Houston Daily

A new survey from the University of Houston’s Hobby School of Public Affairs indicates that most Harris County voters are concerned about the possibility of power outages, wind damage, and flooding during this year’s hurricane season. The survey found that 88% of registered voters in Harris County worry about an electricity outage lasting longer than a day occurring this summer. Of those, 42% described themselves as “very worried,” while 27% said they were “moderately worried” and 19% reported being “a little worried.”

The survey also shows that concerns about high winds and flooding remain significant. About 85% of respondents expressed worry about wind damage to their homes later in the year, with varying degrees of concern. Additionally, 71% indicated they are worried their homes could flood this summer.

The report highlights a lack of confidence in CenterPoint Energy, the utility company responsible for electricity distribution in the region. Only 33% of those surveyed have a favorable opinion of CenterPoint Energy, compared to 63% who view it unfavorably.

Renée Cross, senior executive director at the Hobby School and one of the principal investigators, said recent history has contributed to ongoing anxiety among residents. “Eight years after Hurricane Harvey, people are still worried about their homes flooding,” Cross said. “Even more are worried about damage from high winds. Yet an extended power outage remains the top concern, with 88% of respondents worried that an outage could last longer than a day this summer.”

Mark P. Jones, political science fellow at Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy and senior research fellow at the Hobby School, commented on public perceptions regarding efforts by CenterPoint Energy to improve grid resilience. “CenterPoint has announced an initiative to harden the electric grid so it can better withstand hurricanes and other severe weather, but just 7% of voters feel the company has made a great deal of progress,” Jones said. “More than one-fourth, or 26%, don’t think CenterPoint has made any progress toward that goal, and another 44% think they’ve only made a little bit of progress over the past year.”

Survey participants were asked specifically about their views on CenterPoint’s progress: only 7% felt there had been a great deal accomplished in strengthening the grid against storms; another quarter saw a fair amount done; but nearly half (44%) thought there had been only minimal progress; and over a quarter (26%) saw no progress at all.

The survey was conducted between July 9-18 among registered voters in Harris County in both English and Spanish. The margin of error is plus or minus 2.04%. Additional information on related topics such as local elections and attitudes toward sports venues is available in previous reports from the Hobby School series.