CenterPoint Energy announces plans to continue enhancement of reliability, resiliency and safety of its electric infrastructure
2023-05-24T05:00:00Z

​Evansville – May 24, 2023 – CenterPoint Energy Inc.'s (“CenterPoint Energy") Indiana-based electric business today announced plans to further enhance the reliability, resiliency and safety of its infrastructure, filing a five-year plan with the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission (IURC) to continue execution of the company's electric infrastructure improvement strategy.​

The proposed nearly $455 million plan, which will fund more than 300 projects, is the next phase of the modernization work originally approved by the IURC in 2017. Over the next five years, CenterPoint Energy plans to continue making strategic long-term infrastructure investments to maintain and enhance reliability and resiliency, manage life-cycle assets from aging equipment, and modernize the grid for customer benefit, while striving to safely deliver service.

“We are continuing our modernization and infrastructure investments to enhance the reliability and resiliency of our electric grid and allow for greater flexibility to meet the current and future energy needs of our customers," said Richard Leger, Senior Vice President, Indiana Electric. “Additionally, these investments will replace aging equipment, which is expected to reduce equipment malfunction, restoration costs and the number of outages our customers experience during both blue-sky days and extreme weather events."

During the first phase of the modernization program, CenterPoint Energy replaced and installed more than 220 miles of overhead conductors, 125 miles of underground conductors and 135 substation circuit breakers. Also, more than 2,600 transmission and 8,600 distribution structures were replaced or installed, and nearly 130 miles of transmission line were upgraded or installed.

The second phase of proposed enhancements will include:  

  • Overhead 12kV circuit rebuilds to replace aged conductors, poles, hardware and equipment to satisfy more robust construction standards and incorporate looping to improve reliability and allow for alternate feeds for re-energizing customers during extended outages.
  • Distribution automation to minimize the outage impact and duration and allow for evolving distribution technology to accommodate both electric vehicles and distributed energy resources.
  • Underground rebuilds to replace aging underground bare cable with a jacketed ​cable that meets current construction standards and incorporate looping technologies to improve grid resilience to provide alternate feeds for reenergizing customers during extended outages.
  • Wood pole replacement and treatment program to utilize inspection data of approximately 11,000 poles annually with the flexibility to address urgent and emergent situations as those are identified.
  • Substation rebuilds to replace aging infrastructure and reduce the risk of failure, including catastrophic failure through the replacement of transformers, breakers, relays, and communications equipment.
  • Transmission line rebuilds to incorporate the conversion from wood poles to steel poles and reconductoring to increase the line capacity to allow for additional load without creating a new transmission line footprint. Additional Optical Ground Wire (OPGW) installation to allow modernization of communication systems to enable future automation.
  • Physical security program to increase security to protect the company's most critical assets from increased physical threat of electric grid and substation attacks.

In this proposed plan, CenterPoint Energy is requesting recovery of the capital expenditures of investments made in 2024 through 2028. State law allows energy companies to prepare and submit infrastructure modernization plans with gradual cost recovery for which the IURC has ultimate approval rights and oversight authority. If the grid modernization plan is approved as is, the typical residential customer using 1000 kWh per month is expected to see an annual increase of approximately $3 per month on bills under the Transmission, Distribution, and Storage System Improvement Charge (TDSIC). No increase is expected until November 2024.

“As we look toward our customers' future energy needs, we understand affordability is important. We are continuously modeling and balancing bill impacts, while executing on these necessary reliability and resiliency infrastructure improvements," said Leger. “These projects will allow us to utilize ever evolving technologies, which is expected to result in enhanced reliability, fewer outages and improve restoration response for years to come."

Today's filing does not impact natural gas bills, nor is it related to CenterPoint Energy's recently announced Integrated Resource Plan preferred portfolio.
 
