CenterPoint Energy Completes All 42 of Its Initial Post-Beryl Commitments to Improve Resiliency and Strengthen Emergency Operations

Announcement follows completion of 350 more miles of newly hardened powerlines, on top of additional resiliency and hardening actions completed during Phase One of the Greater Houston Resiliency Initiative.

HOUSTON, Nov. 14, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- CenterPoint Energy today announced the completion of the last of its 42 critical initial actions and commitments it made to state leaders and customers in the aftermath of Hurricane Beryl to immediately strengthen the electric system and improve its storm response. All 42 actions and commitments have been achieved ahead of schedule.  

CenterPoint is now fully focused on delivering Phase Two of the Greater Houston Resiliency Initiative (GHRI), which includes an additional suite of new hardening actions to help strengthen system resiliency, improve customer and public communications and develop stronger emergency response and community partnerships.

"After Hurricane Beryl, we heard the calls for action from our customers, the greater community and elected leaders, and we made a series of 42 sweeping commitments to do better. We've now accomplished all 42 actions and commitments ahead of schedule. And we aren't stopping there, we're making significant progress toward our goal of becoming the most resilient coastal grid in the country. Across every corner of our Texas-based team, we are fully focused on Phase Two of the Greater Houston Resiliency Initiative, and executing a suite of resiliency and hardening actions that will further prepare us for the 2025 storm season and beyond," said Jason Wells, CenterPoint Energy's CEO and President.

Greater Houston Resiliency Initiative: Phase One Achieved Ahead of Schedule 

With the completion of 350 miles (equivalent to driving from Houston to Brownsville) of newly hardened power lines across the Greater Houston area, CenterPoint has now completed all of its immediate post-Beryl commitments, bringing real-world resiliency improvements for its customers. This initial phase included:

• Trimming or removing higher-risk vegetation from more than 2,000 power line miles
• Installing more than 1,100 stronger, more storm-resilient poles
• Installing more than 300 automated devices to reduce sustained outages
• Launching its new, cloud-based outage tracker
• Improving its Power Alert Service to provide better customer information
• Hosting listening sessions across the service area, with feedback being used to inform the company's storm response plans

GHRI Phase Two: New Actions to Continue Strengthening Greater Houston Resiliency

Announced on September 30, Phase Two of GHRI will help enable a self-healing system, reduce the length and frequency of outages and are expected to lead to more than 125 million fewer outage minutes annually for customers in the Greater Houston area. This work will be completed ahead of the 2025 hurricane season, or June 1, 2025, and will include:

• Installing new or replacing 25,000 poles that meet extreme wind standards
• Trimming or removing higher-risk vegetation across 4,000 miles of power lines
• Installing 4,500 automation devices, known as trip savers, and 350 Intelligent Grid Switching Devices to build a self-healing system that utilizes automation to respond to outages faster
• Undergrounding more than 400 miles of power lines
• Launching a year-round public emergency preparedness and safety communications campaign
• Strengthening its local partnerships with agencies and partners critical to its emergency response efforts

The actions CenterPoint has taken, and will continue to take, are designed to address its customers' major concerns following Hurricane Beryl by lessening the impact and duration of storm-related outages, improving its restoration efforts and communications, while also advancing the day-to-day reliability of its system.

CenterPoint is tracking its progress towards completing all of its GHRI commitments at CenterPointEnergy.com/TakingAction.

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. 

Forward-looking Statements

This news release, as well as the website pages related to the GHRI, includes forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. When used in this news release or the website pages related to the GHRI, the words "anticipate," "believe," "continue," "could," "estimate," "expect," "forecast," "goal," "intend," "may," "objective," "plan," "potential," "predict," "projection," "should," "target," "will" or other similar words are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements, which include statements regarding our resiliency investments, and the GHRI, including effectiveness, timing and related matters, are based upon assumptions of management which are believed to be reasonable at the time made and are subject to significant risks and uncertainties. Actual events and results may differ materially from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. Any statements in this news release or the website pages related to the GHRI regarding future events that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements. Each forward-looking statement contained in this news release or the website pages related to the GHRI speaks only as of the date of this release. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated by the provided forward-looking information include risks and uncertainties relating to: (1) the impact of pandemics, including the COVID-19 pandemic; (2) financial market conditions; (3) general economic conditions; (4) the timing and impact of future regulatory and legislative decisions; and (5) other factors, risks and uncertainties discussed in CenterPoint Energy's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2023 and CenterPoint's Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q for the quarters ended March 31, 2024 and June 30, 2024 and other reports CenterPoint Energy or its subsidiaries may file from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

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SOURCE CenterPoint Energy