January 12, 2006 News Media Release

Austin To Hold Drawing for Green Power Program

Austin has just become one of only four cities in the country where customers enrolled in Austin Energy’s green power program find they are now paying less for electricity than non-subscribers.

As a result, and because the current supply of green power, at the current price, is limited, Austin will hold a drawing in March to enroll additional electric customers into Austin Energy’s GreenChoice program.

The drawing is being held because the remaining supply of green power, at the current price, is limited. The remaining supply will be sufficient to enroll about 1,400 residential customers and about 200 businesses into the GreenChoice program.

A residential customer enrolled in the program as a result of the March drawing (using 1,000 kWh per month) will save about $1.30 a month or about $16 a year, over what a non-subscriber pays for the same amount of electricity.

How to Enter

Austin Energy customers who wish to enter the drawing must complete the online application for GreenChoice Batch 4 or submit a post card. GreenChoice applications cannot be accepted by telephone.

Customers can simply use a standard US post card. Preprinted post cards are also available at all HEBs and Whole Foods, City Hall, Town Lake Center and at the three City of Austin Senior Activity Centers and the 17 City of Austin Recreation Centers.

Post card applications must be postmarked by February 28, 2006. Only one post card may be submitted per customer. Customers should include their name, address and Austin Energy electric account number -- as all appear on the utility bill. The date of the March drawing will be announced in February.

Why GreenChoice is Less Expensive than Conventional Power

Like most utilities across the country, Austin Energy, was forced to increase its standard fuel charge due to escalating natural gas prices. The increase took effect January 1, 2006 raising the fuel charge to 3.63 cents per kilowatt-hour (kWh) of electricity used. For customers subscribing to Austin Energy’s green power program, the fuel charge is taken off their bill and replaced with a “GreenChoice Charge.” The current GreenChoice Charge is 3.5 cents per kWh. As indicated, a new residential customers participating in the GreenChoice program will save about $16 a year over what customers not participating will pay for the same amount of electricity.

In addition, the GreenChoice Charge stays fixed for the life of Austin Energy wind supply contracts. Those contracts typically span up to 10 years. So while the standard fuel charge can go up or down depending on the price of natural gas, coal and nuclear fuel, those fuel charge increases or decreases do not affect GreenChoice subscribers.

It is important to note that while there may be an expectation that fuel prices will have a tendency to keep going up over the years --it is always possible the fuel charge could go down in the future to a point where it again falls below the current GreenChoice Charge of 3.5 cents per kWh. That would mean that GreenChoice subscribers would again be paying a little more, rather than a little less, for the electricity they use.

GreenChoice #1 in Nation

The Austin Energy GreenChoice program is the number 1 utility-sponsored green power program in the nation for sales, outperforming 600 other programs. The program sells 520-million kWh of green power a year. Almost 400 Austin companies subscribe to the program, 344 for 100% of their annual usage. This gives Austin more 100% green-powered businesses than any other city on the nation. In addition, Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) ranks 5th in the nation among businesses by purchasing 52-million kWh of green power a year while the Austin Independent School District (AISD) leads all public school systems nationwide purchasing 45-million kWh annually.

Austin is on track to reach its goal with 6% of the energy produced currently coming from renewable resources, primarily wind-generated energy. Austin’s renewable energy program also includes a small amount of generation powered by methane gas released from decaying landfills.

Austin Energy will contract for another batch of wind power. The next batch should be available within 12-18 months. It takes that long because additional wind-generated energy will be supplied by wind turbines that must be built. The new batch will be priced based on the cost of the contract plus GreenChoice program costs and will likely be higher than the 3.5 cents price of the current supply.

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