Executives in charge of San Antonio’s public utility are in serious trouble after a local news station discovered that CPS Energy contributed several thousand dollars—provided by taxpayers—to the Republican Party.

 

The $5,000 contribution was made at a political fundraiser for the Republican Party of Texas.

 

San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro, who sits on the CPS Energy board, was not happy to learn of the donation. “There's no question that the expenditure is completely out of line,” Castro told WOAI. “That is not the way ratepayers’ money should be spent. That was the first time in the history of CPS Energy that anything like that has happened, in terms of a political contribution. And it will be the last time.”

 

CPS Energy CEO Doyle Beneby said the contribution was vetted by the utility’s government affairs department, but not by its lawyers. He said he accepted “full accountability and responsibility” for the decision. Beneby joined CPS Energy in August 2010 after serving as president of Exelon Power.

 

When the contribution was revealed publically, the Republican Party returned the donation.

-Noel Brinkerhoff

 

CPS Busted Using Your Money to Make Political Donation (by Brian Collister, WOAI.com)