At CenterPoint Energy, we have a proud, rich tradition of improving our communities. We work hard to be active, engaged partners with the towns and cities we serve.

Opening New Paths
An agreement with the city of Houston will allow the creation of new hike and bike trails along nearly 400 miles of electric transmission corridors, opening urban green space for public use.

Planting for Reliability
With our Right Tree, Right Place program, we educate consumers about tree-planting practices to enhance reliability by minimizing the number of outages caused by trees.
In Houston, we’re working with the city to convert all 165,000 of its streetlights to more energy-efficient LED lights. We’re also partnering with the city to construct hike and bike trails in and along CenterPoint Energy’s rights-of-way. In Arkansas, Minnesota, Mississippi, and Oklahoma, we awarded more than $14 million in rebates in 2014 for energy-efficient natural gas appliances through our conservation improvement programs.
In all of the communities we serve, we partner with the United Way. Together, the company and employees last year gave $2.8 million that will directly benefit local nonprofit organizations.
We recognize that education is one of the keys to creating a brighter future. We work with Junior Achievement to foster work-readiness, entrepreneurship and financial literacy skills. We also provide energy educational resources to teachers, and many of our employees volunteer in the classroom or mentor students.
To promote a balance between environmental responsibility and reliable electric service, we educate consumers about tree-planting practices to help minimize the number of outages caused by tree interference. In 2014, CenterPoint Energy donated more than 4,100 powerline-friendly trees in the Houston region.
Last year, our employees and retirees, along with friends and family, generously donated more than 215,000 hours of their time to worthy causes throughout our service territory. This volunteer service has an estimated value of $4.8 million, according to the Independent Sector organization.
In December 2014, CenterPoint Energy was named one of the nation’s 50 most community- minded companies, and the top U.S. utility, by Points of Light in partnership with Bloomberg, LP. The Civic 50 award is a tremendous honor, one made possible by the extraordinary dedication of our employees and the constructive relationships we’ve built over the years with our regulators, local governments and community organizations.
Community Awards & Recognition
- The Civic 50 (Utilities Sector Leader), Points of Light and Bloomberg
- Junior Achievement Bronze Leadership Award
- Public Service Award, National Weather Association
- Supplier Diversity Award, D-Mars.com
- Innovation Award, Keep Texas Beautiful
- Summit/Volunteer Business of the Year, Junior Achievement – Arkansas
- Statewide Volunteer of the Year Award, Habitat for Humanity – Texas
- Outstanding Community Volunteer, Boys and Girls Harbor Inc
- Outstanding Sponsor Award, Memorial Blood Centers – Minnesota
- 2014 Champions for Children, Children’s Defense Fund
- Project of the Year Award, Houston Urban Forestry Council
- JDRF 20 Yr Award, Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation