I don't think wholesale is a fair comparison. Whether it's a "provider" like we have here, or a government owned utility, or something in between, someone is absorbing that risk. Entergy and Southern Company don't raise their rates every time there is an issue that causes wholesale prices to fluctuate/spike.

A quick Google search tells me the average price for electricity in the US is 16.1 cents per kwh. Highest is Hawaii (44 cents); lowest is North Dakota (10.5). Texas is 14.3. There are 17 states where the average is less than Texas, and quite a few more where the average is just a cent or two higher.

I don't know what other states have a system similar to ours, but it certainly doesn't look like "deregulation" as we know it is a requirement for low energy prices.

Paging OP…..

(Insert Homer Simpson slowly backing into the bushes GIF)

This I am very familiar with. My office is catty-corner to the guy who does this for our company. I hear him on the phone about our electricity contracts all the time.

Compared to other states where I've lived that don't have major industries that utilize electricity, this seems to really put residential customers in Texas at a disadvantage.

I don't actually mind my electric bill. What I do hate is having to shop around every time my contact expires (I have the same complaint about internet, although, I only have two choices there). It's just a PITA, and they ALL cater to "new customers". Live here long enough, and you're not a new customer anymore.

9/10 problems in my area are due to transmission. My biggest gripe is with Centerpoint and their lack of preventative maintenance and repairs. The electricity where I live now is by far the most unreliable of anywhere I've ever lived (5 cities in 3 different states).

Quote:

---

Compared to other states where I've lived that don't have major industries that utilize electricity,

---

Rhode Island?

No. Mississippi and Alabama. I'd guess that their residential customer base is a much larger percentage of the total. Neither state has the major industry we have here.

The reality is this...we know it's all about money. CenterPoint as a for profit company is doing the math on what they think makes them money. If we want change, we have to change the math they use.

If we are going to play the game that climate change is making storms stronger, than the math CenterPoint is using is either outdated, wrong, or not reflective of their outward claims.

We have to change the math. Introduce penalties, risks, opportunities to incentivize change. Otherwise, we will just be status quo and that's not going to work out well for us.

AgLiving06 said:

---

The reality is this...we know it's all about money. CenterPoint as a for profit company is doing the math on what they think makes them money. If we want change, we have to change the math they use.

If we are going to play the game that climate change is making storms stronger, than the math CenterPoint is using is either outdated, wrong, or not reflective of their outward claims.

We have to change the math. Introduce penalties, risks, opportunities to incentivize change. Otherwise, we will just be status quo and that's not going to work out well for us.

---

There's your first mistake.

And as far as "changing the math" for CP, do you think those increased costs aren't going to be passed onto consumers? How much additional per kW is AgLiving06 willing to pay for those penalties, risks, opportunities to incentivize change?

My neighborhood had over 38 extended outages (excluding the hundreds of times the power flickered) totaling 78 hours in less than a year. Three separate outages occurred in a span of 11 days that kept the power out for 15 hours.

The problem isn't yuppy transplants complaining; the problem is Centerpoint.

P.H. Dexippus said:

---

AgLiving06 said:

---

The reality is this...we know it's all about money. CenterPoint as a for profit company is doing the math on what they think makes them money. If we want change, we have to change the math they use.

If we are going to play the game that climate change is making storms stronger, than the math CenterPoint is using is either outdated, wrong, or not reflective of their outward claims.

We have to change the math. Introduce penalties, risks, opportunities to incentivize change. Otherwise, we will just be status quo and that's not going to work out well for us.

---

There's your first mistake.

And as far as "changing the math" for CP, do you think those increased costs aren't going to be passed onto consumers? How much additional per kW is AgLiving06 willing to pay for those penalties, risks, opportunities to incentivize change?

---

Why is it my first mistake? I'm simply using the language all these companies use. Whether it is true or not really doesn't make a difference to me.

We just established on the last page the transmission charge is fixed at $0.04/KWh.

