CenterPoint Energy Restores Power to Nearly 1 Million Customers
Within roughly 48 hours of Hurricane Beryl’s departure from the Greater Houston area, CenterPoint Energy reports significant progress in restoring power to its affected customers. Of the 2.26 million impacted customers, more than 914,000 have regained electrical service as of 1:00 PM CT today, which equates to about 40% of the customer base affected by the hurricane.
“We take our responsibility of serving our customers and working as safely and as quickly as possible to restore service very seriously," said Lynnae Wilson, Senior Vice President, Electric Business. “At the same time, we fully understand our customers are hot and growing more impatient with their outages."
CenterPoint Energy's infrastructure, including transmission towers, high-voltage lines, and substations, effectively weathered the storm's force with minimal damage. The majority of power outages stem from the company's distribution system of poles and wires, designed to lock out and prevent further harm from debris while also ensuring public safety. However, parts of the service area, especially along the coast, need to be rebuilt due to significant damage.
In response to the aftermath of Hurricane Beryl, CenterPoint Energy launched a restoration crew of over 12,000 personnel, sourced locally and from multiple US states. The company's natural gas business employees are also supporting the restoration efforts. Additionally, the company has set up 18 staging sites to facilitate these efforts, and deployed nine mobile generation units to crucial locations, with the expectation of more in the coming days.
Recognizing the need for customer updates, CenterPoint Energy is transitioning its Outage Tracker to a cloud-based tool capable of handling an increased amount of traffic during emergencies. Their new tracker provides initial restoration statuses for customers, giving a general framework of the restoration process. The company plans to disclose more detailed estimated restoration times from tomorrow morning.
To stay updated with restoration efforts, CenterPoint Energy encourages its customers to enroll in their Power Alert Service®. The company will also post updates on its social media accounts, as well as on their official website.
Tiffany Krenek has been on the My Neighborhood News team since August 2021. She is passionate about curating and sharing content that enriches the lives of our readers in a personal, meaningful way. A loving mother and wife, Tiffany and her family live in the West Houston/Cypress region.
