Houston Public Media: Two more deaths attributed to Hurricane Beryl as Houston-area death toll rises to 38
Aug. 28 —The majority of deaths occurred in Harris County and one of the victims succumbed to carbon monoxide poisoning due to running a generator inside.
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Houston-area residents give CenterPoint an earful at post-Beryl open house
Aug. 26 — CenterPoint Energy held its fourth open house on Saturday to address residents’ concerns about the company’s handling of power outages and to get feedback on its new outage tracker, among other post-storm responses.
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Utility Dive: ERCOT successfully navigates heat wave, new peak demand record
Aug. 26 — Thousands of megawatts of new solar, wind and battery storage have helped keep the grid reliable this summer, said Electric Reliability Council of Texas officials.
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Houston Public Media: How quickly is CenterPoint overhauling its natural gas infrastructure?
Aug. 23 — The company estimates steel accounts for less than half the 25,000 miles of pipeline in the Houston area, and it’s replacing much of what remains with polyethylene at the rate of 200-300 miles a year.
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Politico: Political firestorm erupts after Texas utility fails to keep lights on
Aug. 23 — Change may be coming to the state’s power system after a hurricane knocked out electricity to more than 2 million Houston-area customers last month.
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Houston Public Media: As dangerous heat grips Texas, solar power and batteries keep the electric grid humming along
Aug. 22 — Despite an August of brutal heat, Texans have not been asked to conserve electricity like they were last year.
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WFAA: Expert: Texas on track to become #1 in battery storage for electricity
Aug. 22 — Solar, wind, and batteries are getting the state through record or near-record demand days without conservation notices from the grid operator.
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S&P Global: Heat wave pushes Texas grid to unofficial peakload record, prices to quadruple digits
Aug. 21 — The Electric Reliability Council of Texas set an unofficial peakload record of 85,559 MW Aug. 20, barely topping the 85,508-MW record set Aug. 10, 2023, and systemwide real-time wholesale power prices spent 75 minutes above $2,000/MWh and 2.5 hours above $100/MWh amid persistent triple-digit temperatures across Texas.
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Reuters: Texas oil regulator under scrutiny as zombie wells gush back to life
Aug. 14 — Reuters reporting in West Texas, along with interviews with landowners and experts and a review of RRC records show why the state regulator is under increased pressure to step up its oversight. The added scrutiny comes at a time when over the last two years, more and more abandoned wells have started to spill or even gushed geyser-like, formed salt and chemical-laden lakes or caused sinkholes.
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KPRC: Does CenterPoint really need to raise rates again? Deadline to respond to judge is today
Aug. 14 — Attorney Thomas Brocato represents the Gulf Coast Coalition of Cities. These are 42 cities in greater Houston like Sugar Land, Missouri City and Dickinson. He says there is no mechanism for customers to get refunds for money we are overpaying CenterPoint. It’s why they have also asked the PUC to set a lower interim rate now. “Let CenterPoint go and focus on, again, improving resiliency, keeping the lights on, restoring public trust but at the same time, let rates be lowered to an appropriate level so that customers get the full benefit once they come back and finalize the case,” said Brocato.
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KHOU 11:Texas AG Ken Paxton launches investigation into CenterPoint
Aug. 12 — Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has launched an investigation into CenterPoint Energy for possible violations during Hurricane Beryl. The energy provider has been widely criticized after widespread outages left millions without power and caused the hyperthermia deaths of at least 15 people.
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Reform Austin: Senators Criticize CenterPoint’s Unused Generators, But Their Own Bills Enabled It
Aug. 9 — In the aftermath of Hurricane Beryl, Texas Sen. Phil King and other Senators were vocal in their criticism of CenterPoint Energy’s decision to lease $800 million worth of massive generators that remained unused. However, King sponsored most of the bills that made it easier for the company to acquire the generators.
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Texas Insider: Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick’s Letter to the Public Utility Commission of Texas
Aug. 5 — Friday, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick sent a letter to the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUC) urging them to claw back $800 million of ratepayer money from CenterPoint. Upon sending the letter, Lt. Gov. Patrick issued the following statement: “As promised, here is the letter I sent to the PUC urging them to claw back $800 million of ratepayer money from CenterPoint. I remain committed to fighting on behalf ratepayers to ensure they do not pay for CenterPoint’s mismanagement.”
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Bloomberg: A Father-Daughter Dynasty Looms Large in Texas Oil and Politics
Aug. 5 — Tom and Christi Craddick wield influence in the energy industry while also owning a piece of the action.
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KXAN: Texas Lt. Gov. sends letter to PUC to take back $800M from CenterPoint
Aug. 3 — On Friday, Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said he sent a letter to the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUCT) related to ratepayer money sent to Houston energy company CenterPoint. According to Patrick, he requested PUC take back $800 million of ratepayer money from CenterPoint.
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WFAA: State Senator plans to keep the heat on CenterPoint at “full broil”
Aug. 4 — The fury over CenterPoint’s failed response to Hurricane Beryl shows no sign of easing up anytime soon. A special panel of 13 Senators, formed after the storm and subsequent power outages, recently convened and didn’t mince words, saying the trust with consumers is broken.
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Houston Public Media: If you lost power during Hurricane Beryl, the Public Utilities Commission of Texas wants to hear from you
Aug. 32 — The PUCT created a questionnaire, available in English and Spanish, which “only takes about five minutes to complete.”
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Texas Monthly: CenterPoint’s Puzzling Deal for Generators Faces New Scrutiny
Aug. 2 — Critics argue that the leases were unfairly awarded because of an unspecified “relationship” between the utility’s CEO and a Life Cycle Power employee.
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Houston Public Media: CenterPoint Energy walks back request to increase monthly rates by $1.25
Aug. 2 — According to the company’s request documents filed by the company in March, the rate increases would have increased the company’s revenue by more than $17 million. The company stated the rate would “present an opportunity to establish a solid foundation to enable CenterPoint Houston to continue meeting customer needs.”
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Houston Public Media: CenterPoint publishes new power outage map after Hurricane Beryl, derecho criticisms
Aug. 1 — The new map displays features like a count of outages in each zip code, county and city, and weather, satellite and territory map layers.