Republicans and Democrats agree: Centerpoint should be held accountable | Opinion
As the 2024 hurricane season winds down, Harris County voters remain very concerned about the reliability of their electricity service. The one-two punch of the May derecho followed quickly by Hurricane Beryl in July vaulted electricity service reliability to the very top of concerns affecting the nation’s third largest county. That's according to a University of Houston Hobby School of Public Affairs survey of Harris County likely voters this fall. Almost two-fifths of the respondents listed electricity service reliability as a top-three concern, more than other high salience topics such as rising property taxes, housing affordability, flooding and crime.
Such concern has resulted in strong support for proposed legislation requiring CenterPoint to better harden its distribution network. Respondents also overwhelmingly believe CenterPoint, not ratepayers, should cover the cost of the company’s controversial $800 million noncancelable lease of “mobile” generators that have not, and may never, be used.
In public hearings and press conferences across the metro region and in the state Capitol, Houston-area elected officials have also expressed deep concern about the reliability of the CenterPoint electrical grid. And members of the Texas executive branch and Texas Legislature have gone beyond the mere expression of concern, with demands for a major course correction by CenterPoint. In fact, potential legislative remedies related to CenterPoint could be adopted during the Texas Legislature’s biennial session that begins in January.
Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and other elected officials have called on the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUC) to require CenterPoint to pay the entire $800 million price tag for the mobile generators from its own profits and reimburse ratepayers the portion of the $800 million which they have already paid. If the PUC was unwilling or unable do this, state Sen. Paul Bettencourt indicated that he would file legislation clawing back the ratepayer increase and mandating that CenterPoint cover the cost of the generators from its own profits. State Sen. Phil King has filed similar legislation.
The Harris County survey respondents overwhelmingly back such clawback legislation. Almost 9 out of 10 (86%) support, with 65% strongly supporting, a bill that would reimburse ratepayers and require CenterPoint to cover the cost of the generators from its profits. In contrast, only 5% of voters oppose this legislation, with 9% unsure whether they support or oppose it.
In a period of tremendous political polarization, this strong support for a clawback transcends partisan and sociodemographic cleavages. For example, 88% of Democrats and 86% of Republicans support the legislation, as do more than four-fifths of white, Black and Latino voters.
In addition to Patrick and Bettencourt, other Houston-area elected officials, including Houston Mayor John Whitmire and state Sen. Carol Alvarado, have called on CenterPoint to do more to maintain vegetation and harden its infrastructure to help ameliorate future outages. Under current statute, CenterPoint is encouraged to do such maintenance, but they have been given considerable latitude.
The days of granting CenterPoint such latitude could be over. Texas lawmakers are now considering legislation to increase the power and authority of the PUC to require CenterPoint and other Texas electric utility companies to harden their distribution network via more aggressive vegetation management, the replacement of wooden utility poles and raising wires above the tree line. Harris County likely voters are very supportive of such legislation in principle, with 82% in support (57% strongly) and only 8% in opposition, while 1 in 10 didn’t know enough to have an opinion.
Backing for this proposed legislation is also robust across partisan and sociodemographic lines. For example, 83% of Democrats and 80% of Republicans, and more than three-fourths of white, Black and Latino likely voters support legislation empowering the PUC to be able to do more to keep CenterPoint, and other electricity utilities accountable and ensure they are doing all that they reasonably can to safeguard their respective grids.
During the 2025 legislative session we hope that Texas lawmakers will prioritize what Harris County voters want: a more reliable grid and a monthly bill where they pay for the electricity they use, not for CenterPoint’s past poor decisions. The threat of a destructive winter storm is right around the corner, along with the ever critical need for reliable electricity.