We also established that it's just actuarial math driving this (from "one of the most reasonable, rational posts in TexAgs history").

So we have to change the math. If the math says the cost of doing nothing is worse than the cost of doing something, then things change. Right now, as I think most agree, CenterPoint sees it as more profitable for people to be without power after most storms than to proactively do work to avoid those. Until we change that, the math is always going to point in that direction.

Jugstore Cowboy said:

---

Quote:

---

If we are going to play the game that climate change is making storms stronger

---

Let's play the game that population growth and increased density results in more people being impacted when a storm hits Houston, and that the resulting rise in insurance claims and social media complaints play a significant role in driving the perception that storms are getting more severe.

Here are a bunch of derechos you never heard of because they didn't **** up large population centers, including one that hit Lake Livingston in 1986: https://www.spc.noaa.gov/misc/AbtDerechos/derechofacts.htm#otherderechos

Let's also play the game that yuppy transplants to Houston just flat out complain more than people in lower population areas (see the storms and flooding along the Trinity River earlier this month for comparison) even when those people get displaced from their homes by severe storms, rather than simply losing ac and wifi.

---

Lets play the game.

Can we agree that Bridgeland was one of the hardest hit areas right? 0 to Cat 2 winds...yet their power is mostly or entirely back already. Why? Because when Bridgeland was being built, the decision was made to bury the lines. So though a tornado went through the area, their recovery is pretty quick because there was limited infrastructure to be damaged.

So we could take a first step and say all new planned communities must have their homes buried.

Then we could begin to look at other opportunities to bury lines during major construction events. Everything is constantly under construction, so there's going to be ways to perform these tasks while everything is already torn up.

Because at the end of the day, No derecho, hurricane, trees, or tornado bothers lines underground, and when you've reduced your above ground assets.

Maybe instead of feeling blessed when CenterPoint cuts back trees every couple years, we find ways for the trees not to matter....

And yes, I realize there will be extra cost. Yes I realize the citizens will likely be on the hook for some of it. But how long are we going to pretend there's another serious option or what Cat 3/4/5 hurricane is it going to take to wake the leadership up that what we have isn't working?

12thMan9 said:

---

AgLiving06 said:

---

Jugstore Cowboy said:

---

Quote:

---

If we are going to play the game that climate change is making storms stronger

---

Let's play the game that population growth and increased density results in more people being impacted when a storm hits Houston, and that the resulting rise in insurance claims and social media complaints play a significant role in driving the perception that storms are getting more severe.

Here are a bunch of derechos you never heard of because they didn't **** up large population centers, including one that hit Lake Livingston in 1986: https://www.spc.noaa.gov/misc/AbtDerechos/derechofacts.htm#otherderechos

Let's also play the game that yuppy transplants to Houston just flat out complain more than people in lower population areas (see the storms and flooding along the Trinity River earlier this month for comparison) even when those people get displaced from their homes by severe storms, rather than simply losing ac and wifi.

---

Lets play the game.

Can we agree that Bridgeland was one of the hardest hit areas right? 0 to Cat 2 winds...yet their power is mostly or entirely back already. Why? Because when Bridgeland was being built, the decision was made to bury the lines. So though a tornado went through the area, their recovery is pretty quick because there was limited infrastructure to be damaged.

So we could take a first step and say all new planned communities must have their homes buried.

Then we could begin to look at other opportunities to bury lines during major construction events. Everything is constantly under construction, so there's going to be ways to perform these tasks while everything is already torn up.

Because at the end of the day, No derecho, hurricane, trees, or tornado bothers lines underground, and when you've reduced your above ground assets.

Maybe instead of feeling blessed when CenterPoint cuts back trees every couple years, we find ways for the trees not to matter....

And yes, I realize there will be extra cost. Yes I realize the citizens will likely be on the hook for some of it. But how long are we going to pretend there's another serious option or what Cat 3/4/5 hurricane is it going to take to wake the leadership up that what we have isn't working?

---

So, let's go into all the master planned communities that populate this city & move transmission underground.

Brilliant! I look forward to all our Heights, Memorial Villages, West U, Oak Forest, River Oaks, Nottingham, Soutside Place, etc. folks to jump up & cheer.

SMDH

---

Given many of them are still without power, I suspect they are quite open to discussing options.

I almost asked the question earlier about burying the lines. Apart from the cost issue, I've heard it speculated that submerged lines would be difficult to access in flood plains (most of the city core and areas SE) during a major flood event like Allison or Harvey. I have no idea how much of an issue that is; wonder if anyone more knowledgable could answer that.

Jugstore Cowboy said:

---

I almost asked the question earlier about burying the lines. Apart from the cost issue, I've heard it speculated that submerged lines would be difficult to access in flood plains (most of the city core and areas SE) during a major flood event like Allison or Harvey. I have no how much of an issue that is; wonder if anyone more knowledgable could answer that.

---

I don't know?

Anecdotally, I know Kingwood's lines are buried and while they have flooding, they don't have power issues due to it.

Woodlands is buried too I believe?

I know most will say the cost is high, but we have to start somewhere. Status quo clearly isn't working, so lets find better solutions.

P.H. Dexippus said:

---

AgLiving06 said:

---

And yes, I realize there will be extra cost. Yes I realize the citizens will likely be on the hook for some of it. But how long are we going to pretend there's another serious option or what Cat 3/4/5 hurricane is it going to take to wake the leadership up that what we have isn't working?

---

Your understanding of economics on this is rather Pollyanna. "citizens will likely on the hook for some of it"? Try all of it. Where else does money/value come from?

$2.5MM/mile
https://www.texasmonthly.com/news-politics/why-cant-texas-bury-electrical-lines/

53,700miles
https://www.centerpointenergy.com/en-us/Services/Pages/electric-transmission-and-distribution.aspx?sa=HO&au=bus

=$134B to bury the lines just for CP. Or $27B if you chose the 20% most vun'able. That's 4x the amount of money the entire company made last year.

That's before you even get to logistics.

---

You're quote for $2.5 million comes from California PG&E...Nobody takes any sort of quote in California seriously...

But you're also fearmongering.

Did I say it all needs to be done in one year? No. Lets say it takes 10 years? Or even 20 (which is the length of time we are supposed to wait for the Ike Dike). Incremental progress each year only helps because each year we'd be reducing above ground wires.

Start simple.

New developments. Cost should be marginal at best when planned for.

Have major construction that involves tearing up infrastructure? What can be done there are marginal cost?

What other areas have planned maintenance that can lead to upgrades?

FEMA money options?

Etc, Etc.

---------------

What is tiring, is hearing that we just have to accept huge portions of our city losing power because it's complicated or tough.

Lets start with the obvious. Status quo is insufficient.

If CenterPoint has better ideas, lets hear them. But just trimming lines and hoping trees don't fall isn't hasn't been particularly successful.

AgLiving06 said:

---

12thMan9 said:

---

AgLiving06 said:

---

Jugstore Cowboy said:

---

Quote:

---

If we are going to play the game that climate change is making storms stronger

---

Let's play the game that population growth and increased density results in more people being impacted when a storm hits Houston, and that the resulting rise in insurance claims and social media complaints play a significant role in driving the perception that storms are getting more severe.

Here are a bunch of derechos you never heard of because they didn't **** up large population centers, including one that hit Lake Livingston in 1986: https://www.spc.noaa.gov/misc/AbtDerechos/derechofacts.htm#otherderechos

Let's also play the game that yuppy transplants to Houston just flat out complain more than people in lower population areas (see the storms and flooding along the Trinity River earlier this month for comparison) even when those people get displaced from their homes by severe storms, rather than simply losing ac and wifi.

---

Lets play the game.

