CenterPoint Energy faces lawsuit from Houston restaurants over extended power outages

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — Restaurant owners are joining together in a class action lawsuit against CenterPoint Energy, claiming the power company’s negligence has cost them business and threatened their livelihoods.

ABC13 contacted CenterPoint about the lawsuit.

They did not respond to our request for comment, but the restaurateurs have plenty to say.

Ryan Lachaine is the executive chef and partner at Riel Restaurant in Montrose. His business was without power for an entire week, preventing his 20 employees from working.

“Restaurants are tough at the best of times, and when something like this happens, it’s absolutely devastating,” Lachaine said. “We all knew this was coming, that something was going to happen. And it’s a little frustrating when we’re supposed to be ready at all times, and hunker down or do this or do that, and when it comes time for someone else to do their job, no one’s ready.”

That’s why Lachaine is part of a class-action lawsuit in Harris County that claims CenterPoint failed to do its job.

His lawyer is Tony Buzbee.

ABC13 interviewed Buzbee at his home, where power was restored last night, but then lost it early in the interview.

Buzbee said the lawsuit will focus on restaurants that have been in business for more than a year and have lost power for at least 48 hours. He hopes the lawsuit will spur action and change.

“CenterPoint doesn’t know, they don’t know their network,” Buzbee said. “They clearly haven’t invested in the infrastructure to prevent things like this.”

Robin Wong is another restaurateur who acknowledges that the power outages are devastating. One of his restaurants is Luloo’s in Garden Oaks.

“Being a city as big as Houston, we can’t continue to have these problems. They have to be addressed,” Wong said.(Loss of power during these storms) just long enough to lose all the food in your walk-in (East) just enough to have to start all over again.

The restaurateurs say they don’t want a handout, but they say they can no longer continue as if nothing is happening without speaking out.

“As a small business owner, we are tired of being pushed around,” Lachaine said.

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