Lisa Martin, Austin Energy’s chief operating officer, briefed the committee on implementation priorities for the Resource Generation and Climate Protection Plan to 2035, which the council approved unanimously in December.

Martin said the plan sets a goal of 100% carbon-free generation by 2035 and establishes an outcomes-based policy with guardrails intended to balance reliability, affordability and equity. She summarized four toolkit categories in order of priority, with customer energy solutions (rooftop solar, energy efficiency, demand response, residential batteries and vehicle electrification) first, followed by local resources, regional procurement and long-term supply options.

Martin presented performance metrics the utility will track, including carbon-free generation as a percentage of load, stack emissions and local battery storage deployment. She noted Austin Energy’s 2024 carbon-free generation (72% of generation and previously 77% as a share of load in 2022) and described factors that affect those metrics, including load growth, transmission congestion and curtailment.

Near-term implementation steps Martin listed include: launching a Solar Standard Offer (already launched earlier this month), completing a Distributed and Non-Distributed (DND) consultant study on market potential, issuing a battery storage request for proposals (RFP) by the end of the month and breaking ground on a geothermal pilot within weeks. Martin said the utility’s first battery solicitation will seek roughly 100–150 megawatts of 2-, 3- or 4-hour energy storage, executed as a power purchase agreement, and that the utility has a goal of at least 125 megawatts online by 2027.

Over the rest of the year, staff said they will bring the 2024 International Energy Conservation Code for council adoption, launch updated demand response programs and Solar for All grant work, update progress on ending coal use, and release an all-resource RFP to study peaker feasibility. Longer-term work includes greenhouse gas avoidance tracking, beneficial electrification incentives, a distributed energy resource management system and efforts to increase transmission import capacity. Martin also said the plan leaves room to explore advanced nuclear as an innovation option.

Councilmembers asked for more detail on battery goals, timelines and whether the 125 MW goal could be increased; Martin said the PPA approach via RFP is intended to be the fastest path to initial, large-scale storage and that additional capacity could come through the all-resource RFP and residential storage programs. Committee members asked about benchmarking against other municipal utilities; Martin noted geographic differences in generation mixes (for example, TVA’s nuclear and Pacific Northwest hydro) and the limits of direct comparisons.

Martin said Austin Energy will provide an annual plan-level update and semiannual, more granular reporting on guardrails and goal metrics to the council. Committee members requested follow-ups on specific items including battery procurement details, the coding adoption schedule for the International Energy Conservation Code (staff said it is expected in April), and progress reports on ending coal use.

Ending: Staff said they will return with semiannual updates on metrics and an annual check-in, and will provide details on upcoming solicitations and pilot project timelines.