CenterPoint Energy makes significant progress restoring power after tornado impacts service area
2023-01-25T06:00:00Z

Houston – Jan. 25, 2023 – Following yesterday's extreme weather and tornado that impacted several communities in the greater Houston area, including Baytown, Deer Park and Pasadena, CenterPoint Energy continues to make significant progress in restoring power to affected customers.

  • Tornado caused significant damage to company's electric system in southeast Houston, including Baytown, Deer Park and Pasadena
  • Crews working around-the-clock to restore service to impacted customers as safely and quickly as possible
  • Depending on damage, some customers may need to make repairs to their customer-owned equipment before they can receive electric service
  • Before cleaning debris, customers should call 811 to locate underground natural gas lines and other underground utility lines


Assessments of CenterPoint Energy's electric system will be substantially completed today, and the company expects its customer outage numbers to continue to decline. As of 2 p.m. today, CenterPoint Energy has restored power to more than 163,000 customers in the past 24 hours. The company also expects to have the majority of the remaining customer outages restored by the end of the day tomorrow. In southeast Houston, due to the significant damage that will take time to repair, restoration work will be essentially complete by the end of the day Sunday, with some isolated outages addressed thereafter.

"Thanks to our dedicated crews who have been working around-the-clock, we have made outstanding progress safely restoring service to our customers. As we complete our system damage assessments, we are finding significant and complex damage to our infrastructure, including more than 150 damaged electric poles that need to be replaced," said Lynnae Wilson, Senior Vice President, Electric Utility at CenterPoint Energy. "We appreciate our customers' continued patience and understanding as we work to address the more challenging outage issues caused by the tornado's extensive damage to our electrical infrastructure in southeast Houston."  

Brad Tutunjian, Vice President, Distribution Operations and Service Delivery at CenterPoint Energy, added, "CenterPoint Energy is collaborating with contract crew resources to bolster our restoration efforts. These additional crews from surrounding areas are arriving today and will work with our team to make necessary repairs to restore service to impacted customers as safely and quickly as possible."

In addition to damaging CenterPoint Energy's electric infrastructure and equipment, severe weather may have caused damage to customer-owned equipment. Customers should check their weatherhead, the point where power enters the home through an electric service drop, which is often a pipe located on the side of the residence or building. If the equipment is damaged, customers will need to contact a qualified electrician to make repairs before the company is able to restore service to them. 

CenterPoint Energy urges customers to always stay at least 35 feet away from downed power lines and report them to the company at 713-207-2222. For latest information on power outages*:

 


*Please note: Restoration times may be delayed as crews continue to assess damages.

The company's natural gas system fared well. Natural gas crews will continue to address natural gas issues found during system assessments. If customers smell the "rotten egg" odor of natural gas, they should immediately leave on foot, go to a safe location and call both 911 and CenterPoint Energy at 713-659-2111 or 888-876-5786.

In addition, before cleaning debris, digging on their property or to locate underground natural gas lines and other underground utility lines, customers should call 811, the nationwide Call Before You Dig number. 

"The greater Houston area is home to the CenterPoint Energy crews and support personnel who are working hard to get our customers' power back on," added Wilson. "I want to thank all the first responders, emergency personnel, elected officials, nonprofit organizations, and neighbors who are answering the calls to help those in need." 



 Recent News

 

 
CenterPoint Energy Declares Regular Common Stock Dividend of $0.2200

HOUSTON, July 17, 2025 - CenterPoint Energy, Inc.'s (NYSE: CNP) Board of Directors today declared a regular quarterly cash dividend of $0.2200 per share on the issued and outstanding shares of Common Stock payable on September 11, 2025, to shareholders of record at the close of business on August 21, 2025.

