{"id":985758,"date":"2026-08-07T01:39:12","date_gmt":"2026-08-07T01:39:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/985758\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T01:39:12","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T01:39:12","slug":"governors-new-energy-plan-fuels-debate-about-cps-energy-payments-going-into-city-of-san-antonio-general-budget","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/985758\/","title":{"rendered":"Governor’s new energy plan fuels debate about CPS Energy payments going into City of San Antonio general budget"},"content":{"rendered":"

SAN ANTONIO <\/strong> \u2013 Gov. Greg Abbott\u2019s plan to break up the energy sector<\/a> in cities like San Antonio and Austin has brought up a more focused discussion about where some of that CPS Energy money is used. <\/p>\n

The newly proposed legislation<\/a> would make it illegal for a city-owned energy utility like CPS Energy to dominate the market.<\/p>\n

A ripple effect of that could deeply affect the City of San Antonio\u2019s budget.<\/p>\n

The City of San Antonio and CPS Energy confirm 14% of the money collected from CPS Energy bills goes into the City of San Antonio\u2019s budget.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe law will prevent city utilities from charging consumers for unrelated costs, using your electricity payment to fund city budgets,\u201d Abbott said. <\/p>\n

A map of CPS Energy\u2019s coverage area shows an inner section in green, representing customers within San Antonio city limits.<\/p>\n

In blue are small cities in the San Antonio area like Windcrest, Alamo Heights, Castle Hills and Balcones Heights. The blue also includes all county areas.<\/p>\n

CPS Energy customer Carl Duelm hosted the governor at his Northeast Side home on Tuesday, agreeing with his proposal.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe money, it goes into a slush fund to where (the City of San Antonio) can disperse the money however they want,\u201d Duelm said.<\/p>\n

Even though Duelm does live in the City of San Antonio and benefits from those services, he still doesn\u2019t agree with where the CPS Energy money ends up.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think people should being paying into something they don\u2019t even know what they\u2019re paying into,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

On Wednesday, San Antonio Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones was on KSAT and explained the money goes into the city\u2019s general fund. <\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s not a slush fund. Those are investments and things we pay for that contribute to the safety and health of our community,\u201d Jones said.<\/p>\n

She listed vital services the general fund fuels. <\/p>\n

\u201cThat money is going to pay for cops and police. We pay for 2,400 meals for seniors. Every year that comes to about $3.3 million that we pay for those senior meals. Just in June, that contribution is just shy of $38 million. It would be a significant hit to our general fund to not have that source of income,\u201d Jones said. <\/p>\n

Jones said if the governor\u2019s law passes, the city would have to bring in new revenue streams in a time when they\u2019re already trying to tackle a future $158 million budget shortfall. <\/p>\n

Abbott said Tuesday he has tried to pass this type of legislation before, but it never got enough votes. <\/p>\n

If it passes this time, it could go into effect by May.<\/p>\n

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