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OFFICE OF THE MAYOR PO Box 779 | Galveston, TX 77553-0779 [email protected] | 409.797.3510

February 16, 2021

The Honorable Office of the P. O. Box 12428 Austin, TX 78711-2428

Dear Governor Abbott:

This past year has been one of unprecedented events that have been devastating for some and at best, disrupting and costly for many others. Here in Galveston we have experienced these events as well as being subjected in 2020 to the effects of the most active Hurricane Season ever recorded.

Recently and its Cities have endured the effects of yet another unprecedented deadly event, a record setting Winter Storm.

This Winter Storm was similar to Hurricanes in the sense that with Hurricanes there is a limited opportunity to plan a response. The Winter Storm was not a surprise, it was a predicted event with notice even longer associated with a Hurricane.

To the best of our information, which is quite hard to come by, CenterPoint Energy in with the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) made decisions to turn off the electricity to 90+ percent of our community. This disruption in the midst of life-threatening cold was, as we understand it, to prevent a collapse of the energy grid for the State.

We here in Galveston understand the need to sacrifice in time of hardships and we remain ready to participate with solutions for the benefit of the whole. However, we have citizens living in houses with no heat where the temperature in the house is below 32 degrees. They have no water because of frozen pipes. This event will be an economic disaster for those already struggling due to the Pandemic. This all could have been avoided with some forethought and planning. One would have thought that would have occurred by now. But yet, my citizens awake again with no power and no information when it will be restored. It is outrageous that the flawed decision making, lack of communication, and lack of oversight has placed this unbearable hardship on the citizens of Galveston. Frankly, this is ridiculous.

Representatives of CenterPoint and ERCOT appear unable to do anything other than point fingers at each other. Their lack of coordination has resulted in a permanent blackout to the vast majority of our community. We repeatedly requested that each agency work with us to restore power or at a minimum institute a rolling blackout, or other methods of energy conservation to prevent our city from being consistently without power.

The Honorable Greg Abbott Page 2

This cavalier lack of planning to equitably balance the energy reductions and factual communication was easily preventable. The decisions of these two organizations have caused unnecessary suffering, destruction, and loss of property for the citizens of Galveston. We are looking to you, Governor, to bring these entities to the table immediately and resolve this situation.

Governor, on behalf of the citizens of Galveston I request:

* That you urge ERCOT and CenterPoint to immediately contact the City of Galveston and restore the electricity to the City and if complete restoration is not possible at once, to work with us to stage rolling blackouts and sequential resumption of power that would be in keeping with the health and safety of our residents.

* That your office Order an investigation into the policies of the entities involved that created this situation and develop a plan to prevent its recurrence.

* That a system of financial restitution be made available to the citizens that had destruction, property damage, or any other forms of physical loss as a result of these continual power outages.

We understand that decisions are difficult concerning events of this type; however, the unwillingness of either entity to communicate the facts have placed the life and safety of Galveston residents at immediate risk. Much of the suffering currently being experienced by Galveston residents could have been prevented by honest communication and an equitable strategy of energy consumption. The actions of ERCOT and CenterPoint are totally unacceptable and bear the closest scrutiny.

City leadership is available at any time to assist in developing strategies and policies that prevent the recurrence of this type of event in the future. We must work collectively to provide for the safety and security of our citizens statewide as well as locally.

Sincerely,

Craig Brown, Mayor

cc: The Honorable Lieutenant Governor of Texas Texas Capitol P. O. Box 12068 Austin, TX 78711

The Honorable Speaker of the House of Representatives Texas Capitol, Room 2W.13 P. O. Box 2910 Austin, TX 78768

The Honorable Greg Abbott Page 3

The Honorable 517 Hart Senate Office Building Washington, D.C. 20510

The Honorable United States Senate 127A Russell Senate Office Building Washington, D.C. 20510

The Honorable Randy Weber United States House of Representatives 107 Cannon House Office Building Washington, D.C. 20515

The Honorable Larry Taylor Texas State Senate 174 Calder Road, Suite 151 League City, TX 77573

The Honorable Brandon Creighton Texas State Senate 350 Pine Street, Suite 1450 Beaumont, TX 77701

The Honorable Dr. Greg Bonnen Texas House of Representatives 174 Calder Road, Suite 116 League City, Texas 77573

The Honorable Mayes Middleton Texas House of Representatives 2101 Mechanic Street, Suite 245 Galveston, TX 77550