With memories still fresh about prolonged power outages following two destructive storms earlier this year, Harris County residents overwhelmingly favor tougher state rules requiring CenterPoint Energy and other utilities to better prepare for future storms.
Key Findings
- 86% say CenterPoint should cover the entire $800 million lease of mobile generators that sat unused during recent outages, reimbursing ratepayers for the portion that already has been collected.
- More than 80% support legislation giving the Public Utility Commission of Texas additional authority to require CenterPoint and other electric utilities to harden their systems against storm damage.
- Almost half of Harris County residents surveyed said they are considering leaving the Houston metro area, with 70% saying the weather is a reason.
A survey of Harris County likely voters by the Hobby School of Public Affairs at the University of Houston also found 86% support legislation requiring CenterPoint to pay out of its own coffers for an $800 million lease of mobile generators that weren't deployed during the most recent sustained outages – 65% strongly support legislation ordering the utility to repay ratepayers for money already collected for the lease, while just 1% strongly oppose ordering the repayment.
Overall, concerns about the reliability of electricity service ranked at the top of a dozen issues facing the county, with 36% listing it among the three issues they worry about the most.
"People are frustrated, worried and angry," said Renée Cross, a researcher on the project and senior executive director at the Hobby School. "Electricity service reliability was identified as the most pressing concern in Harris County, along with hot-button issues such as property taxes, housing affordability and flooding. And they want both regulators and legislators to do something about it."
"People are frustrated, worried and angry."
- Renée Cross, researcher and senior executive director at the Hobby School
Almost half, or 48%, said they have considered moving out of the Houston metro region; of those, 70% say the weather is a reason.
Mark P. Jones, political science fellow at Rice University's Baker Institute for Public Policy and senior research fellow at the Hobby School, said researchers found the scathing criticism of CenterPoint cut across the partisan and demographic fault lines that split so much of the current discourse.
"Democrats and Republicans disagree on whether Kamala Harris or Donald Trump should be president, but they are unified in their support for legislation requiring CenterPoint to cover the cost, from its own profits, for the generators it hasn't used, with 88% of Democrats and 86% of Republicans supporting this legislation," Jones said.
He also noted that 85% of women and 87% of men support the proposed legislation, as do more than 80% of white, Latino and Black voters.
Among the report's additional findings:
- 36% listed electricity service reliability as a top three concern among issues affecting Harris County, followed by property taxes (33%), housing affordability (32%) and flooding (30%).
- 82% support legislation giving the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUCT) more authority to require CenterPoint and other utilities to harden their systems against storm damage. 57% strongly support such legislation.
- 23% said the quality of life in the Houston metro region is better than that in other major U.S. metro areas, while 37% said it was equal to that in other metropolises. 21% said it is worse, and 19% were unsure.
The full report is available on the Hobby School website. The survey was conducted between Sept. 26 and Oct. 10 in English and Spanish. The margin of error is +/-4.42% for the Harris County sample. Earlier reports in the Texas Votes series covered the 2024 statewide and Harris County elections and voters' opinions about elections and democracy.
Story by Jeannie Kever
