The Electric Utility Commission (EUC) may be about to get a lot more popular. The commission is responsible for helping the city council formulate their energy policy.
The seven-person committee meets tonight at the Town Lake Center. Several mundane items are on their agenda, but one topic is sure to bring lots of discussion: Item 15, a staff report and discussion regarding Austin Energy’s electric rate review process.
Austin Energy’s proposed rate increase has been in the works for months, but it wasn’t until a recent public hearing before the Austin City Council that citizens had a chance to sound off. The response was overwhelmingly negative, so much so that Mayor Lee Leffingwell recently announced he did not support the increases as currently proposed.
Members of the EUC participated in a recent council work session delving further into the rates. It showed a lack of unanimity among the commission on the rates; some in the meeting were more supportive of the rates as drafted than other commissioners.
Those divergent opinions may come into further focus at tonight’s meeting. It will be in the Town Lake Center’s Shudde Fath Conference Room, 721 Barton Springs, at 6 p.m. (Oh, and did we mention longtime Austin environmentalist Shudde Fath actually serves on the commission?)
