Rooted in community, crews honored to help neighboring utility CPS Energy
(SPRING BRANCH, Texas) September 3, 2026 — Pedernales Electric Cooperative (PEC) crews are back home in the Hill Country after answering the call to provide mutual aid to CPS Energy in San Antonio over the weekend. Sunday morning, PEC dispatched 50 line personnel and support staff to assist with power restoration efforts to more than 100,000 CPS customers. The request came following a strong storm Friday Aug. 28, that brought 80 mph winds, flash flooding, severe lightning, and damage to the Alamo City.
PEC crews from across the co-op’s service area dispatched from its locations in Kyle and Spring Branch, arriving in San Antonio Sunday afternoon to work alongside CPS crews. PEC crews helped repair lines and equipment to get CPS customers restored as quickly and safely as possible. By Tuesday evening, those affected by the storm outages had power fully restored and PEC crews returned home Wednesday afternoon.
PEC Journeyworker Dakota Marshall immediately committed to participate. Having completed mutual aid efforts in the past, Marshall was eager for the chance to work alongside another utility and especially passionate about helping a community near and dear — his hometown.
“It hit close to home,” Marshall said. “We were working in some of the neighborhoods where my grandmother lives, my cousins, aunts, and friends who were all affected. It felt really good to go back and help my family and former community to get the power back on for them.”
In the field, crews witnessed severe damage from the storm. They also encountered unique obstacles characteristic to the historic city — navigating narrow traffic-filled streets in bucket trucks, while dodging debris, downed lines, and fallen limbs from centuries-old trees.
“Some of the photos you saw in the news and on social media didn’t do it justice,” Dakota said. “There were pockets, neighborhoods where huge 30–40-foot-trees were completely uprooted onto homes and sheds. Debris was everywhere from the trees and the buildings and stuff that had blown out of yards.”
PEC Regional Operations Supervisor Josh Herrick appreciated the heart of the people and working with CPS toward a shared goal.
“We were out there shaking hands, saying hello and trying to build the camaraderie between everyone to get the job done,” Herrick said. “It was 100 degrees and we really felt for the customers, so we were all trying our hardest to get everyone back in their homes with A/C as quickly as possible. That’s the beauty of our job — trying our best to make a difference.”
PEC crews assisted with everything from downed lines, pole changeouts, and cross arm work, to tree trimming, splicing wire, and fixing blown arrestors from the lighting. A consensus among crews is the tremendous benefit that comes from working side-by-side with another utility.
Herrick said, “We have an incredibly high skill level across PEC, so to be able to take that and show how we work at the co-op is great.”
PEC Journeyworker Justin Miller added, “It was awesome to help our fellow Texans and our lineman brothers down there. It was such a humbling and rewarding experience when we were able to restore the power back to the customers,” Miller said. “CPS was wonderful, they really went above and beyond to provide us everything we needed to get the job done safely and efficiently,” he added.
CPS Energy thanked its field crews, employees working behind the scenes, contractors, and PEC. While no utility looks forward to needing mutual aid, none are immune to Mother Nature and PEC is honored to be a good neighbor.
“Lending a helping hand is core to the co-op culture,” said PEC CEO Christian Powell said. “I’m proud of our crews for answering the call and for working safely together with CPS to get their customers restored.”
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