longer power – CPS Energy says storms and maintenance-related planned outages stretched outages in 2025, with customers experiencing outages about 15 minutes longer than the previous year. The utility also reported missing some safety goals, including its highest employee in
The lights didn’t just go out. Last year, for hundreds of thousands more San Antonio residents, they stayed out longer.
CPS Energy reported to its board last month using internal metrics showing that power outages increased in both duration and reach in 2025. On average. customers experienced power outages for 15 minutes longer than the previous year. and more than 1.1 million customers were affected—an increase of 169. 062 customers compared with the prior year.
The utility pointed directly to storms and planned outages for maintenance work. Chief Strategy Officer Elaina Ball told CPS Energy board members on April 27 that CPS Energy had “more storms than we forecast. ” explaining that the company plans on a weather-normalized basis but faced a “significant number of storms.”.
CPS Energy measures its statistics during fiscal years that start Feb. 1 and end Jan. 31. In 2023 and 2024, the company said customers experienced, on average, outages of just over an hour. Ball said those figures exclude major outages for many customers from weather-related events. while smaller weather-related outages are included in the data. In 2025, that average outage number rose to 75 minutes.
When CPS Energy tried to explain why storms can change the outcome. it also linked the problem to the broader pattern of more intense weather. CPS Energy officials said in an email that they plan to take more steps to mitigate the impact of weather on outages. including tree-trimming. The email tied climate change to “increasingly intense storms and weather-related events,” warning that future weather-related outages could increase.
Communications specialist Milady Nazir said in an email that CPS Energy continues to plan for and mitigate the effects of severe weather through a mix of grid hardening, vegetation management, targeted infrastructure upgrades, and “data‑driven reliability improvements.”
Ball also told board members that CPS Energy expects average outage duration to increase in the coming years because of concerns about worker safety. In the utility’s view, outages may remain higher because the company will continue to turn off power lines when employees are doing dangerous work.
That safety tradeoff appeared in the board’s review of performance goals. CPS Energy missed its internal metrics tied to workplace injury performance, reporting its highest number of employee injuries in the past six years.
In an email. CPS Energy officials wrote that the recordable incident rate. or RIR. includes injuries ranging from “bee stings to cuts and contusions. to electrical contact. ” as well as motor vehicle events. equipment-related incidents. near misses. and other safety events. CPS Energy recorded 51 injuries last year.
Officials said nearly half of those injuries were related to muscle or skeletal issues. Ball said CPS Energy has tried to reduce those injuries by providing more education on preventative measures during onboarding and training.
There was another movement inside the numbers: CPS Energy said incident reporting increased. Officials said CPS Energy has been encouraging incident reporting, which has increased 83% since 2020. Nazir said in an email that a “strong reporting culture” helps identify and address issues quickly. adding that the rise in RIR is directly tied to improved reporting behavior. with a corresponding reduction in more serious injuries.
Even with those shortcomings, CPS Energy said it met some targets.
The utility reported maintaining financial stability. Despite its purchase of power plants in East Texas earlier this year, CPS Energy said it has enough money on hand to continue operating for more than 150 days.
The board’s metrics paint a clear picture of where 2025 shifted: more storms than expected, more customers affected, and longer average outages—paired with safety results that fell short of internal goals.
CPS Energy San Antonio power outages storms planned outages worker safety recordable incident rate Elaina Ball Milady Nazir grid reliability tree trimming grid hardening