Last week Austin Energy formally recommended to the city council that it begin planning for the 2012 rate case that we’ve known about for some time. A confluence of circumstances, including workforce issues, new transmission, rising fossil fuel costs and decreases in revenue this past year have made what will be Austin Energy’s first base rate increase in 15 years (!) a real necessity.
At this point only a few of the costs are known or even quantifiable, particularly the transmission and fossil fuel costs to the system. In looking at Austin Energy’s report, the cost for new transmission to bring more wind to Texas will be less – about 0.7¢/month for the average customer in 2015. If fossil fuel prices don’t increase more than they have over the past six years, the General Fund Transfer costs associated with fossil fuels might be only 0.4¢/kWh by 2015. Of course, that’s assuming that Austin Energy stays smart and doesn’t put too many more eggs in the fossil fuel basket. Read More
do, but just in case 
As Halloween draws near, beware of vampires – not the mythical blood suckers, but the unrelenting energy suckers draining power from your house right now. These costly creatures can add as much as 20 percent to a family’s utility bill, and that’s a pretty scary thought during these tough economic times.
The town of DISH, Texas (population circa 200) is located in the midst of the major natural gas drilling boom occurring in the Barnett Shale. DISH recently attracted 
A New York Times Green Inc. article yesterday — “