CenterPoint Energy Inc., the only investor-owned electric and gas utility based in Texas, is starting the next phase of its Greater Houston Resiliency Initiative (GHRI), which includes strengthening the energy system and operations over the next eight months before the start of the 2025 hurricane season.
“We know how important reliable and resilient energy is to our 2.8 million customers and that the Greater Houston region is the economic engine for the State of Texas and the energy capital of the world,” said CenterPoint President and CEO Jason Wells. “That is why we are so focused on modernizing our infrastructure as we work toward our goal of building the most resilient coastal grid in the country that will serve the energy needs of Houstonians for years to come.”
CenterPoint — an energy delivery company with electric transmission and distribution, power generation, and natural gas distribution operations that serve more than seven million metered customers in Indiana, Louisiana, Minnesota, Mississippi, Ohio and Texas — said Monday its actions in GHRI Phase Two will help enable a self-healing grid, reduce the length and frequency of outages, and lead to more than 125 million fewer outage minutes annually for customers in the Greater Houston area.
The actions will build on the work CenterPoint completed in the first phase of the GHRI, continue to bolster resilience, improve its communications and develop stronger partnerships, and help reinforce its electric system, the company said.
Work is expected to be completed ahead of the 2025 hurricane season, or June 1, 2025, and will include installing new or replacing 25,000 poles that meet extreme wind standards; trimming or removing higher-risk vegetation across 4,000 miles of power lines; and installing 4,500 automation devices, known as trip savers, and 350 Intelligent Grid Switching Devices that use automation to respond to outages faster.
Additionally, CenterPoint Energy will underground more than 400 miles of power lines; launch a year-round public emergency preparedness and safety communications campaign; and ramp up emergency response efforts via stronger local partnerships with agencies and partners.
“We are proud of the immediate resiliency improvements we delivered during Phase One of the Greater Houston Resiliency Initiative and these actions were only the beginning,” Wells said. “We have set ambitious goals to achieve even further enhancements to our resiliency before the 2025 hurricane season.”
CenterPoint also plans to refile its long-term resiliency plan with the Public Utility Commission of Texas on or before Jan. 31, 2025. The plan’s goal is to harden the infrastructure, enhance the security of the grid, and build a smarter grid that can handle extreme weather, major storms, and hurricanes to reduce the impact of outages and mitigate wildfire risk, the company said.
As part of the long-term plan, CenterPoint also will propose investing at least $5 billion from 2026 to 2028 in its Greater Houston infrastructure. That amount is part of CenterPoint’s new capital investment plan, which includes more than $21 billion in total capital investment in its Texas electric and gas systems from 2025 through 2030.
“We are committed to developing the self-healing grid of the future that our customers expect and deserve,” added Wells.
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