Tuesday
September 8, 2026
Today at a glance
- Weather 101° / 79°Triple digits again. Water bottle, shade, and an early start.
- Air quality 33 · GoodClear air today. The heat, not the air, is what will keep you inside.
- Lake Travis 93.9% fullThe lake is close to full — good for boats and for the summer water supply. Down a touch from last week.
- Power grid NormalA busy afternoon: demand near 88,000 megawatts, with 112,100 on hand.
- Sunrise 7:11 a.m.The sun is up for 12 hours and 33 minutes today, and down by 7:44 p.m.
Good morning, Austin. The city goes back to work with the thermostat unmoved. It will reach about 101, and the heat index will find 110 somewhere in the middle of the afternoon, which is a number you feel rather than read. There is a slight chance of a shower after four o'clock, and it will most likely happen to somebody else. The sun came up at 7:11 this morning, a few minutes later than last week, and that is so far the only hard evidence that September is real. Park in the shade if the shade will have you.
The Briefing
Austin's power bill is now a campaign promise
Gov. Greg Abbott wants Austin to stop owning its own electric company. His campaign proposed legislation on Aug. 3 to end the monopolies that Austin Energy and San Antonio's CPS Energy hold, promising 10% off the average bill and describing city-owned utilities as cartels that use ratepayers as a piggy bank. The cities disagree. Austin Energy transferred about $125 million to the city in 2025, money that pays for libraries, parks and first responders, and Mayor Kirk Watson said converting the utility would take years and cost over a billion dollars that customers would pay.
The argument lands in a month when nothing that burns or plugs in is getting cheaper. Regular unleaded in the Austin-San Marcos area is running about 98 cents a gallon above last year as conflict involving Iran disrupts shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. The statewide average residential electricity rate has gone from 11.50 cents a kilowatt-hour in 2020 to 16.11 cents this year.
Austinites trying to bring that bill down themselves now have a state referee. Provisions of the Residential Solar Retailer Regulatory Act took effect Sept. 1, requiring solar retailers and salespeople to register with the state. Texans have filed more than 3,000 complaints about solar companies with the state attorney general's office since 2020.
What's next: Abbott's plan is a campaign proposal that the Legislature would have to enact. Texas votes Nov. 3, and the last day to register is Oct. 5.
Sources: The Texas Tribune (the proposal, the transfers, the rates), CBS Austin (fuel prices), KXAN (the solar law), Texas Secretary of State (election dates)
City Desk
Money & bills
The governor wants Austin out of the power business
Gov. Greg Abbott's campaign has proposed legislation ending the monopolies held by Austin Energy and San Antonio's CPS Energy, saying private competition would cut the average bill by 10%. Mayor Kirk Watson said deregulating the utility would take years and cost customers over a billion dollars. There are 72 city-owned utilities in Texas serving 5.1 million people. The Texas Tribune
Also
Rooftop solar retailers and their salespeople must now register with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR), which has signed up 18 retailers and 500 salespeople so far. KXAN
The same law gives buyers five days to cancel a solar purchase or lease without penalty, and sets fines of $50,000 to $100,000, higher when the customer is 65 or older. KXAN
Diesel is above $5 a gallon, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported, and jet fuel has nearly doubled in a year as conflict involving Iran squeezes shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. CBS Austin
Beef prices are forecast to rise nearly 10% this year, fruits and vegetables 5.9% and sugary snacks 7.1%; eggs are forecast to fall about 30%. CBS Austin
Overheard on Reddit
Is something going on with Amazon deliveries here?
In the last several weeks/to a month we've noticed a very high uptick in Amazon not fulfilling orders correctly. Deliveries that were claimed to have been made with zero photo confirmation, and are nowhere in site (no porch pirate issues in this neighborhood far as I can tell), orders partially fulfilled with one item missing.
Public safety & courts
Austin dropped Flock. The cameras never left town
The Austin Police Department (APD) has no Flock Safety contract and no access to the company's searchable database, but private Flock cameras run all over the city: at Barton Creek Square and the Domain, at Home Depot and Academy, at homeowners' associations. The Texas Department of Public Safety runs cameras on state roadways in Austin, shares that data with more than 200 Texas agencies, and passes some to APD case by case. KUT
Also
Gov. Greg Abbott paused state funding for new Flock cameras late last month and told Glenn Beck the cancellations amount to a crackdown. KUT
State District Judge Maya Guerra Gamble in Austin denied four hemp companies' request to halt enforcement of Texas rules on delta-8 products while their lawsuit proceeds. Austin American-Statesman
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) opened an audit query Sept. 3 into Tesla's certification that its Cybercab meets federal safety standards, days after the taxis began carrying passengers here. CBS Austin
The Cybercabs have no steering wheel and no pedals; Tesla says each carries an emergency stop button, and the audit query lists about 1,000 vehicles. CBS Austin
Austin's fire department is among the Central Texas agencies sent under state mutual aid to wildfires in Palo Pinto and Sutton counties. The state deployment totals 634 personnel and 34 aircraft. FOX 7 Austin
Head coach Steve Sarkisian said Monday that the field at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium (DKR) reached 160 degrees during Saturday's home opener. The next home game kicks off at 6:30 p.m. Saturday. KXAN
City Hall & county
Texans have until Oct. 5 to register for the Nov. 3 election; early voting runs Oct. 19 through Oct. 30, and mail ballot applications must arrive by Oct. 23. Texas Secretary of State
Overheard on Reddit
Can we ban those ringing carts in Mueller Lake Park?
