By Mark Nibaur

Austin Utilities

I would like to personally thank our customers for taking time to share their thoughts on our facility update plans.

This project has been a work in progress since 2009, when we purchased 23 acres of property on 14th Street Northeast in Austin’s industrial park just south of Todd Park. We now call this property Energy Park. The immediate need was to relocate our gas and water construction staff and equipment out of the flood zone, but the intention at that time was to also find a piece of property that allowed for growth to meet our current and future needs.

In December 2013, we launched an informational campaign with our customers. We wanted to inform our community regarding Austin Utilities facility planning updates and how it could impact you. We spent the next few months making face to face contact with more than 350 people through meetings with key customers, community leaders, local organizations, and at our public utility board meetings. Many of these contacts were in support of Austin Utilities moving forward even knowing it means their rates could be affected. We held focus groups for both residential and business customers. We sent an informational mailer to more than 9,400 residential customers, set up a dedicated webpage that includes an informational video and created an email address customers could use to provide feedback.

We received constructive feedback and it was great to hear from so many interested customers. We had an even balance of concerns and positive feedback. Some of the things we learned were that customers are very interested in the future of the Downtown Plant property, and there is interest in the utility incorporating renewables into the new facility. Some of the concerns were rate impacts and leaving the downtown area. Rate increases are always a concern and we do not take our responsibility to keep rates competitive lightly.

The board has approved moving forward with the completion of final specifications and construction documents. Once these are complete we will hold a bid process to determine construction costs. Until we know the actual construction costs it is difficult to make an educated decision. At that time, our board will again vote on whether or not to proceed with a new facility.

Please take time to visit our website at www.austinutilities.com and view our informational video. Also, keep sending your comments to NewBuilding@AustinUtilities.com. Our goal is to continue to inform our customers as we move through the next stages of this process.