People First Resilience: Energy Advisors go extra mile to help customers from home

Just like he has every work day for the past 18 years, Hector Ortiz sits down at his desk, boots up his computer and readies his smiling face and friendly voice for the customers that will soon be on the other end of the line.

This might seem like just another day at the office for Hector, but there’s one big difference. He’s doing all this from the comfort of his home.

In a proactive move to minimize the spread of COVID-19 among our employees and in the community, almost all of the 152 Energy Advisors like Hector are among the nearly 1,200 CPS Energy employees working from home during the pandemic and local Stay Home, Work Safe orders. Despite the inherent challenges that come from having to adjust all their work habits and routines, Hector and his teammates, who transitioned from the office to their homes in just a matter of weeks, have continued to deliver great results by helping our customers and each other.

“To be honest it’s a lot less stressful,” said Hector. “I was getting up extra early to get to work but now it’s a relief. I love it. On my breaks I pull some weeds out in my yard, and we eat lunch together as a family.”

While not having to deal with traffic and other day-to-day challenges can be a relief, Hector and his teammates understand that this time can be stressful for our customers. As always, they are doing their best to help them quickly, answering nearly all calls within 30 seconds. In fact, these Energy Advisors have fielded more than 241,000 calls in the time they’ve been working from home.

“When customers come to us, sometimes they’re scared, but once they talk to us, they’re calm,” said Leticia Rangel, an Energy Advisor who’s been with the company since 2016. “They say ‘thank you’ because they can sleep better now knowing they have us to help them. Many of the customers I deal with are elderly and they can be a little scared of the online tools, but they have peace of mind knowing we are there for them.”

Our Energy Advisors are always vigilant about helping our customers, but these days, they’re keeping an equally compassionate eye out for each other. Joy Harris, an Energy Advisor who’s been with the company for two years, tragically lost her mother in Indianapolis to COVID-19. As she took time off to travel back home with her family, she received an outpouring of love and support from her CPS Energy family.

“I have never worked for a company that cares so much about their employees,” said Joy. “All of my supervisors and teammates called me when I lost my mom. It’s People First not just for customers, it’s for me as well. We are a big company, but we are a small family. You have all these things that you’re already worried about and for your job to assure you that everything is OK is just amazing.”

While COVID-19 has turned the world upside-down, our Energy Advisors along with all CPS Energy employees have kept their eyes on our Guiding Pillars. The talented team is committed to maintaining strong operations by always putting People First as we deliver safe, affordable and reliable power to our community of 2 million in Greater San Antonio. No matter what life throws their way, you can bet our Energy Advisors will be ready to help.

“These are my customers,” said Leticia. “They come to me and I want to reassure them. We give them that peace of mind and that’s what I like. They know that we are always here for them.”