they make me want to do bad things
Schools
A state takeover would reach past Austin's classrooms
Mayor Kirk Watson said he wants to meet Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath about the Austin Independent School District (Austin ISD), which faces state intervention if preliminary failing ratings for two middle schools become final. Austin ISD recently rose to a B overall. Rachel White, a University of Texas at Austin education policy professor, said accountability ratings can affect property values and whether families stay. Austin Current
Also
Watson said one alternative to replacing the elected board would be closing Webb and reconfiguring Burnet, which is getting a $158 million rebuild under the 2022 bond program. Austin Current
The State Board of Education approved social studies standards Friday that teach radical Islam as the motivation for the Sept. 11 attacks. Muslim advocacy groups said they will work to overturn them. KUT
The U.S. Department of Education proposed a rule on Aug. 24 letting it cancel grants "for convenience" when they no longer match agency priorities, language that would reach university research money. The Daily Texan
The American Bar Association (ABA) council that accredits 198 law schools, the University of Texas at Austin's included, voted Aug. 21 to repeal diversity requirements. UT Law said it is unaffected. The Daily Texan
Business & street life
A vent hood fire closes Perla's, and its neighbors with it
Employees found flames in a kitchen vent hood at Perla's, 1400 S. Congress Ave., about 6:15 p.m. Sunday and got everyone out. The Austin Fire Department sent 14 units and more than 41 firefighters, and reported no injuries. A sign on the door says the restaurant is closed until further notice. Gelato Paradiso, attached to the same building, posted its own sign: "Closed Due to Fire Above." KXAN
Also
Sturgill Simpson, touring as Johnny Blue Skies, played the Moody Center on Friday, Sept. 4, taking the stage just after 8 p.m. and ending the first song at 8:14. Austin American-Statesman
Meanwhile Brewing Co. in South Austin held its fifth annual Lagers and Literature book fair Sunday, drawing several hundred people and more than 24 vendors, including BookPeople. The Daily Texan
Overheard on Reddit
to the folks playing EDM at Zilker
you probably can’t hear, but the crickets are giving some nice triplets
Hole in the Wall, on the Drag, held its first Hole-O-Rama on Sunday, a variety show hosted by Paul the Selector with sets from Andrew Cashen, Bergman Beach and Brotha Trav. The Daily Texan
Filmmaker Mike Woolf is adding five documentaries to his 23rd Street Mural Project, which decodes the hidden figures painted into "Austintatious" just off the Drag five decades ago. Austin Chronicle
The Bends, who played Austin City Limits Music Festival last year, return Friday to the Historic Scoot Inn ahead of their first album, "If You Insist," out Sept. 18. The Daily Texan
Overheard on Reddit
What brand of Austin snake is this?
Word has come down the wire to snake hq that there has been a bumper crop of Coachwhip sightings this year and reaidents are demanding answers. Who is this extra slinky fellow? What business does he have in that field? Did i just see him eating a crispy half-toad on the side of Bee Cave rd? It may come as no surprise to find out they are called coachwhips because they look like a whip.
Weather
Today: sunny, high near 101, with heat index values as high as 110 and a slight chance of showers and thunderstorms after 4 p.m. South-southeast wind 0 to 5 miles per hour. No active alerts for Travis County. Tonight: mostly clear, low around 79. Wednesday reaches 100 with a heat index up to 109, Thursday 99, and Friday and Saturday both near 100. National Weather Service
Today is likely Austin's 40th triple-digit day of the year, KXAN's forecasters said. High pressure holds all week, keeping heat index values 6 to 7 degrees above the thermometer and rain coverage at or below 10 percent, with the better odds east of Interstate 35. KXAN
The Back Page
27 days until the voter registration deadline · Texans must be registered by Oct. 5 to vote in the Nov. 3 election; early voting runs Oct. 19 through Oct. 30.
Scott Cohen moved to Austin from New York, where wooded running trails are harder to come by, and the trail system here became his favorite place: somewhere to run, to walk, and mostly to think. His is the Onion Creek trail, where he spent years walking a French bulldog named Gracie, whom he called the bug. Gracie is gone. The trail is still there, and so are the three roosters who live beside it, waiting on the corn he brings. KUT