The electric and gas charges found on your CPS Energy residential bill are made up of base rate components, the fuel adjustment, and the regulatory adjustment.

The formula for the residential electric base rate combines:

• The Service Availability Charge, which covers the cost of metering and billing for your address, regardless of consumption.
• The Energy Charge, which recovers costs for power plants and other infrastructure based on the amount of electricity you use.
• Peak Capacity Charge only applies during the months of June through September when an additional charge is applied for every kilowatt hour (kWh) used in excess of 600 kWh. The Peak Capacity Charge covers the higher costs for electricity CPS Energy incurs during summer months when demand for electricity is at its highest.

For the natural gas rate, the residential base rate includes the Service Availability Charge and the Energy Charge. Each of these items is listed on the back of your bill.

Retail rates contain an electric fuel adjustment or gas cost adjustment clause which provides for recovery of fuel costs. 

For retail customers, the Fuel Adjustment Charge is calculated monthly and may appear as a charge or a credit on your monthly bill, depending on whether fuel costs for the period are higher or lower than the amount that is included in the base rate. It includes:

• The gas Fuel Adjustment Charge, which reflects natural gas fuel and transport costs 
• The electric Fuel Adjustment Charge, which reflects:
  • Generated Power Costs, which are fuel costs associated with CPS Energy’s nuclear, coal, and natural gas units
  • Renewable Power Costs, which are renewable energy purchases of wind, solar, and landfill gas
  • Market Power Purchases, which are purchases from the open market
  • Sustainable for Tomorrow Energy Plan (STEP), which recovers a portion of costs associated with energy efficiency programs.  For more information, please visit: cpsenergy.com/STEP

Effective March 1, 2022, CPS Energy began collecting legitimate fuel costs associated with Winter Storm Uri through electric and gas fuel adjustment factors. As of March 1, 2024, Winter Storm Uri recovery factors are $0.00080 per kWh for retail electric customers and $0.010873 per CCF for gas customers. CPS Energy continues to fight to protect our customers from excessive, exorbitant fuel costs associated with Winter Storm Uri. 

Costs recovered through the Regulatory Adjustment include:

• Expenditures associated with the ERCOT-wide transmission grid
• Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) administrative fee
• North American Electric Reliability Corporation / Electric Reliability Organization (NERC/ERO) fees

The City of San Antonio delivers a broad range of services – from waste collection to park maintenance – to you and your neighbors. The fees for many of those services are collected through your CPS Energy bill. For the city government, this is a convenient and efficient way to collect monthly fees. You’ll find a complete list of these fees under “City Services” on the back of your CPS Energy bill. CPS Energy is not responsible for providing these services. They include:

• Garbage Collection Services costs
• Brush Fee Environmental Services Fee
• Environmental Services Fee

To find out more, contact San Antonio City Services & Information by dialing 311 or 210-207-6000 between the hours of 7:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. Monday through Friday or between 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. Saturday and Sunday and city holidays.  Assistance is also available online at https://311.sanantonio.gov/services.