Approved Minutes — original pdf

Approved Minutes

ELECTRIC UTILITY COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES Monday, March 9, 2026 ELECTRIC UTILITY COMMISSION REGULAR CALLED MEETING MINUTES Monday, March 9, 2026 The Electric Utility Commission convened in a regular called meeting on Monday, March 9, 2026, at Austin Energy Headquarters, 4815 Mueller Blvd, Austin, TX 78723. Chair David Tuttle called the Electric Utility Commission meeting to order at 6:02 p.m. Commissioners in Attendance: Commissioner Dave Tuttle, Chair; Commissioner Lauren Bellomy; Commissioner Cesar Benavides: Commissioner Al Braden: Commissioner Chris Gillett; Commissioner Chris Kirksey; Commissioner Cyrus Reed; and Commissioner Joshua Rhodes. Commissioners in Attendance Remotely: Commissioner Raul Alvarez; Commissioner Jonathon Blackburn; and Commissioner Kaiba White, Vice Chair. Commissioners Absent: None PUBLIC COMMUNICATION: GENERAL • John Coffman – Electric rate review • Paul Robbins – Electric rate review APPROVAL OF MINUTES 1. Approve the minutes of the Electric Utility Commission Regular Called Meeting on February 9, 2026. The motion approving the minutes of the Electric Utility Commission meeting on February 9, 2026, were approved on Commissioner Reed’s motion, Commissioner Braden’s second on a 10-0 vote with Vice Chair White off the dais. DISCUSSION AND ACTION ITEMS 2. Recommend approval authorizing a contract for strategic consulting services for Austin Energy with Rifeline, LLC, for a term of three years in an amount not to exceed $450,000. Funding: $150,000 is available in the Operating Budget of Austin Energy. Funding for the remaining contract term is contingent upon available funding in future budgets. ELECTRIC UTILITY COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES Monday, March 9, 2026 The motion to recommend approval authorizing a contract for strategic consulting services for Austin Energy with Rifeline, LLC, was recommended on Commissioner Kirksey’s motion, Commissioner Benavides’ second on a 10-0-1 vote with Vice Chair White abstaining. 3. Recommend approval authorizing an amendment to a contract for continued Autodesk solutions suite for Austin Energy with DLT Solutions, LLC, to increase the amount by $500,000 and to extend the term by one year for a revised total contract amount not to exceed $2,200,000. Funding: $500,000 is available in the Operating Budget of Austin Energy. The motion to recommend approval authorizing an amendment to a contract for continued Autodesk solutions suite for Austin Energy with DLT Solutions, LLC, was recommended on Commissioner Rhodes’ motion, Commissioner Braden’s second on an 11-0 vote. 4. Recommend approval authorizing a contract for the St. Elmo Vehicle Bays Project for Austin Energy with Noble General Contractors, LLC in the amount of $6,999,700, plus a $699,970 contingency, for a total contract amount not to exceed $7,699,670. Funding: $7,699,670 is available in the Operating Budget of Austin Energy. The motion to recommend approval authorizing a contract for the St. Elmo Vehicle Bays Project for Austin Energy with Noble General Contractors, LLC, was recommended on Commissioner Rhodes’ motion, Commissioner Braden’s second on an 11-0 vote. 5. Recommend approval authorizing a contract for maintenance, repair and replacement of electric vehicle charging stations for Austin Energy and Austin Aviation with National Car Charging, LLC for an initial term of one year with up to two one-year extension options in an amount not to exceed $900,000. Funding: $200,000 is available in the Operating Budget of Austin Energy and $60,000 is available in the Operating Budget of Austin Aviation. Funding for the remaining contract term is contingent upon available funding in future budgets. The motion to recommend approval authorizing a contract for maintenance, repair and replacement of electric vehicle charging stations for Austin Energy and Austin Aviation with National Car Charging, LLC, was recommended on Commissioner Reed’s motion, Commissioner Kirksey’s second on an 11-0 vote. 6. Recommend approval authorizing a contract for transformer bushings for Austin Energy with Wesco Distribution, Inc., d/b/a Hi-Line Utility Supply Co, LLC or Power Supply Inc., for an initial term of two years with up to three one-year extension options in an amount not to exceed $1,000,000. Funding: $10,000 is available in the Capital Budget and $90,000 is available in the Operating Budget of Austin Energy. Funding for the remaining contract term is contingent upon available funding in future budgets. The