Gov. Greg Abbott on Sunday slammed utility CenterPoint Energy, which has yet to restore power for hundreds of thousands of customers in the Houston area, and ordered the company to take steps to improve power reliability. In his first public appearance since returning from a pre-planned economic development trip to Asia, the governor asked CenterPoint to send his office a detailed plan by the end of the month outlining how it will prepare differently for future hurricanes this season.
Abbott said the plan must include better preparation for linemen, increasing the number of workers to restore power and trimming trees that could fall on power lines. If CenterPoint fails to comply with his request, the governor said he will issue an executive order imposing his own requirements on the company. And he said that if the utility is unable to “fix its ongoing problems,” the state would have to reconsider the breadth of the territory it serves.
CenterPoint maintains the wires, poles and electric infrastructure serving more than 2.6 million customers in Texas across the greater Houston area and some coastal communities like Galveston. “Maybe they have too large of an area for them to be able to manage adequately,” Abbott said.
“It’s time to reevaluate whether or not CenterPoint should have such a large territory.” The governor on Sunday also sent a letter to Thomas Gleeson, chair of the Public Utility Commission of Texas, ordering him to launch an investigation into Cent.
