The following is an archived video story. The text content of that video story is available below for reference. The original video has been deleted and is no longer available.

Protest Held Over Who Controls Austin Energy


Some Austin residents took a stand against opening the control of Austin Energy to a private board by holding a protest at city hall Wednesday.

They're concerned about the city council's discussion of having an independent board take over Austin Energy.

The group says that would open the door for corporate lobbyists and special interest groups, who may not have Austin's best interests in mind, to take over

"This is something that needs to be debated thoroughly and slowly and we need to have a lot of understanding of exactly what the implications are, and we don't have it yet," says Tom Smith, Director of Public Citizens Texas Office.

In the past couple of years the city council has questioned rate increases proposed by Austin Energy and is currently auditing the utility to find out where the money is going.