CPS ENERGY REPORTS NEW POSITIVE COVID-19 EMPLOYEE CASES
Sequestration plans being reviewed to ensure essential services are not interrupted
San Antonio, Texas – June 23, 2020 – CPS Energy continues to work to keep customers, employees and the community safe during the COVID-19 pandemic. As positive cases in the community rise, CPS Energy has also seen an increase in the number of reported positive COVID-19 employee cases.
As last reported on May 27, 2020, CPS Energy had confirmed 3 positive COVID-19 employee cases. As of June 23, 2020, the number of positive COVID-19 cases among CPS Energy employees is now at 23. These cases have been confirmed over the last several days. All contact tracing and notification of coworkers and customers who were in contact with these individuals has been completed. As a precautionary measure, necessary deep cleaning of facilities where these employees were during the last 2 weeks has also been completed. The utility continues to support these employees and they are recovering at home. CPS Energy also tracks the number of employees being self-quarantined by the company as a precaution, and that number is 211. These employees are asked to quarantine out of an abundance of caution to keep our employees and customers safe. Personal information, including specific health data of the employees, will not be disclosed in accordance with applicable laws and regulations.
“CPS Energy’s focus on safety has not wavered; in fact, we remain steadfastly focused on keeping our customers and employees safe while ensuring we keep the power on for our community,” said Paula Gold-Williams, President & CEO, CPS Energy. “We take measures, on a daily basis, to equip our team members with the information and resources they need to keep them and our customers safe. In addition, we are actively reaching out to our customers with information about resources to assist them during this pandemic. We will continue to keep everyone up to date on our activities.”
CPS Energy continues to stress to employees the importance of safety, social distancing, face covering requirements and health and wellness guidelines. In accordance with the City and County orders, the utility is requiring all employees, customers, contractors, and visitors to wear a face covering when they are unable to keep six feet distance from others when they are in a CPS Energy facility or workplace, including customer payment centers. CPS Energy’s new COVID Health & Safety Policy is posted in each facility and has been communicated with all employees. This policy has also been posted on the CPS Energy website.
To minimize exposure to COVID-19, customer-facing employees, including those who may have to interact with customers in their homes, have implemented additional safety measures to protect our customers and themselves. These measures were implemented in late March and added precautions include additional personal protective equipment (PPE) that has been issued to field employees and specialized safety training for field employees.
CPS Energy’s goal remains providing the community with reliable electric and natural gas services. Going forward, CPS Energy will continue to look at metrics, monitor community spread, including its velocity, while assessing local public health strategies to reevaluate and determine the possible implementation of sequestration plans. CPS Energy is therefore, also, actively reviewing sequestration plans aimed at protecting mission critical personnel to ensure essential services to the community are not interrupted.
CPS Energy also continues to remind the community about resources available to them to help with payment assistance. Energy Advisors are currently proactively calling customers to ensure they are aware of these assistance programs and resources. In addition to the temporary suspension of disconnects, and the waiving of late fees on unpaid balances for customers who participate in a company-sponsored payment plan, CPS Energy has a variety of money-saving and general assistance programs available for customers. For more information on these programs, visit https://cpsenergy.com/assistance or call 210-353-2222 to speak to an Energy Advisor.
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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 860,934 electric and 358,495 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 $8 billion in revenue for the City of San Antonio for more than seven decades. As a trusted and strong community partner, we continuously focus on job creation, economic development and educational investment. True to our People First philosophy, 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.
