Under the plan recommended by the committee, CPS Energy would end its coal use in the next six years by shutting down Spruce 1 by 2028 and converting Spruce 2 to a natural gas plant by 2027, which would run indefinitely.
CPS Energy formed the rate advisory committee in 2021,from climate activists for a full, open examination of the utility’s rate structure and its long-term plans for its power plants. The committee’s 21 members were chosen by CPS Energy’s trustees and San Antonio City Council members.
But critics of the committee, who hoped it would be more independent, say those recommendations were made because the utility’s staff guided the committee’s 21 members into agreeing with their choices and that the same thing has happened this time. “It wasn’t the [committee] making this decision, it was CPS [Energy],” said DeeDee Belmares, a climate justice organizer with Public Citizen’s Texas office and committee member.Most utilities do not get input from customer advisory boards when weighing big decisions such as this, he said. Even for CPS Energy, he said, “It’s a first-time thing for us.” CPS Energy shared nine portfolio options with the committee over several months, hosted seven community meetings and created a survey to allow customers to weigh in as well, said Dana Sootodeh, a CPS Energy spokeswoman. Belmares points out that the recommended mix assumes that gas will be affordable and reliable, which it hasn’t been in the recent past. She noted one big reason customers this past summer was due to high gas prices, while multiple natural gas plants across the state failed during Winter Storm Uri.CPS Energy fossil fuel plants were available over 90% of the time from June through September, said CPS Energy spokeswoman Milady Nazir. While natural gas has its drawbacks, it’s still the most reliable option that exists today, said the committee’s chairman Reed Williams. Williams encouraged the utility and committee members to think of this portfolio as a six-to-eight year plan rather than as a long-term solution. “We’re closing down a baseload coal plant in a world that is politically controlled by people that don’t particularly like us, okay?” Williams said of ERCOT’s board of directors. “That’s what we’re trying to do, and we have to have their permission to do this. How do we get their permission? We get their permission by increasing our reliability.” Several members, including Belmares, expressed their gratitude Thursday to the utility for its efforts to be more transparent, and on its decision to phase out coal. Belmares added that she would like to see CPS Energy revisit its generation mix every two to three years, as technology continues to advance, especially given that the Inflation Reduction Act has money to help fund climate action efforts. “I’m encouraged that the city is focused on securing the funding from the IRA,” she said. “I don’t feel like the potential from the IRA was communicated enough to the [committee] and I’d like to see that be the case.”
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