Hurricane Beryl aftermath: CenterPoint Energy still waiting for exact timeline for power restoration in Houston

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — Mayor John Whitmire expressed a lot of anger at the first Houston City Council meeting since Hurricane Beryl hit.

Whitmire said throughout Wednesday morning that the storm showed that previous administrations had “neglected” the city’s ability to function during extreme weather.

He said 10 fire stations, several multi-service centers and the George R. Brown Convention Center were not operational due to a lack of generators.

The mayor added that 1,500 Future Farmers of America students were stranded in downtown hotel rooms due to Beryl and the resulting power outage at the convention center.

SEE ALSO: New CenterPoint Energy map shows repair work hasn’t even started in many areas still without power

“We have 1,500 students at the Marriott and the Hilton, but we have a baseball game going on right next door,” Whitmire said of the Astros game Tuesday night at Minute Maid Park. “We have to prioritize, folks.”

Whitmire even joked that the train on the official Houston city seal should be replaced with a generator. The citywide power shortage was the main topic at city hall Wednesday morning.

CenterPoint Energy Vice President Brad Tutunjian was questioned by city council members for about an hour about the company’s response to the storm. He said it was the most simultaneous power outages the company has ever faced, but added that it was prepared.

Tutunjian said 586,000 Houston residents were still without power Wednesday morning.

So what does Whitmire think of CenterPoint’s performance?

“I’m not here to give grades. I’m here to say, ‘Let’s do it,'” Whitmire said. “We demand that they do better.”

SEE ALSO: ‘Don’t we owe it to our people?’ Frustration grows as elderly communities struggle with lack of electricity

There has been a lot of discussion about what the company can do to prevent this from happening again in the future.

Tutunjian said CenterPoint has developed a multi-billion dollar resiliency plan to improve things over a three-year period.

The project would cost more than $2 billion and is currently under review by the Texas Public Utilities Commission.

If the plan is approved, customers’ bills will be higher, Tutunjian said. But that’s the future.

What about customers who don’t have electricity right now?

When asked when the system would be restored, Tutunjian said crews needed to complete inspections of all components before a specific date could be given.

“It’s frustrating, but until we have all that information it’s hard to say,” he said.

Tutunjian said they hope to have that information by the end of Wednesday night.

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