Can we agree that Bridgeland was one of the hardest hit areas right? 0 to Cat 2 winds...yet their power is mostly or entirely back already. Why? Because when Bridgeland was being built, the decision was made to bury the lines. So though a tornado went through the area, their recovery is pretty quick because there was limited infrastructure to be damaged.

So we could take a first step and say all new planned communities must have their homes buried.

Then we could begin to look at other opportunities to bury lines during major construction events. Everything is constantly under construction, so there's going to be ways to perform these tasks while everything is already torn up.

Because at the end of the day, No derecho, hurricane, trees, or tornado bothers lines underground, and when you've reduced your above ground assets.

Maybe instead of feeling blessed when CenterPoint cuts back trees every couple years, we find ways for the trees not to matter....

And yes, I realize there will be extra cost. Yes I realize the citizens will likely be on the hook for some of it. But how long are we going to pretend there's another serious option or what Cat 3/4/5 hurricane is it going to take to wake the leadership up that what we have isn't working?

---

So, let's go into all the master planned communities that populate this city & move transmission underground.

Brilliant! I look forward to all our Heights, Memorial Villages, West U, Oak Forest, River Oaks, Nottingham, Soutside Place, etc. folks to jump up & cheer.

SMDH

---

Given many of them are still without power, I suspect they are quite open to discussing options.

---

This Oak Forest resident isn't. I know from experience what it takes to bury electricity in what I would call an easy environment, and it isn't fun.

The real cost is 105/ft vs 1500/ft

People don't want to spend that kind of money!

So I got a wild hair and started looking at 10-K reports.

2019 10-K: LINK (page 67)
2020 10-K: LINK (page
2023 10-K: LINK (page

So the following values are used for O&M, since that's the only thing I can find that deals with maintenance.

2017: $1,397 MM
2018: $1,444 MM (3.4% increase)
2019: $1,470 MM (1.8% increase)
2020: $1,523 MM (3.6% increase)
2021: $1,591 MM (4.5% increase)
2022: $1,647 MM (3.5% increase)
2023: $1,669 MM (1.3% increase)

My bigger concerns with Centerpoint: we are running older transmission lines. What were they designed to? What conditions? IIRC, Cypress ain't exactly the 'newest' spot, so those lines are probably built in the 80's (maybe the 90's). That's 40+ years old. What's the plan to replace/renew them? The O&M budget doesn't look to be getting 'more' money; I would argue that's mostly driven by labor costs.

So where's the money being spent on maintenance to prevent long term outages? I'm not naive thinking we can bury the lines; that's silly. Maybe last mile, but not the 375 kV lines. But when are we replacing the towers? When are we making the design change from Cat 2 (peak wind) designs to Cat 4 (peak) with Cat 2 (sustained) wind loads? Doesn't seem much, but that's a big change. Is CP going to go to a large pole design vs. erector set towers?

BTW, CNP was doing about $0.29 of quarterly dividends till C19. Then went to $0.15. Each year has been creeping back up to $0.20 (2024). In their Q1 2024 slide, they mention $1.7-$2.1B in "Electric System Hardening and Modernization". But that'll happen in 2025 to 2027. While that wouldn't show up in the O&M area, you should see a decrease if they do upgrade things (newer stuff is cheaper to operate).

In older presentations, they do not mention upgrades or hardening. They mention mid-stream stuff (which I think they sold off). They mention that they kept their delivery charges flat, despite inflation (kudos, I guess). But they also talk about reducing O&M by 1-2% per year. I've worked in an old plant (the 1st Nylon plant in the world). They tried to do 10% O&M reduction over 10 years. Let me tell you how that works out: it doesn't. Old stuff breaks. It's expensive to fix. So you patch it up and kick the can. Rinse, repeat.

Most of what I've seen of CNP (and this is coming from a boy who's lived here 40+ years): modus operandi (kick the can).

~egon

I can guarantee you they are hardening and have been for several years. Take a look around and you'll notice a lot of fiberglass poles being installed around.

