CenterPoint Energy Announces Leadership Succession
Jason P. Wells to Become CEO; David J. Lesar to Support Transition
2023-10-26T05:00:00Z

HOUSTON-Oct. 26, 2023- CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE: CNP) today announced a leadership transition that helps position the company to continue driving sustainable value for customers, communities, investors and employees. The Board has unanimously appointed Jason P. Wells, CenterPoint Energy President and Chief Operating Officer, to become President and Chief Executive Officer and a member of the Board of Directors, effective January 5, 2024. David J. Lesar will retire from his role as CEO and a member of the Board at that time. Mr. Lesar will continue to work closely with Mr. Wells to support a seamless transition.

“On behalf of the Board of Directors, I thank Dave for his outstanding leadership and commitment to CenterPoint Energy, and for his relentless pursuit of unlocking the strength and potential of our company to firmly position us among the premium-valued utilities in our industry," said Earl M. Cummings, Chair of the Board. “Today's announcement reflects the Board's longstanding and robust leadership succession planning and stakeholder engagement process. We look forward to continuing to benefit from Dave's experience and expertise through the transition period. Jason shares the same unwavering commitment to the pursuit of excellence that Dave has fostered and has played a pivotal role in establishing and executing on CenterPoint Energy's utility-focused strategy and charting the company's growth trajectory. The Board is confident that Jason is the right leader to continue to advance the company's strategy and drive stakeholder value."

Mr. Wells said, “It is an exciting time in CenterPoint Energy's long history. Together, we have worked to advance our vision as a pure-play, regulated and premium utility. We are successfully executing our industry-leading capital investment plan with a focus on safety, reliability, resiliency, growth and enabling cleaner energy investments to benefit our community and all our stakeholders. Dave's outstanding leadership has been instrumental in transforming the company into one of the most tangible growth stories in the industry. As we enter this next chapter, I look forward to working with Dave over the next few months to ensure a seamless transition for all of our stakeholders and I thank him for his partnership. I am honored to lead the exceptional and dedicated team at CenterPoint Energy that puts customers and communities at the forefront of all we do. I look forward to continuing to engage with our stakeholders and sharing my vision for our great company's future in the coming months."

Mr. Lesar said, “It has been an honor and a privilege to lead CenterPoint Energy these past three-plus years and to work with our outstanding people to transform the company into the leader it is today. I am incredibly proud of the significant achievements we've accomplished together and the work we have done to make the pursuit of progress possible on our path to a premium market valuation. We have reached this momentous milestone after a rigorous and purposeful succession journey, and I am confident that Jason is the best leader to be at the helm of our company as it continues to move forward."

About Jason P. Wells

Mr. Wells joined CenterPoint Energy in 2020, and over the last three years has held several executive leadership positions, including Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. In this role, he was responsible for the company's Finance organization and electric generation transition plan. Most recently, Mr. Wells served as President and Chief Operating Officer and is responsible for the company's utilities operations, including electric, natural gas and power generation. Mr. Wells is focused on safety, promoting excellence across operations and executing on the company's industry-leading growth plan.

Previously, Mr. Wells held positions of increasing responsibility with PG&E Corporation for 13 years. He served as EVP and CFO overseeing the financial activities of the nearly $60 billion enterprise. In his roles as Chief Financial Officer, Mr. Wells successfully led the execution of more than $50 billion in capital markets and strategic transactions.

Mr. Wells serves on the boards of the Greater Houston Partnership, Central Houston, Inc., M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, and the Bauer College of Business at the University of Houston. He is also on the advisory board of the Kinder Institute for Urban Research at Rice University. In addition, he served on the board of the San Francisco-Marin Food Bank in 2020 and was a board member and treasurer of Habitat for Humanity Greater San Francisco from 2013 to 2019.

He holds bachelor's and master's degrees in accounting, both from the University of Florida, and is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA).

About CenterPoint Energy, Inc.

As the only investor owned electric and 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 September 30, 2023, the company owned approximately $39 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.

