SAN ANTONIO — The San Antonio City Council gave the green-light on the CPS Energy power bill rate increase.
Coupled with a fuel charge increase of .80%, created to recuperate costs from last year's historic winter storm, the 3.85% increase will amount to about an extra $5.10 for the average customer. Now approved, the rates go up on March 1.
Previous proposals were higher, and would have tacked on an extra $10 to $15 to community members' bills.
Before the final vote in Thursday's city council meeting, there was a motion to delay the vote, which failed by a vote of 3-8.
In past messages to customers, utility officials said the rate increase was necessary to "help improve our infrastructure and reliability, strengthen our technology, keep up with the community's growth, and retain and hire qualified employees."
The upped fuel charge would last for 25 years, while CPS Energy is expected to request another base-rate hike in about two years' time.
2014 was the last time a rate hike went into effect for San Antonio residents.
Before the vote passed, Mayor Ron Nirenberg stated the proposal was responsible and this decision wasn’t made lightly.
“No time is a good time for a rate increase. But after 8 years [of no rate increase] it is time to do the right thing. As CPS Energy continues to build trust, we will continue to assess their needs,” Mayor Nirenberg said.
The rate increase and fuel charge were two separate proposals on city council’s agenda. The fuel charge passed 9-2, with councilmembers Teri Castillo and Jalen McKee-Rodriguez voting against it. The rate increase passed 8-3 with councilmembers Teri Castillo, Jalen McKee-Rodriguez and Clayton Perry voting against.
After the vote, CPS Energy’s interim CEO Rudy Garza said the rate increase couldn’t wait.
“It was never a good time. Waiting another year just means a higher rate increase then. And so, the time was now as difficult as the conversation was to move forward and I appreciate council giving us the vote of confidence,” Garza said.
Councilwoman Teri Castillo, District 5, tried to delay the vote to January 2023, stating the current rate structure favors businesses and leaves vulnerable populations facing higher utility bills.
“We need to have continued conversations on how we can restructure that rate to ensure everyone’s paying their fair share,” Castillo said.
The $73 million in revenue generated by the rate increase will go towards infrastructure resiliency, assessing technology, addressing staff shortages, and growth of the utility.
The rate increase will take effect in March 2022, and CPS Energy will have to come back to city council and ask for another rate increase in two years.
Earlier in the week before this was passed, KENS 5 reached out to every council member about their stance. The majority got back to us.
First up, Mayor Ron Nirenberg said he would be voting yes. He also released the following statement:
"It's a reasonable request and a dramatic improvement from where this process started.
"It has been eight years since the last rate increase, and CPS Energy leadership has done what we have asked and narrowed the request to basic operations, maintenance, and weatherization. "They have done their proper due diligence on this request."
Meanwhile, Cabello Havrda said she is seeking truth, trust, and transparency in this audit.
"There is a lack of trust between our community and CPS," she said. So you are asking me to vote for a 3.85% of my community what are we going to get back for it? How are you going to spend this money. Where exactly is it going?
The councilwoman said she heard back from the CPS Energy Interim CEO who said they will do an audit, but it not clear when. KENS 5 reached out to CPS Energy and received the below response.
“CPS Energy is committed to being open and transparent with our community. While CPS Energy has work to be done to rebuild trust with our community, we are also taking a closer look at the accountability culture of our company while increasing our community engagement.”
Related links on KENS 5: