CenterPoint Energy activates Emergency Operations Center as it prepares to respond to Winter Storm Enzo across the Greater Houston area

Company activated its Emergency Operations Center to coordinate response and restoration efforts

Winter precipitation and freezing temperatures expected to begin overnight; snow/ice accumulation on Tuesday and Wednesday could impact road accessibility and outage restoration in some places

Approximately 3,000 CenterPoint and mutual aid personnel pre-positioned and ready to respond to weather impacts across Greater Houston area

CenterPoint deploys four small generators to support warming centers across the region

CenterPoint urges customers to avoid unnecessary travel, stay away from downed powerlines and have a plan to ensure their safety 

HOUSTON, Jan. 20, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- CenterPoint Energy activated its Emergency Operations Center this afternoon in advance of Winter Storm Enzo's arrival to be prepared to manage its response and restoration efforts. The company is coordinating with state and local emergency partners as it prepares to respond to the potential winter impacts on the Greater Houston area. 

To aid in restoration efforts, CenterPoint Energy is mobilizing an expanded workforce of approximately 3,000 personnel, including 1,200 mutual aid resources, to help address potential outages across its service area. CenterPoint is also sharing proactive safety and preparedness information with customers via direct email, text and auto-dial voice messages as all as social media, and it will continue to provide regular updates on response and restoration efforts. 

"Winter Storm Enzo is poised to hit the Greater Houston area this evening and our teams and mutual aid partners are ready to respond. Our CenterPoint teams have been working for more than a week to prepare and are coordinating with government and industry partners to be ready to respond. We've mobilized 1,200 mutual aid workers, in addition to our own approximately 1,800 plus workers, set up three staging sites across our service area to quickly deploy crews and equipment, and prepared for freezing temperatures and precipitation. Even with this preparation, we know that storms like these can be unpredictable. Extreme weather, road inaccessibility and icy conditions may impact our ability to respond quickly. Our top priority is to ensure the safety of our customers, our workers and partners throughout this impactful winter storm," said Darin Carroll, Senior Vice President of CenterPoint's Electric Business.

Preparedness actions ahead of Winter Storm Enzo
As of 5 p.m. Monday, CenterPoint is taking the following actions to respond to the impacts of Winter Storm Enzo including: 

• Deployed its winter weather readiness plan last week: The company has been tracking the storm since early last week and started completing critical cold weather actions for both electric and gas systems.
• Deploying additional mutual aid frontline electric workers: Mobilizing 1,200 mutual aid personnel and our local frontline workers to three staging sites across Greater Houston to support winter storm response and address potential equipment damage and outages.
• Providing temporary generation to heating centers: Working closely with local government and community partners to identify locations to deploy four small temporary generation units to provide power to local warming centers amid freezing temperatures. More units are staged and ready to deploy if needs arise.
• Keeping customers informed: Sharing safety and preparedness information and resources with CenterPoint customers through direct outreach, social media and other platforms.
• Conducting outreach to critical care customers: Reaching out to identified Critical Care Residential and Chronic Condition Residential electric customers by email, phone and/or text.
• Coordinating with government officials: Providing regular updates to government officials on preparation and response activities and to coordinate on customer support.
• Holding public briefings on operational updates: Conducting a press briefing on Monday afternoon to provide important updates related to CenterPoint's pre-storm activities; additional briefings may be held to provide operational updates on response and restoration efforts following the storm.
• Keeping up to date with ERCOT forecasts: An Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) Weather Watch is in effect through Wednesday due to extreme cold weather across the ERCOT region, higher electrical demands and the potential for lower reserves. At this time, according to ERCOT, grid conditions are expected to be normal, but CenterPoint teams remain ready to respond if that should change.

Critical winter readiness actions completed
CenterPoint's emergency preparations for Winter Storm Enzo build upon the annual winter readiness activities that it conducted over the past several months, including annual weatherization requirements from ERCOT and the Railroad Commission of Texas to prepare for winter storms. These actions include: 

• Inspecting and testing critical equipment, including all 270 substations, to prepare for high demand and cold temperatures;
• Hardening electric and natural gas infrastructure across the Greater Houston area, including by installing heaters and devices to prevent ice damage or buildup;
• Maintaining freeze protection equipment and enclosures for cold-weather critical components;
• Repairing damaged or degraded thermal insulation and water-proofing materials; and
• Conducting emergency training for hundreds of operational personnel and contractors to prepare for, mitigate and respond to the impacts of severe winter weather.

Important information for electric customers
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 via 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. 

In addition, customers can get the latest information on CenterPoint's preparedness and response efforts, view important safety tips and access the company's 2025 Winter Energy Guide by visiting CenterPointEnergy.com/StormCenter. 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, see updates from the National Weather Service Forecast Office in Houston/Galveston at weather.gov/hgx.  

For more information, contact Communications [email protected]

SOURCE CenterPoint Energy