Repair Workers Under Threat Amid Power Outages in Houston
Residents in Houston, Texas, are frustrated. Hurricane Beryl swept across the city on 8 July, knocking out power to more than 3 million homes and businesses and resulting in 18 deaths, including some from heat exposure following power loss. But more than a week later, more than 80,000 residents are still without power, and some are lashing out against linemen and repair crews.
The prolonged outages have led to threatening messages, thrown rocks, and drawn guns against repair workers, the Associated Press (AP) reported. In one case, police arrested a man for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, alleging that he threw rocks and pointed a gun at a group of CenterPoint Energy workers at a staging area. The situation meant more than 100 line workers had to be evacuated from the staging area, delaying their work.
In another case, a woman allegedly made multiple online threats of murder, assault, and deadly conduct against people affiliated with CenterPoint, including employees, the CEO, and his wife. A CenterPoint vehicle was broken into. In three cases, residents refused to let linemen enter their properties.
“We need all these folks here,” said Ed Allen, a representative of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 66 chapter. “We have had guys have guns pulled on them. We have had guys have rocks picked up and slung at them. We’ve had people brandishing AK-47s at them, and it needs to stop.”
According to local news outlet KPRC 2: “The attacks on linemen not only endanger their lives but also slow down the crucial work of restoring power to Houston. Many of these workers have traveled far from their homes, working long shifts in dangerous conditions to bring electricity back to the city.”
The confrontations resulted in police escorts, charges in two cases, and pleas from local officials to leave linemen alone. In a press conference last weekend, Harris County Sherriff’s Office Chief Deputy Mike Lee said police will ask the district attorney to continue enhancing charges on storm-related crimes because of the threats against workers, Houston Public Media reported.
CenterPoint shared a statement with KPRC 2: “Unfortunately, while conducting our restoration efforts following Hurricane Beryl, we have seen increasing incidents of violence against our crews, at substations, and with our mobile generation crews. This includes reports of a drive-by shooting at one of our staging sites and several crews having guns pulled on them the past two days. Yesterday, someone stopped and began hitting one of our mutual assistance trucks with a pipe. The safety of our employees, contractors, mutual assistance crews, and support personnel is our top priority. This conduct is criminal, dangerous to our workers who are away from their own families to turn power on for the rest of us, and counter-productive to us getting the power back on. We continue to reach out to government official and law enforcement for their help—and they are helping—and we ask all our communities and their leaders to help keep safe the men and women who are away from their own families so they can turn the lights and A/C on for everyone else’s families.”
Consumer trust in the power company is at a notable low, with residents complaining about the company’s lack of communication and allegedly inaccurate power outage map. Graffiti on a highway underpass dubbed the company “CenterPointLe$$.”
Government officials are demanding answers about why the outage was so severe, despite resilience plans and the likelihood of severe weather. CenterPoint claimed that many of the city’s trees were vulnerable to falling and knocking out power because of significant freezes, drought, and heavy rain in the past three years.
The company says it is on track to restore power to 98 percent of the 2.26 million customers affected by Beryl by the end of the day today.
For more about utility security, resilience, and lone worker protection, check out these articles from the Security Management archive:
- Safety on the Line
- Girding the Grid
- Frozen Progress: Building Winter Storm Continuity in Texas
- Becoming More Reliable and Resilient with Enhanced Substation Security
- Mass Emergency Planning Exercise Tests Resilience to Coordinated Converged Attacks