If You Build It, They Will Come

Whole Foods Market announces plans to open health resort

If you are among the unwashed masses or perhaps dabble in the occasional genetically-modified organism, then you've likely noticed the healthy, youthful glow of Whole Foods Market shoppers — especially at its downtown headquarters' location.

That lit-from-within look might not be out of reach for much longer: Whole Foods co-founder, book author and occasional gaffe-maker John Mackey told USA Todaythat his company plans to open a Whole Foods resort in three years.

Actually, he made the announcement last Friday, possibly as part of a weird, SXSW-timed way to sweep this seemingly good news under the rug.

"Think of it as a center where people would go for a day, a weekend or a week for healthy lifestyle education," Mackey told USA Today.

The move to build a resort in the downtown Austin area is part of the company’s overall expansion plans, as the turning of the economy has boosted their bottom line and stock value. The wellness market, it would appear, is making a strong comeback.

Mackey says Whole Foods is testing the waters of the local real estate market and is shopping for the right hotel chain to operate the future resort and if all goes well with this pilot program, more resorts could follow in other locations.

And though the resort’s opening is three years away, it couldn’t have come at a better time for the company — Austin was just ranked by Gallup’s Healthways Well-Being Index as having the best overall health in the state.

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Who Has the Energy?

Austin City Council approves energy plan to go coal-free by 2035

Photo by Jeremy Doddridge on Unsplash

Austin Energy drafted a plan that the Austin City Council accepted unanimously.

Many are uncertain about the world's collective energy strategy, but the City of Austin has a game plan for the next 10 years. The City Council has unanimously adopted Austin Energy’s Resource, Generation and Climate Protection Plan to 2035.

According to a release from the city, this plan offers "a flexible path to a clean energy future that incorporates the community’s core values of reliability, affordability, environmental sustainability and energy equity."

Members of the public can review extensive documentation, including the 72-page report, at publicinput.com.

The plan authored by Austin Energy includes a number of strategies carried over from 2020. It includes a goal of going completely carbon-free by 2035 in favor of renewable sources like wind and solar; prioritizing solutions that directly impact the customer like better demand response, efficiency programs, solar options, and customer-installed battery storage; and reaching further into exploring more advanced systems like nuclear and geothermal tech or virtual power plants.

It also addresses the need for more responsive solutions during "extreme weather events," both in the heat and cold, which it proposes implementing locally. The lead meteorologist for the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) has predicted an overall warmer winter for 2025, but with greater chances of experiencing extreme cold — so this may be an increasingly pressing topic on Austinites' minds.

Despite a sweeping desire to enable more renewable resources, one of the local solutions would be allowing Austin Energy to add more, higher-efficiency natural gas peakers, which would have an emissions cap and only run as an emergency measure. A graph in the report shows that 50 percent of Austin Energy's 2023 generation was renewable, compared to 41 percent of ERCOT's.

"As renewable resources continue to increase in the ERCOT system, we’re seeing new operational challenges," the report explains. "One example is curtailment for these resources when too much power is produced and the system can’t handle it. This makes that resource less valuable to our customers. Local renewable energy, energy storage, energy efficiency and demand response investments avoid these challenges and will be especially important going forward."

“A big part of this plan is readying ourselves to get out of Fayette Power Project,” said Mayor Kirk Watson in the city release. “There must be replacement power to protect customers from energy shortfalls and additional energy market risks. For those who share the goal of getting out of coal, this plan is a step forward.”

Austin Energy created the plan with input from 7,512 customers, including 6,355 residential consumers. Their greatest concern was reliability, ranked as a No. 1 value by 38 percent of participants. There were also stakeholder workshops involving groups like the University of Texas at Austin, Austin ISD, H-E-B, Sierra Club, and Habitat for Humanity.

“We are extremely grateful to Austin City Council and our many community partners and industry experts who played a vital role in shaping Austin Energy’s future,” said Austin Energy general manager Bob Kahn. “We are confident that this plan provides the flexibility Austin Energy needs to meet the challenges ahead while reflecting the priorities of our community.”

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