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.

While February’s deadly winter storm not only left hundreds of thousands of San Antonio residents without power in subfreezing temperatures, some for days on end, it also exposed a large number of organizational issues within CPS Energy, the largest public power company in the nation.

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 has now spent over $7 million on outside attorneys and consultants to fight natural gas bills it racked up during February’s winter storm, records obtained by the KSAT 12 Defenders show.

CPS Energy officials have dismissed at least three lawsuits against natural gas suppliers it accused of price gouging and charging exorbitant rates for fuel during February’s winter blast, court records obtained by the KSAT 12 Defenders show.

The ethnically insensitive comment, made in front of four fellow employees, led to a complaint being filed against Bonewell with the utility’s Ethics and Compliance Hotline a week later, internal CPS records obtained by the KSAT 12 Defenders show.

Officials with CPS Energy this month were forced to release a copy of a 2020 complaint that alleges its president and CEO, Paula Gold Williams, repeatedly mistreated members of the utility’s senior leadership team.

Already facing $1 billion in costs from February's freeze and statewide blackouts, San Antonio's CPS Energy has also amassed $2.5 million in outside legal fees related...

Two more San Antonio families joined a growing list of people who have filed wrongful death lawsuits against CPS Energy, claiming the utility contributed to the deaths of their loved ones in February, court records obtained by the KSAT 12 Defenders show.

CPS EnergyCPS Energy CEO Paula Gold Williams speaks during an energy symposium. CPS Energy customers won't see any charges on their February bills related to last month's winter storm, the city-owned utility said.In a statement released Friday, CPS officials said it will begin releasing electronic and paper bills Monday, although some customers may not see theirs until after Saturday, March 13.The announcement follows a board meeting this week at which CEO Paula Gold-Williams warned that the CPS is grappling with $1 billion in expenses from fuel and wholesale electricity purchases during the historic weather event.“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,” the utility said in its new statement.CPS suspended billing on February 19 to ensure it wouldn't hit customers with sky-high charges related to the storm. Due to the delay some customers' February bills may land near their March bills, it cautioned.However, CPS officials said staffers are prepared to work with customers to make payment arrangements. They're also reviewing the accounts of customers most effected by the winter storm and expect to announce a credit plan to make up for power outages during the weather event in the next 30 to 45 days.

Update 7:45 a.m. SundayTxDOT San Antonio announced on Twitter that all interchanges and roadways previously closed due to the winter storm are now open. Update 1:30 p.m. SaturdayTxDOT San Antonio announced on their twitter that they are focusing on reopening multiple roadway closures across the city. The finesilver curve in downtown San Antonio is also closed, according to the Texas Department of Transportation in San Antonio. The temperature at 10:51 a.m. was 37 degrees reported at the San Antonio International Airport. Locals immediately lit up their social media feeds with joyful proclamations of surprise and photos of the rare San Antonio weather event.

CPS EnergyCPS Energy CEO Paula Gold Williams speaks during a 2017 energy symposium. She said the power company will make improvements to customer communications "after we get out of this storm. "Nirenberg also questioned why San Antonio Water System pumping stations weren't considered critical infrastructure that would be spared rolling blackouts. "Councilman Manny Pelaez said there will be ample time down the line conduct a postmortem on the power outages. She said she was less concerned about the "why" of the problem than when power would be restored.

CPS EnergyCPS Energy CEO Paula Gold Williams speaks during an energy symposium. Despite a petition calling for CPS Energy to shut down its Spruce 2 coal-fired power plant, the city-owned utility's top official told the Express-News she's not willing to take that step.In a virtual meeting with the daily's editorial board, CEO Paula Gold-Williams said CPS still owes $1 billion on the plant, which went into commission 10 years ago. That means the utility can't afford to close it down within the next decade — something groups including the Sierra Club have demanded.“Spruce 2 is only 10 years old,” Gold-Williams said. “All the debt that goes along with the bonds doesn’t go away.”Roughly two dozen environmental and social justice groups have circulated a petition demanding that CPS retire Spruce 2 no later than 2030 and expand the utility's investment in renewable energy sources.Environmentalists say Spruce 2 and a companion plant that's scheduled to close by 2030 play a major role in the greenhouse emissions that pushed the San Antonio area into noncompliance with federal clean-air standards. Sierra Club-commissioned report from last year also estimates that the utility could save $1 billion from 2026 through 2040 by shuttering both coal plants and switching to renewables.

CPS EnergyCPS Energy CEO Paula Gold Williams speaks during an energy symposium. "COVID-19 has severely disrupted the lives of thousands of San Antonio residents," Nirenberg said in a statement supplied to the Current. "We will not abandon people who have been unable to pay their utility bills because of the pandemic." "COVID-19 has severely disrupted the lives of thousands of San Antonio residents," Nirenberg said in a statement supplied to the. In 2016, the year she became CEO, the utility switched off power to 90,837 accounts, setting the previous record.

CPS EnergyCPS Energy CEO Paula Gold Williams speaks during an energy symposium. Deceleration that the data reflects income inequality in the city. If anything, they add, the utility has worked harder recently to accommodate low-income customers who need assistance.The 2018 record was set two years after Gold-Williams took the reins. In 2016, the year she became CEO, the utility switched off power to 90,837 accounts, setting the previous record. Among their recommendations was a call to stop disconnecting residents who were at or below 200% of the federal poverty line.

CPS EnergyCPS Energy CEO Paula Gold Williams speaks during an energy symposium. CPS Energy wants to sign contracts with an unnamed provider for two 250-megawatt blocks of capacity, one next year and the other in 2021. That could potentially remove the need for using fossil fuels such as natural gas at all. "Gold Williams downplayed the notion that CPS Energy would need the gas-plant capacity for all 10 years, adding that she would explore other options during that time. "If it was an open process, I expect CPS would get quite a number of proposals offering a variety of options," she said.