First CenterPoint Energy Resiliency Technology Summit showcases innovative new tools to help improve hurricane preparedness and response
First CenterPoint Energy Resiliency Technology Summit showcases innovative new tools to help improve hurricane preparedness and response
2025-06-25T05:00:00Z

Global technology leaders share best practices and demonstrate advanced technologies and AI tools being used to enhance storm preparedness and emergency response

HOUSTON, June 25, 2025 - As part of its commitment to build the most resilient coast grid in the country, and to better serve its 2.8 million customers throughout the 2025 hurricane season and beyond, CenterPoint Energy hosted its first ever Technology Summit alongside seven global leaders in AI tools, data analytics and other cutting-edge technologies. The new strategic relationships with Climavision, Convey (formerly Message Broadcast), Neara, Palantir, Pano AI, Technosylva and Urbint will help CenterPoint improve overall operations, identify critical system upgrades, enhance situational awareness, and strengthen storm preparedness and emergency response efforts.

"We are committed to working with the best and brightest to achieve our goal of building and operating the most resilient coastal grid in the country. These global leaders are enabling CenterPoint to leverage the latest innovations in AI, machine learning and other areas to help Houston be better prepared for more powerful hurricanes and storms. Most importantly, these new technologies and tools will help us respond more effectively to emergencies and provide the more reliable, resilient service our customers expect and deserve," said Jason Wells, President and Chief Executive Officer of CenterPoint Energy.

Advanced Technologies: Strengthening Resiliency and Emergency Readiness

During the 2025 Technology Summit, representatives of CenterPoint and global tech leaders engaged with elected officials, local emergency managers and community leaders to demonstrate how these advanced technologies will enhance CenterPoint's efforts to prepare for extreme weather events, including in four key areas:

  • Targeting critical system upgrades: Working with Neara and Technosylva , CenterPoint is enhancing how it plans and executes targeted resiliency actions to strengthen the system against extreme weather.
  • Improving situational awareness and storm preparedness: Climavision and Pano AI are helping CenterPoint improve real-time weather monitoring, AI forecasting and risk detection – enabling CenterPoint to more effectively predict and monitor weather risks to Houston's energy infrastructure.
  • Keeping customers better informed: CenterPoint is using critical tools from Convey to modernize communication operations and efficiently manage interactions, strengthening the company's ability to deliver real-time emergency communications to millions of customers.
  • Strengthening emergency response: Technologies from Palantir and Urbint are helping CenterPoint connect data across its assets to respond to storms more effectively and enhancing onboarding and deployment of mutual assistance crews in an emergency.

Greater Houston Resiliency Initiative: Key Actions and Improvements

CenterPoint's strategic technology relationships are the latest part of a broader series of actions to improve resiliency, communication and partnerships through the Greater Houston Resiliency Initiative (GHRI), launched in August 2024. Over the first two phases of GHRI, which were completed ahead of schedule and before the start of hurricane season on June 1, CenterPoint took the following actions:

  • Installed 26,000+ stronger, storm-resilient poles to withstand extreme winds;
  • Added 5,150+ automation devices to improve restoration times;
  • Cleared 6,000+ miles of higher-risk vegetation to reduce storm-related outages;
  • Undergrounded 400+ miles of power lines to improve overall resiliency;
  • Installed 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.

The company will continue working throughout the 2025 hurricane season to further strengthen resiliency and address potential system impacts from storms and extreme weather. For more information and updates on GHRI, visit CenterPointEnergy.com/TakingAction .

Media Contact: Media.Relations@CenterPointEnergy.com

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, visit CenterPointEnergy.com.

About Climavision

Climavision brings together the power of a proprietary, high resolution supplemental weather radar network with its cutting-edge Horizon AI forecasting technology suite to close significant weather observation gaps and drastically improve forecast speed and accuracy. Climavision's revolutionary approach to climate technology is poised to help reduce the economic risks of volatile weather on companies, governments, and communities alike. Climavision is backed by The Rise Fund, the world's largest global impact platform committed to achieving measurable, positive social and environmental outcomes alongside competitive financial returns. The company is headquartered in Louisville, KY, with research and development operations in Raleigh, NC. To learn more, visit www.Climavision.com.

