Centerpoint

[Big_gun]

they stated 60% of the trees that fell were outside of their right of ways.... that's on Joe Q homeowner, no one else cause those same homeowners will not let them trim / cut those trees down.
there are a lot of new folks that have never been through a hurricane that have moved here, thigs happen , take care of yourself and family and get down the road...plan on leaving town for a week if you don't have the means to run a generator etc. Since deregulation you have these 3rd parties making a killin off of the infrastructure and would be surprised if all the delivery fees are sent back to the infrastructure owners.

[sectxag06]

Could be a couple of things:

1) Allegedly failing to perform routine maintenance on lines.
2) Allegedly failing to keep vegetation cut back
3) Allegedly failing to pre negotiate contracts with linemen until days after storm had passed.
4) Allegedly failing to adequately stage the contracted linemen they did have.


All of this while it was just reported Centerpoint beat quarterly earnings estimates by ~11%

Yes, it was a hurricane in a gulf coast region. Yes, people should expect to be without power. However, those same people should also expect Centerpoint to be prepared and busting their tail to get power restored asap. It appears as if Centerpoint was the most unprepared for a hurricane in all of Houston. Keep in mind, this was a relatively small hurricane. Can you imagine the damage and delays if this Hurricane Ike (Cat 4) or Alicia (Cat 3)?

To make matters worse, Centerpoint screwed up their PR campaign even worse than their hurricane preparedness.

The are a public company with a government granted monopoly. Their CEO is a bean counter that came from PG&E where his focus on cutting costs to the bone. If you'll remember, PG&E plead guilty to 84 counts of involuntary manslaughter because they failed to maintain their power lines which lead to deadly fires.

[huntindiancreek]

We were without power in katy for 10 days during beryl, no big deal we survived. But in our neighborhood our transformers are over 50 years old and had blown fuses. The lineman that came out told me those should of been updated/replaced years ago from Centerpoint and if they were we would had power back on sooner.

[Big_gun]

Could be a couple of things:

1) Allegedly failing to perform routine maintenance on lines.
2) Allegedly failing to keep vegetation cut back
3) Allegedly failing to pre negotiate contracts with linemen until days after storm had passed.
4) Allegedly failing to adequately stage the contracted linemen they did have.


All of this while it was just reported Centerpoint beat quarterly earnings estimates by ~11%

1 possibly but lots of trees outside their control fell.
2 see #1
items #3 and 4 and bogus , the contracts are negotiated long before storms get here there is a conglomerate entity most utilities belong to for this very reason, no corporate company is going to send in their hands blindly without contracts.
#4 Trucks were rolling in within a few hours of the storm passing , the Storm was supposed to hit the border of Mexico and Texas, lots were staged further South for that.. it shifted. You dont want your responders sitting in the middle of a hurricane coming ashore and risk their lives and equipment. They also clearly stated they needed to assess all the grid / lines to see where the crews needed to be be placed, you can't just tell 15k workers "go fix it" , 3700 miles of transmission line / 50k miles of distribution lines for 2.2 mil customers over a 5000 mile service area... to get 98% back online in a week was a feat.

[TexasBob]

The issue of trees outside their right of way is a frustration point for me. We have a large oak that will take down the lines behind my house if it falls, and it’s leaning toward them. Centerpoint/davey tree service will not cut it down nor trim it to prevent the issue. Base is too far from the lines. I even offered to clean it up, as family can use the firewood.

[rtjh]

1 possibly but lots of trees outside their control fell.
2 see #1
items #3 and 4 and bogus , the contracts are negotiated long before storms get here there is a conglomerate entity most utilities belong to for this very reason, no corporate company is going to send in their hands blindly without contracts.
#4 Trucks were rolling in within a few hours of the storm passing , the Storm was supposed to hit the border of Mexico and Texas, lots were staged further South for that.. it shifted. You dont want your responders sitting in the middle of a hurricane coming ashore and risk their lives and equipment. They also clearly stated they needed to assess all the grid / lines to see where the crews needed to be be placed, you can't just tell 15k workers "go fix it" , 3700 miles of transmission line / 50k miles of distribution lines for 2.2 mil customers over a 5000 mile service area... to get 98% back online in a week was a feat.

