Facing death threats against utility workers, a CenterPoint Energy staging area had to shut down and relocate last summer, delaying restoration of power after Hurricane Beryl left more than 2 million Greater Houston residents without electricity.
A lineman was shot at with a BB gun and others were attacked verbally, giving Houston a bad reputation and potentially prompting mutual aid workers to decline future invitations to assist, officials testified during a Senate committee hearing Tuesday.
Senate Bill 482, filed by Sen. Carol Alvarado, D-Houston, aims to ensure that linemen would have the same protection as first responders and that their attackers would have stiffer criminal penalties. The legislation advanced unanimously out of committee and is headed for a vote on the Senate floor. Rep. Sam Harless, R-Spring, is carrying the bill for the Texas House.
If SB 482 becomes law, assault on a lineman would be elevated to a third-degree felony and harassment becomes a Class A misdemeanor when offenses are committed while a lineman is working during a declared disaster or in areas under evacuation orders. It also applies to pipeline workers and those in the telecommunications industry, Alvarado said.
Sam Chang, director and general counsel for CenterPoint Energy, outlined some of the threats made against utility workers after Hurricane Beryl, when about 12,000 linemen came from other locations to help restore power.
“Unfortunately, there were some incidents where worker safety was threatened and restoration was impeded,” Chang said. “Our staging site at Barnett Stadium had to be relocated due to a credible threat of a drive-by shooting. We had another employee who was threatened with a gun by a member of society and that caused the relocation of 100 mutual assistance workers to somewhere else. And finally, we had a utility worker shot at with a BB gun by someone in the public.
“We’re concerned that these high-profile incidents have a chilling effect on mutual assistance workers’ willingness to come help us in the future,” he continued. “Just as CenterPoint Energy would not want to put its employees and contractors in unsafe areas, our mutual assistance partners likewise would not want to do so either.”
Alvarado said she and other elected officials served on a task force commissioned by Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick after Beryl and heard horror stories about utility workers facing harassment and assault.
“These linemen come voluntarily,” she said. “Some of them are coming from out of state. If they feel the risks are too great, they can simply go home. As natural disasters like Beryl become more common, it is essential that we demonstrate our commitment to keeping them safe. When they are here for us, we are going to be there for them.”
Donny Mayo, representing the 5,000-member International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers in Houston and South Texas, reiterated that the crews staged at Bartlett Stadium said they were going home once they heard about the possible drive-by shooting “if we couldn’t do something for them.”
“We had to move them roughly 15 miles farther away from the work area,” he said. “That takes them longer to travel back into town to where they’re going to work, which slows everything down. Our linemen are out there busting their butts to get the power back on for these people. We need to protect them when they’re out there.”
Taylor Kilroy, executive director of the Texas Public Power Association, said he feared future mutual aid agreements could be in jeopardy.
“During Hurricanes Helene and Milton, which devastated Florida and Georgia, we were able to send crews out, including from Kerrville and from Denton, to help those small systems recover,” Kilroy said. “During Beryl, we were also able to send out crews to help some of our East Texas towns. Without a doubt, without exception, our crews were treated with the utmost respect and appreciation. However, in Houston during Beryl, that was absolutely not the case. Stories of utility workers being robbed at gunpoint, or otherwise threatened, quickly traveled across the industry and I’ve been told by my counterparts that it would be a very hard sell to send utility crews for mutual aid response to Texas in the future.
“To be frank, I am very worried about the next natural disaster and I am not confident today that we’ll be able to procure enough mutual aid response to get people powered on as soon as possible.”
Alvarado pre-filed a package of six “Beryl Bills” that has been championed by lawmakers on both sides of the aisle. Two of the six bills have already died in committee, but officials say SB 482 is likely to sail through. The legislative session ends June 2.
Kilroy said utility workers who participate in mutual aid are already leaving their homes and families to drive into a disaster zone. SB 482 gives them a guarantee that Texas wants to protect them, he said.
“The work is already dangerous enough without the potential for threats and injury from the people they’re there to help,” he said. “SB 482 serves as a powerful message that the kind of behavior we saw during the Beryl response will not be tolerated.”
Alvarado said Tuesday she understands the frustration of those who need their utilities restored in a timely manner, but attacking the workers doesn’t make that happen any faster.
“Many of us went on our social media during Beryl to ask the public to stop harassing, stop assaulting these linemen,” Alvarado said. “We understand if you’re upset with corporate folks but these are the front linemen who are restoring power. By assaulting them, by attacking them, you’re delaying getting your power turned back on.”
