CPS Energy Continues Fight to Protect Customers from Excessive Fuel & Purchased Power Costs from the February 2021 Winter Storms: February Bills Do Not Include Exorbitant Winter Storm Charges; Company’s Billing Process to Resume Monday, March 8, 2021 - Read More
CPS Energy is taking decisive action to protect customers and the San Antonio community from price gouging for illegitimate fuel & power costs.
As such, there will be no change to the Fuel Adjustment Charge for March 2021. Currently, we are holding these costs and not passing them through to customers. Please read more about our actions here.
The Fuel Adjustment Charge covers costs associated with generating, or producing, electricity. Typically, these fuel adjustment charges are adjusted each month to reflect changes in the cost of generating energy. Many events can increase or decrease the cost of generating energy. Some examples include:
- An increase or decrease in the cost of fuel, such as natural gas or coal, for our power plants
- A planned maintenance project at one of our power plants that causes us to temporarily source energy from alternative sources
- A change in energy usage patterns due to weather or other factors that causes us to source energy from alternative sources
- Charges associated with ERCOT’s management of the Texas electric grid
- An unplanned event that otherwise causes a change in the average cost of producing energy for our customers
CPS Energy Retail Fuel Adjustment Factors for Electric Generation and Resale Gas for the previous 13 months can be found here. March 2021 factors are unchanged from February 2021.
The March 2021 average cost per kWh for residential customers is 10.9 cents.
The current 12 month average is 11.0 cents.
The electric and gas charges found on your CPS Energy residential bill are made up of base rate components, the fuel adjustment, and the regulatory adjustment.
The formula for the residential electric base rate combines:
- The Service Availability Charge covers the cost of metering and billing for your address, regardless of consumption.
- The Energy Charge recovers costs for power plants and other infrastructure based on the amount of electricity you use.
- The Peak Capacity Charge applies during the months of June through September when an additional charge of $0.0198 is added to bills for every kilowatt hour (kWh) used in excess of 600 kWh. The Peak Capacity Charge covers the higher costs for electricity CPS Energy incurs during summer months when the demand for electricity is at its highest.
For the natural gas rate, the residential base rate includes just the Service Availability Charge and the Energy Charge. Each of these items is listed on the back of your bill.
Retail rates contain an electric fuel adjustment, or gas cost adjustment clause, which provides for recovery of fuel costs.
Electric and gas fuel adjustment factors (listed below) are set each month and may be positive or negative, depending on whether fuel costs for the period are above or below the amount that is built into the base rate. As a result, customers may see a change or a credit on their monthly bill.
For retail customers, the Fuel Adjustment Charge may appear as a charge or a credit on your monthly bill. Here’s what goes into it:
- Generated Power Costs––fuel costs associated with CPS Energy’s nuclear, coal, and natural gas units
- Renewable Power Costs––renewable energy purchases of wind, solar, and landfill gas
- Market Power Purchases––purchases from the open market
- Save for Tomorrow Energy Plan (STEP)––recovers portion of costs associated with energy efficiency
programs
Costs recovered through the Regulatory Adjustment factor include:
- Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) administrative fee
- North American Electric Reliability Corporation / Electric Reliability Organization (NERC/ERO) fees
- Expenditures associated with the ERCOT-wide transmission grid
The City of San Antonio delivers a broad range of services – from waste collection to park maintenance – to you and your neighbors. The fees for many of those services are collected through your CPS Energy bill. For the city government, this is a convenient and efficient way to collect monthly fees. You’ll find a complete list of these fees under “City Services” on the back of your CPS Energy bill. CPS Energy is not responsible for providing these services. They include:
- Garbage Collection Services costs
- Brush Fee Environmental Services Fee
- Environmental Services Fee
To find out more, contact City Services Requests & Information by dialing 311 or 210-207-6000 between the hours of 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. Monday through Friday; 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Assistance is available online at https://311.sanantonio.gov/services.
