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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Austin Energy and Austin Water accomplishments and awards in 2020.

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.

Austin Energy’s free, interactive web app allows customers to monitor their daily energy usage, view their bill history, and see a future forecast of their energy bill cost. They can also set alerts to warn them of an upcoming rate tier change.

Austin Energy Web App users can also download Green Button Data which can help them better understand their energy usage and take action towards savings. This data set shows the number of web app users by month.

Learn more about the app at http://powersaver.austinenergy.com/wps/portal/psp/residential/learn/free-home-energy-management-options/alerts-and-tips-help-you-manage-your-energy-costs

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

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.