HOUSTON — A lawsuit has been filed against CenterPoint Energy demanding the company pay for property damage and other things, like lost food, during the extended power outages after Beryl hit Southeast Texas.
It's been a message heard from a lot of people in the Houston area: CenterPoint deserves to pay.
The class-action lawsuit is 34 pages long and was filed on behalf of residents who dealt with the power outages for days.
Two of the attorneys handling the lawsuit said they're doing it because someone has to take on the big power company and fight for the little people.
It has been a tough 12 days in Houston with many having to deal with power outages that lasted a week or longer.
"Everyone had one thing in common, they had to throw out their freezers full of food," attorney Sarah Jessica Givens said.
That's one of the reasons the attorneys at Fertitta & Givens, PLLC, said they are going after CenterPoint.
"We're seeking monetary compensation for those who had to throw food away from their freezer," attorney Michael Fertitta said.
The lawsuit was filed this week, and in it, the attorneys lay out the issues a lot of Houstonians had to deal with.
The lawsuit cites research that claims to show CenterPoint failed to prepare its system for a storm like Beryl.
Whisker Labs places small devices in homes meant to prevent electrical fires, but it also tracks power.
"Each sensor takes 30 million measurements every second. When there is a problem on the grid, many homes see the problem across the area," Whisker Labs CEO Bob Marshall said.
Marshall said the sensors showed that CenterPoint had one of the most unstable grids in the country despite being in a hurricane-prone area.
"The grid shows that it is challenged in Houston -- more power outages than any other grid in the country. ... Amongst the highest power surges and power brownouts," he said.
The attorneys are hoping their lawsuit will lead to change.
"You have to get ahead of these problems, prevent these issues, don't let them happen in the first place. If you do, you are going to have to take care of your customers," Givens said.
Three plaintiffs were named in the lawsuit, but the attorneys said they have dozens more who want to sign on.
When asked for a comment, CenterPoint said it doesn't comment on pending litigation.