Forward-looking Statements

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 CenterPoint Energy's long-term capital plan and its ability to execute on its long-term capital plan and generation transition plans, future financial performance of CenterPoint Energy, executive management continuity and executive succession planning, achievement of emissions reduction goals, Board composition 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 and CenterPoint's Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q for the quarters ended March 31, 2023, June 30, 2023 and September 30, 2023, and other reports CenterPoint Energy or its subsidiaries may file from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

 


 Recent News

 

 
CenterPoint Energy Readies Electric and Gas Systems for FIFA World Cup

​Nearly 700 electric projects completed and nearly 250 miles of natural gas pipeline inspected around critical event venues ahead of seven World Cup matches in Houston

Heightened readiness and close coordination efforts with City of Houston, FIFA Host Committee, and emergency management agencies to continue from June 11 through July 4

HOUSTON – June 9, 2026 – As the city of Houston prepares to welcome fans from around the world for the FIFA World Cup 2026™, CenterPoint Energy has spent the past year executing a series of targeted actions to strengthen its overall preparedness and readiness efforts for this historic global sporting event. To date, CenterPoint has completed nearly 700 electric resiliency projects spanning over 100 miles of electric lines, which included repairing or replacing equipment on all circuits providing power to World Cup priority locations like key venues, transit corridors, hotels, airports and others across Greater Houston. In addition, CenterPoint has completed inspections on nearly 250 miles of natural gas pipeline surrounding key venues.

With seven World Cup matches scheduled in Houston between June 14 and July 4, CenterPoint will operate at a heightened readiness posture, which includes the activation of its Emergency Operations Center before, during and after each match. CenterPoint will continue to work closely with City of Houston officials and other local, state and federal agencies as part of a combined response effort. 

“Preparing for seven World Cup matches is like preparing for seven Super bowls. For over a year, our teams have worked to strengthen the electric and gas systems around all critical venues and to closely coordinate with all our emergency management partners to help prepare our great city. All of us at CenterPoint are proud to do our part to support this global event, and we are excited for our city and the world to enjoy this historic sporting event," said Jesus Soto, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, CenterPoint Energy.

World Cup Preparedness & Readiness Efforts: Key Actions

As part of its overall preparedness and readiness efforts for the nearly month-long World Cup schedule, in October 2025, CenterPoint began undertaking a series of actions to prepare the electric and natural gas systems to support the City of Houston and all critical event locations. Among the critical actions taken include:  ​

  • Completing Nearly 700 Reliability Projects: Completing nearly 700 electric system projects around critical event venues and other priority locations to help strengthen reliability.
  • Conducting Critical Grid Inspections: Inspecting primary and alternate circuits serving World Cup priority locations, with initial inspections beginning in July 2025 and follow-up inspections identifying issues for repair ahead of the event.
  • Completing Targeted Work at Key Locations: Focusing critical preparedness work around key World Cup-related locations, including NRG Park, Shell Energy Stadium, the EaDo Fan Festival area, airports, transit routes, hotels and training-related sites.
  • Inspecting Nearly 250 Miles of Natural Gas Pipeline: completed additional gas facilities surveys across 140 miles of gas main lines and more than 100 miles of service lines around key event venues.
  • Developing an Action Plan: Building an event-specific action plan to define staffing, response objectives, escalation criteria and resource coordination during the World Cup matches.
  • Coordinating with Local Emergency Partners: Coordinating with the City of Houston, emergency managers and external partners on planning, emergency response and operational readiness.
  • Participating in a Local Emergency Exercise: Participating in a World Cup tabletop exercise facilitated by the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and hosted by the City of Houston to test coordination and response capabilities.
  • Pre-Staging Resources: Preparing additional operational support and response resources to be staged near priority areas to support faster restoration if issues occur.
  • Activating our Emergency Operations Center: CenterPoint will be activating its new state-of-the-art Emergency Operations Center in advance of and during each match to help prepare for and coordinate CenterPoint's event support.​

About CenterPoint Energy, Inc.  
As the only investor owned electric and 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, Minnesota, Ohio and Texas. As of March 31, 2026, the company owned approximately $47.8 billion in assets. With approximately 8,800 employees, CenterPoint Energy and its predecessor companies have been in business for more than 150 years. For more information, visit CenterPointEnergy.com.  

