Hundreds Houstonians lose electricity for power-line maintenance during heatwave

HOUSTON - Triple-digit temperatures can mean a struggle to stay comfortable, but that was especially true for several hundred CenterPoint Energy customers, who had to do without electricity, on purpose.

It was an inconvenient time for maintenance, that lasted for several hours near the Southwest Freeway, and Highway 90, in Stafford.

"What do I do," asks John Austin, who recently moved to Houston, from New Jersey, to look for a home with his wife and open a restaurant, "We have a refrigerator full of food, we 're traveling with two dogs, and we have nowhere else to go."

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While Austin doesn't mind the sizzling Texas heat, he was concerned when his extended-stay motel passed along a letter from CenterPoint Energy, warning of a day-long power outage for maintenance.

Sure enough, by mid-morning, the power went out and emergency lights came on. With the extra-hot forecast, it was hard for Austin to understand.

"I understand if things have to get done; power lines have to get replaced; I understand that," he says, "But how do you justify, when the temperature's going to be over a hundred degrees, doing it?"

Not far away, a crew of several trucks and electricity workers are busy working on the lines. The contractor says they were replacing old, rotten power poles, and couldn't do it with the electricity on. At the height, nearly 300 customers were affected. CenterPoint says 80% of them were commercial, including restaurants that had to turn away the lunch crowd.

In a statement, the utility says it tries to minimize the impact, but sometimes the work is unavoidable. "We do not take this decision lightly, especially in the summer in Houston. That is why we strive to provide our customers with advanced notice so they can prepare and plan ahead," says a CenterPoint Energy spokesperson.

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But, during the dog days of summer, there's not much that makes it better. "We have dogs, and it's hot in there," says Chelsea Johnson, as she stands under a shade tree, "It's pretty inconvenient."

As for John Austin, "Part of me was thinking, 'Get the U-Haul and get the hell outta' here, (but) I'm staying."

With more than 2.7 million customers in the Houston area, CenterPoint says this kind of scheduled maintenance is a part of keeping the lights, and air conditioning, on long-term, and it will continue to happen. But during extreme heat, like this, the company insists it's trying to minimize how long people are inconvenienced.