Joe Winfield explained that Beryl uprooted the tree behind his house, causing the buried lines to snap and break. CenterPoint told him it was his responsibility to fix the damage.
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However, his electrician claimed that repairs couldn't be made because the underground wires were still live, and CenterPoint needed to disconnect them. Winfield said he went back and forth with CenterPoint three times in the last four weeks, because the utility company allegedly marked the job complete when it wasn't.
"It's frustrating and so exhausting for everybody. I understand CenterPoint is extremely busy. But they took the time to send people out here, and we got incorrect answers," Winfield said.
On Monday morning, CenterPoint Energy announced the launch of its Greater Houston Resiliency Initiative. In its first phase, the utility company will spend 30 days implementing actions that would reduce the risk of outages this hurricane season.
During the remainder of the month, CenterPoint said that 2,500 of its frontline workers and contractors will install stronger and more storm-resilient poles, trim and remove vegetation from their lines, and install devices that will automatically re-energize lines in certain outages.
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However, Winfield said the plan doesn't help with the financial strain he's dealing with now. He shared that he is losing money from CenterPoint's delays, discounting rent for his tenant, who has been displaced during the outage, and paying his electrician to return multiple times.
"As a homeowner, I'm losing on all sides," Winfield said.
When asked about Winfield's case, a spokesperson with CenterPoint Energy said that the wires were damaged during the initial repair made by the third-party electrician. As a result, when their crews responded, the wires appeared de-energized in their system.
ABC13 spoke with the electrician, who disputes CenterPoint's explanation. He said his technicians never touched the wires due to safety concerns.
CenterPoint said its crews had diagnosed the exact problem at Winfield's property and insisted that the buried lines were successfully disconnected as of Monday. If all goes according to plan, Winfield said his electrician will return for repairs on Tuesday, and the lights will be turned back on by the end of the week.
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