Draft May 2026 meeting minutes — original pdf

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JOINT SUSTAINABILITY COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES May 13, 2026 The Joint Sustainability Committee convened in a special called meeting on Wednesday, May 13, 2026, at Shudde Fath Hall (4815 Mueller Blvd) in Austin, Texas. Chair Kaiba White called the Meeting to order at 6:10 pm Commissioners in Attendance: Kaiba White, Charlotte Davis, Anna Scott, Haris Qureshi, Iris Suddaby Commissioners in Attendance Remotely: Aaron Gonzales, Chris Crookham, Chris Maxwell-Gaines, Rodrigo Leal, Jon Salinas, Mridula Madipakkam, Chris Campbell Board Members Absent: Josh Hiller, Diana Wheeler, Varun Prasad PUBLIC COMMUNICATION: GENERAL None Present APPROVAL OF MINUTES 1. 2. Approve the minutes of the Joint Sustainability Committee Regular Meeting on February 25th, 2026. Minutes were approved on Davis’ motion and Quershi’s second on a 11-0 vote with Suddaby off the Dais. Approve the minutes of the Joint Sustainability Committee Regular Meeting on March 25th, 2026. The minutes from the March 25th, 2026, meeting were approved with the following amendment on Commissioner Davis’ motion, Commissioner Qureshi’s second on a 11-0 vote with Suddaby off the Dais. The amendments were: page 2 of 2, Discussion and Action Item #4, from “monet” to “money.” DISCUSSION AND ACTION ITEMS 3. Conduct officer elections for the Chair and Vice Chair of the Joint Sustainability Committee. 1 a. Anna nominated and Charlotte seconded Aaron as Vice chair, all in favor b. Chair Kaiba White was re-elected as Chair on Commissioner Scott’s motion, Commissioner Qureshi’s second on a 11-0 vote with Suddaby off the Dais. c. Commissioner Gonzales was elected as Vice Chair on Commissioner Scott’s motion, Commissioner Davis’ second on a 12-0 vote. HOME COMMISSION UPDATES 4. Jon Salinas gave updates on the status of updates to the City’s Urban Design Guidelines from the Design Commission. DISCUSSION AND ACTION ITEMS 5. Recommendation regarding implementation of and options for generation in Austin Energy’s Resource Generation Plan. a. Commissioner Davis’ made a motion to approve the recommendation and Qureshi seconded b. The following amendment was made by Commissioner Davis and seconded by Commissioner Suddaby: The amendment was to add “and the financial risks associated with potential stranded assets;” to #4. The amendment was approved on a 12-0 vote. c. The following amendment was made by Chair White and seconded by Commissioner Scott. The amendment was to remove “and carbon-free" from #6 The amendment was approved on a 12-0 vote. d. The following amendment was made by Chair White and seconded by Commissioner Scott. The amendment was to add “including the financial impacts of the added greenhouse gas emissions and local air pollution” to #5. The amendment was approved on a 12-0 vote. e. The following amendment was made by Commissioner Real and seconded by Commissioner Salinas. The amendment was to add “WHEREAS, the American Lung Association’s 2026 State of the Air Report assigns Travis County an F grade for ozone pollution, a D grade for short- term particle pollution, and a failing grade for annual particle pollution; and” The amendment was approved on a 12-0 vote. f. The following amendment was made by Commissioner Chris Scott and seconded by Chair White. The amendment was to change replace the following text: “WHEREAS, methane - the primary component of natural gas - has 86 times the global warming potential as carbon dioxide when emitted directly into the atmosphere, which is a welldocumented problem and natural gas also releases carbon dioxide emissions when combusted;” with new text: 2 “WHEREAS, methane - the primary component of natural gas - has 86 times more global warming potential than carbon dioxide over a 20-year time horizon when emitted directly into the atmosphere, which is important because of high leakage rates in the Texas natural gas production system;” The amendment was approved on a 12-0 vote. g. The following amendment was made by Commissioner Campbell and seconded by Chair White. The amendment was to replace “Make every possible effort to implement” with “Prioritize implementing” in #7 The amendment was approved on a 12-0 vote. h. The following amendment was made by Commissioner Davis and seconded by Chair White. The amendment was to add “WHEREAS, it is Austin Energy customers who will bear the financial risk of any capital investments that become stranded assets or become economic liabilities; and” The amendment was approved on a 12-0 vote. i. The following amendment was made by Commissioner Gonzales and seconded by Chair White. The amendment was to add "WHEREAS, innovation and competition are projected to result in continued declining renewable energy and energy storage costs, and sources such as Bloomberg’s Levelized Cost of Electricity 2026 report project the cost of battery storage to decrease by 25% and the cost of solar to decline by 30% by 2035; and” The amendment was approved on a 12-0 vote. j. The following amendment was made by Commissioner Campbell and seconded by Chair White. The amendment was to add, “WHEREAS, natural gas prices can be volatile and EIA and Wood Mackenzie project significant increases to Henry Hub natural gas prices over the next year and through 2035; and” The amendment was approved on a 12-0 vote. k. After discussion and amendments approved, the recommendation was approved with a 12-0 vote FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS • Low Carbon concrete • Discussion to develop JSC priorities and plan for upcoming year • Travis County EPP team can present in June • Chris Crookham Environmental Commission update on Barton Springs bridge/ Mopac South expansion 3 • AE presentation on the policy of 100% cost recovery policy for data centers, calculations going into formulas used to calculate that Chair White adjourned meeting at 8:14 pm without objection. These minutes were approved at the xxx, 2026 meeting of the Joint Sustainability Committee on an x-y vote on A’s motion and B’s second with C off the dais. 4