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CenterPoint Energy Announces a Comprehensive Suite of New Actions as Part of Second Phase of Greater Houston Resiliency Initiative to Strengthen the Electric Grid Across the Region

2024-09-30T05:00:00Z

Near-term actions will include:

Installing 25,000 new, stronger poles
Removing or trimming 4,000 miles of higher-risk vegetation
Installing 4,500 automated reliability devices

Actions will be completed ahead of the 2025 hurricane season.

HOUSTON, Sept. 30, 2024 - Today, CenterPoint Energy announced a comprehensive suite of new actions as part of the next phase of its Greater Houston Resiliency Initiative (GHRI), including strengthening the energy system and operations over the next eight months and before the start of the 2025 hurricane season. These extensive near-term actions will: build on the work CenterPoint completed in the first phase of the GHRI, continue to strengthen resiliency, improve its communications and develop stronger partnerships, and help reinforce its electric system as it prepares for both the upcoming winter season and the 2025 hurricane season.

The actions in GHRI Phase Two will help enable a self-healing grid, reduce the length and frequency of outages and lead to more than 125 million fewer outage minutes annually for customers in the Greater Houston area. Work will be completed ahead of the 2025 hurricane season, or June 1, 2025, and will include:

Installing new or replacing 25,000 poles that meet extreme wind standards
Trimming or removing higher-risk vegetation across 4,000 miles of power lines
Installing 4,500 automation devices, known as trip savers, and 350 Intelligent Grid Switching Devices as part of our effort to build a self-healing grid that utilizes automation to respond to outages faster
Undergrounding more than 400 miles of power lines
Launching a year-round public emergency preparedness and safety communications campaign
Strengthening our local partnerships with agencies and partners critical to our emergency response efforts

"We know how important reliable and resilient energy is to our 2.8 million customers and that the Greater Houston region is the economic engine for the State of Texas and the energy capital of the world. That is why we are so focused on modernizing our infrastructure as we work toward our goal of building the most resilient coastal grid in the country that will serve the energy needs of Houstonians for years to come," said Jason Wells, President and CEO of CenterPoint.

"We are proud of the immediate resiliency improvements we delivered during Phase One of the Greater Houston Resiliency Initiative and these actions were only the beginning. We have set ambitious goals to achieve even further enhancements to our resiliency before the 2025 hurricane season. We are committed to developing the self-healing grid of the future that our customers expect and deserve," said Wells.

The actions CenterPoint has taken, and will continue to take, are designed to address its customers' major concerns following Hurricane Beryl by lessening the impact and duration of storm-related outages, improving its restoration efforts and communications, while also advancing the day-to-day reliability of its grid. Since August 17, CenterPoint has held 19 community open houses for its customers and community advocates, as well as numerous listening sessions with local officials and community leaders to help ensure the Phase Two actions address stakeholder concerns.

CenterPoint will track its progress towards completing all of its GHRI commitments at www.CenterPointEnergy.com/TakingAction.

Continuing the Momentum of GHRI Phase One
On August 28, CenterPoint announced that it had completed, ahead of schedule, a series of core resiliency actions as part of the first phase of its GHRI. During this initial phase, more than 2,500 employees and contractors trimmed or removed higher-risk vegetation from more than 2,000 power line miles, installed more than 1,100 stronger, more storm-resilient poles and installed more than 300 automated devices known as trip savers. In addition to the launch of its new outage tracker and the completion of 40 of its original 42 commitments, including all of those with a deadline on or before September 30, these actions represent meaningful, real-world resiliency improvements for its customers this hurricane season.

Longer-Term Commitment to Resiliency and Investment
Beyond the near-term actions of GHRI Phase Two, CenterPoint will refile its long-term resiliency plan with the PUCT on or before January 31, 2025. The goal of the long-term resiliency plan is to mitigate a broad spectrum of risks that threaten its system by hardening key aspects of the infrastructure, enhancing the security of the grid and building a smarter grid that can combat extreme weather, major storms and hurricanes to reduce the impact of outages experienced by its customers and mitigate wildfire risk.

As part of the long-term plan, CenterPoint will also propose investing at least $5 billion from 2026 to 2028 – the largest investment in Greater Houston infrastructure in the company's nearly 160-year history. The at least $5 billion is part of CenterPoint's new capital investment plan that includes more than $21 billion in total capital investment in its Texas electric and gas systems from 2025 through 2030, exceeding its current plan.

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. 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, as well as the website pages related to the GHRI, includes forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. When used in this news release or the website pages related to the GHRI, 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, which include statements regarding our resiliency investments, and the GHRI, including effectiveness, timing and related matters, 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 or the website pages related to the GHRI regarding future events that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements. Each forward-looking statement contained in this news release or the website pages related to the GHRI 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; and (5) other factors, risks and uncertainties discussed in CenterPoint Energy's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2023 and CenterPoint's Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q for the quarters ended March 31, 2024 and June 30, 2024 and other reports CenterPoint Energy or its subsidiaries may file from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

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

SOURCE CenterPoint Energy

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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.