CenterPoint Energy teams monitoring severe storms forecasted for southwestern Indiana and preparing for potential impacts

​The company is executing preparedness actions ahead of storms 

Customers encouraged to stay safe and prepare emergency plans 

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – June 8, 2026 – CenterPoint Energy is monitoring forecasts for potentially severe thunderstorms across the region and preparing for potential impacts as storms are expected to move through southwestern Indiana this week. According to the National Weather Service, strong, damaging winds are possible.

CenterPoint's preparedness actions include:

  • Monitoring weather forecasts and conditions
  • Preparing crews and equipment across its service territory
  • ​Coordinating with local government officials and other stakeholders on storm readiness
  • Sharing safety and preparedness information directly with customers

“Our Emergency Preparedness and Response team has been monitoring the potential for severe storms and our teams are fully prepared and stand ready to respond," said Mike Roeder, President of CenterPoint Energy Indiana. “We encourage our customers to stay alert in anticipation of changing weather conditions and take steps now to prepare."

CenterPoint encourages customers to prepare for severe weather:

CenterPoint Energy Announces “Hurricane Readiness Week” to Highlight Resiliency and Readiness Actions with Official Start of Hurricane Season


With National Weather Service forecasting 8 - 14 named storms this year, CenterPoint highlights Greater Houston Resiliency Initiative (GHRI) improvements, enhanced weather monitoring and opening a new Emergency Operations Center to better prepare and ready its response for customers this hurricane season

CenterPoint encourages customers to sign up for its Power Alert Service® to receive real-time updates about their service throughout hurricane season

HOUSTON – June 2, 2026 – Today, with the start of the 2026 Atlantic hurricane season, CenterPoint is kicking off its “Hurricane Readiness Week," building on Governor Greg Abbott's proclamation last week recognizing May 25 - 30 as Hurricane Preparedness Week in Texas, and sharing a series of critical actions completed to date and underway to strengthen the energy system and keep customers informed.

This season, the National Weather Service predicts 8 to 14 named storms for the Atlantic basin, with 3 - 6 forecast to become hurricanes. To prepare, CenterPoint has prioritized critical resiliency and storm preparedness actions, and throughout the summer will continue to coordinate with local emergency officials and local stakeholders and help customers better prepare for potential severe weather by hosting community events across Greater Houston.

“Preparing for emergencies, like hurricanes, is a year-round priority for our 8,800-strong CenterPoint team. From leveraging state-of-the art weather models and our own network of weather stations, to enhancing how we stage personnel and resources, our teams are prepared with the advanced tools and technology needed to perform at our best for our customers. We're also making critical investments in Houston's energy grid to improve storm resiliency and prepare our crews to respond safely and efficiently when storms strike. Together with local emergency leaders, we stand ready to support our communities before, during and after any severe weather event," said Don Daigler, CenterPoint's Senior Vice President, Emergency Preparedness and Response.
Preparing for the 2026 Hurricane Season: Critical Actions
CenterPoint has taken a series of actions to prepare for the upcoming hurricane season, including:

  • Completing critical resiliency upgrades, including installing storm-resilient poles, clearing higher-risk vegetation and undergrounding power lines across the system to improve system reliability and preventing 150 million customer outage minutes by the end of 2026.
  • Introducing a new way for customers to track GHRI upgrades and enhancements through a new online Community Progress Tracker.
  • Opening a new Emergency Operations Center to support CenterPoint's year-round situational awareness and emergency response readiness and coordinate closely with emergency response partners, local and state officials, media and other key stakeholders.
  • Enhancing real-time weather monitoring with 150 new advanced weather stations and state-of-the art models to enhance storm prediction and preparedness.
  • Executing a full-scale emergency exercise to practice a cross-functional response to a simulated category 3 hurricane with more than 400 CenterPoint team members participating and approximately 100 state and local officials in attendance.​
  • Leveraging advanced technology including improved weather tracking, improved damage models and crew resource management to restore power for customers more efficiently following a storm.
  • Completing more than 25,000 hours of FEMA trainings across more than 800 employees.
  • Improving the damage assessment and restoration process to support faster damage identification and power restoration.
  • Leveraging mutual assistance and vendor partnerships to expand our frontline workforce, when necessary, by up to 20 times to support our future storm or emergency response.

