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"The Electric Utility Screwing Over Texans"

"CenterPoint wants customers to pay to climate-proof the grid—all while pouring millions of customer dollars into climate delay."

"When Hurricane Beryl barreled towards Texas last week, the state’s largest electric utility company said it was prepared for the worst. It wasn’t.

More than 2.7 million people lost power on July 8 as Beryl slammed into the state, leaving 80 percent of Centerpoint’s Houston customers in the dark. It was the largest area blackout in the utility's 20-year history. And residents remained without power for over a week, even as temperatures dangerously rose above 90 degrees Fahrenheit.

CenterPoint is now under investigation by the state Public Utility Commission, and Governor Greg Abbott has demanded a detailed future hurricane plan by the end of this month.

In its defense, CenterPoint has claimed that its infrastructure simply wasn’t built for this kind of extreme weather. The utility said it needs an additional $2 billion from customers to climate-proof its infrastructure. That’s not surprising; the climate crisis is fueling stronger hurricanes, heat waves, and surprise winter storms, which are wreaking havoc on the Texas grid.

What is surprising is that CenterPoint is asking for this money to prepare for climate change while funneling millions of customer dollars into making climate change worse."

Arielle Samuelson reports for HEATED July 18, 2024.

Source: HEATED, 07/19/2024