HOUSTON – Earlier this week, the Texas governor had a lot of tough talk for CenterPoint Energy.
“CenterPoint has completely dropped the ball with regard to getting power back on,” Gov. Greg Abbott said during his first news conference.
(Abbott missed the Texas landfall of Beryl, he was on a business opportunity trip to Asia.)
KPRC 2 Investigates wanted to know what mechanisms the governor actually has available to him to pressure CenterPoint Energy to perform better.
Mark Jones, a Professor of political science at Rice University, says while the governor does not have direct control over CenterPoint, a non-government publicly traded company, he may be able to make life tough and less profitable for them.
That is if they blow off his list of demands with a fast approaching deadline, including how they plan to handle future vegetation interference.
Jones said the governor has three important options.
“The first is to tell the Public Utility Commission to not allow it (CenterPoint) to have any rate increases. The second is to direct the Public Utility Commission to try to claw back some of the profits and keep CenterPoint from taking some profits that they otherwise would receive. The final lever that the governor has is during the 2025 legislative session, instructing the legislature to pass new legislation that provides more control requirements and tighter control and oversight over CenterPoint,” Jones said.
The governor and lieutenant governor has forwarded a list of requirements that CenterPoint must meet and answer by a July 31, 2024 deadline. The big bullet points are outlined below:
- CenterPoint must provide in detail how it plans to remove all vegetation from any power line.
- CenterPoint must specify how it will prepare in advance of any tropical storm that enters the Gulf Coast.
- CenterPoint must specify action it will take to pre-stage enough linemen and other personnel to be able to immediately respond to any power outages that may occur for any tropical storm that hits their service region.