CPS Energy, already under fire for the big spending of former leaders, has spent more than $200,000 on housing costs for executives over recent years, KSAT-TV reports, citing records it obtained from the utility.
The city-owned entity extended a “transitional housing payment” benefit to execs it hired from outside San Antonio, according to the station. The report noted that the perk, which often went as high as five figures, is heftier than that offered by other public entities here. What’s more, some of the recipients had brief tenures at CPS.
CPS Energy officials repeatedly refused KSAT’s requests to answer questions on camera about the practice, which doled out nearly $214,000 in housing costs to eight executives since 2015, according to the story.
“Interim President & CEO Rudy Garza was physically shielded by other utility officials while the Defenders attempted to ask him about the topic following a recent Municipal Utilities Committee meeting,” the station reports.
Two of the housing-perk recipients, former Chief Information Officer Karen Kirwan and former Chief Financial Officer Delores Lenzy-Jones, received a combined $102,000 even though their tenures lasted less than two years, according to KSAT.
The report comes as the CPS Energy looks for a firm to conduct an “independent review” of its organizational culture, finances and more. Garza verbally committed to that scrutiny in January when city council approved a rate hike for the utility.
CPS has been under intense scrutiny since its widespread outages and spotty customer communication during February 2021’s devastating Winter Storm Uri. Questions over the utility’s accountability ultimately prompted the departures of CEO Paula Gold-Williams and second-in-command Fred Bonewell.
Shortly after their resignations, a separate KSAT report documented big spending by the two executives on steak dinners, chauffeur services and other extravagances using their company cards.
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This article appears in Feb 23 – Mar 8, 2022.
