Pecan Street Project

In the old days, streets in downtown Austin running East/West were named after trees, then some genius thought it would be more efficient to number them...sigh, progress.

So, Pecan Street became Sixth Street. Whatever you call it, in Austin it means a party.

My hometown utility, Austin Energy, announced today an innovative approach to the myriad problems facing the electric utility industry - the Pecan Street Project. The project will harness the power of innovation and creativity that sits in some of the most dynamic groups in the country. Their task? Figure out what the electric utility of the future should look like. Austin Energy has invited them to work with the utility to figure it all out.

The challenge facing Austin Energy and any other utility in the US located in a high growth area is how to meet the long-term energy demands of residences and businesses, when the traditional way - adding more fossil-fuel-based energy supply - is increasingly infeasible. For a city as green as Austin, adding a coal-fired plant would be tantamount to treason.

The utility already is one of the greenest in the land, with a goal of having 30% of its energy from renewable sources by 2020, a scant 11 years away now. It's a stretch, but the utility intends to get there .... with a little help from its friends.