San Antonio Express

CPS Energy customers have benefited from the public utility's diversification of its power generation base. CPS rates routinely rank among the lowest in the country for large cities. That consistency is in large measure the result of wise decisions to expand the sources of energy generation.

Those decisions, however, were not always popular. Four decades ago, critics panned plans by City Public Service — CPS's predecessor — to invest in coal and nuclear generation when gas was traditionally abundant and cheap in Texas. Diversification continues to shield CPS customers from the volatility of energy markets to this day.