The skyrocketing price of power is raising concerns about the next CPS utility bill

San Antonio Power may have been scarce for CPS customers this week, but it is also likely to be expensive.

Now that the electricity crisis is over, Paula Gold-Williams, CEO of CPS Energy, says affordability issues are lurking due to high fuel costs during the cold weather. The utility is still trying to calculate the cost of the event, Gold-Williams said, but “it’s going to be massive,” and they’re trying to minimize the impact on customers’ bills.

“I will say that we understand it would be unacceptable to have customers pay the fees on their monthly bill and as if someone could pay for it,” said Gold-Williams. “So we work diligently – the financial services team works diligently trying to find ways to really spread that cost, possibly maybe, you know 15 – I mean, 10 years or more to try and make it affordable. We have not fully assessed that. “

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Gold-Williams told reporters at a briefing on Monday that supply and demand were at work on a massive scale during the cold weather, causing many manufacturing units in the state to go offline and freeze natural gas resources.

“We could see from the start of this event – even before the Monday issue – that the price of power and the supply of power were skyrocketing prices,” said Gold-Williams. Again, I quote that natural gas that I saw increase by 7,000 percent, up by 10,000 percent. I’ve stopped counting at 16,000 percent. “

Part of your CPS bill is based on a “Fuel Adjustment Surcharge”, which covers fuel costs associated with CPS power generation, renewable power purchases and open energy market purchases. So how much CPS has to pay to give you power affects how much you end up paying.

Typically, these fuel costs roll the bill over a period of 45 to 60 days, but CPS is trying to find a way to spread the costs longer.

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While the ultimate effect on your bill isn’t clear yet, CPS officials stressed that the connection with customers hasn’t been lost since March.

The utility will have to use “a large portion” of its cash to meet immediate demands to pay for the fuel it had, as well as to use some of its credit, Gold-Williams said. Ultimately, a bond may be necessary to spread the costs.

The plans require consultation with the CPS board, city council and answering questions from the community, the CPS CEO said, but she estimated they would have about 60 to 120 days to work it out, or it would be from can affect the purchasing power of the utility. fuel now on the market.