CPS Energy Rate Hike 2025: How Much Your Bill Will Increase—and 7 Ways to Cut Costs

San Antonio’s municipally owned utility, CPS Energy, is back in the spotlight this week as severe spring storms, a landmark courtroom verdict and fresh clean-energy deals converge to shape the future of the nation’s largest city-owned electric and gas provider. Storm-driven outages test the grid Early-morning thunderstorms knocked out power to more than 5,000 customers on the city’s North and West sides, reminding residents that storm-hardening remains a top priority for CPS Energy’s Vision 2027 plan. Crews restored most service within hours, but the event renewed calls for more underground lines and advanced outage-management technology. $109 million jury verdict raises safety stakes Only days earlier, a Bexar County jury ordered CPS Energy to pay $109 million in damages for a 2021 East Side home explosion linked to an alleged natural-gas system failure. The utility says it will review the verdict while accelerating pipeline inspections and leak-detection upgrades across its 8,100-mile gas network. Plant retirement timeline meets ERCOT pushback CPS Energy still plans to shutter the three aging Braunig gas-fired units by March 31, 2025, arguing that newer, more efficient resources can cover the gap. Grid operator ERCOT has questioned the timeline, but CPS Energy insists the closures align with its carbon-reduction targets and will not compromise reliability. Renewables and storage deals accelerate Momentum toward clean power continues. The utility recently joined OCI Holdings and LG Energy Solution in a U.S. battery-storage project that could add hundreds of megawatt-hours of capacity to CPS Energy’s portfolio, smoothing solar and wind output during peak demand. Separately, CPS Energy signed a purchase agreement for 159 MW of Texas wind energy, underscoring its goal to reach 50 percent renewable generation by 2030. Surging electricity demand from tech and population growth San Antonio’s data-center boom and rapid population growth are expected to push local peak load beyond 6,000 MW by 2030, up from 5,070 MW in 2024. CPS Energy says its forthcoming 1,710-MW portfolio of new natural-gas, solar, wind and battery projects—financed through a $7.4 billion capital plan—will cover that surge while keeping rates among the lowest in Texas. What it means for customers • Short term: Expect aggressive vegetation management and targeted grid upgrades to curb weather-related outages. • Medium term: Retiring older gas plants should trim operating costs, but regulatory hurdles could delay final shutdowns. • Long term: New storage partnerships and renewable PPAs position CPS Energy to meet rising demand with cleaner power, helping the city hit its Climate Action & Adaptation Plan milestones. With storm season underway, a nine-figure legal judgment on the books and billion-dollar investments in the pipeline, CPS Energy’s every move will remain headline news—and a key search term—for San Antonians watching both their power bills and the lights.