Abbott, Patrick slam CenterPoint Energy for Houston outages

HOUSTON (Nexstar) -- CenterPoint Energy could face executive action, legislative investigations, and financial and regulatory penalties for Houston's widespread and prolonged power outages following Hurricane Beryl, state leaders warned Sunday.

In Governor Greg Abbott's first press conference since Beryl rocked the Texas coast a week ago, he and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick delivered harsh condemnations of the city's largest electric provider for widespread and prolonged power outages.

"Allegations have been made that while Texans have been baking in deadly heat without power, CenterPoint was penny-pinching and cutting corners in ways that slowed the recovery process. Those allegations must be investigated," Abbott said Sunday. "We must know - was CenterPoint protecting Texans, or was it protecting its own pocketbook?"

Abbott directed the Public Utilities Commission to investigate CenterPoint to find "the reason for failure" and "what must be done to fix it. He said the legislature will also investigate, and he will work with lawmakers to craft laws to improve power reliability.

Abbott said he is imposing a July 31 deadline for CenterPoint to provide his office with "specific actions that they will take" to address these areas: removal of vegetation that threatens powerlines, actions to reduce future power outages, prestaging sufficient workers for the remainder of hurricane season, fixing poles before the end of the season, and retaining power for senior living facilities.

Abbott threatened an executive order to impose requirements on CenterPoint if they fail to comply with his request before July 31. He will also direct the PUC to reject the company's request to recover a profit, promising a heavy financial blow.

"Additionally, if CenterPoint is unable to fix its ongoing problems, at some point in time either the PUC or the State of Texas will have to reconsider the territorial region that CenterPoint is managing, or rather, mismanaging," Abbott said. "Maybe they have too large of an area in order to manage adequately."

Those remarks were Abbott's first in Texas since he returned from an economic mission in Asia that coincided with Beryl's landfall. Patrick served as acting governor all last week, and echoed his calls for accountability for CenterPoint.

"I know everyone in CenterPoint who is in an air conditioned office is watching -- a freight train is coming," Patrick said. "You better be prepared. Whether you're at the top or any part of management who oversaw this response or preparation, everybody's job should be on the line. We will not and cannot tolerate this."

As of publication, CenterPoint's outage tracker indicates 379,088 people are without power. They have restored power to about 1.9 million people over the last seven days. The company says their preparation is better than it has ever been, and their power restoration has been quicker than in previous storms.

"The strong pace of the restoration is a testament to our preparation, investments we have made in the system and, most importantly, the efforts of 14,000 dedicated CenterPoint and mutual assistance crews who have been working long days in tough conditions to get the power back on," CenterPoint CEO Jason Wells wrote. "I take great pride in seeing the trucks roll out throughout the day and the fact that so many people answered our calls for assistance. This response and the tireless efforts of our entire restoration workforce proves that we are stronger working shoulder-to-shoulder."

According to the company's data, 90% of customers will be restored by Sunday. At the same point after Hurricane Ike in 2008, only 53% of customers were restored. While Beryl was a Category One storm, Ike was a Category Two.