CenterPoint has already completed its winter
preparedness checklist and shared it with regulators and
stakeholders and continues coordinating with emergency responders
across Texas to prepare for
expected winter storms this week
Company urges customers to stay alert ahead of
changing weather conditions and have a personal emergency plan in
place
HOUSTON, Jan. 8, 2025
/PRNewswire/ -- With severe winter weather conditions
forecasted to impact much of West and East Texas later this week and into the
weekend, Texas Governor
Greg Abbott's office has activated
the state's emergency response resources. CenterPoint Energy is
continually monitoring the changing weather, deploying cold weather
mitigations across its electric and gas infrastructure, mobilizing
emergency response resources and coordinating with relevant local
emergency responders and government officials in preparation for
the approaching winter weather system. The company has a cold
weather action plan in place and is proactively making preparations
to respond to potential electric and natural gas service issues as
safely and as quickly as possible.
At this time, CenterPoint does not foresee major winter impacts
to its infrastructure.
CenterPoint's enhanced Emergency Response and Preparedness team
continues to lead the company's preparedness efforts and
coordination with public agencies and community leaders. The team
is providing regular updates to relevant agencies and government
officials to communicate the company's pre-storm activities and
readiness posture and provide critical updates.
"We know how important it is for homes and businesses to have
the electric and natural gas service they expect and deserve,
especially when severe weather is forecasted to head our way.
That's why we remain prepared to respond to any potential impacts
to our system from the forecasted colder temperatures across the
state, so we can safely and quickly restore service to any impacted
customers. Our teams will remain alert and continue to coordinate
with local officials as our communities take steps to prepare, and
we urge our customers to stay weather alert and have an emergency
plan in place," said Richard Leger,
CenterPoint's Senior Vice President of Gas Operations.
CenterPoint has taken a series of proactive pre-winter
preparedness actions to strengthen and winterize its electric and
natural gas infrastructure across Texas, as well as inspect and test
cold-weather critical equipment ahead of potential severe cold
weather.
Critical winter electric actions taken in the Greater Houston area
CenterPoint Texas has submitted its annual declarations of winter
readiness to both the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) and the Railroad Commission of
Texas. These declarations
demonstrate that CenterPoint has completed the regulatory
requirements that were adopted in 2021 to prepare electric and
natural gas infrastructure for winter storms and extreme cold
weather.
The pre-winter safety and readiness actions taken by CenterPoint
include:
- Inspecting and testing critical equipment, including all
270 substations, to prepare for high demand and cold
temperatures;
- Hardening electric and natural gas infrastructure across
the Greater Houston area,
including installing heaters and devices to prevent ice damage or
buildup;
- Maintaining freeze protection equipment and enclosures
for cold-weather critical components;
- Repairing damaged or degraded thermal insulation and
water-proofing materials; and
- Conducting emergency training for hundreds of
operational personnel and contractors to prepare for, mitigate and
respond to the impacts of severe winter weather.
Natural gas system preparedness in Texas
Historically, CenterPoint's
natural gas system has performed very well during cold weather
events, with customers experiencing minimal impact. The company
strives to provide natural gas service safely and reliably to its
customers and initiates winter preparedness strategies to help
protect its natural gas system. These include:
- Positioning Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) trucks to be
deployed to supplement the natural gas system, if needed.
- Reinforcing reliability by validating that all station
set points are aligned with their cold weather settings and have
technicians on standby coordinating closely with engineering and
natural gas control.
- Coordinating and communicating with the Railroad Commission
of Texas to identify and
ensure operations of critical gas infrastructure for natural gas
reliability.
2025 Winter Energy Guide
CenterPoint recently
launched its Winter Energy Guide, a comprehensive online resource
hub that helps customers throughout the winter heating season. The
guide features practical and important safety, energy savings and
bill management tips to help customers stay safe and warm
throughout the winter season. CenterPoint has a cold weather plan
in place to respond quickly to potential impacts this winter, and
the company encourages customers to use this helpful resource to
create their own cold weather plans so that they're prepared for
the colder weather ahead. To learn more about the Winter
Energy Guide and to receive more important tips, visit
CenterPointEnergy.com/ReadyforWinter.
Outage Tracker and Power Alert Service®
CenterPoint
electric customers can 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,
is scalable during periods of high demand, and is ADA- and
mobile-friendly. The data in Outage Tracker is updated every five
minutes to provide the most up-to-date details on outages.
Additionally, CenterPoint recently released a Spanish-language
version of the tool.
Electric customers are also 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.
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.
For more information,
contact
Communications
Media.Relations@CenterPointEnergy.com
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SOURCE CenterPoint Energy
