SAN ANTONIO – Many CPS Energy customers are reporting higher-than-expected energy bills this month, even for those who say they conserved energy or weren’t even home.
More than 1,500 people told KSAT on Facebook that their CPS Energy bill increased this month, calling it “sticker shock.”
CPS Energy customer Beth N’Diaye said she was surprised when her bill was more than $200 after she wasn’t home for 16 days last month.
N’Diaye said she is enrolled in CPS Energy’s monthly average payment plan and expected a lower bill after being out of town during the winter weather.
Instead, she said it felt like she was paying more than just for her own usage.
“I just feel like it was an average,” N’Diaye said. “Like I paid for other people’s consumption.”
Charles Jenkins said his February bill was even more alarming.
“Electricity for a total of $470 for the month of February,” Jenkins said.
Jenkins said he understands bills can rise after extreme cold, but it’s the add-on fees that concern him most.
“I could understand the increase for sure, but I’m paying $30 a month for gas, and my fees are $40,” Jenkins said. “It’s a hundred and something percent increase.”
Rice University environmental engineering professor Daniel Cohan said customers are often hit with a “double whammy driving up natural gas bills” during winter freezes.
Cohan said utilities charge customers not only based on how much natural gas they use, but also on market prices, which can spike across the board in cold weather.
“So if that market price spikes for certain reasons,” Cohan said, “then that gets passed through as a higher rate that we pay on our bills.”
What to do if you’re struggling to pay
CPS Energy said the late-January winter storm led to higher energy demand, which can drive up bills.
“Customers are using more energy, right? They’re trying to keep themselves warm. They’re plugging in space heaters,” said Dana Sotoodeh, CPS Energy’s public relations manager.
“Those things will reflect on their bill, but we want customers to know that we have a lot of resources available to help them so that they can manage their bill better.”
CPS Energy urges customers who are having trouble paying their bills not to wait.
The utility encourages customers to use its Assistance Finder tool online, which helps match customers with available payment plans and assistance programs.
For customers like Jenkins, who said he’s already weatherized his home and done everything asked to conserve energy, the frustration remains.
“It seems we’ve done everything we’ve been asked to do as a consumer, but yet we see zero benefit,” Jenkins said.
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