CenterPoint Energy issues statement and provides restoration update
2024-07-14T05:00:00Z

​​​​Houston — July 14, 2024 – CenterPoint Energy has now restored power to more than 85% of impacted customers, ahead of its prior expectations. This represents more than 1.9 million impacted customers. The company remains on track to reach 90% restored on Monday, July 15. CenterPoint continues to direct its 14,000 crew members to restore electricity to those customers who remain without power. 

In addition, the company issued the following statement in response to Governor Abbott's press conference:

Our top priority is restoring power to the remaining impacted customers as safely and quickly as possible. Dedicated restoration crews have continued working around-the-clock through the weekend, restoring power at the fastest rate in the company's history. On Monday, July 15, we expect to have restored power to 90% of all impacted customers. Our restoration crews are now converging on remaining areas with significant structural damage as well as localized outages to get the lights back on for those customers who are without power.
 
We have heard and understand our customers' frustrations, and we are committed to working together with the State, local government, regulators, and community leaders both to help the Greater Houston area recover from Hurricane Beryl and to improve for the future. We are committed to doing a thorough review of our response to support our customers and our communities, especially when they need us most. We know they are counting on us, and we are committed to being there for them. 

CenterPoint's Preparedness Ahead of Hurricane Beryl

The company plans for hurricanes and other extreme weather events year-round. CenterPoint had been tracking Hurricane Beryl and prepping for impact for nine days before it made landfall in Texas early Monday, July 8, as a powerful hurricane with wind gusts of up to 97 miles-per-hour. The company took the following steps, among others, to prepare:

  • Despite forecasts that the hurricane would largely miss the company's service territory, CenterPoint secured and readied 3,000 crew members and pre-positioned them safely outside of the projected path of the storm. CenterPoint coordinated with utilities across the state to ensure resources were available across the Texas Gulf Coast region.
  • As the forecast trajectory changed, the company quickly called on additional mutual assistance resources to substantially increase crews.
  • CenterPoint continues to replenish for material needs year-round. Going into this event the company had 15,000 poles on hand and has used a little over 2,100 poles during restoration. The company has more than 17,000 transformers, but this storm has not required significant transformer replacements.

 
The company has been investing for years to strengthen the Greater Houston area's resilience to hurricanes and other extreme weather. Over the last five years, CenterPoint has doubled investments in its electric system, including in grid hardening, modernization and resiliency. From 2022 to 2023, the company also increased spending on vegetation management efforts by 32%.

As a result of investment to enhance the resiliency of the transmission system, which is the backbone of CenterPoint's grid, power continued to flow into the Greater Houston area during the storm. This allowed power to be restored more quickly as crews repaired distribution poles and removed over 18,600 trees impacting overhead lines in individual neighborhoods.

Our Response to the Hurricane

The Greater Houston area has not been hit more directly by the “dirty side" of a hurricane since Hurricane Alicia in 1983. The powerful combination of extreme winds with weakened trees and other vegetation caused significant damage to distribution poles, lines and other electrical equipment, and more than 2.2 million CenterPoint Energy customers were impacted before the storm left the company's service area. As Beryl exited the Houston area, CenterPoint crews jumped into action, working in 16-hour shifts to:

  • Set up 21 staging sites, the most we have ever set up to support response efforts;
  • Assess damage to the system by walking over 8,500 miles of electric lines;
  • Remove over 18,600 weakened trees impacting lines, representing over 75% of distribution circuits;
  • Repair or replace over 2,100 of over 1.17 million distribution poles; and
  • Position mobile generation units at cooling centers, hospitals, senior living facilities, medicine storage facilities and water treatment plants. 

