Rate Case Presentation

8/3/2019 Rate Case Presentation

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What it means forAustins Faith

Community

November 29, 2011

The Austin Energy Rate Review


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The Big Picture

No rate review since 1994

Austin Energy says it requires = $1.136 billion. (This

is called Revenue Requirement)

Current revenues $1.004 billion.

An additional $131 million or 13.2% increase


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The General Fund Transfer

Austin Energy transfers roughly 10% of grossrevenues to the City of Austin.

$101 million in FY 2010

One of the 3 main components of Citys GeneralRevenue Fund (sales and property tax)

Is this a proper way to raise taxes? (Procedure)Phantom tax: not obvious like a sales or property tax

Lack of representation for AE customers not in AustinTax Justice (Equity) More regressive than a flat sales tax on the poor

Not just the poor, but the middle class too


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The Revenue Requirement

Really complicated, but know: Its an art not a science

Gets litigated in what is known as a rate case. If it shrinks, all customers benefit.

City Council can shrink itPublic Utility Commission (state) can shrink it in a rate case.

Texas Impact believes it is overinflated

They could just increase everyone 13.2% across theboard, but


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Percent Increase Under Current Proposal


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Faith Community as Part of Larger Community

Total Austin Energy Revenue = $1.004 Billion (FY2009)

Austin Faith Community = Currently, $5 millionannually in electric bills; or 1/2 of 1% of total revenue

Projected Increase = $9 million or an additional $4million annually from the faith community

As a class, an increase of roughly 80%.


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Texas Impacts Goals

We want to pay our fair share

80% is not fair.

Our Goals Protect low-income ratepayers

Negotiate the most fair increases for Houses of Worship

Protect the environment with a more green design


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Low-Income Customers

Faith Community interconnected with low-incomecommunity If faith communitys rates go up, then less money for ministries

that benefit the community.

If low income rates go up, then the fewer families we can helpwith our limited benevolence funds.

Fixed Charge = a customer owes regardless of usage

The new fixed customer charge added to the new

fixed delivery charge quadruples fixed charges from$6 to $25 a month.


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Inadequate Low-Income Programming (CAP)

Customer Assistance Program (CAP)

Fixed Charges Currently offsets the fixed customer charge

No guarantee it will continue to do so

Inadequate Funding Over 50,000 families in Austin on food stamps

Cap currently covers less than 10,000 customers

Proposal doubles funding, (from $3.1 mil to $7.7 mil) but at

most covers 26,000 customers only the Citys need.

About a $15 million dollar issue


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Inadequate Low-Income Programming (EE)

Proposal raises roughly $28 million for greenprograms

We support this. However, no commitment tofunding green programs that benefit low andmoderate income households

All ratepayers pay the on bill charge

Unfair to make poor people pay for rich peoples solar

panels without programs to save the less affluent ontheir monthly bill through energy efficiency as well.Its just Equity.


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Houses of Worship

All Houses of Worship will bebilled in the Commercial Class

621 will be charged based on peak

demand for the first time For those who have not paid

demand charges in the past theywill phased in over 3 years(energy (kWh) charges will

decrease as demand (kW) chargesincrease)


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Case: El Paso Electric

Problem: Houses of Worship were assessed demandcharges for the first time; bills skyrocketed

Reaction: Religious Leaders filed complaints in Texasand New Mexico with regulatory authorities

Solution: An agreement was reached to implement a20% cap for the energy portion of their bill per facility.

Customers who are:Off-peak users, with low load factors,

Charitable organizations, and Recently reassigned a rate class with demand charges

This solution was approved by the El Paso CityCouncil and the Public Utility Commission


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Austins Design is not Green

Complicated case to make

Must understand the nuances of the rate design

Were going to have to examine the structure of therate so lets circle back to this


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What?! 80%?! Why?!

Rate Design 101


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80%?! Why?

Short Answer: Demand Charges

Three basic types of charges on a bill

Fixed (flat fee everyone pays regardless of usage)

Harms very green & low-income customersRelatively insignificant for faith community

Energy (kwh)(measured like a house)Demand (kW)(measurement of peak)Delivery Charge

Demand Charge; andRegulatory Charge

All could be based on energy, but AE chose demand


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KW Demand vs. KWH Consumption

Example: A 60 Watt Light BulbNeeds continuous 60W to run

This is the Demand (measured in KW)Under 60W, and lights go outAt any one moment in time

A 60W Bulb Run for 1 Hour = 60 Watt/hourOr .060 kwhMeasure of total consumption (in kwh)


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Put Another Way: Two Kinds ofMeasurements

Measure #1 = Total KWHConsumption Over billing cycle

Basis for the energy charge

Measure #2 = Peak KWHighest peak in any moment over billing cycle

Basis for the demand charge


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Current Electric Rates(Residential & General Service Non-Demand)

