Sienna Plantation residents fed up over constant power outages

MISSOURI CITY (FOX 26) - It's to the point where Mary Schrier says they're considering moving. The power outages. The power surges. It's getting expensive. It fried a laptop and they had to replace the dishwasher yesterday.

“It's been non-stop for as long as I remember. Since we moved in here but within the last few years. We get nine power surges a day.” She says.

The very latest outage was just last night. That's why CenterPoint energy was repairing a transformer in her back yard.

The people here in Sienna Plantation have complained to CenterPoint energy before. They say they always hear the same thing-- It's squirrels. It's tree branches. But the problem doesn't go away.

Over the phone a CenterPoint spokesperson told us the same thing. While she admitted this neighborhood has been challenging, she insisted that nothing was wrong with the grid in general and their system is not  overloaded.

Kristy Lawler isn't buying it.

“But I'm sorry, does The Woodlands go through this? They have trees and squirrels.That doesn't hold any water. It doesn't have any applicable logic. It's just ...” she says shaking her fists.

She says she's had two transformers blow up and burn in her back yard and her a/c unit fried.

She's started a Facebook page devoted to the power problems in her neighborhood, not just to give people a place to gripe, but to encourage people file complaints with the public utility commission or PUC.   

Within 18 hours almost 500 people joined. One of them was Mary Schrier.

“I can't tell you how many people are fed up.” she said.