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Texas Governor Greg Abbott has demanded an investigation into the response of the utility company serving the Houston area after Hurricane Beryl left around 270,000 homes and businesses without power nearly a week after it struck.
At his first news conference about Beryl since returning from an economic trip to Asia, Governor Abbott acknowledged that although CenterPoint Energy has restored power to about 2 million customers since the storm on July 8, the slow pace of recovery is completely “unacceptable,” with the Lieutenant Governor warning that a “freight train is coming.” Governor Abbott also called on other utility companies to ensure they are prepared for the possibility of more hurricanes as the season continues.
'A freight train's coming' | At a news conference earlier today, Gov. Greg Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick demanded answers from CenterPoint on their response and preparation for Beryl.
— KHOU 11 News Houston (@KHOU) July 14, 2024
Full story and news conference: https://t.co/KpVQwRngIl pic.twitter.com/pg6VK2npxG

Abbott also announced his plan to send a letter to the Public Utility Commission of Texas, demanding an investigation into the delayed power restoration and seeking solutions to prevent future occurrences. In detailing the storm’s impact, Abbott claimed that “CenterPoint didn’t have an adequate number of workers pre-staged” before the hurricane hit.
In response to the criticism, CenterPoint said they were quickly working to restore “power to the remaining impacted customers as safely” as possible. The company has also vowed to conduct a detailed review of its operations before the hurricane to find ways to improve in the future.