You’ve got a contingency plan for us, CenterPoint, here’s one for you

Every year around the first week of June, when hurricane season officially opens, we are all repeatedly reminded to start our hurricane preparations. The laundry list of purchases and things we need to do, especially for homeowners, is omnipresent in local media. And, frankly, many of us honor this annual tradition with a sort of bland acknowledgment of our responsibilities, like that guy in the old Dunkin’ Donuts commercial.

But this week, many of us are wondering why, if we are required to be so well prepared, didn’t the company that runs all the city’s electricity do it? We know it was a disaster, a direct hit from a hurricane (something we haven’t seen in a long time), but that’s why they call it preparedness. It’s up to you to do it. Before There is a problem. Maybe CenterPoint needs a primer or checklist on how to prepare for a storm, like the ones everyone gives us regular people once a year.

So instead of everyone telling us to buy water, fill up our tanks with gas, and trim our trees, here’s a list that might help you not mess it up next time.

Recharge your technology.

One of the keys to surviving a hurricane or other natural disaster is having access to your electronics. You can make emergency calls, check storm status, and communicate with service providers like power companies, for example. For you, CenterPoint, that means having technology that works well in advance. Your utility outage tracker, which went down after the storm, has gone down. rightlooks more like something a third-grader did with a finger paint app than something a multi-billion dollar company is offering its customers to find out when they can watch Netflix again. Find it.

Prune your trees.

It’s one of the most infuriating requests each year. Homeowners are asked to trim their trees to keep them healthy during the rain and wind of the typical Gulf Coast summer. It’s even suggested that we should keep the branches off the power lines to avoid serious problems. But since the power lines are YOUR responsibility, shouldn’t you be handling most of these heavy lifting tasks? Obviously, the city’s lush greenery is one of the biggest problems when storms roll in. Many tree service companies won’t go near the branches around the power lines because (why again?) you explicitly tell people not to go near them. Oh, and by the way, it’s really expensive. It’s time to start doing your spring lawn care like the rest of us.

Have a plan.

We have been advised that it is important to have an evacuation plan if we live in a flood or surge prone area. Make sure we have medications to last the day, plenty of gas for our cars, a place to stay. Well, now it is your turn. Instead of calling in thousands of crews from across the state (and neighboring states) WHEN something happens, why not have those plans in place BEFORE it happens? We had crews of linemen, the real heroesstaged but unable to do anything due to contractual issues, others await instructions. What kind of shoddy contingency plan is this? Be better, man.

Click to enlarge

Trees over power lines are an all too familiar sight.

Photography by Darrin Clifton

Communicate with your neighbors.

Houstonians are resilient because of their neighbors, those who literally live next door and those who live in the area. Disaster planners suggest we stay connected to our family, friends, and neighbors when disasters strike so we can help each other. Like so many other businesses, you claim to be part of the Houston family, but when we needed you most, you acted like you had never met us before and looked like Ted Cruz caught at the airport on his way to Cancun.

Hours, even days, without news or critical communication about what is happening is unacceptable when your neighbors are suffering. Even if you can’t restore power as quickly as we would all like, the silence is absolutely deafening and completely unforgivable.

Become aware of where you live.

Every year we are told that we need to prepare for the impact of hurricane season because we chose to live along the Gulf Coast (but we are not told what we are supposed to do to avoid freezing in the winter). Well, guess what, CenterPoint, you live here too. You have taken on the great responsibility of being one of the few energy service and system providers in the area, and yet you behave as if you were made for a quiet paradise, not the eye of a damn hurricane.

Yes, it’s expensive to factor in mitigating factors to make keeping the lights on more realistic, like burying power lines and keeping foliage at bay. Ask about our roofs, flood insurance, homeowners insurance, backup generators, battery-powered lights and fans. We know all about being prepared. We shouldn’t have to teach our energy provider these Houston basics.

Create a disaster relief fund for yourself.

Perhaps the most humiliating kick in the butt (to borrow a phrase from The Police) is the fact that once this is all over and we have our power back, we, the ones most affected by it all, will be the ones paying the bill. Your CEO has admitted this. Same thing during the freeze. What is this? We need to set aside an emergency fund (if we can afford it) to protect ourselves against these kinds of unexpected problems.

Instead of increasing your executive salary and investing in stock buybacks, maybe you could set aside a rainy day fund, just for times like this. You would be hailed as heroes instead of villains. You are our only source of energy infrastructure. We pay you a LOT to keep it running. Should we be forced to pay for your failures just because you don’t know how to manage your investments? Get yourself a bigger piggy bank.