Abbott calls for investigation into utility’s response to Texas blackouts

Gov. Greg Abbott on Sunday slammed utility CenterPoint Energy, which has yet to restore power for hundreds of thousands of customers in the Houston area, and ordered the company to take steps to improve power reliability.

In his first public appearance since returning from a pre-planned economic development trip to Asia, the governor asked CenterPoint to send his office a detailed plan by the end of the month outlining how it will prepare differently for future hurricanes this season. Abbott said the plan must include better preparation for linemen, increasing the number of workers to restore power and trimming trees that could fall on power lines.

If CenterPoint fails to comply with his request, the governor said he will issue an executive order imposing his own requirements on the company. And he said that if the utility is unable to “fix its ongoing problems,” the state would have to reconsider the breadth of the territory it serves. CenterPoint maintains the wires, poles and electric infrastructure serving more than 2.6 million customers in Texas across the greater Houston area and some coastal communities like Galveston.

“Maybe they have too large of an area for them to be able to manage adequately,” Abbott said. “It’s time to reevaluate whether or not CenterPoint should have such a large territory.”

The governor on Sunday also sent a letter to Thomas Gleeson, chair of the Public Utility Commission of Texas, ordering him to launch an investigation into CenterPoint and deliver a report on its findings by Dec. 1He said allegations that CenterPoint was “penny-pinching and cutting corners” must be investigated.“Was CenterPoint protecting Texans, or was it protecting its own pocketbook?” Abbott said at the press conference.

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who leads the Texas Senate, said the chamber will also hold hearings beginning in August to ask CenterPoint questions about its business. Following the press conference, Patrick shared on social media ten questions he plans to ask company officials, including: “Are Houston and surrounding areas still IMPORTANT to CenterPoint? Are their customers their number one priority in their mission statement and future planning?”

“These are fair and legitimate questions,” Patrick said.

The company has faced mounting criticism since Hurricane Beryl hit the Gulf Coast and knocked out power for nearly 3 million Texans. Both the public and elected officials say CenterPoint has failed to communicate clearly with customers and restore power efficiently. For days after the storm left Texas, the company did not offer a clear timeline for when power would be restored. Houstonians say a map showing when they will get power back is unreliable and riddled with errors.

“The communications component of CenterPoint is unacceptable,” Abbott told reporters. “Corrections are coming, whether they like it or not.”

In some cases, customers have turned violent against CenterPoint workers, a behavior Abbott sharply rebuked and said the state would not tolerate. Patrick said the Texas Legislature would consider laws that increase the penalty for crimes against people working to restore power.

[“Get back up and go”: CenterPoint linemen take on a broken grid as Houstonians seethe]

“Who is going to come to Texas and help Houstonians if Houstonians are shooting at them?” Patrick said. “That must stop.”

The Sunday press conference came one day after former President Donald Trump survived gunshots that the FBI is investigating as an assassination attempt. Abbott condemned that act of violence and praised the former president, calling him “the mightiest warrior that we have in the United States of America.”

“This unfortunately is not an isolated incident,” Abbott said, noting that a Harris County sheriff’s deputy was shot and killed earlier this week. “That is completely unacceptable. The attack on public officials is an outrage.”

Sunday’s briefing was held inside Gallery Furniture, which store owner Jim “Mattress Mack” McIngvale opened as a shelter Monday for people who needed food, water or a place to charge their cellphones.

The press conference marked Abbott’s first public briefing since the storm made landfall in Matagorda County on Monday. The governor spent the past week visiting politicians and business leaders in South Korea, Taiwan and Japan. Patrick acted as governor while Abbott was abroad, requesting a disaster declaration from President Joe Biden and holding briefings throughout southeast Texas in the aftermath of the storm.

Abbott emphasized that lawmakers will work together to craft laws during the next legislative session to improve power reliability but that action must be taken now since more hurricanes could be looming. Hurricane season runs from June 1 to Nov. 30 and federal forecasters predict the highest number of storms ever for the 2024 season.

Abbott asked that CenterPoint remove vegetation around power lines no later than Aug. 31. CenterPoint officials said during a meeting before the PUC this week that damaged trees were a leading cause of infrastructure damage and outages after Beryl.

Abbott also cited reports that CenterPoint may have been “caught off guard” by Beryl’s magnitude and the level of devastation it caused in Houston. The storm was originally forecast to have the greatest impact in South Texas but it turned northeastward and ended up hitting areas further north.

By the end of the month, the company must specify how they will pre-stage sufficient workers to immediately respond to future power outages, Abbott said.

Patrick said CenterPoint may have a “flawed business model” if it requires multiple days to train workers and a day to conduct assessments before getting power back to most customers.

CenterPoint officials did not respond to questions about the governor’s request. The organization’s media relations team said in an email that they plan to issue a statement Sunday afternoon.

Disclosure: CenterPoint Energy has been a financial supporter of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune's journalism. Find a complete list of them here.

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This article originally appeared in The Texas Tribune at https://www.texastribune.org/2024/07/14/abbott-centerpoint-energy-hurricane-beryl/.

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