A Texas property owner, identified as Perez, is embroiled in a dispute with CPS Energy after the utility installed four power poles on her west Bexar County property in late 2024. These poles were intended to provide electricity to a neighboring property. Perez claims CPS Energy did not notify her or her business partner about the installation, which she believes should have occurred within the designated 40-foot-wide easement. The presence of these poles has reportedly halted her plans to develop the property for community use.
Perez and her business partner filed an open records request after failing to get answers from CPS Energy. Documents revealed an email from over a year before the installation, indicating that CPS Energy was aware the poles needed to be approximately 10 feet east of the easement. In November 2025, an attorney for Perez requested the poles be moved or for an offer to purchase an additional strip of land. The following month, a CPS Energy attorney admitted the power lines were outside the easement and offered Perez $20,000, threatening condemnation if the offer was not accepted. Perez and her partner declined the offer and set a January 30 deadline for the poles' removal.
CPS Energy has declined to comment on the matter, citing threatened litigation. The utility also refused to answer questions from KSAT Investigates regarding why it did not use the existing easement or follow its own requirements, which mandate that easements be finalized early in any project involving a third party. This situation highlights broader tensions in Texas, where landowners are increasingly vocal about their rights as utilities expand infrastructure. For example, Xcel Energy has faced scrutiny and lawsuits over aging infrastructure and its role in sparking wildfires in the Panhandle, while a $33 billion transmission expansion in Texas is leading to disputes over new power line routes.