Keeping Customers Informed
During its Hurricane Readiness Week and throughout the 2026 hurricane season, CenterPoint will share updates and resources to help customers stay informed and prepare via social media, advertisements, direct-to-customer emails and through a series of community hurricane preparedness events. Important preparedness and safety information will also be shared before, during and after any major storm or hurricane.

As part of its hurricane preparedness campaign, CenterPoint encourages its customers to enroll in Power Alert Service® (PAS) to receive outage details, estimated restoration times and customer-specific restoration updates via free texts, phone calls or emails. For example, during the storm period from May 21 to May 27, CenterPoint sent more than 1,383,987 PAS alerts to customers with restoration information to keep them informed in real-time. PAS is critical to provide updates to customers, as well as family and friends. 90% of CenterPoint's customers are enrolled in PAS, and utilizing a variety of communication tools, CenterPoint will be encouraging all unsubscribed customers to sign up to ensure they receive timely updates. Customers can visit CenterPointEnergy.com/PowerAlertService to sign up and learn more.
 
During emergencies, CenterPoint's Outage Tracker provides customers with outage information and the estimated time of restoration by address, via an interactive map. Customers can also report an outage or hazard with a few simple clicks and is available at CenterPointEnergy.com/OutageTracker.

To help its Critical Care customers prepare, regardless of the weather, CenterPoint performs regular outreach, including phone calls, texts, emails and direct mail, throughout hurricane season. Customers can visit CenterPointEnergy.com/CriticalCare to register or learn more.

For more about CenterPoint's preparedness actions and critical resiliency improvements across Greater Houston, visit: CenterPointEnergy.com/TakingAction.

For b-roll of CenterPoint's full-scale emergency exercise in preparation for the 2026 hurricane season, undergrounding efforts, pole replacements and other resiliency work, click HERE.

CenterPoint Energy Advances Extreme Weather Preparedness and Response Efforts with Integrated, AI‑Driven Planning Platform from Technosylva

HOUSTON – June 1, 2026 – As extreme weather events grow more frequent and complex, CenterPoint Energy is continuing to strengthen how it plans, prepares for and responds to severe weather across its electric and gas service territory in Texas, Indiana, Ohio, and Minnesota, where the company serves approximately 7 million metered customers.

To support faster service restoration for customers following storms, CenterPoint is leveraging a new, integrated planning and operations platform developed in collaboration with Technosylva to deliver better outcomes for its customers and communities. Technosylva is a leading provider of wildfire, flooding, and extreme weather modeling and decision‑support software used by utilities, insurers, and public agencies to better anticipate risk and support operational response.

The platform brings together outage forecasting, high‑wind and winter storm modeling, flood risk insights, and wildfire intelligence into a single, system‑wide view. This integrated approach allows CenterPoint teams to monitor evolving conditions days in advance, align the right crews and resources ahead of impact, and improve restoration planning and response - while keeping customer safety at the forefront and helping reduce outage duration and restoration costs.

“Preparing for extreme weather today requires earlier insight and better coordination than ever before," said Jason Wells, Chair, President and Chief Executive Officer of CenterPoint Energy. “Our goal is to build the most resilient coastal grid in the nation to benefit our customers and communities. Technosylva's product gives us much clearer visibility into where impacts are most likely and allows us to mobilize crews more efficiently, support neighboring utilities when possible, and restore service faster for our customers."

CenterPoint's electric and natural gas systems are exposed to a wide range of weather‑related threats, including hurricanes, flooding, high winds, extreme heat and cold, and winter storms. The platform supports the company's long‑term strategy to strengthen grid resilience, improve operational readiness, and better prepare for increasingly complex weather events, all while reinforcing CenterPoint's continued commitment to its customers who depend on safe, reliable electric and natural gas service.

During recent weather events, CenterPoint teams used the platform's multi‑day outage forecasts and storm impact modeling to assess potential system impacts ahead of time, set appropriate emergency response levels, and pre‑position crews. In high‑wind events, outage forecasts closely aligned with actual system impacts, helping teams translate weather data into actionable response plans with greater confidence.

