PAULA GOLD-WILLIAMS

A majority of that money, more than $751,000, came in the form of a “restoration payment.” An attorney representing the utility described the payment late Tuesday as a distribution of benefits from a non-qualified retirement plan that is taxable when earned.

Ex-CPS Energy executive Fred Bonewell was a prolific spender of public money, expense reports and receipts obtained by KSAT 12 Defenders show.

CPS Energy will ask City Council on Wednesday to consider a 3.85% increase to the base rate - far below the 10% hike that former CEO Paula Gold-Williams had previously said the utility was considering.

CPS Energy President and CEO Paula Gold-Williams plans to leave the public utility in early 2022, according to a news release.

The utility has not increased its rates for about eight years, but speaking with media members on Monday, CEO Paula Gold-Williams listed off issues like unpaid bills, investment in infrastructure, and $1 billion in bills related to the February Freeze, as helping to drive the likely rate increase.

Before Fred Bonewell was promoted in June to be CPS Energy’s new chief operating officer, his signature appeared on a March 2017 agreement that laid out the working conditions for the utility’s wage-scale employees.

Attorneys hired by CPS Energy have attempted to block the release of complaints filed against President & CEO Paula Gold-Williams by members of the utility’s senior legal team, claiming their contents are confidential and should remain out of public view.

CPS Energy is calling on state leaders to strengthen its ties with the rest of the U.S. power grid in order to avert another disaster like the one that shut off powers to millions in February.

The Committee on Emergency Preparedness presented its analysis of what went wrong during the extended freezing temperatures and how the city and its utilities could prepare better next time.

CPS Energy’s senior legal team lodged internal complaints against its President and CEO Paula Gold-Williams in the weeks before the attorneys resigned from the utility, internal records obtained this week by the KSAT 12 Defenders confirm.

Facing a billion-dollar financial hole from February’s deadly winter storm, CPS Energy has now spent over $2.5 million in outside fees to fight those bills, records obtained by the KSAT 12 Defenders show.

Two weeks before a deadly winter storm hit San Antonio, killing a still untold number of people, CPS Energy had become ‘seriously past due’ on bills for its customized weather platform, records obtained by the KSAT 12 Defenders confirm.

Gary Gold, the chief financial officer of CPS Energy who figured to play a prominent role as the utility attempts to dig itself out from a billion dollar hole, will instead depart the company next month.

CPS Energy, the nation’s largest municipally owned utility company, gets its weather forecasts from a college student who has not been compensated more than $716 in a single week, invoices obtained by the KSAT 12 Defenders show.

During the third day of February’s bitter freeze, as hundreds of thousands of CPS Energy customers tried to survive without power, President and CEO Paula Gold-Williams and other senior leaders of the utility drafted a letter of support for her and management, according to internal emails obtained by the KSAT 12 Defenders.

Ownership groups for a pair of San Antonio apartment complexes have joined a long list suing CPS Energy over the utility’s preparation and response to February’s winter storm.

As CPS Energy continues to file lawsuits against entities it claims contributed to massive natural gas bills it racked up during February’s winter storm, energy experts and officials from some the companies targeted by the suits say the utility’s poor risk management is to blame.

SAN ANTONIO – CPS Energy on Friday sued the Electric Reliability Council of Texas after an independent monitor for the Public Utility Commission reported the grid managers overcharged power companies during the winter storm. In the lawsuit, CPS Energy accused ERCOT of not paying what it owes to the San Antonio utility. “ERCOT has short paid approximately $2.5 billion to the market participants, and at least $18 million is owed to CPS Energy for the Winter Storm Event,” according to the court filing. “CPS Energy is taking this action to defend its customers. Price charts for the natural gas spot market show natural gas increased nearly two-fold Feb. 11, before spiking Feb. 17.