Forward Looking Statement

This news release includes forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. When used in this news release, the words "anticipate," "believe," "continue," "could," "estimate," "expect," "forecast," "goal," "intend," "may," "objective," "plan," "potential," "predict," "projection," "should," "target," "will" or other similar words are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based upon assumptions of management which are believed to be reasonable at the time made and are subject to significant risks and uncertainties. Actual events and results may differ materially from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. Any statements in this news release regarding future events, such as approval of CenterPoint Energy's proposed plan, CenterPoint Energy's ability to executed on the proposed plan, including the proposed scope of projects and anticipated benefits,  the extent to which and timing of CenterPoint Energy's ability to recover costs to implement the proposed plan, the amount and expected impact to customer's bills, and any other statements that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements. Each forward-looking statement contained in this news release speaks only as of the date of this release. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated by the provided forward-looking information include risks and uncertainties relating to: (1) the impact of pandemics, including the COVID-19 pandemic; (2) financial market conditions; (3) general economic conditions; (4) the timing and impact of future regulatory and legislative decisions; (5) effects of competition; (6) weather variations; (7) changes in business plans; (8) continued disruptions to the global supply chain and increases in commodity prices; (9) legislative decisions, including tax and developments related to the environment such as global climate change, air emissions, carbon and waste water discharges; (10) CenterPoint Energy's ability to execute on its initiatives, targets and goals and operations and maintenance goals and (11) other factors, risks and uncertainties discussed in CenterPoint Energy's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2022, CenterPoint Energy's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2023 and other reports CenterPoint Energy or its subsidiaries may file from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

 

About CenterPoint Energy
As the only investor-owned electric and natural gas utility based in Texas, CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE: CNP) is an energy delivery company with electric transmission and distribution, power generation and natural gas distribution operations that serve more than 7 million metered customers in Indiana, Louisiana, Minnesota, Mississippi, Ohio and Texas. As of March 31, 2023, the company owned approximately $38 billion in assets. With approximately 9,000 employees, CenterPoint Energy and its predecessor companies have been in business for more than 150 years. For more information, visit CenterPointEnergy.com.


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Electric Reliability Council of Texas calls for Power Conservation

​Houston – Sept. 7, 2023 – The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) has issued a conservation appeal due to continued high temperatures, high demand, low wind and declining solar power generation this afternoon. As a result, ERCOT is asking consumers to conserve electricity use, if safe to do so, today from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. CT. Similar conditions are expected for tomorrow. CenterPoint Energy does not generate electricity itself, so any shortage of electric power capacity from the electric grid is not something that the company controls. ​

Today's conservation appeal does not indicate ERCOT is experiencing emergency conditions at this time. Current forecasts are showing a potential for low reserves today because of continued high temperatures, high demand, low wind and declining solar power generation into the afternoon and evening hours.

Consumers can help the ERCOT grid by conserving energy, especially during peak hours of 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Please conserve electricity by:  

  • Raising your thermostat by a degree or two, if safe to do so.  
  • Avoid using large appliances, such as washers/dryers and dishwashers.
  • Turn off and unplug non-essential lights and appliances. 
  • Set pool pumps to run early morning or overnight; shut off during peak hours.

​If conditions worsen, ERCOT may issue a directive to curtail power delivered to customers, which requires transmission and distribution utilities like CenterPoint Energy to implement controlled outages due to power generation shortfall. Controlled outages are planned emergency measures designed to avoid potentially longer and more widespread power outages for customers. There are three levels of Energy Emergency Alerts (EEA), and controlled outages are only implemented as a last resort to maintain reliability of the electric system, and they are done with the intent to rotate outages in the electric service territory based on system conditions.  

Houston-area customers should prepare now and have a back-up plan in place, especially those who rely on electricity for life-sustaining equipment.  

ERCOT is the independent system operator for the region and manages the flow of electric power to most of Texas and more than 26 million Texas customers. CenterPoint Energy is an investor-owned electric utility and a member of ERCOT. The company manages the transmission and distribution of electricity to its approximately 2.7 million customers across the greater Houston area and surrounding communities. 

As needed, CenterPoint Energy will continue to keep customers updated through the company's customer communication channels, including X, formerly Twitter, (@CNPalerts), Facebook, Power Alert Service, Outage Tracker (Estimated Restoration Times will not be available for these types of emergencies) and the web.


Electric Reliability Council of Texas calls for Power Conservation

​Houston – Sept. 6, 2023 – The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) has issued a conservation appeal due to continued high temperatures, high demand, low wind and declining solar power generation this evening. As a result, ERCOT is asking consumers to conserve electricity use, if safe to do so, today from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. CT. CenterPoint Energy does not generate electricity itself, so any shortage of electric power capacity from the electric grid is not something that the company controls. ​

Today's conservation appeal does not indicate ERCOT is experiencing emergency conditions at this time. Current forecasts are showing a potential for low reserves this evening because of continued high temperatures, high demand, low wind and declining solar power generation into the evening hours.

