Patrick to CenterPoint: 'A freight train is coming, you better be prepared'

(The Center Square) – Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick issued a warning to CenterPoint Energy, the largest utility provider in the Houston area.

Patrick, who leads the Texas Senate, did so as more than one million people in the Houston area are still without power one week after Hurricane Beryl made landfall. Nearly three million were without power in the immediate aftermath, with power restoration taking nearly a week for most residents.

“I know everyone at CenterPoint who's in an air-conditioned office is watching,” Patrick said at a Sunday news conference alongside Gov. Greg Abbott. “A freight train is coming. You better be prepared. Whether you're at the top, or any part of management who oversaw this response or preparation, everybody's job should be on the line. We will not, and cannot, tolerate this.”

CenterPoint “totally failed in preparation and in response and they have lost respect from the city of Houston and the surrounding areas that they service,” Patrick added.

He said the immediate need was to restore power for people who are “suffering out … in 100-degree heat that have not had power, and won't have it, for another day or two or more.”

But a reckoning is coming, he said, after the state legislature holds hearings in August, following up on warnings he issued last week, The Center Square reported.

“Does CenterPoint still look at Houston as a priority of their business?” Patrick said would be one of his first questions at the hearings. “They're a different company than they used to be. Is it all about the bottom line … and not about human life?” he asked.

Patrick was referring to concerns Abbott raised about allegations that CenterPoint was “penny pinching and cutting corners in ways that slowed the recovery process.” The allegations will be investigated, Abbott said, adding, “We must know if CenterPoint is protecting Texans or was it protecting its own pocketbook.”

Patrick said CenterPoint not delivering electricity can lead to people dying, adding that CenterPoint was “not prepared. They did not think this was going to be a serious storm. They didn't think it was going to hit Houston, it's obvious by their preparation.

“CenterPoint has to understand, as does every utility company on the coast, that anytime there's a tropical storm in the Gulf, whether it's predicted to be a hurricane or not, you have to prepare as if it's going to be the worst storm to hit Houston where the biggest population is or any area they cover.

“The state of Texas has to pray for the best and prepare for the worst. CenterPoint did not prepare for even the least. That's why we are here. This is not tolerable.”

In addition to listing extensive failures and demands he made of CenterPoint, Abbott expressed concern for linemen’s safety who are working to restore power and being attacked by enraged Houstonians.

There are linemen “across this area who are being physically threatened, sometimes attacked by people on the streets, endangering their lives and discouraging them from even going out into the field and getting the power back on,” Abbott said.

“There is no reason why anybody here should ever be threatening the life of anybody else. If you're angry about the lack of power, you're taking it out on the wrong person. If you're wanting to get the power back on, your actions that intimidate or threaten the linemen or whoever is trying to get the power back on, you're not speeding up the process of getting the power back on, you're slowing that process down.”

Patrick said there was one attack by gunfire on Thursday, one attack on Friday and another on Saturday.

He said the legislature would be looking at increasing the penalties for crimes committed against energy workers and “ratchet it up.” He said some of linemen who came “from states all over the country, they turned around and went home. Who's going to come to Texas and help you if you are shooting at them? That must stop.

“There will always be idiots. There will always be people who've had too much to drink and people have had too much anger for whatever reason. There is no excuse no matter how much you've been sweltering in the heat for criminal behavior and to attack someone who is trying to help you.”

He said the legislature “is going to stop that” and perpetrators “are going to face a long time in in jail if you ever do that.”

Abbott said if CenterPoint doesn’t comply with his demands, the state may have “to reconsider the territorial region that CenterPoint … is … mismanaging. … It's time to reevaluate whether or not CenterPoint should have such a large territory.”

Patrick said CenterPoint “better respond” or the Senate would be “looking at the territory you represent now.”

On Monday, CenterPoint said it had “restored power to more than 2 million customers and expect to reach approximately 98% restoration by the end of the day on Wednesday, July 17. We are repositioning crews and equipment to address areas with significant structural damage to restore those without power.”