SAN ANTONIO – CPS Energy customers are not expected to see huge additional fuel or purchased power charges from the winter storm when the February 2021 bills are released beginning Monday, the utility said Friday. “CPS Energy is currently assessing the validity of the additional fuel and purchased power costs from the winter storm and is currently not passing them through to customers,” a news release said. Gold-Williams said CPS would pursue regulatory assistance and help from elected officials to avoid customers shouldering that load. The utility said a team of energy advisors is ready to work with customers to discuss their bills and to help with payment arrangements. “While we must and will pay all justified and legitimate business costs, our CPS Energy team will continue to fight to maintain our commitment to affordability.”AutoPay was reinstated on Feb. 26.

SAN ANTONIO – A lawsuit filed in Bexar County district court this week accuses CPS Energy of causing a San Antonio woman’s death after power to her home went out during a prolonged winter storm last month. A CPS Energy spokesman, John Moreno, issued a brief statement about the lawsuit. “CPS Energy doesn’t comment on active litigation, however, we will handle as appropriate through the legal process,” Moreno said. The wrongful death suit also accuses CPS Energy of negligence and gross negligence. CPS Energy faces $1 billion bill for winter weather power crisisCPS Energy will withhold winter storm charges while seeking funds to alleviate costs

SAN ANTONIO – CPS Energy and its customers could be facing a $1 billion bill for February’s weather-related power crisis, though utility officials say they are doing what they can to protect customers. Gold-Williams said CPS would pursue regulatory assistance and help from elected officials to avoid customers shouldering that load. And then we will use every other tool in our toolbox to work to get this cost down,” Gold-Williams said. AdGold-Williams has previously said CPS would look to spread the cost to customers out over 10 years or more. AdTrustees also voted Monday to order an independent review of CPS’s preparedness, communication, and response regarding the power crisis.

AdThe San Antonio - Bexar County Office of Emergency Management announced all major San Antonio highways and other roads closed. Wintry precipitation from Sunday night resulted in snow for San Antonio and the surrounding area. AdThe San Antonio area saw the final round of wintry weather that dropped up to 5 inches of snow. According to records dating back to 1947, the longest time San Antonio spent below freezing was 70 years ago. Money donated to Let’s Help SA will be distributed to the San Antonio Food Bank, SAMMinistries and Haven for Hope.

San Antonio – Dozens of irate CPS Energy customers gave the utility’s top brass a piece of their minds during the first CPS Board of Trustees meeting since last week’s controlled outages. At the peak of the utility’s controlled outages strategy, there were about 372,000 customers without power. Among other complaints, they also criticized the utility’s forced outages that left some people without any power for multiple days. The amount CPS pays for fuel is typically rolled into customers’ bills over a 45 to 60-day period. “I do very much understand how customers don’t want to pay anything associated with the storm,” Gold-Williams said during the meeting.

CPS Energy CEO Paula Gold-Williams is scheduled to give a report on the “New Unprecedented Texas/San Antonio Energy Market Event” at the 1 p.m. Monday meeting. AdThe amount CPS pays for fuel is typically rolled into customers’ bills over a 45 to 60-day period, Gold-Williams told reporters on Friday. CPS officials have said that at the peak of the forced outages, which were meant to preserve the larger Texas power grid, there were about 372,000 CPS customers without power. Greg Abbott also held a phone conference with state leaders Saturday to discuss how the state could help reduce the burden of high energy bills following the power crisis. MEETING INFORMATIONThe CPS Energy Board of Trustees meeting will be held 1 p.m. Monday by telephone and live-streamed online.

SAN ANTONIO – The power is back on for the majority of CPS Energy customers in San Antonio who have had to battle outages, among other challenges, during this week’s devastating winter storm. That number is down from more than 200,000 customers who went without power for days as temperatures plunged this week. The majority of those outages were caused by the Energy Reliability Council of Texas’s mandated rolling power outages. AdAfter ERCOT stopped the mandate, Gold-Williams said the number of customers affected dropped to about 10,000. The customers who remain without power in San Antonio, she said, are dealing with equipment failure or ice storm damage.

