Jason Wells, CEO of CenterPoint Energy, made a commitment to improve the maintenance of vegetation near the company’s power lines during a Texas House committee hearing in Austin on Wednesday morning.
After CenterPoint failed to take action on remedying damaged trees on their easement, a Rosenberg woman reached out to ABC13 for help. The trees were leaning over her fence and drooping into her backyard, causing her significant inconvenience.
After Hurricane Beryl knocked out Nancy Schmidt’s power, she made the decision to vacate her home on the third day of outages. She returned to power on July 12th, only to find her yard strewn with tree branches that had been left behind by CenterPoint crews. Schmidt noted that there were no trees in her yard prior to the hurricane.
According to Schmidt, CenterPoint won’t be taking in any debris reports for another week. Even when they do start, the earliest appointment available is a whole month away. Schmidt attempted to schedule an earlier date, but was only given the phone number for their forester. Despite leaving several messages, she has yet to receive a response.
She expressed her concern, “Coming into my backyard didn’t feel safe anymore. I have dogs and grandchildren who visit me and play around here. I wouldn’t want anyone else to experience what I did. I’m sure there are others who feel the same way.”
According to the homeowner, although her son has taken care of some of the branches in the yard, the damaged trees require the attention of a professional. Her main worry is that if another wind storm or hurricane hits, the leaning trees could once again disrupt their power supply or even start a fire by damaging the power lines.
Schmidt expressed her disappointment with the lack of response from the responsible party, stating that it seems as though they are hoping the issue will simply go away. She emphasizes that it is their duty to fulfill their end of the agreement and that if she were to neglect her responsibilities, it would not be tolerated. The situation has left her feeling discouraged and frustrated.
During his testimony to lawmakers on Wednesday, Wells explained that the risk of tree failure was heightened due to the 2022 freezes and 2023 drought. To mitigate these risks, CenterPoint opted to increase their vegetation management budget by 30%, which was sourced from their profits.
While admitting that their previous efforts fell short, he recognized that there was still room for improvement, especially considering the challenges their customers faced in the aftermath of Hurricane Beryl. To address this, CenterPoint has taken steps to double its vegetation workforce as of July 16, with the aim of tackling the most critical 2,000 miles of vegetation before the year’s end.
ABC13 has reached out to CenterPoint regarding Schmidt’s case and inquiries about the extent of their backlog for debris calls. As of now, CenterPoint has not responded.
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