Houston power outages: Massive restoration means huge cost, and energy experts said customers could see an increase

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — After nearly a million people lost power in Southeast Texas because of last week’s storms, energy experts said restoration costs wouldn’t come cheap and even if you had never lost your lights, you could pay the price.

Some Houstonians continue to wait for power

CenterPoint Energy said 7,000 utility crews were racing to restore power to more than 100,000 people in Southeast Texas. One of the places still in the dark is a neighborhood in north Houston.

Despite crews, CenterPoint maps show neighbors may not have power until Wednesday.

“I expect the worst and hope for the best,” Jack Taylor said. “I don’t expect it at the moment, but who knows?”

Taylor is one of the last CenterPoint customers without power – a resource he can’t wait to exploit.

“It’s just stale and heavy with the weather in Houston,” Taylor said. “Time goes inside.”

How massive restoration efforts could weigh on your bill

Taylor is one of 920,000 customers who lost power because of last week’s storms. Even if you have never lost your lights, you could be impacted.

Here’s how.

Energy Ogre Chief Operating Officer David Kinchen said CenterPoint will assess costs from the storm, which could impact future bills.

“It was a pretty significant storm,” Kinchen said. “We still have a large number of people without power. So I guess there’s going to be some level of improvement, but depending on the timing and the amount of money spent, we’re not sure impact our bills again.

The good news, experts say, is that the company is already accounting for these storms, and you’re already paying the price.

“If you look at your bill, you either have an all-inclusive rate, where it’s kind of built in, or you’ll have a line item,” Kinchen explained. “You will see your energy charge, as well as another line item called pass-through.”

RELATED: CenterPoint Energy Launches Interactive Map to Check Estimated Restoration Day in Your Area

Why not just put the power lines underground?

Taylor’s district has power distributed from above. That’s why crews were working to cut down trees and replace lines.

This is a problem that some neighborhoods don’t have because their lines are underground. If yours are above, Kinchen said not to expect a change anytime soon.

“Whenever you need to move it a little further away, it’s always more effective to put it above the ground,” Kinchen said. “Even if it means going through it and restricting it and trimming trees and all those other costs, it’s just going to be cheaper.”

That doesn’t mean it’s better either. Kinchen said it might be harder to find problems underground, while problems on the surface are more obvious.

Why energy experts say the storm could have a silver lining

In the air, however, this means trees can be a problem. ABC13 meteorologists said last week’s storm was the worst wind event for the Houston area since Hurricane Ike more than 15 years ago.

It was an event that could help before the start of hurricane season.

“The trees that fell can’t fall anymore, and the ones that didn’t fall, I hope they’re healthy, and maybe the impact is a little less,” Kinchen explained.

As for this event, almost all CenterPoint customers who lost power last week should have it back by Wednesday evening.

Some are so excited to see teams on their street because they went six days without air conditioning, lights or appliances.

“It’s sweaty and a little tiring,” Taylor said. “So far we are doing our best.”

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