13 Investigates: Texts between Texas leader, CenterPoint show state's frustration

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- As CenterPoint tries to rebuild trust with its customers, 13 Investigates is learning it wasn't just frustrated, powerless residents who couldn't get answers from the company.

In a text thread between Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and CenterPoint leadership, Patrick expresses he's not getting the answers he wants from the company. The company's outages left 2 million people without power the day after Hurricane Beryl made landfall on July 8.

A July 9 text from Jeff Bonham, a vice president at CenterPoint, outlines how the company monitored the storm and "requested substantial mutual assistance support before the storm made landfall."

"As of this morning, we have 12,000 field resources to support the restoration efforts. As soon as it was safe to do so yesterday, we released crews into the field to begin the restoration process," Bonham says in the text sent at 10:21 a.m. July 9.

Bonham adds, "Talking points, not a press release."

Patrick, who was acting governor while Gov. Greg Abbott was in Asia on state business, responded to Bonham's message, saying, "That's up to CenterPoint to put out to the media and public. I'm not a spokesperson for CenterPoint."

Bonham replied saying," Understand, we are doing that. I thought you were asking for talking points. Apologies," to which Patrick responded, "I wasn't asking for talking points. I was asking for answers."

Patrick then asked if CenterPoint knew "when power will be back beyond the 1 million tomorrow."

Bonham responded, "Not at this time."

Just a few hours after that text exchange, Patrick held a news conference in Dickinson with the Texas Division of Emergency Management, where he once again called on CenterPoint to answer for themselves on just how prepared they were for the storm that left some residents without power for nearly two weeks.

"CenterPoint will have to answer for themselves if they were prepared, if they were positioned. Their company is responsible for that. The state was positioned. We had our crews in San Antonio. We had them in Corpus. We had them in Houston," Patrick said during the July 9 news conference. "I'll tell you whether I'm satisfied or not when I have a full report of where their crews were, when they were asked to come in, and how quickly they get power back."

SEE ALSO: CenterPoint admits 'clearly more needs to be done

Gov. Greg Abbott sent a letter to CenterPoint CEO Jason Wells on July 16, calling for the company to provide detailed information to ensure it's ready for the next storm.

"There is a growing concern of whether CenterPoint Energy was prioritizing Texans or its own bottom line," Abbott wrote in the July 16 letter. "To determine whether corners were cut by CenterPoint Energy in a manner that slowed the recovery process to fix damage to your electrical infrastructure, I have directed the (Public Utility Commission of Texas) 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 and report back its findings."

Abbott's deadline for CenterPoint is July 31.

CenterPoint wouldn't tell 13 Investigates on Thursday afternoon if its plans had been submitted, only saying, "We will meet all requests by their deadlines."

In Thursday's meeting before the Public Utility Commission of Texas, Wells said his leadership team at CenterPoint "will not make excuses" and "will act with a sense of urgency."

"In times of emergencies, our responsibility is to respond quickly, to communicate clearly, to provide accurate information, and to restore power as rapidly and safely as we can," Wells said Thursday in Austin. "I take personal accountability for the area where we fell short of our customer's expectations. Most importantly, I want to apologize to our customers for the frustration we caused. We will do better."

Wells said the company is committed to improving communication with customers "immediately" and will "take specific actions to build the most resilient coastal grid in the country."

The company also announced that it will launch a cloud-based outage tracker on Aug. 1, allowing users to view and report outages and obtain information on restoration status.

CenterPoint said one key difference with this tracker is that it will be better equipped to handle the large volume of users seeking information during widespread outages.

The company also said it will have a new communication plan, daily briefings, and a much better-staffed customer call center.

During Thursday's meeting, PUC Commissioner Lori Cobos, who visited Houston after the storm and said the outages were devastating, said that CenterPoint's performance will be judged based on the company's actions.

Cobos said she appreciates that CenterPoint expressed a desire to be held accountable, but "at the end of the day, actions speak louder than words."

"I think it's great that you came with a bunch of information as to what you're going to do next. A lot of what I heard seems like things you should have already been doing. You're the second-largest utility in the state, operate in multiple states, have a lot of experience with hurricanes," Cobos said. "Some of the things I heard today are things the company should have already been thinking about and doing."

13 Investigates asked CenterPoint about its plans moving forward and the text messages between Bonham and Patrick.

The company said it is committed to resiliency, customer communication, and critical coordination with local and state partners.

"We apologize for the real frustrations our customers, community leaders and elected leaders experienced over our response to Hurricane Beryl. We have also heard loud and clear the calls for change from our customers and our elected and community leaders, and we are determined to get better," CenterPoint told 13 Investigates.

SEE ALSO: 13 Investigates why some nursing facilities still don't have power

Patrick's office sent 13 Investigates a statement Thursday, saying he "shares the frustration of Texans."

"The state of Texas was prepared for Hurricane Beryl and responded promptly. It's unacceptable for electric utility companies to be unprepared for storms when they review the same meteorological information," the statement says. "Lt. Gov. Patrick created the Senate Special Committee on Hurricane and Tropical Storm Preparedness, Recovery, and Electricity, to establish facts and ensure electric utility companies are accountable to Texans in the wake of future natural disasters. Texas is the 8th largest economy in the world - operating in our state necessitates preparedness, clear communication, and accountability to the citizens electric utility companies serve."

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