"CenterPoint Energy's leadership is visionary, investing to get ahead of extreme weather risk, not just to respond to it," said Bryan Spear, CEO of Technosylva. "Serving customers and communities who face the full spectrum of extreme weather, this enhanced risk intelligence platform helps CenterPoint to anticipate and prepare for events, including hurricanes, flooding, severe winds, and wildfire. We are grateful to them for their collaboration in developing our AI-powered platform, which delivers outage forecasting, restoration planning, flood insights, and wildfire intelligence, to help keep the lights on and restore power faster when it matters most."

Beyond immediate storm response, the platform also supports longer‑term planning by improving how flood and extreme weather risk are incorporated into infrastructure and capital investment decisions. As weather patterns evolve and infrastructure ages, asset‑level risk visibility is increasingly important for investments to deliver resilience benefits for customers over time.

About CenterPoint Energy, Inc.
As the only investor owned electric and 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, Minnesota, Ohio and Texas. As of March 31, 2026, the company owned approximately $47.8 billion in assets. With approximately 8,800 employees, CenterPoint Energy and its predecessor companies have been in business for more than 150 years.  

About Technosylva

Technosylva is the leading provider of wildfire and extreme weather modeling, risk mitigation, and operational response software. Technosylva's market-leading solutions, enhanced by AI and machine learning capabilities, provide real-time and predictive insights into developing wildfire and extreme weather risks to support electric utility, insurance, and government agency customers. Founded in 1997, Technosylva has offices in La Jolla, CA, León, Spain, and Calgary, Canada. Learn more at www.Technosylva.com.

CenterPoint Energy restores power to 122,000 customers impacted by overnight and early morning storms across the Greater Houston area

CenterPoint restores customers impacted by severe overnight thunderstorms, on average, in less than 100 minutes​

CenterPoint has returned to normal operations and the Emergency Operations Center has been demobilized

HOUSTON – May 27, 2026 – CenterPoint has taken action to restore power to 122,000 customers impacted by the overnight and early morning thunderstorms across the Greater Houston area with an average restoration time of approximately 100 minutes. While crews are continuing to work to restore power safely and as quickly as possible, CenterPoint's Emergency Operations Center has been demobilized and electric business has returned to normal operations.

“Our customers expect and deserve reliable power, and our teams worked around the clock through significant rainfall to safely and quickly restore service to customers who were impacted by the severe storms. We will continue to prioritize restoring power to the remaining impacted customers, many of whom live in areas that experienced significant weather-related damage, until service has been returned to all of our customers in the Greater Houston area," said Jason Fabre, CenterPoint's Vice President of Special Response and Incident Commander.

Restoration & Response Actions (as of 5 p.m.)

CenterPoint's response today followed thunderstorms moving through parts of the Greater Houston area in the early morning hours, with the strongest activity taking place between 2 and 3 a.m. The scope of CenterPoint's storm response and restoration includes the following actions:

  • Approximately 2,000 CenterPoint frontline workers and contractors have restored approximately 122,000 customers since storms arrived around 1 a.m. Wednesday morning.
  • More than 99% of all CenterPoint electric customers currently have power.
  • Since 1 a.m. Wednesday, more than 162,000 Power Alert Service® messages have been shared directly with customers.
  • Across our network of 150 weather stations, we recorded the following with Wednesday's severe thunderstorms:
    • Isolated strong wind gusts of up to 48 mph
      • ​​Widespread winds up to 38 mph
    • ​​​​Isolated rainfall totals of up to 2.65 inches
    • Approximately 6,000 lightning strikes between 12 a.m. and 5 a.m. across Houston were recorded via a third-party (Vaisala)
​​Important ways to stay connected to CenterPoint: Power Alert Service

Customers can enroll in the company's Power Alert Service® to receive outage details, estimated restoration times and customer-specific restoration updates via phone call, email or text. Customers can also stay up to date with CenterPoint's Outage Tracker, which allows customers to see outages by county, city and ZIP code.
 

About CenterPoint Energy, Inc.  
As the only investor owned electric and 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, Minnesota, Ohio and Texas. As of March 31, 2026, the company owned approximately $47.8 billion in assets. With approximately 8,800 employees, CenterPoint Energy and its predecessor companies have been in business for more than 150 years. For more information, visit CenterPointEnergy.com.