Several city and state officials spoke up recently to address an issue they say is becoming a larger pattern: CenterPoint workers being attacked or threatened while working to restore power to the Houston area.
Yesterday, CenterPoint Energy representatives made a post on X (formerly Twitter), stating that they had “received numerous reports of threats being made to our employees and crews.”
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Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo addressed one of these incidents in a press conference earlier today.
“We’ve heard reports of somebody pulling a gun on a group of linemen, and we’ve also heard about somebody shooting pellets at the CenterPoint trucks,” Hidalgo said.
Hidalgo emphasized that a large number of the linemen working on restoring power had come from out of state, and these employees have worked long hours to try to address a complex situation. She also encouraged Houstonians to be patient even as conditions worsened in certain areas.
“I know people are angry, but these folks are just here to help us,” she said. “They’re working very hard for us, so please don’t take it out on them.”
Other officials addressing the issue include Fort Bend County Sheriff Eric Fagan and Fort Bend County Judge KP George. They spoke at a press conference earlier today, where they specifically condemned the previously mentioned incident where a lineman had a gun pulled on them.
“We will not tolerate these workers being abused, let alone having a gun pulled on them,” Fagan said.
Tom Oliverson, the state representative for House District 130, also commented on the threats. Oliverson noted that threatening workers was actually more likely to make restoring power more difficult, since workers have to stop for hours at a time when they receive any credible threats.
Oliverson also joined other officials in encouraging Houstonians to lean into a sense of unity rather than letting their frustration get the better of them.
“C’mon H-Town, we’re better than this,” he said.