CenterPoint Energy continues investing in innovative, customer-focused technologies

HOUSTON, Feb. 12, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- CenterPoint Energy (NYSE: CNP) recently unveiled a convenient new enhancement to the company's current electric outage communications. Building on the company's investments in smart grid technology, the Power Alert Service automatically notifies consumers via SMS text, e-mail or phone call whenever a power outage or other power problem is detected at or near their address. The service includes estimates of when power will be restored and updates throughout the repair process.

Consumers interested in receiving alerts should visit CenterPointEnergy.com/PowerAlertService so they can sign up or update their contact and notification preferences. Signing up or modifying communication preferences requires an electric meter number, so consumers should have a recent electric bill handy.

As a regulated "wires" utility, CenterPoint Energy owns, operates and maintains the poles, wires and substations that deliver electricity from power plants to end-use consumers. The company's free power alerts are available to all consumers in CenterPoint Energy's electric delivery territory, regardless of the retail electric company they buy their power from. The company's service territory includes more than 2.3 million customers in a 5,000 square-mile area in and around the greater Houston-area.

"We know that when the power goes out, customers want to know two things: 1) Does CenterPoint Energy know that my power is out? and, 2) When will my power come back on?," said Gregg Knight, senior vice president and chief customer officer for CenterPoint Energy. "With our Power Alert Service, we can now provide customers the information they need and the peace of mind that our crews are working on the problem." Knight added that proactively communicating with consumers will reduce the need for them to call to report their outages, thus benefiting both retail electric providers and CenterPoint Energy.

One Houston-area resident experienced that peace of mind first hand when she had a power outage at her home while at work an hour away. Alerted to an issue by her security system company, she was relieved to discover that her home was safe, and that CenterPoint Energy crews were working to restore the outage in her area. "Not having to leave in the middle of work or be especially concerned about the security of my home, just because CenterPoint let me know that the power had been out, was a very big benefit." To hear more about Misty's experience with Power Alert Service, visit www.youtube.com/centerpointenergyvid.

"CenterPoint Energy is making strategic investments in technologies that use real-time smart meter and intelligent grid data to increase operational efficiency, enhance customer satisfaction and transform the way we communicate with customers about outages," said Kenny Mercado, senior vice president of Electric Operations for CenterPoint Energy. "These technologies provide us with faster, more accurate information on outage types and locations, helping us dispatch the right crew with the right equipment to restore power more efficiently; this ultimately reduces outage durations and improves electric reliability."

Along with alerting registered consumers to power outages and other problems, Power Alert Service:

      - Provides an estimated time when the problem will be fixed 
      - Notifies customers when the problem has been resolved and what caused the outage
      - Allows customers to opt-out at any time

The service is free* and alerts arrive within minutes of an outage that occurs at or near an address. Consumers can register and edit their notification preferences by visiting CenterPointEnergy.com/PowerAlertService.

The only information needed to sign up is an address and meter number (this information is provided on a consumer's electric bill), and consumers can opt out of receiving the notifications at any time.

CenterPoint Energy, Inc., headquartered in Houston, Texas, is a domestic energy delivery company that includes electric transmission & distribution, natural gas distribution and energy services operations. The company serves more than 5 million metered customers primarily in Arkansas, Louisiana, Minnesota, Mississippi, Oklahoma, and Texas. The company also owns a 55.4 percent limited partner interest in Enable Midstream Partners, a publicly traded master limited partnership it jointly controls with OGE Energy Corp., which owns, operates and develops natural gas and crude oil infrastructure assets. With more than 8,500 employees, CenterPoint Energy and its predecessor companies have been in business for more than 140 years. For more information, visit www.CenterPointEnergy.com.

*Standard text messaging rates apply.

For more information contact
Olivia Ross
Phone 713.207.3288
Pager 713.619.5143

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SOURCE CenterPoint Energy, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.centerpointenergy.com