Austin Energy has installed solar projects on municipal facilities such as City Hall, libraries, and recreation centers to increase public awareness about solar power and demonstrate the effectiveness of this technology. View the location name, address, year installed, and system size in kW. Go to austinenergy.com/go/solar to learn more about solar solutions from Austin Energy.
Please note that this data set is no longer updated and should be considered static.

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.

The City of Austin provides hearings for customers who would like the opportunity to dispute charges or are in need of any other type of account reconciliation. The hearings are conducted by an impartial Hearing Officer retained by the City of Austin.

The City of Austin Utility Contact Center is managed by Austin Energy. This is the place customers call to start, stop, or transfer utility services. The center receives about 6,000 calls per day on average and Online Customer Care handles about 12,000 requests per month.

The average speed for answering calls was up in Fiscal Years 2009 and 2010 due to Customer Service Representatives focusing on one-call resolutions, thus avoiding repeat calls by customers. In addition, the Utility Contact Center has rolled out several campaign initiatives over the past few years to promote conservation programs. Explaining those products and benefits takes extra time.