In a rare move, the Public Utility Commission (PUC) is meeting in Houston because leaders want to hear directly from Houston residents. Many were without power for more than ten days after Hurricane Beryl. This is the opportunity for the community to weigh in on how CenterPoint Energy handled the crisis.
The meeting at the Harris County Department of Education at 6300 Irvington began Saturday at 9:00 a.m. and is being livestreamed on Click2Houston here. KPRC 2 Investigator Amy Davis and Investigative producer Andrea Slaydon attended the meeting to bring you all of the details.
HERE’S CENTERPOINT’S PUC PRESENTATION:
Lt. Governor Dan Patrick started off testimony by talking about Hurricane Beryl.
“I cannot say I’m proud of the work of CenterPoint,” said Patrick.
Patrick was acting governor during the storm. He referenced KPRC Gage Goulding’s interview with CenterPoint CEO Jason Wells earlier this week. When asked if CenterPoint is overcharging customers, Wells said, “I don’t think that we’re overcharging our customers $100 million.”
“You don’t know if you’ve ben overcharging the customers 100 million dollars?” said Patrick. “That’s an answer from a low-level management person not the CEO of a corporation.”
Patrick spoke for about 25 minutes referencing the response from CenterPoint after the storm and what he called questionable contract with a company to provide mobile generators that were not actually mobile.
He ended his comments by demanding the PUC board make a change.
“I believe the board should ask for Jason Wells resignation. He can’t answer a simple question. A simple question from a reporter at Channel Two saying did you overcharge your customers.”
“It’s not personal Mr. Wells but CenterPoint needs to have a strong leader.”
State Senator Carol Alvarado told PUC Commissioners “You have some accountability and responsibility as well,” letting them know if they don’t complete an audit or investigation into CenterPoint and what went wrong before the next legislative session, lawmakers will look at making some changes.”
She pointed out that CenterPoint vegetation clearance decreased from 5,800 miles to 4,600 miles in recent years.
“Somewhere along the line, someone should have noticed that decrease,” said Alvarado.
Several other state leaders and industry experts also addressed the PUC board.
Members of the public given the chance to speak to PUC board
Nearly 50 members of the public signed up to speak. But it took nearly three hours before it even got to the public comment section. Many of the people who were signed up to speak ended up leaving.
Here are highlights from some of the people who did speak
- Haley Schultz, a resident of Fort Bend County, started by saying, “Sorry you lost half the room.” She thanked the PUC for coming to Houston and gave her personal story.
“I’m tired and disappointed. It is unforgivable that this is the best Texas has to offer in terms of resiliency.”
- Delores, who lives in the 5th ward, said during Beryl they felt left out and not wanted. She was without electricity, couldn’t contact her sister and was scared about what would happen.
“Living our life being a poor person and it just feels like what involves you (power outages) and there’s nothing you can do about it,” she said. Delores also said she knew it was bad when she had to throw out all of her food, including her favorite Hellman’s mayonnaise. The comment gave some relief to what was at times tense testimony from the public.
- Cristina Vetrano, Director of the Ronald McDonald House in Houston, talked about how CenterPoint quickly helped connect mobile generators, so families did not have to evacuate the home. Ronald McDonald House is a place where families can stay while they are getting medical care in Houston. Vetrano said adding mobile generators does take space and planning and they were able to do this and were thankful.
- Fred Woods from Northwood Manor neighborhood said CenterPoint CEO Jason Wells has visited the neighborhood to talk with neighbors about the storm plans there. He appreciates that Wells is working with neighborhood leaders to help make positive changes.
- Houston resident Carmen said she is disappointed because 30 people that were signed up to speak at the meeting had to leave. She gave the PUC some advice saying, “You came here to hear us” and you make us wait so long.
Three hours into the hearing PUC Chairman Thomas Gleeson did move up public comment before CenterPoint testimony. (Originally public comment was set to go last.)
Last week Gleeson told KPRC 2 Investigator Amy Davis the commission has received nearly 15,000 complaints about CenterPoint’s performance. He emphasized that the residents of Houston deserve better communication.
Representatives from the following organizations are also at the meeting:
- Texas Division of Emergency Management
- National Weather Service
- Edison Electric Institute, MG Spoor Consulting, GridSky Strategies Inc., Texas A&M Forest Service and Southeastern Electric Exchange
Your feedback is crucial in determining whether CenterPoint will move forward with its rate review (and your electric bill). It’s something several people brought up in the meeting.
“We don’t mind paying more if we’re getting better service,” said Haley Schultz. “It’s unforgivable that this is the best TX has to offer in resiliency.”
CenterPoint is accused of overcharging customers more than $100-million-dollars a year.
“Of, you don’t stop this, you are proving you are not the watchdog we need you to be,” said Bill Kelly, City of Houston.
“These are not elected officials. They are appointed by the Governor. You can’t fire them, but I can,” said State Senator Carol Alvarado.
State lawmakers from both sides of the aisle asked what CenterPoint has done with the money it’s already been given.
“Don’t let them PR their way out of this,” said Lt. Governor Dan Patrick.
“We know there’s a lot more that we need to do for our communities. These efforts started a few years ago when I joined the company and we started to double the investment that we historically made in our Houston electric operations,” said CenterPoint CEO Jason Wells.
You can watch the full 6+ hour PUC meeting here.
What if I couldn’t make the PUC meeting in Houston? Can I still comment?
The PUC is also accepting public comments about utility preparedness and response to the recent storms through a public form.
There is also still an open investigation into the emergency preparedness and extreme weather response of utilities in the Greater Houston region. All public documents related to the investigation can be found here.
What’s up with the CenterPoint rate review?
This review is significant, as it involves the rates that CenterPoint customers pay on their electricity bills. Before Hurricane Beryl hit, CenterPoint had already requested a rate increase of approximately $60 million annually.
However, many—including City of Houston Attorney Arturo Michel—argue that not only should there be no increase, but customers are actually owed a decrease due to overcharges exceeding $100 million each year.
“Not only are they not due an increase. We are due a decrease. You know the customers are due a rate decrease,” said Michel.
CenterPoint withdrew its rate review; but an administrative judge ruled they had to move forward. CenterPoint appealed that ruling with the PUC, claiming they need to focus on improving infrastructure and preparing for future storms. The PUC has delayed making a decision. Chairman Gleeson told David the Commission wants to first hear from those directly impacted by the storm and by any potential rate changes.
Throughout the restoration process, CenterPoint faced sharp criticism from both lawmakers and residents. Governor Greg Abbott called out CenterPoint for “completely dropping the ball” on restoring power, while State Senator Joan Huffman said, “What we really gotta do is pray because you guys are not ready if another one comes this session.”
CenterPoint has admitted their shortcomings, with a company executive calling their poor communication and failed outage tracker “inexcusable.”
Chairman Gleeson reiterated that the PUC wants to ensure the utility learns from these mistakes and improves its response and communication moving forward.
“I think it’s clear that the residents of Houston, the surrounding area, feel that the communication from CenterPoint was, you know, subpar and really needs to be improved upon,” said Gleeson.
