{"id":136614,"date":"2026-01-24T17:05:19","date_gmt":"2026-01-24T17:05:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/136614\/"},"modified":"2026-01-24T17:05:19","modified_gmt":"2026-01-24T17:05:19","slug":"san-antonio-officials-utility-leaders-update-community-on-cold-weather-response-warming-centers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/136614\/","title":{"rendered":"San Antonio officials, utility leaders update community on cold weather response, warming centers"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">SAN ANTONIO \u2013 San Antonio city officials and utility representatives held a news conference on Saturday morning to provide an update on cold-weather response efforts.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones said the city wants to reassure the community about the work being done and the resources available to those who may need a warm place to stay.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">\u201cFirst and foremost, the best thing that we can do for our community is to make sure that we\u2019re being smart,\u201d Jones said. \u201cSo let me encourage folks, if you don\u2019t need to travel, if you don\u2019t need to travel over the next kind of 48 hours, please minimize that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">Jones also reminded the community that six resilience hubs are available and open to the public. The centers are currently open starting now through noon on Monday. Click <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ksat.com\/news\/local\/2026\/01\/22\/san-antonio-to-open-overnight-resilience-hubs-this-weekend-for-winter-weather\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">here<\/a> to view those centers.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">San Antonians who need transportation to any of the centers can call 311 for free VIA rides, City Manager Erik Walsh said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">Pets are also allowed at the resilience and warming centers, Jones said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">Walsh said the Bode and Tobin community centers opened up Saturday morning and will remain open through noon on Tuesday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">Corazon Ministries, Catholic Worker House, Communities Under the Bridge, and New Direction Church are partners the city is working with to help people experiencing homelessness.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">\u201cWe have a capacity for just under 500 individuals that are in need of those services,\u201d Walsh said. \u201cOur outreach workers have began several days ago the outreach and will continue as we go through the weekend to be able to provide folks that assistance.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">Rudy Garza with CPS Energy said they are prepared and have been working all week to understand what the forecast will look like.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">\u201cThere\u2019s plenty of power in the ERCOT market, so plenty of generation to keep the lights on,\u201d Garza said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">Garza said that if someone has an outage, it may be a localized issue due to wind or something else. CPS Energy will communicate if there\u2019s an issue on the ERCOT system.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">\u201cPlease don\u2019t assume it\u2019s a broader issue,\u201d Garza said. &#8230; \u201cWe are not expecting anything other than a little bit of cold, and we\u2019re prepared to do our jobs.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">Gas customers are also encouraged to contact CPS Energy if they smell gas in and around their homes. Customers can reach them at 210-353-2222.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">TxDOT has deployed more than 300 workers to pre-treat roads with brine, a saltwater mixture that prevents ice from bonding to pavement, according to Texas Department of Transportation San Antonio District Engineer Charles Benavidez.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">\u201cAt the start of this event, we had almost 800,000 gallons of brine on hand, and we will continue to produce more as needed,\u201d Benavidez said. \u201cWe work closely with other state agencies to track the forecast.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">For updates and resources, residents can click <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sa.gov\/Government\/Emergency-Crisis-Response\/Severe-Weather\/Cold-Weather\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">here<\/a> or call 311 for assistance.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">Read also:<\/p>\n<p>Copyright 2026 by KSAT &#8211; All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SAN ANTONIO \u2013 San Antonio city officials and utility representatives held a news conference on Saturday morning to&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":15505,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[57640,10807,451,14613,2112,82,84,83,3215,26834,840,271,21310,410,9181],"class_list":["post-136614","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-antonio","tag-brooks-city-base","tag-cps-energy","tag-energy","tag-erik-walsh","tag-gina-ortiz-jones","tag-san-antonio","tag-san-antonio-headlines","tag-san-antonio-news","tag-saws","tag-transit","tag-transportation","tag-txdot","tag-via-metropolitan-transit","tag-water","tag-winter-weather"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136614","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=136614"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136614\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15505"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=136614"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=136614"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=136614"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}