CPS ENERGY RECEIVES TWO RECOGNITIONS IN CHARTWELL’S 20TH ANNUAL BEST PRACTICES AWARDS
CPS Energy receives Gold and Silver Awards
August 7, 2023 (SAN ANTONIO) – CPS Energy has received the Gold Award for Serving Vulnerable Customers and the Silver Communications Award for their communications efforts in the development of their color-coded energy conservation system in Chartwell’s 20th Annual Best Practice Awards. Chartwell is a specialized information provider for the utility industry that provides strategic research and facilitates issue-targeted forums for collaboration among industry peers. These awards recognize excellence among electric and gas utilities with respect to projects, programs and service initiatives. The categories include Billing and Payment Programs, Communications, Customer Service, Digital Experience, Program Marketing and Serving Vulnerable Customers. CPS Energy was selected from a pool of 90 entries in these categories.
CPS Energy earned the Gold Award for Serving Vulnerable Customers which was based on the utility’s innovative approach to customer service and energy equity. According to U.S. Census data, San Antonio ranks as the most impoverished major city in the country. Due to the pandemic, CPS Energy saw an increase in overdue payments. Customers were not responding to the standard channels of customer support or collection notifications, resulting in past-due accounts rising to nearly half of its customer population. With many customers unaware of the availability of federal and other support, CPS Energy worked to improve its customer service delivery and bridge its programs with regional nonprofit programs to build a community immersion strategy.
“Our team is in the community every day informing customers of assistance programs and looking for additional opportunities to connect and help those who need it,” said Jesse Hernandez, CPS Energy’s Director of Equity, Community Strategy, & Engagement. “We host a variety of events throughout the San Antonio community and engage in person to help answer our customers’ questions. This award highlights the work our team has done and will continue to do for our customers, especially as we look for new ways to address energy equity.”
CPS Energy also received the Silver Communication Award for the development of its color-coded energy conservation levels that help residential and business customers conserve energy, avoid high bills and support electric grid reliability. Earned, owned, paid media, and stakeholder engagement channels are used to communicate the daily energy conservation level. Energy conservation efforts resulted in 282 megawatts of energy demand reduction from June through September 2022, which is enough to power 56,400 homes. The utility has expanded communication efforts his summer.
“The CPS Energy color-coded energy conservation levels help educate our customers on ways to conserve energy that will help them control their energy bill, and will also help maintain grid reliability,” said Melissa Sorola, CPS Energy’s Vice President of Corporate Communications & Marketing. “We are thankful for the recognition from Chartwell and we continue to explore new ways to educate all of our customers about the importance of energy conservation.”
More information about the color-coded energy conservation levels can be found here. Daily alerts are shared on the CPS Energy website and social media pages. Customers in need of bill payment assistance are encouraged to call 210-353-2222.
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About CPS Energy
Established in 1860, CPS Energy is the nation’s largest public power, natural gas, and electric company, providing safe, reliable, and competitively-priced service to more than 930,114 electric and 381,379 natural gas customers in San Antonio and portions of seven adjoining counties. Our customers’ combined energy bills rank among the lowest of the nation’s 20 largest cities – while generating $9 billion in revenue for the City of San Antonio for 80 years. As a trusted and strong community partner, we continuously focus on job creation, economic development, and educational investment. We are powered by our skilled workforce, whose commitment to the community is demonstrated through our employees’ volunteerism in giving back to our city and programs aimed at bringing value to our customers. CPS Energy is among the top public power wind energy buyers in the nation and number one in Texas for solar generation.
