Mayor Announces City Council Will Take Austin Energy Gas Plant Vote Behind Closed Doors
The vote is scheduled for Thursday’s council meeting
AUSTIN, Texas — Austin Mayor Kirk Watson announced Tuesday that he intends for the Austin City Council to decide the fate of a costly Austin Energy proposal behind closed doors, continuing a process with little transparency that leaves important questions unanswered.
Watson made the announcement at a city council work session, where council members discussed Austin Energy’s request to purchase so-called “peaker” power plants that run on gas. The vote and the discussion of the purchase, according to Watson, would take place in executive session. It is unclear if the council would report to the public how its council members voted.
“Austin Energy wants a blank check to buy gas plants, but their plan keeps citizens in the dark. City council members must insist on an open, transparent process for major decisions about our energy future,” said Kaiba White, climate policy specialist for Public Citizen.
Austin Energy has sought to build gas power plants for years, which runs counter to multiple environmental and climate commitments the city has made through the years. While the city-owned utility has held public information sessions about its plan, it has yet to disclose critical details, including the true cost of the plan, the firms it intends to contract to build the plants, or where they’ll be located. Additionally, Austin Energy claims it conducted an analysis showing that peaker plants are the only option to secure the city’s energy future, though the analysis has not yet been disclosed.
If approved, the purchase of the gas plants, combined with the city’s already broken promise to divest from its share of the coal-burning Fayette Power Project, will make it impossible for the city to reach its goal of being carbon-free by 2035.