SAN ANTONIO – Gary Gold, the chief financial officer of CPS Energy who figured to play a prominent role as the utility attempts to dig itself out from a billion-dollar hole, will instead depart the company next month.
The retirement of Gold, who has worked for CPS Energy since 2005, was confirmed by utility officials Tuesday night.
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Cory Kuchinsky, the utility’s current vice president of Strategic Pricing & Enterprise Risk Management & Solutions, will replace Gold as CFO, according to a statement sent via email.
Gold served as both CFO and treasurer of CPS Energy, according to an online bio.
Confirmation of his departure comes as the utility continues to fight to reduce more than a billion dollars in bills from February’s winter storm.
As recently as late last month, Gold and his staff estimated the storm’s financial impact to be $1.035 billion.
That figure, Gold told the Defenders during an interview in late April, includes the hundreds of millions of dollars spent on natural gas as well as energy purchased through ERCOT, the state’s electric grid operator.
The utility is now challenging the bills in nearly 20 lawsuits filed in Bexar County since the storm ended. A majority of the suits claim natural gas suppliers overcharged and even price gouged CPS Energy during the weather event.
A CPS spokeswoman released the following statement Tuesday night:
“This week, CPS Energy President & CEO Paula Gold-Williams named Cory Kuchinsky as the utility’s new Chief Financial Officer (CFO) following the planned retirement of his predecessor Gary Gold. As part of CPS Energy’s thoughtful succession planning, Gold will remain with the utility through June 30, serving as Chief Business Excellence Officer to ensure a smooth transition and knowledge transfer while advising leadership on key initiatives. Gold, a Certified Public Accountant (CPA), served CPS Energy customers and the Greater San Antonio community for 16 years and has had a more than 40-year business career. Kuchinsky is a CPA with a Bachelor of Science in Business and a Master of Science in Accounting from Trinity University. In addition to 15 years of service at CPS Energy, Kuchinsky’s background includes experience at the local Ernest & Young LLC office and Adjunct Accounting Professor at the University of Incarnate Word as well as his alma mater, Trinity University. Kuchinsky previously was recognized by the San Antonio Business Journal on its ‘Who’s Who in Energy’ and ‘Top 40 Under 40′ lists. We wish Gary well on his retirement and thank him for his contributions.”
Gold made $300,010 last fiscal year, CPS Energy records show.