In Letter to CenterPoint CEO, Sen. Cruz Writes Beryl Experience Must Not Be Repeated

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:

1. What mistakes did CenterPoint make regarding Hurricane Beryl?

1. Did CenterPoint pre-position sufficient assets (linemen, equipment, etc.) to respond as quickly as needed to the power outages in Houston? How could CenterPoint have done better?

1. Would more linemen and equipment, pre-positioned, have made a material difference in response time?

1. Did CenterPoint rely on projections that the storm would hit further south than it did, and did that mistaken reliance cause CenterPoint to fail to plan sufficiently for a major Houston outage?

1. Our constituents have reported that other power companies who lost coverage did a far better job restoring power and communicating with customers than did CenterPoint. Why is that? What lessons can be learned?

1. On the call, you said repeatedly that CenterPoint failed to communicate with its customers. How, specifically? What can be done in the future to ensure clear and direct communication with customers to let them know when to expect power to be restored?

1. What facilities were prioritized in restoring power? Were hospitals? Nursing homes, hospices, and other places that house vulnerable populations? What was the order of prioritization?

1. What can be done to make the Houston energy infrastructure more resilient to storms? We live on the Gulf Coast. We know there will be future hurricanes. How can we avoid the life-threatening extended power outages that occurred with Hurricane Beryl?

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/

Background:

• In the wake of Hurricane Harvey’s devastation in 2017, Sen. Cruz visited with victims, volunteers, first responders, and local officials in every region affected by the storm and authored the federal law that provided crucial and immediate tax relief to storm survivors along the Gulf Coast.
• Time after time when disaster strikes Texas, Sen. Cruz makes sure the Lone Star State has the resources to recoverand he is on the ground to help the recovery efforts.
• In 2023, he toured Perryton after a tornado devastated the town, met with local officials, and helped with cleanup.
• In 2022, he won inclusion of the Texas coastal resiliency improvement plan in a water resources infrastructure bill, which will better protect coastal Texans from major storms.
• In 2020, when 1.4 million Texans lost their jobs because of the COVID pandemic, Sen. Cruz fought for true economic recovery, introducing comprehensive legislation to restart the economy, get Americans back to work, and put our kids back in school.
• In 2020, Sen. Cruz urged the Trump administration to expedite its review of Dallas tornado damage and support Gov. Abbott’s disaster declaration.
• In 2019, after Tropical Storm Imelda, Sen. Cruz urged President Trump to issue a federal disaster declaration in response to the flooding the storm caused in southeast Texas.
• In 2018, he toured Highland Lakes and offered support after flooding devastated the region.

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