A new franchise agreement with Pedernales Electric Cooperative is on the table in Cedar Park. 

What you need to know: City Council gave initial approval Dec. 18 for a renewed and extended franchise agreement with PEC to provide electric service and transmission using city-owned property, such as running electric lines along city-owned streets and easements. 

Why now? This comes as the previous five-year agreement approved in 2021 is set to expire Jan. 28, 2026.

Claw Haven, a new Asian-style claw arcade, opened in Cedar Park on Dec. 6, according to co-owner Michael Lu. 

The background: The arcade is owned by Lu, Bradley Wong, Vicky Lee and Peter Song. The group decided to open Claw Haven after seeing their own children enjoy playing claw machines, which inspired them to share that joy with the community.

What they offer: Claw Haven has a variety of claw machines with prizes including Pokémon plushies, POPMART Labubus and BABYTHREE Blind Boxes. Patrons can play to win the prizes in the machines, or trade prizes in for bigger winnings. 

One more thing: The goal for Claw Haven is for every visitor to leave feeling like a winner, according to its website.

• Opened Dec. 6
• 1550 Cypress Creek Road, Ste. 103, Cedar Park  

Austin Energy is planning for operational challenges and potential billing increases as new data centers with growing electric power needs are established in the region.

What residents should know: City officials said the scope and speed of proposed developments like data centers carry "significant challenges" for the public power utility given the amount of power they could end up using. Similar impacts are being felt statewide, with the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, or ERCOT, projecting its peak demand to nearly double by 2028 largely due to data center additions.

It remains to be seen how many major data center plans will materialize around Austin in the near future. The addition of large users to the grid could end up impacting AE's electricity rates as those facilities come online, officials said. For now, major users will not be added until upgrades to protect current customers are complete.

Looking for ways to ring in the new year? Check out these events happening in the Austin area, including family friendly events and outings for adults age 21 and older.

This list is not comprehensive, and all events are subject to change. 

Lakeway Polar Bear Plunge
Community members are invited to end the year with a trip down the water slide at Lakeway Swim Center. After a dip in the pool, attendees can hang out and enjoy a cup of hot cocoa.

• Dec. 31, 9-10 a.m.
• Free
• 3103 Lakeway Blvd., Austin

• Dec. 31, 8-11 p.m.
• Free
• 3519B, N. RM 620, Austin

Capital Metro's downtown Red Line rail station will temporarily close Jan. 2-5 due to construction activity for the Austin Convention Center redevelopment.

What's happening: The entire Red Line rail won't be operating on New Year's Day Jan. 1. During the downtown disruption over the following days, the Plaza Saltillo Station to the east will serve as the rail line's end of service. Dedicated bus transfer service to and from Plaza Saltillo and the Downtown Station will be available Jan. 2-5.

The construction activity comes soon after Austin officials approved a fee waiver for the relocation of some CapMetro infrastructure around the Downtown Station as the convention center project progresses.

Approximately three dozen new Texas laws are scheduled to take effect Jan. 1, impacting how artificial intelligence is used in state government, when local officials can raise taxes after natural disasters and how much of businesses' inventory is taxed.

The background: The changes come after Texas’s biennial legislative session ended in early June. Gov. Greg Abbott signed over 1,100 laws passed by state lawmakers, many of which took effect in June or September.

The details: Some of the bills becoming law in the new year are:

• House Bill 9, which will expand a tax exemption for business owners
• House Bill 30, which will tighten regulations on counties' and cities' abilities to raise tax rates after natural disasters
• House Bill 149, which will regulate the fast-growing AI industry
• House Bill 247, which will exempt certain border security infrastructure from property tax increases
• House Bill 1399, which will create a property tax exemption for stores selling animal feed
• House Bill 2508, which will establish a property tax exemption for the surviving spouse of certain military members