CPS Energy’s frustrated customers criticize the utilities’ treatment of the winter energy crisis

Saint Anthony – Dozens of irritated CPS Energy customers gave the top to the public company during the first meeting of the CPS Board of Directors since last week’s controlled outages.

At the peak of the company’s controlled outage strategy, there were about 372,000 customers without electricity. On Monday afternoon, administrators listened to the stories of the statistics for nearly two and a half hours of public comment.

Although 108 people had previously registered to speak, not all did so, as they were summoned one by one to the conference call meeting.

Those who spoke spoke to the council about their struggles with spoiled food, talking walking outside to warm themselves from the cold of an unheated house and forcing themselves to store precious insulin in the snow. Among other complaints, they also criticized the forced interruptions of the company that left some people without any electricity supply for several days.

“Confidence is gone and saying‘ sorry ’is empty,” said one person who called. “‘People first’ should no longer be said.”

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Many opposed the idea that customers would bear the cost of the event, even in the long run. Some suggested that the bills be waived for the storm period.

The amount CPS pays for fuel is typically recorded on customer bills over a period of 45 to 60 days. However, given the massive rise in natural gas prices (up to 16,000%), CEO Paula Gold-Williams has said CPS is considering extending the cost for ten years or more instead of letting the cost fall on a single bill.

CPS is still calculating how much more it spent during the winter event, and what it could do to reduce that amount before passing the cost on to taxpayers.

“I understand very well how customers don’t want to pay for anything related to the storm, ”Gold-Williams said during the meeting. “We will do our best to reduce these prices, work with state and local officials so we can look for any resources that are useful to us.”

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Some speakers said CPS should be put under the control of the City Council instead of the appointed administrators, an issue that appeared in the failed petition “Recall CPS”. According to the San Antonio report, the petition did not get enough signatures to enter the May 1 vote, and the company went to court in an attempt to cut its legs below.

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