More Information and Investigations Needed

AUSTIN, Texas, July 17, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Texas Consumer Association (TCA) calls on the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUC) and state lawmakers to delay all transmission and distribution system resiliency plan cost increase proceedings before the Commission until state agencies' investigations and CenterPoint's internal reviews are completed. This will also allow for adequate time to fully review all cases in which companies are requesting approval of resiliency plans.

The PUC should also delay all settlement talks on existing CenterPoint rate cases until the agency investigation is completed. It's important that the Commission not automatically approve past actions only to learn from the investigations there were better and more efficient uses for ratepayer money.

In his July 14 letter to PUC Chairman Thomas Gleeson, Gov. Greg Abbott said he was "directing the [PUC] to undertake a rigorous study to determine the causes of the repeated and ongoing power failures in the Greater Houston area after severe weather events. Some questions that must be answered include: Is the cause of the magnitude and duration of customer outages a result of physical infrastructure or personnel issues? What was the utility's pre-event planning process? Why exactly were so many Texans left without power for so many days? When and for what purposes did utilities use their mobile generation resources?"

TCA President Sandra Haverlah agrees these are great questions. More importantly, CenterPoint's answers to these questions could impact all the plans submitted by electric delivery companies across the state, whether their challenge is wildfires, hurricanes, or high winds. Therefore, it would be prudent to wait for the investigation to determine if the submitted plans take into consideration CenterPoint's real-time experience and the outcomes of the investigations.

Currently, CenterPoint has two pending cases before the PUC, which would significantly increase customer rates. Given that one of the rate cases was filed based on past CenterPoint processes, which proved ineffective during Hurricane Beryl, approving any increase based on those practices and business investments would be imprudent. TCA believes that all of CenterPoint's existing cases, as well as all electric delivery proposed investment proposals, are best delayed until a comprehensive investigation is complete.

Haverlah said: "Customers pay for services expecting reliability. Depending on where they live, they believe they pay for hurricane protection, wildfire outage prevention, or a system hardened for high wind. It should be made transparent what work was completed and it should be clearly communicated the level of measurable reliability customers can expect. Customers and the PUC should have a clearly defined way to measure the utilities' success or failure at their 'one job' – keeping the power on. Customers deserve to know where their money goes and whether it was well-spent. We don't have that now. Based on CenterPoint's current performance, there's no reason to believe that money customers paid for the past 25 years was spent in a way to improve reliability or storm response."

Haverlah said before any plans are approved, it's important to note that lawmakers may set new standards as part of the process that will impact all electric delivery companies, so approval of any proposed plans should be halted too, at least through the legislative session.

"If lawmakers and the PUC determine there should be new standards, it could dramatically impact electric delivery companies' plans. The PUC should only approve plans with the latest information available, which will come from the PUC and future legislative investigations," she said. "Customers should not pay for services that the legislature will change in nine months."

Based on the uncertainty of the legislative session, any rate increases approved by the PUC before the end of session can be called into question. It is prudent to delay any existing proceedings for both customers and investors.

Texas Consumer Association is a non-profit organization representing individual and small-business consumers on pocketbook issues for over 50 years. Find TCA at https://www.texasconsumer.org/ and on X (Twitter) @TXConsumer. Email info@texasconsumer.org. For more information or questions, you can reach Sandie Haverlah, President of TCA, at (512) 423-0913.

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SOURCE Texas Consumer Association