CenterPoint Energy has officially announced an ahead of schedule completion of core resiliency actions that were conducted to fulfill the first phase of its Greater Houston Resiliency Initiative (GHRI). In case you weren’t aware, the GHRI initiative packs together a series of targeted actions to improve the resiliency of CenterPoint Houston Electric’s grid this hurricane season. Anyway, beyond the actions which it has now completed, the company would also introduce more of them moving forward. Understood to be the boldest series of resiliency actions in CenterPoint’s history, these actions include a second phase of GHRI, which will include system hardening, strategic undergrounding, self-healing grid technology and further enhancements to the company’s outage tracker. Next up, we have a longer-term proposal set to be filed after discussions with stakeholders, elected officials, and customers, a proposal of approximately $5 billion in resiliency investment from 2026 to 2028. Coming back to the company’s already-realized objectives, they were all geared towards strengthening the electric system and addressing heightened risks posed by the current hurricane season. Hence, during this phase, more than 2,500 employees and contractors were mobilized. This it did to install more than 300 automation devices to help reduce the impact of outages during storms. Alongside that, CenterPoint also successfully installed more than 1,000 stronger poles that can withstand powerful winds. Joining the same is its bid to trim or remove hazardous vegetation from more than 2,000 miles of power lines. Apart from that, CenterPoint has also completed 39 of the 42 critical actions previously identified as part of its broader GHRI plan.
Moving forward, the company will launch a near-term phase of its resiliency actions on September 1. This phase is likely to include objectives like improving public and customer communications, solidifying grid resiliency, and strengthening local, community and emergency partnerships in preparation for this winter and before the 2025 hurricane season. Beyond that, actions like further hardening of the grid, a year-round campaign on safety, and joint preparedness exercises with local emergency management offices, are also outlined in an attached letter to lawmakers. CenterPoint is expected to deliver a more detailed work plan and schedule for this second phase of actions by September 30.
Markedly enough, there is also going to be a long-term strategy. As we briefly touched upon, under this strategy, the company plans on investing approximately $5 billion from 2026 to 2028 – the largest Greater Houston infrastructure investment in the company’s nearly 160-year history. The overarching vision behind doing so is to build the most resilient coastal grid in the country, a grid which can withstand a broad spectrum of risks. More on the same would reveal how the proposal, and the entire scope of these actions, will be outlined in a new system resiliency plan expected to be filed with the Public Utility Commission of Texas on or before January 31, 2025. This new resiliency plan, on its part, will be conceived on the back of feedback from customers, external experts, and other stakeholders, including elected officials and local agencies.
Hold on, there is more, considering CenterPoint also committed to evaluating the role of large-scale temporary emergency generation. To achieve that, it will take a series of actions, including possibly foregoing approximately $110 million in profit, which is equivalent to more than half of the equity earnings from the company’s lease of temporary emergency generation. Making the whole value proposition even more important, thought, is CenterPoint’s emphasis upon affordability. An example of the same can be had once you take into account how customer rates that pay for the Transmission & Distribution system have remained relatively flat over the past 10 years.
“We have heard the call to action from our customers and elected officials, and we are responding with bold actions. Our defining goal, going forward, is this: to build the most resilient coastal grid in the country that can better withstand the extreme weather of the future. To achieve this ambition, we will undertake a historic level of resiliency actions and investment,” said Jason Wells, CenterPoint President and CEO.
