Austin Energy is proposing its annual adjustment to the pass-through charges paid by customers on their monthly utility bill. This is different than the base rate review currently underway. Pass-through charges include the Power Supply Adjustment (PSA), the Regulatory Charge and the Community Benefit Charge, and these charges are set to collect only what the utility pays for certain expenses.
Over the peak summer months Austin Energy has seen an extraordinary rise in ERCOT market costs. Like other ERCOT utilities, Austin Energy has experienced substantially higher congestion costs in transporting power through the ERCOT system, exacerbated by the highest natural gas prices seen since 2008. Utilities nationally are experiencing similar power and commodity price shocks.
The needed adjustments include a 71% increase in the Power Supply Adjustment and a 24% increase in the Regulatory Charge. There is no change to the Community Benefit Charge. As proposed, an Austin Energy residential customer who uses a system-average of 860 kWh in a month will see an increase of $20 — or 24% — to their monthly electric bill for these combined increases.
The fiscal year 2023 pass-through rates will go to Austin City Council for consideration at its Sept. 29 meeting. Once approved by City Council, the new pass-through rates will go into effect Nov. 1.
The PSA is a dollar-for-dollar recovery that includes the cost of fuel for our power plants, the cost of electricity purchased from the grid and any net changes experienced as Austin Energy sells power to the grid. The current PSA rate needs to be realigned to recover an existing deficit and meet rising costs.
Primary factors for the PSA increase:
The Regulatory Charge recovers Austin Energy’s costs paid to ERCOT for transmission and other regulatory fees and charges. Transmission costs are based on Austin Energy’s roughly 4% share of the ERCOT market and determined by the Public Utility Commission of Texas. The Regulatory Charge needs to increase to meet the expenses of rising wholesale transmission costs.
Austin Energy is working to shield its customers from the effect of changing economic and market circumstances. Our unique and diverse generation portfolio limits the impact of cost volatility from any one fuel or generation source, and we work on a 24/7 basis to monitor and find the most efficient and cost-effective alternatives in keeping with our community’s values and priorities.
You can find more information in this memo sent to Mayor and City Council.
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Como departamento de la Ciudad de Austin, Austin Energy utiliza una herramienta en línea independiente para proporcionar traducciones automáticas en nuestros sitios web. Como cualquier traducción automática, no se puede garantizar el contexto y la precisión.
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