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Austin Energy reports roughly 3,500 monthly manual meter reads; opt-out fee small fraction of cost
Summary
Austin Energy staff told commissioners the utility still performs about 3,500 manual smart-meter reads per month, including roughly 722 customers who have formally opted out; the monthly opt-out charge does not cover the full cost of a field read.
Sandra Escovedo, vice president of customer account management for Austin Energy, told the commission that the utility is performing about 3,500 manual reads per month, "so 4,000 a month or so," and that about 1,000 of those were opt-outs in the earlier framing. She later clarified the precise counts: "722 opt out, 236 of those are water and 486 are electric." Escovedo said the meters are advanced meters (AMI) but that some lose connectivity and require a field visit: "They are AMIs ... those change every month... we go out and check them, reconnect the signal."
Commissioners asked whether opt-out customers pay extra. Escovedo initially said, "There's a monthly fee of $10," then corrected the accounting detail during follow-up questions and confirmed the aggregate opt-out count of 722. When asked whether the $10 monthly charge covers the utility's cost, Escovedo said no: "No. Only the 722 customers who are opt out get the $10 charge, so that does not cover the cost of this contract," and added that "a roll truck is more than $10 a month." She said staff would follow up with an estimate of the full per-visit or per-customer cost.
Commissioners also asked about penetration of smart water meters and overall completion. Escovedo estimated roughly 90 percent completion for customers who are not opt-outs and said the utility is "forecasting end of this year to be close to a 100%." Austin Water staff handle leak-detection analytics and customer-facing alerts; Escovedo said those data and customer alerts are administered by Austin Water and that Austin Energy handles billing functions related to water accounts.
Why this matters: manual reads and opt-outs affect customer billing accuracy and utility operations costs. Commissioners pressed staff for follow-up figures on the per-visit cost of manual reads and for a clearer breakdown of opt-out fees and who pays them.
Escovedo and commissioners approved agenda item 3 during the meeting. Staff committed to provide a follow-up cost estimate for manual reads and clarification of the current opt-out fee accounting.
