CenterPoint Energy Inc.

29/07/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 30/07/2024 02:53

CenterPoint CEO to Senate Committee: We Are Committed to Re-earning Your Trust and the Trust of the Community

During a hearing of a special committee of the Texas Senate, CenterPoint apologized to customers across Greater Houston and outlined a series of more than 40 actions to strengthen the grid, bolster customer communications and improve storm response.
Calender iconMonday-July-29-2024
Houston - July 29, 2024 - Today, at a hearing with the Texas Senate Special Committee on Hurricane and Storm Preparedness, Recovery and Electricity, CenterPoint CEO Jason Wells apologized for the frustration customers across the Greater Houston area experienced during Hurricane Beryl and discussed the company's commitments to improve. Wells - who was invited to the hearing along with representatives from other Texas utilities, agency leaders, elected officials and emergency response experts - outlined a series of specific actions to increase the resiliency of the electric system, improve customer communications and strengthen emergency response coordination and partnerships.
"I take accountability for those areas where we fell short of our customers' expectations, and I want to apologize for the frustration our customers and their families experienced as a result. There are no excuses. We will do better. We will improve. And we will act with a greater sense of urgency," Wells said. "Hurricane Beryl impacted so many lives, and I want to express my condolences to the families and friends who lost loved ones."
CenterPoint's Plan of Actions
CenterPoint's plan-of-action, which was initially announced during a hearing with the Public Utility Commission of Texas on Thursday, July 25, reflects more than 40 initial actions that the company is taking immediately and over the intermediate- and long-term, including:
Resiliency Investments: By accelerating adoption of the latest construction standards, retrofitting existing assets on an accelerated basis, and using predictive modeling, AI and other advanced technologies, CenterPoint will harden its distribution system and speed restoration. The company will also take action to protect its electrical assets by nearly doubling the size of its vegetation management crews and targeting higher risk vegetation to address the number one cause of damage and outages in Hurricane Beryl.
Best-in-Class Customer Communications: To ensure customers have the information they need, when they need it, CenterPoint will launch a new and more customer-oriented outage tracker by August 1. This online tool will provide better and more complete information during storms and is designed to handle increased demand during such events.
Strengthened Partnerships: Effective emergency preparedness and response requires close coordination with government officials. CenterPoint will hire a seasoned emergency response leader to help the company rapidly accelerate its planning capabilities and develop close community partnerships to ease the burden of storm events on more vulnerable communities.
The following are key excerpts from Wells' remarks, as prepared, given before the Texas Senate Special Committee on Hurricane and Storm Preparedness, Recovery and Electricity.
"Let me begin by being very clear: our response to the impacts of Hurricane Beryl, including our communications, did not meet the high standard we expect of ourselves, let alone what the public expects of us."
"I want to apologize for the frustration our customers and their families experienced. We will do better. We will improve. And we will act with a greater sense of urgency."
"Our immediate actions to improve fall within three categories: (1) improvements in resiliency, (2) improvements in communications, and (3) greater collaboration with our local partners and emergency responders."
"We will incorporate additional actions based on our internal reviews, as well as feedback from external experts, our customers, community leaders, our regulators, and of course, the elected leaders across this body."
"… by taking these actions, I hope we can begin to re-earn your trust, and the trust of the community we so are proud serve."
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, Louisiana, Minnesota, Mississippi, Ohio and Texas. With approximately 9,000 employees, CenterPoint Energy and its predecessor companies have been in business for more than 150 years. For more information, visit CenterPointEnergy.com.
Forward-looking Statements
This news release includes forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. When used in this news release, the words "anticipate," "believe," "continue," "could," "estimate," "expect," "forecast," "goal," "intend," "may," "objective," "plan," "potential," "predict," "projection," "should," "target," "will" or other similar words are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based upon assumptions of management which are believed to be reasonable at the time made and are subject to significant risks and uncertainties. Actual events and results may differ materially from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. Any statements in this news release regarding future events that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements. Each forward-looking statement contained in this news release speaks only as of the date of this release. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated by the provided forward-looking information include risks and uncertainties relating to: (1) the impact of pandemics, including the COVID-19 pandemic; (2) financial market conditions; (3) general economic conditions; (4) the timing and impact of future regulatory and legislative decisions; and (5) other factors, risks and uncertainties discussed in CenterPoint Energy's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2023 and CenterPoint's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2024 and other reports CenterPoint Energy or its subsidiaries may file from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission.