HOUSTON \u2013 With Hurricane season three months away, KPRC 2 spoke with Houston\u2019s largest electric utility provider to see how it\u2019s preparing for potential outages during future storms. <\/p>\n
You\u2019ve probably seen CenterPoint Energy\u2019s utility crews working in your neighborhood \u2014 trucks parked along curbs, traffic cones narrowing busy streets, crews replacing poles and trimming trees under the Texas sun.<\/p>\n
For many drivers, those cones are an inconvenience. But the company says they represent something else: progress.<\/p>\n
After Hurricane Beryl left millions without power for days \u2014 in some cases, weeks \u2014 CenterPoint Energy faced intense criticism and growing frustration from customers across Houston. In response, the utility provider made a promise: fewer outages and faster restoration when the next storm hits.<\/p>\n
The result is what the company calls its Greater Houston Resiliency Initiative \u2014 a sweeping plan to harden and modernize the electrical grid.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is part of our Greater Houston Resiliency Initiative,\u201d said Nathan Brownwell, Vice President of Resilience and Capital Delivery for CenterPoint Energy. \u201cWe\u2019re going out to our communities to harden and modernize our system.\u201d<\/p>\n
Since Hurricane Beryl, the company said crews have installed more than 430 miles of underground power lines \u2014 roughly the distance from Houston to El Paso. They\u2019ve also cleared more than 8,000 miles of vegetation near power lines and installed approximately 60,000 new power poles across the Greater Houston area.<\/p>\n
Many of those new poles are fiberglass, designed to withstand winds up to 130 miles per hour \u2014 equivalent to a Category 4 hurricane. For comparison, Hurricane Beryl made landfall as a Category 1 storm.<\/p>\n
But with hurricane season approaching, many residents are asking the same question: Is it enough?<\/p>\n
\u201cWe feel much more prepared than we ever have been in our history,\u201d Brownwell said. \u201cWe will be ready for hurricane season.\u201d<\/p>\n
He says preparations ramp up well before the first named storm forms. In May, the company conducts its annual hurricane preparedness drill \u2014 setting up staging sites, mobilizing crews, and rehearsing response plans.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe take extreme weather seriously,\u201d Brownwell said. \u201cWe understand our customers\u2019 concerns. We want to earn their trust back. Everything that we do is an opportunity to show them that we are on the right path.\u201d<\/p>\n