KIRBY, Texas – EDITOR’S NOTE: A previous version of this story incorrectly stated residents in the Kirby area hadn’t had power since Thursday. As snow came down again Thursday morning, most - but not all- CPS customers had their power restored. With the forced outage strategy CPS had been following to keep the Texas grid stable suspended, close to 99% of customers had power again. In an area near Binz-Engleman and Ackerman Roads in Kirby, a CPS outage map showed nearly 1,300 customers without power since Tuesday night - though several residents told KSAT they hadn’t had power since Tuesday morning. “We were yelling and screaming and saying, ‘Thank you, thank you, thank you.’ We offered to go get them some coffee.

We need the electricity, but we need the water too, and there’s no way for us to dialyze,” Allen said. AdThe effects of the winter storm on the electrical grid this week have CPS Energy and other Texas energy providers overwhelmed. CPS Energy President and CEO Paula Gold-Williams said the energy supply during the winter storm couldn’t meet the demand. She said a third of the system would not be taking down as it’s a critical circuit. Concerns about SAWS pumps taken off the critical circuit have dialysis patients like Allen in distress with no access to water.

SAN ANTONIO – CPS Energy has addressed “false messaging” on social media following a series of power outages affecting the San Antonio and Bexar County area. According to the company, “unofficial CPS Energy messaging” is being circulated on social media. “BEWARE: There’s unofficial CPS Energy messaging being circulated across social media,” the company said on Tuesday. “While we provide several daily updates, please know this DID NOT come from CPS Energy.”BEWARE: There’s unofficial CPS Energy messaging being circulated across social media. While we provide several daily updates, please know this DID NOT come from CPS Energy.

SAN ANTONIO – CPS Energy President and CEO Paula Gold-Williams said more freezing rain in Tuesday night’s forecast will prove to be a challenge in their efforts to restore power to hundreds of thousands of San Antonio residents. But the “intensity of freezing temperatures have done some damage” to the utility company’s ability to provide power, Gold-Williams said. Freezing drizzle and freezing rain are expected to kick in again Tuesday evening, icing roads again and threatening restoration efforts. AdEvery source of energy — including wind, solar, coal, natural gas, and nuclear — was affected in some way by the temperatures, Gold-Williams said. Roughly two-thirds of the CPS Energy grids continue to have rotating outages.

CPS Energy updated media outlets Monday afternoon, hours after Electric Reliability Council of Texas said the rotating outages will continue throughout the state through Tuesday. Paula Gold-Williams, CPS Energy president and CEO, said the goal is to try and rotate outages in 15-minute increments. Typically, CPS Energy sees peak energy demand in the summer when the hottest temperatures set in. With energy reductions driven by outage management, CPS Energy used more than 4,954 MW yesterday, which was a winter record. If the outages had not been proactively managed thus far, winter energy demand would have exceeded summer maximums for the first time in CPS Energy’s history.

The energy provider is continuing its efforts to let customers know about CPS Energy’s assistance programs and other community resources. We’ve been doing it less than three months and customers are happy that we are calling.”CPS Energy offers savings programs and rebates to help customers save energy and money, as well as reduce the overall demand for energy in our community. Click or tap here to learn how to save energy. CPS Energy continues to be flexible when working with customers to ensure they are on one of many assistance programs during this time of need. The energy provider is the nation’s largest municipally-owned energy utility providing both natural gas and electric service serving more than 840,750 electric customers and 352,585 natural gas customers in and around San Antonio.

SAN ANTONIO – Editor’s Note: Watch the entire briefing in the video player above. San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg and Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff updated the community about the local response to COVID-19 in their daily briefing Wednesday night. Here are a few of the highlights:Nirenberg reported 1,972 COVID-19 cases and 58 deaths in Bexar County , as of Wednesday. Three new cases were confirmed at the Bexar County Jail, 18 are from the community and four are from congregate settings. The first case confirmed in the U.S. was in mid-January and the first case confirmed in San Antonio was in mid-February.