Consumers can help the ERCOT grid by conserving energy, especially during peak hours of 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Please conserve electricity by:  

  • Raising your thermostat by a degree or two, if safe to do so.  
  • Avoid using large appliances, such as washers/dryers and dishwashers.
  • Turn off and unplug non-essential lights and appliances. 
  • Set pool pumps to run early morning or overnight; shut off during peak hours.

If conditions worsen, ERCOT may issue a directive to curtail power delivered to customers, which requires transmission and distribution utilities like CenterPoint Energy to implement controlled outages due to power generation shortfall. Controlled outages are planned emergency measures designed to avoid potentially longer and more widespread power outages for customers. There are three levels of Energy Emergency Alerts (EEA), and controlled outages are only implemented as a last resort to maintain reliability of the electric system, and they are done with the intent to rotate outages in the electric service territory based on system conditions.  

Houston-area customers should prepare now and have a back-up plan in place, especially those who rely on electricity for life-sustaining equipment.   

ERCOT is the independent system operator for the region and manages the flow of electric power to most of Texas and more than 26 million Texas customers. CenterPoint Energy is an investor-owned electric utility and a member of ERCOT. The company manages the transmission and distribution of electricity to its approximately 2.7 million customers across the greater Houston area and surrounding communities. 


As needed, CenterPoint Energy will continue to keep customers updated through the company's customer communication channels, including X, formerly Twitter, (@CNPalerts), Facebook, Power Alert Service, Outage Tracker (Estimated Restoration Times will not be available for these types of emergencies) and the web.

​

Electric Reliability Council of Texas calls for Power Conservation
​Houston – Aug. 29, 2023 – The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) has issued a conservation appeal due to a high level of unexpected thermal generation outages and forecasted low wind generation. As a result, ERCOT is asking consumers to conserve electricity use, if safe to do so, today, Aug. 29, from 5 p.m. – 9 p.m. CT. CenterPoint Energy does not generate electricity itself, so any shortage of electric power capacity from the electric grid is not something that the company controls. 

Today's conservation appeal does not indicate ERCOT is experiencing emergency conditions at this time. Current forecasts are showing a potential to enter emergency operations this evening because of a high level of unexpected thermal generation outages and forecasted low wind generation.

Consumers can help the ERCOT grid by conserving energy, especially during peak hours of 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Please conserve electricity by:  

  • Raising your thermostat by a degree or two, if safe to do so.  
  • Avoid using large appliances, such as washers/dryers and dishwashers.
  • Turn off and unplug non-essential lights and appliances. 
  • Set pool pumps to run early morning or overnight; shut off during peak hours.

​If conditions worsen, ERCOT may issue a directive to curtail power delivered to customers, which requires transmission and distribution utilities like CenterPoint Energy to implement controlled outages due to power generation shortfall. Controlled outages are planned emergency measures designed to avoid potentially longer and more widespread power outages for customers. There are three levels of Energy Emergency Alerts (EEA), and controlled outages are only implemented as a last resort to maintain reliability of the electric system, and they are done with the intent to rotate outages in the electric service territory based on system conditions.  

Houston-area customers should prepare now and have a back-up plan in place, especially those who rely on electricity for life-sustaining equipment.  

ERCOT is the independent system operator for the region and manages the flow of electric power to most of Texas and more than 26 million Texas customers. CenterPoint Energy is an investor-owned electric utility and a member of ERCOT. The company manages the transmission and distribution of electricity to its approximately 2.7 million customers across the greater Houston area and surrounding communities. 

As needed, CenterPoint Energy will continue to keep customers updated through the company's customer communication channels, including X, formerly Twitter, (@CNPalerts), Facebook, Power Alert Service, Outage Tracker (Estimated Restoration Times will not be available for these types of emergencies) and the web.​

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CenterPoint Energy urges Merryville customers to be safe when returning home following devastating wildfire

​Houston – Aug. 28, 2023 – In the wake of the recent wildfire in Tiger Island, near the town of Merryville, Louisiana, CenterPoint Energy – in collaboration with emergency responders and local authorities – has been working tirelessly to help keep the community safe and respond effectively to the situation.

CenterPoint Energy's technicians have begun visiting customers' residences to restore service. Crews will need access to customer homes to relight pilot lights on any natural gas appliances. If technicians visit a home and no one over the age of 18 is present, a door hanger with details on how to contact the company to schedule a relight will be left on the door. Our crews and contractors wear identification badges and will show them to you upon request.