AgLiving06 said:

---

12thMan9 said:

---

AgLiving06 said:

---

Jugstore Cowboy said:

---

Quote:

---

If we are going to play the game that climate change is making storms stronger

---

Let's play the game that population growth and increased density results in more people being impacted when a storm hits Houston, and that the resulting rise in insurance claims and social media complaints play a significant role in driving the perception that storms are getting more severe.

Here are a bunch of derechos you never heard of because they didn't **** up large population centers, including one that hit Lake Livingston in 1986: https://www.spc.noaa.gov/misc/AbtDerechos/derechofacts.htm#otherderechos

Let's also play the game that yuppy transplants to Houston just flat out complain more than people in lower population areas (see the storms and flooding along the Trinity River earlier this month for comparison) even when those people get displaced from their homes by severe storms, rather than simply losing ac and wifi.

---

Lets play the game.

Can we agree that Bridgeland was one of the hardest hit areas right? 0 to Cat 2 winds...yet their power is mostly or entirely back already. Why? Because when Bridgeland was being built, the decision was made to bury the lines. So though a tornado went through the area, their recovery is pretty quick because there was limited infrastructure to be damaged.

So we could take a first step and say all new planned communities must have their homes buried.

Then we could begin to look at other opportunities to bury lines during major construction events. Everything is constantly under construction, so there's going to be ways to perform these tasks while everything is already torn up.

Because at the end of the day, No derecho, hurricane, trees, or tornado bothers lines underground, and when you've reduced your above ground assets.

Maybe instead of feeling blessed when CenterPoint cuts back trees every couple years, we find ways for the trees not to matter....

And yes, I realize there will be extra cost. Yes I realize the citizens will likely be on the hook for some of it. But how long are we going to pretend there's another serious option or what Cat 3/4/5 hurricane is it going to take to wake the leadership up that what we have isn't working?

---

So, let's go into all the master planned communities that populate this city & move transmission underground.

Brilliant! I look forward to all our Heights, Memorial Villages, West U, Oak Forest, River Oaks, Nottingham, Soutside Place, etc. folks to jump up & cheer.

SMDH

---

Given many of them are still without power, I suspect they are quite open to discussing options.

---

And I bet if you gave them a true cost assessment, almost all of them will say "yeah....a few days every couple of years isn't all that bad".

schmellba99 said:

---

AgLiving06 said:

---

Jugstore Cowboy said:

---

Quote:

---

If we are going to play the game that climate change is making storms stronger

---

Let's play the game that population growth and increased density results in more people being impacted when a storm hits Houston, and that the resulting rise in insurance claims and social media complaints play a significant role in driving the perception that storms are getting more severe.

Here are a bunch of derechos you never heard of because they didn't **** up large population centers, including one that hit Lake Livingston in 1986: https://www.spc.noaa.gov/misc/AbtDerechos/derechofacts.htm#otherderechos

Let's also play the game that yuppy transplants to Houston just flat out complain more than people in lower population areas (see the storms and flooding along the Trinity River earlier this month for comparison) even when those people get displaced from their homes by severe storms, rather than simply losing ac and wifi.

---

Lets play the game.

Can we agree that Bridgeland was one of the hardest hit areas right? 0 to Cat 2 winds...yet their power is mostly or entirely back already. Why? Because when Bridgeland was being built, the decision was made to bury the lines. So though a tornado went through the area, their recovery is pretty quick because there was limited infrastructure to be damaged.

So we could take a first step and say all new planned communities must have their homes buried.

Then we could begin to look at other opportunities to bury lines during major construction events. Everything is constantly under construction, so there's going to be ways to perform these tasks while everything is already torn up.

Because at the end of the day, No derecho, hurricane, trees, or tornado bothers lines underground, and when you've reduced your above ground assets.

Maybe instead of feeling blessed when CenterPoint cuts back trees every couple years, we find ways for the trees not to matter....

