29/07/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 30/07/2024 03:47
WASHINGTON, D.C. - In a letter to CenterPoint Energy President and CEO Jason Wells, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) reiterated his call for an after-action report from CenterPoint about what went wrong during Hurricane Beryl, and what the company would do to improve its response to future storms.
In his letter, Sen. Cruz wrote, "CenterPoint's response to Hurricane Beryl-a Category 1 hurricane that hit at the beginning of storm season-was a failure, and Texans deserve better from the largest utility company in the region.
"Since Hurricane Beryl made landfall, I have traveled through Southeast Texas and met with hundreds of local, state, and federal officials charged with coordinating emergency response to ensure Texans receive the necessary resources. …
"As we discussed on the call, my conversations with constituents-and your customers-made absolutely clear that CenterPoint's lack of transparency and communication threatened both lives and livelihoods. …
"All of us in the Texas delegation look forward to reviewing the company's detailed after-action report addressing the failures of the response to Hurricane Beryl."
Read the full letter here and below.
Dear Mr. Wells:
Thank you for participating in the phone call with congressional leaders that my office organized. Texans, and Houstonians in particular, are no strangers to natural disasters and understand reasonable delays in repairing critical infrastructure. Texans are especially grateful to the linemen who worked day and night to restore power.
However, CenterPoint's response to Hurricane Beryl-a Category 1 hurricane that hit at the beginning of storm season-was a failure, and Texans deserve better from the largest utility company in the region.
Since Hurricane Beryl made landfall, I have traveled through Southeast Texas and met with hundreds of local, state, and federal officials charged with coordinating emergency response to ensure Texans receive the necessary resources.. Texans are resilient, and communities throughout the state will rally behind those impacted to rebuild even stronger than before. I am confident that we will.
As we discussed on the call, my conversations with constituents-and your customers-made absolutely clear that CenterPoint's lack of transparency and communication threatened both lives and livelihoods. Texans were unable to receive direct information on when power would be restored to their neighborhoods, and lingering questions remain about whether CenterPoint is well-positioned to respond to possible future, stronger hurricanes.
I appreciated your candid admission on our July 12th call that CenterPoint must improve its operations. In addition to CenterPoint engaging the appropriate regulatory authorities in the State of Texas, I also appreciate your express commitment to provide a thorough after-action report to the Texas congressional delegation assessing the successes and failures of CenterPoint's response to Hurricane Beryl.
That after-action report should, among other things, address the following questions:
All of us in the Texas delegation look forward to reviewing the company's detailed after-action report addressing the failures of the response to Hurricane Beryl.
Texans rely on CenterPoint to keep the lights on, and we hope and expect that Beryl will not be a prelude to CenterPoint's response to future storms impacting the State of Texas.
Sincerely,
/X/
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