About CenterPoint Energy, Inc.
CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE: CNP) is a multi-state electric and natural gas delivery company serving approximately 7 million metered customers across Indiana, Minnesota, Ohio, and Texas. The company is headquartered in Houston and is the only Texas-domiciled investor-owned utility. As of March 31, 2025, the company had approximately $44 billion in assets. With approximately 8,300 employees, CenterPoint Energy and its predecessor companies have been serving customers for more than 150 years.

For more information, contact
Communications
Media.Relations@CenterPointEnergy.com

SOURCE CenterPoint Energy, Inc

CenterPoint Energy remains vigilant and continues to assess progress of Invest 93L in northeastern Gulf
  • Current projections indicate low potential development into a tropical depression or tropical storm
  • No significant impacts expected in CenterPoint's Greater Houston service area beyond scattered thunderstorms on Friday and Saturday
  • Customers and the public are encouraged to sign up for Power Alert Service to receive updates about friends, family and community locations

HOUSTON, July 16, 2025 - CenterPoint Energy's Meteorology, Emergency Planning & Response, and Electric Operations teams continue to remain vigilant and track the low-pressure system designated as Invest 93L as it moves along the coast of the Florida Panhandle.

Current weather models continue to project a low likelihood of the storm developing into a tropical depression or low-end tropical storm. While there is still a possibility of heavy rains and isolated showers, overall impacts to CenterPoint Energy's Greater Houston service area are expected to remain minimal. Any weather impacts would likely be rain-related on Friday and Saturday.

Should the disturbance organize, gain strength, or if model forecasts align on a different track, CenterPoint will take further action.

"CenterPoint's meteorology team continues to monitor the system as it moves northward across the Florida Peninsula. Based on the latest data, the threat remains low for the Greater Houston area," said Matt Lanza, CenterPoint's Manager of Meteorology. "While we are not expecting major impacts, we will continue to assess the system and coordinate response efforts as necessary."

CenterPoint's summer storm readiness plan
The actions CenterPoint may take to prepare and respond to storms this summer include: 

  • Mobilizing vegetation management workers: Deploying local and contract personnel to clear hazardous vegetation from power lines in the Greater Houston area ahead of storm landfall to prevent outages. 
  • Coordinating with government officials: Providing regular updates to federal, state, county and city officials about our pre-storm activities and readiness posture. 
  • Conducting outreach to critical care customers: Reaching out to identified Critical Care Residential and Chronic Condition Residential electric customers by email, phone or text.
  • Sharing information and updates: Providing safety and preparedness information directly with customers via email, phone or text, across social media platforms and other channels to keep customers informed and prepared.
  • Organizing additional call center staffing: Securing additional call center staff to handle a higher volume of calls during the storm and limit wait times.

Actions since Hurricane Beryl: Greater Houston Resiliency Initiative
Since launching GHRI following Hurricane Beryl last summer, CenterPoint executed a historic series of critical resiliency improvements across the company's 12-county Greater Houston area service territory. The company completed the following actions:

  • Installed or replaced more than 26,000 stronger, more storm-resilient poles built to withstand extreme winds;
  • Undergrounded more than 400 miles of power lines to improve overall resiliency;
  • Installed more than 5,150 additional automated reliability devices and intelligent grid switching devices to reduce the impact of outages and improve restoration times;
  • Cleared more than 6,000 miles of higher-risk vegetation near power lines to reduce storm-related outages;
  • Installed more than 100 weather stations across our service territory to improve situational awareness and storm preparation;
  • Donated 21 backup generators to critical facilities across the company's 12-county service area; and
  • Launched a new and improved, cloud-based Outage Tracker to provide real-time updates on outages and restoration efforts in English and Spanish.

Important weather station facts and locations
CenterPoint has installed over 100 weather monitoring stations ahead of the Atlantic hurricane season. The weather monitoring stations were installed in strategic locations across CenterPoint's 12-county Greater Houston area electric service territory. The devices take measurements every 2-5 minutes, including humidity levels, wind speed, temperature, and rainfall.

