CPS Energy Takes Further Steps To Protect Customers From Excessive, Illegitimate And Illegal Prices

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Mar 12, 2021, 11:29 ET

SAN ANTONIO, March 12, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, CPS Energy filed suit against the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) in Bexar County District Court to protect its customers from excessive, illegitimate and illegal prices.

"CPS Energy is taking this action to defend its customers. Those who suffered the consequences of ERCOT's failure must not be victimized by one of the largest illegal transfers of wealth in the history of Texas, too," said San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg. "Ensuring the fair treatment of customers and preventing them from additional harm by outrageous, excessive charges is essential, and we are fighting to achieve that goal."

"We are fighting to protect our customers from the financial impacts of the systemic failure of the ERCOT market and the outrageous and unlawful costs associated with that failure," said Paula Gold-Williams, President & CEO of CPS Energy. "During a state declared disaster, ERCOT ran up $20 billion in charges for 5 days of energy supply due to its lack of oversight, preparedness, and failure to follow its own protocols. That is a huge amount of money and it's incredibly important we continue to fight for our customers to bring those bills down."

As part of its investigation into the February Storm, the Public Utility Commission (PUC) of Texas' Independent Market Monitor concluded that ERCOT made critical mistakes that resulted in erroneous electricity overcharges, and recommended the charges be reversed. The Independent Market Monitor also said ERCOT exceeded the mandate of the PUC by continuing to set high prices long after the load shed.

As always, CPS Energy has and will continue to pay all lawful, legitimate charges for electricity. However, CPS Energy is also an energy supplier to ERCOT, which has failed to pay the community utility what it is owed under its market agreement. In today's petition, the utility is asking the Court to take action to prevent harm to CPS Energy and its customers. CPS Energy has brought action against ERCOT, for among other things, breach of contract, negligence, and violation of the Texas Constitution, and has petitioned the Court to prevent ERCOT from:

Charging excessive prices to CPS Energy and its customers in violation of the Texas Constitution;
Overcharging market participants like CPS Energy and its customers for the failures of others; and
Any effort to wrongfully declare CPS Energy in default.

When available, a copy of the filing can be found on the company's website. CPS Energy will also provide relevant updates, as major developments occur.

Previous updates about how CPS Energy is working to protect customers can be found here:

March 2, 2021 Update

March 5, 2021 Update

CPS Energy and the Texas Electric Market

About CPS Energy
Established in 1860, CPS Energy is the nation's largest public power, natural gas, and electric company, providing safe, reliable, and competitively-priced service to 860,934 electric and 358,495 natural gas customers in San Antonio and portions of seven adjoining counties. Our customers' combined energy bills rank among the lowest of the nation's 20 largest cities – while generating $8 billion in revenue for the City of San Antonio for more than seven decades. As a trusted and strong community partner, we continuously focus on job creation, economic development, and educational investment. True to our People First philosophy, we are powered by our skilled workforce, whose commitment to the community is demonstrated through our employees' volunteerism in giving back to our city and programs aimed at bringing value to our customers. CPS Energy is among the top public power wind energy buyers in the nation and number one in Texas for solar generation.

SOURCE CPS Energy