SAN ANTONIO — Across 17 campuses, Edgewood Independent School District is doing everything possible to reduce its energy usage.

“Turning off lights, not leaving doors open, making our units run when it’s super hot so we can keep temperature the way they should be,” said Jonathan Torres, Edgewood ISD Director of Operations.

It’s one of the 19 districts across San Antonio taking part in CPS Energy’s Demand Response program, which asks commercial customers to lower its power consumption, so there’s enough to go around.

“That’s us doing our part for the community,” Torres said. “CPS isn’t having blackouts and brownouts because our schools which aren’t really occupied are sucking up all the energy.” 

A team used to power down HVAC units manually on each campus. But now, with technology, it takes seconds to start the process on a laptop. Torres says installing light emitting diode (LED) lights and preventive maintenance has also been helpful.

“[We] just installed 22 new chillers which is going to help dramatically also with this consumption,” Torres said.

CPS Energy’s vice president of corporate development, Jonathan Tijerina says school districts are big energy consumers, using 25 of the providers 150 megawatts of energy capacity. 

“Edgewood ISD, although maybe one of the more smaller ones from a population standpoint, is actually one of our better participants,” Tijerina said. “They rank second among school districts in their conservation efforts.”

Edgewood ISD is just behind Northside ISD, which is the fourth-largest district in the state. 

For CPS, schools play a critical role during the summer, and also peak demands in the winter. So they reward districts with a check for assisting.

“Last year in total it was just over $1 million in incentives that went back to those various school districts that participate,” Tijerina said.

One megawatt of energy can power 250 homes. In 2024, Edgewood ISD saved about three megawatts — resulting in more than $170,000 in savings.

“Trying to do our part to ease some demand on CPS’s energy grid,” Torres said. “But it also brings back money into the district which we definitely can use.”

Over the last decade, the district has received almost $2.7 million from the demand response program. The money goes back into the general fund for district operations.

“Excited about districts like Edgewood who are actively participating and finding the creative solutions to reduce their energy usage,” Tijerina said.