To help keep its customers and communities safe ahead of the Invest 97L weather system, CenterPoint is actively monitoring evolving weather conditions, preparing frontline personnel to respond to potential impacts on system and closely coordinating with local officials
The system has the potential for gusty winds, several inches of heavy rainfall and localized flooding in parts of the Greater Houston region starting Tuesday
HOUSTON, Aug. 31, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- To support its customers and communities, CenterPoint Energy is activating its Emergency Operations Center this morning and is actively monitoring and preparing for potential impacts from Invest 97L to Southeast Texas, including Greater Houston, starting Tuesday. The system could bring several inches of heavy rainfall, localized flooding and the potential for gusty winds to the company's service territory. CenterPoint's workforce is prepared to respond to potential impacts to its electric and gas service, and the company continues to communicate and coordinate with local government officials ahead of this week's forecast.
"Our Emergency Operations Center is monitoring the potential impacts from Invest 97L to the Greater Houston area Tuesday and Wednesday," said Jason Fabre, CenterPoint Energy's Vice President of Special Response & Distribution Operations and Incident Commander. "We have activated our preparedness plans, and our crews and contractors stand ready to respond to any service impacts for our customers. We are closely monitoring the weather models as conditions continue to evolve and urge our customers to stay alert in anticipation of quickly changing weather conditions."
Preparing for Severe Weather: Key Actions
As part of its preparedness efforts, CenterPoint is taking the following actions:
- Activating Emergency Operations Center: Preparing for potential impacts and coordinating local preparedness efforts.
- Readying the company's workforce and resources: These plans include
- Preparing frontline personnel to support potential restoration efforts.
- Inspecting power lines and electric substations across the Greater Houston area and taking action as needed.
- Deploying local personnel to inspect and clear hazardous vegetation from power lines to prepare for potential high winds and precipitation.
- Monitoring severe weather 24/7: The Meteorology team continues to track weather forecast developments, and the company is updating response efforts as conditions evolve.
- Coordinating with local officials: CenterPoint is coordinating with local officials and emergency management partners on continued preparedness efforts.
- Communicating proactively with customers: Providing safety and preparedness information directly with customers via email, phone and text, across social media platforms and other channels.
Emergency Communications: Sign Up for Power Alert Service®
To help prepare for the impact of the severe weather, CenterPoint is encouraging its customers to enroll in Power Alert Service® to receive outage details, estimated restoration times and customer-specific restoration updates via phone call, text or email. As part of CenterPoint's overall emergency communications efforts, customers can stay up to date on local outages with CenterPoint's cloud-based Outage Tracker, available in English and Spanish, which allows customers to see outages and restoration times by county, city and zip code.
Emergency Preparations: What Customers Can Do to Stay Safe
CenterPoint urges the public to put their safety first and prepare in advance for extreme weather by having a safety plan ready, especially for those who rely on electricity for life-sustaining equipment or medical needs. Customers can find safety tips to help them prepare at CenterPointEnergy.com/ActionCenter.
For the latest updates, follow CenterPoint on social media and visit CenterPointEnergy.com/ActionCenter.
About CenterPoint Energy, Inc.
As the only investor owned electric and gas utility based in Texas, CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE: CNP) is an energy delivery company with electric transmission and distribution, power generation and natural gas distribution operations that serve more than 7 million metered customers in Indiana, Minnesota, Ohio and Texas. As of June 30, 2026, the company owned approximately $48.3 billion in assets. With approximately 8,800 employees, CenterPoint Energy and its predecessor companies have been in business for more than 150 years. For more information, visit CenterPointEnergy.com
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SOURCE CenterPoint Energy
