CORE: One year, over 80,000 customer calls and $29 million later

As you start reading this blog, we have a favor to ask. As a matter of fact, we’re going to ask you for three favors in the coming days. So, please don’t stop reading until you get to the end.

Think back to what you were doing a year ago today. In San Antonio and across the world, we were gripped by the deadly COVID-19 pandemic that scuttled summer travel plans, closed neighborhood pools, and canceled children’s camps and activities. Having already been stuck indoors since the virus started spreading locally in March of 2020, most of us were facing a long, hot summer with reduced interactions with friends, family, and neighbors.

For so many of our customers, the pandemic also brought along life changing challenges. In the midst of all of this, the hard-working folks on our Customer Engagement team, under the direction of our leadership, decided to pick up the phone and start calling people through our Customer Outreach Resource Effort, or CORE, as featured here.

Our company policy typically dictates that we will not call you, and that’s still mostly true. CPS Energy will never call our customers demanding payment, accept payment directly during a call, or tell a customer to purchase a gift card to pay their bill.

However, these were unique times in need of a unique form of outreach. So, beginning in June of 2020, our CORE team started calling customers to check-in and see how they were doing. Some folks needed assistance with their energy bill. Others wondered how they could cover food and rent while they were out of work or dealing with unforeseen medical expenses. Still, others just needed to know someone cared during a time of isolation and loneliness.

CORE was there, not just in June 2020, but all the way through to the present day. These dedicated People First team members have made 80,000 calls to customers, connecting them with $29 million of assistance or referring them to needed resources and support agencies. The financial assistance has come from various funds provided by us, community agencies, and the City of San Antonio and Bexar County via the federal government’s CARES Act.

Thankfully, things are looking up. Nearly half of our community is fully vaccinated, slowing down the virus and its deadly impact. The job market is improving, and folks are starting to get back to work. Even some public swimming pools are open again, which is a must during a hot Texas summer. Meanwhile, our CORE team continues making calls, connecting customers with resources, and bill assistance.

And, that’s where our ask comes in. If you are behind on your energy bill, know that we are here for you. Please give us a call at 210-353-2222 and speak to one of our friendly Energy Advisors, who will be happy to work with you and help you and your family get back to a more comfortable place. As you can see in the graph above, we connect customers with vital assistance every day, and we can do it for you, too. Don’t need help? Help someone else by sharing this blog on social media so your friends and neighbors are aware of the bill assistance available to them.

We’ve all come out of this pandemic changed in various ways, and that applies to how CPS Energy serves our customers, too, as detailed in a previous blog. With an increasingly personal touch, we are here for you.

NOTE: Please visit us online for bill assistance options. If you don’t need help but know someone who does, you can give the gift of energy to a loved one, friend or neighbor through our Energy Angels program. Just click here.