For more information on CenterPoint's GHRI actions and improvements ahead of hurricane season, visit CenterPointEnergy.com/TakingAction.

Sign-up for Power Alert Service to get updates about family and friends
CenterPoint electric customers are encouraged to enroll in the company's Power Alert Service® to receive outage details, estimated restoration times and customer-specific restoration updates via phone call, text or email. Customers can add up to five additional email addresses or phone numbers to allow family and friends to receive outage information. 

CenterPoint encourages all customers to have a plan to stay safe
CenterPoint is encouraging all of its customers to prepare and have a plan to stay safe during this week's weather. Customers can get storm-related safety tips at CenterPointEnergy.com/ActionCenter — available in English, Spanish and Vietnamese.

Customers can also stay up to date on outages with CenterPoint's new and improved, cloud-based Outage Tracker, now available in English and Spanish. The Outage Tracker is built to handle increased traffic during storms, is mobile-friendly, accessible, and allows customers to see outages by county, city and zip code.

For the latest updates, follow CenterPoint on X and visit CenterPointEnergy.com/ActionCenter. 

About CenterPoint Energy, Inc.
CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE: CNP) is a multi-state electric and natural gas delivery company serving approximately 7 million metered customers across Indiana, Minnesota, Ohio, and Texas. The company is headquartered in Houston and is the only Texas-domiciled investor-owned utility. As of March 31, 2025, the company had approximately $44 billion in assets. With approximately 8,300 employees, CenterPoint Energy and its predecessor companies have been serving customers for more than 150 years. For more information, visit CenterPointEnergy.com.

For more information, contact:
Communications
Media.Relations@CenterPointEnergy.com 

SOURCE CenterPoint Energy

CenterPoint Energy continues to monitor Invest 93L in northeastern Gulf
  • Current projections indicate low potential development into a tropical depression or tropical storm
  • No significant impacts expected in CenterPoint's Greater Houston service area beyond rain on Friday and Saturday
  • Customers and the public are encouraged to sign-up for Power Alert Service to receive updates about friends, family and community locations

HOUSTON, July 15, 2025 - CenterPoint Energy's Meteorology, Emergency Planning & Response, and Electric Operations teams continue to monitor the low-pressure system offshore of Florida's east coast, now designated as Invest 93L, as it moves across Florida toward the Gulf.

According to current weather models, the storm is expected to remain relatively weak but could develop into a tropical depression or a low-end tropical storm before making a projected landfall in Central or Western Louisiana by the end of the week. Rain and localized flash flooding are possible in the Greater Houston area on Friday and Saturday.

Should the disturbance continue to organize, gain strength, and if model forecasts align on a different track, CenterPoint will take further action.

"CenterPoint's meteorology team continues to monitor activity across the Gulf, including Invest 93L as it moves westward across the Florida Peninsula," said Matt Lanza, CenterPoint's Manager of Meteorology. "We project a low likelihood that this storm could become a tropical depression or tropical storm later this week and are prepared to respond accordingly. Impacts to the Greater Houston area are currently expected to be minimal beyond some isolated heavy rains and localized flash flooding."

CenterPoint's summer storm readiness plan 

The actions CenterPoint may take to prepare and respond to storms this summer include: 

  • Mobilizing vegetation management workers: Deploying local and contract personnel to clear hazardous vegetation from power lines in the Greater Houston area ahead of storm landfall to prevent outages. 
  • Coordinating with government officials: Providing regular updates to federal, state, county and city officials about our pre-storm activities and readiness posture. 
  • Conducting outreach to critical care customers: Reaching out to identified Critical Care Residential and Chronic Condition Residential electric customers by email, phone or text.  
  • Sharing information and updates: Providing safety and preparedness information directly with customers via email, phone or text, across social media platforms and other channels to keep customers informed and prepared.   
  • Organizing additional call center staffing: Securing additional call center staff to handle a higher volume of calls during the storm and limit wait times.  

