CenterPoint Energy Responding to Heat and Severe Thunderstorm-Related Impacts and Restoring Power for Customers Across Greater Houston Area

Key actions taken to date: Approximately 1,050 frontline workers mobilized and responding to isolated outages and restoring power for nearly 6,000 customers since midnight

 

Two million communications sent to customers and continued coordination with local, state and federal officials

HOUSTON — July 23, 2026 — CenterPoint Energy is responding to heat and severe thunderstorm-related impacts from Wednesday including isolated outages and has restored power to nearly 6,000 customers. As part of its ongoing response, CenterPoint has taken a series of actions, including mobilizing 1,050 frontline personnel to restore power for impacted customers safely and as quickly as possible, closely monitoring weather conditions, communicating outage and restoration updates to customers proactively and frequently, and coordinating closely with local, state and federal agencies and emergency response partners.

 

High temperatures peaked between 103-104 degrees on Wednesday were followed by isolated severe thunderstorms in the late afternoon and evening, which produced peak wind gusts between 42-67 mph.  As of 11:00 a.m. approximately 5,000 customers are experiencing heat and weather-related outages and 1,050 frontline workers are actively responding. As we continue monitoring for any potential impacts from what is left of Tropical Storm Bertha as it arrives to Greater Houston Area later today, CenterPoint Energy urges all customers to enroll in Power Alert Service® to receive important updates about their gas and electric service via text, email or phone calls, including outage details and estimated restoration times should impacts occur.

“Our team is fully focused on responding to the heat and thunderstorm-related impacts while we continue monitoring Tropical Storm Bertha and restoring power to all customers experiencing outages. While we do not expect significant impacts as the system makes landfall later today, our Emergency Operations Center remains activated, and we continue to monitor evolving weather conditions. Currently we have 1,050 frontline workers mobilized to respond and repair the grid safely and as quickly as possible for our customers,” said Nathan Brownell, CenterPoint Energy’s Vice President, Resilience and Capital Delivery and Incident Commander.

Tropical Storm Bertha Response: Key Actions

To prepare for and respond to the impacts of Tropical Storm Bertha on the Greater Houston area, CenterPoint Energy has taken the following actions for its customers:

• Activated Emergency Operations Center: Coordinating local preparedness and response efforts.
• Mobilizing crews and equipment: Deploying 1,050 frontline personnel and equipment to quickly respond to potential storm impacts.
• Restoring power for customers: Actively restoring power to more than 6,000 customers safely and as quickly as possible.
• Actively monitoring weather: CenterPoint Energy’s meteorology team is closely monitoring forecasts and evolving weather conditions that could impact Texas.

• Communicating with customers: Communicating directly to customers via email, phone, text or other channels to keep them informed and prepared, with over 2 million communications sent to date.
• Promoting Power Alert Service®: Urging customers to sign up for Power Alert Service®  to receive important updates about their gas and electric service via phone call, text or email, including outage details and estimated restoration times.
• Conducting outreach to critical care customers: Reaching out to identified Critical Care Residential and Chronic Condition Residential electric customers by email, phone and/or text to make them aware of the potential for storm-related outages.
• Coordinating with government officials: Providing regular updates to federal, state, county and city officials regarding preparedness activities.

Emergency Communications: Sign Up for Power Alert Service®

To receive important updates about gas and electric service via phone call, text or email, including outage details and estimated restoration times, CenterPoint Energy customers are strongly encouraged to enroll in Power Alert Service®. As part of CenterPoint Energy’s overall emergency communications efforts, customers can stay up to date on local outages with its cloud-based Outage Tracker, available in English and Spanish, which allows customers to see outages and restoration times by county, city and zip code.

 

What Customers Can Do to Stay Safe

To help ensure their safety, CenterPoint Energy is encouraging all its customers and their families to continue following their emergency plan during this event. Customers can find specific safety tips at CenterPointEnergy.com/ActionCenter.

About CenterPoint Energy, Inc.

As the only investor owned electric and gas utility based in Texas, CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE: CNP) is an energy delivery company with electric transmission and distribution, power generation and natural gas distribution operations that serve more than 7 million metered customers in Indiana, Minnesota, Ohio and Texas. As of March 31, 2026, the company owned approximately $47.8 billion in assets. With approximately 8,800 employees, CenterPoint Energy and its predecessor companies have been in business for more than 150 years. For more information, visit CenterPointEnergy.com.