History
Austin's first city-wide street lighting system, inaugurated in 1895, began with 31 moonlight towers standing 165 feet high at locations throughout the city. Today, while 17 of the towers remain in service, Austin's electric system has grown to include a total of more than 9,000 miles of overhead and underground power lines covering a 437 square mile area.
Specialties
Austin Energy is the nation's 9th largest community-owned electric utility, serving a population of almost 1 million within the city of Austin, Travis County and a small portion of Williamson County. We power Texas' capital city through a diverse mix of nuclear, coal, natural gas and renewable energy totaling almost 3,000 megawatts of generation. As a public utility, Austin Energy has returned profits to the community totaling more than $1.5 billion since 1976, helping fund City services such as police, fire, EMS, parks and libraries. We are also home to GreenChoice, the #1 green power program in the nation for 8 years running, as well as America's first and largest green building program and the nation's most comprehensive residential and commercial energy efficiency programs.