Actions since Hurricane Beryl: Greater Houston Resiliency Initiative
Since launching GHRI following Hurricane Beryl last summer, CenterPoint executed a historic series of critical resiliency improvements across the company's 12-county Greater Houston area service territory. The company completed the following actions:

  • Installed or replaced more than 26,000 stronger, more storm-resilient poles built to withstand extreme winds;
  • Undergrounded more than 400 miles of power lines to improve overall resiliency;
  • Installed more than 5,150 additional automated reliability devices and intelligent grid switching devices to reduce the impact of outages and improve restoration times;
  • Cleared more than 6,000 miles of higher-risk vegetation near power lines to reduce storm-related outages;
  • Installed more than 100 weather stations across our service territory to improve situational awareness and storm preparation;
  • Donated 21 backup generators to critical facilities across the company's 12-county service area; and
  • Launched a new and improved, cloud-based Outage Tracker to provide real-time updates on outages and restoration efforts in English and Spanish.

Important weather station facts and locations
CenterPoint has installed over 100 weather monitoring stations ahead of the Atlantic hurricane season. The weather monitoring stations were installed in strategic locations across CenterPoint's 12-county Greater Houston area electric service territory. The devices take measurements every 2-5 minutes, including humidity levels, wind speed, temperature, and rainfall.

For more information on CenterPoint's GHRI actions and improvements ahead of hurricane season, visit CenterPointEnergy.com/TakingAction.

Sign-up for Power Alert Service to get updates about family and friends
CenterPoint electric customers are encouraged to enroll in the company's Power Alert Service® to receive outage details, estimated restoration times and customer-specific restoration updates via phone call, text or email. Customers can add up to five additional email addresses or phone numbers to allow family and friends to receive outage information. 

CenterPoint encourages all customers to have a plan to stay safe
CenterPoint is encouraging all of its customers to prepare and have a plan to stay safe during this week's weather. Customers can get storm-related safety tips at CenterPointEnergy.com/ActionCenter — available in English, Spanish and Vietnamese.

Customers can also stay up to date on outages with CenterPoint's new and improved, cloud-based Outage Tracker, now available in English and Spanish. The Outage Tracker is built to handle increased traffic during storms, is mobile-friendly, accessible, and allows customers to see outages by county, city and zip code.

For the latest updates, follow CenterPoint on X and visit CenterPointEnergy.com/ActionCenter. 

About CenterPoint Energy, Inc.
CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE: CNP) is a multi-state electric and natural gas delivery company serving approximately 7 million metered customers across Indiana, Minnesota, Ohio, and Texas. The company is headquartered in Houston and is the only Texas-domiciled investor-owned utility. As of March 31, 2025, the company had approximately $44 billion in assets. With approximately 8,300 employees, CenterPoint Energy and its predecessor companies have been serving customers for more than 150 years. For more information, visit CenterPointEnergy.com.

For more information, contact:
Communications
Media.Relations@CenterPointEnergy.com

SOURCE CenterPoint Energy

CenterPoint Energy is monitoring a tropical disturbance in the Northeast Gulf and ready to activate its summer storm readiness plan, if needed
  • Current projections show a low probability of Texas Coast impacts beyond rain
  • Any potential impacts would occur late Friday or early Saturday
  • Customers and public encouraged to sign-up for Power Alert Service for updates about friends, family and community locations

HOUSTON, July 14, 2025 - CenterPoint Energy's Meteorology, Emergency Planning & Response and Electric Operations teams are monitoring a tropical disturbance moving across Florida toward the Gulf. Based on current projections, the path of the storm could come near the Texas Coast by the end of the week, but is anticipated to be primarily a rain event for the Houston area.

While it's still early and there are many variables, CenterPoint is ready to take action with its summer storm readiness plan. Should the disturbance continue to organize, gain strength, and models align on its different track, CenterPoint will take further actions.  

