CPS Energy’s trustees voted Monday to hit pause on the formation of a new citizens committee until the public has had a chance to give feedback on what the committee’s goals should be.
In a split vote, the utility’s five trustees failed to approve the new committee’s bylaws after a robust discussion about gaining public feedback on them.
The new committee, which would be called the Community Input Committee (CIC), is intended to replace and combine CPS Energy’s Citizens Advisory Committee (CAC) and Rate Advisory Committee (RAC). Its 19 members would be responsible for providing the trustees with public opinion “on matters as assigned by the board,” such as rate structure, rate increases, the utility’s generation portfolio and other topics that have historically fallen to the two committees, utility officials told the trustees.
Creating such a committee has been discussed since the RAC first launched two years ago in the wake of Winter Storm Uri. At that time, a group of residents voiced concerns about the CAC’s closed status, touting the need for a public committee like the RAC. Meanwhile, some trustees felt the creation of a rate advisory committee on top of the existing citizens advisory committee was superfluous. The RAC officially dissolved late last year, leaving some in favor of a new committee that could take on the duties of both.
CPS Energy staff members have been working with current CAC members to draft the bylaws and vision for the new committee.
Trustee Willis Mackey and Mayor Ron Nirenberg, who serves as a trustee in his official capacity, were in favor of approving the bylaws as presented, while board Chair Janie Gonzalez, Vice Chair Francine Romero and Trustee John Steen voted against approving them without public input.
Steen was the first to raise his concerns about the bylaws Monday, noting he received them via a confidential email that asked the trustees not to share the attached information.
“[It] puzzles me why our proposed CIC bylaws are cloaked in this manner — it seems to me it would have been quite helpful and wouldn’t have caused any harm that I’m aware of” to make them public, Steen said. He added that he would have liked to discuss concerns he has about the bylaws with Reed Williams, the former chairman of the Rate Advisory Committee.
Romero voiced similar concerns, saying it doesn’t make sense to her to approve bylaws for a new community committee without public input.
“I don’t want to be reading this in the newspaper tomorrow — that the trustees approved bylaws for a community input committee that the community didn’t have any input on,” she said.
Steen’s concerns also reached beyond the bylaws. He said he is worried that the requirements to be a committee member, which would include attending a certain number of meetings and subcommittee meetings per year, could limit who is allowed to participate in it.
“Civic leaders who are only participating to serve their community are the ones most likely to falter, while the activists — who during some cases are employed by special interest groups — do show up time and time again, and begin to play an outsized role in the deliberations, with the result that the CIC’s votes and decisions may not be representative of the overall community,” Steen said.
CPS Energy spokeswoman Dana Sotoodeh said the utility will post the bylaws for public review on its website.
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