CPS Energy Rate Hike Pause Is an Opportunity for City Council To Implement Reforms
The San Antonio energy utility was expected to request its third rate hike in recent years
SAN ANTONIO — CPS Energy’s decision to not seek a rate hike this year is a pause that will buy the San Antonio City Council much-needed time to implement reforms that lay the foundation for fairer rates for working families, Public Citizen said today.
The country’s largest municipal-owned gas and electric utility was expected to seek another rate increase to follow rate increases approved in 2022 and 2023. Last week, CPS Energy’s chief financial officer announced that the utility’s 2026 fiscal year budget does not include a rate hike request. CPS Energy is now expected to seek an increase for fiscal year 2027, which would require city council approval. DeeDee Belmares, a clean energy advocate for Public Citizen in San Antonio, issued the following statement:
“Though CPS Energy isn’t pursuing another rate increase this year, ratepayers should expect the utility to try again. This pause allows the San Antonio City Council ample opportunity to implement reforms focusing on working families. For example, the council should require the utility to address how to charge rates fairly, especially for the most vulnerable, who tend to consume less but are charged the same rate as those who consume more. Rates should also encourage conservation and eliminate waste, and they currently do not. And any anticipated windfall revenues should assist ratepayers who cannot pay their bills.
“Without meaningful reforms, every future rate increase is just layering one unfair rate on top of another.”