Within 48 hours, CenterPoint crews had restored nearly 1 million customers. The strong pace of the restoration is a testament to the company's preparation, investments in the system and, most importantly, the efforts of 14,000 dedicated CenterPoint and mutual assistance crew members who have been working long days in challenging conditions to get the power back on.​

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CenterPoint's commitments for the future

The company committed to doing a thorough review of its response to support customers and communities. To that end, CenterPoint has already identified immediate areas of focus following this event, including improving communications with customers, launching a new cloud-based outage tracker that customers can rely on as the best source of information, and engaging communities for feedback to drive improvement to future restoration efforts.

In addition to improving communications with customers, CenterPoint intends to continue investing in the resiliency of its electric system. In April, CenterPoint filed a $2.7 billion plan to invest in resiliency focused on system hardening, grid modernization, flood mitigation and vegetation management.

Correcting misinformation

There has been significant misinformation in news and social media regarding the payment of mutual assistance crews. Consistent with industry standards that enable the rapid sharing of resources, CenterPoint's mutual assistance contracts are pre-negotiated, including payment terms. Crews have not and are not being held back due to negotiations on pay. The company reimburses for all costs incurred to provide the assistance, including wages.

CenterPoint's electric customers are encouraged to enroll in Power Alert Service® to receive outage details and community-specific restoration updates as they become available. For information and updates, visit CenterPointEnergy.com/StormCenter and follow @CenterPoint for updates during inclement weather events.



 Recent News

 

 
CenterPoint Energy offers expanded support for southwestern Indiana customers as state’s winter disconnection moratorium ends

​EVANSVILLE, Ind. – March 12, 2026 – As part of its commitment to affordability and supporting our local communities, CenterPoint Energy is encouraging customers to take advantage of available payment options, assistance programs and one-on-one support ahead of Indiana's winter disconnection moratorium ending on March 15.

Under Indiana law, customers who receive Energy Assistance Program (EAP) assistance or who are eligible and have applied for the program are protected from service disconnection between December 1 and March 15. As that protection period ends, CenterPoint wants customers to know that help is available and that reaching out is the first step. The company has taken a series of steps over the past year to expand resources and support available to customers managing energy costs.

“We know that affordability is the top issue for many of our customers and we want you to know that there are resources available to help you manage your energy use and bills. Please reach out to us," said Mike Roeder, President of CenterPoint Energy Indiana. “Our teams are here to help and work with you. We can connect you with assistance programs, set up a payment plan or help you find ways to reduce your energy costs. The sooner you reach out, the sooner we can help you find a path forward."

Steps customers can take now

Financial assistance programs are available to help customers manage energy costs:

  • ​Payment arrangements: Allow customers who are having difficulty paying their bill in full to set up a plan to pay in smaller increments over time
  • Energy Assistance Program: Provides financial help to income-eligible households and is accepting applications through April 20, 2026
  • Universal Service Fund: Helps natural gas customers who have received EAP save between 15% and 32% on their bills through May 31.
  • Township trustee assistance: Available year-round, with eligibility and support levels determined by local trustee offices

Customers can also sign up for Budget Bill to level out monthly payments, schedule a no-cost Home Energy Assessment or visit the Online Energy Efficiency Store to access discounted energy-saving products.

More ways to connect and get help

As part of its ongoing commitment to affordability, CenterPoint has made it easier for customers to connect and find support. Guided by direct feedback from customers and stakeholders, the company has expanded resources across southwestern Indiana, including:

  • One-on-one support through Community Connect events happening throughout the region
  • A redesigned Customer Resource Hub, making it simpler to find billing support, assistance programs and energy-saving resources in one place

The next Community Connect event is scheduled for March 18 at CenterPoint Energy Plaza, 211 NW Riverside Drive in Evansville, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., where customers can meet with CenterPoint team members and get help with any of the programs and resources listed above.

For more information or to explore available resources, customers can visit CenterPointEnergy.com/ResourceHub or call 1-800-227-1376.

