HOUSTON, TX (Covering Katy News) – CenterPoint Energy says it has restored nearly 900,000 customers impacted by the May 16 severe storms.
"At this time, 99% of CenterPoint's customers have power," the company said in a midday press release on Thursday, May 23, 2024. "Any remaining outages are predominantly isolated instances in certain locations where there is substantial damage or where customers are unable to receive power."
There was a large section of homes along the north side of FM 529 without power yesterday. At the time this story was published, CenterPoint was not providing a map showing locations of outages as they had been doing earlier in the week. We have contacted CenterPoint energy requesting an update on restoration efforts in the FM 529 area and will update this story if that information is provided to us.
The company says new outages may be attributable to service issues that periodically occur on CenterPoint's system and are unrelated to the weather event, such as a vehicle accident resulting in a downed pole and wires.
The storm struck one week ago today with hurricane-like winds and tornadoes. Now. Centerpoint says more than 7,000 CenterPoint employees, contractors, and mutual assistance resources have completed the following:
- Replaced more than 800 miles of electrical wires, which is farther than the distance from Houston to El Paso, Texas
- Replaced more than 700 transformers and approximately 2,000 poles
- Cleared more than 190 miles of vegetation, resulting in the removal of thousands of trees
- Deployed 13 mobile generation units to provide temporary power restoration to certain critical facilities, cooling centers, healthcare facilities, first responder locations, senior centers, and schools
- Established and operated nine multi-citywide staging sites for crews, equipment , and materials to effectively mobilize and support restorations across the Greater Houston area
- Restored approximately 340,000 impacted customers in the first 24 hours, approximately 550,000 in the first 48 hours, and approximately 750,000 in the first 72 hours
If a customer has been notified by CenterPoint's Power Alert Service that their service has been restored and is still without power, contact CenterPoint at 713-207-2222.
To further support the communities it serves, the CenterPoint Energy Foundation has made financial contributions totaling nearly $700,000 to the following nonprofit organizations and causes:
- $500,000 to Greater Houston Disaster Alliance - Severe Weather and Derecho Recovery Fund
- $50,000 to Salvation Army Houston Area Command
- One of CenterPoint's contract powerline construction companies, Collective Strategic Resources (CSR), a division of PowerGrid Services, generously matched the company's grant for a total grant of $100,000.
- $25,000 to Cypress Assistance Ministries
- $25,000 to Memorial Assistance Ministries
- $25,000 to M.D. Anderson Family YMCA
- $25,000 to Hester House
- $25,000 to Mercy Chefs
In addition to these contributions, CenterPoint's employee volunteers helped serve meals at various community centers, senior living centers and schools, while also donating approximately 20 tons of ice and 20,000 bottles of water. The company's outreach to neighbors in need will continue over the coming days.