HOUSTON – CenterPoint Energy says its crews are working around the clock to repair weather-related damage and restore power as freezing temperatures and icy conditions continue across the Greater Houston area.
CenterPoint says more than 99% of its customers currently have power, but repair teams remain actively deployed to help the thousands still impacted by outages caused by the winter storm.
As of early Monday morning, fewer than 800 CenterPoint customers were without electricity, representing less than 1% of the utility’s approximately 2.9 million customers across 12 counties.
Since Saturday at 6 a.m., about 27,000 customers have already had power restored.
CenterPoint Energy says the majority of its 2.9 million Houston-area customers were unaffected by Saturday’s storm, with 99% maintaining power.
“We’re really focused on the roughly 2,000 customers still without electricity,” said Nathan Brownell, CenterPoint’s VP of Electric Resiliency. Crews are actively working to restore power and are staged throughout the city to respond to any new outages caused by falling limbs or hazardous roads.
CenterPoint emphasizes that electricity is being delivered safely across its system, noting that it transmits power but does not generate it.
Chief Communications Officer Keith Stevens reminded residents, “We are the poles and wires company… we deliver it, we don’t generate it.”
CenterPoint is urging residents to remain cautious: “Please stay home unless absolutely necessary,” Joukowsky said.
The utility also recommends signing up for its Power Alert service, which provides personalized updates on outages and estimated restoration times. CenterPoint plans to provide a final daily update at 5 p.m. that will be livestreamed in this article.
CenterPoint officials say more than 3,300 workers are fully mobilized, conducting damage assessments, repairing critical electric equipment, and restoring service as safely and quickly as possible. Ice, freezing rain, wind, and below-freezing temperatures impacted the electric system overnight.
“Any outage is one too many for us,” said Nathan Brownell, CenterPoint Energy Vice President of Resilience and Capital Delivery. “That’s why our expanded team remains focused on restoring power to anyone affected by the winter weather. We won’t stop until everyone’s service is restored.”
Cold weather is still a concern
While precipitation is expected to clear by mid-to-late morning, hard freezes near 20 degrees are forecast for Sunday night and Monday night, which could continue to impact electric equipment.
What CenterPoint is doing
CenterPoint activated its Emergency Operations Center on Jan. 21 and says it has taken several steps to prepare for and respond to the storm, including:
- Deploying a 3,300-person electric restoration workforce
- Staging more than 700 natural gas workers to respond to emergencies
- Inspecting and testing all 270 electric substations
- Pre-staging equipment, including:
- 9,200 distribution poles
- 11,500 transformers
- 100,000 cable splices
- 1,500 vehicles
- Conducting outreach to Critical Care and Chronic Condition customers
- Coordinating closely with local and state officials
Officials say these efforts build on months of winter preparedness, including equipment weatherization, emergency training, and installation of backup generators across the region.
CenterPoint is urging residents to stay at least 35 feet away from downed power lines or any objects touching them, such as tree limbs, vehicles, or fences. Any downed lines should be reported immediately, as they may still be energized.
Other utility impacts
Entergy Texas also reported outages Sunday morning, with 2,555 customers impacted as of 6:59 a.m.
Utility crews say they will continue restoration efforts as freezing conditions persist and are asking residents to limit unnecessary travel and remain cautious, especially overnight.