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CenterPoint blames NW Harris County power outages on 'wildlife interference'

Residents in northwest Harris County are fed up with the constant power outages.

CYPRESS, Texas — People who live in northwest Harris County told KHOU 11 News their power has been temporarily going on and off for weeks and they're frustrated they haven't been able to get answers about the power surges.

“It was literally like someone was messing with the lights," resident Shyqua Nutall said.

Her mom had just made it home from surgery and just when she needed the lights on, they weren't.

“The lights just clicked off ... there must be something going on you know," Janie Nutall said.

They wondered what it could be. She had to toss out the TV. Her microwave still doesn’t work and some outlets are no good.

However, she’s not alone.

“Every few days we’ve been getting these power outages that last a few seconds at a time," Mark Wales said.

The disruptions make working from home frustrating for Wales and his wife. They have outlets out, too. The outages have even affected watching the Astros.

“I missed the first five innings ... this was the 18-inning game," Wales said.

KHOU 11 has heard from more than a dozen neighbors in three ZIP codes experiencing what they call micro power surges.

  • 77433
  • 77095
  • 77084

“We’ve not really been given any communication, so it’s been quite difficult," Wales said.

CenterPoint Energy issued this statement: 

"We are aware of these momentary interruptions in these referenced ZIP codes and we apologize for any inconvenience. Wildlife interference on a transmission line has been identified as a contributing factor to these interruptions. CenterPoint Energy is taking steps to address the interruptions, and in fact, work was done last week that should help mitigate them. In addition, some tree trimming activities are expected to take place beginning on Nov. 11 in these areas to further improve reliability."

When KHOU 11 asked what wildlife they were referring to, CenterPoint said it was buzzards.

“We get lots of wildlife, but I’ve never seen any buzzards," Wales said.

CenterPoint said it's working to fix the problem and will be trimming trees to see if that helps.

Nutall said that after coming home from the hospital, it’s the last thing she needs to deal with.

“Whatever the problem is, they really need to fix it," she said.

KHOU 11 News asked CenterPoint if they offer financial help for damaged appliances. They said they do have a claims process. You can find the information here.

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