CenterPoint Energy assessing damage,
restoring power following Hurricane Harvey
· Crews have restored power to more than 175,000 customers in the last 24 hours
· Keep phone lines open for electric and gas emergency calls only
· Estimated electric restoration times will be provided once assessments are completed
· Natural gas system in Houston area is functioning normally
· Not yet safe for crews to assess natural gas system in Victoria, Texas area
Houston – Aug. 26, 2017 – CenterPoint Energy has restored power to more than 175,000 customers throughout its service territory over the last 24 hours. Of the 2.4 million CenterPoint Energy customers, more than 98 percent currently have power, and approximately 22,000 are without power as of 12 p.m.
“While our electric system is performing well, patience will be key as some areas will be difficult for our crews to safely access due to flooding, tornado warnings and other safety-related issues,” said Kenny Mercado, senior vice president of Electric Operations for CenterPoint Energy. “We’ve also called in in additional external contract resources to support our restoration efforts and have established a staging site in Fort Bend County. Additional sites are being evaluated at this time.”
“Customers do not need to call us to report outages,” he added. “Our smart meters tell us which customers are out. We ask that everyone please keep phone lines open for electric or gas emergency calls only.”
Scott Doyle, senior vice president of Natural Gas Distribution, said, “Our natural gas distribution system in the greater Houston area is functioning normally; however, crews are responding to gas leak calls in Sinton, Texas, near Corpus Christi, primarily due to toppled trees which have uprooted gas lines.
“Customers need to call us if they smell natural gas or see a damaged line,” he added. “It is not yet safe for crews to assess our gas system in Victoria, Texas; we will begin our assessments as soon as it is safe to do so.”