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Austin Energy unveils 10‑year resiliency plan priced at $735 million, targets grid hardening and vegetation management
Summary
Staff presented a 10‑year Electric System Resiliency Plan totaling about $735 million that focuses on overhead hardening, vegetation management and smart‑grid investments, with near‑term FY26 targets and a public plan posting expected by mid‑December; staff noted supply‑chain and regulatory risks and will provide dashboards during FY26.
Austin Energy staff presented a 10‑year Electric System Resiliency Plan that outlines investments to reduce outage frequency and duration and to prioritize equitable, data‑driven projects across the distribution system.
"It's keeping the power on even when it gets tough," said David Tomchessen, vice president for electrical system engineering and technical services, describing the purpose of the resiliency plan.
Tomchessen summarized prior studies (an undergrounding feasibility study from March 2025 and an overhead hardening study from July 2025) and said roughly 42% of Austin Energy's distribution system is overhead. He described trade‑offs for undergrounding — rocky soils, environmental and cultural impacts, telecom relocations and easement acquisition — and said overhead hardening is often faster and less costly.
The plan presents a 10‑year investment forecast of $735,000,000 (FY26–35) with an indicated breakdown that includes approximately $340,000,000 for vegetation management, $200,000,000 for grid hardening and automation (including sectionalization) and $115,000,000 for smart‑grid analytics and related investments. Tomchessen cautioned that the program faces supply‑chain pressures, budget/staffing constraints and regulatory requirements related to pole inspections cited in state bills.
Near‑term objectives for FY26 include hardening about 20 circuits, deploying roughly 30 mainline reclosers and about 100 lateral reclosers, and pole inspections (the transcript referenced both '80,000' and '8,000' pole counts in slides; staff said more detailed KPIs and geographic phasing will be provided in dashboards). Tomchessen said the plan will be posted for public review by mid‑December and that dashboards and KPIs will follow in FY26 (staff estimated no later than summer of next year for a public dashboard).
Tomchessen also said staff is evaluating candidate locations for a pilot undergrounding project to learn costs, timelines and benefits and will report lessons learned to the community.
Next steps: plan posted publicly by mid‑December; FY26 initiatives launched with KPIs and transparent timelines; staff to return with implementation updates and a dashboard during FY26.
