CenterPoint Energy says 'nested outages' could be causing delays for some Houstonians without power

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- As power returns to communities across southeast Texas, many people may learn that it's not just power lines that are causing problems for their homes.

Despite power being restored for over 840,000 CenterPoint Energy customers since last Thursday's destructive storm, more than 72,000 Houston-area customers were still in the dark on Wednesday morning.

According to CenterPoint, some people may receive a notification that electric service was restored in their neighborhood, even though they're still without power. Officials said a number of issues could cause that, including a "nested outage."

ABC13 Anchor Jeff Ehling spoke to a licensed electrician about the issue and how much a fix can cost.

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A "nested outage" happens when power is restored to equipment serving your area, but your home is impacted by a more localized issue that is still causing an outage. Customers could be on a different circuit than their neighbors with a different level of damage, have a damaged line fuse or transformer, or possibly have a tree or other debris on the customer-owned service line that runs directly to their homes.

Licensed Electrician Gilbert Soliz said homeowners should also check their weatherhead, which is the point where power enters the home. It is typically a pipe located on the roof.

If the Weatherhead is damaged, it's the customer's responsibility to get it fixed.

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The interactive, color-coded map lets users zoom into areas across the city and even enter specific addresses to see each area's estimated date of power restoration.

"Just the typical weatherhead that just broke off of there and the wire, all this pipe, is still in tact. You might be talking about $200 to $300 dollars," Soliz said. "But if you have to replace a whole service it can be anywhere from $3,000 to $5,000 dollars. Easy."

Soliz said the repair could take a couple of days. He also said you should ask for licenses when hiring a contractor, so you know the work will be done right.

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