I'm not insulted. Have a good one.

We've had ongoing issues with Centerpoint in my neighborhood. They started in Oct 2022, and after residents complained, in 1Q last year, they claimed to come out and trim trees. We were without power for 3 days after the storm last June and continued to have outages 1-3 times a week even after those repairs were made.

In total, from Oct 2022 to Sept 2023, our power went out over 32 separate times, for a total of 78 hours.

The final straw was three outages on Sept 9, 15, and 20 when the power was out for a total of 15 hours. There was no bad weather (skies were clear and blue). I went outside and checked the pole that serviced my immediate neighborhood, and there was a large tree trunk growing all the way up the pole, wrapped around it.

I got so mad, I filed a complaint with the state, but all that happened was I got a reply from someone at Centerpoint with all sorts of excuses. And they even denied that some of the multi-hour power outages that we experienced even happened.

Long story short, The Woodlands Township got involved and Centerpoint rep showed up who was actually able to get some inspections, maintenance, and repairs done. This was after over a year of getting the run around from various other representatives.

Since those repairs last fall, our service has been MUCH more reliable. But it was clear from my interactions with Centerpoint that they do not have the staff or the resources to maintain the infrastructure in this area. I don't think they even have accurate data regarding when the power is out and for how long, given how they disputed my data.

As noted they essentially have a monopoly, and they are not able to do even basic preventative maintenance. Anytime we have a big storm that causes major damage, multi-day power outages are going to be the situation. And there will continue to be localized outages in certain areas even in "normal" weather.

The situation is terrible, but we are at Centerpoint's mercy, and they aren't being (or can't be) held accountable.

schmellba99 said:

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Furlock Bones said:

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CDUB98 said:

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Furlock Bones said:

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Good lord this is so far off the mark it hurts.

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Care to explain why, or just drive by?

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I think Wycliffe summed it up pretty well.

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No, he really didn't.

CDUB actually did.

On top of what CDUB listed out, you also have to factor in the absolute beating it is to deal with various entities (state, county, municipal, local, fedral, etc., etc., etc.) in a lot of areas in order to acutally do any tree trimming, electrical ROW or not.

The bottom line is that the biggest driver is cost, even with a company that is a PUC. They answer to ERCOT, ERCOT answers to elected officials, elected officials aren't tossing their sack on the table and saying "sure, go ahead and spend what you need to spend to trim all the trees back and bury lines and what not, then jack electrical rates up 4x."

Because there isn't a single person on here that would just shrug their shoulders when the next electrical contract comes out and all of a sudden instead of $.15kw/hr pricing it is $1.00kw/hr pricing and your $300 electrical bill in June is now $1400. You'd wail and gnash teeth and everything else, and the politicians know it.

A lot of various factors at play, but ultimately it comes down to cost and the fact that nobody wants costs to go up any.

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Agree with this and CDUB.

Man, Wycliffes kid must have pissed in his Cheerios this morning. Good grief. Someone tell his wife to get him laid or something!

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The Woodlands Township got involved

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This was the key. A government entity that has enough political power entered the chat.

CDUB98 said:

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Quote:

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The Woodlands Township got involved

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This was the key. A government entity that has enough political power entered the chat.

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Yes. I was so grateful that the board of directors was willing to get involved and push Centerpoint for answers and solutions. However, the problems were significant for over a year before they got resolved, even with The Township taking them to task.

I had to appear/speak before two Township monthly meetings (with the outage data), and the story had to end up in the newspaper. Prior to that, Centerpoint was just sending reps to the village/neighborhood meetings, and all we were getting were excuses.

I also realize that MOST of unincorporated Harris County does not have any elected officials who could or would do the same. I would not expect the precinct judges' offices to get involved. They can't seem to manage their normal duties/responsibilities.

NoahAg said:

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Also, it's hard for me to empathize with people who live in Houston and still refuse to plan ahead. And I'm not even a native. Ike, Harvey, 2021 freeze, annual flooding of certain parts of town. Clif's notes for any newcomers or longtime residents who haven't figured it out:

-Houston gets storms, hurricanes and flooding in some areas.
-It can also get cold here.
-When seconds count the police are minutes away.
-If you live in an area that has flooded it will flood again.
-Buy a generator and know how to use it.
-Keep a stock of water and non-perishable food. HEB might not be open during a disaster.
-Stop waiting for someone else to do something.
-Hol' it dine.

