Overview
- Gov. Greg Abbott unveiled the plan on Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2026, proposing to open city-owned utility service areas to retail electric providers so customers could shop for power.
- The governor’s office released estimated savings of about 10% for Austin households, 13% for San Antonio households and roughly 20% for affected businesses, but it has not published the data or method behind those figures.
- CPS Energy officials and local reporting note CPS is a very large municipal utility with roughly $4.1 billion in revenue and $195 million in income over the last 12 months, and the utility transfers about 14% of gross revenue to the City of San Antonio.
- Any change would require state legislation and could reduce funds the city uses for core services and discretionary programs because San Antonio has relied on CPS revenue and spot-market proceeds for parts of its general fund.
- The proposal frames the move as stopping what Abbott calls a ‘slush fund’ use of utility profits and is likely to prompt legal and political fights between the state, municipal utilities and city leaders over implementation and fiscal trade-offs.