Evansville, Ind. – April 6, 2025 – CenterPoint Energy has completed restoration for customers who can safely receive service following the severe storms that impacted its southwestern Indiana electric service territory earlier this week. Despite challenging weather conditions, an expanded workforce of more than 650 personnel, company crews, contractors and mutual assistance teams worked around the clock since Wednesday evening to repair damage and restore more than 24,000 customer outages. While all customers impacted by Wednesday night's storms, who could safely receive service, were restored as of 9:30 p.m. Friday night, additional severe weather hit the region that same evening. Crews worked through continued weather activity on Saturday to restore those customers.
“This has been a difficult week for our southwestern Indiana community as many have experienced storm and flood damage to their properties. We want to thank our customers for their patience as we worked to get the lights back on," said Shane Bradford, CenterPoint's Vice President, Indiana Electric. “The tireless efforts of our employees, contractors and mutual assistance crews have been remarkable. Their commitment to our customers and communities, paired with the support of local and state officials, allowed us to restore service safely and quickly."
Restoring power to 24,000 customers following Wednesday's storms
Severe storms on Wednesday evening brought wind gusts exceeding 60 mph, near golf ball-sized hail and possible tornado activity, resulting in significant damage to CenterPoint's southwestern Indiana electric system. Efforts began that evening, with crews restoring service to more than 60% of impacted customers by Thursday morning.
Restoration work continued throughout the day Thursday as additional contractor and mutual assistance crews arrived to support response efforts. By Thursday evening, more than 90% of customers impacted by Wednesday's storms had been restored. Crews had responded to more than 400 individual outage locations, many requiring time-intensive repairs.
System repairs from the initial round of storms were completed Friday and required the replacement of approximately 100 wooden poles, installation of nearly 60,000 feet of overhead wire, and replacement of nearly 40 transformers.
Some customers may still experience reconnection delays as a result of impact to their home's electrical equipment, particularly if there has been damage to a weatherhead – the point of entry from the service drop to the home. If the weatherhead is damaged, the customer will need to have a licensed electrician make necessary repairs before power can be restored. After repairs are completed, customers can call 800-227-1376 to request reconnection of service.
Investments support system performance during recent storms
CenterPoint's long-term investments to strengthen and modernize its electric infrastructure have continued to deliver results for customers. Despite the severity of Wednesday night's storms, approximately 85% of customers maintained service throughout the event.
System upgrades completed in recent years—such as the replacement of aging poles and overhead conductors, enhanced substation equipment and expanded use of smart meters and automation—helped reduce the overall impact.
“Storms like these are a real test of our electric system, and no infrastructure is completely immune to extreme weather," added Bradford. “But it's clear the investments we've made are making a difference. As we continue to experience an increase in extreme weather events, the continued investment in the resiliency of our electric infrastructure will support our ability to quickly respond to these events, with fewer customers impacted and less time to repair damage, than we've experienced in years past."
For more information on CenterPoint's reliability and resiliency investments, visit www.centerpointenergy.com/smartenergyfuture.