Ongoing commitment to affordability

In October 2025, CenterPoint launched its initial series of Community Affordability Actions, including the CenterPoint Energy Foundation's $5 million Community Energy Improvement Fund. Since then, the company has introduced additional bill management tools, expanded customer support programs and implemented additional protections as part of the Indiana Electric rate case settlement – such as annual late-fee waivers upon request, reduced reconnection fees and safeguards for medically vulnerable customers. Additional customer resources are expected to be announced in the coming weeks.

CenterPoint Energy offers support for Indiana customers as state’s winter disconnection moratorium ends

INDIANAPOLIS – March 12, 2026 – CenterPoint Energy is encouraging customers to take advantage of available payment options, assistance programs and one-on-one support ahead of Indiana's winter disconnection moratorium ending on March 15.

Under Indiana law, customers who receive Energy Assistance Program (EAP) assistance or who are eligible and have applied for the program are protected from service disconnection between December 1 and March 15. As that protection period ends, CenterPoint wants customers to know that help is available and that reaching out is the first step.

“We know that affordability is the top issue for many of our customers and we want you to know that there are resources available to help you manage your energy use and bills. Please reach out to us," said Mike Roeder, President of CenterPoint Energy Indiana. “Our teams are here to work with you. We can connect you with assistance programs, set up a payment plan or help you find ways to reduce your energy costs. The sooner you reach out, the sooner we can help you find a path forward."

Steps customers can take now

Financial assistance programs are available to help customers manage energy costs:

  • Payment arrangements: Allow customers who are having difficulty paying their bill in full to set up a plan to pay in smaller increments over time
  • Energy Assistance Program: Provides financial help to income-eligible households and is accepting applications through April 20, 2026
  • Universal Service Fund: Helps natural gas customers who have received EAP save between 15% and 32% on their bills through May 31
  • Township trustee assistance: Available year-round, with eligibility and support levels determined by local trustee offices

Customers can also sign up for Budget Billing to level out monthly payments or visit the Online Energy Efficiency Store to access discounted energy-saving products.

For more information or to explore available resources, customers can visit CenterPointEnergy.com/ResourceHub or call 1-800-227-1376.​​

Less than 2.5% of CenterPoint Energy customers impacted during midweek storms

Average restoration for a customer was about 54 minutes, with the vast majority of customers restored in 3 hours or less 

 

Essentially all customers impacted by Wednesday afternoon’s storms have now been restored, with crews working diligently to restore remaining 700 customers 

 

 Frontline workers and contractors supported ongoing restoration and continue responding to localized outages 

  

HOUSTON – March 11, 2026 – After Wednesday afternoon’s storms traveled across CenterPoint Energy’s electric service territory, approximately 2.5% of its 2.9 million customers across the Greater Houston area experienced impacts to electric service during the weather event. With more than 70,000 customers impacted since storms started to move through the area around noon, approximately 69,000 customers have been restored since the storms arrived this afternoon. As of 9:45 p.m., approximately 700 customers are currently without power. 

 

The company's Emergency Operation Center was activated ahead of the storms, and more than 1,400 frontline workers and contractor crews were available to respond to isolated outages throughout the company's 12-county service area. The average time to restore customers who experienced storm-related outages was approximately 54 minutes, and the vast majority of customers were restored in 3 hours or less. 

 

The company is expected to return to normal operations tomorrow morning. 

 

“Severe weather and storms are something we prepare for year‑round, and our crews train continuously so we’re ready ahead of the storms reaching our communities,” said Jason Fabre, CenterPoint’s Vice President, Special Response Team and Incident Commander. “We understand how disruptive any outages can be, and our crews work safely and as quickly as possible until every customer is restored. We will monitor the weather the rest of the night and be prepared to respond immediately to any additional outages.” 

