CenterPoint Energy's smart meter deployment creates and retains jobs, from the manufacture, installation, and maintenance of meters; to the construction and maintenance of communications infrastructure; to computer hardware and software. Smart meters create new opportunities for CenterPoint Energy employees, from metering, to telecommunications, to information technology, to business analysis.

As a result of the U.S. Department of Energy selecting CenterPoint Energy for a Smart Grid Investment Grant under the American Reinvestment & Recovery Act, thousands more jobs will be created and retained as the smart meter deployment is accelerated and intelligent grid construction is begun.

Accelerating the smart grid will require the manufacturing and installation of meters, relays, switching gear, and other hardware products. Creating and installing this technology will require a multi-disciplined, labor-intensive effort that will not only create jobs in the near term, but will create a sustainable job market.  New computer hardware and innovative software are also required for the implementation of this new technology.  The development, implementation, and technical assistance required for this advanced technology will create many sustainable positions throughout the information technology sector.

These jobs will fall across a broad spectrum of the labor force. Factory employees will be hired or retained to manufacture more meters and switching gear, software and computer hardware sales will increase, and new employees will be needed to install meters and make necessary modifications to the company’s utility distribution system.

These jobs will be created and preserved across the nation. Due to the geographic diversity of the company’s selected vendors of equipment, job benefits will be preserved or created not only in the Houston area, but in various communities across the nation, from South Carolina to Minnesota.