Austin Energy focuses on innovative solutions to help city of Austin meet clean energy goals
Austin Energy is working to further strengthen its partnership with the city of Austin to advance its clean energy vision and cement its status as one of the nation’s leading smart cities.
The publicly owned electric utility was recognized in December when the publication SmartCities Dive named Austin Energy “Utility of the Year” and one of the industry’s top innovators and disruptors. Austin Energy was singled out for supporting the city’s goal of meeting 65 percent renewable energy generation by 2027, the release of a two-way outage map and alert system, the launch of an electric vehicle charging hub called Electric Drive and increased access to solar energy.
Karl Popham, manager of electric vehicles and emerging technologies with Austin Energy, recently told Daily Energy Insider the innovations would not have been possible without working in conjunction with the city of Austin.
“The direction for these projects really comes from the leadership of our city,” he said. “The city had a goal of having a net zero carbon footprint by 2050, and our work with Austin SHINES and Electric Drive were part of their drive toward that goal. We’ve been doing this for a long time, but we’ve been getting more and more aggressive about reaching those goals.”
Austin Energy serves more than 475,000 customer accounts and more than 1 million residents in the Greater Austin area. Part of the plan, Popham said, was not only to move the city toward sustainable energy, but also to make it affordable.
To do that, the utility started installing electric vehicle charging stations in 2011. Starting with 113 charging stations, the utility has grown those charging stations to 620 by partnering with organizations willing to host charging stations for their customers or employees.
The utility also worked with the city to create “Electric Drive,” a technology hub that provides access to not only electric vehicle charging stations, but also to bike sharing, car sharing, hiking and biking trails and information on renewable energy.
Located in the Seaholm EcoDistrict of Austin, Electric Drive encompasses 400 meters of street to present sustainable mobility as a transportation mode to residents. A showcase for clean energy, the renovated street features a kiosk with innovations to engage and educate residents about solar energy and electric bicycle charging, while providing a “fast charger” which charges electric vehicles in minutes instead of hours. All of the charging stations are powered by Texas Wind, furthering the renewable and clean energy goals, Popham said.
“I was kind of inspired by an electric street I saw when I went to a conference in Portland,” Popham said. “It was more of a technology study in association with a university that offered charging stations. I thought we could do that, but do it a lot better in a way that encouraged people to adopt electric vehicles. It is the ultimate conversation starter to get people talking about electric over gas.”
The utility also incorporated Austin SHINES (Sustainable and Holistic Integration of Energy Storage and Solar Photovoltaics) into the city’s grid structure.
SHINES combines solar, energy storage, smart inverters, electric vehicles, forecasting tools, market signals and advanced communication to create a more resilient grid that facilitates the integration of renewable energy.
“It’s really about a lot of technology going into the distribution algorithms and allowing us to distribute energy holistically,” Popham said. “We’re doing a very holistic approach moving forward to incorporate residential storage, commercial storage and grid storage, and bringing in third party partners to help us optimize the available resources.”
Popham said Austin Energy will study the results of the SHINES program and release its findings to the public in order to help other public utilities and cities determine whether the programs are right for their residents and customers.
Currently, the city has about 4,000 electric vehicles and has seen a 55 percent growth rate with their adoption over the past five years. In order to facilitate increased EV adoption, the utility offers a special rate that allows homeowners access to unlimited off-peak charging for $30 a month.
Next, the utility is looking to bring charging stations to multifamily dwellings and to condominiums to help encourage lower-income residents to adopt electric vehicles.
“We’re looking at barriers to adoption in an effort to bring people to alternatives in transportation,” Popham said. “We want to make sure we’re inclusive of everyone.”
