CenterPoint Energy : assures customers it is aware of and closely monitoring the status of outages to support full restoration

CenterPoint Energy assures customers it is aware of and closely monitoring the status of outages to support full restoration Tuesday-May-21-2024

​Houston - May 21, 2024 - CenterPoint Energy today assured its customers that from the moment severe weather struck its Greater Houston service area on May 16, the company has been aware of and closely monitoring the status of outages, including which customers are out and for how long. In an effort to keep its customers continuously updated, CenterPoint has provided access to tools and channels capturing essential outage data, with the goal of keeping the majority of its customers informed.

• Interactive map on website provides accurate outage and restoration information for majority of customers
• Some inaccuracies may exist at the individual customer level, but company has been tracking customer outages and working to restore customers safely and quickly
• Company surpasses 775,000 customer restorations; on track to be substantially complete with restoration of outages by tomorrow evening ​​

CenterPoint posted an interactive map on its website to provide outage information and restoration expectations to its customers. While the website provides accurate information for a majority of the company's customers, there may be some inaccuracies at the individual address level where the customer is shown as being restored even though they are without power. Even if the interactive map shows an address or area as being restored and the customer has not yet received power, CenterPoint is aware of this outage. Please rest assured that the company is working to restore service as safely and quickly as possible to all customers without service.

"Given the magnitude of outages associated with this severe weather event, we wanted to provide our customers with as much information about their outage and restoration time as possible," said Lynnae Wilson, Senior Vice President, Electric Business. "We apologize for any confusion our outage information may have caused for those customers who continue to be out and are not reflected on our map."

Although 85% of customers impacted from this event and 95% of all customers on CenterPoint's system now have service, restoration continues for the 140,000 customers who are currently without power due to the storm. The company expects to be substantially complete by tomorrow evening. CenterPoint continues to work safely and urgently, but crews are encountering areas of significant system damage and large downed trees accompanied by difficult restorations. These locations include, but are not limited to, parts of Bellaire, Spring Branch, the Heights, Lazybrook/Timbergrove around Cottage Grove.

"While we have made good progress, we will not be satisfied until every last storm-impacted customer has their service safely restored," Wilson added.

The company shared the reasons why some customers may have their power restored, while others nearby are still without power. One common reason is a situation known as a "nested outage." This occurs when, even after fixing the main issue, smaller problems still cause outages in specific areas. These secondary issues can arise from unseen damage or overloaded systems.

Another reason could be that customers on the same street might be on different electrical circuits. Customers on different circuits can experience varied restoration times because each circuit may have different levels of damage or may be repaired in a different sequence. This means that while one circuit is fully restored, another might still be undergoing repairs. They may also be impacted by a more localized issue, such as damage to fuses, transformers, meters, electric lines or other electric infrastructure.

As CenterPoint moves further into the restoration process, it is important that customers check for damage to their equipment to ensure that they are able to receive service as soon as the system is energized. This will prevent further delays to restoration. Specifically, customers should check their weatherhead, the point where power enters the home through an electric service drop, which is often a pipe located on the side of the residence or building.

If the weatherhead is damaged, we cannot safely restore service to the home until a licensed electrician has made the necessary repairs. Customers who are served by an underground service will not have a weatherhead, but there may still be damage to their equipment that could require servicing.

CenterPoint Energy reminds customers to remain safe and:

• Stay at least 35 feet away from downed power lines and damaged utility equipment. Be especially mindful of downed lines that could be hidden and treat all downed lines as if they are energized.
• Be cautious around work crews and give them plenty of room to safely assess damages and make repairs.
• Only use a portable generator in a well-ventilated area and never run it inside or in a garage to avoid carbon monoxide fumes, which can be deadly.
• Never connect a portable electric generator directly to your building's electrical system during a power outage; electricity could backfeed into the power lines, potentially endangering CenterPoint Energy workers, mutual assistance workers or members of the public.
  

For the latest information on power outages:

• Follow @CenterPoint; and
• Visit https://www.centerpointenergy.com/StormCenter for electric and natural gas safety tips and other resources.