- CenterPoint continuing to monitor the latest weather updates
and forecasts to be ready to respond to the potential effects of
Tropical Storm Rafael
- Company continuing to communicate to electric and natural
gas customers in Texas,
Louisiana and Mississippi and coordinate with emergency
partners
- More than 2.25 million natural gas customers in Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi have been urged to take proactive
safety measures
HOUSTON, Nov. 5, 2024
/PRNewswire/ -- With Tropical Storm Rafael continuing to
organize today and grow stronger, CenterPoint Energy is diligently
monitoring the weather and preparing for potential responses to
impacts, which may occur in Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. The company has been coordinating
closely with emergency and agency partners, sharing safety
information with customers and mobilizing resources across its
service area in preparation for impacts and outages across its
multi-state Gulf Coast service area.
"We remain vigilant as Tropical Storm Rafael's path becomes more
defined, and we are prepared to respond to any potential impacts on
both our electric and natural gas networks. CenterPoint will
continue to coordinate with our emergency partners as we focus on
getting ready to restore service to customers as safely and quickly
as possible following the storm's impact. We will also continue
sharing important safety information with our customers, and we
urge everyone in the path of the storm to take the necessary
preparation steps to keep themselves and their loved ones safe,"
said Richard Leger, CenterPoint's
Senior Vice President of Gas Business.
"We have been monitoring the storm's potential path and
preparing our employees, resources and equipment for a potential
storm event and sharing safety messages with our customers and
communities along the Gulf Coast. We will continue to coordinate
with local, state and federal officials, first responders and
emergency management agencies as we prepare for Tropical Storm
Rafael's impact. Our focus is clear: to get ready to respond and
restore service to our impacted customers," said Bo Murphy, CenterPoint's Vice President of
Louisiana and Mississippi Natural
Gas.
Responding to potential impacts across Gulf Coast service
territory
Across its service areas in Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas, CenterPoint is carefully
monitoring Tropical Storm Rafael and taking immediate preparedness
actions. The company will continue preparing to deploy frontline
crews to efficiently clear storm debris, repair system damage and
restore electricity and natural gas service to impacted
customers.
Safety Tips for Natural Gas Customers
CenterPoint
is reminding customers to stay safe prior to, during and
after Tropical Storm Rafael by following these natural gas safety
tips:
- Do not turn off your natural gas service at the meter in
advance of the storm; doing so could allow water to enter the
natural gas lines should flooding occur. If you wish to discontinue
gas service, turn off the natural gas at each appliance.
- Always be alert for the smell of natural gas. If you smell
natural gas, leave the area immediately on foot and tell others to
leave, too.
- If you smell natural gas, do not turn the lights on or off,
smoke, strike a match, use a cell phone or operate anything that
might cause a spark, including a flashlight or a generator.
- Do not attempt to turn natural gas valves on or off.
- Once safely away from the area, call 1-888-876-5786 and
CenterPoint will send a trained service technician.
- If your home is flooded, call a licensed plumber or natural gas
appliance technician to inspect your appliances and gas piping to
make sure they are in good operating condition before calling
CenterPoint to reconnect service. This includes outdoor natural gas
appliances including pool heaters, gas grills and gas lights.
- If you are planning any digging or clearing as part of your
pre- or post-hurricane activities, please call 811, the nationwide
Call Before You Dig number, to locate underground natural gas lines
and other underground utility lines.
- Know where your natural gas meter is located. As debris is put
out for heavy trash pickup, make sure it is placed away from the
meter. In many areas the meter may be located near the curb. If
debris is near a natural gas meter, the mechanized equipment used
by trash collectors could pull up the meter, damaging it and
causing a potentially hazardous situation. If this happens, leave
the area immediately and call CenterPoint at 1-888-876-5786.
Important Information for Electric Customers
At this
time, the Greater Houston area is
not expected to be heavily impacted by Tropical Storm Rafael's
potential impacts, but storms are unpredictable, conditions can
change rapidly and storm-related outages could occur. 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 also stay up-to-date on outages with
CenterPoint's new and improved, cloud-based Outage Tracker, which
allows customers to see outages by county, city and zip code. The
new tracker is capable of handling increased traffic during storms
and is ADA- and mobile-friendly.
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 Tropical Storm Rafael.
Customers can get storm-related electric, natural gas and flooding
safety tips at CenterPointEnergy.com/StormCenter. Additional
preparation best practices are available at Ready.gov.
For the latest updates, follow CenterPoint on X (formerly
Twitter) for real-time updates. For more information and other
resources, visit CenterPointEnergy.com/NaturalGasSafety.
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.
Media contact:
Media.Relations@CenterPointEnergy.com
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SOURCE CenterPoint Energy