of the turbines is expected to be completed by December 31, 2005.

All total, Austin Energy is now contracting for the annual output from 215 MW of wind generators in west Texas.

The acquisitions began in 1995 when Austin Energy began receiving the power produced from 10 MW of wind turbines located in Culbertson County. Then in 1999, Austin Energy contracted for 76.7 MW of power produced from wind turbines located at the King Mountain wind farm near McCamey in Upton County.

On Track for 20% Renewables by 2020

With the addition of the Sweetwater project, renewables will supply up to 6.5 percent of Austin Energy's energy requirements. This keeps the utility on track to achieve its goal of generating 20 percent of Austin's electricity needs from renewables by 2020. In addition to wind-generated electricity, Austin Energy receives electricity from 11 MW of small on-site generators located next to old landfills near Austin and San Antonio. The generators are fueled by methane gas released by decaying garbage in the landfills.

Lowest Premium

Austin Energy offers clean energy to its customers at the lowest premium in the nation according to the latest survey conducted by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) National Renewables Energy Laboratory. The average residential customer in Austin uses a little less than 1,000 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity per month. At that level of usage, those subscribing to GreenChoice pay an additional $5 per month versus non-subscribers. The price subscribers pay for clean power is reflected in a "GreenChoice Charge" which replaces the fuel charge on their electric bills. The GreenChoice charge remains fixed for the term of our wind contracts. This means that should the standard fuel charge increase, as it has in recent years due to increasing natural gas costs, the electric bills of GreenChoice subscribers are not affected.

Cleaner Air

One of the key features of Austin Energy's GreenChoice program is that for every kWh of green power brought into the Austin Energy system, AE ramps down power plants by that amount. Since 2001 when it began, the GreenChoice program has reduced Nitrogen Oxide (NOx) emissions in Austin by more than 700 tons and Carbon Dioxide (CO 2 ) greenhouse gas emissions by 680,000 tons. This is the emissions equivalent of removing 30,000 cars from the road since the program began.

#1 Program in the Nation

Meanwhile, since 2002, Austin Energy's GreenChoice program has been the #1 utility-sponsored green power program in the nation in sales. This year, Austin Energy customers are purchasing 380 million kWh of renewable energy, or enough to power more than 30,000 homes year round.

Most 100% Businesses

Program participants include 7,400 residential customers and 300 Austin businesses. Of the 300 subscribing businesses, more than 279 subscribe for 100 percent of their electricity needs from renewable energy. This gives Austin more 100 percent green-powered businesses than any city in America.

Austin also had the first college in America, Concordia University, to subscribe to green power for 100 percent of its energy needs. The Austin Independent School System (AISD) subscribes to 45-million kWh annually, the largest green power subscription by any public school system in the nation. In 2004, Austin Energy's GreenChoice program was named the Green Power Program of the Year by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Energy.

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For more information, contact Ed Clark, Public Information.
Phone: (512) 322-6514
Pager: (512) 802-2000