HOUSTON — Power outages for CenterPoint customers peaked at 2.26 million. Exactly a week after Hurricane Beryl made landfall in Texas, 200,000 customers had yet to have their power restored.
Multiple posts on social media claimed the power could have been back on sooner if it were not for issues over pay. One post emailed to the KHOU 11 Verify Team dozens of times claimed power crews also had to come out of pocket for expenses while waiting to get to work in Texas.
THE QUESTION
Is the viral post claiming power crews are not working real?
THE SOURCES
THE ANSWER
A viral post claiming power crews were not working over pay negotiations is false.
WHAT WE FOUND
According to KHOU 11 Verify Team sources, negotiations between power crews and companies do not happen while a disaster is ongoing. Scott Aaronson, Vice President of security and preparedness at Edison Electric Insitute (EEI) said, "... electric companies -- before a storm ever happens, they have standing, contract standing agreements with a lot of different contracting organizations and with their peer utilities."
Houston's local electric worker's union said in a statement to the KHOU 11 Verify Team, “All union employees working for CNP via a contractor are working under Terms and Conditions of the NECA collective bargaining agreement, which expires in 2025. Therefore, there is no active negotiations for those union employees.”
Days after KHOU 11 asked CenterPoint about the social media post, the power company directly addressed the misinformation inside the social media post saying, "Crews have not and are not being held back due to negotiations on pay. The company reimburses for all costs incurred to provide the assistance, including wages."