Austin Energy's communication system to receive much-needed updates

Austin City Council voted "yes" on an item that will provide much-needed updates to Austin Energy's communication system following February's deadly winter storm.

AUSTIN, Texas - February's winter storm took a toll on Austin residents and the Texas grid.

The Austin City Council received a report last month, outlining how severely unprepared the city was for the disaster that left thousands without power and water for days. Council member Kathie Tovo was frustrated, after finding out some previous suggestions had simply been ignored.

"Some of the recommendations that are coming forward after this winter storm are the same recommendations that came forward after other natural disasters," she said.

On Thursday, the council voted unanimously to allow a nearly $1 million upgrade and extension to Austin Energy's storm center platform. Over the course of a few years, the money cannot exceed $3.2 million.

"It is about providing better outage information as well as communication," said Tovo.

Austin was disorganized, unprepared for winter storm, says city auditor

The auditor noted there were not enough resources to response, including adequate staffing and supplies.

The upgrade will allow for better outage reporting and communication overall, including text alerts.

"This item will specifically advance improvements in mapping, integrational social media. This interface is really important for how we communicate in a time of power outages. I’m glad to see we are taking some lessons from what we learned and improving that system," said Council member Alison Alter (District 10).

Better preparedness is what was in mind at Thursday's meeting, as winter approaches.

Auditors: Austin was not prepared to handle the February winter storm

In the report, auditors acknowledge that other major Texas cities were just as unprepared for the February storm.

"Austin Energy was already doing the work to upgrade their system of reporting outages and communicating with customers prior to the winter storm, we are just extending it and making sure the work that's being done is addressing some of the concerns we heard," said Tovo.

Austin Energy tells FOX 7 Austin, the upgrade will specifically address the concerns brought up from the after-action report. Some upgrades are already live right now, but the rest will be finished by June 2022.

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