Several weeks after Hurricane Ike blew through our area Aaron Clark and his family were at their wits end without electricity.

Clark says his service from CenterPoint Energy just didn’t work.

“Tempers are short, kids are fighting, wife’s on edge and I’m on edge,” said Clark.

Clark’s family got a gas generator.

He said it cost $35 a day to run it.

But even the generator couldn’t run the family’s air conditioning and so, they were outside day after day waiting.

“Everybody’s hot. It’s really starting to disrupt. I don’t know what the problem is,” said Clark.

What’s the problem?

That’s what millions of Houstonians asked as they waited during the massive blackout. But some were asking another question: Did it have to be this bad?

Well, some electricity industry insiders claim the answer is no.

They claim that for years companies like CenterPoint Energy, cut back on basic maintenance of the power grid and that made Houston easy pickings for big problems if a hurricane came a calling.

“The reliability of the system does go down,” said Greg Lucero.

He’s with the Local 66 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers.

Lucero said that at they used to spend more time doing maintenance at CenterPoint.

He said that crews would cut tree branches away from power lines and replace unstable utility poles. 

According to Lucero, CenterPoint started cutting away manpower several years ago.

Greenblatt: “So, you’re losing people?”

Lucero: “Yes sir.”

Greenblatt: “Losing maintenance?”

Lucero: “Yes sir.”

Greenblatt: “…and the electrical grid is growing?”

Lucero: “Yes sir.”

But is it true?

CenterPoint’s own reports to the federal government showed that in 2002 it spent nearly $40 million maintaining overhead lines that bring electricity to your home.

That amount dropped to $37 million four years later.

And by 2007, documents show, the budget got cut again to $34.9 million.

Lucero said those savings came with a big price.

“It can cause increased power outages. It can cause lengthy power outages. It can take longer to fix problems,” said Lucero.

But some like Virginia and Martin Zapalac claim it may have cost them even more.

They inherited a family owned liquor store where they also made a home.

Things changed one February day when a fire tore through everything they had. Nearly $500,000 in inventory.

“I was panicked, scared,” said Virginia Zapalac.

“It couldn’t have been a worse time,” she said.

In a lawsuit, they claim it was a downed power line.

The couple alleges that the line “was not in good repair” because of “negligence” after the electric company “failed to sufficiently maintain said power lines.”

The name of that company is CenterPoint. 

“The lawsuit will solve itself,” said CenterPoint executive Tom Standish.

Greenblatt: The union believes you’ve been cutting maintenance and not spending enough money there.

You disagree?”

Standish: “Absolutely.”

Greenblatt: “In recent years, has CenterPoint shifted its budget downwards for maintenance?”

Standish: “No would be my answer, not in the last couple of years.”

The answer was strange, especially since Federal documents show CenterPoint reported they cut their total maintenance budget last year.

State Representative Garnett Coleman is concerned.

“I think some of the information we’ve heard is quite frankly, P.R. spin,” he said.

“This is ridiculous,” said Coleman.

Ridiculous, especially since there are about 1 million plus wood utility poles that carry our community’s power lines.

“If they’re not maintained, we’re not getting our money’s worth,” said Coleman.

But there is one problem.

You see, before linemen climb a poll they look for squares which mean inspectors found signs of rot inside. And when the poles don’t get replaced and a big storm blows through, they snap, say experts.

It turns out CenterPoint only inspects these poles every 10 years.

And while the company claims only 6,000 went down during Hurricane Ike, if you want to know if a rotted pole remains next to your home? Good luck.

Greenblatt: “Would you share your inspection data with us?”

Standish: “I don’t see there is a real need to do that.”

Greenblatt: “Why not?”

Standish: “It’s corporate data. I don’t think Exxon shares inspection data with you.”

State Representative Scott Hochberg is dismayed.

“CenterPoint has a monopoly on the delivery of power to homes. So they perform in place of government. I can’t imagine them not being willing to provide information,” said Hochberg.

But even state politicians are having a problem.

State Representative Coleman said that when he became concerned over delays in power restoration, he asked the company for a map of our areas substations and he didn’t get an answer.

“I was told that was a homeland security issue,” he said.

Greenblatt: “You’re saying you will not give a map to lawmakers?”

Standish: “That is correct. We will not.”

But recently, CenterPoint handed out the same map to nearly every journalist in Houston.

The company even plastered it on a board for all to see.

Greenblatt: “This is the map of the substations?”

Standish: “Right.”

Greenblatt: “(The map) that you are saying is so secretive and so bad that homeland security won’t let you give it out?”

Standish: “Yes.”

“Sounds like that’s more a matter of job security than homeland security,” said State Representative Hochberg.

He says that he and politicians like Coleman are coming to a conclusion.

“The company is behaving as if it has something to hide,” said Hochberg.

Aaron Clark said he finally get his power 15 days after the hurricane.

As for CenterPoint?

They claim that our numbers on their spending don’t tell the whole story and they say proof they’re doing enough maintenance is just how much of their electrical infrastructure withstood the storm.

They say they didn’t given lawmaker Coleman the map he wanted because they thought he was asking for a much more detailed map of the electrical grid which they didn’t want to release, again, for reasons of homeland security.