 

CenterPoint took the following actions for today’s event: 

 

  • Deployed the company's resources: Had 1,400 personnel ready to respond to outages and support preparedness actions ahead of restoration efforts. 
  • Activated Emergency Operations Center: To coordinate storm response efforts throughout the day, the company proactively activated its Emergency Operations Center on Tuesday and remained ready to respond. 
  • Monitored weather 24/7: The Meteorology team continues to track forecast developments, and the company is updating response plans as conditions evolve. 
  • Pre-positioned resources: Response teams were pre-positioned in areas where storms were forecasted to impact and remain ready to respond to any electric or natural gas service interruptions safely and as quickly as possible. 
  • Coordinated with local officials: The company provided updates to local officials and emergency management partners. 

 

About CenterPoint Energy, Inc.   
CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE: CNP) is a multi-state electric and natural gas delivery company serving more than 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 December 31, 2025, the company had approximately $46.5 billion in assets. With approximately 8,800 employees, CenterPoint Energy and its predecessor companies have been serving customers for more than 150 years. For more information, visit CenterPointEnergy.com.  ​

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

The company is executing preparedness actions and mobilizing resources ahead of storms to support restoration efforts

Customers encouraged to stay safe and prepare emergency plans ahead of storms 

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – March 10, 2026 – CenterPoint Energy is monitoring for potentially severe thunderstorm forecasted across the region and preparing for potential impacts from storms expected to move through southwestern Indiana Tuesday afternoon through Wednesday. According to the National Weather Service, damaging winds and isolated tornadoes are possible.

The company has pre-staged crews and equipment across its service territory to respond safely and quickly if needed. CenterPoint is also coordinating with government officials on storm readiness and response and 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:

  • Track outages: Bookmark Outage Tracker (available in English & Spanish and mobile-friendly) to see outage information in your area.
  • Stay safe: Visit Ready.gov for storm safety tips.

Follow us: Real-time updates will be available on X and at CenterPointEnergy.com/ActionCenter.

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Midweek Weather Impacts: CenterPoint Energy actively monitoring and preparing ahead of new wave of severe storm potential across the Greater Houston area; company activates Emergency Operations Center

​HOUSTON – March 10, 2026 – As a new week begins, so does the potential for severe weather impacts and CenterPoint Energy is proactively activating its Emergency Operations Center. The company continues to diligently monitor forecasts, coordinate with emergency management partners and position resources to be prepared to respond to potential impacts to electric and natural gas service.​

“Our Emergency Preparedness and Response team has been monitoring the potential for strong and potentially severe thunderstorms by midweek," said Matt Lanza, CenterPoint's Manager of Meteorology. “We have proactively activated our Emergency Operations Center and crews will be fully prepared for the possibility of another round of severe weather this week and stand ready to respond. We will continue to actively monitor for any severe weather and urge our customers to stay alert in anticipation of quickly changing weather conditions."

Preparing for Severe Weather: Key Actions
As part of its storm preparedness efforts, CenterPoint is taking the following actions:

  • Activating storm readiness plan: CenterPoint's Emergency Preparedness and Response team has activated its storm preparedness efforts.
  • Readying the company's resources: More than 1,400 personnel are executing preparedness actions and will remain ready to support potential restoration efforts throughout the week.
  • Monitoring severe weather 24/7: The Meteorology team continues to track weather forecast developments, and the company is updating response efforts as conditions evolve.
  • Coordinating with local officials: CenterPoint is providing updates to local officials and emergency management partners.

“CenterPoint was prepared to respond to this past weekend's storms, and we are maintaining our readiness posture for this week's forecasted potentially severe weather. We know that any outage is one too many for customers, and we are working hard to pre-position resources across our system to be ready to respond safely and as quickly as possible if outages from weather occur," said Jason Fabre, CenterPoint's Vice President, Special Response Team and Incident Commander. “We're committed to open communication and working safely and quickly to restore service."

What customers should do:

About CenterPoint Energy, Inc.  
CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE: CNP) is a multi-state electric and natural gas delivery company serving more than 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 December 31, 2025, the company had approximately $46.5 billion in assets. With approximately 8,800 employees, CenterPoint Energy and its predecessor companies have been serving customers for more than 150 years. For more information, visit CenterPointEnergy.com.