About Convey

Convey delivers intelligent customer workflows that humanize connections in regulated environments. Formerly Message Broadcast, Convey transforms compliance requirements into streamlined experiences through purpose-built solutions that deliver measurable impact for utilities and essential service providers. Our platform helps organizations modernize operations and set new engagement standards while efficiently managing millions of interactions. Reimagine the customer journey at goconvey.com.

About Neara

Neara is a physics-enabled digital twin that eclipses traditional visualization capabilities to deliver a geometrically accurate 3D spatial model of entire infrastructure networks. The model applies detailed individual asset-level analysis to entire integrated infrastructure, providing a context-rich representation of how assets actually behave and react in the physical world in any scenario. Neara connects the granular perspective engineers need to maintain a safe and structurally sound grid system with the network-wide view business leaders need to improve outcomes with effective network investments via high-velocity, automated analysis. With Neara, asset owners upgrade daily reality from reacting to dozens of problems in a context vacuum to proactively identifying exactly where and how to allocate capital for maximum community benefit through an integrated lens. Neara has modeled more than 2 million miles of infrastructure across four continents, enabling customers to save millions each year while improving resiliency and reliability, and transforming processes that once took years into outcomes delivered in hours. More information is available at www.neara.com.

About Palantir

Palantir partners with utilities to modernize the grid, mitigate risk, improve safety, and adapt to changing demand and production patterns. Utilities have a complex data ecosystem that is often challenging to leverage, but we've helped partners optimize their operations at speed and meet complex challenges with data-driven decisions. Today, leading organizations use Palantir software to power critical decisions and operationalize AI. Workflows help address load management optimization, grid upgrades, emergency prevention and response, procurement bottlenecks, and more.

About Pano AI

Pano AI is the leader in AI-powered wildfire detection. Launched in 2020, the company provides advanced early detection and situational awareness solutions to fire agencies, utilities, governments, and private landholders to help protect people, property, and infrastructure from catastrophic wildfires. With deployments across the U.S., Canada, and Australia, Pano AI is building a new standard for real-time wildfire intelligence. To learn more, visit www.pano.ai or follow the company on LinkedIn.

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.

About Urbint

Urbint is the world leader in operational resilience for energy and utilities. Urbint's solutions use Artificial Intelligence and the latest industry science to predict and manage emergencies, protect assets and keep people safe. Urbint's suite features three end-to-end solutions: 1) Worker Safety, which provides digital job safety briefs and energy-based observation workflows to reduce exposure at the point of work; 2) Damage Prevention, which manages and risk-profiles 811 tickets to help prevent third-party damages to underground assets; and 3) Emergency Preparedness & Response, which connects the entire natural disaster lifecycle to predict impact and increase a utility's response to reduce customer downtime. The largest energy and infrastructure companies trust Urbint to protect workers, assets, communities, and the environment. Learn more at urbint.com.

SOURCE CenterPoint Energy

 Recent News

 

 
CenterPoint Energy acts on customer and community feedback and launches new Community Progress Tracker map providing local views of resiliency grid upgrades and improvements across Greater Houston

Greater Houston Resiliency Initiative improvements delivered since August 2024 are available and visible in one online location

New tool allows customers in 12-county area to view more than 56,000 new storm resilient poles, more than 8,000 miles of tree-trimming and more than 500 new automation and intelligence devices delivered since August 1, 2024

HOUSTON, Feb. 11, 2026 - As part of its ongoing commitment to transparency and keeping customers informed of the progress to strengthen the electric grid around Greater Houston, today CenterPoint Energy launched its new Community Progress Tracker. This new web-based, customer-focused map provides direct access to the public to track and measure progress on electric infrastructure upgrades on their street, in their neighborhood, or in their ZIP Code. All of the system upgrades that CenterPoint is making are critical to helping the company build and deliver the most resilient coastal grid in the nation.

