Texas energy providers, Gov. Abbott meet about hurricane preparedness
(Source: Office of Governor Greg Abbott)
AUSTIN - Governor Greg Abbott met with Texas energy providers to make sure they are prepared for hurricane season.
The governor was critical of providers in the aftermath of Hurricane Beryl, which left some residents without power for days.
Gov. Abbott, energy providers meet about hurricane season
What we know:
Leaders from CenterPoint, American Election Power and Entergy joined the governor for the discussion.
According to the governor's office, the energy executives assured Abbott that they are prepared for hurricane season, including the increased deployment of emergency linemen.
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Each of the companies told Gov. Abbott about their emergency preparedness plans and how they plan to work with local emergency response.
They also discussed improvements made to resilience and communication with the public.
The governor's office says the meeting ended with Abbott "reiterating the importance of having an effective and efficient restoration effort to protect the lives of Texans" during a storm.
Hurricane Beryl
PREVIOUS COVERAGE: CenterPoint CEO admits failures in Beryl response
Lawmakers in Austin were relentless in their questioning of CenterPoint CEO Jason Wells over Hurricane Beryl's response. Here’s a recap of the intense hearing.
The backstory:
Hurricane Beryl made landfall in Texas on July 8, 2024, knocking out power to 2.3 million customers in the Houston area.
After the storm, CenterPoint Energy was criticized for failing to prepare for the hurricane and failing to let customers know when they would have their lights back on.
Both Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and the Texas Public Utility Commission announced inquiries into the company.
CenterPoint's CEO Jason Wells apologized to customers in the storm's aftermath.
The company launched a new initiative, including installing 26,000 storm-resilient poles and moving some powerlines underground.
CenterPoint also launched an outage tracker.
The Source: Information in this article comes from Gov. Greg Abbott's Office and past FOX 26 coverage.