power to everyone in Houston.

1. This is far from the strongest storm to hit Houston in recent memory...why such a strain on the power grid now?

2. They appear to be a publicly held company (which is great I guess, less government the better)...BUT, that is very different from other states where it's a public utility that distributes electricity. And I worry no one over there is really being accountable for how energy is distributed.

Anybody know how/if centrepoint works with local government?

I know nothing about how this company operates, but imagine the conflict of interest if they are profiting from these storms. And their footprint in the area is so big that you really have no other choice than to use them.