"CenterPoint's meteorology team has been monitoring this disturbance as it moved toward the Florida peninsula over the weekend. And we will continue to monitor, review new models and data and leverage our suite of technology assets, so we are prepared," said Matt Lanza, CenterPoint's Manager of Meteorology. "Right now, we are anticipating the low likelihood of an end of week potential rain event."

"While it is early and weather models can change, we want our customers, communities and public to know that we have a summer storm readiness plan. We encourage everyone to keep an eye on the weather this week while CenterPoint stands ready to activate," said Darin Carroll, Senior Vice President of CenterPoint's Electric Business.

CenterPoint's summer storm readiness plan
The actions CenterPoint may take to prepare and respond to storms this summer include: 

  • Mobilizing vegetation management workers: Deploying local and contract personnel to clear hazardous vegetation from power lines in the Greater Houston area ahead of storm landfall to prevent outages.
  • Coordinating with government officials: Providing regular updates to federal, state, county and city officials about our pre-storm activities and readiness posture.
  • Conducting outreach to critical care customers: Reaching out to identified Critical Care Residential and Chronic Condition Residential electric customers by email, phone or text.
  • Sharing information and updates: Providing safety and preparedness information directly with customers via email, phone or text, across social media platforms and other channels to keep customers informed and prepared.
  • Organizing additional call center staffing: Securing additional call center staff to handle a higher volume of calls during the storm and limit wait times.

Actions since Hurricane Beryl: Greater Houston Resiliency Initiative
Since launching GHRI following Hurricane Beryl last summer, CenterPoint executed a historic series of critical resiliency improvements across the company's 12-county Greater Houston area service territory. The company completed the following actions:

  • Installed or replaced more than 26,000 stronger, more storm-resilient poles built to withstand extreme winds;
  • Undergrounded more than 400 miles of power lines to improve overall resiliency;
  • Installed more than 5,150 additional automated reliability devices and intelligent grid switching devices to reduce the impact of outages and improve restoration times;
  • Cleared more than 6,000 miles of higher-risk vegetation near power lines to reduce storm-related outages;
  • Installed more than 100 weather stations across our service territory to improve situational awareness and storm preparation;
  • Donated 21 backup generators to critical facilities across the company's 12-county service area; and
  • Launched a new and improved, cloud-based Outage Tracker to provide real-time updates on outages and restoration efforts in English and Spanish.

Important weather station facts and locations 
CenterPoint has installed over 100 weather monitoring stations ahead of the Atlantic hurricane season. The weather monitoring stations were installed in strategic locations across CenterPoint's 12-county Greater Houston area electric service territory. The devices take measurements every 2-5 minutes, including humidity levels, wind speed, temperature, and rainfall.

For more information on CenterPoint's GHRI actions and improvements ahead of hurricane season, visit CenterPointEnergy.com/TakingAction.

Sign-up for Power Alert Service to get updates about family and friends
CenterPoint electric customers are encouraged to enroll in the company's Power Alert Service® to receive outage details, estimated restoration times and customer-specific restoration updates via phone call, text or email. Customers can add up to five additional email addresses or phone numbers to allow family and friends to receive outage information. 

CenterPoint encourages all customers to have a plan to stay safe
CenterPoint is encouraging all of its customers to prepare and have a plan to stay safe during this week's weather. Customers can get storm-related safety tips at CenterPointEnergy.com/ActionCenter — available in English, Spanish and Vietnamese.

Customers can also stay up to date on outages with CenterPoint's new and improved, cloud-based Outage Tracker, now available in English and Spanish. The Outage Tracker is built to handle increased traffic during storms, is mobile-friendly, ADA-compliant, and allows customers to see outages by county, city and zip code.

For the latest updates, follow CenterPoint on X and visit CenterPointEnergy.com/ActionCenter. 

