CenterPoint Energy has released a public progress update on the actions the company took throughout the Greater Houston 12-county area as part of Phase Two of its Greater Houston Resiliency Initiative (GHRI).
In the first two months of the program, and in preparation for the 2025 hurricane season, CenterPoint has installed nearly 4,600 storm-resilient poles designed to better withstand extreme winds; installed more than 100 miles of power lines underground to reduce the impact of extreme weather; cleared more than 800 miles of hazardous vegetation to improve reliability; and installed more self-healing automation devices to help improve overall restoration times.
CenterPoint launched Phase Two of the GHRI, running through May 31, 2025, which included a series of actions to strengthen resiliency, enable a self-healing grid and reduce the duration and impact of power outages.
As part of the second phase of GHRI, CenterPoint teams will be taking additional actions including: installing 4,500 automated reliability devices to minimize sustained interruptions during major storm events and reduce restoration times; and establishing a network of 100 new weather monitoring stations.
This part of GHRI Phase Two is expected to start in early 2025. The company plans to complete each of these actions before the initiation of the 2025 hurricane season.
The actions outlined as part of GHRI Phase Two will result in more than 125 million fewer outage minutes annually for customers, upon completion. The company is also expanding and improving the communication with customers and engagement with communities before, during and after emergencies, including through a year-round safety and preparedness campaign.
CenterPoint has completed all 42 of the critical actions it committed as a result of Hurricane Beryl to strengthen the electric system and improve its storm response. These initial improvements included:
- Trimming or removing higher-risk vegetation from more than 2,000 power line miles
- Installing more than 1,100 stronger, more storm-resilient poles
- Installing more than 300 automated devices to reduce sustained outages
- Launching a new, cloud-based outage tracker
- Improving CenterPoint's Power Alert Service to provide better customer information
- Hosting listening sessions across the service area and using feedback to inform the company's storm response plans