The new Community Progress Tracker is part of CenterPoint's broader Greater Houston Resiliency Initiative (GHRI) – a multi-year program to strengthen the electric grid and improve both reliability and resiliency in the face of increasingly severe weather events, while also improving customer communications. Through GHRI, CenterPoint is investing in a wide range of grid-hardening measures designed to reduce outage impacts and accelerate customer outage restoration.

"Our new Community Progress Tracker gives our customers a clear window into the work we're doing in their local neighborhoods to improve their service and build a stronger and more resilient electric system," said Tony Gardner, Chief Customer Officer at CenterPoint. "Whether they access it on their phones, tablets, laptops or desktops, our new tracker details all the different types of work we are doing and the critical upgrades we've made in their communities."

Community Progress Tracker details
The new tool provides location-specific details on work completed to date as part of GHRI. This includes new more storm-resilient poles and equipment, undergrounded power lines, enhanced vegetation management, and advanced grid technologies, including automation devices that reduce the impact of outages. All these different scopes of GHRI upgrades are noted on the new tracker using colorful and easy-to-identify icons.

CenterPoint Energy Community Progress Tracker icons (PRNewsfoto/CenterPoint Energy)

While today the tracker visualizes all the upgrades and improvements that CenterPoint has delivered over the last 18 months, it will continue to evolve, and future features will soon allow customers to monitor projects underway and upcoming planned resiliency projects in their area. These future improvements will allow customers and the public to follow progress in given areas and better understand how these efforts contribute to a more reliable and resilient energy future.

Accessible via both desktop and mobile devices, the new Community Progress Tracker includes:

  • An interactive map of CenterPoint's 12-county Greater Houston service area
  • Colorful and easy-to-view icons for locations of new poles, tree-trimming miles, automation devices, undergrounding, and weather stations
  • Zoom in and out functions
  • Searchability by street address or ZIP Code
  • Community and neighborhood-level visualization of work completed since August 1, 2024, including pole and equipment upgrades, tree trimming, undergrounding power lines and the installation of automation devices

GHRI Progress update
"Resiliency is at the heart of everything we're doing," added Jesus Soto Jr., Chief Operating Officer at CenterPoint. "From stronger poles and new automation to undergrounding to tree trimming, we're taking a comprehensive and innovative approach to hardening our infrastructure and delivering Greater Houston's electric system. Our goal is to build the most resilient coastal grid in the nation, and this tool will help our customers follow that journey and see the progress we are making in their communities."

Since August 2024, as part of GHRI, CenterPoint has:

  • Installed or replaced more than 56,000 utility poles, including high-strength composite models engineered to better withstand extreme wind conditions;
  • Undergrounded more than 430 miles of power lines to reduce exposure to storm-related damage;
  • Trimmed or cleared vegetation along more than 8,000 miles of distribution lines in higher-risk areas;
  • Installed more than 500 automation and intelligence devices to help reduce outage impacts and improve service restoration times; and
  • Deployed 150 advanced weather stations since April 2025 to enhance situational awareness and storm preparedness.

How to access
To explore the Community Progress Tracker, visit CenterPointEnergy.com/Progress. A short "how-to" video is also available to help customers navigate the tool can be found here: LINK

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 September 30, 2025, the company had approximately $45 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, visit CenterPointEnergy.com.

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

Correction: "1,500 advanced weather stations" has been updated to "150 advanced weather stations" in the last bulletpoint.

SOURCE CenterPoint Energy

CenterPoint Energy reminds customers to celebrate the love in the air, but keep balloons away from power lines this Valentine’s Day

​HOUSTON — Feb. 13, 2026 — As Houstonians gear up to celebrate Valentine’s Day, CenterPoint Energy is reminding customers that while love may be in the air, metallic balloons should be safely weighed down and kept inside. The company is urging customers to properly secure and dispose of metallic helium balloons to help prevent power outages and other safety hazards, as metallic balloons have caused outages for over 75,000 customers across CenterPoint’s electric service territory since 2021. 

