Houston has a power outage problem — and the latest data makes it hard to ignore.
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New data from Whisker Labs shows Houston had more power outages than any other city in the country in May, reversing months of improvement and raising fresh questions about CenterPoint Energy’s multi-billion-dollar infrastructure upgrades.
Outages surge after months of improvement
KPRC 2 investigative reporter Amy Davis has been tracking outage frequency since August 2025, using data from Whisker Labs, a third-party company that monitors nationwide outage activity. For months, the numbers were trending in the right direction — outages were declining or holding steady across much of the Houston area.
May changed that.
Bob Marshall, CEO of Whisker Labs, said the spike was significant.
“Outages were up sharply in Houston in May after moderating for a few months,” Marshall said. “Houston had the 2nd highest outage frequency in April after Western PA — the Pittsburgh area — where they had massive storms. Houston was 2.8 times the national average, with some communities being 9 times the national average.”
In Fulshear, residents averaged more than six outages in May alone. Kingwood, Crosby and parts of Spring to the north also saw notable surges in outage activity.
What the map shows
KPRC 2 has mapped the outage data so Houston-area residents can zoom in to their own neighborhoods and compare power reliability to surrounding communities.
The color-coded map uses a range of colors to show outage intensity:
Blue indicates areas with low outage frequency — closer to or below the national average.
Yellow signals moderate outage activity, where residents are experiencing more frequent interruptions than average.
Orange represents high outage frequency, meaning residents in those areas are losing power significantly more than the national norm.
Red marks the most severely affected areas, where outage rates are well above the national average and, in some cases, approaching nine times that figure.
In previous months, the map had turned mostly blue — a sign of real progress.
Now, yellow, orange and red are back, concentrated in communities like Fulshear, Kingwood, Crosby and sections of Spring.
Residents feel the impact
For some Houston-area residents, the outages are more than a nuisance — they affect their livelihoods.
Angelyque Peguese and her husband Alvin moved to Fulshear in 2023. Both are Army veterans who work from home, making reliable power essential to their daily lives. The couple has lived in the Northeast and on the West Coast, including California, but said they never experienced power outages like what they’ve encountered since settling in Fulshear.
CenterPoint says it’s looking at the big picture
CenterPoint Energy has not disputed the Whisker Labs data but has pushed back on month-to-month comparisons. The company says it has spent billions of dollars to harden its infrastructure and improve reliability.
Nathan Brownell, vice president of CenterPoint Energy, addressed the trend in a previous interview.
“We tend not to look at it month per month, we look at it holistically across the period of time and making sure we’re trending overall,” Brownell said. “We were very pleased with our reliability performance last year, but for us, this is just a snapshot of the journey we’re going to be on long term.”
CenterPoint’s own data showed fewer outages in 2025 than in 2024, with the average customer experiencing about 30 minutes less outage time. Milder weather in November and December helped keep the lights on and allowed crews to continue upgrading utility poles and equipment.
RELATED: Your electric bill is rising — here’s how CenterPoint Energy turns that into investor profit
However, the May surge puts that progress in question. While CenterPoint has not provided a specific explanation for the spike, a company spokesperson emailed this statement:
“As part of our Greater Houston Resiliency Initiative, we have taken action to strengthen the system and deliver the safe, reliable and affordable energy our customers and their families expect and deserve. To date, our historic progress includes installing more than 69,000+ stronger, storm-resilient poles to better withstand extreme weather, trimming and clearing nearly 11,500+ miles of higher-risk vegetation, undergrounding more than 600+ miles of power lines, and installing 650+ automation and intelligent grid switching devices capable of self-healing to reduce the impact and duration of outages.
In less than two years, these historic actions have prevented more than 100 million customer outage minutes so far. In April and May of 2026, the Greater Houston area experienced a higher number of storm days across Greater Houston, with four storm days in April and five in May 2026, compared to just one storm day in each of those months in 2025. Increased storm activity can contribute to higher outage frequency, particularly when multiple weather events occur within a short period of time. Some of these areas also have higher concentrations of vegetation, which may contribute to outages during periods of active weather.
We know that any outage is one too many for our customers, and that is why we are committed to continuing to take action to strengthen the system to build a more reliable, resilient energy future for the Greater Houston community we proudly call home."
A pattern Houston residents know well
The May numbers echo a troubling pattern that Davis first began documenting last year. In August 2025, CenterPoint had more outages than any other utility in the country. October 2025 brought another peak, again putting CenterPoint at the top of the national rankings — with some neighborhoods experiencing more than eight outages in a single month.
Residents like Tyler Steer of Pecan Grove and Chester Cassel of Klein voiced frustration during earlier reporting over ongoing power issues, flickering lights and power surges. Many of those same communities are now showing up again on the outage map.
In December 2025, CenterPoint’s Power Outage Index was 0.49, compared to the national average of 0.32 — still above average, but a dramatic improvement over the summer and fall peaks.
May’s data suggests that improvement may not be holding.
What’s next
KPRC 2 Investigates will continue tracking power outages monthly to hold CenterPoint accountable and keep Houston-area residents informed about power reliability in their neighborhoods.
Residents can check the interactive outage map to see how their ZIP code compares to surrounding communities — and are encouraged to share what they’re seeing in their neighborhoods.
Outage data is sourced from Ting by Whisker Labs. Residents can get free outage alerts for their home through the Ting app.