(The Center Square) – CenterPoint Energy is asking Houstonians to help keep linemen safe after ongoing violent attacks against them have occurred while trying to restore power to millions of people impacted by Hurricane Beryl.
CenterPoint CEO Jason Wells posted a video describing the threats linemen were experiencing. The company evacuated over 100 linemen working restoration Saturday “due to shots that were fired at our crews,” with law enforcement reportedly making one arrest.
CenterPoint later issued an update stating, “Initial reports we received from this location were that shots were fired and rocks were being thrown at our crews. That was the information we had at the time of the video. Our crews were shaken up by the incident.”
A Houston Police Department investigation confirmed “a gun was wielded and rocks [were] thrown.” The criminal behavior occurred at a time when CenterPoint crews were being threatened and the company continued “to experience increasing calls for, and actual incidents of, criminal actions toward public utility property and the men and women who are working hard in hot, difficult conditions to restore power.”
CenterPoint has reiterated that “the safety of our employees, contractors, mutual assistance crews and support personnel is our top priority.”
Wells also said, “We understand just how difficult it is to be without power, especially in this heat. I understand the anger. I understand the frustration. Our crews, many of whom have driven thousands of miles to help restore our customers here in Houston, are working day and night to restore that power as quickly as they can.”
While many Houstonians have responded to the power outage “with patience and grace,” he said, “there have been instances where either acts of violence have been threatened or actually committed against our crews that are working this vital restoration. This is unacceptable.”
Wells also explained that threats or acts of violence are counterproductive because they have to redirect crews to a safer area, which “just delays what is already a significant restoration effort.”
He asked the public to “please give our crews room to do their work safely.”
Gov. Greg Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick addressed the violence, saying it must stop and won’t bring about power restoration any sooner.
Abbott said, “There is no reason why anybody here should ever be threatening the life of anybody else. If you’re angry about the lack of power, you’re taking it out on the wrong person. If you’re wanting to get the power back on, your actions that intimidate or threaten the linemen or whoever is trying to get the power back on, you’re not speeding up the process of getting the power back on, you’re slowing that process down.”
Patrick also said the legislature would look into increasing the penalties for these types of crimes, saying, “There is no excuse no matter how much you’ve been sweltering in the heat for criminal behavior and to attack someone who is trying to help you.”
He said the legislature “is going to stop that” and perpetrators “are going to face a long time in in jail if you ever do that.”
Patrick said at a press conference on Sunday there was one attack against workers by gunfire on Thursday, one attack on Friday and another on Saturday against crew.
A CenterPoint spokesperson confirmed the violence, stating in an email to The Center Square, “Unfortunately, while conducting our restoration efforts following Hurricane Beryl, we have seen increasing incidents of violence against our crews, at substations, and with our mobile generation crews. This includes reports of a drive-by shooting at one of our staging sites and several crews having guns pulled on them the past two days.”
Referring to Monday, the spokesperson said, “Yesterday, someone stopped and began hitting one of our mutual assistance trucks with a pipe.”
CenterPoint is in constant contact with government officials and law enforcement, asking for their help, the spokesperson said. “And they are helping – and we ask all our communities and their leaders to help keep safe the men and women who are away from their own families so they can turn the lights and A/C on for everyone else’s families.”
