TEXAS — Texas lawmakers want to know why prolonged power outages occurred in Houston following Hurricane Beryl in July, and now Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has opened an investigation into what he calls CenterPoint Energy’s “conduct.”

According to a news release from Paxton’s office Monday morning, the utility provider, which services the greater Houston area, may have violated Texas law.

Paxton said allegations to be investigated include “fraud, waste, and improper use of taxpayer-provided funds.”

“My office is aware of concerning allegations regarding CenterPoint and how its conduct affected readiness during Hurricane Beryl, a storm that left millions of Texans without power,” Paxton said in the news release. “If the investigation uncovers unlawful activity, that activity will be met with the full force of the law.”

In late July, Texas Senate lawmakers grilled CenterPoint Executive Vice President Jason Ryan during a special committee examination of the company’s failure to provide a timely outage tracker and an overall lack of preparedness for the hurricane.

“We will do better. While we cannot erase the frustrations and difficulties so many of our customers endured, I and my entire leadership team will not make excuses. We will improve and act with a sense of urgency,” Wells said.

Nearly 3 million people lost power in the Houston area after Beryl, a Category 1 hurricane, made landfall on July 8. At least 36 people died because of heat complications after losing power.

Beryl is the latest natural disaster to hit Houston after a powerful storm ripped through the area in May and left nearly 1 million people without power.