CPS Energy customers are frustrated and worried about vulnerable members of the community amid changing disruptions

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

Carlos Correa has been checking in with his 90-year-old neighbors regularly since they were left without power at 2am on Monday morning due to constant rotating interruptions. He says his calls to CPS Energy for answers on when the power would be restored are unanswered.

“We all called. “CPS Energy has no one to talk to, and no one can give us any information about even when we will put electricity back in,” Correa told KSAT on Monday night. ‘As much as we pay for our electrical use every month, they are just as unprepared with anyone, with any kind of customer service or an emergency call center to give us an answer as to when we’re going to get some kind of electricity back. ‘

CPS Energy: Most customers are subject to rotating interruptions as winter weather continues

CPS Energy says energy demand was up to four times higher than expected. Some systems are affected by the high demand and others due to equipment not working due to the cold temperatures.

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

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

Rudy Garza, along with CPS Energy, says CPS Energy reaches out to its customers via all social media platforms, calls and emails. The utility company also says contact with elderly and sick people who are on their list.

‘In some cases we have made automatic calls to customers in this group and let them know that if they are in a medical emergency where they are, their house may be getting too cold or that their oxygen tank is running out or something is happening, call 911 and medical seek help, ”Garza said.

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

Correa appeals to others to report to their neighbors as well.

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

“We hope to see improvements overnight, but we face unprecedented challenges. Our focus tonight is to restore the consistency of the roster. Conservation is important, and we ask our community to continue to do everything possible to limit the use of electrical and natural gas energy. We understand that this is a big question from our customers and sincerely apologize for the problems it causes. Our customers are our neighbors, families and friends, and we do everything in our power to ensure that we work to make things better for everyone. ”

‘Rotary interruptions began across the state around 1:30 a.m. Monday morning. Utilities operators make real-time decisions with real-time information coming from ERCOT, and these decisions are made in an indiscriminate manner. Although more difficult to accommodate, utilities work to conserve power for critical functions (ie hospitals, government entities, etc.) to limit the impact on those facilities. It is through this interrupt management process, which is carried out over the same time frame in large cities across the state, that the network can and must be re-stabilized.

‘Please note that all participants in the ERCOT network take the same measures. The extreme weather has driven record consumption across the country. CPS Energy used more than 4,954 MW yesterday, with a reduction in energy used by the outage management, which was a winter record. If the interruptions had not been proactively managed so far, the demand for energy in winter would have exceeded the summer maximum for the first time in the history of CPS Energy.

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

The utility offered the following tips for customers to stay warm and save energy:

Stay warm by dressing in layers of loose-fitting clothing instead of a single heavy layer.
Wear a hat, even indoors. Keeping your head warm keeps 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 in your home or other inhabited building. Use generators only outdoors and make sure the exhaust points away from your home.
Do not use camping stoves or outdoor grills indoors, not even in your garage. This can cause carbon monoxide to build up in your home and can lead to carbon monoxide poisoning.
Save power on your cell phone in case of emergency. Some battery saving tips include:
- Turn off the screen light
- Turn off Bluetooth
- Close all unused applications
- Use text, if possible, instead of calling
- If you have multiple cell phones in your household, keep one phone for emergency updates and turn off the other to conserve battery life.
Pull out sensitive equipment during a power outage, including televisions, computers, and other electronics that can help protect against irregularities that may occur when power is restored.
If you have any medication that requires refrigeration, consult your pharmacist for preservation instructions during a long power outage.
If you have a garage door opener, read the instructions to open the garage door manually.
Be extra careful when you are outside in snow. Shed power lines can be hidden by snow, trees or other debris. Always assume that a cut-off power line is alive. If you see a cut off power line, stay away and call us immediately at 210-353-4357 (HELP).

Stay informed

As always, your Weather Service team will keep you posted. You can get the latest forecast at any time by bookmarking our weather page and downloading the KSAT Weather Authority app – available for both Apple and Android devices.

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