Rebuilding Trust and Community: CPS Energy’s Customer Engagement Insights at EMACS San Antonio
By Russ Henderson, Research Director –
As utilities continue to adapt to an ever-evolving customer and stakeholder expectations, we are thrilled that two executive leaders with CPS Energy will share insights and strategies from the company’s own transformation at EMACS: The Customer Experience Conference, scheduled for Oct. 8-11 in San Antonio.
Rudy Garza, CEO of CPS Energy, and DeAnna Hardwick, Chief Customer Officer, will provide a deep dive into how CPS Energy made a remarkable recovery from a significant drop in customer satisfaction and trust following record-breaking Winter Storm Uri, which impacted all 254 Texas counties in 2021, in addition to impacts the utility was facing from COVID-19 and an active rate request.
In a recent interview, Garza and Hardwick provided insight into their vision for the future and the company’s strong commitment to community service.
Garza discussed CPS Energy’s Vision 2027, a blueprint for transformation that aims to redefine how the company operates.
Vision 2027 is CPS Energy’s strategic blueprint aimed at transforming the company to meet the utility’s evolving demands. This initiative is focused on guiding CPS Energy through rapid technological advancements and industry shifts by modernizing infrastructure, enhancing sustainability, and improving customer engagement. The plan emphasizes proactive change rather than mere adaptation, positioning CPS Energy to remain a leader in the energy sector while supporting the community’s economic development and job creation.
“CPS Energy has evolved. We are not the same organization we were in the past, and we’re certainly not the CPS Energy we need to be for our customers in the future,” Garza said. “We’re not just adapting; we’re transforming to meet the needs of tomorrow’s customers.”
Hardwick said that the heart of this vision, and of CPS Energy’s operations, is its community. She highlighted the diversity of their customer base, from low-income families to major businesses.
“Our community continues to grow and they expect different things from us today. We serve nearly a million customers, ranging from those living at or below the poverty line to large businesses like the Spurs and USAA. We have the privilege of supporting all these customers, so whether it’s a small household or a large corporation, we have to ensure we’re meeting all their needs,” Hardwick said.
The most evocative image of the connection between the utility and its community is the city’s lights at night, she said.
“Every one of us is responsible for that glow, and when you know it’s your neighbors, friends, and family living in that glow, you do everything you can to make it count. So, it’s about looking toward the future and ensuring we have the right people on board,” Hardwick said.
Looking ahead, Garza addressed the looming challenges of staying relevant in an era where customers might become more self-sufficient through renewables and microgrids.
“We can’t take customers for granted in a rapidly evolving technological landscape. If we don’t focus on the future and meet our customers where they are, we risk becoming irrelevant. My job is to ensure that doesn’t happen in San Antonio,” Garza said. Hardwick echoed that future orientation.
“We’re heavily involved in not just our Vision 2027 but also looking ahead to what CPS Energy will look like in 2050 and 2060. San Antonio is a growing city; people don’t leave here, they move here. That means we have to meet the needs of our existing customers while also welcoming new ones,” Hardwick said. Key to that future is relationships.
“We can pick up the phone with our large customers and ask for voluntary load reduction during peak demand because we’ve built those relationships. That conversation starts long before the day we need them to move to backup power. Building relationships and meeting customers where they are—that’s not going to change. We just have to keep pace with all of our customers,” she said.
Both Garza and Hardwick underscored the importance of industry conferences like EMACS.
“Conferences are where we cultivate future leaders and bring back the solutions that keep us relevant,” Garza said. “The great thing about the utility industry is that you don’t have to be the first to figure something out. I love hearing about another utility solving a problem we’re facing, and then bringing that solution back to San Antonio to see how it can work for us.”
Hardwick said that her experience with conferences, and with Chartwell’s EMACS in particular, has been invaluable in navigating the challenges faced during critical events like COVID-19 and Winter Storm Uri.
“Coming out of the pandemic and dealing with Winter Storm Uri here in Texas, we faced two major issues from a customer perspective. One was our past-due receivables, and having a community of people facing the same challenges allowed us to benchmark and brainstorm,” she said.
Chartwell’s role in facilitating these discussions through conferences and faciliated council meetings allowed her team to ensure they were doing everything possible to support their customers, highlighting the importance of understanding that every customer interaction significantly impacts their lives.
To learn more, you can visit the website for EMACS: The Customer Experience Conference to view the agenda and registration information.