National Weather Service has issued a "Fire
Weather Watch" for large portions of Texas with the risk of strong winds and fire
danger in the Greater Houston area
from noon to 9 p.m. on
Saturday
CenterPoint working closely with local
emergency partners and will communicate with customers about the
risk of potential outages due to wildfire conditions
HOUSTON, March 14,
2025 /PRNewswire/ -- CenterPoint Energy continues to
closely monitor evolving weather conditions and is taking
precautionary measures to mitigate wildfire risk as the National
Weather Service issued a Fire Weather Watch for large portions of
Texas including in the
Greater Houston area on Saturday
from noon to 9 p.m. Due to the
potentially dangerous weather conditions, including high wind
gusts, dry fuels and low humidity, CenterPoint is actively
preparing its response, including conducting pre-inspections,
adjusting power line safety settings, communicating with customers,
and working closely with local emergency agencies. As part of its
customer outreach, CenterPoint will be notifying customers via its
Power Alert Service in the Cypress, Fort
Bend and Katy areas of the
possibility that extreme weather and wind conditions could result
in some temporary safety outages during part of the day on
Saturday.
"Our highest priority is the safety of the customers and the
communities we serve, and we are closely monitoring and preparing
for extreme weather conditions that may impact our system. While
the fire risk is currently lower for our service area than in other
parts of the state, we are staying focused and taking action to
prepare our equipment and customers if weather conditions worsen
and the risk of fire grows. We will keep customers informed via
social media, email, text and Power Alert Service, and in the event
of any temporary safety outages we will restore power safely and as
quickly as possible," said Don
Daigler, Senior Vice President, Emergency Planning &
Response.
- Actively Monitoring Weather: Carefully monitoring the
weather for potential high winds and fire danger in parts of the
Greater Houston area (electric)
and South Texas (natural gas
operations).
- Inspecting and Hardening Key Power Lines: Inspecting
power lines in areas of heightened fire risk, clearing hazardous
vegetation near power lines and conducting repairs where needed,
ahead of potential extreme weather.
- Inspecting Natural Gas Facilities: Inspecting gas
facilities in areas of heightened fire risk and clearing hazardous
vegetation near facilities ahead of potential extreme weather.
- Adjusting Safety Settings: Adjusting the settings on
some power lines for safety between noon and
9 p.m. on Saturday.
- Bringing on Additional Crews to Respond: Positioning
CenterPoint crews and additional contractors to respond to any
power outages or natural gas service interruptions that may occur.
Additional resources will be utilized to restore power safely and
as quickly as possible as well as perform natural gas re-lights
when conditions allow.
- Coordinating with Local Emergency Partners: Proactively
sharing information with state, county and local leaders.
- Communicating with Customers: Proactively communicating
with customers in the Cypress,
Fort Bend and Katy areas about the potential for impacts due
to extreme fire danger.
Important Safety Tips for Customers
CenterPoint
encourages all customers to stay informed about weather conditions
and make a plan to stay safe, including during a potential power
outage. Customers can also get the latest information on
CenterPoint's preparedness and response efforts and view important
safety tips by visiting
CenterPointEnergy.com/StormCenter. Additional preparations
tips are available at Ready.gov.
How to Stay Informed: Sign Up for PAS
CenterPoint
electric customers are encouraged to enroll in the company's Power
Alert Service® to receive outage details, estimated restoration
times and customer-specific restoration updates by phone call, text
or email. Customers can also stay up to date with CenterPoint's new
and improved, cloud-based Outage Tracker, available in English and
Spanish, which allows customers to see outages by county, city and
zip code.
Customers can also follow @CenterPoint_TX to receive the
most up-to-date information on the company's operations in the
Greater Houston area and across
Texas.
For the latest weather information for the Greater Houston area, view updates from the
National Weather Service Forecast Office in Houston/Galveston at weather.gov/hgx.
For more information,
contact:
Communications
Media.Relations@CenterPointEnergy.com
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SOURCE CenterPoint Energy
