AUSTIN, Texas — Austin Energy is serving more customers than ever before, according to the utility’s fiscal year 2023 annual report that was released on Wednesday.
The report says Austin Energy served nearly 550,000 customers last year. Austin Energy also set new all-time peak energy demand records in both the summer and the winter.
The utility provider said its reliability metrics outperformed the Texas average. The report said Austin Energy had about half the system average interruptions and about half the average outage length, compared to Texas industry averages.
For the second year in a row, Austin Energy set new records for energy generation in the summer. Officials with the utility say their capacity needs to keep growing to keep up with future demand.
“Austin Energy served more customers than ever before with more electricity and services than ever last year,” Austin Energy General Manager Bob Kahn said in a release. “In an electric industry that is quickly evolving and a community that is growing rapidly, the Austin Energy team continues working every day to safely deliver clean, affordable, reliable energy and excellent customer service for our neighbors.”
The power provider also highlighted the challenges that came with the February 2023 ice storm, which caused at least 170,000 customers to lose power. A report last year showed Austin Energy is behind on vegetation management and its goal to trim trees on a seven-year cycle.
Austin Energy said it “made good progress” toward its goal, trimming 27 circuits, or 180 miles of line – the most crews have been able to clear in two years.
Another topic covered in Wednesday’s report is how our city's energy is generated. Topping the list at 35% is wind. The majority of our wind energy is generated in Texas's panhandle, as well as South Texas. In second place is nuclear at 24%. Then, tied for third place at 14% are natural gas and solar.
The full report can be found on the Austin Energy website.