226,000+ Centerpoint Customers Still w/o Power A Full Week After Beryl's Landfall

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CenterPoint Energy, the Houston-area utility that maintains the infrastructure for more than 2.8 million customers across Texas, said it has been restoring power faster than in recent storms. But the company estimates that about 226,000 customers will still not have their power back eight days after Beryl struck. Some of those customers won't have power until Friday, according to the company's tracker. “We’re struggling,” said Rodolfo Peña, a 51-year-old truck driver who has lived in the Channelview neighborhood for the last 25 years. His home is located closest to a downed tree and power line, which was hanging Sunday like a necklace with a white barrel serving as a roadblock underneath it. He said he hasn’t received any clarity from CenterPoint on when they are going to fix it.

His family relies on their new generator to power a small air conditioner and a freezer. Before that, they used a welding machine as a generator. They cook food the same day they buy it because they can’t store anything in the refrigerator. They sweat at night when they sleep and even after taking cold showers. Their trash is not being picked up on schedule, forcing them to dump it elsewhere. “It’s really frustrating to be in this situation,” said Peña’s 29-year-old daughter, Esther, a Crosby resident who said she also doesn’t have power. Her 1-year-old son, Adrian, was also outside the family’s house Sunday, sweat dripping down his face.

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The vast majority of Texans still without power are CenterPoint customers in Harris County, the state’s most populous. Attacks on CenterPoint intensified over the weekend from angry customers. State officials said CenterPoint may not be equipped to deliver power to such a wide swath of Texas. Gov. Greg Abbott on Sunday made his first public appearance since returning from an economic development trip in Southeast Asia and called for an investigation into CenterPoint’s response to the storm.

Ed. - Emphasis added. Also, woodlywoodlywoo!!!

“The failure of power companies to provide power to their customers is completely unacceptable,” he told reporters during a Sunday press conference. CenterPoint appears to be restoring power at a faster pace than they have during previous storms. CenterPoint said on Sunday that 90% of impacted customers would have their power back before Tuesday. But people without power are tired and frustrated, especially because the company’s outage tracker is still down. A new map the company released following Beryl is inaccurate, customers say.

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https://www.texastribune.org/2024/07/15/texans-power-outages-hurricane-beryl/