Fayette Power Plant's role in Austin could be a central focus for city council Thursday
AUSTIN (KXAN) -- With three Austin City Council members leaving the dais at the end of the year, Thursday's city council meeting will be the last for Council Members Mackenzie Kelly, Alison Alter and Mayor Pro Tem Leslie Pool.
It won't be a thoughtless slide to the finish, Thursday's agenda has more than 140 items on it. Here's some of what we're watching:
Austin Energy generation plan
Thursday, Austin City Council will vote on the Austin Energy Resource, Generation and Climate Protection Plan to 2035.
“It’s a plan that essentially talks about how we’re going to meet Austin’s rising energy needs while providing an equitable clean energy transition in support of the community’s values,” said Lisa Martin, Austin Energy’s Chief Operating Officer.
The plan lays out priorities that include:
- Continue moving toward 100% carbon-free energy by 2035
- Improve reliability, affordability and environmental sustainability
- Protect vulnerable customers
- Resiliency in the face of extreme weather and associated financial risk
“I think this plan is really focused on meeting the priorities put forward by the public but it also doesn’t consider how the cost of polluting or using carbon-emitting generation, what kind of costs those have,” Austin City Council Member Ryan Alter said. “When we talk about affordability certainly we talk about our monthly bill, but if we’re going to have to spend a lot of money to address the effects of climate change, that shows up.”
Alter brought forward several amendments to the plan Monday, including reducing emissions, adding generation and updating the council regularly on energy goals. You can find all of Alter’s amendments here. Several other city council members have added amendments to plan, which have been posted on the Austin City Council message board. Those will be worked through Thursday.
Meanwhile, Austin Mayor Kirk Watson has doubled down on Austin Energy getting out of the Fayette Power Plant, which it co-owns with the Lower Colorado River Authority (LCRA). The mayor wants Austin to shut down its portion of the plant by no later than January 2029.
“Earlier this year, we slammed the brakes on Austin Energy’s initial generation plan...I wanted a clear focus on getting to better environmental sustainability and getting us out of the Fayette Power Plant. Others joined me in that sentiment,” Watson said in his Watson Wire Monday. “For those who share the goal of getting out of coal, this plan is a step forward."
In a work session with Austin Energy staff Tuesday, Watson pushed Austin Energy to stick to that plan, after Martin said the Fayette Power Plant is an "insurance policy" during significant demand and a financial buffer. The plant helped offset roughly $500 million in costs to customers during Winter Storm Uri, she said.
"You modeled this with Fayette out," Watson responded to Martin Tuesday. "So if nothing else that shows at least some recommitment to being out of Fayette...but I will admit to you that that answer, when you talk about Fayette saving money and doing all those kinds of things sounds like we need Fayette to help us save money and we want Fayette. And I think that's part of the reason some people have, including me, sometime a heartburn about, what is that commitment?"
You can read more about the generation plan in KXAN's previous coverage here.
Massive I-35 vote delayed
Austin City Council will no longer vote this week on a potential commitment to spend hundreds of millions of dollars capping Interstate 35, based on a council memo shared on Thursday.
The Texas Department of Transportation had originally set a Dec. 12 meeting deadline for council to decide on its funding commitments for its Our Future 35 initiative. That program is centered around adding deck plazas over the highway and community amenities on top.
Now, Austin City Council has until March 2025 to vote on those funding commitments — in turn solidifying the breadth of the capped I-35 program. That extended deadline is due to delays in TxDOT’s pump station contract award, per the memo.
During a Nov. 19 Austin City Council work session, city leaders outlined eight possible cap and stitch locations on the table, which would amount to more than 26 acres of community space. Those locations include:
- Holly Street stitch: 0.96 acres
- Cesar Chavez Street stitch: 0.27 acres
- Cesar Chavez to Fourth Streets cap: 5.37 acres
- Fourth to Seventh Streets cap: 3.28 acres
- 11th to 12th Streets cap: 2.17 acres
- 38 1/2 to 41st Streets cap: 5.2 acres
- 41st Street to Red Line cap: 4.76 acres
- Red Line to Airport Boulevard cap: 4.24 acres
However, executing the full program comes with a heavy sticker price. The cost of all eight locations’ roadway elements (which are required to implement early in TxDOT’s I-35 Capital Express Central project) would cost an estimated $284 million. The cap structures alone would range closer to $600 million, meaning it would cost roughly $900 million for the roadway and cap structures — not including any of the community amenities on top of the highway.
You can read KXAN's full coverage of the delay and what comes next here.
Tourism Improvement District
Austin City Council could vote to create an Austin Tourism Public Improvement District (ATPID) to help bring in new revenues while the Austin Convention Center is under construction. This district has been in the works for years.
Under the plan, Austin hotels with at least 100 rooms would be taxed 2% of the gross room revenue for the next 10 years.
Money generated would be used to try to attract new events to Austin and bring more tourism revenue into town, as well as fund improvements toward safety and homelessness issues.
In a statement, the Austin Hotel & Lodging Association said the ATPID would provide funding for supplemental tourism, marketing and sales activities.
Construction on the Austin Convention Center is slated to start in 2025, with the new building poised to open before the 2029 South by Southwest festival.
You can read KXAN's previous coverage on this topic here.