• City Council Work Session - May 7 Discussion regarding Austin Energy Governance
  May 07, 2013 Austin City Council Work Session

Keep the Power in Our Hands

Download our Keep the Power in Our Hands factsheet

Draft Austin Energy ordinance based upon the handout distributed by Council Member Riley.

Warning!

The mayor and some City Council Members want to give an un-elected, unaccountable board control of Austin Energy ——— inviting in corporate interests and energy insiders —— like CCARE — a group of industries with a mailing address of c/o the Austin Chamber of Commerce! $20 million in special contracts for large users will soon expire. Is this the real issue for large users? Their special deals rest on the backs of churches, small business and residents — and should end.

Dear Mayor and Council Members,

Please vote NO on the undemocratic ordinance that would give control of our utility to an un-elected board.

Democracy matters. Austin needs to become more democratic, not less.

We want Austin Energy, our city's largest asset, to remain directly accountable to Austin citizens. Please keep utility management in the hands of those whom we elect. An Austin Energy City Council subcommittee could do some of the work, since they would be elected, and can be put into office, or taken out by the voters. A board of appointees is far different, and is completely unacceptable. This board structure would lead to rubberstamping of bad decisions and dramatic rate increases, as occurred in San Antonio, when the utility hid a $4.2 billion cost increase in a nuclear project from the public for a year.

Giving utility control to an un-elected board risks the future of programs that we value as a community - green energy, low-income programs and customer protections. Green energy is affordable energy. They both matter and they go hand in hand. It was energy efficiency that kept rates low and allowed Austin to go for 18 years without an electric rate increase.

Funding from Austin Energy pays for our parks, pools, libraries, clinics, EMS, police and fire fighters. Local jobs develop from Austin Energy programs, a dividend of utility ownership.

Don't risk all this for the sake of corporate special interests. Listen to the people of Austin - and vote NO on the Austin Energy ordinance. This vote will be carefully watched and long remembered.

Thank you, and please let me know that you'll be voting NO.

Sincerely, ________, Phone number / email _________________

• Austin Energy Governance Factsheet
  

• Austin Energy Governance
  Karen Hadden

• Solar Austin Happy Hour Introductory Presentation
  March 20, 2013

• Governance Study of Public Power Utilities for the City of Austin
  Bob Kahn, LLC, August 27, 2012
  • Interviews of former General Managers of Austin Energy
    (Appendix ii - page 421 of the report)

• Keep Austin Energy Accountable -Don't Give Control to a Board We Don't Elect
  Press Release 2/13/13

• Austin Energy Governance - by Karen Hadden
  Including experiences with an unelected utility board in San Antonio

• Factsheet - Austin Energy Governance Works Well - Don't Break It

• Tom "Smitty" Smith editorial, Feb. 12, 2013 Austin American Statesman