Qualifying utility customers receive waivers and discounts on their utility bills. The City of Austin has one of the most generous Customer Assistance Programs in the nation. Utility bill discounts are a key component of the program. They are provided to customers already receiving benefits through a variety of federal, state, county or city assistance programs. In February 2014, the Austin City Council voted to expand the discount program to 45,000 customers a year. Additionally, in 2015 the Austin City Council voted to no longer have a waitlist as well as include Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing (VASH) vouchers as a qualifier.

Under the program, qualifying Austin Energy customers receive a waiver of the $10 monthly electric customer charge; are exempt from paying the portion of the community benefit charge that supports the Utility Bill Discount Program; and they receive a 10% discount on their kWh usage charge. Austin Water customers also receive a discount on the water/wastewater customer charge as well as a volumetric discount on a customer’s water usage. Watershed Protection provides a 50% discount on the drainage fee. Public Works under a separate qualification waives the transportation user fee.

Customers who qualify for utility bill discounts are receiving an average of $792 per year per family, $248 of which comes from Austin Energy. Total utility bill savings for the recipients is over $18 million annually.

Below is a summary of electric account savings only.

As part of the FY 2013 rate case, Austin Energy restructured its customer classes.

Austin Energy’s four customer classes include:

Residential — customers living in single-family dwellings, mobile homes, townhouses or individually metered apartment units.

Secondary — commercial customers including small to large businesses. This means Austin Energy owns, operates and maintains the equipment supplying power to those facilities .
Secondary 1 — commercial customers served at less than 10 kW.
Secondary 2 — commercial customers served between 10 and 50 kW. Secondary 3 — commercial customers served at more than 50 kW.

Primary — customers that take service at high voltage and own, operate and maintain their own equipment. Consequently, Austin Energy experiences lower overall system losses and expense in serving these customers. Large commercial and industrial customers such as semiconductors, hightech facilities and data centers typically fall under this level of service. These customers have very high usage and load factors because they tend to operate 24/7.
Primary 1 — commercial customers served at less than 3 MW.
Primary 2 — commercial customers served between 3 and 20 MW.
Primary 3 — commercial customers served at more than 20 MW.

Contract/Transmission — customers owning and maintaining all equipment on the customer side for electric delivery and receiving service at 69 kV or above. Contract applies to a small number of large commercial customers operating under legacy contracts.

Lighting — typically refers to street lighting and facilities including ballparks.

The Austin Energy Regional Science Festival is one of the largest regional science festivals held in Texas and the nation. Middle and high school students who win at their respective schools compete at the regional festival to advance to the state science fair competition. Five senior level projects receive Best of Fair awards and the winners of those projects have the option to advance directly to the international competition.

Central Texas middle and high school students have performed very well at past state and international competitions. Between 2004 and 2016, 100 students representing 71 projects advanced to the international level. Of those, 44 students representing 29 projects won 73 category and special awards. Since 2004, more than 1,225 students have advanced to the state level, where about 20% have won awards.

In 2016, the Austin Energy Regional Science Festival showcased 755 middle and high school projects. Unlike most regional events, Austin Energy also hosts elementary school students. Nearly 4,000 students and their families turn out for the event which includes a public viewing of the science projects as well as educational booths and scientific demonstrations.

Over 550 judges and 180 volunteers from the City of Austin, local businesses, colleges, and elementary/middle/high schools contribute annually to the event’s success. Revenues to fund the event come from fees paid by participating schools and companies that provide sponsorships.

This data can be used to track the capacity and incentive levels available for Austin Energy's Solar Rebate Program.

Millions of gallons of water treated grouped by year, month, plant and water type.

Qualifying utility customers receive waivers and discounts on their utility bills. The City of Austin has one of the most generous Customer Assistance Programs in the nation. Utility bill discounts are a key component of the program. They are provided to customers already receiving benefits through a variety of federal, state, county or city assistance programs. In February 2014, the Austin City Council voted to expand the discount program to 45,000 customers a year. Additionally, in 2015 the Austin City Council voted to no longer have a waitlist as well as include Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing (VASH) vouchers as a qualifier.

Customers who qualify for utility bill discounts are receiving an average of $792 per year per family, $248 of which comes from Austin Energy. Total utility bill savings for the recipients is over $18 million annually. Below is a summary of electric account savings only.

The City of Austin maintains a Medically Vulnerable Registry of customers with a long-term disease, ailment, or critical illness. Customers eligible for the registry receive additional time to pay their utility bills and personal case management services from Austin Energy and partnering social service agencies.

Power Partner was launched in 2013 and is a voluntary program for residential customers who use internet-connected thermostats. View dates and times, starting in calendar year 2006, when we used either this or its predecessor voluntary program to reduce residential energy demand. Go to austinenergy.com/go/powerpartner to learn more.

Listing of all recycling schedules city wide.

The utility has a diverse repertoire of efficiency programs, including Austin Energy Green Building, PowerSaver and Demand Response, that help customers reduce energy and save money. These efforts directly benefit customers as well as set the utility on the path to meet goals put in place by Austin City Council. Find more information at http://austinenergy.com/go/advantage and http://austinenergy.com/go/reports.