AUSTIN (Nexstar) — Three days after Hurricane Beryl wreaked havoc on Houston and southeast Texas, Acting Gov. Dan Patrick said by Sunday, the number of Texans without power would drop to 500,000 from the current count of over 1 million.
The energy company CenterPoint continues to be responsible for the majority of Beryl-related power outages as the company has the most customers in the affected area.
As a Category 1 storm, Beryl not only caused these immense power outages but also decimated local infrastructure and generated a large haul of hazardous debris. Patrick addressed the reason for the storm’s seemingly severe nature despite its low categorization in a press conference on Thursday.
“The eyewall came over a large part of the city with the most sustained winds and gusts, and it maintained itself for three or four hours,” Patrick said. “So I think as people have gotten out of their neighborhoods, if they can get gas in their car to go somewhere, if they can, they’ve seen this damage, it’s really unbelievable.”
Patrick also said he would investigate the response to such debris and power issues and ensure they are better prepared for inevitable future storms that will hit the area.
“I know that we have a plan, CenterPoint has a plan to continue to invest to harden their transmission,” Patrick said. “The transmission lines as well as the standards that hold those. And I think that’s a wise investment they should take.”
Patrick emphasized CenterPoint is accountable for its operations and is not state-controlled. He also claimed President Biden’s allegations and the Houston Chronicle’s reporting were inaccurate and said there was no deliberate delay in providing or receiving disaster relief.
“We do not want the people of Texas to think they are going to be shortchanged for what they deserve to get, bottom line,” Patrick said. “They were told one thing, and another thing happened.”
Nim Kidd — the chief of the Texas Division of Emergency Management — said CenterPoint’s punishment for the outages will be up to the Public Utility Commission to decide. This could look like fines, fees or any other regulatory actions.
“But right now, I want every person at CenterPoint to have one job,” Patrick said. “Get the power back on.”
Jason Ryan — the executive vice president of CenterPoint Energy — testified in a Public Utility Commission hearing that CenterPoint prepared for the storm by requesting 10,000 crew members to pre-position themselves outside of their area of service to be ready to respond to storm damage once the affected area was deemed safe.
“Our crews are working around-the-clock, 16-hour work shifts,” Ryan said. “We will continue to assess whether or not we have the right number of crews and whether we should bring additional ones in, and we will not stop our work until the work is done.”
Patrick said both himself and Gov. Greg Abbott plan to open an investigation into CenterPoint’s preparation and response to the natural disaster.