Nailed it. Lots of people on the internet suddenly think they know more about restoring power after a hurricane than the power company.

[Quackerbox]

Trees outside the right of way it was took our power out. Ground was so wet HUGE oaks blew over all over the place. Sure it was 'only a cat 3' and that easy for someone to say who doesnt live where this happen(s). There was easily more damage by me with this than Harvey and Katrina put together. The failure to get contracts done is a two part issue. One with the union that was negotiating with CP and CP themselves. Guys came and were ready to work and just sat because that contract wasnt signed. Love the unions

The wind storm just prior to that blew down main transition lines. Weeds and trees werent even a factor in that. To add, a lot of the areas that saw power out for extended times have seen record home building. New neighborhoods are EVERYWHERE. Guess whos putting in electric to those areas? Id assume theres a shortage of linemen same as other outside get dirty trades. The same snowflakes crying cause they didnt have power probably dont know the difference between a screw driver and a tape measure. Yet here they are complaining.

[TxBowHntr]

Yes, it was a hurricane, but I would make the argument that this was just a Cat 1 hurricane and more people were without power than any other major storm Houston has encountered in recent history including Ike, Harvey, etc... My issue is why was this Cat 1 so severe? What if it was a Cat 3 or 4?

Yes, people do need to be prepared, and even on a Cat 1, some issues/outages are to be expected, but this was over 75% of the Houston Metro area that was without power and it was only a Cat 1. While Centerpoint is a service, they also have the contract for this area, and in that contract they are supposed to make sure things are maintained, and that they are prepared for these type of storms and especially worse ones.

For the absolute morons who were attacking, impeding, poisoning the linemen, they should all be locked up. There is no excuse or reason for any of that.

[Jason]

.

[dbaio1]

A woke society is the major issue here.
I will say they have lacked in funding to keep infrastructure updated and clear of debris. I say look at the top 15-20 executives pay and figure out what you could use that far.

[Jay-J]

I have a 10,000KW generator and a "suicide cord" that I wired up. Runs my entire house except the AC / furnace. Has gotten up through several multi day outages.

[BobbyJoe]

1 possibly but lots of trees outside their control fell.
2 see #1
items #3 and 4 and bogus , the contracts are negotiated long before storms get here there is a conglomerate entity most utilities belong to for this very reason, no corporate company is going to send in their hands blindly without contracts.
#4 Trucks were rolling in within a few hours of the storm passing , the Storm was supposed to hit the border of Mexico and Texas, lots were staged further South for that.. it shifted. You dont want your responders sitting in the middle of a hurricane coming ashore and risk their lives and equipment. They also clearly stated they needed to assess all the grid / lines to see where the crews needed to be be placed, you can't just tell 15k workers "go fix it" , 3700 miles of transmission line / 50k miles of distribution lines for 2.2 mil customers over a 5000 mile service area... to get 98% back online in a week was a feat.

This is the most accurate statement on this thread

[Quackerbox]

This is the most accurate statement on this thread

trouble is you cant get the snowflakes complaining to realize it

[miket]

The more helpless people get, the worse it's going to get. Whining and complaining is a symptom of helplessness.

The part that ticks me off is that people are more and more helpless, but they become more and more entitled. Its so illogical and backward.

FTR, I'm not saying Centerpoint didn't screw up. Clearly things were mismanaged. I bet it wont be long until the rules change, and most wont like it. For example, at my place in AR the easement is 30' from centerline vs 15' here. And they are extremely strict. That's a 60' wide clearing ( to the sky ) for all new lines.

[Big_gun]

The issue of trees outside their right of way is a frustration point for me. We have a large oak that will take down the lines behind my house if it falls, and it’s leaning toward them. Centerpoint/davey tree service will not cut it down nor trim it to prevent the issue. Base is too far from the lines. I even offered to clean it up, as family can use the firewood.

this is a homeowner issue something that you are going to have to pay to have fixed. I would suggest get someone out to look and see if they could trim / open up the canopy so that wind will go through the canopy not blow it down, my Uncle has had this done every 4 years along with a few of his neighbors and they didnt lose any limbs while their neighbors lost several.