SAN ANTONIO – CPS Energy leaders are set to take a closer look today at the utility’s response to last month’s powerful storms that left hundreds of thousands of customers without electricity and some waiting nearly a week for power to be restored.
The CPS Energy Board of Trustees will meet at 1 p.m. to discuss the Aug. 28 storms and what the utility can do differently when another major weather event hits San Antonio.
The storms tore through the city late Aug. 28 with wind gusts topping 65 mph and more than 2,400 lightning strikes detected.
The severe weather damaged more than 60 utility poles and 137 transformers while knocking down hundreds of trees across San Antonio.
At the height of the outages, more than 250,000 customers were without electricity. While crews gradually restored service, some residents remained without power for several days, leaving families without air conditioning during the summer heat and prompting frustration over the pace of restoration efforts.
CPS Energy has since been evaluating its response and identifying ways to make better use of its resources and technology during future storms.
The utility has identified four major areas for improvement.
One involves damage assessment, including greater use of drones to quickly survey storm damage from above, particularly areas where fallen trees have damaged power lines and other equipment.
CPS Energy will also examine its use of mutual assistance, which allows the utility to bring in outside crews when additional workers are needed to restore power.
Technology is another focus, with CPS Energy looking at ways to provide more up-to-date information through its outage maps and energy alerts.
The utility is also examining communication and partnerships with other agencies, including coordination involving the removal of storm debris and brush.