Metallic balloons, which are coated with conductive materials, can cause sparks, equipment damage and even service interruptions if they are released outdoors and allowed to float into power lines or electric utility equipment. When combined with breezy weather or approaching storms, the risk can increase. 


This year, Valentine’s Day falls ahead of possible thunderstorms on Saturday, and CenterPoint is preparing accordingly. 

  

“We want our customers to celebrate and balloons can be a thoughtful way to show someone you care, but if they’re not weighed down or secured, they can quickly become a hazard for an entire neighborhood or community,” said Ed De Varona, senior vice president of CenterPoint's Electric business. “With possible storm forecasts this weekend, we’re reminding customers to keep balloons indoors, anchored and away from electric equipment. We’ll be fully staffed and prepared to respond to any potential weather impacts, but let’s all do our part to help prevent avoidable outages.” 

 

Balloon safety tips from CenterPoint 

Customers can follow these tips to stay safe on Valentine’s Day and any time they purchase balloons for a celebration:  

  • Fly balloons indoors and keep them away from all entrances and exits to prevent them from escaping outside. 

  • If the balloon comes with a weight, keep it on. If it doesn’t, consider tethering it with weight. 

  • Dispose of balloons properly after use by puncturing and deflating them. 

  • Never tie a helium balloon to a child or anyone else – they might inadvertently cause the balloon to contact a power line or electric utility equipment if they go outside. 

  • Never attempt to retrieve balloons caught in a power line or electric utility equipment. Call CenterPoint at 713-207-2222 to report the issue, and the company will send a trained service crew to address it safely and as quickly as possible. 

 

For more electric safety tips, customers can visit CenterPointEnergy.com/ElectricSafety.  

 

Important ways to stay connected to CenterPoint    

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. 

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 September 30, 2025, the company had approximately $45 billion in assets. With approximately 8,300 employees, CenterPoint Energy and its predecessor companies have been serving customers for more than 150 years. 


CenterPoint Energy offers free energy efficiency resources to help Indiana customers manage winter costs

​INDIANAPOLIS – Feb. 12, 2026 – As colder-than-normal temperatures continue to drive higher energy use across the region, CenterPoint Energy is offering free and discounted energy efficiency resources to help Indiana customers manage costs and reduce energy use in their homes and businesses.

Through the Online Energy Efficiency Store, customers can now claim up to four free window insulation kits per order. These kits provide an airtight seal that helps stop drafts, reduce heat loss and keep warm air inside, a simple step towards lowering energy use during winter heating months. Customers can also take advantage of limited-time discounts on smart thermostats and water-saving products through Feb. 24, with eligible rebates applied instantly at checkout.

Smart thermostats allow customers to control home heating and cooling remotely, adjust schedules based on daily routines and monitor energy use patterns, helping to lower heating and cooling costs during periods when energy use is highest.

“With colder-than-normal temperatures continuing to impact bills, we know managing energy costs is top of mind for many of our customers," said Mike Roeder, President of CenterPoint Energy Indiana. “Our online store gives customers access to tools that can help them take control and start reducing energy use right away."

Launched in November 2024, the Online Energy Efficiency Store offers a range of ENERGY STAR® certified products and energy-saving tools.

Customers looking for additional ways to save can visit CenterPoint's improved Customer Resource Hub at CenterPointEnergy.com/ResourceHub to explore bill management options, available assistance programs and no-cost Home Energy Assessments, which provide personalized recommendations to improve efficiency.​

CenterPoint Energy offers free energy efficiency resources to help southwestern Indiana customers manage winter costs

​EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Feb. 12, 2026 – As colder-than-normal temperatures continue to drive higher energy use across the region, CenterPoint Energy is offering free and discounted energy efficiency resources to help southwestern Indiana customers manage costs and reduce energy use in their homes and businesses.

Through the Online Energy Efficiency Store, customers can now claim up to four free window insulation kits per order. These kits provide an airtight seal that helps stop drafts, reduces heat loss and keeps warm air inside, a simple step towards lowering energy use during winter heating months. Customers can also take advantage of limited-time discounts on smart thermostats and water-saving products through Feb. 24, with eligible rebates applied instantly at checkout.

