CenterPoint Energy Completing Safety Inspections for Natural Gas Customers Impacted by Hurricane Francine in Louisiana and Mississippi

Company makes internal and contractor frontline electrical workers available to 

other impacted utilities in Gulf Coast states

• CenterPoint's nearly 480-member natural gas workforce in Louisiana and its nearly 200-member workforce in Mississippi are responding to customer requests and odor calls.
• Crews are expected to complete all safety inspections by the end of the day today, with portions of Louisiana already reported as completed.
• CenterPoint did not experience significant impacts from Hurricane Francine on its electric or natural gas networks across Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi.
• CenterPoint has released 1,500 distribution frontline and 700 vegetation management mutual aid workers to support other utilities in areas more impacted by the storm.

HOUSTON, Sept. 12, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Following Hurricane Francine's landfall, CenterPoint Energy is focusing its response efforts on its natural gas infrastructure and customers in Louisiana and Mississippi. As of 4 p.m. CT, Thursday, September 12, the effects of Francine have not resulted in any significant damage to its electric or gas networks across the Gulf Coast region. CenterPoint's nearly 480-member natural gas workforce in Louisiana and nearly 200-member workforce in Mississippi are expected to complete all safety inspections today, with portions of Louisiana already being reported as completed. Crews will also be responding to customer requests and odor calls.

"While the worst of the storm has passed, we continue to urge our customers to take precautions and follow the necessary safety steps when it comes to their natural gas service, including staying alert for the smell of natural gas and refraining from turning gas valves on or off," said Bo Murphy, CenterPoint's Vice President of Louisiana and Mississippi Natural Gas.

Given no significant impact on the electric system in Greater Houston from Francine, CenterPoint has made 1,500 distribution frontline and 700 vegetation management mutual aid workers available to other utilities more impacted by the storm. As part of its commitment to provide assistance to other utilities impacted by Francine, CenterPoint will also be making some of its Greater Houston area internal and contractor frontline electric workers available to the mutual aid system.

"The mutual aid system is an essential part of a utility's operations before, during and after a major storm. We are prepared to answer the call if utilities in impacted states need additional support to repair damage to their electric system and restore power to their customers," said Darin Carroll, Senior Vice President of Electric Business.

Support Actions in Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas

The current response by CenterPoint to Hurricane Francine includes:

• Conducting natural gas inspection process in LA and MS: The company's nearly 480-member natural gas workforce in Louisiana and its nearly 200-member workforce in Mississippi are conducting safety inspections and will be responding to customer requests and odor calls.
• Readied frontline electric crews for mutual aid. CenterPoint will be making some of its internal and contractor frontline electric workers in the Greater Houston area available to other more-impacted utilities in the east.
• Released all 1,500 frontline mutual aid workers: Made available all additional distribution frontline, mutual aid workers secured for the Greater Houston area to other more-impacted utilities to the east.
• Released all 700 vegetation management mutual aid workers: The 1,300 internal and mutual aid vegetation management personnel finished the pre-storm high-risk vegetation work in the Greater Houston area and the 700 mutual aid vegetation management personnel have been made available to the mutual aid system.
• Coordinating with government officials: Providing regular updates to federal, state, county and city officials to communicate company's pre-storm activities and readiness posture and provide critical updates.
• Sharing customer communications: Shared safety and preparedness actions with CenterPoint customers across social media and other platforms to help keep customers informed and prepared.

Safety Tips for Natural Gas Customers 

CenterPoint is continuing to remind its customers to stay safe after Hurricane Francine by following these natural gas safety tips:

• Do not turn off your natural gas service at the meter; 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 post-hurricane activities, please call 811, the nationwide Call Before You Dig number, to locate underground natural gas lines and other underground utility lines.
• Be aware of 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.

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.

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SOURCE CenterPoint Energy