Photo: Michael Barera, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Today, San Antonio’s City Council voted to extend CPS Energy’s Save for Tomorrow Energy Plan (STEP) for an additional five years at current funding levels with an expanded focus on a variety of new programs. For the last 12 years, STEP has helped San Antonians reduce energy bills and transition away from dirty coal through incentives to install more efficient lighting, insulation, windows, appliances, and programmable thermostats.
Sierra Club celebrates this groundbreaking program and City Council’s ongoing commitment to improving energy efficiency and solar programs across San Antonio. Sierra Club also supports a greater commitment to ensuring the benefits of STEP are enjoyed equitably across San Antonio. STEP programs can and should help the most vulnerable residents of San Antonio first.
CPS Energy and City Council voted to extend STEP but had the opportunity to expand the available funding from $70 million to $100 million per year which would have avoided some 2.2 million tons of carbon, and weatherized 18,000 homes and 30,000 apartments over the next five years. The more ambitious investment would have saved an additional $285 million (for a total of $950 million in savings) for San Antonians from avoided capital and fuel costs, meaning a 2-to-1 benefit for everyone and more help to expand solar programs and low income weatherization opportunities across the city.
In response to City Council’s vote, Cyrus Reed, Conservation Director for the Lone Star Chapter of the Sierra Club said:
“Today’s vote signifies San Antonio’s ongoing recognition of the life-saving value of energy efficiency programs like low income weatherization. Because we continue to experience record heat waves - and record cold events like we did in 2021 - City Council and CPS Energy should continue to explore an even more robust energy efficiency plan that would allow San Antonio to move away from fossil fuels faster and help even more people save on their bills, all while saving everyone money in the long run.”