And yes, I realize there will be extra cost. Yes I realize the citizens will likely be on the hook for some of it. But how long are we going to pretend there's another serious option or what Cat 3/4/5 hurricane is it going to take to wake the leadership up that what we have isn't working?

---

You don't have a good grasp on how much that "extra cost" will be, and the citizens will be on the hook for 100% of the costs.

Amazng how that happens - corporations pass on costs to consumers.

I hate to break this to you, but "just burying a line" is, in almost every single case, a fuggin complicated, expensive and time consuming endeavor that always ends up with additional costs, delays, etc. because nobody has a clue what is underground and it is 100% inevitable that something will be compromised in the process.

---

Corporations only pass on costs the market will bear. Corporations also typically have competition that drives those costs down. Neither exists here because we've already established CenterPoint is a monopoly.

So they must be treated differently than the average corporation.

redag06 said:

---

The real cost is 105/ft vs 1500/ft

People don't want to spend that kind of money!

---

Yeah. I'd wanna see the actual math on that because I suspect the maintenance and repair on above ground is significantly higher (as we are now seeing). It isn't cheap to bring in all this extra labor.. or to employ your own labor every month or 2 for massive OT to fix outages.

Dr. Doctor said:

---

So I got a wild hair and started looking at 10-K reports.

2019 10-K: LINK (page 67)
2020 10-K: LINK (page
2023 10-K: LINK (page

So the following values are used for O&M, since that's the only thing I can find that deals with maintenance.

2017: $1,397 MM
2018: $1,444 MM (3.4% increase)
2019: $1,470 MM (1.8% increase)
2020: $1,523 MM (3.6% increase)
2021: $1,591 MM (4.5% increase)
2022: $1,647 MM (3.5% increase)
2023: $1,669 MM (1.3% increase)

My bigger concerns with Centerpoint: we are running older transmission lines. What were they designed to? What conditions? IIRC, Cypress ain't exactly the 'newest' spot, so those lines are probably built in the 80's (maybe the 90's). That's 40+ years old. What's the plan to replace/renew them? The O&M budget doesn't look to be getting 'more' money; I would argue that's mostly driven by labor costs.

So where's the money being spent on maintenance to prevent long term outages? I'm not naive thinking we can bury the lines; that's silly. Maybe last mile, but not the 375 kV lines. But when are we replacing the towers? When are we making the design change from Cat 2 (peak wind) designs to Cat 4 (peak) with Cat 2 (sustained) wind loads? Doesn't seem much, but that's a big change. Is CP going to go to a large pole design vs. erector set towers?

BTW, CNP was doing about $0.29 of quarterly dividends till C19. Then went to $0.15. Each year has been creeping back up to $0.20 (2024). In their Q1 2024 slide, they mention $1.7-$2.1B in "Electric System Hardening and Modernization". But that'll happen in 2025 to 2027. While that wouldn't show up in the O&M area, you should see a decrease if they do upgrade things (newer stuff is cheaper to operate).

In older presentations, they do not mention upgrades or hardening. They mention mid-stream stuff (which I think they sold off). They mention that they kept their delivery charges flat, despite inflation (kudos, I guess). But they also talk about reducing O&M by 1-2% per year. I've worked in an old plant (the 1st Nylon plant in the world). They tried to do 10% O&M reduction over 10 years. Let me tell you how that works out: it doesn't. Old stuff breaks. It's expensive to fix. So you patch it up and kick the can. Rinse, repeat.

Most of what I've seen of CNP (and this is coming from a boy who's lived here 40+ years): modus operandi (kick the can).

~egon

---

Nah man...according to the experts here, CNP is the best and there's just simply nothing they can do to improve upon what they've already done...

Of course, they are asking for $2 billion more to "harden" the grid...sounds like more tree trimming: https://www.tdworld.com/transmission-reliability/article/55036898/centerpoint-energy-files-transmission-and-distribution-system-resiliency-plan-with-texas-commission

If I was a betting man, they are waiting for a major hurricane to hit Houston, do major damage to the grid and then be bailed out by federal money to upgrade the grid, which I suspect got its last upgrade after Ike.

