Houston restaurateurs sue CenterPoint Energy after power outages devastate businesses

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- Restaurant owners are joining together in a class action lawsuit against CenterPoint Energy, saying the electric company's negligence cost them business and threatened their livelihoods.

ABC13 reached out to CenterPoint about the lawsuit.

They haven't responded to our request for comment, but the restaurateurs have a lot to say.

Ryan Lachaine is the executive chef and partner at Riel Restaurant in Montrose. His business was without power for a full week, which left his 20 employees unable to work.

"Restaurants are difficult at the best of times, and when something like this happens, it is absolutely devastating," Lachaine said. "We all knew this was going to happen, something was going to happen. And it's kind of frustrating when we're supposed to be ready all the time, and hunker down or do this or do that, and when it comes time for someone else to do their job, nobody's ready."

That's why Lachaine is part of a class action suit in Harris County that claims CenterPoint failed to do its job.

His attorney is Tony Buzbee.

ABC13 interviewed Buzbee in his home, which got power back last night but then lost it as the interview began.

Buzbee says the lawsuit will focus on restaurants that have been in business for over a year and lost power for at least 48 hours. He wants the suit to energize action and change.

"CenterPoint doesn't know, they don't know their grid," Buzbee said. "They have clearly not invested in infrastructure to prevent things like this."

Robin Wong is another restauranteur who agrees that losing power is devastating. One of his restaurants is Luloo's in Garden Oaks.

"Being a city that's as large as Houston is, we can't keep having these problems. It needs to be fixed," Wong said. "[Losing power in these storms] just long enough to lose all the food in your walk-in [is] just enough to where you have to start over."

The restaurateurs say they don't want a handout, but they say they can't stick with business as usual any longer without speaking out.

"Being a small business owner," Lachaine said. "We're kind of sick of being pushed around."

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