So run that one light bulb for 360 hours for thatbilling cycle

60W x 360 hr = 21,600 Watt/hours; or 21.6 KWhHypo: Utility charges $0.10/KWh

Then 21.6 KWh x $0.10 = $2.16

This is how homes and most worship facilities are

currently billed


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Proposed Commercial Rates(Add a Demand Charge)

Back to Light Bulb Example1 Light Bulb = 60W or .06 KW

300 bulbs = 18 KW

18 KW x $15 per KW = $270

Just for flipping the switch one time


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How Worship Facility Bills Would Work

Bill = Fixed Charges + Energy Charges +Demand Charges Fixed Charge = $25

Demand Charge = $270 Energy Charge = $180

300 bulbs (60W) x 100 hours = 1800 kwh @ $0.10/kwh

$475 = $25+$270+$180


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A Large Church in Austin

Read DateKWH

UsageKW

Demand Avg. LF% Current BillTotal Projected

Bill % Increase

12/16/09-1/19/10 29,000 102 34.8% $2,754.45 $2,996.83 8.80%

1/19/10-2/16/10 25,600 202 18.9% $2,430.77 $4,228.36 73.95%

2/16/10-3/17/10 23,600 210 15.6% $2,240.37 $4,237.70 89.15%

3/17/10-4-15-10 32,000 226 20.3% $3,040.05 $4,896.34 61.06%

4/15/10-5/16/10 53,000 242 29.4% $5,984.25 $6,205.27 3.69%

5/16/10-6/16/10 71,400 276 34.8% $8,067.13 $8,144.89 0.96%

6/16/10-7/18/10 92,600 264 45.7% $10,466.97 $9,128.15 -12.79%

7/18/10-8/17/10 98,200 268 50.9% $11,100.89 $9,495.92 -14.46%

8/17/10-9/16/10 95,400 272 48.7% $10,783.93 $9,402.45 -12.81%

9/16/10-10/17/10 64,400 242 35.8% $7,274.73 $6,793.62 -6.61%

10/17/10-11/15/10 42,600 220 27.8% $4,085.81 $5,358.99 31.16%

11/15/10-12/15/10 28,000 250 15.6% $2,683.33 $5,027.58 87.36%

Total Annual 655,800 $70,912.68 $75,916.10 7.06%


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A Church w/ DG Solar Panels

Read DateKWH

UsageKW

Demand Avg. LF% Current BillProjected

Bill % Increase

% fromkWh

charges(Solar)

8/10/11-

9/10/11 16,880 96.00 23.6% $2,292.08 $2,438.60 6.4% 37.87%

7/12/11-

8/10/11 9,440 96.00 14.1% $1,279.79 $2,030.07 58.6% 37.93%

6/10/11-

7/12/11 14,880 79.20 24.5% $1,761.12 $2,075.60 17.9% 43.45%5/11/11-

6/10/11 10,160 91.20 15.5% $1,203.87 $1,872.54 55.5% 40.61%

4/11/11-

5/11/11 8,640 78.40 15.3% $1,024.42 $1,614.00 57.6% 40.58%

3/10/11-

4/11/11 5,120 76.00 8.8% $608.85 $1,398.56 129.7% 40.47%

2/9/11-3/10/11 4,440 56.80 11.2% $579.24 $1,093.32 88.8% 36.89%

1/11/11-2/9/11 3,760 37.60 14.4% $341.13 $788.09 131.0% 53.04%

12/9/10-1/11/11 3,760 30.40 15.6% $341.13 $686.78 101.3% 53.04%

11/8/10-

12/9/10 3,440 40.00 11.6% $312.85 $805.34 157.4% 52.91%

10/11/10-

11/8/10 4,960 58.40 12.6% $448.98 $1,142.67 154.5% 53.16%

9/10/10-

10/11/10 8,800 84.80 13.9% $942.30 $1,826.14 93.8% 48.02%

Total Annual 94,280 69 $11,135.76 $17,771.73 59.6% 44.83%


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A Large Church w/ Multiple Meters

Preschool & Sanctuary Family Life Center

ReadDate

KWHUsage

KWDeman

dAvg.LF%

CurrentBill

Projected Bill % Inc.

KWHUsage

KWDeman

dAvg.LF%

CurrentBill

ProjectedBill % Inc.

