Texas Gov Threatens Power Company Over Outage

The Associated Press reports:

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Sunday said he’s demanding an investigation into the response of the utility that serves the area as well as answers about its preparations for upcoming storms. “Power companies along the Gulf Coast must be prepared to deal with hurricanes, to state the obvious,” Abbott said at his first news conference about Beryl since returning to the state from an economic development trip to Asia.

Abbott said he was sending a letter to the Public Utility Commission of Texas requiring it to investigate why restoration has taken so long. With months of hurricane season left, Abbott said he’s giving CenterPoint until the end of the month to specify what it’ll be doing to reduce or eliminate power outages.. He said that will include the company providing detailed plans to remove vegetation that still threatens power lines.

CNN reports:

The Texas power grid was also a focal point in February 2021, after a massive statewide outage during a deep freeze left more than 200 people dead and millions without heat and power for days.

The state’s government has worked with local officials over the last week to provide ready-to-eat meals for people who have lost electricity in their homes, Abbott said. Officials are also working to ensure people have adequate water supplies and ice, and are addressing the ongoing medical needs at hospitals and health care facilities, according to the governor.

“Meals have been lost because people have not had the power on in their house or apartment, and as a result, their food has spoiled … because of lack of power,” he said. “The lack of power is because of CenterPoint.”

In the press conference below, Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick claims that every top employee of CenterPoint has “their jobs on the line.”