Over a week after Beryl made landfall in Texas, there are still over 100K Houston residents (as of Tuesday, July 16) and businesses without power. In the aftermath of the storm, CenterPoint Energy – the leading energy provider in the Houston area with what many have considered a monopoly – has drawn widespread criticism for its apparent lack of preparedness, substandard infrastructure investment, and equipment maintenance.
With now three heat-related deaths, over one hundred thousand customers and Houston businesses without power in scorching summer temperatures, and a hurricane season far from over, the question arises whether or not will the Houston energy company face legal consequences.
What governmental action is being taken against CenterPoint?
Following his return from pre-scheduled, trade-delegation trip to Asia, Governor Greg Abbott stated at a press conference held at Gallery Furniture Sunday that CenterPoint Energy would have until July 31 to develop a plan with specific actions for improving power reliability.
On Monday, Abbott threatened to issue an executive order against the company if it were to fail to provide a plan, though he didn’t specify what the executive order would entail.
“If CenterPoint does not respond to my request, I will be issuing an executive order imposing, what I think, are the appropriate standards,” said Abbott.
“The standards I want to impose on CenterPoint would be far more costly than what they may be coming up with. Separate from that, if they don’t comply with my request and refuse to work with them, we’re going to completely re-evaluate the current status of CenterPoint in our area.”
Chair Thomas Gleeson of The Public Utilities Commission of Texas announced Monday that it would be opening an investigation into CenterPoint’s response to Beryl.
“It’s clear from the events of the last week that the quality of (CenterPoint’s) infrastructure, their ability to maintain that infrastructure and their communication with their customers has been called into question,” said Gleeson.
The investigation commission has until December 1st of this year to submit its report to the governor’s office. While not certain, legal mandates are a possible outcome of the investigation, otherwise the commission will issue recommendations for improvements to the governor, or if identified sooner, directly to CenterPoint.
Are there any present lawsuits filed against CenterPoint?
Houston and Galveston-area restaurants filed a class action lawsuit this past Monday against CenterPoint. Represented by the Buzbee Law Firm, the restaurants allege negligence, gross negligence, and other legal violations.
The primary focus of the case is CenterPoint’s failure to adequately invest in necessary infrastructure, regularly invest, maintain, and upgrade equipment, and provide proper training to its personnel.
The lawsuit will focus on those Houston restaurants in business for over year that had lost power for over 48 hours. One of the restaurants a part of the lawsuit include Riel Restaurant’s executive chef and parter, Ryan Lachaine, whose restaurant was out of power for a week.
Filed by Tony Buzbee, the high-profile lawyer asserts the suit is not about a handout, but “forcing CenterPoint in court to do what the administrative, legislative, and executive has failed to require.”
“All of the restaurants suing lost power initially as a result of Hurricane Beryl, but that loss inexplicably continued due to the incompetence and utter dereliction of Centerpoint Energy,” said Buzbee.
“The problems at CenterPoint continue, and likely will continue, despite the accusations and condemnation from all levels of government. The restaurants filing this case, and the class of plaintiffs they seek to represent, are fed up. None of us in this area has a choice as to who provides us electricity.”
How likely is it that CenterPoint will face legal repercussion?
In his statement, Tony Buzbee stated: “We look forward to making this case in the court system and are optimistic about its success.”
In 2021, lawsuits were filed against ERCOT as well as CenterPoint Energy on claims of negligence during the Texas winter storm.
Lawsuits filed against ERCOT were dismissed, after Texas Supreme Court deemed ERCOT to have sovereign immunity, ruling that it was a quasi-governmental entity under the Public Utility Commission of Texas and thus, protected from civil lawsuits.
However, the Harris County appeals court ruled in April of this year that some lawsuits filed against CenterPoint Energy for its role in the Texas 2021 winter storm could proceed to trial on allegations of gross negligence and intentinoal misconduct. The Texas electric transmission and distribution utilities included in the lawsuit are CenterPoint Energy, Oncor Electric Delivery, and American Electric Power.
The outcome of which will inform the likeliness that CenterPoint Energy suffers legal ramifications for its handling of Beryl, though as many have pointed out, major consequences are unlikely.