Electricity Providers in SA

[TexasRedneck]

Originally Posted by elnina

HEB literally beat the competition out of business.
You should do some internet searches. It wasn't pretty, or fair, or ethical.

Really? And are you aware of the methods their competition used?

[ged_782]

Growing up here, I remember HEB & Handy-Andy as the two neck-and neck dominant grocery chains. San Antonio didn't have any major national grocery chains represented here until Skaggs-Albertsons entered the market in the 1970s.

In the mid-1970s, HEB adopted a more aggressive business strategy, by adding beer & wine sales, and opening on Sundays (gasp!). They proceeded to pull away from Handy-Andy, which began to suffer, and started gradually closing stores. Handy-Andy fell into bankruptcy, and is a memory-lane name now.

During this time, Albertsons began expanding, and Kroger entered the market in the early 1980s, with many of their stores built across the street from an existing HEB. It became clear who Kroger was going after. Kroger pulled out of the market in the 1990s, and Albertsons followed suit in the early 2000s, after about a 30-year run here.

According to the latest stats, HEB had 51% of the San Antonio grocery market as of 2020, slipping a bit. Walmart gained a bit, and Kroger is re-entering the local market, but with a local distribution warehouse for fulfillment of local online orders.

One added factor mentioned in the past as to why major national grocery chains shunned San Antonio (even before HEB got so big), was the high percentage of active and retired military residents, and their eligibility to shop at the commissaries at the various local bases.

[fritos56]

If you live in Schertz, Cibolo, Marion, Gonzales,etc. You have Guadalupe Electrical Co-op. My electric bill which ended July1, is 130.00 or there abouts. Don't understand it all, but a co-op I believe is owned by members? Not like CPS at all.

[Azure110]

Originally Posted by fritos56

If you live in Schertz, Cibolo, Marion, Gonzales,etc. You have Guadalupe Electrical Co-op. My electric bill which ended July1, is 130.00 or there abouts. Don't understand it all, but a co-op I believe is owned by members? Not like CPS at all.

My mom uses a co-op. Of course there are pros and cons to a co-op system but as far as pricing goes...her kwh charges are always lower than mine as well as her overall bill too.

CPS is clearly a monopoly that is currently in damage control of their reputation right now because the way their operation works was clear to the customers during the snowstorm. Who can forget the student "meteorologist" on staff during that time?

[malcorub16]

CPS coverage map. It looks like CPS doesn't cover much more than Bexar County with a few exceptions like Lytle and looks like Castroville?

[klarkostin]

Originally Posted by JH6

Certain areas are deregulated and others are not.

Williamson County, near Austin, most areas there are deregulated.

However some cities inside Williamson County are not deregulated.

The City of Austin is regulated they have their own power company the same as City of San Antonio.

Watch what you wish for, you may think its cool to pick an energy company, but honestly its 500 ways to pay more than you should unless you do your homework.

The services are so volitle that there are actually services out there to switch you from plan to plan based on your usage on a monthy basis.

When I moved to SA, we have one company for electric and gas and I think the rates have been fair.

Here I agree with you, you should also make sure that you do not deal with an intermediary.

[Lee W.]

Life in most of Texas can be hell without a big generator and plenty of fuel to run it. The grid is highly unreliable and the cost of electricity is going up fast.