HOUSTON — Gov. Greg Abbott has imposed a tight deadline on CenterPoint Energy to clear away all trees and vegetation that pose a threat to power lines, but a company executive Monday would not firmly commit to meeting the governor’s demands.
"We would like to discuss exactly what his expectations are," CenterPoint Vice President of Regulatory Policy Brad Tutunjian said. "To be honest, I'm not aware or fully appreciative of exactly what he's looking at."
Abbott announced a clear timeline Sunday on what he expects from CenterPoint going forward. That includes submitting a detailed plan by July 31 outlining how it will prepare differently for future hurricanes. Abbott said the plan must include better preparation for staffing out-of-town linemen as well as an aggressive tree-trimming schedule.
"They must provide in detail what CenterPoint will do to eliminate all vegetation issues," Abbott said. "The removal must be accomplished by August the 31st."
When questioned further about the governor’s demands, Tutunjian said, "It does seem cut and clear but the devil is in the details."
The company executive said by law, utilities have to abide by easement restrictions and defined boundaries regarding tree maintenance.
"We don't have carte blanche to go in and start, for example, removing trees from somebody's backyard," Tutunjian said.
KHOU 11 has received hundreds of social media posts about CenterPoint and tree maintenance. Many homeowners said they have repeatedly tried to alert CenterPoint about potentially dangerous trees long before Hurricane Beryl but had no luck in getting them trimmed.
Alex Rome sent in video of a neighbor’s tree that crowded a live wire and sparked during heavy winds. He said he first called CenterPoint about the issue in April.
"They said they would add us to the tree trimming queue," Rome said.
After the Derecho hit in May, Rome said he flagged an out-of-town lineman to check out the tree. He said he was told it was up to CenterPoint to approve the project.
"And the CenterPoint representative said since it's not actively on fire, he would just put us back in the queue," Rome said.
Rome said to protect his family, he spent about $1,000 out of his own pocket to get the tree trimmed.
Others wrote KHOU 11 about their own experiences.
"We’ve got trees rubbing on lines ... a ton of neighbors have called CenterPoint about it and they don’t do anything," Tina Day said.
"They have not been here since Dec. 26, 2019. Nothing trimmed since," Vicki Caudill said.
Amanda Steding sent in video of a neighbor’s tree catching fire around a live wire and said it hadn’t been trimmed "in many years."
The feedback on social media comes after KHOU 11 Investigates uncovered how CenterPoint ranked near the bottom in 2023 for tree maintenance spending per customer, compared to other utilities that were affected by Beryl.
Tutunjian said CenterPoint serves a more densely populated, urban landscape compared to other utilities in more rural areas.
"I don't believe that that's a completely accurate way just by itself to say that's representation of your vegetation management program," he said.
The company executive did acknowledge the company needs to do more in terms of vegetation management, and part of a $2.2 billion resiliency plan under review by the Public Utility Commission of Texas includes $36 million in increased vegetation management spending over the three years.
"We need to do things that are more robust," he said. "And we think there's an opportunity, from a resiliency perspective to change that paradigm and how we do vegetation management."
Here's Abbott's Monday news conference: