CPS Energy Provides One-Time Bill Credits To Customers Who Experienced Extended Outages During Winter Storm

PR Newswire

SAN ANTONIO, April 7, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- CPS Energy is providing credits to customers who experienced extended outages during the historic winter storm that resulted in state-mandated load shedding from February 15 - 19.

During April, CPS Energy will issue a one-time bill credit to customers with active accounts during the storm who experienced cumulative outages of 24 hours or more during the declared disaster. A one-time credit in the amount of the Electric Service Availability Charge will be applied to impacted customers' bills to recognize that power was not available to them. The Electric Service Availability Charge is the flat monthly cost of delivering electric service to customers and ranges from $8.75 for residential and small business customers to $10.50 for large use residential customers.

Customers without power for 48 hours or longer will receive an additional one-time credit tiered from $50 to $100 based on the amount of time they were without power, with the maximum amount issued to customers who experienced an outage for more than 4 days.

"The 2021 Texas Winter Storm Event was a horrible experience for a number of our customers and many other Texans across our state," said Paula Gold-Williams, CPS Energy President & CEO. "While we understand that no amount of money can make up for that experience, we are passionate about following through on the commitment we made during the storm to further help our customers who were most affected by the related outages. At the same time, we continue our fight to protect our customers and community from the financial impacts of the systemic market failure that occurred that week in February and the exorbitant and unlawful costs associated with those failures."

CPS Energy has reviewed customer accounts and determined 251,606 customers experienced outages of 24 hours or more. Those customers will receive a one-time credit displayed on their April or May bills as follows:

Summary of the Special Customer Credit Program
Number of Days Without Power	Credits			Customer Count
More than 4	*Electric Service Availability Charge	+	$100	77
3 – 4		+	$75	1,378
2 – 3		+	$50	23,064
1 – 2		+	–	227,087

*Credit will be for eligible customer's Electric Service Availability Charge. Credit will show in the Payments & Adjustments section of the bill: $8.75 for Residential Electric Rate (RE) and Base Commercial Electric Rate (PL), $10.50 for Large Use Residential Rate (RCE).

A total of approximately $3.5 million will be credited to customers' accounts. Customers do not need to take any action to receive the credits. Credits will automatically be applied to customer accounts on April 10 and will be immediately reflected in the balance due. The credit will display on bills dated April 12 through May 11.

CPS Energy also is working tirelessly to protect customers from costs associated with February's winter storm. Earlier this month, the utility filed suit against the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) in Bexar County District Court to protect its customers from what appears to be excessive, illegitimate, and illegal prices. Additionally, the utility filed suit against 16 natural gas suppliers challenging costs that spiked 16,000% during a declared disaster.

News releases on how CPS Energy is working to protect customers can be found here in the utility's Newsroom. A listing of legal actions taken is also available on CPS Energy's website.

For questions and answers on CPS Energy's Bill Credit Program, click here.

CPS Energy is committed to Customer Assistance

CPS Energy's suspension of energy disconnections announced in March of 2020 is still in effect, and late fees are waived on unpaid balances for customers who participate in a payment plan. Customers who are experiencing financial hardship are encouraged to promptly contact the utility's knowledgeable Energy Advisors for information about a variety of available money-saving and general assistance programs, as well as to learn about community resources for utility bill assistance. Customers with questions about how to read energy bills can find help here or by calling 210-353-2222.

The Residential Energy Assistance Partnership (REAP) is a partnership of CPS Energy, the City of San Antonio, and Bexar County. REAP provides energy bill assistance twice a year to those in need. REAP gifts are tax-deductible contributions and benefit customers at or below 125% of federal poverty guidelines. Giving to REAP is easy. Customers can add a few dollars to their utility payment and indicate that amount, whether paying online or by paper, or can use the "Donate to REAP" link on the CPS Energy website to donate by debit or credit card, PayPal, or Apple Pay. Mobile donations can also be made by texting "REAPSATX" to 41444.

The utility's new Energy Angels program fills a need not currently met by REAP. The Energy Angels program allows an individual to give the gift of energy to a specific individual or business account. This financial gift is not tax-deductible, but the recipient is not required to meet an income-qualifying threshold. The gift will appear on the recipient's bill as a credit to their account. Energy Angels, the company's term for the passionate and caring gift-givers who want to and can do more to help others, can notify their recipient about the gift or choose to remain anonymous.

To help customers during the COVID-19 pandemic and winter storm disaster, CPS Energy is actively making phone calls to customers to share bill assistance and REAP information with them. Customers can also call 210-353-2222 directly or visit cpsenergy.com/assistance.

About CPS Energy

Established in 1860, CPS Energy is the nation's largest public power, natural gas, and electric company, providing safe, reliable, and competitively-priced service to 860,934 electric and 358,495 natural gas customers in San Antonio and portions of seven adjoining counties. Our customers' combined energy bills rank among the lowest of the nation's 20 largest cities – while generating $8 billion in revenue for the City of San Antonio for more than seven decades. As a trusted and strong community partner, we continuously focus on job creation, economic development, and educational investment. True to our People First philosophy, we are powered by our skilled workforce, whose commitment to the community is demonstrated through our employees' volunteerism in giving back to our city and programs aimed at bringing value to our customers. CPS Energy is among the top public power wind energy buyers in the nation and number one in Texas for solar generation.

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