Houston-based CenterPoint Energy Inc., which has faced a barrage of criticism since Hurricane Beryl stormed ashore in early July, said it would cooperate with the investigations underway by Texas officials.
Texas Attorney General (AG) Ken Paxton on Monday said an investigation of the natural gas and electrical utility provider is underway for potentially violating state laws regarding its conduct in the aftermath of the Category 1 storm.
Beryl knocked out power to more than two million CenterPoint customers in Houston and the surrounding communities. In some service areas, power was not restored for more than a week as 90 degree-plus weather permeated the region.
“My office is aware of concerning allegations regarding CenterPoint and how its conduct affected readiness during Hurricane Beryl, a storm that left millions of Texans without power,” Paxton said. “If the investigation uncovers unlawful activity, that activity will be met with the full force of the law.”
Among the CenterPoint customers impacted by Beryl was Freeport LNG Development LP in Brazoria County, southeast of Houston. The liquefied natural gas export plant was shut down July 7 ahead of Beryl’s landfall. Damage knocked out full production for three weeks before it returned to service July 28.
The AG probe follows a similar push by Gov. Greg Abbott, state legislators and the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUCT) to determine why it took so long for power to be restored for thousands of customers for what was considered to be a weak hurricane.
Hurricane season does not officially end until November. Many of the worst storms to impact the Gulf Coast have come in August and September. Hurricane Harvey stormed into Texas in 2017 as a Category 4. Hurricane Ike, which wreaked havoc in the Galveston area in 2008, was a Category 2 at landfall.
Committing to Transparency
“Since Hurricane Beryl, we have demonstrated our absolute commitment to transparency and cooperation through our participation in three separate hearings at the PUCT, the Senate, and the House,” CenterPoint spokesperson John Sousa said.
“We look forward to cooperating with the Texas attorney general or any other agency and have made clear our commitment to upholding the values of our company. We urge any party that has information concerning these issues to come forward and provide such information to us, our regulator, or the Texas attorney general immediately.”
During the second quarter conference call, CenterPoint CEO Jason P. Wells noted that Beryl had impacted the “entire 5,000 square-mile service territory in the Greater Houston area” and had impacted “80% of our Houston electric customer base.”
Power was restored to “over one million customers within 48 hours,” Wells told investors. The utility by then also had replaced 3,000-plus distribution poles.
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However, Wells explained that the impacts to the distribution lines and facilities primarily were from “vegetation such as uprooted trees and related debris carried by the very high winds…”
Trees in the Houston area, he said, were weakened in recent years because of “a combination of high rainfall, prior drought conditions, as well as winter freezes.”
Wells said “Beryl's destructive winds, in combination with already weakened trees, highlighted not only the urgency with which we need to execute on our vegetation management plan, but also the scope.
“As a result, we have doubled our vegetation management resources and are aggressively tackling the riskier line miles with trees nearby. We will trim or remove trees related to an incremental 2,000 miles of our system by Dec. 31 of this year. This represents a nearly 50% increase compared to our planned work for 2024.
“The vegetation work we have begun is only a part of a more comprehensive plan to improve customer outcomes and directly address the customer concerns and frustrations voiced with respect to critical aspects of our emergency response. This plan will also help us better prepare our response in key areas to future storms or hurricanes.”
