CPS Energy Commercial Rates in San Antonio
ElectricChoice Energy Research · Updated
- San Antonio is not deregulated. CPS Energy is the only provider.
- You cannot switch, but your rate class still affects what you pay.
- Locations outside San Antonio can probably be shopped for a better rate.
There Is No Shopping Here, and That Is Not a Loophole
When Texas opened its electricity market in 2002, the law applied to investor-owned utilities. City-owned utilities and rural co-ops were given a choice about whether to join. CPS Energy, owned by the City of San Antonio, declined. Twenty-plus years later it still has not opted in, and there is no active plan to.
| 1 | Provider available to you | CPS Energy generates, delivers and bills. There is no retail provider layer and nothing to switch. |
| 4 | Commercial rate schedules | General Service, Large Lighting and Power, Extra Large Power, and Super Large Power. |
| 80% | Of your summer peak, carried forward | Applies to your billing demand every month from October through May on the large commercial rate. |
| $10.88 | Per kW, summer demand | June through September on Large Lighting and Power. Drops to $8.16 the rest of the year. |
Worth noting: the CPS boundary is not the same as the city limits. Parts of the outer Bexar County area and several surrounding communities are served by co-ops or by investor-owned utilities, and businesses there may well be able to shop. If your address sits near the edge, check the utility name printed on your bill rather than assuming.
Find Out Which Rate You Are Actually On
This is the single most useful thing on this page. CPS Energy assigns your rate schedule based on your demand history, and businesses get left on the wrong one all the time. The code is printed on your bill. Once you know it, everything else on this page applies to you or it does not.
The boundary between PL and LLP is where most of the money is. Because LLP carries a 100 kW minimum billing demand, a business whose real peak is 65 or 70 kW is usually much better off on General Service — and a business consistently peaking at 130 kW is usually better off on LLP. If your demand has drifted across that line in either direction over the last couple of years, call the business line at 210-353-3333 and ask them to run both.
The Two Rates That Cover Most Businesses
These are the published components, effective , from the CPS Energy rate schedules. Fuel and regulatory adjustments sit on top and move month to month, which is why nobody can quote you one clean number.
General Service (PL)
The rate most San Antonio businesses are billed on
| Component | Charge | Applies to |
|---|---|---|
| Service availability | $9.50 per month | Flat, every month, regardless of usage |
| Energy, first block | 7.817¢ per kWh | First 1,600 kWh, plus 200 kWh more for every kW of demand above 5 kW |
| Energy, everything else | 3.610¢ per kWh | All usage past the first block — less than half the first-block price |
| Peak capacity, summer | 2.150¢ per kWh | June through September, on everything above 600 kWh |
| Peak capacity, rest of year | 1.087¢ per kWh | October through May, on everything above 600 kWh |
| Minimum bill | $9.50 + $4.35 per kW | On demand above 5 kW. Credits cannot reduce it. |
Read that second and third row together, because it is the most counterintuitive part of the rate. Your first 1,600 kWh cost more than twice as much per unit as everything after. That means a San Antonio business that cuts usage by 10 percent off a small base saves far less than the percentage suggests — the savings come out of the cheap block, not the expensive one.
Large Lighting and Power (LLP)
Where demand charges start mattering more than usage
| Component | Charge | Applies to |
|---|---|---|
| Service availability | $190.27 per month | Flat, every month |
| Demand, June–September | $10.88 per kW | Every kW of billing demand |
| Demand, October–May | $8.16 per kW | Every kW of billing demand — but see the ratchet below |
| Energy, first block | 4.623¢ per kWh | First 200 kWh for each kW of billing demand |
| Energy, additional | 4.319¢ per kWh | Everything beyond that block |
| Minimum billing demand | 100 kW | You are billed at least this much even if your real peak is lower |
| Power factor | +1% per point below 85% | Billing demand can be increased if a test shows you below the threshold |
Notice the demand charge is 33 percent higher in summer. On a 200 kW load that is a swing of $544 a month between June and October, before anything else changes.
