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Texas TDUs may be permitted, and moreover obligated, to have more interaction and communication with retail electric customers as the Texas PUC evaluates improvements in the aftermath of Hurricane Beryl.  

See link to July 25th PUCT Open Meeting here.   (See items 32, 7 and 33.)   

Speaking before the PUC, Tony Gardner, CEHE’s Chief Customer Officer, said, “We may ask you all to change policy so that we can get contact information from our REPs,” so that the number of customers to which CEHE may push power alert messages is increased.

In discussing its communication efforts after the storm, CenterPoint Energy Houston Electric (CEHE) said during Texas PUC open meeting that CEHE has contact info for only about 42% of its customers.

CEHE noted that it obtains such information if the customer signs up for CEHE’s power alert service, which provides notices about outages and other service issues, or if the customer’s retail electric provider agrees to provide the customer’s contact information to CEHE.

Gardner said that while some REPs may share the information currently, CEHE is at the “mercy of the market,” and that CEHE may need the PUC to give a “push” for CEHE to obtain and maintain more customer information.

Gardner stressed that any such customer information would only be used in emergencies to inform customers and help customers respond and make decisions in light of the system’s current status. The information would not be used for marketing purposes.

During a discussion of customer communications, Commissioner Jimmy Glotfelty stressed that CEHE’s customers, “are your customers.”

“The fact that you all don’t have contact with all of the customers, I think is [pause] You all have equipment on their premises, so they are your customers, and if you don’t have the information [of] your customers, then that’s your fault,” Glotfelty said, while later noting the challenges faced by a TDU in interacting with a customer given how Texas has implemented restructuring.

“And I know you want to change that, and I know, as we’ve restructured this industry, most of the contact has gone to the retail electric provider. You all are still the bread and butter of Houston, Texas, distributing electricity. So I hope you all find a way to become critical to your customers,” Glotfelty said.

Commissioner Kathleen Jackson highlighted the importance of active communication from the TDU to customers, not just passively relying on customers visiting the TDU’s online outage tracker.

Jackson agreed that the issue of CEHE getting the contact information of their customers’ needs to be addressed and resolved.

Project No.   56822
Investigation of Emergency Preparedness and Response by Utilities in Houston and Surrounding Communities. 

See also: Project No. 56793
Issues related to the Disaster Resulting from Hurricane Beryl.