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- Leave nothing in your car…ever.

Can't count the number of times people come to Houston for business and are flabbergasted their computer got stolen from the back seat overnight at a hotel.

This is likely very true. We had something similar happen in our neighborhood. People "protesting" the removal of trees (mostly for commercial development, but they would complain no matter the reason).

Growing up on the MS Gulf Coast, we lived on 3 acres. There wasn't a single tree close enough to our house to fall on it during a storm.

Let Centerpoint try to come F with my trees, they probably go back to our natty in 39. They're about 100' from the power line so probably safe.


I actually tried to get Centerpoint to remove a dead pine tree in the back that was ~10' from the power line and they ruled that it wasn't a threat.

ccolley68 said:

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I'm not defending CenterPoint, but just to play devils advocate a second, one of the few aesthetic redeeming qualities of Houston are the big trees. Most of the area hardest hit by this event were the Memorial, Bunker Hill, Piney Point, Spring Branch areas. Areas with big beautiful trees, and big beautiful homes owned by some of the wealthiest people in town. Let's pretend this storm hadn't happened recently, and this week CenterPoint proactively sent crews into these areas to remove those big trees in this area to protect the power lines as some have suggested? There would be Range Rivers and Escalades and Botox lined up almost to where the poors live to protest their trees being removed.

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I remember one year the city or some entity cut down some trees along Kirby, and local media jumped on the outrage in West U and Nottingham. And that was in the public right of way.

schmellba99 said:

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Furlock Bones said:

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CDUB98 said:

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Furlock Bones said:

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Good lord this is so far off the mark it hurts.

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Care to explain why, or just drive by?

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I think Wycliffe summed it up pretty well.

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No, he really didn't.

CDUB actually did.

On top of what CDUB listed out, you also have to factor in the absolute beating it is to deal with various entities (state, county, municipal, local, fedral, etc., etc., etc.) in a lot of areas in order to acutally do any tree trimming, electrical ROW or not.

The bottom line is that the biggest driver is cost, even with a company that is a PUC. They answer to ERCOT, ERCOT answers to elected officials, elected officials aren't tossing their sack on the table and saying "sure, go ahead and spend what you need to spend to trim all the trees back and bury lines and what not, then jack electrical rates up 4x."

Because there isn't a single person on here that would just shrug their shoulders when the next electrical contract comes out and all of a sudden instead of $.15kw/hr pricing it is $1.00kw/hr pricing and your $300 electrical bill in June is now $1400. You'd wail and gnash teeth and everything else, and the politicians know it.

A lot of various factors at play, but ultimately it comes down to cost and the fact that nobody wants costs to go up any.

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This is dead on. Roughly .04/KW of your electric usage goes to CP. That rate is set by the PUC. Centerpoint gets to have a monopoly but they have a fixed rate of return. Theoretically they have to show all their costs to the PUC and they PUC tells them what they can charge. If they skimp and save money, it doesn't go to shareholders, it goes to us in lower rates. Same if costs go up. I still don't have power and kids aren't in school. It's much easier to cope with my generator, but I get how difficult this week is on many. All that to say, if want more it's going to cost more. Preventing something like this would be much much much more.

Welcome to the CenterPoint hate train! Glad to see we have some new joiners!

CenterPoint is a disaster of a company and there's no way a for-profit company should have a monopoly over our utilities without strict requirements on capex expectations.

Remember, the backup for power outages are also controlled by them...and hey...you can buy into their nat gas insurance scam if you want as well...They sure do seem to have a lot of money to send monthly fliers out promoting that...Definitely not a money maker for them though

The reality is this...20-30 mins of cat 2 hurricane winds should not have done this level of damage. We live in a hurricane prone area. This should not have happened. We know this. CenterPoint knows this...but what they also know is that if they can pocket money for years of not doing upgrades, and then pay some extra for line workers during a time like this, it's still cheaper (probably get insurance coverage as well).

We are going to get rocked one of the years by something stronger and it's going to be a real major issue. This should be a wakeup call that we need to hold them accountable before it's too late.

CDUB98 said:

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Quote:

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The Woodlands Township got involved

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This was the key. A government entity that has enough political power entered the chat.

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Even then, sometimes that doesn't have nearly the clout you would think it does.

I did some work for the City of Conroe a while back. Even they had issues dealing with Centerpoint, and they send a massive amount of money to them on a monthly basis.

Nothing like massive hyperbole to not prove your point.

CowtownAg06 said:

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schmellba99 said:

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Furlock Bones said:

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CDUB98 said:

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Furlock Bones said:

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Good lord this is so far off the mark it hurts.

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Care to explain why, or just drive by?

---

I think Wycliffe summed it up pretty well.

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No, he really didn't.

CDUB actually did.

On top of what CDUB listed out, you also have to factor in the absolute beating it is to deal with various entities (state, county, municipal, local, fedral, etc., etc., etc.) in a lot of areas in order to acutally do any tree trimming, electrical ROW or not.

The bottom line is that the biggest driver is cost, even with a company that is a PUC. They answer to ERCOT, ERCOT answers to elected officials, elected officials aren't tossing their sack on the table and saying "sure, go ahead and spend what you need to spend to trim all the trees back and bury lines and what not, then jack electrical rates up 4x."

Because there isn't a single person on here that would just shrug their shoulders when the next electrical contract comes out and all of a sudden instead of $.15kw/hr pricing it is $1.00kw/hr pricing and your $300 electrical bill in June is now $1400. You'd wail and gnash teeth and everything else, and the politicians know it.

A lot of various factors at play, but ultimately it comes down to cost and the fact that nobody wants costs to go up any.

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This is dead on. Roughly .04/KW of your electric usage goes to CP. That rate is set by the PUC. Centerpoint gets to have a monopoly but they have a fixed rate of return. Theoretically they have to show all their costs to the PUC and they PUC tells them what they can charge. If they skimp and save money, it doesn't go to shareholders, it goes to us in lower rates. Same if costs go up. I still don't have power and kids aren't in school. It's much easier to cope with my generator, but I get how difficult this week is on many. All that to say, if want more it's going to cost more. Preventing something like this would be much much much more.

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$0.04/kWh, yet most of us are probably paying 2-4X that rate. All because we have "deregulation" and there are dozens (if not hundreds) of fly by night electricity "providers" that do nothing more than send you a bill every month (and sit outside the doors of HEB to annoy you when you're trying to grocery shop).

There is a solution. Cut out these middle men who literally do nothing more than bill customers and pay Centerpoint that rate directly. Centerpoint can use what we currently pay for the illusion of "deregulation" to improve maintenance and reliability.

Let's say the Centerpoint monopoly currently has a a 10' easement between lots, or 5' in each backyard. Are you willing to give up a 30' strip of your backyard so that another utility can come in a install new power poles next to the existing ones and provide another option? How much do you think your electric bill will be when centerpoint now has to maintain their system with only 1/3 of previous number of customers are paying to maintain the infrastructure? I also don't want to give my front yard so that multiple agencies and sell me water or sewer service. Utilities are the one thing that I want to have a well-regulated monopoly.

schmellba99 said:

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AgLiving06 said:

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Welcome to the CenterPoint hate train! Glad to see we have some new joiners!

CenterPoint is a disaster of a company and there's no way a for-profit company should have a monopoly over our utilities without strict requirements on capex expectations.

Remember, the backup for power outages are also controlled by them...and hey...you can buy into their nat gas insurance scam if you want as well...They sure do seem to have a lot of money to send monthly fliers out promoting that...Definitely not a money maker for them though

The reality is this...20-30 mins of cat 2 hurricane winds should not have done this level of damage. We live in a hurricane prone area. This should not have happened. We know this. CenterPoint knows this...but what they also know is that if they can pocket money for years of not doing upgrades, and then pay some extra for line workers during a time like this, it's still cheaper (probably get insurance coverage as well).

We are going to get rocked one of the years by something stronger and it's going to be a real major issue. This should be a wakeup call that we need to hold them accountable before it's too late.

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And yet it did, and not just in Texas. It f'd up a lot of things along almost the entire Gulf coast.

So that tells me that either every single place has a power company that is completely useless, or that the idea that 100+ mph winds that hit in a matter of a couple of minutes and that spout tornadoes aren't exactly the same as a hurricane wind that takes time to ramp up to speed.

