President Joe Biden’s Department of Energy rejected Houston’s request to strengthen its energy grid in 2023.
Houston entered day five of power outages after Hurricane Beryl.
Maybe, just maybe, stop concentrating on your fantasy green energy:
CenterPoint Energy sought the money from a new $10.5 billion Department of Energy program that is helping utilities, states and local agencies protect the electric grid from the growing threats of extreme weather and climate change.“I don’t understand how the grant application could be rejected,” University of Houston energy economist Ed Hirs said. “This is the home of the petrochemical part of America. I mean, for God’s sakes, what’s DOE thinking?”“A grant to CenterPoint to make the service in and around Houston more resilient is truly a matter of national security,” Hirs said.CenterPoint has faced criticism for widespread power outages after Hurricane Beryl, a Category 1 storm, hit the area Monday morning, downing electric poles and wires across the nation’s fourth-largest metropolitan area. CenterPoint said Thursday it had restored power to more than 1.1 million homes and businesses.But more than 1 million customers remained without electricity as the region sweltered under “extremely dangerous heat conditions,” according to the National Weather Service. A lack of air conditioning “will aggravate the risk for heat-related illnesses,” NWS said, noting that the heat index reached 106 degrees Fahrenheit on Thursday.
CenterPoint’s project would have used the money “to fund high wind and flood mitigation projects.”
Houstonians have used the Whataburger app as their power outage map since the stores are open 24 hours.
If the location is gray, then power is still out in that area.
CenterPoint hopes to have 80% of its customers back with power by Sunday.
“We’re building significant momentum in our restoration efforts, which is a testament to our crews’ hard work and dedication to restoring power as safely and quickly as possible,” stated Lynnae Wilson, Senior Vice President of Electric Business. “Our first priority is getting the lights back on. At the same time, we have seen firsthand the devastation our neighbors are facing and our commitment to the community goes beyond restoration efforts.”
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