CPL delivers more than electricity bill for two South Texas families
Weslaco’s Robert Sanchez Wins “Mortgage Payments for a Year”
Corpus Christi, TX (8/10/2009) - Weslaco’s Robert Sanchez received more than just his electricity bill from CPL Retail Energy this summer. Sanchez, a grandfather and disabled veteran, is the grand prize winner of CPL’s Spread the Love Sweepstakes – meaning CPL is picking up the tab for a year’s worth of mortgage payments up to $40,000.
“I would have never believed I would win something like this, especially from my energy provider,” said Sanchez, a life-long CPL customer, upon learning the news.
The CPL sweepstakes aimed at directly and positively impacting nearly 100 customers’ pocketbooks. All residential customers who were taking service with CPL as of March 31, 2009, were automatically entered for a chance to win the grand prize of a year’s worth of mortgage payments, and the following secondary prizes:
• A month’s worth of groceries, up to $500, awarded to 35 lucky winners;
• A summer’s worth of free electricity, up to $1,000, awarded to 50 winners.
Understanding the economic slow-down and the higher energy usage during the summer months, the sweepstakes was only a portion of CPL’s larger commitment to ease the effects the heat and economy can have on consumers, said Paul Keene, Senior Director at CPL Retail Energy.
“Historically in our industry, prices have increased during the summer months,” said Keene. “While considering the economic down-turn and the high temperatures sweeping the state, we have decided to take a different approach.”
This “different approach” included a range of price-down activities for residential customers on the Direct Electricity Plan; all of those customers received at least a 20 percent price reduction since the beginning of the year, resulting in an average household savings of approximately $480 per year. In June, CPL committed to “freezing” its Direct Electricity Plan price for all residential customers through August 30th.
In addition, the price-down activities and sweepstakes included an active month of community activity in April with CPL’s Spread the Love campaign. Teams traveled to Corpus Christi, Laredo and the Valley performing random acts of kindness in the community, such as purchasing gas, coffee, groceries or tickets for events and dropped wallets filled with movie tickets, gift cards or $100 checks for unsuspecting consumers – all part of CPL’s commitment to being a long-term, customer-focused, energy partner to South Texans.
La Feria’s Joe Trevino found one of the CPL wallets, and upon redeeming his prize online, was automatically entered to win the Spread the Love sweepstakes for a cash prize of $5,000.
Trevino, a father of four, had just finished installing a pool when news arrived that his name was drawn as the Spread the Love winner.
“It was an answered prayer. We aren’t going on vacation this year, instead vacationing in our own back yard since the pool will be paid for,” said Trevino.
About CPL Retail Energy
CPL Retail Energy is part of the Centrica group of companies, one of the largest multi-state providers of retail energy services in North America. The North American operations have grown to more than 5 million residential and commercial customer relationships. Through its Direct Energy, CPL and WTU brands, the company is the third largest retail energy provider in Texas, and owns three natural gas-fired power plants and a series of energy-related services companies. Globally, the Centrica group of companies is a leading provider of energy and other essential services with approximately 32 million customer relationships. For more information, visit www.cplretailenergy.com.
For further information, please contact:
Lisa Dornan
713-877-3925
lisa.dornan@directenergy.com
Direct Energy® is a subsidiary of Centrica plc. All rights reserved. Centrica was created following the demerger of British Gas plc in 1997 and is now a leading supplier of energy and related services. To read more about Centrica plc please visit www.centrica.com.