AgLiving06 said:

---

schmellba99 said:

---

AgLiving06 said:

---

Jugstore Cowboy said:

---

Quote:

---

If we are going to play the game that climate change is making storms stronger

---

Let's play the game that population growth and increased density results in more people being impacted when a storm hits Houston, and that the resulting rise in insurance claims and social media complaints play a significant role in driving the perception that storms are getting more severe.

Here are a bunch of derechos you never heard of because they didn't **** up large population centers, including one that hit Lake Livingston in 1986: https://www.spc.noaa.gov/misc/AbtDerechos/derechofacts.htm#otherderechos

Let's also play the game that yuppy transplants to Houston just flat out complain more than people in lower population areas (see the storms and flooding along the Trinity River earlier this month for comparison) even when those people get displaced from their homes by severe storms, rather than simply losing ac and wifi.

---

Lets play the game.

Can we agree that Bridgeland was one of the hardest hit areas right? 0 to Cat 2 winds...yet their power is mostly or entirely back already. Why? Because when Bridgeland was being built, the decision was made to bury the lines. So though a tornado went through the area, their recovery is pretty quick because there was limited infrastructure to be damaged.

So we could take a first step and say all new planned communities must have their homes buried.

Then we could begin to look at other opportunities to bury lines during major construction events. Everything is constantly under construction, so there's going to be ways to perform these tasks while everything is already torn up.

Because at the end of the day, No derecho, hurricane, trees, or tornado bothers lines underground, and when you've reduced your above ground assets.

Maybe instead of feeling blessed when CenterPoint cuts back trees every couple years, we find ways for the trees not to matter....

And yes, I realize there will be extra cost. Yes I realize the citizens will likely be on the hook for some of it. But how long are we going to pretend there's another serious option or what Cat 3/4/5 hurricane is it going to take to wake the leadership up that what we have isn't working?

---

You don't have a good grasp on how much that "extra cost" will be, and the citizens will be on the hook for 100% of the costs.

Amazng how that happens - corporations pass on costs to consumers.

I hate to break this to you, but "just burying a line" is, in almost every single case, a fuggin complicated, expensive and time consuming endeavor that always ends up with additional costs, delays, etc. because nobody has a clue what is underground and it is 100% inevitable that something will be compromised in the process.

---

Corporations only pass on costs the market will bear. Corporations also typically have competition that drives those costs down. Neither exists here because we've already established CenterPoint is a monopoly.

So they must be treated differently than the average corporation.

---

Centerpoint will pass on 100% of it's additional costs to customers. Fact.

Funny thing about electricity - in today's world, it's a necessity. So the market will bear the additional costs, whether the market likes it or not.

Quote:

---

Probably worse than railroads,

---

AgLiving06 said:

---

Jugstore Cowboy said:

---

I almost asked the question earlier about burying the lines. Apart from the cost issue, I've heard it speculated that submerged lines would be difficult to access in flood plains (most of the city core and areas SE) during a major flood event like Allison or Harvey. I have no how much of an issue that is; wonder if anyone more knowledgable could answer that.

---

I don't know?

Anecdotally, I know Kingwood's lines are buried and while they have flooding, they don't have power issues due to it.

Woodlands is buried too I believe?

I know most will say the cost is high, but we have to start somewhere. Status quo clearly isn't working, so lets find better solutions.

---

I don't know what percentage it might be in Kingwood with buried lines but there are tons and tons of places in Kingwood where the lines are not buried but run overhead, they're just somewhat hidden by the trees (kinda the point) but are susceptible to outages due to those same trees.

I can't say for sure about the Woodlands though.

Got power back in 77007 north of I-10

Woodlands Entergy lines are buried. The Harris Co portion that is served by Centerpoint is not buried. Even in newer construction areas.