motion to recommend approval authorizing a contract for transformer bushings for Austin Energy with Wesco Distribution, Inc., d/b/a Hi-Line Utility Supply Co, LLC or Power Supply Inc., was recommended on Commissioner Rhodes’ motion, Commissioner Braden’s second on an 11-0 vote. 7. Recommend approval authorizing a contract for vegetation management around street lighting for Austin Energy with Wright Tree Service, Inc., or one of the other qualified offerors, for an initial term of three years with up to three one-year extension options in an amount not to ELECTRIC UTILITY COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES Monday, March 9, 2026 exceed $9,000,000. Funding: $650,000 is available in the Operating Budget of Austin Energy. Funding for the remaining contract term is contingent upon available funding in future budgets. The motion to recommend approval authorizing a contract for vegetation management around street lighting for Austin Energy with Wright Tree Service, Inc., or one of the other qualified offerors, was recommended on Commissioner Alvarez’s motion, Commissioner Tuttle’s second on an 11-0 vote. 8. Recommend approval authorizing a contract for electric distribution vegetation management pre-planning services for Austin Energy with Eocene Environmental Group, or one of the other qualified offerors, for an initial term of three years with up to three one-year extension options in an amount not to exceed $24,000,000. Funding: $1,010,000 is available in the Operating Budget of Austin Energy. Funding for the remaining contract term is contingent upon available funding in future budgets. The motion to recommend approval authorizing a contract for electric distribution vegetation management pre-planning services for Austin Energy with Eocene Environmental Group, or one of the other qualified offerors, was recommended on Commissioner Rhodes’ motion, Commissioner Braden’s second on an 11-0 vote. 9. Recommend approval authorizing a contract for construction services for the Lady Bird Lake Bore for Pedernales Reconductor for Austin Energy with Austin Underground, Inc., in the amount of $2,733,915 plus a $273,391 contingency for a total contract amount not to exceed $3,007,306. Funding: $3,007,306 is available in the Capital Budget of Austin Energy. The motion to recommend approval authorizing a contract for construction services for the Lady Bird Lake Bore for Pedernales Reconductor for Austin Energy with Austin Underground, Inc., was recommended on Commissioner Rhodes’ motion, Commissioner Braden’s second on an 11-0 vote. 10. Recommend approval authorizing a contract for Ciena Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing products and services for Austin Energy with Netsync Network Solutions, Inc., or one of the other qualified offerors, for an initial term of two years with up to three one-year extension options for a total contract amount not to exceed $2,000,000. Funding: $90,373 is available in the Operating Budget of Austin Energy and $1,000,000 is available in the Capital Budget of Austin Energy. Funding for the remaining contract term is contingent upon available funding in future budgets. The motion to recommend approval authorizing a contract for Ciena Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing products and services for Austin Energy with Netsync Network Solutions, Inc., was recommended on Commissioner Gillet’s motion, Commissioner Reed’s second on a 10-0 -1 vote with Commissioner Benavides recusing. DISCUSSION AND ACTION ITEMS 11. Discussion and possible action on the Electric Utility Commission’s priorities for the Fiscal Year 2026-2027 Budget. (Sponsors: Reed, Tuttle, White) The commission discussed the proposed recommendation for the Fiscal Year 2026-2027 Budget but Commissioner Reed withdrew the recommendation. ELECTRIC UTILITY COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES Monday, March 9, 2026 12. Discussion of transmission import capacity into the Austin load zone needed to achieve Austin Energy’s Resource Generation Plan goals by 2035. (Sponsors: Braden, Tuttle, White) The commission discussed the transmission import capacity into the Austin load zone needed to achieve Austin Energy’s Resource Generation Plan by 2035. FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS • Rate Case Processes ADJOURNMENT Chair Tuttle adjourned the meeting at 7:52 p.m. without objection. The meeting minutes were approved at the April 13, 2026, meeting on Commissioner Braden’s motion, Commissioner Kirksey’s second on a 9-0 vote with Commissioners Alvarez and Blackburn absent.