CenterPoint says it is monitoring and preparing for a potential tropical system in the Gulf

HOUSTON – CenterPoint Energy says it is monitoring weather forecasts and preparing for potential impacts from the system in the Gulf of Mexico later this week.

“In preparation for potentially extreme weather conditions on the Texas coast and Greater Houston area, CenterPoint is in the process of securing work areas, preparing crews and equipment, and securing additional frontline resources from mutual aid companies. The company also reminds customers to develop an emergency plan and assemble a storm preparedness kit that includes essential items such as non-perishable food, water, flashlights, batteries, a first aid kit, any necessary medications, a battery-powered radio and a portable charger for mobile devices,” the company said in a press release.

CenterPoint Energy has faced widespread criticism for its response to Hurricane Beryl. After Hurricane Beryl, Governor Greg Abbott demanded that CenterPoint Energy send him a detailed plan outlining how to prepare differently for future storms. This time, CenterPoint says it is determined to regain people’s trust.

“We have a plan in place to deal with this potential storm and we are executing on that plan,” said Darin Carroll, senior vice president of electrical business. “While the exact path and intensity of this potential storm is still unclear, we want to assure our customers that we are preparing for its impacts. We encourage everyone throughout the Greater Houston area and the greater Gulf Coast region to implement their plans for their families, loved ones, homes and businesses now.”

Carroll added, “After Hurricane Beryl’s devastating impact on the Greater Houston area, we heard the calls to change and do better, and we took the feedback seriously. We are committed to earning back the trust of the customers and communities we are honored to serve. While no two storms and their impacts are the same, we believe our actions since Beryl will help us improve our response if this tropical storm impacts our service area.”

The company detailed actions it has taken since Project Beryl to improve reliability and infrastructure as part of the Greater Houston Resiliency Initiative.

“As part of the first phase of the Greater Houston Resiliency Initiative, in August, CenterPoint crews and contractors installed more than 1,100 stronger, more resilient fiberglass poles, trimmed vegetation along more than 2,000 miles of power lines and installed more than 300 automation devices in neighborhoods throughout Houston. The company is taking the next step in the boldest series of resilience actions in its nearly 160-year history, including additional system hardening, strategic undergrounding, self-healing grid technology and further enhancements to its outage tracking tool,” the company said.

On August 1, the company also launched a new power outage tracker.

“Within 24 hours of a tropical storm or hurricane leaving our service area, CenterPoint will provide an estimated time to restore the entire system and will update the estimated restoration times at least once per day. The new and improved Outage Tracker will be used to inform individual customers of the estimated restoration date as soon as possible after restoration expectations are established,” the company said.

The full message from CenterPoint can be read below: