Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to the nationally syndicated Energy Mix radio show produced
by the Energy Network Media Group. The Energy Mixed Radio
Show will give you an inside look at the energy
industry and how it affects you by talking with industry leaders, experts,
and government officials on the Energy Mix Radio Show.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
Welcome to the the Energy Mix Radio Show, where we
spotlight the leaders shaping the future of energy innovation and
community impact. Today's episode features a trailblazer who is redefining
what it means to lead a legacy utility into a
new error. Joining me again is Rudy Garza, the President
(00:38):
and CEO of City Public Service Energy and the subject
of his recent Shell magazine cover story that dives deep
into his journey, leadership, philosophy, and the bull moves reshaping
San Antonio's energy landscape from launching Vision twenty twenty seven
to exceeding a one point three eighty seven billion dollar
(00:59):
ACQUA position of natural gas assets near Houston. Rudy's leadership
blends operational excellence with a deep commitment to the community
innovation and long term resilience, and today I'm going to
explore how his values and vision are powering CPS Energy's
transformation and what it means for the future of Texas Energy. Rudy,
(01:22):
you are the first Hispanic CEO of CPS Energy, the
largest municipality owned electric and gas utility in the United
States of America. You have over twenty five years in
the industry, and you've also led CPS through a period
of bold change which we're going to get into in
the show, which included major rate case changes and the
(01:45):
launch of Vision twenty twenty seven and a landmark acquisition
of four natural gas plants in the Houston area. As
I mentioned earlier, So let's bring you on talk about
your journey from Corpus Christi to being one of the
most top influential energy organizations in Texas. And this has
been due to your leadership, your authenticity, your community service,
(02:08):
and I believe your clear eyed view of the challenges
and opportunities that lie ahead for CPS. So welcome to
the Energy Mix radio show.
Speaker 3 (02:18):
Thank you, Kim. That is quite the introduction, and as always,
I am very very honored to be a guest on
your show today.
Speaker 2 (02:27):
You know, Redy, you are I have a lot of
people that I look up to, but you are one
that to me is extremely I'm very proud of your
journey and one because one we got to tell that story.
Two to understand that you're the Hispanic And as we
get into the show talking about your challenges that you faced,
(02:49):
that many people don't realize until we get into the
show that at the time you were handling all of
these catastrophic things that were happening, you were in turn.
I mean, I'm sorry you were interim CEO, you were
still in a testing phase. So these are big shoes
to fill, and I just think that you were one
of the most inspiring people that I know of how
(03:12):
you have truly shown that you have what it takes
to lead CPS and making big moves with it. So
so talking about big moves, let's get into it. You guys, well,
under CPS Energy, you created an acquisition or closed on
an acquisition that was one point three eight seven billion
dollars in acquisition of four natural gas plants near Houston.
(03:35):
So my first question is what made this deal so
right for San Antonio and its future that you moved
on this deal.
Speaker 3 (03:44):
Well, Kim, I'd start by saying, you know, we have
a generation strategy that we that we you know, developed
as soon as I became CEO November mark four years now,
if you can believe that that I've been CEO, you
know that they named the interim and November of twenty
twenty one, and by August of the following year, the
(04:04):
board saw enough progress that they gave me the opportunity
to be the permanent leader here. And we had a
lot of work to do at that time. And one
of the things that we had to do was move
past a number of old units that needed to be retired.
Natural gas, primarily gas steam units that needed to be
retired here in and around the San Antonio area. And
(04:26):
we had to make a decision about what we're going
to do about the coal units. And you know, so
between retiring our old gas units and converting at least
one of our coal units from coal to natural gas
and retiring the other one, we came up with the playbook,
and that playbook said that, you know, transitioning away from
the old stuff was about three thousand megawatts of generation capacity.
(04:49):
We needed to replace that with six thousand megawatts of capacity.
So and that included all of the above gas, natural gas, solar,
wind and battery storage. Where we're still number one in
the state of Texas and solar. We're number two in
wind power, where we will we will be number one
(05:09):
at some point in time in the near future on
battery storage, and of course natural gas. As you know
we're in the state of Texas, natural gas will always
be part of the mix, you know, as it comes
to how power is generated in this community, I mean,
in this state. And so we had an opportunity, we
got invited by the owners of that plant, those plant
(05:31):
assets to negotiate on a potential purchase. It was in
within the confines of the of the generation plan that
we that our community had provided input on that our
board approved, and so from you know, from a transparency standpoint,
we were just doing what we told the community we
(05:52):
were going to do. And so from that standpoint, I'm
really proud of the fact that we were able to
get that deal done. Uh, you know, between the corporate
Salarrato assets that we that we bought last year, which
have been a home run, you know, transaction for us,
and now these gas plans, we've really moved our gas
(06:12):
strategy forward, continuing to focus on diversification, but we've been
able to save our customers billions of dollars in acquiring
these assets versus what it would have cost us to build.
This transaction alone saved our customers over the long term
two billion dollars. My job as CEO is to be
(06:33):
as reliable utilities that we can possibly be at the
most affordable cost. And it's and it's opportunities like these
that when we're able to execute on them, that's how
we keep that's how.
Speaker 2 (06:43):
We keep our right slow, absolutely and rudy. You know,
most people understand they're hearing all these big data centers
and AI and how are we going to output to them?
And and you are building the energy or the citizens
of San Antonio and pretty much surrounding counties. This is
(07:04):
a big job doing that. And so when people hear
perception wise we don't have enough for all of that,
how are we going to do that? There's something that
we can look at here in San Antonio that you
are looking to the future and making sure that we
have enough demand that we can power what we need.
This is part of this diversification and transition. And I
(07:26):
just wanted our listeners to understand that because I think
that a lot of listeners just think that this is, oh, well,
you know, you just flip the switch and the lights
come on. But we're going to talk about winter store
Mury a little bit later on in the show, and
we're going to go back and revisit why what what
you're doing right now is so vital and important. Let
me let me try to drill down a little bit
(07:46):
on this new acquisition. So these assets that you guys acquired,
they're designed as peak peaking plants. Can you walk us
through how they will be used to stabilize the grid
and how to meet and during critical periods because we're
all hearing conserve certain hours of the day when it's
super hot. We know that, do we know what that means?
(08:07):
So tell us what peaking plants are.
Speaker 3 (08:10):
Well, so I'll take a step back. You know, the
way the electric utility industry has worked historically is you
build a four to six eight hundred megawatt unit, a
big baseload plant that's intended to run all the time, right,
and you earn your return over fifty year life of
the plant because you expect that plant to run all
(08:31):
the time. Well, you really only you know, in today's market,
we only use the full capacity that's available in the market.
You know, certain times of the year. The summer obviously
in the evening hours and then the of course in
the winter, primarily in the morning hours is when you
need to really kick on what we call those peaker
(08:52):
plants to meet the periodic peak that pops up, not
the general usage that our customer, you know, I mean
between you know, in the summertime, between you know, six
am when people start waking up and one or two
o'clock in the afternoon, the usage is nominal. It's three
o'clock to eight o'clock at night that you really got
(09:12):
to kick on, you know, everything that you've got to
be able to manage the capacity in the market. And
so in the so going forward, I think the investment
is going to be less in those base load type plants,
the big units that that that you take on, more
risk you take, you know, you you're more subject to
(09:33):
the performance and the price in the market on whether
or not those units will pay for themselves. Buying peakers
allow you to really take advantage of that peak you know,
need in the market when when it's necessary. So peakers
aren't intended to run, you know, one hundred percent of
the time, although they can if you need them to.
They're really intended to run during those those those critical
(09:55):
hours when the price goes up, you have an opportunity
to make some some return on the market. But but
we we bought them really for a liability of the
of the resources we need in San Antonio. So our
drivers are a little bit different. Even though we're going
to make wholesale revenue for for whatever power above and
beyond what San Antonio needs, that goes towards offsetting what
(10:18):
we have to ask our rate pairs for. So every
dollar we bring in from the wholesale market we sell
power that we don't we aren't utilizing back into the
aircut market is one less dollar we need to ask
our customers for. And that's another way we keep rate slow.
Speaker 2 (10:32):
Yes, so you're even supplying power to more people in
Texas even though they're not in our demographical area area
to sell to air Carter.
Speaker 3 (10:41):
That's right, Aircut sell them perkiin. We're the fourth largest
generator in the state of Texas, so we have more
generation than we need. We're really good operators, we know
how to run power plants. So you know the fact
that we own more assets than we need to serve
San Antonio is a net benefit to the market. You
know us what we're also a tax exempt entity, so
(11:03):
the price, you know, the price it costs the market
is also lower, you know at the end of the day,
because we're a public entity. So it's almost like, here's
what how I'll describe it the wholesale market in aurcutt
when you have some public power not you know, the
good majority of private companies that are that are you know,
doing their job you know every day, but a portion
(11:25):
is public sector companies. It's like having mutual funds and
stocks in your financial portfolio. It's a good hedge to
make sure that you're diversified, right. Well, that's the public
powercy you know, serves to diversify the air cut market
so that you have multiple types of entities that help
(11:46):
kind of manage the risk overall for for customers across
the state of Texas. So it's a good thing for
CPS Energy to be active players in the wholesale market. Absolutely.
Speaker 2 (11:56):
And I want to revisit that a little bit later
on in the show when we talk about renterstorm Uri
under your interim CEO leadership. But that's a little bit
later on down in the show. Let's take a quick break.
When we return, Rudy, I want to talk to I
want to ask you. You know that you emphasized that
this acquisition was to avoid building new infrastructure. So let's
(12:17):
get into that. But let's take a quick break. You're
listening to the Energy Mix radio show and we'll be
right back.
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Speaker 2 (13:02):
You're listening to the Energy Mix radio show. My guest
today is Rudy Garza, President and CEO of City Public
Serves Energy in San Antonio, Texas. Rudy, we were discussing
this acquisition, this billion dollar acquisition that CPS finalized, and
you emphasized that this acquisition to help CPS avoid new
(13:22):
building infrastructure. How does this strategy align with your long
term goals and for cost, efficiency and reliability? Were those
some of the things you were looking at.
Speaker 3 (13:32):
Well, we're going to have to build new plants at
some point in time. You know, I'm getting as much
affordable solar and wind and battery storage as I can
possibly get into our system. Because here's the thing, even
with this these acquisitions, we're going to grow into this capacity.
Right so as I'm taking old plants offline, you know,
(13:54):
I cut into this new capacity that I'm buying ours.
As our community grows, I'm cutting into thispacity that we're buying.
So we're so you don't build a plant, you know
when right when you need it. You got a plan
to build a plant five, six, eight years ahead, ten
years ahead of schedule of when you expect the growth
to be here, so that you know if you're ready
(14:15):
to serve you know the customers that you know are coming.
So for us, we're always looking at can we is
there capacity available on the market today that we that
that's good, that's the right kind of capacity that will
allow us to get more megawatts online at a at
a at a quicker pace, at a lower cost. Right,
(14:38):
let me give you, for instance, the plants that we
bought in in the Houston area were we paid four
hundred and fifty dollars at kW for Don't worry about
the units, just focus on the number for fifty a kW.
Do you know what it would cost us to build
that same amount of capacity for kW I twenty five
hundred dollars, So you don't time buying that capacity. We're
(15:00):
still going to need to build, but we push that
build off a bit while we're while we see how
the growth you know, shapes up. There's a lot of
uncertainty around data center load, for instance, So over the
next five years, we'll learn how those customers you know
are going to come online and exactly how much capacity
that they're gonna need, and that that let that lets
(15:21):
us reduce the risk of speculatively overbuilding capacity right now. Right,
so so our options always is there available capacity in
the market, and how does that compare to what it's
going to cost us to build. We've got owners, engineers
on staff, we've got we're running you know, projects to
plan for when those builds happen. It's just pulling the
(15:42):
trigger on ordering the turbines and doing the things that
we have to do to get ready for the build
that we're able to hold off on because we found
a less risky and more cost effective way to do it,
you know. I mean, that's just good business. Absolutely.
Speaker 2 (15:57):
I want to go back, and I know we're going
to cut on break here at some point, but I
want to go back in history for a moment because
this really to me, This pass that we're going to visit,
really demonstrated you as an individual, and I love this story.
When winter storm Youury devastated Texas in twenty twenty one,
(16:18):
and you mentioned you were brought on born November twenty
twenty one is interim. You faced one of the most
severe operational and financial crisis in CPS's history. Being again
newly appointed as the interim, you stepped into a storm,
definitely literally and figuratively, and you began to steer the
(16:40):
utility through recovery with a very steady hand. From what
now we look back and see. I don't know if
you believed it at the time, because there's no playbook
for what you went through. But your response included securing
fuel cost recovery, stabilizing operations, and initiating a long overdue
rate case to fund infrastructure resilience, which we're seeing now.
(17:05):
And these early decisions laid the foundation for a broader
transformation into Vision twenty twenty seven and Horizon twenty fifty,
strategic plans that prioritized reliability, modernization, and community engagement. Would
you said, that's pretty much right what I've been saying.
Speaker 3 (17:22):
This is factly what we did.
Speaker 2 (17:26):
So looking back, your leadership appears to not only be reactive,
but remarkably precise, And with your recent one point three
eighty seven billion dollar acquisition of the natural gas assets
near Houston, it reflects a very pragmatic approach in your
grid stability and how you looked at it, even to
(17:46):
the point where you still invest, like you mentioned earlier,
in renewables, and speaking about renewables, the Sierra Club upgraded
CPS from an F failing to a C, which is
signaling progress. And through this it highlights the tension that
you go through between environmental goals and operation reality, balancing
(18:07):
both your trajectory shows a leader who does not chase trends.
In my opinion, but bills durable solutions, balancing long term
vision with the immediate need for growth of a growing
city like San Antonio. So, Rudy, looking back on storm
Ury and your decisions that you made in the aftermath,
tell me how how you felt you look at this
(18:30):
in the direction of CPS, Like, were there some key
things that this was no one knew? I've interviewed commissionercratic
you so many people that were dealing with a storm
they've never dealt with before. There's not a playbooks. We
completely lost power in the state for days. How do
you feel looking back as the leader of CPS, by
(18:51):
the way, interim at that time, very short period of
time on interim, but had worked for CPS for many years.
What was guiding you and leading you?
Speaker 3 (19:00):
Well, couple things, you know, I maybe it's the best
time and the worst time to be asked to step
into a leadership role. You know, we were our community,
you know, lost trust in us. And I started from
that place. You know, I leaned into the repair of
(19:20):
the relationship with our customers that we had to start from,
and I took a real simple approach. Kim, I got
my number one. None of it happens without my employees,
my leadership team rallying around me. Had my had my
team members not been there in you know, in the
trenches with me at that time, we there was there
(19:42):
was no way we're going to have any success. But
I asked one simple question when they named me interim,
what can we get what can we reasonably get accomplished
over the next twelve months, assuming I'm going to have
a year to try to put these things back on track,
Let's get a list together of the things that we
need to accomplish, you know. And so we went to work.
We needed to put a plan together. We did that,
(20:04):
put a generation strategy together that transitioned into Vision twenty
twenty seven, which created the playbook, you know, with compute
community input, so boom. Now we had priorities that we
could go and start talking to the community about. That
led to the fact that we hadn't had a rate
increase in San Antonio in over nine years. There's no
way we could have dug ourselves out of that hole.
Speaker 2 (20:25):
Who gets that? I mean, for a listener who's in
Houston or corpus their rates, they're lucky they stay if
they haven't for one year or even one month, nine years,
no increase the citizens of for us.
Speaker 3 (20:38):
We got to go to the city council to get
that approved. So you know, they, thankfully city council understood
the financial condition that we were in. We'd already been
moved to negative outlook by our bond rating agencies, and
so you know, they approved a modest rate increase that
allowed us to deal with the fuel costs associated with
Winnis Storm, Maury. That was they a billion dollar price
(21:01):
tag that we're still working through quite frankly with a
couple of those suppliers, and it allowed us to start
funding infrastructure improvements. You know, we had to start investing
in our core business again and you can't do that
without RAID support. Absolutely have this.
Speaker 2 (21:16):
You're listening to the Energy Mixed radio show.
Speaker 3 (21:17):
In these attack.
Speaker 2 (21:22):
And we're back. You're listening to the Energy Mix radio show.
My guest today is Rudy Garza, President and CEO of
City Public Service Energy in San Antonio, Texas. Ruddy, how
when the storm went down, can you also explain to
us we everybody had a spike an increase in their
utility build CPS also endured some significant financial losses. Can
(21:46):
you explain that as well. Remind us what you all
went through, because that also came into the playbook. You're
talking about that the raid increased, but also the financial
significance that Storm Mury had on city public service.
Speaker 3 (21:58):
Well, I mean, in the natural gas industry, you know, anytime,
anytime there's a winter storm, you'll see a fairly significant
increase in the spot price of natural gas. And in
that moment, you know, you pay what you have to
pay because you've got gun heal to your head because
you're trying to keep you know, customers warm, right, And
so we were in this catastrophic moment that you know,
(22:19):
that's not normal business. And so every gas utility, every
gas generator in the state of Texas faced significant, significant financial,
you know, implications because of the nature of that storm.
So the way, you know, a lot of here's what
happened in Houston. Some customers in Houston got a ten
(22:40):
thousand dollars bill from one month to the next because
all that gas costs got passed right along to customers,
you know, which is allowed. That's it's just because it's
allowed doesn't mean it's right. What we did is we
parked all that costs. We went to our council, thoughtfully
came up with a plan to spread that cost out
over twenty five years, and we created a regulatory asset
(23:00):
so that customers pay a little bit a month over
a long period of time, rather than paid all at once.
The easiest thing for us to do would have been
to just pass it on through, but it would have
been absolutely unacceptable by our customers, by our community to
allow that. So the manner in which we went about
addressing that that significant event, I thought was very responsible.
(23:23):
Now we're still in litigation with a couple of those
suppliers that will work itself out over time, but that
was a decision that our community made in that moment that, hey,
how can you allow a hotel room, you know, at
Lakina to get taken to court by the Attorney General
for moving from seventy five dollars to one hundred and
fifty dollars a month, But you're going to allow gas
suppliers to increase their costs fifteen thousand percent, you know,
(23:47):
in the middle of a storm, you know, I mean,
so you know, there's a principle of the issue that
we're fighting still, and you know what, maybe we lose
I don't know what's going to happen in the litigation,
but you know, we're first case scenario, we pay what
we all based on, you know that event. Best case scenario,
we create some new policy that I think benefits consumers
(24:08):
at the end of the day. So you know, I'll
let whoever's making the judgment decide whether, you know who
who has the high road on this. But I think
the fight that we're fighting right now on this issue
is worth fighting.
Speaker 2 (24:19):
I don't think anybody could not at least appreciate the
sentiment and the thoughtfulness behind that, because keep in mind,
this is also right around the catastrophic COVID deboscle as well.
I mean, we are literally just hitting all kinds of
serious issues in the home, environment, financial, you know, everything.
So let's let's switchares and talk about not being able
(24:41):
to please everybody all the time, and that would be
the Sierra Club.
Speaker 3 (24:45):
Now it's the existence I live please everybody all the time.
Speaker 2 (24:49):
Exactly, but you just got to try, right And so
the Sierra Club who had CPS energy rating from an
F to a C. What does the shift mean you
and how do you reconcile the environmental expectations with the
need for reliable dispatchable power for the city of San
Antonio and now even Texas needs.
Speaker 3 (25:10):
Well, let me start with this. Our community in San
Antonio does have a climate at a Action and Adaptation
Plan that was passed by the City of San Antonio,
you know, back in two thousand and eighteen twenty nineteen
time frame that says we'll be carbon neutral in our
emissions by twenty fifty. And our current plan, the generation
plan that was approved with community input, which included many
(25:33):
of the of the environmental community, created the pathway forward
with with this diverse five portfolio that will allow us
to meet our twenty thirty and twenty forty target interim goals,
you know, while we work on new technology that'll get
us to twenty fifty. So we're on a pathway to
lower our carbon footprint, which should make generally you know,
(25:53):
our environmental community, I think is committed to and we're
committed to. The main thing is part of that land
was to move away from coal, and we made that
decision and their financial ramifications of us doing that. You know,
with the new administration, we're gonna this year we're actually
going to look, we're going to update our generation plans
to see what's changed, and you know, certainly some of
(26:14):
the action by the administration on allowing or not allowing
coal plants to close early, we're going to have to
take that policy into account and see what that means
for our plans in terms of transitioning both to you know,
the unit the unit or units to natural gas. Fundamentally
the the you know. I mean, I would never expect
environmentalists to be supportive of any kind of fossil fuel
(26:37):
based generation, So the fact that we're still at a
sea I'm not surprised at that. What I am proud of, though,
is we have stuck to our commitment to move away
from coal, which was their most which was their biggest issue.
We're number one in solar in Texas, we're number five
in the country, we're number two in wind in Texas,
and we're and we're committed and moving the needle forward
(26:59):
on on on battery storage. So we're doing all the
things that our environmental community wants us to do to
decarbonize our fleet, but natural gas for liability purposes, natural
gas will remain part of the equation. And that's you know,
let's take a quick break.
Speaker 2 (27:15):
You're listening to the Energy Mixed Radio show, and we'll
be right back, and we're back. You're listening to the
Energy Mixed Radio Show. My guest today is Rudy Garza,
the president and CEO of City Public Service Energy. Rudy,
before the break, you know, you were discussing how you
have positioned City Public Service to be very I think
(27:37):
the philosophy is all the above. So we have solar
and when you mentioned how Texas leads in this area
and you lead in this area. But not too long ago,
when we had Storm Muri, we also realized that I
mean I I interview energy, oil and gas specifically a
lot of experts in that field, and we know what
(27:57):
happened in that storm. Natural gas cut off from the pipelines,
which shut everything off. And we saw that solar and wind.
As much as some people like this and I'm not
against it either, it is not a perfect energy source
because if the sun isn't shining, or the solar panels
get snow on them, which is what happened, or these
wind turbines froze their motors, and it led to the
(28:20):
catastrophe that we had in your philosophy of investing in
all of it and getting off of coal, which which
I am in agreeance in that. But let's talk about
fossil fuel the reliability, and also talk to the listeners
about nuclear because that's another field source that we can
look at. It. There's some great ones coming down the pike,
geo thermal that CPS could look at. I mean, there's
a lot of good ones. It's not just solar and wind.
(28:43):
Talk to me about your thoughts on that, Yeah.
Speaker 3 (28:45):
Kim, don't. I don't spend a lot of time vilifying
one resource type over another, because you got it, you
have to have it all. And I think we're a
really good example of being committed to all of the
above strategy. We are forty percent owners in the South
Texas Nuclear Plant US, you know in Bay City, UH
and with you know our co owners with with US
and Energy and Constellation, and that plan is a great plan.
(29:07):
But guess what during win Storm Mari, every resource type
had an issue. You know, we're we're operating under different
standards today. We have to weatherize in a different way
and and and we get inspected now by you know
urkot folks to make sure that we've done all the
things that we have to do to protect the plants
from a harsh winter potentially. So so yeah, I mean
(29:29):
the reason natural gas and nuclear I mean, I'll tell
you we can't make our twenty fifty you know, the
decarbonization goal without new technology coming into play. That doesn't
exist today. And I personally think that new technology. The
bet on the new technology is going to be small
monitor nuclear reactors, you know, the daisy change, you know,
(29:50):
and and move those forward. So you know, so nuclear
I think is going to play a big role in
the future of our industry. Natural gas will have to remain,
you know, part of the of a big part of
the mix because it provides a reliability we need. There
are times of the year when the wind doesn't blow
and the sun doesn't chine. That's okay that you know,
that's not a reason to not invest in those technologies.
(30:11):
Battery storage helps ensure that you know that you have
the backup you need during those times to bridge those
those gaps. But during Winter Storm Maria, it was an
anomaly because all resource types failed us in certain ways
in that moment that we've learned from, you know, so
we have a more resilient system today because all of
the resource types have continued to be invested in. And
(30:33):
guess what with all the growth coming that the phenomenon
that continues to be the Texas economy, you're gonna need
every electron you can put on the system to keep
up with the growth that we're experiencing right now. So
now's not the time to pick one resource type over
and over another, because we just need it all and
that's gonna be that way for the next five eight years.
You know, we need batter storage, we need solar, we
(30:55):
need more wind, and guess what, we need more gas too.
You know. The other thing that doesn't get talk about,
Kim is the old gas plants in Urcot need to
be retired because they're not reliable and they cost a
lot to run. So the quicker we build new stuff
to replace the old stuff. Just what that has a
carbon benefit too? Absolutely?
Speaker 2 (31:14):
Yeah, I mean they're so efficient, the new build out
with technology versus the old ones. Let's talk about vision
twenty twenty seven. It has been the quarterstone of your leadership.
What are the key hillars? Tell us about that and
your vision? And then how does it fall into this acquisition,
How does it fit into your own map? Because this
acquisition wasn't something you really planned. It was something that
(31:34):
just kind of it was one of the Lord's talks
to you. Again, in some ways, it.
Speaker 3 (31:39):
Was part of the plan. It's just the time horizon
in which you can execute to it. You know, we're
able to execute at a quicker pace because we're buying
instead of building what we were going to build, which
takes a little bit longer. So it's all within the plan.
We're actually updating the plan right now because we're about
three years into our Vision twenty twenty seven strategy and
there's a lot of initiatives we've checked off off the list,
(32:02):
and so now is actually a perfect time to update
our generation plan, to update our Vision twenty twenty seven
to a Vision thirty and keep our five year strategy fresh. Right,
So we will go through that process at the end
of this year early next year, we'll get our board
to put their freingerprints on it, and then we'll move forward.
But it's you know, it's it's dealing with operational evolution
(32:24):
that we need to make our systems more resilient. It's
retiring old plants and building or buying new plants. Part
of that strategy, our technology has to have to be upgraded.
We're spending three hundred million dollars right now to upgrade
our computer systems that are old and and less you know, effective,
you know, and we'll give our customers a better experience.
(32:45):
Our customer experience is a big pillar of our strategy.
And then you've got to do all that in a
financially resilient manner. So how we do all of We
invest a billion to a billion and a half a year,
which is what our current pathway looks like for the
next stick. We got to do that in a way
that maintains the financial health of CPS Energy. And you know,
I'll tell you, you know, when you look at the
(33:07):
list of all the things we've been able to accomplish,
you can check boxes in every category because what Vision
twenty twenty seven did for us is it gave us
a set of priorities. We're not doing anything else that
doesn't support those key pillars of what we're trying to
accomplish as an organization. And because of that, you can
budget more efficiently, you can hold people accountable better, you
can communicate to your customers in the way that you
(33:29):
need to bring them along with you, and then you
can talk to your board and city council when you
need great support about what's driving the need. Right. So
so having a plan is fundamental to how you move
the organization forward.
Speaker 2 (33:43):
You know, I want to talk about the an ex.
I want you to explain to us the horizon twenty fifty.
But I want to tell you a real quick story
that just happened last night. I went to dinner at
Jay Alexander's.
Speaker 3 (33:52):
In one of my favorite restaurants.
Speaker 2 (33:54):
Well, you had a fan there, sir. His name was Joe,
and he had a construction site that he had a
contract with City Public Service in building out some of
the power plants, and he you know, to hear him speak,
I just want as a third party listening, I said, well,
how do you feel? And the compliments that he gave
(34:14):
in the way of saying, you know, it's got to
be one of the best companies that we contract with
that he had contracts from all over the state of Texas.
But he said that CPS, you know, when you talk
about your leadership and just doing the day to day operation,
which has been primarily this show. But then I thought
about Joe over here, who is a contract or not
(34:34):
an employee but has to work and deal with the
employees of CPS, and for him to have such a
glowing report about how much he enjoys it, and then
to think that you all are providing all these other
hundreds of thousands of jobs to citizens to be able
to work and make a living into servicing and helping
(34:55):
CPS continue your mission and overall strategy. It says a
lot about the company. And I love to see good
companies run very strategic but yet understanding that their people
are the true assets, and then how they communicate with
the community and they enjoy it that they're complimenting you guys.
So I wanted to share that story with you. He
(35:17):
didn't know you personally, but he had a lot of
great things to say about CPS. I just wanted to
share that with you.
Speaker 3 (35:22):
Well, wow, I mean on point, let me just add, Kim,
seventy plus percent of our spend, you know, on an
annual basis goes to local companies, and of that seventy
plus percent, over forty percent of those too small business.
So I'm super proud of the fact that, I mean,
it's not just a bullet point. Every dollar that comes
(35:44):
into CPS energy benefits the community in some way, and
in large part, it's those suppliers and vendors that are
doing work for us, that are helping us get the
job done every day, and we're really proud of that accomplishment.
Speaker 2 (35:56):
We're going to take a quick break, or when we return,
I want for you to tell us Horizon twenty fifty
is because it involved the major rate case and so
I want to get into that. But gon'll take a
quick break. You're listening to the Energy Mix radio show,
and we'll be right back. And we're back. You're listening
to the Energy Mix radio show. My guest today is
Rudy Garza, President and CEO of City Public Service Energy
(36:17):
in San Antonio. Thank you for coming on and explaining
what you guys are doing and how you're ensuring that
San Antonians, surrounding counties and even the state of Texas
has the energy needs or you're certainly trying to work
in that way to provide as much as we need.
But through your leadership and running CPS, there's been been changes,
(36:38):
and one of them has been something that has launched.
It's called Horizon twenty fifty. What lessons have you learned
about balancing community needs with infrastructure investment and what is
horizon twenty fifty can explain it to us well.
Speaker 3 (36:51):
So one of the main questions I get from business
leaders around the community pretty much every week is Rudy,
do we have enough free sources for the next twenty
five years? You know, business leaders are always thinking long
term about economic development and you can't grow the economy
without you know, water and energy and you know the
inputs that you need to do all the great things
(37:13):
that our customers do every day. So so we we uh,
And it's it's been a trend. A lot of my
colleagues right now around the country are are doing longer
range and it's really not a plan, it's more of
a roadmap. There are alternate, you know, versions of our
future that exist depending upon what happens. You know, maybe
(37:35):
a new technology comes up that's going to change our business,
or you know, like data centers that these large loads
are going to be transformative for the amount of resources
that we're going to need. I don't know, maybe someday
competition comes to San Antonio and that's going to be
an alternate reality than where we're at today that exists
for San Antonio or or something else. So we came
(37:55):
up basically with four different versions of our future that
basically allow us, in those moments where you have kind
of pivoting you know, uh points in the industry, to
have to at least have thought through what happens if
this reality comes about, or what happens if this these
dynamics change in our business, you know, and we can
(38:17):
and we and so we have a roadmap that says, hey,
you know, if if competition does come to San Antonio someday,
here's we're gonna pull. We're gonna pull that version of
our future out and we're gonna we're gonna create a
plan to help get us there. And and so Horizon
twenty fifty was really meant to answer, you know, really,
what do we think about the future. Our business community
is asking that question, and so Horizon twenty fifty was
(38:40):
created really to be a roadmap to what the future
could be depending upon what variables end up happening, some
of them fall off. Probably every you know, five years
will update that Horizon twenty fifty with whatever the reality
of that timeframe is, and we'll create some new realities
that might exist for us down the road. But but
I think it's hard to wrap your head around any
(39:01):
more than three or four different versions of the future
that you think that you think about, you know, but
it allows us to at least, you know, engage our
customers in the fact that we're thinking about the future
on a long term basis. So we have our Vision
twenty seven, that's that we're going to stretch to Vision
(39:23):
twenty thirty, and we have our Horizon twenty fifty, so
we have a short term plan that supports our long
term vision for our business. Does that make sense?
Speaker 2 (39:32):
Absolutely? Absolutely, And so that's going to lead me into
as we're closing out the show, we've got some time left.
You know, you were on the cover of Shell magazine
and there were some things in that interview that I
learned about you. Two things that came to mind, and
I want to close out the show with that. First
of all, understanding city of San Antonio, the majority of
the population is Hispanic and looking back and realizing that
(39:55):
you have been this is you have been the first
CEO city public Service. This is not in any way
a negative towards city public service. This is actually a
great to me an opportunity for and I. You've been
showing it that it took the right person to understand
the culture, to come from here, to be a part
of the city of San Antonio, to know the people,
(40:18):
to be committed to the people. It shows. It's a
testament into how you could come on board as interim
And not to mention, you obviously have the seasoned, you know, educational,
but you also had so much background. How important was
do you think it is to you to be the
first Hispanic? I mean, to me, it's huge. It is
(40:39):
really important that I feel we stress that because of
the city that we live in, I understand San Antonio culture.
That was shocking to me, pleasantly shocking. I'm like, finally,
and you are doing an amazing job. So maybe I'm
not really asking you a question, per say, but wanted
to give you that information. But how much has this
shaped you as a you know, being there? Now? What
(41:01):
do you feel being the first Hispanic? Well, I know
that's a hard question for you to probably answer, but
you're so humble, but yet this is a big deal.
You are really showing leadership and showing it's possible. In
your interview with Shelle magazine, you said you had never
even thought about being the CEO till somebody mentored you.
I mean, you are a great icon for the Hispanic
(41:26):
culture to look to. If you can do it, go ahead,
because I'm just talking, but I want your story is great.
Speaker 3 (41:34):
I appreciate the fact that you're a champion for Latino
leadership in general, you know, in the energy industry, because
quite frankly, there's just not there's still not enough of
us out there. I am, I am. I am proud
to be the first. But I will tell you you know,
my vision for CPS Energy and really my vision for
any business that serves, you know, a set of customers.
(41:57):
I think every business should be a reflection of their
customer base to a certain extent, you know. I mean,
the fact is I was the first. What that means
is there'll be another in the future, hopefully Latina, you know,
a leader of this organization down the road. But the
fact is, you know, now we've kind of gotten over
that hump, so now it won't be a thing, you know,
and I'm hopeful that that even though being a Latino
(42:18):
leader was kind of how I was ushered in to
this job, I hope I've proven myself and the fact
that you know that any of us can step into this,
you know, these types of roles that have prepared themselves
for it. But if you've never been a CEO, you
don't know how how prepared you are until you step
into the seat. And you know, I got I came
(42:39):
in and I just did what I thought was right
for our customers. I tried to focus on my employees
and give them the leadership that I thought that they
needed in that moment. And they've and they've they've they've
rewarded me by following me. And that's the biggest that's
the biggest compliment I could ever hope for. As I know,
my community's proud of me because they tell me every
(43:00):
day I'm a reflection of Antonio, you know, you know
that young boy or girl out there. I've had students
come to me say, really, I didn't realize a Latino
could be you know, could be the head of a
CPS energy. So, you know what, the dream I didn't
have now has been instilled in kids out there that
that see me doing what I do and and be like, well,
(43:22):
you know what that can be me someday. I didn't
think that way. I didn't see it, you know, in
the society I grew up in. But you know, we're
changing that one opportunity of time. And the only way
that it works as if we're successful when we step
into these roles, and you know, and the only and
that's all I've ever cared about is I want CPS
(43:42):
Energy to be successful because if we're successful, it's San
Antonio successful and that and that is all that matters
to me. That I have no agenda other than to
put my employees in the best chance they can to
do their jobs.
Speaker 2 (43:54):
Last question before I let you go, Are there any
energy sources that you see that are going to be
potentially something that you're looking at in the future of
something that's not in your mix right now as an example,
maybe geothermal or these small nuclear reactors. What are you
seeing that you like thinks potential.
Speaker 3 (44:14):
Yeah, I would love to get some geothermal capacity into
our system. And we're kind of, you know, kicking over
every rock to see, you know, what projects are out
there that that would be interested in. There's a company
called Quidnet that we're doing a small pilot with that
you know has some potential. But certainly geothermal, if we
(44:35):
can make it work, is in the mix. I've already
talked about small module or nuclear reactors and the future
I think they're going to have in our industry, which
I think is is going to be significant.
Speaker 2 (44:47):
ORDI thank you so much for joining me as a
pleasure to interview. I like what you're doing. Keep it up.
Speaker 3 (44:52):
Yeah, thank you, Kim. Can you keep doing what you're doing?
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (44:55):
The Energy Mix Radio show is where we explore topics
that affect us all in the oil and gas industry.
Every week, our host will interview the movers and shakers
in this fast paced industry. You will hear from industry experts,
elected officials, and many more on the Energy Mix Radio Show.
Welcome to the nationally syndicated Energy Mix radio show produced
by the Energy Network Media Group. The Energy Mixed Radio
Show will give you an inside look at the energy
industry and how it affects you by talking with industry leaders, experts,
and government officials on the Energy Mix Radio Show.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
Welcome to the the Energy Mix Radio Show, where we
spotlight the leaders shaping the future of energy innovation and
community impact. Today's episode features a trailblazer who is redefining
what it means to lead a legacy utility into a
new error. Joining me again is Rudy Garza, the President
(00:38):
and CEO of City Public Service Energy and the subject
of his recent Shell magazine cover story that dives deep
into his journey, leadership, philosophy, and the bull moves reshaping
San Antonio's energy landscape from launching Vision twenty twenty seven
to exceeding a one point three eighty seven billion dollar
(00:59):
ACQUA position of natural gas assets near Houston. Rudy's leadership
blends operational excellence with a deep commitment to the community
innovation and long term resilience, and today I'm going to
explore how his values and vision are powering CPS Energy's
transformation and what it means for the future of Texas Energy. Rudy,
(01:22):
you are the first Hispanic CEO of CPS Energy, the
largest municipality owned electric and gas utility in the United
States of America. You have over twenty five years in
the industry, and you've also led CPS through a period
of bold change which we're going to get into in
the show, which included major rate case changes and the
(01:45):
launch of Vision twenty twenty seven and a landmark acquisition
of four natural gas plants in the Houston area. As
I mentioned earlier, So let's bring you on talk about
your journey from Corpus Christi to being one of the
most top influential energy organizations in Texas. And this has
been due to your leadership, your authenticity, your community service,
(02:08):
and I believe your clear eyed view of the challenges
and opportunities that lie ahead for CPS. So welcome to
the Energy Mix radio show.
Speaker 3 (02:18):
Thank you, Kim. That is quite the introduction, and as always,
I am very very honored to be a guest on
your show today.
Speaker 2 (02:27):
You know, Redy, you are I have a lot of
people that I look up to, but you are one
that to me is extremely I'm very proud of your
journey and one because one we got to tell that story.
Two to understand that you're the Hispanic And as we
get into the show talking about your challenges that you faced,
(02:49):
that many people don't realize until we get into the
show that at the time you were handling all of
these catastrophic things that were happening, you were in turn.
I mean, I'm sorry you were interim CEO, you were
still in a testing phase. So these are big shoes
to fill, and I just think that you were one
of the most inspiring people that I know of how
(03:12):
you have truly shown that you have what it takes
to lead CPS and making big moves with it. So
so talking about big moves, let's get into it. You guys, well,
under CPS Energy, you created an acquisition or closed on
an acquisition that was one point three eight seven billion
dollars in acquisition of four natural gas plants near Houston.
(03:35):
So my first question is what made this deal so
right for San Antonio and its future that you moved
on this deal.
Speaker 3 (03:44):
Well, Kim, I'd start by saying, you know, we have
a generation strategy that we that we you know, developed
as soon as I became CEO November mark four years now,
if you can believe that that I've been CEO, you
know that they named the interim and November of twenty
twenty one, and by August of the following year, the
(04:04):
board saw enough progress that they gave me the opportunity
to be the permanent leader here. And we had a
lot of work to do at that time. And one
of the things that we had to do was move
past a number of old units that needed to be retired.
Natural gas, primarily gas steam units that needed to be
retired here in and around the San Antonio area. And
(04:26):
we had to make a decision about what we're going
to do about the coal units. And you know, so
between retiring our old gas units and converting at least
one of our coal units from coal to natural gas
and retiring the other one, we came up with the playbook,
and that playbook said that, you know, transitioning away from
the old stuff was about three thousand megawatts of generation capacity.
(04:49):
We needed to replace that with six thousand megawatts of capacity.
So and that included all of the above gas, natural gas, solar,
wind and battery storage. Where we're still number one in
the state of Texas and solar. We're number two in
wind power, where we will we will be number one
(05:09):
at some point in time in the near future on
battery storage, and of course natural gas. As you know
we're in the state of Texas, natural gas will always
be part of the mix, you know, as it comes
to how power is generated in this community, I mean,
in this state. And so we had an opportunity, we
got invited by the owners of that plant, those plant
(05:31):
assets to negotiate on a potential purchase. It was in
within the confines of the of the generation plan that
we that our community had provided input on that our
board approved, and so from you know, from a transparency standpoint,
we were just doing what we told the community we
(05:52):
were going to do. And so from that standpoint, I'm
really proud of the fact that we were able to
get that deal done. Uh, you know, between the corporate
Salarrato assets that we that we bought last year, which
have been a home run, you know, transaction for us,
and now these gas plans, we've really moved our gas
(06:12):
strategy forward, continuing to focus on diversification, but we've been
able to save our customers billions of dollars in acquiring
these assets versus what it would have cost us to build.
This transaction alone saved our customers over the long term
two billion dollars. My job as CEO is to be
(06:33):
as reliable utilities that we can possibly be at the
most affordable cost. And it's and it's opportunities like these
that when we're able to execute on them, that's how
we keep that's how.
Speaker 2 (06:43):
We keep our right slow, absolutely and rudy. You know,
most people understand they're hearing all these big data centers
and AI and how are we going to output to them?
And and you are building the energy or the citizens
of San Antonio and pretty much surrounding counties. This is
(07:04):
a big job doing that. And so when people hear
perception wise we don't have enough for all of that,
how are we going to do that? There's something that
we can look at here in San Antonio that you
are looking to the future and making sure that we
have enough demand that we can power what we need.
This is part of this diversification and transition. And I
(07:26):
just wanted our listeners to understand that because I think
that a lot of listeners just think that this is, oh, well,
you know, you just flip the switch and the lights
come on. But we're going to talk about winter store
Mury a little bit later on in the show, and
we're going to go back and revisit why what what
you're doing right now is so vital and important. Let
me let me try to drill down a little bit
(07:46):
on this new acquisition. So these assets that you guys acquired,
they're designed as peak peaking plants. Can you walk us
through how they will be used to stabilize the grid
and how to meet and during critical periods because we're
all hearing conserve certain hours of the day when it's
super hot. We know that, do we know what that means?
(08:07):
So tell us what peaking plants are.
Speaker 3 (08:10):
Well, so I'll take a step back. You know, the
way the electric utility industry has worked historically is you
build a four to six eight hundred megawatt unit, a
big baseload plant that's intended to run all the time, right,
and you earn your return over fifty year life of
the plant because you expect that plant to run all
(08:31):
the time. Well, you really only you know, in today's market,
we only use the full capacity that's available in the market.
You know, certain times of the year. The summer obviously
in the evening hours and then the of course in
the winter, primarily in the morning hours is when you
need to really kick on what we call those peaker
(08:52):
plants to meet the periodic peak that pops up, not
the general usage that our customer, you know, I mean
between you know, in the summertime, between you know, six
am when people start waking up and one or two
o'clock in the afternoon, the usage is nominal. It's three
o'clock to eight o'clock at night that you really got
(09:12):
to kick on, you know, everything that you've got to
be able to manage the capacity in the market. And
so in the so going forward, I think the investment
is going to be less in those base load type plants,
the big units that that that you take on, more
risk you take, you know, you you're more subject to
(09:33):
the performance and the price in the market on whether
or not those units will pay for themselves. Buying peakers
allow you to really take advantage of that peak you know,
need in the market when when it's necessary. So peakers
aren't intended to run, you know, one hundred percent of
the time, although they can if you need them to.
They're really intended to run during those those those critical
(09:55):
hours when the price goes up, you have an opportunity
to make some some return on the market. But but
we we bought them really for a liability of the
of the resources we need in San Antonio. So our
drivers are a little bit different. Even though we're going
to make wholesale revenue for for whatever power above and
beyond what San Antonio needs, that goes towards offsetting what
(10:18):
we have to ask our rate pairs for. So every
dollar we bring in from the wholesale market we sell
power that we don't we aren't utilizing back into the
aircut market is one less dollar we need to ask
our customers for. And that's another way we keep rate slow.
Speaker 2 (10:32):
Yes, so you're even supplying power to more people in
Texas even though they're not in our demographical area area
to sell to air Carter.
Speaker 3 (10:41):
That's right, Aircut sell them perkiin. We're the fourth largest
generator in the state of Texas, so we have more
generation than we need. We're really good operators, we know
how to run power plants. So you know the fact
that we own more assets than we need to serve
San Antonio is a net benefit to the market. You
know us what we're also a tax exempt entity, so
(11:03):
the price, you know, the price it costs the market
is also lower, you know at the end of the day,
because we're a public entity. So it's almost like, here's
what how I'll describe it the wholesale market in aurcutt
when you have some public power not you know, the
good majority of private companies that are that are you know,
doing their job you know every day, but a portion
(11:25):
is public sector companies. It's like having mutual funds and
stocks in your financial portfolio. It's a good hedge to
make sure that you're diversified, right. Well, that's the public
powercy you know, serves to diversify the air cut market
so that you have multiple types of entities that help
(11:46):
kind of manage the risk overall for for customers across
the state of Texas. So it's a good thing for
CPS Energy to be active players in the wholesale market. Absolutely.
Speaker 2 (11:56):
And I want to revisit that a little bit later
on in the show when we talk about renterstorm Uri
under your interim CEO leadership. But that's a little bit
later on down in the show. Let's take a quick break.
When we return, Rudy, I want to talk to I
want to ask you. You know that you emphasized that
this acquisition was to avoid building new infrastructure. So let's
(12:17):
get into that. But let's take a quick break. You're
listening to the Energy Mix radio show and we'll be
right back.
Speaker 4 (12:24):
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(12:44):
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us two ten two four oh seven one eight eight
Again that's two ten, two four ohs seventy one eighty eight,
and we're back.
Speaker 2 (13:02):
You're listening to the Energy Mix radio show. My guest
today is Rudy Garza, President and CEO of City Public
Serves Energy in San Antonio, Texas. Rudy, we were discussing
this acquisition, this billion dollar acquisition that CPS finalized, and
you emphasized that this acquisition to help CPS avoid new
(13:22):
building infrastructure. How does this strategy align with your long
term goals and for cost, efficiency and reliability? Were those
some of the things you were looking at.
Speaker 3 (13:32):
Well, we're going to have to build new plants at
some point in time. You know, I'm getting as much
affordable solar and wind and battery storage as I can
possibly get into our system. Because here's the thing, even
with this these acquisitions, we're going to grow into this capacity.
Right so as I'm taking old plants offline, you know,
(13:54):
I cut into this new capacity that I'm buying ours.
As our community grows, I'm cutting into thispacity that we're buying.
So we're so you don't build a plant, you know
when right when you need it. You got a plan
to build a plant five, six, eight years ahead, ten
years ahead of schedule of when you expect the growth
to be here, so that you know if you're ready
(14:15):
to serve you know the customers that you know are coming.
So for us, we're always looking at can we is
there capacity available on the market today that we that
that's good, that's the right kind of capacity that will
allow us to get more megawatts online at a at
a at a quicker pace, at a lower cost. Right,
(14:38):
let me give you, for instance, the plants that we
bought in in the Houston area were we paid four
hundred and fifty dollars at kW for Don't worry about
the units, just focus on the number for fifty a kW.
Do you know what it would cost us to build
that same amount of capacity for kW I twenty five
hundred dollars, So you don't time buying that capacity. We're
(15:00):
still going to need to build, but we push that
build off a bit while we're while we see how
the growth you know, shapes up. There's a lot of
uncertainty around data center load, for instance, So over the
next five years, we'll learn how those customers you know
are going to come online and exactly how much capacity
that they're gonna need, and that that let that lets
(15:21):
us reduce the risk of speculatively overbuilding capacity right now. Right,
so so our options always is there available capacity in
the market, and how does that compare to what it's
going to cost us to build. We've got owners, engineers
on staff, we've got we're running you know, projects to
plan for when those builds happen. It's just pulling the
(15:42):
trigger on ordering the turbines and doing the things that
we have to do to get ready for the build
that we're able to hold off on because we found
a less risky and more cost effective way to do it,
you know. I mean, that's just good business. Absolutely.
Speaker 2 (15:57):
I want to go back, and I know we're going
to cut on break here at some point, but I
want to go back in history for a moment because
this really to me, This pass that we're going to visit,
really demonstrated you as an individual, and I love this story.
When winter storm Youury devastated Texas in twenty twenty one,
(16:18):
and you mentioned you were brought on born November twenty
twenty one is interim. You faced one of the most
severe operational and financial crisis in CPS's history. Being again
newly appointed as the interim, you stepped into a storm,
definitely literally and figuratively, and you began to steer the
(16:40):
utility through recovery with a very steady hand. From what
now we look back and see. I don't know if
you believed it at the time, because there's no playbook
for what you went through. But your response included securing
fuel cost recovery, stabilizing operations, and initiating a long overdue
rate case to fund infrastructure resilience, which we're seeing now.
(17:05):
And these early decisions laid the foundation for a broader
transformation into Vision twenty twenty seven and Horizon twenty fifty,
strategic plans that prioritized reliability, modernization, and community engagement. Would
you said, that's pretty much right what I've been saying.
Speaker 3 (17:22):
This is factly what we did.
Speaker 2 (17:26):
So looking back, your leadership appears to not only be reactive,
but remarkably precise, And with your recent one point three
eighty seven billion dollar acquisition of the natural gas assets
near Houston, it reflects a very pragmatic approach in your
grid stability and how you looked at it, even to
(17:46):
the point where you still invest, like you mentioned earlier,
in renewables, and speaking about renewables, the Sierra Club upgraded
CPS from an F failing to a C, which is
signaling progress. And through this it highlights the tension that
you go through between environmental goals and operation reality, balancing
(18:07):
both your trajectory shows a leader who does not chase trends.
In my opinion, but bills durable solutions, balancing long term
vision with the immediate need for growth of a growing
city like San Antonio. So, Rudy, looking back on storm
Ury and your decisions that you made in the aftermath,
tell me how how you felt you look at this
(18:30):
in the direction of CPS, Like, were there some key
things that this was no one knew? I've interviewed commissionercratic
you so many people that were dealing with a storm
they've never dealt with before. There's not a playbooks. We
completely lost power in the state for days. How do
you feel looking back as the leader of CPS, by
(18:51):
the way, interim at that time, very short period of
time on interim, but had worked for CPS for many years.
What was guiding you and leading you?
Speaker 3 (19:00):
Well, couple things, you know, I maybe it's the best
time and the worst time to be asked to step
into a leadership role. You know, we were our community,
you know, lost trust in us. And I started from
that place. You know, I leaned into the repair of
(19:20):
the relationship with our customers that we had to start from,
and I took a real simple approach. Kim, I got
my number one. None of it happens without my employees,
my leadership team rallying around me. Had my had my
team members not been there in you know, in the
trenches with me at that time, we there was there
(19:42):
was no way we're going to have any success. But
I asked one simple question when they named me interim,
what can we get what can we reasonably get accomplished
over the next twelve months, assuming I'm going to have
a year to try to put these things back on track,
Let's get a list together of the things that we
need to accomplish, you know. And so we went to work.
We needed to put a plan together. We did that,
(20:04):
put a generation strategy together that transitioned into Vision twenty
twenty seven, which created the playbook, you know, with compute
community input, so boom. Now we had priorities that we
could go and start talking to the community about. That
led to the fact that we hadn't had a rate
increase in San Antonio in over nine years. There's no
way we could have dug ourselves out of that hole.
Speaker 2 (20:25):
Who gets that? I mean, for a listener who's in
Houston or corpus their rates, they're lucky they stay if
they haven't for one year or even one month, nine years,
no increase the citizens of for us.
Speaker 3 (20:38):
We got to go to the city council to get
that approved. So you know, they, thankfully city council understood
the financial condition that we were in. We'd already been
moved to negative outlook by our bond rating agencies, and
so you know, they approved a modest rate increase that
allowed us to deal with the fuel costs associated with
Winnis Storm, Maury. That was they a billion dollar price
(21:01):
tag that we're still working through quite frankly with a
couple of those suppliers, and it allowed us to start
funding infrastructure improvements. You know, we had to start investing
in our core business again and you can't do that
without RAID support. Absolutely have this.
Speaker 2 (21:16):
You're listening to the Energy Mixed radio show.
Speaker 3 (21:17):
In these attack.
Speaker 2 (21:22):
And we're back. You're listening to the Energy Mix radio show.
My guest today is Rudy Garza, President and CEO of
City Public Service Energy in San Antonio, Texas. Ruddy, how
when the storm went down, can you also explain to
us we everybody had a spike an increase in their
utility build CPS also endured some significant financial losses. Can
(21:46):
you explain that as well. Remind us what you all
went through, because that also came into the playbook. You're
talking about that the raid increased, but also the financial
significance that Storm Mury had on city public service.
Speaker 3 (21:58):
Well, I mean, in the natural gas industry, you know, anytime,
anytime there's a winter storm, you'll see a fairly significant
increase in the spot price of natural gas. And in
that moment, you know, you pay what you have to
pay because you've got gun heal to your head because
you're trying to keep you know, customers warm, right, And
so we were in this catastrophic moment that you know,
(22:19):
that's not normal business. And so every gas utility, every
gas generator in the state of Texas faced significant, significant financial,
you know, implications because of the nature of that storm.
So the way, you know, a lot of here's what
happened in Houston. Some customers in Houston got a ten
(22:40):
thousand dollars bill from one month to the next because
all that gas costs got passed right along to customers,
you know, which is allowed. That's it's just because it's
allowed doesn't mean it's right. What we did is we
parked all that costs. We went to our council, thoughtfully
came up with a plan to spread that cost out
over twenty five years, and we created a regulatory asset
(23:00):
so that customers pay a little bit a month over
a long period of time, rather than paid all at once.
The easiest thing for us to do would have been
to just pass it on through, but it would have
been absolutely unacceptable by our customers, by our community to
allow that. So the manner in which we went about
addressing that that significant event, I thought was very responsible.
(23:23):
Now we're still in litigation with a couple of those
suppliers that will work itself out over time, but that
was a decision that our community made in that moment that, hey,
how can you allow a hotel room, you know, at
Lakina to get taken to court by the Attorney General
for moving from seventy five dollars to one hundred and
fifty dollars a month, But you're going to allow gas
suppliers to increase their costs fifteen thousand percent, you know,
(23:47):
in the middle of a storm, you know, I mean,
so you know, there's a principle of the issue that
we're fighting still, and you know what, maybe we lose
I don't know what's going to happen in the litigation,
but you know, we're first case scenario, we pay what
we all based on, you know that event. Best case scenario,
we create some new policy that I think benefits consumers
(24:08):
at the end of the day. So you know, I'll
let whoever's making the judgment decide whether, you know who
who has the high road on this. But I think
the fight that we're fighting right now on this issue
is worth fighting.
Speaker 2 (24:19):
I don't think anybody could not at least appreciate the
sentiment and the thoughtfulness behind that, because keep in mind,
this is also right around the catastrophic COVID deboscle as well.
I mean, we are literally just hitting all kinds of
serious issues in the home, environment, financial, you know, everything.
So let's let's switchares and talk about not being able
(24:41):
to please everybody all the time, and that would be
the Sierra Club.
Speaker 3 (24:45):
Now it's the existence I live please everybody all the time.
Speaker 2 (24:49):
Exactly, but you just got to try, right And so
the Sierra Club who had CPS energy rating from an
F to a C. What does the shift mean you
and how do you reconcile the environmental expectations with the
need for reliable dispatchable power for the city of San
Antonio and now even Texas needs.
Speaker 3 (25:10):
Well, let me start with this. Our community in San
Antonio does have a climate at a Action and Adaptation
Plan that was passed by the City of San Antonio,
you know, back in two thousand and eighteen twenty nineteen
time frame that says we'll be carbon neutral in our
emissions by twenty fifty. And our current plan, the generation
plan that was approved with community input, which included many
(25:33):
of the of the environmental community, created the pathway forward
with with this diverse five portfolio that will allow us
to meet our twenty thirty and twenty forty target interim goals,
you know, while we work on new technology that'll get
us to twenty fifty. So we're on a pathway to
lower our carbon footprint, which should make generally you know,
(25:53):
our environmental community, I think is committed to and we're
committed to. The main thing is part of that land
was to move away from coal, and we made that
decision and their financial ramifications of us doing that. You know,
with the new administration, we're gonna this year we're actually
going to look, we're going to update our generation plans
to see what's changed, and you know, certainly some of
(26:14):
the action by the administration on allowing or not allowing
coal plants to close early, we're going to have to
take that policy into account and see what that means
for our plans in terms of transitioning both to you know,
the unit the unit or units to natural gas. Fundamentally
the the you know. I mean, I would never expect
environmentalists to be supportive of any kind of fossil fuel
(26:37):
based generation, So the fact that we're still at a
sea I'm not surprised at that. What I am proud of, though,
is we have stuck to our commitment to move away
from coal, which was their most which was their biggest issue.
We're number one in solar in Texas, we're number five
in the country, we're number two in wind in Texas,
and we're and we're committed and moving the needle forward
(26:59):
on on on battery storage. So we're doing all the
things that our environmental community wants us to do to
decarbonize our fleet, but natural gas for liability purposes, natural
gas will remain part of the equation. And that's you know,
let's take a quick break.
Speaker 2 (27:15):
You're listening to the Energy Mixed Radio show, and we'll
be right back, and we're back. You're listening to the
Energy Mixed Radio Show. My guest today is Rudy Garza,
the president and CEO of City Public Service Energy. Rudy,
before the break, you know, you were discussing how you
have positioned City Public Service to be very I think
(27:37):
the philosophy is all the above. So we have solar
and when you mentioned how Texas leads in this area
and you lead in this area. But not too long ago,
when we had Storm Muri, we also realized that I
mean I I interview energy, oil and gas specifically a
lot of experts in that field, and we know what
(27:57):
happened in that storm. Natural gas cut off from the pipelines,
which shut everything off. And we saw that solar and wind.
As much as some people like this and I'm not
against it either, it is not a perfect energy source
because if the sun isn't shining, or the solar panels
get snow on them, which is what happened, or these
wind turbines froze their motors, and it led to the
(28:20):
catastrophe that we had in your philosophy of investing in
all of it and getting off of coal, which which
I am in agreeance in that. But let's talk about
fossil fuel the reliability, and also talk to the listeners
about nuclear because that's another field source that we can
look at. It. There's some great ones coming down the pike,
geo thermal that CPS could look at. I mean, there's
a lot of good ones. It's not just solar and wind.
(28:43):
Talk to me about your thoughts on that, Yeah.
Speaker 3 (28:45):
Kim, don't. I don't spend a lot of time vilifying
one resource type over another, because you got it, you
have to have it all. And I think we're a
really good example of being committed to all of the
above strategy. We are forty percent owners in the South
Texas Nuclear Plant US, you know in Bay City, UH
and with you know our co owners with with US
and Energy and Constellation, and that plan is a great plan.
(29:07):
But guess what during win Storm Mari, every resource type
had an issue. You know, we're we're operating under different
standards today. We have to weatherize in a different way
and and and we get inspected now by you know
urkot folks to make sure that we've done all the
things that we have to do to protect the plants
from a harsh winter potentially. So so yeah, I mean
(29:29):
the reason natural gas and nuclear I mean, I'll tell
you we can't make our twenty fifty you know, the
decarbonization goal without new technology coming into play. That doesn't
exist today. And I personally think that new technology. The
bet on the new technology is going to be small
monitor nuclear reactors, you know, the daisy change, you know,
(29:50):
and and move those forward. So you know, so nuclear
I think is going to play a big role in
the future of our industry. Natural gas will have to remain,
you know, part of the of a big part of
the mix because it provides a reliability we need. There
are times of the year when the wind doesn't blow
and the sun doesn't chine. That's okay that you know,
that's not a reason to not invest in those technologies.
(30:11):
Battery storage helps ensure that you know that you have
the backup you need during those times to bridge those
those gaps. But during Winter Storm Maria, it was an
anomaly because all resource types failed us in certain ways
in that moment that we've learned from, you know, so
we have a more resilient system today because all of
the resource types have continued to be invested in. And
(30:33):
guess what with all the growth coming that the phenomenon
that continues to be the Texas economy, you're gonna need
every electron you can put on the system to keep
up with the growth that we're experiencing right now. So
now's not the time to pick one resource type over
and over another, because we just need it all and
that's gonna be that way for the next five eight years.
You know, we need batter storage, we need solar, we
(30:55):
need more wind, and guess what, we need more gas too.
You know. The other thing that doesn't get talk about,
Kim is the old gas plants in Urcot need to
be retired because they're not reliable and they cost a
lot to run. So the quicker we build new stuff
to replace the old stuff. Just what that has a
carbon benefit too? Absolutely?
Speaker 2 (31:14):
Yeah, I mean they're so efficient, the new build out
with technology versus the old ones. Let's talk about vision
twenty twenty seven. It has been the quarterstone of your leadership.
What are the key hillars? Tell us about that and
your vision? And then how does it fall into this acquisition,
How does it fit into your own map? Because this
acquisition wasn't something you really planned. It was something that
(31:34):
just kind of it was one of the Lord's talks
to you. Again, in some ways, it.
Speaker 3 (31:39):
Was part of the plan. It's just the time horizon
in which you can execute to it. You know, we're
able to execute at a quicker pace because we're buying
instead of building what we were going to build, which
takes a little bit longer. So it's all within the plan.
We're actually updating the plan right now because we're about
three years into our Vision twenty twenty seven strategy and
there's a lot of initiatives we've checked off off the list,
(32:02):
and so now is actually a perfect time to update
our generation plan, to update our Vision twenty twenty seven
to a Vision thirty and keep our five year strategy fresh. Right,
So we will go through that process at the end
of this year early next year, we'll get our board
to put their freingerprints on it, and then we'll move forward.
But it's you know, it's it's dealing with operational evolution
(32:24):
that we need to make our systems more resilient. It's
retiring old plants and building or buying new plants. Part
of that strategy, our technology has to have to be upgraded.
We're spending three hundred million dollars right now to upgrade
our computer systems that are old and and less you know, effective,
you know, and we'll give our customers a better experience.
(32:45):
Our customer experience is a big pillar of our strategy.
And then you've got to do all that in a
financially resilient manner. So how we do all of We
invest a billion to a billion and a half a year,
which is what our current pathway looks like for the
next stick. We got to do that in a way
that maintains the financial health of CPS Energy. And you know,
I'll tell you, you know, when you look at the
(33:07):
list of all the things we've been able to accomplish,
you can check boxes in every category because what Vision
twenty twenty seven did for us is it gave us
a set of priorities. We're not doing anything else that
doesn't support those key pillars of what we're trying to
accomplish as an organization. And because of that, you can
budget more efficiently, you can hold people accountable better, you
can communicate to your customers in the way that you
(33:29):
need to bring them along with you, and then you
can talk to your board and city council when you
need great support about what's driving the need. Right. So
so having a plan is fundamental to how you move
the organization forward.
Speaker 2 (33:43):
You know, I want to talk about the an ex.
I want you to explain to us the horizon twenty fifty.
But I want to tell you a real quick story
that just happened last night. I went to dinner at
Jay Alexander's.
Speaker 3 (33:52):
In one of my favorite restaurants.
Speaker 2 (33:54):
Well, you had a fan there, sir. His name was Joe,
and he had a construction site that he had a
contract with City Public Service in building out some of
the power plants, and he you know, to hear him speak,
I just want as a third party listening, I said, well,
how do you feel? And the compliments that he gave
(34:14):
in the way of saying, you know, it's got to
be one of the best companies that we contract with
that he had contracts from all over the state of Texas.
