Putting Employees First
As the hardships continued, CenterPoint Energy created the Employees 1st Fund to provide aid to employees who were victims of Harvey.

Backing Up Beaumont
Fast-moving flood waters filled with debris caused a leak in a natural gas pipeline in the Neches River in Beaumont, Texas. CenterPoint Energy worked with the City of Beaumont and sent divers to repair the breach, taking extraordinary measures to help ensure the safety of homes and businesses; 18 employees even slept at the local office to accelerate responses for customers.

Launching Our Eyes in the Sky
When the sun finally came out, it shined light on the dire situation in Houston. Damaged equipment was everywhere – much of which was impossible to access due to high water or debris. To help crews identify where they should focus their attention, CenterPoint Energy deployed a fleet of 15 drones to be its eyes in the sky.

Quick Thinking in West Houston
When the City of Houston made the difficult decision to release water from behind the reservoirs, it caused even more flooding in West Houston. When the Memorial substation got nearly eight feet of water, we decided to shut it down and build a temporary substation in the parking lot of St. John Vianney Catholic Church. Within a week, about 4,800 customers had their power restored.

"Always There" is Who We Are
Hundreds of CenterPoint Energy employees, families and friends contributed thousands of volunteer hours, money and goodwill to our ailing communities. CenterPoint Energy ramped up efforts too, including committing $1.25 million to multiple relief organizations. In fact, CenterPoint Energy received the Corporate Philanthropy Award from the Houston Business Journal for our comprehensive community relations programs, in addition to Harvey outreach.

Sending Help to Puerto Rico
Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico as one of the most devastating storms in history. While Puerto Rico isn’t home to CenterPoint Energy’s customers, we felt a strong desire to help. Nearly 140 CenterPoint Energy employees stepped up with thousands of restoration crew members from other utilities across the mainland to help restore power to the devastated island – a challenging effort that included navigating rough terrain, cutting through brush to access downed powerlines and 16-hour days.

Boosting Economic Development
CenterPoint Energy helps boost our local economy and provide support to help add jobs through more than 50 leadership roles across dozens of economic development organizations. All together, these efforts are expected to yield more than 3,000 direct new jobs and $1.8 billion in total economic impact.

The Longest Power Outage in U.S. History
One of the most devastating storms in history left 3.3 million Puerto Rican residents without power — many areas going without it for six or more months.

A Mission Like No Other
Restoring power to a mountainous region like Arecibo, Puerto Rico is completely different than restoring power in the coastal plains of Texas. The mission would require immunizations for Rabies, Typhoid, and Hepatitis B. Teams would be armed with tools and machetes to cut through overgrown brush to access downed powerlines. But after XX weeks of assessing the damage and solidifying a response plan, crews were prepped to depart to Puerto Rico by the year’s end.

A Call That We Were More Than Happy to Answer
Meet some of the employees who offered their time and skills to restore power to Puerto Rico. Listen to what they have to say here.

Above All Else: We're Here to Serve
In addition to CenterPoint Energy’s charitable contributions, employee volunteerism is a major way we give back to the communities we serve across the United States. In 2017, our employees, retirees, families and friends contributed 162,531 hours to their communities, which the Independent Sector equates to approximately $3.5 million in labor.

Volunteering Made Easier (and Smarter)
In 2017, we developed the CNP Cares System – a one-stop, mobile-friendly digital platform for managing volunteer activities. Employees and retirees can easily sign up for volunteer opportunities and track their progress on personal volunteer goals. In addition, CenterPoint Energy recognizes 10 outstanding volunteers of the year.

CenterPoint Energy named in The Civic 50
CenterPoint Energy was listed in the Points of Light Civic 50 — a list of honorees who have set a standard for superior corporate citizenship.

The Civic 50 winners are public and private companies with U.S. operations and revenues of $1 billion or more, and are selected based on four dimensions of their U.S. community engagement program:

• Investment: How extensively and strategically does the company apply its resources to community engagement in the United States? CenterPoint Energy’s in-kind giving was $687,098, which includes pro-bono hours, board service, and office space donations. Its cash donations totaled more than $6.5 million.
• Integration: How does the company integrates its community engagement programs into key business functions? The top ways CenterPoint Energy integrates community engagement includes marketing/PR activities, leadership development, diversity and inclusion programs and employee engagement.
• Institutionalization: How does the company support community engagement through organizational policies, systems and incentives? CenterPoint Energy uses a formal, structured program that collects community feedback and social media comments.
• Impact: How does the company measure the social and business impact of its community engagement program? CenterPoint Energy utilizes both qualitative and quantitative value analysis through surveys, tracking and reporting social media engagement, and stakeholder relations.
• View the full list of The Civic 50 honorees

A Gift That Keeps Giving
We recognize our employees’ commitment to community with a gift that makes an impact elsewhere, too. Through the Give Program, employees who volunteer 40 hours or more are eligible to receive up to $500 for a grant to a nonprofit of their choice.