Although the PUC had promoted the Oct. 5 meeting as a forum for the public, it was state senators and industry experts who testified first. As a result, everyday residents couldn’t address commissioners for nearly three hours — much to the frustration of many of the locals in attendance.
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Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick
CenterPoint CEO Jason Wells should resign, and the utility should refund to the $800 million it collected for mobile generation units that proved mostly useless during Hurricane Beryl.
That was the message that Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick delivered during a recent public hearing hosted by the Public Utility Commission of Texas.
Lt. Gov. Patrick said during the Oct. 5 gathering in Houston that some business owners were now reluctant to locate there because of CenterPoint’s failures after the July storm. He said the $800 million that CenterPoint received in a PUC-approved lease arrangement for emergency generators was a “terrible deal” for ratepayers. Most of those generators went unused during the storm, and the lease arrangement itself had been opposed by cities and an administrative law judge.
“Were they acting in the interest of the folks in their coverage area or are they interested in their bottom line?” Patrick asked rhetorically about the lease arrangment. “Why should the people of Texas pay $800 million for the terrible deal and a profit on top of it?”
The lieutenant governor also accused the PUC of failing ratepayers by authorizing the deal in the first place. He called upon the agency to audit Centerpoint. “The idea that the PUC said it was prudent is insulting because no business would ever make that deal unless somebody else was picking up the freight,” said Patrick.
The PUC organized the public hearing this month in response to continuing outcry over CenterPoint’s ineffectual storm response. Beryl knocked out power for weeks, even as a heat wave blanketed the area. CenterPoint has said it has redoubled its efforts to improve resiliency, including through the installation of new power poles. Unappeased, Lt. Gov. Patrick insisted that CEO Wells nonetheless should hit the exit door.
“I believe at this point, the board of CenterPoint should ask for Jason Wells’ resignation, or I believe he should submit it,” Patrick said. “It’s not personal, Mr. Wells, we’ve had good discussions. But CenterPoint needs to have a strong leader who will have foresight, not look back in the rearview (and say), ‘Oh, we’ll fix it now.’”
In a prepared statement to local media, Wells repeated his past acknowledgements that the company’s response to Beryl was unacceptable, but did not indicate he planned to resign anytime soon. “I am determined to do better. We are determined to do better,” he stated.
Public Speakers
Though the PUC had promoted the Oct. 5 meeting as a forum for the public, it was state senators and industry experts who testified first. As a result, everyday residents couldn’t address commissioners for nearly three hours — much to the frustration of many of the locals in attendance. “Residents feel that they’re at the bottom of the ladder,” said Carmen Cavezza, a community organizer for the Coalition for the Environment, Equity and Resilience. She said the coalition brought about 50 people to the meeting, but only about a dozen remained long enough to speak.
All told, about 30 Houston-area residents managed to testify. Several, such as northeast Houston resident Rita Robles, called upon PUC commissioners to hold CenterPoint accountable. Ms. Robles said many of her neighbors are elderly or disabled and on fixed incomes, which means they must regularly cut down on other spending to afford their electricity bill. “You are our watchdog — you are supposed to protect us,” she told PUC commissioners.
Fred Woods, president of the Northwood Manor Civic Club, said his northeast Houston neighborhood was without power for more than a week. He noted that since Beryl, CenterPoint has touted a list of ongoing improvements, but he questioned how many people would have retained power if the utilty had made those improvements before the storm.
CenterPoint CEO Wells also addressed the commissioners and the public — but only after about 6 hours and only after the room was largely emptied out. “I want to personally apologize to each of you for the pain and frustration that we caused,” he said.