Austin to enter mutual aid agreement with neighboring utility companies after February freeze

A little over three months after an ice storm left tens of thousands of Austin Energy customers without electricity, some for as long as two weeks, the Austin City Council on Thursday ratified a mutual aid agreement that will allow the city to tap neighboring utilities for help with restoration efforts in the event of another emergency.

The City Council approved a $1.75 million agreement with CenterPoint Energy, New Braunfels Utilities and CPS Energy that would bring in crews from Houston, San Antonio and New Braunfels in the event of an emergency.

Matt Mitchell, an Austin Energy spokesperson, said this was a direct response to the latest February freeze and a way to be proactive in case another freeze or major weather event knocks out power.

“It’s an insurance policy,” Mitchell said. “We never had to call in mutual aid before (the February freeze), but that illustrated to us how important it is to have these kinds of contracts in place.”

In the days after the winter storm, more than 1,000 crew members from across Texas, and some from as far as Alabama and Louisiana, deployed to Austin to help the utility restore power to customers.

More: After ice storm fiasco, Austin leaders study burying power lines, adding more generators

Mitchell said that was extremely helpful in speeding up the restoration process, and the agreement will give the city a head start on that call for help.

“This is just good policy,” Mitchell said. “We know we have to have these measures in place because sometimes Mother Nature throws curve balls, and we have to plan for the unexpected.”

The agreement is just one of many actions that have come in the months after the storm as the city works to remedy its response. Separately, the council also approved $28.2 million to contractors for storm debris removal, disposal and monitoring related to the February ice storm.

The response to the freeze garnered heavy criticism from the community after several businesses and homes went days without power, including lack of communication and poor predictions of restoration times. Several EMS and fire stations also lost power during the freeze, creating an extra hardship for first responders. The city is looking into investing in more backup generators for those stations.

In an earlier interview with the American-Statesman, Mayor Kirk Watson, who was in office just a few weeks when the freeze hit, acknowledged that the city could have done more to get ready for the winter storm and that he was disappointed that officials were not more aggressive in their public communication. But he said also that he felt the utility had prepared for what forecasters anticipated was going to happen.

More: 'We have let the people down': Austin mayor apologizes for city's response to power outages

Watson later apologized to the community for not having a better response system in place.

The response also led to the firing of former City Manager Spencer Cronk and retirement of former Austin Energy General Manager Jackie Sargent, who both were responsible in helping lead the city’s response to power outages and other needs such as debris pickup, road safety and water services, and the communication around those needs.

In February, Austin Energy officials said they would conduct an after-action report to determine where the shortfalls were and how they can do better. That report has not been completed yet. The utility is also studying the feasibility of burying more power lines.

The utility conducted a similar report after the February 2021 winter storm that detailed some follow-up actions, such as improving communication, updating the outage map and reducing the impact on other utilities, such as water and gas. But council members in February felt even those actions were not followed through with, and the city again failed to execute and meet the needs of residents.

Thursday's vote will allow the utility to set aside money in the 2024 budget for the agreement, but it might not be used. Mitchell said the utility plans to reevaluate each year as needed.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Austin to enter mutual aid agreement with neighboring utility companies