CPS Energy in process of hiring meteorologist Utility criticized after last year’s deadly winter storm for using local contractor
CPS Energy headquarters.
SAN ANTONIO – CPS Energy is in the process of hiring its first meteorologist after a Defenders investigation revealed the public utility used a college student for forecasting ahead of last year’s deadly winter storm.
A utility spokeswoman this week confirmed it will be a full-time position. She did not release additional details about the hiring.
Last year, CPS Energy officials confirmed to KSAT that they get their meteorology services from a Minnesota-based subscription weather service and a local contractor.
The contractor had been referred to as both a meteorologist data intern and a meteorologist data analyst and did not make over $716 in a single week for the period covering October 2019 to late January 2021 .
CPS officials previously declined to say how many hours the forecaster worked in any given pay period after his employer, a third-party entity, objected to the release of that information.
The decision to use a local contractor for forecasting was out of step with many other major energy providers in Texas, the Defenders investigation found.
RELATED ON KSAT.COM CPS Energy uses a college student for weather forecasting. That’s not how other major Texas utilities operate.
After spending hundreds of thousands on weather platform, CPS Energy entrusted college student to forecast with it
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About the Author Dillon Collier headshot
Emmy-award winning reporter Dillon Collier joined KSAT Investigates in September 2016. Dillon's investigative stories air weeknights on the Nightbeat and on the Six O'Clock News. Dillon is a two-time Houston Press Club Journalist of the Year and a Texas Associated Press Broadcasters Reporter of the Year.
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