Smart thermostats allow customers to control home heating and cooling remotely, adjust schedules based on daily routines and monitor energy use patterns, helping to lower heating and cooling costs during periods when energy use is highest.

“With colder-than-normal temperatures continuing to impact bills, we know managing energy costs is top of mind for many of our customers," said Mike Roeder, President of CenterPoint Energy Indiana. “Our online store gives customers access to tools that can help them take control and start reducing energy use right away."

Online store continues to expand product offerings
​Launched in November 2024, the Online Energy Efficiency Store features a range of ENERGY STAR® certified products and energy-saving tools, including smart thermostats, air purifiers, energy-efficient lighting and home weatherization products.

Customers looking for additional ways to save can visit CenterPoint's improved Customer Resource Hub at CenterPointEnergy.com/ResourceHub to explore bill management options and no-cost Home Energy Assessments, which provide personalized recommendations to improve efficiency.

Ongoing commitment to affordability
In October 2025, CenterPoint launched an 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 and programs for southwestern Indiana customers and customer protections as part of the Indiana Electric rate case settlement, such as annual late fee waivers upon request, reduced reconnection fees and additional safeguards for medically vulnerable customers. The company expects to announce additional customer resources in the coming weeks.​​

CenterPoint Energy expands strategic relationship with Resilient Structures to accelerate grid hardening and support local economic development

HOUSTON — Feb. 9, 2026 — CenterPoint Energy (NYSE: CNP), today announced a long-term supply agreement with Resilient Structures (RS), a premier manufacturer of high-performance composite utility poles. This strategic relationship strengthens CenterPoint’s Greater Houston Resiliency Initiative (GHRI), a multi-year effort to harden the region’s electric infrastructure against increasingly severe weather events. 

  

Under the agreement, Resilient Structures will significantly expand its Humble, Texas operations to meet CenterPoint’s growing infrastructure needs. The expansion is expected to create more than 200 new jobs in the Houston area, reinforcing both companies’ commitment to local investment and economic development. 

  

“Building the most resilient coastal grid in the nation starts with strong relationships,” said Jesus Soto Jr. Chief Operating Officer at CenterPoint Energy. “Resilient Structures shares our commitment to enhance the reliability, resiliency and innovation of our Greater Houston region. This agreement provides a vital U.S.-based and Texas supported option for our supply chain. It will help make sure that CenterPoint has the critical resources to accelerate grid hardening across southeast Texas. By sourcing materials locally, we’re not only strengthening our electric infrastructure against extreme weather but also supporting economic growth and job creation in the communities we serve.”  

  

The agreement will provide CenterPoint with a secure, U.S.-based supply of advanced composite poles designed to withstand extreme weather conditions. By sourcing materials locally, CenterPoint and RS will shorten the supply chain and speed up deployment of storm-hardened structures across CenterPoint’s 12-county service territory. 

  

"We are incredibly proud to deepen our strategic relationship with CenterPoint Energy at such a pivotal moment for our region’s infrastructure," said John Higgins, Chief Executive Officer of RS. "This agreement is about more than just supply; it is a shared commitment to the safety and stability of our community. By expanding our operations right here in Houston, we are not only bringing over 200 high-quality, long-term jobs to the local economy but also ensuring that the materials strengthening our grid are made by the people who rely on it."  

  

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 September 30, 2025, the company had approximately $45 billion in assets. With approximately 8,300 employees, CenterPoint Energy and its predecessor companies have been serving customers for more than 150 years. 

About Resilient Structures 

Resilient Structures (RS) is a premier North American manufacturer of high-performance composite utility structures designed to harden the electrical grid against extreme weather and environmental threats. In business for over 30 years, RS is backed by Energy Impact Partners, a global investment firm with a strategic focus on the energy sector and Werklund Growth Fund, an investment firm backed by the Werklund family. RS operates three strategic manufacturing facilities in St. George, Utah; Tilbury, Ontario; and Humble, Texas. ​