CenterPoint Hearing to Be Held in Austin

AUSTIN, Texas — State leaders said they will demand answers about the state and CenterPoint Energy’s response to hurricanes and tropical storms at a hearing Monday. The hearing comes in the wake of Hurricane Beryl, which knocked out power to more than 2 million CenterPoint customers.

Members of the Texas State Senate Special Committee have specific concerns. CenterPoint says it has already taken steps to rebuild public trust.

“I’m trying to speak on behalf of the public who want an answer to a simple question: Why weren’t we better prepared?” said Sen. Paul Bettencourt.

Bettencourt is one of 13 members of a special committee formed by Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick.

Bettencourt told KHOU that his questions, in addition to the “absolutely horrible” communication with the public, will focus on why CenterPoint’s infrastructure hasn’t been improved. He says other utilities across the country have storm-resistant technology.

“It really makes my blood boil to see what’s been available for over a decade and why CenterPoint hasn’t adopted any of it,” Bettencourt said.

State Sen. Carol Alvarado told KHOU that state leaders, including Patrick and Gov. Greg Abbott, have received a plan from the utility to address those concerns.

“They’re talking about increasing their budget for vegetation…we’re definitely going to dissect what they’ve submitted so far,” Alvarado said.

CenterPoint Energy released this statement about the hearing:

“All of us at CenterPoint are committed to rebuilding our customers’ trust after Hurricane Beryl through concrete, meaningful actions. We have already begun implementing more than 40 specific actions to strengthen the network, enhance customer communications and improve storm response. On Monday, we will discuss these actions with elected leaders, as well as our company-wide commitment to improve, address our customers’ concerns and become the most resilient coastal network in the country.”

At a hearing with the state Public Utilities Commission, CenterPoint executives apologized to customers and said they would “improve in all areas” of their storm response. One of them is vegetation management.

“When 60 percent of the failures are vegetation related, you have to deal with the problem. And again, why do we have to have a hearing with a multi-billion dollar company to tell them to do their job? But that’s what’s going to happen,” Bettencourt said.

He said it was possible that legislation would be introduced and additional oversight of the company would be created.