About CenterPoint Energy, Inc.
CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE: CNP) is a multi-state electric and natural gas delivery company serving approximately 7 million metered customers across Indiana, Minnesota, Ohio, and Texas. The company is headquartered in Houston and is the only Texas-domiciled investor-owned utility. As of March 31, 2025, the company had approximately $44 billion in assets. With approximately 8,300 employees, CenterPoint Energy and its predecessor companies have been serving customers for more than 150 years. For more information, visit CenterPointEnergy.com.

For more information, contact:
Communications
Media.Relations@CenterPointEnergy.com

SOURCE CenterPoint Energy

In celebration of National Lineworker Appreciation Day, CenterPoint Energy honors frontline workers who work through the hottest days and coldest nights to serve customers and communities

HOUSTON — July 10, 2025 — Every year, the National Electrical Contractors Association (NECA), the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW), the Edison Electric Institute (EEI) and utilities across the country join together to observe National Lineworker Appreciation Day on July 10. This annual observance honors the life and work of Henry Miller, the first IBEW president, and our nation's frontline electric workers. These dedicated workers serve their communities year-round during the hottest summers and coldest winters by helping deliver safe and reliable electric service to customers every day. These same lineworkers answer the call for mutual assistance from neighboring utilities in other states by responding to hurricanes, wildfires, tornadoes, winter storms and other extreme weather events, and natural disasters.

“We celebrate this day annually to recognize our highly skilled and highly trained workforce. Whether installing new storm resilient poles, repairing lines impacted by cars or accidents or restoring electric service following an extreme weather event, lineworkers serve as the first responders of our industry," said Darin Carroll, Senior Vice President, Electric Business. “I want to thank our CenterPoint line men and women for the commitment and sacrifices made by both them and their families every day. A lineworker's job is not an easy one, but on both blue-sky days and after major weather events, our team shows up, works hard, and delivers this critical service to our customers."

CenterPoint's Houston electric lineworkers serve more than 2.8 million metered customers across 12 counties in southeast Texas, maintaining approximately 4,000 circuit miles of transmission lines and approximately 56,000 miles of distribution lines. In addition to installing, maintaining and repairing electric infrastructure such as transmission towers, distribution poles, substations, transformers and wires, these lineworkers also educate the public on electric wire safety and adhere to rigorous safety standards to protect themselves and the communities CenterPoint serves.

They are also playing a critical role in helping the company work toward its goal of building and operating the most resilient coastal grid in the country. Since CenterPoint launched the Greater Houston Resiliency Initiative (GHRI) in August 2024, lineworkers and contractor partners have:

  • installed or replaced more than 26,000 stronger, more storm-resilient poles built to withstand extreme winds;
  • undergrounded more than 400 miles of power lines to improve overall resiliency;
  • installed more than 5,150 more automated reliability devices and intelligent grid switching devices to reduce the impact of outages and improve restoration times; and
  • installed 100 weather monitoring stations to improve situational awareness and storm preparation.

Supporting long-term resiliency and rising energy demand

As part of the company's commitment to harden and strengthen the grid in the Greater Houston area, CenterPoint is focused on helping build the next generation of electric workers to support continued resiliency work and help meet the rapidly growing energy. This next generation of line workers will also support the implementation of CenterPoint's 2026-2028 Systemwide Resiliency Plan, which is designed to strengthen the electric system against extreme weather of the future and reduce outages for customers by nearly 1 billion minutes into 2029.

For more information on CenterPoint's efforts to build a stronger, more resilient grid for its customers, visit CenterPointEnergy.com/TakingAction.

About CenterPoint Energy, Inc.
CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE: CNP) is a multi-state electric and natural gas delivery company serving approximately 7 million metered customers across Indiana, Minnesota, Ohio, and Texas. The company is headquartered in Houston and is the only Texas-domiciled investor-owned utility. As of March 31, 2025, the company had approximately $44 billion in assets. With approximately 8,300 employees, CenterPoint Energy and its predecessor companies have been serving customers for more than 150 years. For more information, visit CenterPointEnergy.com.​