Kind of the difference in 500 flt lbs of force being applied to your chest. A gradual increase in the force is something you can sustain and adjust to. Might be uncomfortable, but tolerable. Mike Tyson coming in and throwing a right hook out of nowhere to your ribcage is going to break ribs and plant you on your ass. Same force, different application.

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And yet nobody else is dealing major power outages days later...I presume you want to correct your statement that Texas had it worse?

https://poweroutage.us/

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So that tells me that either every single place has a power company that is completely useless, or that the idea that 100+ mph winds that hit in a matter of a couple of minutes and that spout tornadoes aren't exactly the same as a hurricane wind that takes time to ramp up to speed.

Kind of the difference in 500 flt lbs of force being applied to your chest. A gradual increase in the force is something you can sustain and adjust to. Might be uncomfortable, but tolerable. Mike Tyson coming in and throwing a right hook out of nowhere to your ribcage is going to break ribs and plant you on your ass. Same force, different application.

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Chewy said:

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To be fair, customer service as a whole sucks in every industry because there's so many layers of bureaucracy and BS so customer service is just following prepared script and not allowed to actually think and apply common sense.

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Fully agree, but evidently we're wrong it's really just greedy companies.

Fair points. The implication in my posts would be that Centerpoint's ability to raise rates would be capped.

Point taken that the govt would probably find some way to screw it up.

I just get irked that we are expected to believe that there is "competition" among energy providers. Really, it's just competition among billing and collections agencies.

Honestly, if Centerpoint didn't have so much trouble keeping the lights on when the weather is GOOD, there probably wouldn't be so much griping and complaining. It was so bad in my neighborhood that a neighbor's employer told her to move (she works from home, and her employer got tired of the constant outages).

I get that major storms cause power outages. It's tolerable to me (which is why I don't have a generator). However, Centerpoint has had so many problems in recent years that it's hard to have any faith in them as a company.

schmellba99 said:

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TXTransplant said:

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The "providers" have to be making money, otherwise there wouldn't be so many of them. Regardless of how much it is, I'd l rather pay that directly to Centerpoint.

Deregulation of electricity here is a scam. The purpose of deregulation is to drive competition, but Centerpoint HAS NO competition. Think, Reliant, Octopus, Frontier, Green Mountain, Amigo, etc., are NOT competition when ALL of the electrons come from Centerpoint.

Not to mention (as someone already said), Centerpoint controls our natural gas utilities, too.

Anyone with half a brain knows Centerpoint has a monopoly. And I'm fine with that. It's just stupid to pay anything to these "providers" who provide absolutely nothing.

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Somehow a lot of those middlemen providers can get better rates than directly from Centerpoint though.

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Genuinely curious how this happens. Is it like "trading electrons"? Meaning, they buy electricity from a Centerpoint equivalent not in this area, and then that utility company "trades" electricity with Centerpoint?

cajunaggie08 said:

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schmellba99 said:

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TXTransplant said:

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The "providers" have to be making money, otherwise there wouldn't be so many of them. Regardless of how much it is, I'd l rather pay that directly to Centerpoint.

Deregulation of electricity here is a scam. The purpose of deregulation is to drive competition, but Centerpoint HAS NO competition. Think, Reliant, Octopus, Frontier, Green Mountain, Amigo, etc., are NOT competition when ALL of the electrons come from Centerpoint.

Not to mention (as someone already said), Centerpoint controls our natural gas utilities, too.

Anyone with half a brain knows Centerpoint has a monopoly. And I'm fine with that. It's just stupid to pay anything to these "providers" who provide absolutely nothing.

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Somehow a lot of those middlemen providers can get better rates than directly from Centerpoint though.

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And a lot of them go out of business.

Also Centerpoint doesnt sell electricity. They just own the lines. The middlemen are the ones buying electricity from the power generators around the state.

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I think that answers my question. Hadn't given much thought to the producers, but that is the missing piece of the puzzle.

So, Centerpoint has to make money as a transmission company.

The power/electricity generators (ie, NRG Energy) have to make money.

And the middle men "providers" have to make money.

In my experience, more hands in the pot usually isn't good for consumers. However, I realize that's the direction most services are going. Just because of the sheer volume, there is money to be made, and everyone wants a piece of the pie.

Electricity in Texas is basically a commodity (kind of like polyethylene).