CPS Customers leave customers frustrated, anxious for vulnerable community members amid a moving outage

San Antonio – San Antonio CPS Energy consumers say they are concerned about powerless elderly and sick neighbors during the ongoing mobile outages across the state.

Carlos Correa is conducting regular inspections of his 90-year-old neighbors due to side effects that continue from 2 a.m. Monday. He says the power will never be restored. Energy has had its calls unanswered.

“We have called everyone. CPS Energy has no one to talk to, no one to give us any information on when our electricity will return, ”Korea told KSAT on Monday evening. “As much as we pay for our electric usage every month, we can’t prepare with anyone, with any kind of customer service or any kind of emergency command center, as to when we can respond. Getting some kind of electricity again. “

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CPS

CPS Energy says demand is four times higher than expected. Cold temperatures have affected some systems due to high demand and others due to equipment failure.

CPS Paula Gold-Williams, CEO of Energy, said the emphasis is on every energy system in the state.

“We are very sorry that this is happening. It’s an unprecedented weather event that we really thought the cold weather was behind us, “Gold-Williams said.

Rudy Garza with CPS Energy says that CPS Energy is reaching out to its customers through all social media platforms, calls and emails. The utility company says it is also contacting the elderly and the sick who are on its list.

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“In some cases, we have made automatic calls to this group of customers, telling them that if they find themselves in a medical emergency, their home may be too cold or their oxygen tank may be out or If something happens, dial 911. And seek medical help, ”Garza said.

While the temperature will affect the holiday consumption, CPS Energy expects the outage to continue, so the company urges customers to make plans.

Korea urges others to investigate 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 today is to restore grid compatibility. Conservation is important, and we urge our community to continue to do what we can to limit the use of electric and natural gas energy. We understand that this is a big question for our customers and sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. We are doing everything we can to ensure that our customers are our neighbors, families and friends and that we will work to make things better for everyone. “

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“A statewide outage began around 1:30 a.m. Monday. Utility system tors operators make real-time decisions with real-time information from ERCOT, and these decisions are made ineffectively. While increasingly difficult to accommodate, utilities work to save energy for critical functions (i.e. hospitals, government agencies, etc.) to limit the impact on those facilities. Through this outage management process, it has been implemented in major cities across the state over the same time frame, which the grid can re-stabilize and is required.

“Please be aware that all participants in the ERCOT grid are taking the same action. Extreme weather has used record-breaking energy across the state. With the reduction in energy consumption driven by outage management, CPS Energy used more than 4,954 MW yesterday, a winter record. If the outages had not been actively managed so far, the demand for winter energy would have exceeded the summer maximum for the first time in the history of CPS Energy.

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To keep residents safe and secure from the road, CPS Energy’s walk-in centers will be closed on Tuesday, February 16, 2021. In addition, Brunig and Calevaras parks and lakes will remain closed until further notice. ”

The utility company offered the following tips to keep customers warm and save energy:

• Stay warm by dressing in layers of loose green-fitting clothing instead of a heavy layer alone.

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

• Wear gloves or fitness to keep hands warm and scarves to keep neck warm.

• Use a towel to block drafts around doors and windows.

• Use extreme caution when using gasoline powered generators. Do not run the generator inside your home or other residential building. Just run the generators outside, and make sure the exhaust is facing away from your home.

• Not even in your garage, don’t use a camping stove or outdoor grills indoors. This can cause the formation of carbon monoxide in your home and lead to carbon monoxide poisoning.

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

  • Turn off the screen light

  • Turn off Bluetooth

  • Close all unused applications

  • If possible, use text to communicate instead of making calls

  • If you have multiple mobile phones at home, keep one phone on for emergency updates and turn off the other to save battery life.

• Unplug sensitive devices during a power outage, including televisions, computers, and other electronics, to help protect against any voltage irregularities that may occur when the power is restored.

• If you have medication that needs refrigeration, please check with your pharmacist for instructions on storage during extended power outages.

• If you have a garage door opener, review the instructions for opening the garage door yourself.

• Be extra careful when outdoors in snowy circumstances. Downed power lines can be hidden by snow, trees or other debris. Always assume that the downed power line is alive. If you see a downed power line, stay away and call us immediately at 210-353-4357 (help).

Be aware

As always, your weather officer’s team will keep you updated. You can get the most up-to-date forecast at any time by bookmarking our weather page and downloading the KSAT Weather Authority app – available for both Apple Pal and Android devices.

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