Multiple lawsuits filed against CenterPoint over power outage failures

Multiple lawsuits have been filed against CenterPoint Energy, including three this week, over power outage failures in southeast Texas after Hurricane Beryl hit on July 8 and it took 12 days to restore power to customers who were able to receive it.

Gov. Greg Abbott demanded that CenterPoint meet a list of requirements by July 31. The Public Utility Commission and the Texas legislature also launched an investigation. The PUC held its first public meeting on the issue Thursday; next month a legislative hearing is scheduled.

CenterPoint president and CEO Jason Wells apologized on Wednesday at PUC’s meeting, saying, “I want to apologize to our customers for the frustration we caused. We will do better. While we cannot erase the frustrations and difficulties so many of our customers endured, I and my entire leadership team will not make excuses. We will improve and act with a sense of urgency.”

At a news conference earlier this month, Abbott said he may demand the PUC reject a pending request by CenterPoint to recover a profit. Last year, its profit was over $6.5 billion. Abbott said there were allegations of CenterPoint “penny pinching” and cutting corners that may have contributed to delayed restoration of power. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who created a special investigative committee overseeing the Senate’s investigation, warned CenterPoint, “a freight train is coming. You better be prepared. Whether you're at the top, or any part of management who oversaw this response or preparation, everybody's job should be on the line. We will not, and cannot, tolerate this.”

At least 14 Houston-area deaths were reported as hurricane-related, including seven who died from “heat exposure due to power loss,” according to the Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences. At least 22 died from Beryl in Harris, Galveston and Montgomery counties, according to the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston.

While CenterPoint requested to recover a profit, three lawsuits were filed in Harris County this week seeking hundreds of millions of dollars in damages in losses.

One $100 million class-action lawsuit was filed by Houston powerhouse trial attorney Tony Buzbee, a former mayoral and city council candidate who defended Attorney General Ken Paxton during his impeachment trial. The initial filing included 15 hospitality and restaurant groups and now includes over 200 in the Houston and Galveston area, Eater reported.

"CenterPoint was negligent in the maintenance of its lines and equipment, properly investing in infrastructure, adequately preparing for the hurricane, and properly conducting power restoration operations," the lawsuit states. It also raises a similar argument made by Abbott and Patrick that Beryl was a low-level Category 1 hurricane, saying, “It is terrifying to imagine the extent of power grid failure that would be caused by CenterPoint's ineptitudes should a Category 5 hurricane make landfall in the Greater Houston area."

CenterPoint has come under scrutiny after the February 2021 freeze when millions of Texans were without power, heat and water. As bills skyrocketed and customers struggled to pay them, CenterPoint’s former CEO’s pay was reportedly nearly $40 million.

Rose Sanders Law Firm filed a separate class-action seeking $100 million in damages, representing a range of businesses, including salons, spas, and doctor’s offices. It provides a link on its website for businesses affected by Beryl who may be eligible to be a plaintiff in its class action lawsuit.

Its lawsuit makes similar claims to Buzbee’s: its clients collectively “pay CenterPoint millions upon millions of dollars yearly for electricity" and if any fail to pay their bills on time, “CenterPoint will disconnect and refuse to provide electricity.

“Yet, when CenterPoint negligently fails to provide power, even though it has promised to do so and has a legal obligation to do so, it figuratively shrugs its shoulders, claims ignorance, and blames its failures on the weather or other external forces, claiming it had no idea or clue that the event causing the disruption would be so bad or could wreak such havoc."

Another lawsuit was filed by a Houston area man who suffered second- and third-degree burns when a tree-damaged power line fell on him on July 11, three days after the storm, Houston Public Media reported. The lawsuit alleges CenterPoint was negligent for not maintaining and inspecting its power lines, not cutting back trees and vegetation near them, or warning about dangerous conditions.