If you're having difficulty with our translated text or need help, call 512-494-9400 or 3-1-1 to speak to a representative. Together, Austin Energy's goal is to have average system rates 50% lower than those of similar utilities in Texas. The program allows Austin Energy to adjust its smart thermostat between two and four degrees on days of high energy consumption. Maintaining transmission lines is expensive, high natural gas prices make electricity generation more expensive, and historically, Austin Energy rates have encouraged customers to use less electricity.
Austin Energy has a four-tier rate structure that allows people with lower consumption to have lower rates and, therefore, lower bills. Because Austin Energy is a utility company, the rate hike ultimately had to be submitted to the Austin City Council for approval. Still, Robbins said the new Austin Energy rates don't encourage conservation, compared to the utility's historically progressive structures of recent decades. For the first time in 10 years, Austin Energy increased its base rates last year to cover the costs of a budget deficit.
The lower use comes from energy efficiency tools, higher construction standards, and other initiatives supported by Austin Energy. In the end, the city council, customer advocates and the utility company reached an agreement that didn't raise rates to the same level as Austin Energy's initial proposal. Each year, the Austin City Council approves the rates and charges that customers pay on their utility bill for the city of Austin. Austin Energy, a service of the City of Austin, structures rates into five billing components (customer charge, energy charge, energy supply adjustment, community benefit charge, and regulatory charge).Austin Energy spokespeople said conservation efforts can offset those rate increases, such as raising the thermostat by a few degrees and instead using fans; closing blinds and curtains to avoid direct sunlight; and avoiding the use of large appliances, such as dryers and ovens, during the hottest hours of the day.
Austin Energy spokesperson Matt Mitchell told KXAN in the past that a typical resident consumes 860 kWh a month. Paul Robbins, who previously served on the utility company's oversight commission, was one of the few advocates who pressured the Austin City Council to approve a rate increase that would place a lower burden on low-energy customers. Austin Energy's residential electricity bills tend to be lower compared to those of most other Texas utilities, as a result of lower consumption of kilowatt-hours.