Modeled bills for five San Antonio businesses
Peak summer month versus a shoulder month, fuel and regulatory adjustment included
| Business | kWh | Peak kW | Rate | Summer bill | Effective ¢/kWh |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coffee shop near the Pearl | 3,200 | 14 | PL | $361 | 11.28¢ |
| Dental office on the North Side | 5,800 | 22 | PL | $623 | 10.74¢ |
| Restaurant on the River Walk | 14,500 | 62 | PL | $1,584 | 10.92¢ |
| Hotel downtown | 118,000 | 240 | LLP | $9,715 | 8.23¢ |
| Warehouse off Loop 410 | 82,000 | 155 | LLP | $6,674 | 8.14¢ |
These are estimates built from the published rate components, not quotes. Your actual bill includes city services fees, applicable taxes and the current month's fuel adjustment. The pattern holds, though: the effective rate per kWh falls sharply as a San Antonio business gets larger, which is the opposite of what most owners expect.
One Hot Afternoon in July Can Cost You Until May
This is the rule that catches San Antonio businesses off guard, and it is written plainly in the LLP rate schedule. From October through May, your billing demand is not simply what you used that month. It is the greater of what you used, the 100 kW minimum, or 80 percent of your highest peak from the previous June through September.
What a 300 kW July peak costs a business that only needs 170 kW in November
Your ratcheted floor is 240 kW, so CPS Energy bills you for 70 kW you never actually drew. At the non-summer rate of $8.16 per kW that is roughly $4,570 across the eight non-summer months. The single afternoon that set the peak may have lasted fifteen minutes.
The summer window opens
Demand charges step up to $10.88 per kW, and every fifteen-minute interval from here through September is a candidate to become your annual peak. This is when to be watching, not October.
Where the peak usually lands
Late afternoon on the hottest days, when air conditioning is running flat out and the rest of the building is still fully occupied. If you are going to stagger anything, stagger it between 3 and 7 p.m. on days above 100 degrees.
The ratchet takes effect
Rate drops to $8.16 per kW, but your billed demand does not drop with your usage. It stops at 80 percent of your summer peak. Many owners see the lower rate and assume the bill will fall further than it does.
The clock resets
The old summer peak stops following you forward, and next month a new one starts forming. If you spent the winter installing controls or a soft starter, June is when it finally shows up in the numbers.
The practical takeaway is that demand management in San Antonio is a summer project with a twelve-month payoff. Shaving 30 kW off your July peak does not just lower the July bill. It lowers the floor for the following eight months too, which roughly triples the value of the same effort compared to a market where demand resets monthly.
The Awkward Zone Between 60 and 100 kW
Large Lighting and Power carries a 100 kW minimum billing demand. If your real peak is 70 kW and you are on LLP, you pay for 100. That is 30 kW of nothing, every month, at $10.88 in summer.
Same business, both rate schedules
A 70 kW peak using 22,000 kWh in a summer month
| General Service (PL) | Large Lighting & Power (LLP) | |
|---|---|---|
| Billed demand | n/a — usage only | 100 kW (minimum applies) |
| Service charge | $9.50 | $190.27 |
| Estimated summer bill | $2,190 | $2,601 |
| Difference per year | About $4,935 in favor of General Service | |
The direction flips as you grow. Somewhere above roughly 100 to 120 kW of steady demand, LLP's much cheaper energy charge outruns the demand charge and it becomes the better schedule. Between 60 and 100 kW is where being on the wrong one costs the most, and it is exactly the range where a growing San Antonio business is likely to have drifted.
Pull twelve months of bills before you call
You need the demand reading from each month, not just the totals. CPS Energy will run the comparison for you, but the conversation goes much faster if you already know your own peak pattern and can say which months are the outliers.
Three Levers That Still Work Without a Market
You cannot negotiate the price of a kilowatt-hour in San Antonio. You can change how many you buy, when you buy them, and how efficiently your equipment draws them. Those three things are where every real dollar of savings in this city comes from.
Lever one: flatten the summer peak
Because of the ratchet, this is worth roughly three times what it would be worth elsewhere. Pre-cool in the late morning, stagger equipment, and if you have any load you can shift out of the 3 to 7 p.m. window on hot days, shift it. Every kW you keep off the July reading comes off eight later bills too.
Lever two: fix your power factor
Below 85 percent, CPS Energy can add one percent to your billing demand for every point you are short. Motors, compressors and old lighting ballasts are the usual cause. A capacitor bank is a one-time cost that removes a recurring penalty, and on a motor-heavy load it often pays back inside two years.
