At the peak of the outages, 150,000 Austin Energy customers were without electricity as a result of ice-covered tree limbs falling onto power lines. The utility was slow to restore power in many areas, and thousands of households and businesses were without electricity for days.
The situation evoked memories of February 2021, when Winter Storm Uri caused a near-collapse of Texas’ electric grid, leaving millions of households and businesses in San Antonio and other cities in the cold and dark for days. Nearly 300 deaths were attributed to the storm, although the precise number likely will never be known.
In addition to losing their heat and lights, many San Antonio households went without water for days. That’s because CPS Energy had toDuring the storm, CPS racked up $1 billion in bills for natural gas and electricity purchased at exorbitant prices on the spot market. The utility’s customers will be paying off that expense for years through rate increases.
Not surprisingly, public opinion turned against Gold-Williams, the CEO, and a string of high-level departures at CPS further weakened her position.