CPS Energy customers are frustrated, worried about vulnerable community members due to rotating outages

SAN ANTONIO – San Antonio CPS Energy customers say they are concerned about elderly and sick neighbors who are without power during ongoing rotating outages across the state.

Carlos Correa routinely checked his 90-year-old neighbors because they had been out of power since 2 a.m. Monday morning due to ongoing rotating outages. He says his calls to CPS Energy for answers about when the energy would be restored went unanswered.

“I called everyone. CPS Energy has no one to talk to, no one to give us any information about when our electricity will return, “Correa told KSAT on Monday.” No matter how much we pay for our electricity usage each month, ( they are) so unprepared with anyone, with any kind of customer service or any kind of emergency command center to give us some kind of response when I get some kind of electricity back. ”

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CPS Energy: Most customers undergo rotating interruptions as winter weather continues

CPS Energy says energy demand was up to four times higher than expected. Some systems have been affected by high demand and others by equipment failure due to low temperatures.

CPS Energy CEO Paula Gold-Williams said every energy system is stressed across the state.

“It simply came to our notice then. It’s an unprecedented weather event that we actually thought the cold weather was behind us, “Gold-Williams said.

Rudy Garza, together with CPS Energy, says that CPS Energy addresses its customers through all social media platforms, calls and emails. The utility company says it also contacts the elderly and the sick who are on their list.

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“In some cases, we have made automatic calls to customers in this group, letting them know that if they are in a medical emergency where they are, their home may be too cold or the oxygen tank may be depleted, or something is happening, dial 911 and ask for medical assistance “, said Garza.

While temperatures will continue to affect energy consumption, CPS Energy expects outages to continue, so the company is urging customers to make plans.

Correa urges others to check on their neighbors as well.

Late Monday night, Gold-Williams issued the following statement:

“We hope to see improvements overnight, but we are facing unprecedented challenges. Our focus tonight is to restore network consistency. Conservation is important and we ask our community to continue to do everything they can to limit the use of electricity and natural gas. We understand that this is an important question for our customers and we sincerely apologize for the problems this causes. Our customers are our neighbors, families and friends and we do everything we can to make sure we work to make things better for everyone. ”

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“Turntables started all over the country around 1:30 in the morning. Utility system operators make real-time decisions with real-time information from ERCOT, and these decisions are taken in a non-discriminatory manner. Although increasingly difficult to accommodate, utilities are working to retain power for critical functions (eg hospitals, government entities, etc.) to limit the impact on those facilities. Through this process of managing interruptions, executed in the same time frame in the big cities of the state, the network can and must be restored.

“Please know that all participants in the ERCOT grid take the same measures. Extreme weather has driven record statewide energy consumption. With the energy reductions caused by the interruption management, CPS Energy consumed more than 4,954 MW yesterday, which was a winter record. If outages had not been proactively managed so far, winter energy demand would have exceeded summer highs for the first time in CPS Energy history.

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To help keep residents off-road and safe, CPS Energy’s access centers will be closed on Tuesday, February 16, 2021. In addition, the Braunig and Calaveras parks and lakes are closed until further notice. ”

The utility company offered customers the following tips to warm up and conserve energy:

• Stay warm by dressing in layers of loose clothing instead of a single heavy layer.

• Wear a hat, even indoors. Keeping your head warm helps keep your body warm.

• Wear gloves or gloves to keep your hands warm and wear a scarf to keep your neck warm.

• Use towels to block drafts around doors and windows.

• Be extremely careful when using gasoline generators. Do not use a generator inside the house or other inhabited building. Operate the generators outdoors only and make sure that the exhaust is directed towards the house.

• Do not use camping stoves or outdoor grills indoors, not even in your garage. These can cause carbon monoxide to build up in your home and lead to carbon monoxide poisoning.

• Save energy on your mobile phone in case of emergency. Some tips for saving battery power include:

  • Reduce the screen light

  • Turn off Bluetooth

  • Close all unused applications

  • If possible, use text to communicate instead of making a call

  • If you have multiple cell phones in the household, keep one phone turned on for emergency updates and turn off the others to keep the battery life.

• Disconnect sensitive equipment during a power outage, including televisions, computers, and other electronic items that help protect you from any voltage irregularities that may occur when power is restored.

• If you have medicines that need refrigeration, please consult your pharmacist for storage instructions during a prolonged power outage.

• If you have a garage door opener, see the instructions for opening the garage door manually.

• Be very careful when you are outdoors in snowy conditions. The downed power lines can be hidden by snow, trees or other debris. Always assume that a faulty power line is active. If you see a faulty power line, stay away and call us immediately at 210-353-4357 (HELP).

Stay informed

As always, your weather authority team will keep you posted. You can always get the latest forecasts by marking our weather page and downloading the KSAT Weather Authority app – available for both Apple and Android devices.

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