Lever three: confirm you are on the right schedule
Free, takes one phone call, and it is the lever people skip. If your business has grown or shrunk meaningfully since the account was set up, there is a real chance the schedule no longer fits. Ask CPS Energy to model your last twelve months on both rates and send you the comparison.
And one thing that is not a lever but acts like one
If your San Antonio operation manufactures, processes or fabricates something, Texas has a predominant use sales tax exemption. When more than half the electricity through a meter goes to that activity, the meter can come off state sales tax entirely. It takes an engineering study and a form filed with CPS Energy, and it can be claimed retroactively for up to four years. For a San Antonio manufacturer this is frequently the largest single reduction available — larger than anything demand management would deliver.
If You Have Locations Outside the CPS Footprint
This is where a lot of San Antonio companies quietly lose money. Because their headquarters cannot shop, they assume none of their sites can. Most of Texas is deregulated, and the savings on those meters are real.
Start with commercial electricity in Texas for the statewide picture, or go straight to the city: Houston, Dallas, Corpus Christi.
Questions San Antonio Owners Ask
Can a San Antonio business choose its electricity provider?
No. CPS Energy is owned by the City of San Antonio and it is the only electric provider inside its service area. Texas deregulation in 2002 applied to investor-owned utilities like Oncor and CenterPoint. Municipally owned utilities and electric cooperatives were allowed to opt out, and CPS Energy opted out. If a salesperson calls offering you a cheaper San Antonio rate, they either have your address wrong or they are not being straight with you.
What commercial electric rate is my San Antonio business on?
Most small and mid-sized businesses are on the General Service rate, which CPS Energy labels PL. Once your peak demand is consistently around 100 kW or higher you move to Large Lighting and Power, labeled LLP. Above that are Extra Large Power and Super Large Power for industrial loads. The rate code is printed on your bill. Which one you are on changes the math completely, so it is worth confirming before you try to lower anything.
Why is my CPS Energy bill still high in October and November?
The demand ratchet. On the LLP rate, your billing demand from October through May is the greater of your actual peak that month or 80 percent of your highest peak from the previous June through September. So a single hot afternoon in July can set a floor under your demand charge for the next eight months, even after the weather cools off and your real usage drops.
How much does commercial electricity cost in San Antonio?
It depends on your rate class and your demand, not on a single published price. On the General Service rate the first block of energy is 7.817 cents per kWh and everything above that block drops to 3.610 cents, plus a summer peak capacity charge of 2.150 cents on usage above 600 kWh, plus fuel and regulatory adjustments that move month to month. A small San Antonio business typically lands somewhere in the low teens per kWh all-in.
Does CPS Energy charge a power factor penalty?
Yes, on the larger commercial rates. If a test shows your power factor below 85 percent lagging, CPS Energy can increase your billing demand by one percent for every percentage point you are below the threshold. Businesses with a lot of motors, compressors or older lighting ballasts are the usual offenders. Capacitor banks fix it and often pay for themselves inside two years.
I have locations in San Antonio and in Austin or Houston. Can I shop any of them?
The San Antonio locations are stuck with CPS Energy and Austin locations are stuck with Austin Energy, because both are municipal utilities. But a location in Houston, Dallas, San Marcos, Corpus Christi or most of the suburbs outside the CPS footprint sits in a deregulated area and can be shopped and contracted. Plenty of San Antonio companies leave real money on the table because they assume no location can be shopped.
Is my business exempt from sales tax on electricity?
It might be. Texas offers a predominant use exemption: if more than half of the electricity through a meter goes to manufacturing, processing or fabricating tangible goods, that meter can be exempt from state sales tax. It requires an engineering study and a form filed with CPS Energy, but for a San Antonio manufacturer it is usually the largest single reduction available, and it can be applied retroactively for up to four years.
Who do I call about a CPS Energy business billing question?
Business customer service is 210-353-3333. For an outage or a gas or electric emergency, call 210-353-HELP, which is 210-353-4357. If you want to dispute a demand reading or ask about moving between rate classes, the business line is the right starting point and you should have twelve months of bills in front of you when you call.
Rate components are taken from the CPS Energy General Service (PL) and Large Lighting and Power (LLP) electric rate schedules effective February 1, 2024. Modeled bills include an approximate fuel and regulatory adjustment of 1.416¢ per kWh and exclude city services fees and taxes. Confirm current charges with CPS Energy business service at 210-353-3333.
