Dan Patrick creates new committee about hurricane, tropical system preparedness

AUSTIN (KXAN) — Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick is now tasking a group of state senators with looking at readiness for hurricanes and tropical storms following the prolonged power outages and damage connected to Hurricane Beryl.

The Republican leader announced the creation Wednesday of the Senate Special Committee on Hurricane and Tropical Storm Preparedness, Recovery, and Electricity. The group comprises 13 lawmakers, including eight Republicans and five Democrats.

“I am appointing this committee to review what happened and establish why certain electric utility companies appear to have been woefully unprepared for Hurricane Beryl,” Patrick wrote in a statement Wednesday afternoon. “The Texas Senate will work to ensure electric utility companies respond more effectively to future storms.”

State Sen. Charles Schwertner, R-Georgetown, will serve as the special committee’s chairman, while Republican Sen. Phil King of Weatherford will act as the vice chair. The other appointments include Democrat Carol Alvarado of Houston, Republican Paul Bettencourt of Houston, Republican Brandon Creighton of Conroe, Democrat Juan “Chuy” Hinojosa of McAllen, Republican Joan Huffman of Houston, Republican Lois Kolkhorst of Brenham, Democrat Morgan LaMantia of Palm Valley, Republican Mayes Middleton of Galveston, Democrat Borris Miles of Houston, Republican Robert Nichols of Jacksonville and Democrat Judith Zaffirini of Laredo.

Schwertner shared his reaction Wednesday to leading this committee. He wrote in a statement, “As Chairman of the Special Committee, I will focus on why electric utility companies failed to provide timely power restoration to millions of Texans and the decisive actions these companies will take to ensure this type of catastrophic failure never happens again.”

Patrick served as acting governor when Hurricane Beryl made landfall in Texas last week, while Gov. Greg Abbott spent time overseas on an economic development trip to three countries in Asia. Since his return to Texas, Abbott laid out demands for CenterPoint Energy, Houston’s largest utility provider, over the lengthy power outages experienced by hundreds of thousands of customers.

The Public Utility Commission of Texas , which regulates utility providers in the state, announced earlier this week that it would also launch an investigation into CenterPoint as well as put forward proposed long-term fixes to avoid similar situations from unfolding because of strong storms.

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