Editor's note: This story has been updated since publication with additional information provided by Austin Energy.
Last Thursday,
Office of the City Auditor over
Austin Energy's $18 million
Customer Assistance Program (CAP) discounts – designed to help lower-income customers with utility bills but in practice, he alleges, still being offered to owners of some very expensive properties.
Robbins has been tracking this issue since 2014, when he began comparing customers who got the CAP discount against the property values assessed by the appraisal districts in Travis and Williamson counties. "I found over 1,100 [homes] that had very high appraised values, and appraisal values are usually well below real values," he said. These included homes near Mt. Bonnell and in West Lake Hills with pools, spas, and tennis courts, all receiving the basic CAP discount, which was 10% then and is now 15% due to COVID-19 relief measures. After Robbins first raised the issue, the ratepayer-owned utility adjusted the CAP eligibility structure in 2017. Three years later, his concerns persist, and Robbins is back with a 37-page report.