Tag Archives: CenterPoint

Watch out for your electric bill

Noting this for the record. As Texans continue paying off the costs of the deadly 2021 winter storm, state lawmakers are considering a Republican-backed proposal that would allow for more frequent rate hikes and prevent cities from challenging the increases. Supporters of Senate … Continue reading

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Winter storm litigation about to get busy

Some test cases will be underway soon. During the past year, the wrongful-death, personal injury and property damage lawsuits — nearly all consolidated before one judge in Houston — moved at a snail’s pace. Hardly any court hearings were conducted. … Continue reading

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Please enjoy the higher natural gas prices you’ll soon be paying

And by “enjoy”, I mean “blame Greg Abbott”. Texans are on the hook for $3.6 billion in natural gas costs incurred by utilities during one freezing week in February — a burden consumers will bear for a decade or longer. … Continue reading

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How hot will summer be?

Depends on how dependable the electricity providers are. ERCOT sought to reassure worried Texans that the state’s electricity grid will have enough power to meet record-breaking demand this summer, less than three months after a catastrophic power failure left millions … Continue reading

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The Big Freeze didn’t just screw Texas

I had no idea. Texas’ deep freeze didn’t just disrupt natural gas supplies throughout Lone Star country—its effects rippled across the country, extending as far north as Minnesota. There, gas utilities had to pay $800 million more than they anticipated … Continue reading

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A bit of business pushback against voter suppression

It’s a start, but much more is needed. A group of 72 Black business leaders are calling on companies to publicly oppose a series of bills being advanced by Republicans in at least 43 states that could dramatically curb access … Continue reading

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Freeze-related lawsuit filed against CenterPoint

Of interest. Several more Houston families of victims of the February freeze are among the latest to sue CenterPoint Energy for allowing vulnerable people to languish without power during what were supposed to be brief blackouts. Travis Flowers, 66, and … Continue reading

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These blackouts don’t roll

How it started. Texas’ electrical grid operator is implementing rolling blackouts across most of the state Monday after a massive winter storm brought unprecedented demand for electricity and forced multiple power-generating units offline. The blackouts began at 1:25 a.m. Central … Continue reading

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Harris County reaches bike trail deal with CenterPoint

Nice. Biking between bayous in Harris County is closer to reality, now that local leaders and the monopoly that manages local power lines have inked a deal. Harris County officials Tuesday approved an agreement between the county and CenterPoint Energy … Continue reading

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The draft bike plan is out

Here it is, in all its glory. I encourage you to look at the draft plan and play with the interactive map. Then, when you start to feel overwhelmed and wish someone would explain it all to you, go read … Continue reading

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Use less, pay more

Ain’t utility deregulation grand? More than 70 percent of electric plans offered in the Houston area contain terms that may penalize customers who don’t use a certain amount of power, according to a Houston Chronicle analysis of more than 300 … Continue reading

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2015 Mayoral manifesto: Transportation

Preliminaries Please note that I have called this part of my manifesto “Transportation” and not “Traffic”. I agree that traffic sucks and that the Mayoral candidates ought to have some ideas for how to deal with it. It’s my opinion … Continue reading

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It pays to go green

It’s a simple enough formula – reduce energy usage, save money. As Houston leaders push the counter-intuitive notion that the world’s energy capital can go green, and pledge ever-lower emissions goals for municipal operations, installing energy-efficient lighting and low-flow toilets … Continue reading

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City strikes two deals with CenterPoint

One on street lights, and one on bike trails. Both are great news. All 165,000 of Houston’s streetlights will be converted to more efficient LEDs over the next five years, halving electricity use and cutting air pollution in what Mayor … Continue reading

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Bike trails bill signed

The Chron has a brief blurb about Rick Perry signing the bill that will allow the CenterPoint rights of way in Harris County to be used as hike and bike trails. See here for the background, and here for a … Continue reading

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Bike trails bill

A bill that will clear the way for bike trails to be built on CenterPoint utility rights of way in Harris County has passed both chambers in the Lege and now awaits Rick Perry’s signature. “We are really, really pleased … Continue reading

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Bike trail on utility rights-of-way bills filed

This is a big show of support for making bike trails on CenterPoint’s rights of way happen. Houston voters last fall approved a $166 million bond measure to expand the city’s trail system, to be matched by $105 million in … Continue reading

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How much protection from liability do they need?

State Impact asks a good question. The electricity industry is among the biggest of the big spenders on lobbying the Texas legislature. So when bills are introduced giving the industry extraordinary protection from law suits, you can bet somebody’s going … Continue reading

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Dan Wallach: Energy pricing 2012

This is a guest post that follows up on an earlier guest post. Last year, I wrote a guest article for Off The Kuff where I discussed the complexity of trying to get a good price on your electric bill. … Continue reading

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On getting the best deal with variable electric rates

Note: The following was written by my friend Dan Wallach, who thought I might be interested in sharing it here. He was right. My thanks to Dan for putting this together. Everybody in Houston has the ability to select any … Continue reading

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Smart meters

Ever wanted to check your house’s power usage online? You will, or at least you’ll be able to. CenterPoint Energy, along with other distribution utilities and IBM, is expected to launch an online portal, www.smartmetertexas.com, this month that will allow … Continue reading

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