ABC-TV reports that the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) and Entergy Corporation have been hit with a $100 million lawsuit by Maria Pineda, the mother of an 11-year-old, alleging gross negligence in the death of her child. The child’s Family suspects the child was killed in Texas. The child’s family suspects that the child died of hypothermia when the power to her mobile Home went out during a historic ice storm in Texas.
Pineda filed a wrongful death lawsuit in Jefferson County District Court, alleging that the utility giant “ignored proposals to retrofit the power grid at the expense of the people, which ultimately led to failure. More than 4 million customers have been without power over the past week as parts of the state plummeted to single-digit to zero degrees.
Christian Pineda, 11, died in her mobile home in the Houston suburb of Conroe on the 16th while sharing a bed with her three-year-old brother and covered with blankets to keep warm, the lawsuit says.
Maria told the Houston Chronicle that Christian, who immigrated to the United States with his family two years ago, was a healthy boy who had been playing in the snow the day before he died.
When her son was found unresponsive the next day, CPR was performed and 911 was called, she said.
According to the Conroe Police Department, the family is awaiting final autopsy results, although they believe the child died of freezing and loss of heat.
Entergy issued a statement noting that it “deeply regrets this incident in our community, but the lawsuit is pending and cannot be commented on.”
Officials at ERCOT, which has more than 25 million customers, said the agency had taken drastic action to avoid catastrophic power outages after storms swept through much of Texas on Feb. 15, dropping temperatures below freezing.
However, Anthony Buzbee, an attorney representing Maria, argued that the outages were “for the people most susceptible to the cold,” the lawsuit reads, “while the downtown Houston office buildings were empty but had power, there was no power in Pineda’s mobile home. “
The lawsuit alleges that the Pineda’s home was without power for two days and the temperature inside plummeted to ten degrees.
The lawsuit also alleges that after the 2011 winter storm, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and the North American Electric Reliability Corporation issued a report notifying ERCOT that “additional winter modifications must be made to the Texas electric infrastructure.”
The lawsuit cites reports that a large number of units tripped or failed to start during the 2011 storm, indicating that generators did not adequately anticipate the full impact of the cold weather and strong winds. Instead of investing in infrastructure, suppliers chose to put profits ahead of people’s well-being.
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