JEFFERSON

— totaling more than $1 billion — it accumulated during the storm, when it was forced to buy natural gas and electricity on the wholesale market at astronomical prices.

The utility could be asking City Council to approve a rate increase of as much as 9.5 percent in the months ahead. That would add $14.60 to your monthly bill.

City Council incumbents and aspirants got an earful from irate voters as they campaigned ahead of the May 1 election and the June 5 runoffs. Gold-Williams, 58, an accountant who made it to CPS’ corner office in 2016 and who is prone to dry corporate-speak, was the focal point of constituents’ anger.

It’s important to state the obvious at this juncture: She is the first Black woman to serve as CPS chief executive. It’s impossible to say how that plays into public perceptions of her, but it must. Bad news: Racists and sexists still live among us.

On the flip side, progressives and most local elected officials are loath to criticize her publicly — because how many Black female CEOs are there in this town?

Last week, I called people at City Hall and in its orbit to see how Gold-Williams and the enterprise she leads are holding up politically. The answer: badly.

At this point, insiders’ support for a rate increase is — understatement ahead — low, despite the obvious need for one.

With public trust in CPS in the ditch, the newly formed Rate Advisory Committee, 10 of whose members were appointed by City Council and 11 by the utility’s board, will have extra weight with council members when discussions about a rate increase get serious.

But timing could be the catch here, at least if CPS is intent on moving quickly. RAC chair Reed Williams, a former North Side councilman, has said the committee will study the utility’s rates through October before making

recommendations on how they should be structured.

Among elected officials, support for Gold-Williams may be as low as their willingness to sign off on a rate hike.

Rumors have her retiring by year’s end. Which prompted me to ask CPS if she has any nearterm plans to step down. This is the answer I received: “Paula hasn’t filed any paperwork with the board or company regarding retirement.”

The departure of CPS General Counsel Carolyn Shellman and two of her deputies, Abigail Ottmers and Zandra Pulis, magnifies Gold-Williams’ troubles.

‘Fight for our customers’

Under Gold-Williams, CPS has embarked on an all-out legal strategy to reduce its stormrelated debts. It hired three outside law firms, at an estimated cost of $10 million, to sue ERCOT and 17 natural gas suppliers, which CPS accuses of taking advantage of the weather crisis to charge extortionate prices.

As Express-News Staff Writer

Diego Mendoza-Moyers has reported, CPS’ chances in court aren’t great. For one thing, the natural gas market is largely unregulated. And big, presumably sophisticated companies don’t count as Average Joe consumers under the state’s pricegouging law.

We don’t really know why the three CPS attorneys bolted. They haven’t spoken to reporters, and CPS hasn’t provided an explanation — or made their letters of resignation public.

I left a message on Shellman’s cellphone Thursday but didn’t hear back.

She tendered her resignation last week but will continue working at CPS through Wednesday. Talking with a journalist about why she’s abruptly leaving the utility where she’s worked since 2006 probably would have been awkward for her. Averted gazes in the hallway, deathly silent elevator rides — if she’s still going into the office.

So I asked a CPS spokeswoman: Did Shellman support the utility’s decision to sue the gas

suppliers and ERCOT, yes or no?

A few hours later, I got this response via text message: “Carolyn actively participated in the execution of the legal strategy and our fight for our customers.”

Which is different from thinking it’s a good idea.

Keeping up appearances

From what I’ve gathered, Shellman is a conservative, cautious attorney who took her role at CPS super seriously. It doesn’t stand to reason that her decision to leave would have had nothing to do with the biggest legal gambit the utility has ever undertaken.

The stakes for CPS and GoldWilliams are enormous. After all, how high customers’ monthly bills ultimately rise will be tied to how much debt CPS can wipe out through the legal system.

Combined, the gas bills total roughly $700 million.

My own view: The utility’s orgy of litigation is at least as much about putting up the appearance of fighting for the little guy as it is about making a sound case that suppliers charged grossly unfair prices.

On Thursday, CPS announced Shellman’s interim replacement, putting its legal battle on behalf of customers on full display.

“Shanna Ramirez, our new interim Chief Legal & Ethics Officer, General Counsel and Board Secretary, will help continue to drive our ongoing efforts to protect our customers from excessive, illegitimate and illegal prices stemming from Winter Storm Uri,” the spokeswoman said, again by text message.

You might ask: Why would CPS feel compelled to engage in political theater?

CPS — and its five-member board of trustees — is set up to operate mostly like a business, untainted by City Hall politics. On paper, the only concrete power council members have is to approve or reject rate increases.

But the utility’s independence is partly an illusion.

Mayor holds the key

From its start as a municipal utility, San Antonio’s mayor has sat on the CPS board and has wielded outsize power — by virtue of being the only one at the table put there by San Antonio voters. He or she is also the only trustee in constant contact with all 10 City Council members.

If you doubt a mayor’s ability to move CPS, just remember a decade ago when then-Mayor Julián Castro deftly derailed plans for a major expansion of the Matagorda County nuclear plant that CPS co-owns.

Mayor Ron Nirenberg has been nothing but publicly supportive of CPS’ many storm-related lawsuits.

And how does he feel about Gold-Williams’ leadership? Mendoza-Moyers put that question to Nirenberg on Tuesday.

“We are again working towards ensuring that our award-winning utility fights for consumers, and that Paula is continuing to fight on their behalf,” Nirenberg answered.

“Full-throated support” aren’t the words that come to mind.

Robin Jerstad / Staff photographer No details on why Carolyn Shellman is leaving as chief legal and administrative officer of CPS.