CenterPoint Energy : activates Emergency Operations Center ahead of forecasted severe weather across the Greater Houston area this afternoon and through the weekend

Published: 2026-05-08 12:33:10 ET CNP

Published on 05/08/2026 at 12:33 pm EDT

Company continues monitoring forecasts and preparing for three days of potential strong thunderstorms, with heavy rain, flooding and strong winds of 40 - 50 mph

More than 1,600 personnel ready to respond and support potential restoration efforts

HOUSTON - May 8, 2026 - With potentially severe weather forecasted to impact the Greater Houston area starting this afternoon and continuing through Saturday and Sunday night, CenterPoint Energy has proactively activated its Emergency Operations Center. More than 1,600 frontline employees and contractors are prepared to respond, as the company continues to closely monitor forecasts, coordinate with emergency management partners and position resources to support safe and timely response to any potential impacts to electric and natural gas service.

Thunderstorms are forecasted to impact parts of the Greater Houston area mainly north of I-10 starting this afternoon and continuing through the evening and into Saturday morning. Weather models also show potential rounds of stronger thunderstorms on Saturday evening and overnight Sunday night into Monday morning. CenterPoint's Meteorology team continues to diligently monitor evolving forecasts and help optimize response plans throughout the weekend.

"Our crews are prepared to respond to any impacts to our system. If any outages from weather occur, our crews will be out inspecting damage and restoring customers as soon as it's safe to do so" said Jason Fabre, CenterPoint's Vice President of Special Response and Incident Commander. "We've been actively monitoring forecasts all week and have activated our Emergency Operations Center to coordinate resources and continue tracking weather models and adjusting response plans as needed. We urge customers to stay aware of evolving weather conditions and have a plan to stay safe."

Prepared for Severe Weather: Key Actions As part of its storm preparedness efforts, CenterPoint is taking the following actions:

What customers should do:

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.

HOUSTON - May 6, 2026 - In celebration of the upcoming 250th anniversary of the United States of America, the CenterPoint Energy Foundation is launching a new and unique grant opportunity to support nonprofit organizations that serve and focus on our U.S veterans in CenterPoint Energy's four state service area in Indiana, Minnesota, Ohio and Texas.

Through this special grant opportunity, the Foundation plans to invest up to $250,000 in the states the company serves, with individual grants ranging from $5,000 to $25,000. Grants will be awarded to eligible nonprofit organizations with a primary location within CenterPoint's service areas and whose programs support veterans and individuals connected to the military.

"As our nation approaches its 250th anniversary, this grant opportunity reflects our deep respect for the men and women who serve and have served, and our privilege to support them beyond their time in uniform," said Jason Ryan, Executive Vice President, Regulatory Services and Government Affairs at CenterPoint and United States Navy veteran.

"We see the value every day of our veteran workforce. We have more than 700 employees who once served in uniform and who are today working to deliver safe and reliable energy services to nearly 7 million customers. Through the CenterPoint Energy Foundation, we appreciate being able to give back to veterans by supporting nonprofit organizations that provide critical resources for mental health, housing stability and everyday needs. It's an honor to invest in programs that help veterans and their families thrive in the communities we are proud to serve," Ryan added.

Grant funding will focus on nonprofit programs working to strengthen veteran resilience through:

Funded separately and financially independent from the utility, the CenterPoint Energy Foundation strives to be a catalyst for good by leveraging everyday opportunities and resources to strengthen communities. This grant opportunity for veteran-serving organizations expands on the Foundation's two main strategic giving areas of community vitality and education to help address critical challenges facing veterans and their families.

CenterPoint employs more than 700 veterans across its four-state service area, who continue their commitment to service by strengthening the communities where they live and work by helping provide vital electric and natural gas service.

In 2025, the CenterPoint Energy Foundation awarded more than $15 million to support nonprofit organizations focused on increasing community vitality and investing in education.

To learn more about this program and to apply for a grant, visit CenterPointEnergy.com/Community.

About the CenterPoint Energy Foundation The CenterPoint Energy Foundation provides philanthropic support to meet the needs of communities where CenterPoint Energy customers live and work. The Foundation is funded by shareholders and has no impact on customer rates. More information about the Foundation can be found at CenterPointEnergy.com/Foundation.

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 December 31, 2025, the company owned approximately $46.5 billion in assets. With approximately 8,800 employees, CenterPoint and its predecessor companies have been in business for more than 150 years.

CenterPoint's 2025 annual status report highlights customer energy, cost and emissions reductions

Customers have reduced emissions by 18.1 million metric tons and saved $2.6 billion over the last 32 years

MINNEAPOLIS - May 4, 2026 - CenterPoint Energy recently filed its 2025 Energy Conservation and Optimization (ECO) Status Report with the Minnesota Department of Commerce and the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission reporting a decrease in customer energy use of 1.35% related to overall energy use. Residential and business customers exceeded the company's annual energy savings goal through participation in energy efficiency programs.

