HOUSTON – As if CenterPoint Energy hasn’t caused enough frustration across the Houston area, KPRC 2 viewers have reached out to us, saying they were told by the energy company that they may lose power—again.
During the hottest week of the year in Houston, many residents have been notified that they will be without power for up to four to eight hours at a time. According to CenterPoint, this is all part of their resiliency plan.
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CenterPoint says this initiative is focused on a series of immediate actions to improve resiliency and reduce the risk of outages from the next major storm or hurricane.
Titled the Greater Houston Resiliency Initiative, CenterPoint says these upgrades will strengthen the city’s electric infrastructure as well as the grid and improve communication and emergency coordination.
KPRC 2 reached out to the energy company about when these planned outages will take place. They released a statement saying in part, “customers who may experience a temporary outage will receive notification at least 24 hours in advance.”
They also shared that this initiative reflects direct feedback from Governor Abbott, including the accelerated timeline requested by the Governor to execute specific actions to strengthen electric infrastructure across Houston.
“We know that any outages, even ones necessary for safety, can be frustrating for our customers and we will be taking a series of important communications steps to assist,” CenterPoint said.
These steps include:
- Home Outreach: CenterPoint will use door hangers where the work is happening to inform impacted customers so they can prepare.
- Direct Outreach: Impacted customers will also receive automated calls and texts, and direct emails to alert them of when work is planned, estimated outage dates and times, as well as estimated restoration times, when and where possible.
- Outage Information: CenterPoint’s new outage tracker will also provide outage information at CenterPointEnergy.com/OutageCenter; or customers can call 800-332-7143.
- Customer Assistance: CenterPoint will be proactively reaching out to all critical care customers to inform them about the potential for temporary outages.”
But residents are expressing concern with how this outage will impact them. A resident from the Sugar Land area reached out to KPRC 2 about the situation and said this is distressing news.
“If the power is out for 8 hours, we could lose all the food in the refrigerator. My husband and I are lucky to have a generator but most of my neighbors do not have one. I live in the Chimneystone section in Sugar Land. Can’t they wait until the weather is a little cooler?” one viewer asked.
READ: It’s here, Houston! CenterPoint’s new power outage tracker map
Another resident who lives in Braeburn Glen in Southwest Houston said this outage could threaten the health of her spouse.
“They have got to be kidding! My husband has Parkinson’s, and a power outage means he will suffer from heat. There are no longer any cooling centers. Even when there were cooling centers, my husband suffered from heat exhaustion, and he suffered more from his Parkinson’s! If my husband suffers from these outages, CenterPoint’s answer is that we pay medical professionals. We are retired disabled seniors on a fixed income,” she said.