CPS Energy sues the Electric Reliability Council of Texas

SAN ANTONIO (KTSA News) — The Electric Reliability Council of Texas is being sued…again.

The lawsuit has been filed by CPS Energy with the utility claiming it’s being filed to protect it’s customers from “excessive, illegitimate and illegal prices” that came during and after February’s winter storm.

CPS accuses ERCOT of violating the Texas Constitution, negligence and breach of contract.

“We are fighting to protect our customers from the financial impacts of the systemic failure of the ERCOT market and the outrageous and unlawful costs associated with that failure,” said Paula Gold-Williams, President & CEO of CPS Energy. “During a state declared disaster, ERCOT ran up $20 billion in charges for 5 days of energy supply due to its lack of oversight, preparedness, and failure to follow its own protocols. That is a huge amount of money and it’s incredibly important we continue to fight for our customers to bring those bills down.”

Following the storm, the Public Utility Commission looked into the sky-high energy costs Texans were facing.

They determined that ERCOT made several mistakes that resulted in overcharges. A recommendation to reverse the charges was made.

The lawsuit was filed Friday in Bexar County District Court.