CenterPoint Energy
Crews repair power lines for CenterPoint customers in Greenspoint after Hurricane Beryl in July 2024.
CenterPoint Energy has seen a slight increase in its consumer satisfaction ratings compared to a survey conducted last year by the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI).
The ACSI administers national surveys across several U.S. industries. Its 2026 energy utilities customer satisfaction ratings were based on a national survey of 33,759 customers who were contacted between January of 2025 and December of 2025. The national average score for electric investor-owned utilities this year was 72 out of 100.
CenterPoint’s national rating for its electricity services rose from 70 to 72, as measured on a 100-point scale. Its 70-point rating from the 2025 survey reflects data from 2024, when Hurricane Beryl and a derecho left parts of Houston without power for days – and in some areas, more than a week.
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The utility company, which provides electric transmission and natural gas distribution services, is headquartered in Houston, though it also operates in other parts of the South and the Midwest.
Forrest Morgeson, the director emeritus of research at the ACSI, said CenterPoint’s ratings likely increased in this year’s survey because of “a significant reduction in outage minutes in the first half of 2025.”
“Improved reliability like that is going to drive stronger customer satisfaction, particularly in an industry like this one where electricity is one of those things we don’t notice until we don’t have it,” he said.
CenterPoint’s electricity services rating in the south also increased from 70 to 72, though its score fell short of the regional average of 75 points.
According to the ACSI’s survey, CenterPoint’s increased rating can be attributed to the company’s Greater Houston Resiliency Initiative, which it developed in the wake of Hurricane Beryl to strengthen its transmission systems and prevent additional prolonged outages following natural disasters.
Keith Stephens, the chief communications and marketing officer for CenterPoint, said the resiliency initiative has helped decrease the length of outages in the Houston area. He added that the company has also developed new technology to connect with customers, including an improved outage tracker, a map showing resiliency improvements, and a mobile app.
“There was a lot of feedback that came our way after Beryl,” he said. “We’ve put it into place. We have really improved the operational readiness and the hardening of our system.”
Rice University Professor Mark Jones helped conduct a survey through the University of Houston’s Hobby School of Public Affairs last year, looking at Harris County voters’ perceptions of CenterPoint. At the time, their view of the company was overwhelmingly negative, amidst fresh memories of Hurricane Beryl.
Jones said the ACSI survey from this year shows CenterPoint appears to have recovered somewhat from the reputational damage it suffered in 2024.
“Overall, the way I would interpret these data are that CenterPoint has improved its standing in the eyes of consumers since Beryl and [the] derecho, but it still hasn’t gotten back to where it was before,” he said.
However, Jones said, if CenterPoint continues its progress without any major outages, it could see its ratings return to previous levels.
“Assuming that CenterPoint continues to invest and harden its infrastructure, and avoids outages like we saw with Beryl and the derecho storm, then that satisfaction level should continue to modestly increase year after year to get to a point where it was before,” he said.
The ACSI survey also looked at natural gas utility companies’ customer satisfaction ratings. CenterPoint’s national natural gas rating increased from 76 to 77, year over year, and was slightly above the national average of 74 points out of 100. Its natural gas ratings for the southern region increased from 76 to 77, a single point above the regional average rating of 76.