CenterPoint CEO to House Committee: We are Committed to Re-earning Your Trust and Taking Urgent Actions to Improve Our Response to Future Storms

CenterPoint CEO to House Committee: We are Committed to Re-earning Your Trust and Taking Urgent Actions to Improve Our Response to Future Storms

Before Texas House of Representatives' State Affairs Committee, CenterPoint's CEO apologizes to customers, outlines actions to improve restoration, and expresses willingness to explore alternate temporary generation solutions.

Wednesday-July-31-2024

​Houston - July 31, 2024 - Today, at a meeting with the Texas House of Representatives' State Affairs Committee, CenterPoint CEO Jason Wells apologized for the frustration customers across the Greater Houston area experienced during Hurricane Beryl, outlined the action the company is taking to improve, and committed to working with policymakers and elected officials on solutions to address the risk of load shed.

"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.

CenterPoint's Plan of Actions

During the meeting, Wells outlined a series of specific actions to increase the resiliency of the electric system, improve customer communications and strengthen emergency response coordination and partnerships. The plan-of-action, which was released on July 25, reflects more than 40 initial actions that the company is taking to improve its overall resiliency, communications, and emergency response, 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.
  

Temporary Generation: Exploring Next Steps

In addition to outlining the immediate steps being taken to improve the utility's storm preparedness and response, Wells also stated that CenterPoint is open to working with legislators, policymakers and others to determine the best generation solutions that meet the need of CenterPoint's customers, and all Texans, in the event of an emergency.

"With respect to the issue of use of temporary generation, we are committed to working with you and others to determine the best generation solution for our customers," stated Wells in his prepared remarks.

Excerpts from Prepared Remarks

The following are key excerpts from Wells' prepared remarks, as drafted, given before the Texas House of Representatives' State Affairs Committee:

"I want to apologize for the frustration our customers and their families experienced.We will do better. We will improve. We will act with urgency."

"Let me briefly outline some of our actions across three pillars: (1) improvements in resiliency, (2) communications, and (3) greater partnerships with our local partners."

"To be very clear, these actions are just the beginning. In total, we've outlined over 40 actions to strengthen our response."

"In closing, my hope is that through our actions we can begin to re-earn your trust, and the trust of the community."

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.​

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