CenterPoint Energy announces it's 'ahead of schedule' in implementing storm resiliency plan

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- Nearly five months after Hurricane Beryl knocked out power to more than 2.6 million people in the Greater Houston area, CenterPoint Energy said it is ahead of schedule in its action plan to become more storm-resilient by next summer.

In an announcement emailed to customers Wednesday morning, the energy provider said it completed Phase One of the Greater Houston Resiliency Initiative (GHRI) ahead of schedule in less than 30 days. It included installing 1,000 stronger storm-resilient power poles and trimming or removing 2,000 power line miles worth of high-risk vegetation.

Those numbers may not sound like much for a place as big as the Greater Houston area. But Prof. Harish Krishnamoorthy, who teaches electrical and computer engineering at the University of Houston, said he anticipates crews will be able to make more progress now that hurricane season is ending and winter is upon us.

"Right after Beryl, CenterPoint had to take care of a lot of existing damages and issues. So I think at least until August, there probably wouldn't have been too much space for enhancement. At that point, they had reached a certain critical infrastructure upgrade plan, and it looks like they are on track to that," Krishnamoorthy said.

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Phase Two, which started at the beginning of September, is scheduled for completion by June 2025. So far, CenterPoint said crews have replaced 4,578 out of 25,000 targeted power poles, trimmed or removed 800 out of 4,000 miles of identified high-risk vegetation, and put 102 out of 400 miles of power lines underground.

Despite the company's update about its resiliency plan, CenterPoint still faces criticism from customers on social media. This comes as the University of Houston released the results of a new survey earlier this month that found the top concern out of a dozen issues for people living in Harris County is electricity resiliency.

"People are frustrated, worried, and angry," said Renée Cross, a researcher on the project and senior executive director at the Hobby School. "Electricity service reliability was identified as the most pressing concern in Harris County, along with hot-button issues such as property taxes, housing affordability, and flooding. And they want both regulators and legislators to do something about it."

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According to CenterPoint Energy, once Phase Two is complete, more than 125 million power outages will be prevented per year. Alyssia Oshodi, their director of communications, said they will also be donating 21 generators throughout the 12 counties that they serve to power community centers that can serve as hubs during outages.

"We understand we have to re-earn the trust of our customers, and we hope that as we show that we are taking action they understand we are working toward that goal," Oshodi said.

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