HOUSTON – As Southern residents prepare for potential severe weather this weekend and a major cold snap next week, many are wondering how CenterPoint is preparing to keep power on for millions in Texas.
CenterPoint Energy says it will continue to to actively monitor the potential cold weather that is projected to impact parts of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Indiana and Ohio over the coming days.
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The energy company has taken a series of proactive pre-winter preparedness actions to strengthen and winterize its electric and natural gas infrastructure across its multiple states, as well as inspect and test cold-weather critical equipment ahead of potential severe cold weather. The company says it has a cold weather action plan in place, based on forecasts that are continually changing, and is proactively leaning in to be prepared to respond to potential service issues as safely and as quickly as possible, with crews stationed across the communities it serves.
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“We’re continuing to monitor the severe cold weather expected across several of the communities we serve in Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Indiana and Ohio. We’re keeping a particularly close watch on the potential for a major winter storm that could impact Indiana and Ohio over the weekend and into next week as well as potential for severe weather in the Greater Houston area starting Sunday and into next week. We will continue to actively monitor the models for any severe weather and urge our customers to stay alert in anticipation of quickly changing weather conditions,” said Matt Lanza, CenterPoint’s meteorology manager and member of CenterPoint’s Emergency Preparedness and Response team.
Critical winter electric and gas readiness actions taken in the Greater Houston area
CenterPoint has submitted its annual declarations of winter readiness to both the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) and the Railroad Commission of Texas. The electric company completed the regulatory requirements that were adopted in 2021 following the deadly Winter Storm Uri to prepare electric and natural gas infrastructure for winter storms and extreme cold weather.
The pre-winter safety and readiness actions taken by CenterPoint include:
- Inspecting and testing critical equipment, including all 270 substations, to prepare for high demand and cold temperatures;
- Hardening electric and natural gas infrastructure across the Greater Houston area, including installing heaters and devices to prevent ice damage or buildup;
- Maintaining freeze protection equipment and enclosures for cold-weather critical components;
- Repairing damaged or degraded thermal insulation and water-proofing materials; and
- Conducting emergency training for hundreds of operational personnel and contractors to prepare for, mitigate and respond to the impacts of severe winter weather.
Natural gas system preparedness in Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi
CenterPoint strives to provide natural gas service safely and reliably to its customers and initiates winter preparedness strategies to help protect its natural gas system. These include:
- Positioning Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) trucks to be deployed to supplement the natural gas system, if needed.
- Reinforcing reliability by validating that all station set points are aligned with their cold weather settings and have technicians on standby coordinating closely with engineering and natural gas control.
- Coordinating and communicating with the Railroad Commission of Texas to identify and ensure operations of critical gas infrastructure for natural gas reliability.