“Our thoughts are with impacted community members as they bravely battled the Tiger Island Fire in Beauregard Parish," said Bo Murphy, Vice President, Louisiana and Mississippi Gas at CenterPoint Energy. “The devastating impact of this wildfire reaches far beyond the natural gas system, and we will continue to support Merryville in its recovery during this difficult time." 

Important actions taken by the company include:

  1. Monitoring and shut-off: Technicians actively monitored the wildfire's progression and were ready to initiate emergency shut-offs of natural gas supply lines where necessary. This proactive approach was aimed at minimizing the risk of natural gas-related incidents as a result of the wildfire. In coordination with local authorities, the company temporarily suspended natural gas service to prevent potential natural gas leaks or hazards.
  2. System assessments: Technicians continuously checked the natural gas system to ensure customers can safely return to the Merryville area.
  3. Expedited service restoration: Following the evacuation mandate, CenterPoint Energy technicians have returned to the area to restore service.

Safety tips for Merryville residents returning home

As Merryville residents begin to return to their homes in the aftermath of the wildfire, CenterPoint Energy urges everyone to follow these crucial safety guidelines:

Be alert for natural gas leaks. If you smell natural gas – which has a distinctive, strong odor, often compared to rotten eggs or sulfur – leave the area immediately on foot and tell others to leave, too. Do not turn the lights on or off, smoke, strike a match, use a phone or operate anything that might cause a spark, including a flashlight or a generator. Once safely away from the area, call 911 and CenterPoint Energy, and the company will send a trained service technician immediately.

  • Do not attempt to turn natural gas valves on or off. For your safety, do not turn any valves or tamper with the natural gas meter. If the smell of gas is present, leave the area immediately and tell others to leave, too. Call 911 then call CenterPoint Energy at 888-876-5786.
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  • Call a licensed plumber or a natural gas appliance technician to inspect your appliances. If you believe natural gas lines may have been damaged in the fire, call a professional to inspect your appliances prior to requesting a service reconnection. Don't forget to check outdoor appliances, such as pool heaters and gas grills.
  • While conducting clean-up, call 811 to locate utility lines prior to digging on your property.

We appreciate your patience as we work as safely and as quickly as possible to resume gas service to homes and businesses.​

Electric Reliability Council of Texas calls for Power Conservation
Houston – Aug. 27, 2023 – The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) has issued a Conservation Appeal due to low wind and potential low solar generation and high demand. The grid operator is asking consumers and businesses to conserve electricity use, if safe to do so, today from 4 p.m. – 9 p.m. CenterPoint Energy does not generate electricity itself, so any shortage of electric power capacity from the electric grid is not something that the company controls. ​

Similar to yesterday, today's conservation appeal does not indicate ERCOT is experiencing emergency conditions at this time. Current forecasts are showing a potential to enter emergency operations this evening because of expected low wind and potential low solar generation and high demand.

Consumers can help the ERCOT grid by conserving energy, especially during peak hours of 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. Please conserve electricity by:  

  • Raising your thermostat by a degree or two, if safe to do so.  
  • Avoid using large appliances, such as washers/dryers and dishwashers.
  • Turn off and unplug non-essential lights and appliances. 
  • Set pool pumps to run early morning or overnight; shut off during peak hours.

If conditions worsen, ERCOT may issue a directive to curtail power delivered to customers, which requires transmission and distribution utilities like CenterPoint Energy to implement controlled outages due to power generation shortfall. Controlled outages are planned emergency measures designed to avoid potentially longer and more widespread power outages for customers. There are three levels of Energy Emergency Alerts (EEA), and controlled outages are only implemented as a last resort to maintain reliability of the electric system, and they are done with the intent to rotate outages in the electric service territory based on system conditions.  

Houston-area customers should prepare now and have a back-up plan in place, especially those who rely on electricity for life-sustaining equipment.  

ERCOT is the independent system operator for the region and manages the flow of electric power to most of Texas and more than 26 million Texas customers. CenterPoint Energy is an investor-owned electric utility and a member of ERCOT. The company manages the transmission and distribution of electricity to its approximately 2.7 million customers across the greater Houston area and surrounding communities. 

As needed, CenterPoint Energy will continue to keep customers updated through the company's customer communication channels, including X, formerly Twitter, (@CNPalerts), Facebook, Power Alert Service, Outage Tracker (Estimated Restoration Times will not be available for these types of emergencies) and the web.​