Seven Texas lawmakers are demanding that the Biden administration explain its rejection of a funding request last year from a now-embattled Houston utility to strengthen its electricity distribution system.
The Department of Energy denied an application by CenterPoint Energy for $100 million to reinforce electric poles and wires against hurricane winds and flooding.
The utility is being investigated in Texas for its response to Hurricane Beryl, which caused more than 2 million people in the greater Houston area to lose power. Many CenterPoint customers had no electricity for days as the Houston region sweltered under what the National Weather Service called “extremely dangerous heat conditions.”
The seven House members, all Republicans, told Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm they were “troubled” by the department’s rejection of CenterPoint’s funding request, which was first reported by POLITICO’s E&E News. The utility asserted in its application for the grant that it needed the money to “fund high wind and flood mitigation projects.”
