City of Austin

Austin Energy marked a record year in its 2025 Demand Response program, reinforcing the utility’s commitment to grid reliability and sustainability. The program’s success was driven by a targeted rollout plan last summer, ensuring reliable service during peak demand.

A demand response program manages electricity consumption during peak demand times to reduce strain on the power grid and avoid outages and high costs. The utility is working diligently to expand demand response programs, targeting 78 megawatts by 2027 and 270 megawatts by 2035 as part of its Resource, Generation and Climate Protection Plan. 

Through innovative strategies and strong community participation, the program delivered measurable benefits for customers and the electric grid.

• Peak Load Reduction: Austin Energy achieved an estimated average peak load drop of 57 megawatts (MW) during high-demand periods, enough to power more than 14,000 homes.
• Enrollment Growth: Commercial customer participation surged by 30%, with improved event performance averaging 6% across approximately 900 locations.

Austin Energy also enrolled all 195 eligible City of Austin facilities in its Commercial Demand Response program, further strengthening local resilience.

The utility continues to offer rebates, add providers and manage charging for certain EVs as part of its Power Partner℠ EV Program, enabling electric vehicle owners to earn bill credits by supporting grid stability during peak times. During designated Power Partner events, Austin Energy will temporarily pause or reduce charging speed on a participant’s Level 2 EV charger or qualifying vehicle. These adjustments are minor, do not drain battery charge, and can be manually overridden at any time.   

“Austin Energy’s Demand Response program is just one small part of our efforts to maintain reliability while advancing clean energy goals,” said Austin Energy General Manager Stuart Reilly. “The growth and performance improvements we’ve seen this year demonstrate the power of innovation and customer collaboration.”