JOINT SUSTAINABILITY COMMITTEE HYBRID MEETING FORMAT August 27th, 2025 at 6 pm City Hall Council Chambers 301 W 2nd St, Austin, TX 78701 Some members of the Committee may be participating by videoconference Public comment will be allowed in-person or remotely via telephone. Speakers may only register to speak on an item once either in-person or remotely and will be allowed up to three minutes to provide their comments. Registration no later than noon the day before the meeting is required for remote participation by telephone. To register to speak remotely, email or call Rohan Lilauwala at (Rohan.lilauwala@austintexas.gov or 512-974-9394). CURRENT BOARD MEMBERS: Home Commission Electric Utility Commission Resource Management Commission Urban Transportation Commission Environmental Commission Zero Waste Advisory Commission Community Development Commission Austin Travis County Food Policy Board Economic Prosperity Commission Water & Wastewater Commission Parks & Recreation Board Design Commission Planning Commission Austin/Travis County Public Health Commission City Council Mayor’s Representative Mayor’s Representative Mayor’s Representative Mayor’s Representative Mayor’s Representative Alternate Al Braden Member Kaiba White (Chair) Charlotte Davis (Vice-Chair) GeNell Gary Varun Prasad Haris Qureshi Vacant Vacant Andrew Smith Aaron Gonzales Chris Maxwell-Gaines Lane Becker Jon Salinas Josh Hiller Chris Crookham Justin Jacobson Vacant Vacant Vacant Marissa Bell Vacant Amanda Marzullo Shelby Orme Evgenia Murkes Vacant Vacant Vacant Rodrigo Leal Anna Scott Vacant Christopher Campbell Diana Wheeler Vacant N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A For more information, please visit: www.austintexas.gov/jsc AGENDA CALL TO ORDER PUBLIC COMMUNICATION: GENERAL The first 10 speakers signed up prior to the meeting being called to order will each be allowed a three-minute allotment to address their concerns regarding items not posted on the agenda. APPROVAL OF MINUTES 1. Approval of minutes from the June 25th, 2025 meeting of the Joint Sustainability Committee STAFF BRIEFINGS 2. Staff Briefing on Solar on City Facilities – Rohan Lilauwala, Office of Climate Action and Resilience DISCUSSION ITEMS 3. Discussion on JSC priorities in approved FY26 City Budget 4. Update from the Electric Utility Commission on Solar for All – Kaiba White 5. Update from Resource Management Commission on Texas Gas Service Rate Case Filing at the Texas Railroad Commission – Charlotte Davis 6. Update from Austin-Travis County Food Policy Board on efforts to advance Food Plan Implementation and the upcoming Austin-Travis County Food Policy Board strategic planning session – Andrew Smith DISCUSSION AND ACTION ITEMS FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS ADJOURNMENT The City of Austin is committed to compliance with …
JOINT SUSTAINABILITY COMMITTEE REGULAR MEETING MEETING MINUTES June 25, 2025 The Joint Sustainability Committee convened in a hybrid meeting via videoconferencing and at Austin Energy Headquarters. Board Members in Attendance in Person: Kaiba White, Chris Maxwell-Gaines, Charlotte Davis, Josh Hiller Board Members in Attendance Remotely: Marissa Bell, Anna Scott, Rodrigo Leal, Chris Crookham, Jon Salinas, Haris Qureshi, Yure Suarez Board Members Absent: City Staff in Attendance: Rohan Lilauwala, Matthew Duree, James Scarborough, Amanda Mortl CALL TO ORDER Chair Kaiba White called the meeting to order at 6:19 pm. Public Communication 1. Approval of minutes from the April 23rd, 2025 meeting of the Joint Sustainability Committee. • Davis motion, Maxwell-Gaines second. Davis amendment to remove bullet point under ‘Public Communication’ that says ‘Tom’. • Passes as amended on a 10-0 vote (Leal off dais) DISCUSSION ITEMS 2. Staff Briefing on the Environmentally Preferable Procurement Program – Matt Duree, Capital Procurement, Financial Services Department; Amanda Mortl, Office of Climate Action and Resilience. • Davis: How are smaller purchases scrutinized? How are keywords tied to procurement? • Duree, Mortl: Education, programs, OCAR support can help departments. Large contracts (e.g. office supplies) dealt with by central procurement, contracts written to eliminate non-environmentally friendly options. • Scarborough: category experts look at contracts, identify where to take action based on keywords, set targets/workplans, help departments make decisions. • White: How many staff can make purchases? • Mortl: Around 2000; OCAR supports educating these staff • Duree: Future OCAR partnerships to develop more detailed training • Bell: How does keyword turn into a measure/requirement? How are keywords/targets determined? • Duree: needs policy direction. • Mortl: working on developing action plan for each purchasing category • Scarborough: keywords can change, but need a year or two for contracts to catch up • Mortl: not always simple to make requirements. E.g. easy to require electric landscape equipment, but market might not be ready, small business/competition might not be ready. E.g. concrete – needs specs. Changing contract requirements could lead to reduced bids/competition. • Mortl: Purchasing emissions in 2022 – 206,000 MT CO2e, approx. 4x our municipal GHG footprint 3. 2024-2025 Joint Sustainability Committee Annual Report • Davis suggests offline coordination to pull a draft together for July JSC meeting, if commissioners have suggestions. 4. Recommendation in support of Solar on City Facilities and a Revolving Fund • Meeti FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS • ADJOURNMENT White adjourned meeting at 8:26 due …
Solar on City Facilities Response to Council Resolution 20250522-052 Resolution 20250522-052 • Conduct an analysis of City property and make recommendations for the areas that would maximize the installation of solar generation, prioritizing general fund properties. • Annually calculate any energy cost savings or revenue generated and utilize an equivalent amount of funding for projects that have a beneficial environmental impact. • Evaluate opportunities for the installation of solar capacity on properties owned or operated by other local governmental entities within the Austin Energy load zone. • Analyze and make recommendations for requiring solar contractors who install City-owned solar installations to comply with the highest level of worker protections, wage rates, benefits and utilization of Department of Labor registered apprenticeship programs and/or graduates from the Austin Infrastructure Academy. 2 A Changing Federal Solar Landscape Inflation Reduction Act (2021) • • Elective pay allows cities to benefit 30% tax credit available One Big Beautiful Bill Act (2025) • Phases out tax credits for clean energy (including solar). • Projects must “commence construction” by July 4, 2026 to get 100% of the federal tax credits. OR • Projects must be placed into service before the end of 2027 to get 100% of the federal tax credits. • New restrictive Foreign Entity of Concern (FEOC) rules (details TBD) starting next year. Case Study: San Antonio ● Planned 13.1 MW of solar on 42 facilities and parking lots with $30 million investment, $$7- 11 million net savings over 25 years ● Leveraged 30% elective pay tax credits + $2.5 ● Sites identified and narrowed based on technical feasibility, system size estimated ● Flexible RFP offered with 80 sites ● Big Sun Solar Selected as master million low-interest SECO loan developer, separate O&M contract signed Lessons Learned: San Antonio • Do upfront analysis to de-risk RFP and increase competitive responses. • • Engage with departments and building managers early in the process. Streamline internal procurement processes to speed timelines. • Use a multi-site approach and bulk purchasing for economies of scale. • Consider long-term operations and maintenance. Assess Inventory and assess current city facilities for solar potential Prioritize sites that maximize benefits Engage with building owning departments upfront to build support Engage with procurement and finance Procure Issue RFP for multiple sites to achieve economies of scale Evaluate proposals and ownership models: 1. City Owned 2. Power Purchase Agreement 3. Solar Standard Offer Decide and …
