Harris County leaders call for civility as utility workers report safety concerns during power restoration efforts after Beryl

HARRIS COUNTY, Texas (KTRK) — Harris County leaders are calling for civility as more electric utility workers say they feel unsafe on the job.

At a news conference Sunday hosted by Harris County Precinct 2 Commissioner Adrian Garcia, law enforcement said violence against CenterPoint workers would only slow restoration efforts.

“Please, God…stop harassing these people,” said Ed Allen of IBEW Local 66.

Allen’s job is to advocate for the men and women working on the ground to get the power restored.

Nearly a week after Beryl passed through, hundreds of thousands of households are waiting to see a utility truck in their neighborhood.

“The vast majority of people are handling this situation with grace and dignity, and I’m grateful for that, but there is a small group of people who want to go out and do harm,” Allen said.

On Friday, Houston police said a CenterPoint staging area at Barnett Stadium had to be dismantled due to an unverified threat against teams in the area.

On Saturday morning, a man was arrested after HPD said he allegedly pointed a gun at a lineman working on Wilcrest Drive near Hayes.

READ ON THE SAME SUBJECT: Suspect Identified and Charged After Allegedly Threatening Power Company Employee at Gunpoint

“People are at the end of their rope, but you would never pick on a lineman,” said Julie Chipman, who lives in southwest Houston.

Chipman said his anger was directed at CenterPoint’s senior executives, not their teams on the ground.

She is entering her seventh day without electricity, a situation she says is untenable for many low-income families.

“They’re suffering. I’m not suffering,” Chipman said.

County officials have already confirmed at least three deaths linked to heat exposure due to the outages.

Chipman said if CenterPoint’s online outage maps had been operational and the company had been more transparent about restoration times, people might not have felt so desperate.

“The communication issues probably added to everyone’s frustration,” Chipman said.

At today’s press briefing, city leaders were mindful that asking for patience in this heat is a big ask.

“I understand your frustrations. You’re hot and you’re not sleeping well,” Garcia said.

Leaders are nonetheless urging people to remain calm. Allen said there will come a time when answers will have to be demanded, but now is not the time.

When the time comes, he and others will demand explanations for the restoration delays.

“I expect and want CenterPoint to be held accountable at the right time and in the right place, now that we need to get the lights back on. We’re down to less than 400,000 and we need those people here,” Allen said.

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick told ABC13 that the legislature will propose legislation that would increase penalties for attacks on power line workers trying to restore power. If passed, the legal penalties would be harsher.

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