Rate Plan Analysis 12-11

8/3/2019 Rate Plan Analysis 12-11

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Austin Energy is undergoing its first rate review in 17 years. Because Austin Energy is a municipally ownedutility, the Austin City Council must approve any changes to the utilitys rate structure. Austin Energy has spentmore than a year collecting and analyzing data, developing a new rate plan, and explaining the plan to cityleaders and ratepayers. On December 14, 2011, Austin Energy staff presented the rate plan to Austin CityCouncil members. On January 12, 2012, City Council has scheduled a public hearing to give Austin residentsthe opportunity to testify on the proposal. City Council can then approve the plan; approve it with changes; ortell Austin Energy to start over.

I ust n nergys propose new rate structure s mp emente n ts current orm, many ust n congregat onswould experience a doubling of their electric bills over the next three years. While the exact increase will varyor eac congregat on, wors p ac t es as a group wou exper ence an average ncrease o more t anpercent, far greater than the planned increases for most of Austin Energys other customer classes.

Faith communities make up a tiny fraction of Austin Energys customer base: Altogether, Austins 621 worshipfacilities account for roughly 5 millionjust 1/2 of 1 percent of Austin Energys 1.03 billion in annual revenueClearly, everyone needs to bear some share of the burden for rising energy costsbut an 80 percent increasein rates on ones mall customer class is an unacceptable burden.

There are options available to the utility that would prevent the disproportionate burdening of the faithcommun ty. n ma c anges to t e rate es gn wou g ve n v ua congregat ons ex ty to c oose t e rrate class.Alternatively, the utility could scale back its economic development spending or reduce its extremelygenerous reserve requ rements, e t er o w c wou perm t a re uct on n rate ncreasesnot on y orworship facilities but across every class of customer.

Austin can continue to be a leader in clean, affordable energy without disproportionately burdeningone class of customer. Together, we can arrive at a solution that meets the needs of our community.

Houses of Worship: An 80 percent increase on houses of worship would be a disproportionate burden.Worship facilities consume energy generally on nights and weekends, when electricity is cheaper and stress islow on the grid, but these factors have not been considered adequately in the proposed plan.

Low Income Ratepayers: For disadvantaged ratepayers, the proposal covers only half of the need forimmediate bill assistance, and is silent on whether low and moderate-income households will be in Austin

Energys energy-efficiency plans. Texas Impact believes that the Customer Assistance Program (CAP) shoulde un e an structure to cover more ouse o s t an s current y env s one . e propose un ng wou

cover only about half of the expected need. The proposal looks to cover about 25,000 customers, but with 1 inpeop e n ust n v ng e ow e era poverty, t ere are at east , customers n nee . urt ermore, -

income households also need a more permanent solution to reduce energy consumption. The proposed lineitem for energy efficiency is projected to raise about 28 million. A share of that funding should be dedicatedto energy efficiency for low and moderate-income homes to help permanently lower their bills and provideequitable benefits to those ratepayers from the clean energy economy.

Clean Energy Future: The rate plan does not provide sufficient incentives to achieve Austins ambitious en-ergy efficiency and renewable energy goals, and in some cases would penalize ratepayers for improvements

they have already made such as on-site solar installations.

ISSUES IN THE RATE PLAN

AUSTIN ENERGYS PROPOSED RATE PLANssues for Faith Communities

Texas Impactexas Baptist Christian Life Commission

ecem er


2/4Texas Impact/Texas Baptists December 2011

KW Group# of

Facilities

AnnualUsage(KWH)

Avg.Monthly(KWH)

Sum MaxKW

Avg. MaxKW

Avg.Load

FactorCustomer

Charge

ElectricDeliveryCharge

DemandCharge Regulatory Charge Energy Charge

CommunityBenefit

Projected NewCost

0-10 KW

10-20 KW 20-30 KW

30-40 KW

40-50 KW

50-60 KW

60-70 KW

70-80 kW

80-90 kW

90-100 KW

100-120 kW

120-140 kW

140-160 kW

160-180 KW

180-200 KW

200-300 KW

300+ KW

Total* 511 41,641,299 38,665 24,611 19.3% $256,896.00 $1,298,160.00 $2,513,048.00 $751,692.00 $2,123,023.42 $147,663.78 $7,090,483.19

s c ar s ows curren e e c r c yos s or a wors p ac es orw c us n nergy ma n a ns

demand meters. AE does notaintain demand meters for 111

worship facilities currently. Mostfacilities with demand meters use

ess than 30 KW per month onaverage.

The chart below shows the expectedncrease for worship facilities under

Austin Energys proposed plan. Unders p a n, ac es wou e c argeaccor ng o e r pea eman ,o jus accor ng o o a energy

onsumee .

Current Electric Costs for Austin Worship Facilities

Projected Electric Costs for Austin Worship Facilities Under Austin Energys Proposed Rate Design

s c ar s ows ewe g e average

percen age ncrease nlectric costs across all

worship facilities in Austinnder Austin Energys

proposed rate plan. Thechart shows that the

ncrease would fall mosteav y on sma an very

ma ac es, w caccoun or a ou a ous ns wors p ac esfor which Austin Energy

aintains demand meters.

Projected Weighted Average Electric Cost Increase for All AustinWorship Facilities Under AEs Proposed Rate Plan


3/4Texas Impact/Texas Baptists December 2011

This chart shows the averageconsumption curve for worshipac es. s expec e , s owsa wors p ac es as a c ass

consume e ec r c y mos eav yur ng wee en s, w c are

considered to be off-peak hours.

This chart shows the projectedncrease n e ec r c cos s ycus omer ype or us n nergya epayers un er e proposea e p an. e c ar s ows a

worship facilit es as a group wouexper ence a rate shock with

x cted increase early fourtimes as s eep as the next-high sncrease.


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Documents

Rate Plan Analysis 12-11