CenterPoint Energy launched its “Hurricane Safety and Preparedness Week” Monday, kicking off a week-long campaign aimed at helping Greater Houston customers stay safe and prepared as peak hurricane season gets underway. The campaign highlights the company’s ongoing preparedness efforts and encourages customers to take action before a storm hits.
“Preparing for hurricanes and severe weather is a year-round priority for all of us at CenterPoint, and with peak hurricane season underway, we are determined to remain ready to support our customers throughout the coming months,” said Ed De Varona, Senior Vice President of CenterPoint Energy’s Electric Business. “We remain laser focused on minimizing the impact of extreme weather on our customers and keeping them informed before, during and after any storms.”
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Throughout the week, CenterPoint plans to push communications across social media, email and other channels to raise awareness of what the company is doing to prepare — and what customers can do at home.
What CenterPoint has done to get ready
The company says it has taken significant steps to strengthen grid resiliency ahead of hurricane season.
CenterPoint completed more than 25,000 hours of FEMA preparedness and response training across more than 800 employees. The company also increased the number of frontline workers available for storm response by up to 20 times its normal workforce.
To better detect and respond to severe weather, CenterPoint installed 150 weather stations across its service area. The company also improved its damage assessment process to help identify grid damage faster and speed up power restoration.
CenterPoint opened a new, state-of-the-art Emergency Operations Center built in accordance with FEMA standards, designed to improve coordination with emergency partners and help restore power more quickly after a storm.
On the government relations front, CenterPoint says it is providing regular updates to federal, state, county and city officials on its preparedness activities.
What customers can do right now
CenterPoint is urging customers to take a few simple steps before a storm develops.
Customers who haven’t already signed up for Power Alert Service® are encouraged to do so. The service sends outage updates and estimated restoration times via phone, text or email. More than 90% of CenterPoint customers are already enrolled.
Customers should also create a safety plan, particularly those who rely on electricity for life-sustaining equipment or medical needs. CenterPoint’s cloud-based Outage Tracker — available in both English and Spanish — allows users to monitor outages and restoration times by county, city or ZIP code.
Additional preparedness resources are available at CenterPointEnergy.com/ActionCenter.