The City of Austin's Plus 1 Fund provides emergency utility bill financial assistance to customers experiencing extreme hardships such as medical illness or sudden job loss. In 2009 the City of Austin doubled to $300,000 the amount of funding made available annually for this program. Beginning in fiscal year 2009, City of Austin employees were given the option to donate to the Plus 1 Fund through the City's annual Combined Charities Campaign which raises money for local and regional charitable groups. Additionally, utility customers have the option to donate to the Plus 1 Fund when they make their monthly utility bill payments. Plus 1 funding is distributed to customers by more than a dozen social service agencies including Travis County Family Services and Meals on Wheels.

Budget Billing is available to customers who prefer to avoid significant fluctuations in their monthly utility bills. With this program, City of Austin Utilities takes an average of a customer's previous 12-month's worth of utility bills to calculate an average utility bill payment. With Budget Billing, accounts are reviewed and adjusted every six months.

The averages reflect all City of Austin utilities including electric, water, wastewater, solid waste, transportation and drainage fees.

October 2017: Budget billing data for the period October 2011 through September 2013 revises previously published data. The revision reflects increased maturity and stability of our reporting system.

Residential customers use an average of about 1,000 kWh of electricity per month, with usage higher during hot summer months and lower in the winter. View tables show monthly average usage in kWh by month for residential customers starting in 2000. Tables include monthly fuel charges and electric bill amounts.

This table groups Austin Energy customers into four classes: residential, commercial, industrial, and lighting (public street/highway and other). View the annual rates in cents per kWh by customer class starting in 2006. Learn more about Austin Energy’s rates at http://austinenergy.com/wps/portal/ae/rates.

Austin Energy and Austin Water accomplishments and awards in 2020.

This table groups Austin Energy customers into five classes: residential, primary 1 & 2, secondary 1, 2, & 3, lighting, and contract/tes/trans/highload. View sales in dollars and kWh.

The system fuel cost average is the cost of fuel purchased, divided by the number of kilowatts generated. View the system annual average fuel cost (cents/kWh) starting in 2006. Go to http://austinenergy.com/go/reports to learn more.

This table groups Austin Energy customers into five classes: residential, commercial, industrial, public street and highway, and government. View sales in dollars and kWh along with annual percent change for each customer class.

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 set shows Austin Energy's current system rate, and the 2% affordability limit set by the Austin City Council. The difference between the current system rate and the 2% affordability limit is shown as both a dollar figure and a percentage. Note- the current system rate is based on budgeted system rates and is effective at the beginning of each fiscal year.

This dataset supports measure EOA.C.5.a of SD23

Data Source: Austin Energy

Calculations:

Dollar Amount- The 2% Affordability Limit is subtracted from the Current System Rate.

Percentage- The Current System Rate is divided by the 2% Affordability Limit, subtracted from 1, and then multiplied by 100.

View more details and insights related to this measure on the story page: https://data.austintexas.gov/stories/s/t4es-hvsj