SAN ANTONIO, Texas — You probably got a letter from CPS Energy showing your credit from not having power during the winter blast. It shows most of us are getting an $8.75 credit. That is the Electric Service Availability Charge. It is what you pay each month to have service and many of us did not have power for some period of time. Yet, CPS Energy said if you were without power for 48 hours or more during the five-day winter storm period, you would get another credit of $50 to $100. Yet, many of us are not seeing any extra money.
“It was a slap in the face,” said Kat McGarity, a CPS Energy customer who said she was without power for three days. “An apology goes a long way, but then when you turn around and you’re only giving us eight dollars? I lost more than that in my car sitting there trying to warm up children.”
That is because that credit is based off your meter reading. CPS Energy said it checked and really your meter is working properly.
“We have been able to validate that they are accurate,” said DeAnna Hardwick, the VP of customer service for CPS Energy. “We realized there’s no amount, no dollar amount or credit amount that we can provide that will make anybody feel better.”
If you look closely at the daily usage during the storm you might find your meter shows you did use some power, even if it was a tiny bit, during each 15-minute period the meter reads. Many of us did see some small periods of power throughout the winter storm when the electricity would come on and go right back off. CPS Energy said if you were without power for any time during a 15-minute increment, it is calculated as having no power.
Yet there is no way for the consumer to tell how long they had power during each 15-minute period on the My Energy Portal where CPS Energy posts your daily usage. CPS Energy said it can see customer’s usage by the second, so that is how it calculated the length of time customers were without power for the credits.
KENS 5 is still waiting for a more detailed analysis from CPS Energy of how customer’s meters showed they had power but many experienced not being able to use electricity.