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Austin Energy reports 65% carbon‑free generation, commission presses for full RFP results before any peaker commitment
Summary
At a Jan. 12 Electric Utility Commission meeting, Austin Energy reported progress under its 2035 Resource Generation and Climate Protection Plan — including 65% carbon‑free generation and new battery and solar activity — while commissioners debated a proposed advisory recommendation asking Council to analyze alternatives before committing to new gas peakers; the commission deferred a vote on that recommendation.
Austin Energy told the Electric Utility Commission on Jan. 12 that its portfolio was 65% carbon‑free as a percentage of load and that preliminary 2025 data show record‑low stack emissions, but staff and commissioners voiced caution about any quick commitment to new natural‑gas peaker plants.
"We're currently sitting at 65%," Lisa Martin, Austin Energy's chief operating officer, said during a semiannual briefing on the utility's Resource Generation and Climate Protection Plan to 2035. Martin said the utility has stabilized recent drops in carbon‑free percentage and pointed to multiple factors — such as curtailments and transmission congestion — that affect the metric.
Martin reviewed recent implementation wins and near‑term actions: 18 megawatts of new local solar in FY25, an estimated 24 MW of energy savings from efficiency work, a signed 100‑MW battery storage contract and an active second battery procurement under negotiation. She also said the utility had renewed a 165‑MW wind power purchase agreement and launched a…
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