But he said that CPS, you know, when you talk
about your leadership and just doing the day to day operation,
which has been primarily this show. But then I thought
about Joe over here, who is a contract or not
(34:34):
an employee but has to work and deal with the
employees of CPS, and for him to have such a
glowing report about how much he enjoys it, and then
to think that you all are providing all these other
hundreds of thousands of jobs to citizens to be able
to work and make a living into servicing and helping
(34:55):
CPS continue your mission and overall strategy. It says a
lot about the company. And I love to see good
companies run very strategic but yet understanding that their people
are the true assets, and then how they communicate with
the community and they enjoy it that they're complimenting you guys.
So I wanted to share that story with you. He
(35:17):
didn't know you personally, but he had a lot of
great things to say about CPS. I just wanted to
share that with you.
Speaker 3 (35:22):
Well, wow, I mean on point, let me just add, Kim,
seventy plus percent of our spend, you know, on an
annual basis goes to local companies, and of that seventy
plus percent, over forty percent of those too small business.
So I'm super proud of the fact that, I mean,
it's not just a bullet point. Every dollar that comes
(35:44):
into CPS energy benefits the community in some way, and
in large part, it's those suppliers and vendors that are
doing work for us, that are helping us get the
job done every day, and we're really proud of that accomplishment.
Speaker 2 (35:56):
We're going to take a quick break, or when we return,
I want for you to tell us Horizon twenty fifty
is because it involved the major rate case and so
I want to get into that. But gon'll take a
quick break. You're listening to the Energy Mix radio show,
and we'll be right back. And we're back. You're listening
to the Energy Mix radio show. My guest today is
Rudy Garza, President and CEO of City Public Service Energy
(36:17):
in San Antonio. Thank you for coming on and explaining
what you guys are doing and how you're ensuring that
San Antonians, surrounding counties and even the state of Texas
has the energy needs or you're certainly trying to work
in that way to provide as much as we need.
But through your leadership and running CPS, there's been been changes,
(36:38):
and one of them has been something that has launched.
It's called Horizon twenty fifty. What lessons have you learned
about balancing community needs with infrastructure investment and what is
horizon twenty fifty can explain it to us well.
Speaker 3 (36:51):
So one of the main questions I get from business
leaders around the community pretty much every week is Rudy,
do we have enough free sources for the next twenty
five years? You know, business leaders are always thinking long
term about economic development and you can't grow the economy
without you know, water and energy and you know the
inputs that you need to do all the great things
(37:13):
that our customers do every day. So so we we uh,
And it's it's been a trend. A lot of my
colleagues right now around the country are are doing longer
range and it's really not a plan, it's more of
a roadmap. There are alternate, you know, versions of our
future that exist depending upon what happens. You know, maybe
(37:35):
a new technology comes up that's going to change our business,
or you know, like data centers that these large loads
are going to be transformative for the amount of resources
that we're going to need. I don't know, maybe someday
competition comes to San Antonio and that's going to be
an alternate reality than where we're at today that exists
for San Antonio or or something else. So we came
(37:55):
up basically with four different versions of our future that
basically allow us, in those moments where you have kind
of pivoting you know, uh points in the industry, to
have to at least have thought through what happens if
this reality comes about, or what happens if this these
dynamics change in our business, you know, and we can
(38:17):
and we and so we have a roadmap that says, hey,
you know, if if competition does come to San Antonio someday,
here's we're gonna pull. We're gonna pull that version of
our future out and we're gonna we're gonna create a
plan to help get us there. And and so Horizon
twenty fifty was really meant to answer, you know, really,
what do we think about the future. Our business community
is asking that question, and so Horizon twenty fifty was
(38:40):
created really to be a roadmap to what the future
could be depending upon what variables end up happening, some
of them fall off. Probably every you know, five years
will update that Horizon twenty fifty with whatever the reality
of that timeframe is, and we'll create some new realities
that might exist for us down the road. But but
I think it's hard to wrap your head around any
(39:01):
more than three or four different versions of the future
that you think that you think about, you know, but
it allows us to at least, you know, engage our
customers in the fact that we're thinking about the future
on a long term basis. So we have our Vision
twenty seven, that's that we're going to stretch to Vision
(39:23):
twenty thirty, and we have our Horizon twenty fifty, so
we have a short term plan that supports our long
term vision for our business. Does that make sense?
Speaker 2 (39:32):
Absolutely? Absolutely, And so that's going to lead me into
as we're closing out the show, we've got some time left.
You know, you were on the cover of Shell magazine
and there were some things in that interview that I
learned about you. Two things that came to mind, and
I want to close out the show with that. First
of all, understanding city of San Antonio, the majority of
the population is Hispanic and looking back and realizing that
(39:55):
you have been this is you have been the first
CEO city public Service. This is not in any way
a negative towards city public service. This is actually a
great to me an opportunity for and I. You've been
showing it that it took the right person to understand
the culture, to come from here, to be a part
of the city of San Antonio, to know the people,
(40:18):
to be committed to the people. It shows. It's a
testament into how you could come on board as interim
And not to mention, you obviously have the seasoned, you know, educational,
but you also had so much background. How important was
do you think it is to you to be the
first Hispanic? I mean, to me, it's huge. It is
(40:39):
really important that I feel we stress that because of
the city that we live in, I understand San Antonio culture.
That was shocking to me, pleasantly shocking. I'm like, finally,
and you are doing an amazing job. So maybe I'm
not really asking you a question, per say, but wanted
to give you that information. But how much has this
shaped you as a you know, being there? Now? What
(41:01):
do you feel being the first Hispanic? Well, I know
that's a hard question for you to probably answer, but
you're so humble, but yet this is a big deal.
You are really showing leadership and showing it's possible. In
your interview with Shelle magazine, you said you had never
even thought about being the CEO till somebody mentored you.
I mean, you are a great icon for the Hispanic
(41:26):
culture to look to. If you can do it, go ahead,
because I'm just talking, but I want your story is great.
Speaker 3 (41:34):
I appreciate the fact that you're a champion for Latino
leadership in general, you know, in the energy industry, because
quite frankly, there's just not there's still not enough of
us out there. I am, I am. I am proud
to be the first. But I will tell you you know,
my vision for CPS Energy and really my vision for
any business that serves, you know, a set of customers.
(41:57):
I think every business should be a reflection of their
customer base to a certain extent, you know. I mean,
the fact is I was the first. What that means
is there'll be another in the future, hopefully Latina, you know,
a leader of this organization down the road. But the
fact is, you know, now we've kind of gotten over
that hump, so now it won't be a thing, you know,
and I'm hopeful that that even though being a Latino
(42:18):
leader was kind of how I was ushered in to
this job, I hope I've proven myself and the fact
that you know that any of us can step into this,
you know, these types of roles that have prepared themselves
for it. But if you've never been a CEO, you
don't know how how prepared you are until you step
into the seat. And you know, I got I came
(42:39):
in and I just did what I thought was right
for our customers. I tried to focus on my employees
and give them the leadership that I thought that they
needed in that moment. And they've and they've they've they've
rewarded me by following me. And that's the biggest that's
the biggest compliment I could ever hope for. As I know,
my community's proud of me because they tell me every
(43:00):
day I'm a reflection of Antonio, you know, you know
that young boy or girl out there. I've had students
come to me say, really, I didn't realize a Latino
could be you know, could be the head of a
CPS energy. So, you know what, the dream I didn't
have now has been instilled in kids out there that
that see me doing what I do and and be like, well,
(43:22):
you know what that can be me someday. I didn't
think that way. I didn't see it, you know, in
the society I grew up in. But you know, we're
changing that one opportunity of time. And the only way
that it works as if we're successful when we step
into these roles, and you know, and the only and
that's all I've ever cared about is I want CPS
(43:42):
Energy to be successful because if we're successful, it's San
Antonio successful and that and that is all that matters
to me. That I have no agenda other than to
put my employees in the best chance they can to
do their jobs.
Speaker 2 (43:54):
Last question before I let you go, Are there any
energy sources that you see that are going to be
potentially something that you're looking at in the future of
something that's not in your mix right now as an example,
maybe geothermal or these small nuclear reactors. What are you
seeing that you like thinks potential.
Speaker 3 (44:14):
Yeah, I would love to get some geothermal capacity into
our system. And we're kind of, you know, kicking over
every rock to see, you know, what projects are out
there that that would be interested in. There's a company
called Quidnet that we're doing a small pilot with that
you know has some potential. But certainly geothermal, if we
(44:35):
can make it work, is in the mix. I've already
talked about small module or nuclear reactors and the future
I think they're going to have in our industry, which
I think is is going to be significant.
Speaker 2 (44:47):
ORDI thank you so much for joining me as a
pleasure to interview. I like what you're doing. Keep it up.
Speaker 3 (44:52):
Yeah, thank you, Kim. Can you keep doing what you're doing?
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (44:55):
The Energy Mix Radio show is where we explore topics
that affect us all in the oil and gas industry.
Every week, our host will interview the movers and shakers
in this fast paced industry. You will hear from industry experts,
elected officials, and many more on the Energy Mix Radio Show.
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