No state agency is taking responsibility for making sure the privately built lines that power many oil and gas sites are safe. Such lines have been blamed for sparking two recent Panhandle fires.
Emily Foxhall
Emily Foxhall is The Texas Tribune's climate reporter. She joined the Tribune as an energy reporter in December 2022, focused on the state’s transition to green energy and the reliability of the power grid. She completed a year-long Knight Science Journalism Fellowship at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in May 2025. Emily is based in Houston, where she grew up. After a stint as a Tribune student intern in 2012, she began her career at the Los Angeles Times and its community papers. She later worked at the Houston Chronicle where her environmental reporting uncovered the effects of climate change and pollution on the region. She won several Texas Managing Editors awards and was part of the 2017 team that was named a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for breaking news coverage of Hurricane Harvey. Emily graduated from Yale University in 2013, where she studied English and was a Yale Journalism Scholar.
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Energy
CenterPoint CEO promises improvements as Texas scrutinizes company’s Beryl response
Jason Wells told regulators the company will launch a new outage tracker by Aug. 1. It will also trim more tree limbs near power lines and hire an executive to focus on emergency response.
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Hurricane Beryl
Why Texas’ mass power outages continue to happen
Repairing electricity infrastructure after storms usually costs customers. So could strengthening it before the next weather event.
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Hurricane Beryl
Beryl power outage updates: More than 98,000 Texas electricity customers remain without power a week after Beryl
Tens of thousands of households and businesses aren’t expected to have electricity for most of this week.
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Hurricane Beryl
“Get back up and go”: CenterPoint linemen take on a broken grid as Houstonians seethe
Beryl exposed how vulnerable the electric infrastructure is to failure, leaving residents angry and at risk.
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Hurricane Beryl
CenterPoint exudes chaos, but also appears to be restoring power faster than it previously has
According to state filings, the utility is restoring power at a relatively quicker pace than after prior storms. Texans are still fed up.
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Hurricane Beryl
Millions of Texans face third day without power in summer heat
Power companies and Texas officials say restoration efforts could take days. Experts say Texans without electricity are facing a dangerous situation.
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Guides
How to make your Texas home more energy efficient and get money from the government
Federal tax incentives are available to weatherize your house and switch to more energy efficient appliances. Rebates are coming.
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Hurricane Beryl
“Just my luck”: Houston begins clean up after Beryl rips through Gulf Coast
Across the Gulf Coast, fences toppled, awnings ripped, business signs soared away and traffic lights twisted askew.
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Hurricane Beryl
Tropical Storm Beryl is on a path to hit the Texas coast as a hurricane Monday
At least two counties, Nueces and Refugio, have issued mandatory evacuation orders.