CenterPoint Energy will be held accountable, but we must get the lights back on for all Houstonians first. Mayor John Whitmire asks Houstonians to welcome the CenterPoint and out-of-town line crews as they restore our power. He asks Houstonians to respect the work they are doing. Threatening or endangering these crews is not who we are as Houstonians. We are stronger together.
Centerpoint should be held accountable for the state of their system before Beryl; but keep in mind they had less than a day to know that Houston was the target. With the uncertainty surrounding landfall it is up to Texas to organize the mitigation and recovery efforts and allocate the resources. A lot more can be done that isn’t. We could easily see another event before this one is fixed. Are the windows back in downtown? There should be a plan….all the locomotives PTRA, BNSF, Union Pacific, Kansas City Southern, are 1-4 MW mobile generators. Break the city into micro-grids with compatible plug and play connections, then assess the damage and triage the sequence. Critical infrastructure can be hardened and supported for short periods with locomotives allowing power to go elsewhere.
We have been without power at City of Bellaire for seven days. According to the restoration map from CenterPoint, our area is marked as having power restored, yet our house still no power. This map appears to provide inaccurate information. My friend lives at City of West University next to Bellaire and is experiencing the same issue. Could you please estimate how long we will need to wait for power to be restored? Additionally, I suggest offering a tax credit for Houston residents to purchase power generators. Your assistance is greatly appreciated. Thank you.
Benjamin Hayes
3mo
Some online are opining that a contributing factor in the severity and length of the outages is due to ERCOT being exempt from regulations that are standard thoroughout the rest of the lower 48 and that Texas specifically cost this course to avoid regulation of the utility.
Juan S. Reid
3mo
Centerpoint is not responsible for these greedy politicians who continue to invest in the arrogance of America and not invest tax dollars in infrastructure…America has a sickness that they cannot overcome.
Andrew Chesney
3mo
Where is the line drawn, obviously CentrePoint have a huge task on their hands and seemingly unprepared for not only this disaster but many more prior to this. It’s easy to point fingers, so my question, who is at fault for the many trees/bushes etc that are overgrown city wide that also lead to these outages and put many people including the line men at risk? Residents need to take responsibility for their yards too.
Tamara Pensiero
3mo
It’s sad to think that the employees are getting threatened
Let me also suggest our OEM and Department of Resiliency were epic fails. Sadly, you made some political appointments that were not helpful to our citizens. Well beyond Counterpoint, 311 and 911 malfunctioned, no pre-evacuation plan, no day after plan with immediate relief and cooling centers in place, Public Works understaffed and water pressure a SERIOUS issue, wifi and internet down for days, no pre staged water, ice and gas for residents and on and on and on. I have lived here my entire life and have NEVER experienced such a lack of leadership and or coordination. AND why not finally agree we NEED a comprehensive REGIONAL Resiliency plan void of politics and hiring people that can deliver.
Pratima A.
3mo
We should also hold ourselves accountable. We should hold ERCOT account whose sole purpose is reliability of distribution. We need to be investing in our infrastructure, have better disaster recovery and mitigation plan. We should have better oversight. Houston is a known Hurricane prone region. Cat 1 hurricane should not have left the devastation it has. To watch my beloved city with no power and the residents suffering is an unacceptable consequence of years of neglect. And THANK YOU to the amazing crews whose great sacrifice and dedication is helping the city to get back on its feet!!!
Houston has a problem. We've been Without power since last Monday. And tonight is sunday night and we still have no power. Center point the map doesn't tell me when aware what time the power would be On.
Minister of Music/Retired Music Educator
3moAs a native Houstonian, I am utterly ashamed of my city, county and especially, my state!! How does this drama continue to play out, in the fourth largest city in the country and second largest state in the country? It continues because some moronic politicians want to line the pockets of their friends! As a result, they remove Texas from the National Grid! I don't remember voting on that item and I don't miss an election!! This republican led state government is just as hideous as the republicans in Congress. This is absolutely and totally horrendous and completely unacceptable!!!