San Antonio's Energy Future and You
Learn More About Our Strategic Energy Plan
Most of us don’t think much about electricity or natural gas in our daily lives. We flip a light switch or turn a gas knob, and the energy we need is there. For almost 70 years, CPS Energy has provided reliable, affordable energy for our community. And our energy bills have remained among the lowest in the nation, even as our hometown has grown to be the seventh largest in the country.
How do we continue to be among the best, even as we face a national recession, wildly fluctuating fuel prices, an expected tax on emissions from fossil-fueled power plants and other major issues?
We believe the answer lies in the Strategic Energy Plan (SEP), our roadmap for supplying the power Greater San Antonio needs for a bright, sustainable energy future. It focuses on four key objectives: increasing our energy efficiency and conservation efforts; expanding renewable-energy resources; providing cost-competitive electricity; and maintaining our strong commitment to the environment. Furthermore, our Vision 2020 plan summarizes our key accomplishments and addresses the challenges we have as we transition from a company focused on low-cost power from traditional generation sources to a company that provides competitively priced power based on a variety of sustainable sources.
If you would like to learn more, continue to read this page, or take advantage of the opportunities we offer for you or your organization to learn more about our energy future.
Strategic Energy Plan Objectives
More About Our Plans
Strategic Energy Plan Objectives
Our Save for Tomorrow Energy Plan (STEP) aims at reducing the growth in our community’s demand for electricity by 771 megawatts (MW) by 2020 – that’s the output of a large power plant. To achieve this ambitious goal, CPS Energy is committing millions of dollars to incentives and rebates designed to: encourage residents to purchase energy-efficient appliances, improve residential heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems as well as insulation, increase the use of CFLs and programmable thermostats, expand lighting retrofits and other commercial programs, and more.
For years, reliability and affordability have made CPS Energy a catalyst for economic development. Energy efficiency and conservation are spurring more business for local companies who provide new equipment and installation services for our rebate programs. Increased customer demand creates more green jobs and, coupled with the low cost of doing business here, encourages new green manufacturers to locate in San Antonio.
CPS Energy’s renewable resources, which include wind, landfill gas and solar, currently equal more than 11 percent of our peak electricity demand. Among community-owned utilities in the U. S., CPS Energy ranks number 1 in wind capacity. Currently, we buy 859 MW of wind power from West Texas, South Texas, coastal wind farms. CPS Energy continues to explore the acquisition of additional wind projects.
Meanwhile, we’re looking to add 100 MW of solar-generated electricity. Already we have the 14 MW Blue Wing solar installation in operation just south of San Antonio. Another 30 MW solar project, consisting of three 10 MW installations located across our service area, also is underway. We are well on our way to achieving a major goal – renewable-energy capacity equal to 20 percent of our total generation capacity, or 1,500 MW, by 2020 – that will maintain our position as a national leader in renewable energy.
While doing everything we can to improve efficiency and bring more renewable energy on line, we’re also using diverse sources to generate electricity because using the right resource at the right time helps us keep our customers' bills as low as possible.
In 2010, we built a 750-MW coal-fired power plant with the latest emissions-control technology at Calaveras Lake in southeast Bexar County. New natural gas-fired generating units – powered by quick-start jet aircraft engines – have been installed at Braunig Lake to help meet demand at peak times like South Texas summer afternoons. And plans are under way to remove several older, less-efficient natural gas-fired power plants from service.
Today, we rely on nuclear energy via the South Texas Project (STP) in Bay City, Texas, to produce about a third of our community’s electricity at a much lower cost than any other fuel source. CPS Energy owns 40 percent of the two existing units at STP while NRG Energy owns 44 percent and Austin Energy owns 16 percent.
In addition to equipping our new coal plant with the latest in emissions-control systems, CPS Energy has upgraded existing coal units at a cost of $245 million. The Spruce 1 & 2 units are some of the nation’s best environmentally controlled coal-fired power plants. The Deely coal-fired units are scheduled to be mothballed by the end of 2018.
We also maintain a commitment to the air quality in Greater San Antonio, operating a fleet of alternative-fueled vehicles, planting thousands of trees in our community each year, increasing our use of renewable energy, and more. More about our environmental stewardship
More About Our Plans
