Abbott fines Houston utility company for ongoing outages

Governor Greg Abbott is calling for immediate improvements in hurricane preparedness and response efforts following widespread and ongoing power outages in the Houston area.

At a news conference Monday inside NRG Arena in Houston, Abbott said that “CenterPoint completely dropped the ball when it came to restoring power,” condemning the company for leaving nearly 200,000 Houstonians without power more than a week after Hurricane Beryl made landfall in Texas.

Public Utilities Commission Chairman Thomas Gleeson said at the news conference: “CenterPoint has to do better. I can only commend it. I have tried to impress upon their leadership that CenterPoint has to have a sense of urgency.”

Abbott expressed similar frustration at a news conference Sunday over the ongoing power outages still affecting Texans, stressing that such outages pose deadly risks to residents across the state.

“First and foremost, Texas’ number one goal is to protect life,” Abbott said at the conference.

“One of the problems we’re seeing in the current response to Hurricane Beryl is the disruption of life, not because of the hurricane itself, but because of the lack of electricity supply. The inability of power companies to provide electricity to their customers is unacceptable,” he added.

Along with Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and various local and state officials, Abbott presented new guidelines to CenterPoint Energy. The utility has until the end of July to submit a detailed plan to address current power outage issues and outline preventative measures for the future.

In response to CenterPoint’s failure to restore power to Houston residents a week after Hurricane Beryl, Abbott said, “CenterPoint has repeatedly failed to provide electricity to its customers. To help Texans in the Greater Houston area and prevent a repeat of unacceptable power outages, I am giving CenterPoint until the end of the month to provide my office with specific steps to address the power outages and reduce the possibility of power outages during a severe weather event.”

“If CenterPoint does not comply with this order, I will issue an executive order requiring the company to take steps to maintain power,” Abbott concluded.

Top priorities in Abbott’s new requirements for the company include clearing vegetation near power lines and an earlier preparation schedule for future tropical storms, according to the press release.

According to Abbott, the state has distributed more than 5.1 million bottles of water, more than 679,600 meals and more than 206,300 bags of ice to affected communities.

Additionally, a formal request for an extension of federal disaster declarations to accommodate ongoing recovery efforts remains pending with FEMA, according to the press release.

After Hurricane Beryl hit Houston on July 8, about 87% of CenterPoint’s 2.6 million customers experienced power outages. According to a report from the Texas Tribune, while more than 200,000 customers remain without power, CenterPoint warned that power may not be restored in some areas for at least a week.