This marks the seventeenth year CenterPoint customers have surpassed the annual energy savings target, reflecting the company's commitment to help Minnesotans use energy more efficiently, save money and reduce the emissions attributed to their energy use. Filed in 2023, CenterPoint's 2024-2026 ECO Plan is expected to decrease total customer emissions by approximately 1.29% each year, with CenterPoint customers surpassing this goal in 2025 by achieving a 1.35% decrease.

Customer participation in CenterPoint's Minnesota energy efficiency programs has reduced emissions by nearly 18.8 million metric tons over the last 32 years and saved customers approximately $2.6 billion.

"At CenterPoint, we're proud of our more than 30-year history of connecting our Minnesota customers with opportunities to enhance the energy efficiency of their homes and businesses. Our energy efficiency programs help our customers lower their energy use, reduce their personal emissions and keep more money in their pockets. We look forward to continuing to work with customers on ways to save to benefit our share communities," said Brad Steber, Vice President of Minnesota Gas at CenterPoint.

Several key programs helped drive energy savings and emissions reductions in 2025, including:

CenterPoint also offers various energy efficiency programs at a reduced rate or no cost for customers who qualify.

Customers can learn more about available Minnesota energy efficiency programs and how to participate by visiting: CenterPointEnergy.com/SaveEnergy.

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HOUSTON - May 2, 2026 - As significant rain and strong winds traveled across CenterPoint Energy's electric service territory yesterday, approximately 96% of its 2.9 million customers across the Greater Houston area experienced no impact to their electric service. Approximately 126,000 customers, were impacted since storms started to move through the area around 12:00 a.m. on Friday morning, and essentially all customers have been restored. As of 7:30a.m. today, approximately 200 customers are currently without power. Crews continue actively working to restore those impacted customers safely and as quickly as possible.

The company's electric business has returned to normal operations and the Emergency Operations Center has been demobilized.

On Thursday, the company activated its Emergency Operation Center ahead of the weather event, and more than 1,300 frontline workers and contractors were available to respond to isolated outages throughout the company's 12-county service area. The average time to restore customers who experienced storm-related outages was approximately 90 minutes.

"We know our customers expect and deserve reliable power, and that's why our teams worked around the clock through heavy rainfall to safely restore service, with most outages resolved in less than 90 minutes over the last 24 hours." said Nathan Brownell, CenterPoint's Vice President of Resilience and Capital Delivery and Incident Commander. "We appreciate the dedication of our outstanding frontline crews and contractors. They remain active and will continue restoration efforts until service is restored to all customers who can safely receive power."

CenterPoint took the following actions ahead of Friday's severe weather:

HOUSTON - May 1, 2026 - As significant rain and weather moved through the Greater Houston area overnight and throughout the day, approximately 96% of CenterPoint Energy's 2.9 million customers experienced no impacts to their electric service due to the significant weather.

At the peak of today's storm activity around 11 a.m., approximately 14,800 customers were without service. About 126,000 customers have experienced service interruptions since midnight, with over 123,700 of those customers restored as of 9 p.m. The average restoration time per outage is approximately 90 minutes. As of 9 p.m., approximately 2,300 customers are currently without power - less than 0.1% of CenterPoint's customers.

To prepare for the weather impacts, crews were pre-positioned across the area and continue actively restoring customers experiencing outages. Since midnight, across CenterPoint's 150 weather station network, widespread rain totals between 1 - 3" have been observed, with isolated peak values between 4 - 5.5" primarily north of I-10 and wind gusts of up to 40 mph.

"Our focus remains on restoring service for our remaining customers affected by today's storms. That's why our crews continue working across the Greater Houston area to safely and quickly restore isolated outages," said Nathan Brownell, CenterPoint's Vice President of Resilience and Capital Delivery and Incident Commander.

CenterPoint's Emergency Operations Center will remain activated overnight as crews continue supporting restoration efforts.

CenterPoint has taken the following actions:

What customers should do:

HOUSTON - May 1, 2026 - With potential severe weather expected to impact the Greater Houston area today, CenterPoint Energy's Emergency Operations Center remains activated as more than 1,300 frontline employees and contractors stand ready to respond and support potential restoration efforts. Following continued monitoring of forecast conditions, the company proactively activated its Emergency Operations Center yesterday and continues executing preparedness actions across the system while coordinating closely with emergency management partners.

"Our crews are pre-positioned and ready to safely restore service in the event the forecasted severe weather impacts our system," said Nathan Brownell, CenterPoint's Vice President of Resilience and Capital Delivery and Incident Commander. "We are committed to keeping our customers aware and informed, especially during potentially severe weather events like this. We urge all customers to register for Power Alert Service®, so that if outages from weather occur, they can receive restoration updates directly via phone, text and email."

Prepared for Severe Weather: Key Actions As part of its storm preparedness efforts, CenterPoint is taking the following actions:

What customers should do:

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Disclaimer

CenterPoint Energy Inc. published this content on May 08, 2026, and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed via Public Technologies (PUBT), unedited and unaltered, on May 08, 2026 at 16:32 UTC.