San Antonio's CPS Energy racks up $2.5 million in legal fees from suits over February winter storm

Already facing $1 billion in costs from February's freeze and statewide blackouts, San Antonio's CPS Energy has also amassed $2.5 million in outside legal fees related to the disaster, TV station KSAT reports.

The city-owned utility paid five outside law firms a total exceeding $2 million for work related to the outages, according to data it supplied to KSAT last week. That includes more than $1 million to Dentons US LLP, CPS Energy's lead counsel in a suit against the operator of Texas' power grid.

Also figuring into the total are nearly $563,000 in payments to two unidentified consultants for advice on policy and litigation issues, according to documents obtained by the station.

CPS Energy sued grid operator Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) in March, alleging that it allowed energy suppliers to overcharge power generators during the crisis. The utility also filed roughly 20 separate suits against natural gas companies, accusing them of price gouging during the disaster, one of the costliest in state history.

What's more, the CPS Energy is defending itself against at least six wrongful death suits stemming from the outages, according to KSAT's reporting.

As the suits play out, ERCOT this week requested that Texans conserve energy, warning that unexpected power plant closures and summer temperatures are again straining the grid.

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