11/28/1

0

45,90

0 177

32.7

%

$4,473.0

3

$4,924.2

9 10.1% 22,400 168

15.9

% $2,179.66 $3,584.82 64.5%

12/28/1

0

46,80

0 159

40.9

%

$4,218.7

6

$4,717.4

8 11.8% 23,200 200

16.1

% $2,088.14 $4,076.35 95.2%

1/27/11

45,30

0 150

41.9

%

$4,166.2

4

$4,513.4

3 8.3% 26,800 208

17.9

% $2,462.20 $4,374.71 77.7%

2/24/1139,900 156

38.1

%

$3,668.8

4

$4,319.1

6 17.7% 27,200 212

19.1

% $2,499.04 $4,451.63 78.13%

3/29/11

50,40

0 168

37.9

%

$4,635.9

9

$5,029.9

0 8.5% 22,400 164

17.2

% $2,056.91 $3,528.54 71.55%

4/27/11

48,30

0 177

39.2

%

$5,302.9

7

$5,048.1

5 -4.8% 21,600 172

18.0

% $2,363.03 $3,599.82 52.34%

5/30/1157,60

0 17741.1

%$6,326.9

9$5,895.2

1 -6.8% 26,000 18018.2

% $2,847.51 $4,205.26 47.68%

6/28/11

59,40

0 276

32.0

%

$6,525.1

8

$7,485.9

7 14.7% 28,800 172

24.9

% $3,155.82 $4,238.45 34.31%

7/27/1164,200 255

36.2

%

$7,053.7

1

$7,433.0

7 5.4% 33,600 188

25.7

% $3,684.35 $4,743.14 28.74%

8/29/11

77,10

0 240

40.6

%

$8,474.1

4

$7,915.3

6 -6.6% 44,800 212

26.7

% $4,917.58 $5,719.81 16.31%

10/3/1169,600 213

37.8

%

$7,648.3

1

$6,653.9

7

-

13.0% 34,800 204

19.7

% $3,816.48 $4,731.31 23.97%50,10 48.3 $4,635.4 $4,676.7 30.1


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2009 Average Industrial Rates


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What You and Your Congregation Can Do

Contact City

CouncilLetters, Emails, Phone Calls,Letters to the Editor to get their

attention


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Message to Council

Make it fair 80% is grossly disproportionate to the faith community. Cap

the increase at 20% per customer.

Low-income people cannot handle the increase in a recession.

Make it affordable Some congregations will close under current proposal.

Some families will go under which will leads to a cascade ofeconomic harm for all.

Make it green Energy production & consumption harms the environment

Demand charges do little to protect the environment.


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Timeline

Contact your City Council immediately.

Wed Dec 14th: Austin Energy presents theirproposal to City Council

Council will set the schedule (after Dec 14th) forapproving the rates.

Rumor is Jan 12th for public hearing.

Rumor is also that the city budget is depending onthe Austin Energy Rate Increase to take effect inOctober 2012.


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Get the Word Out inyour Community

Email your contacts;

Publish information in your newsletter;

Reach out to other congregations;

Discuss the issue with NeighborhoodAssociation.

Send us your bills

What You and Your Congregation Can Do


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Good advice regardless of AustinEnergys Rate Restructuring

Tools to Lower Your Demand


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Think About Your Facility

How many lights? What kind? 60W bulb or 18W CFL w/ equivalent lumens?

1/3rd of energy and demand

Appliances?Avg. Dishwasher = 1.2 KW

5 computers = 1.2 KW

Avg. Water heater = 3.8 KW

Refrigerator = 1.5 KWWhat kind of HVAC?

If all are running at once


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A Bit of Research

Most appliances say somewhere near where itplugs in

Watts = Volts x Amps

Most American appliances = 120VVisit: energystar.gov/congregations How to guides

Portfolio Manager
http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=small_business.sb_congregationshttp://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=small_business.sb_congregations


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HVAC

For 1,000 member congregations or less,HVAC = 70% of electric bill

Talk to an HVAC professional, butgenerally

1,000 sq. ft = 2.5 ton unit = 3.5 KW (avg.residential)Small church = 20 ton unit = 90 KWMedium = 40 ton = 150 KW

Large like FBC = 280 ton, but


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New Units vs. Old Units

How old is yours?FBC Case Study:

Old Units (1980s) =

2 chillers: 206 ton large unit & 40 tonmini unit.Avg. Demand 200-270 KW

New Unit = 280 tons, butTechnology to control loadMax Demand Only 154 KW


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Counter-Intuitive, but

Might be cheaper in the long run toreplace it if its older than 15 years

HVAC is prob around 70% of your bill

Look into programmable thermostats

Technology to control HVAC from

computer & even from iphoneBut investments take money


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HB 2077: LoanSTAR Stewards Pilot Program

Texas Impact helped pass HB 2077 byRep. Eddie Rodriguez last session

A low-interest revolving loan fund forEE improvements set up in the StateEnergy Conservation Office

Cost-effective requirement loan paidback through energy savings

Must be up and running by March

2012


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Thank You

Contact Texas Impact with questions regarding the ratecase or your bills.

Texas Impact: 512 472 3903

www.texasimpact.org
http://www.texasimpact.org/http://www.texasimpact.org/

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