New CenterPoint Energy map shows repair work hasn't even started in many areas still without power (2024)

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- Over 1 million households have been left in truly miserable conditions without power for more than 48 hours after Beryl moved through southeast Texas.

A Heat Advisory has been extended through at least Wednesday night with hot, humid conditions continuing.

According to CenterPoint Energy's Outage Tracker, over 1.1 million customers are still in the dark. At Beryl's peak on Monday, over 2.2 million customers were without power about 80% of CenterPoint's customers.

Previously, CenterPoint said it aimed to have 1 million of those initial 2.2 million customers back online by the end of the day on Wednesday. The company said customers should expect a multi-day process to restore their electricity.

CenterPoint released a new map overnight that gives customers an idea of the work being done in their neighborhoods.

Click here to check your neighborhood's status on the map.

The map doesn't show when power will come back, but it does show areas across Houston highlighted in four colors.

  • Green means power is back, though isolated outages to individual homes could remain
  • Light green means power is back, but with potential nested outages
  • Blue means crews have been assigned to restore the power and work is being done
  • Orange means CenterPoint is still assessing damage

ABC13 has received multiple reports from viewers that some neighborhoods where the map indicates power has been restored are still in the dark. We are working to get more updates from CenterPoint.

CenterPoint broke its restoration process down into five categories:

  • Impact evaluation and resource mobilization - Crews begin assessing impact of damage and mobilizing local and mutual assistance resources.
  • Critical infrastructure assessment - Focus on essential facilities critical to health and public safety.
  • Community infrastructure assessment/repair - If your grocery stores, street lights and surrounding neighborhoods are without power, the problem may be at the circuit level, which supplies power to the largest number of customers.
  • Neighborhood infrastructure repair - If surrounding neighborhoods are restored, but yours is still without power, the problem may be at the fuse level.
  • Street infrastructure repair - Seeing lights on in your neighborhood, but you and your closest neighbors are still out? We've completed the fuse-level repairs, but there is a more isolated issue, such as a damaged transformer, that needs to be addressed.

CenterPoint plans to update the new map as it receives more information.

"We have never seen an incident to this magnitude. This is the largest outage in our history," CenterPoint VP of Distribution Operations and Service Delivery, Brad Tutunjian, said during a council meeting Wednesday. "I've been with CenterPoint Energy for 26 years now. I've worked in this region - southeast Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi. I've responded to quite a few number of hurricanes, and not just ours but other utilities as well. And I can tell you the amount of work to set up and prepare is monumental."

Houston Mayor John Whitmire has continuously criticized CenterPoint's restoration efforts.

"They can do better," he said during an afternoon press conference. He also called them out after learning the Astros played in a lit stadium while millions were without power. "The city has done a poor job in prioritizing their expenses," Whitmire added.

Meanwhile, Entergy Texas is set to complete restoration for 50% of impacted customers by the end of Wednesday, with restoration of 75% of impacted customers by the end of Friday. They said a workforce of more than 1,600 will continue working around the clock.

ABC13 was live at the Sam Houston Race Park on Wednesday morning, which is one of 17 CenterPoint staging areas across Houston. Countless trucks were lined up at the race park, with crews loading up and heading out to work for the day.

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While CenterPoint has brought in extra crews to help with repairs, with 12,000 workers spread out across the region, some Texas leaders are questioning the response and whether the company did enough.

"If they made mistakes, and we don't know if they did or not, that will be addressed by the PUC and the state legislature. That's our job," Acting Gov. Dan Patrick said, adding he wants CenterPoint to focus on restoring power for now.

One common criticism is that crews are sitting around for hours, waiting for an assignment.

A CenterPoint spokesperson said they know of at least three cases where that happened and have made changes to make sure it doesn't happen again.

"We've found it's more productive if we do the assessment and then go out to where the need is, otherwise we're just randomly just sending them out," Paul Lock with CenterPoint said. "So, it's painful for a day or two, but it's more efficient in the long run."

One thing you may notice is that your power may come back on, only to go right back off again. CenterPoint said that is because crews might have to take you back offline in order to help restore power to your neighbors.

If it comes back and goes away again, officials say it shouldn't stay that way for long.

If you don't have power, state officials are asking you do not call 911.

Patrick said on Monday, there were almost 16,000 calls to 911 about power outages.

If you are in the dark, you're encouraged to call CenterPoint instead. Their number is 713-207-2222.

For updates on this story, follow Nick Natario on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Copyright © 2024 KTRK-TV. All Rights Reserved.

New CenterPoint Energy map shows repair work hasn't even started in many areas still without power (2024)

FAQs

What does energized mean on a CenterPoint map? ›

Here's how to understand what are the colors on the CenterPoint outage map: Dark Green = Energized. Light Green = Partially Energized. Light Blue = Assessment Complete.

What do the colors mean on the CenterPoint restoration map? ›

Green means power is back, though isolated outages to individual homes could remain. Light green means power is back, but with potential nested outages. Blue means crews have been assigned to restore the power and work is being done. Orange means CenterPoint is still assessing damage.

What is nested outage? ›

If the status of your outage changes to complete, but your power is still out - please report your outage again to let us know. We refer to this as a "nested" outage and it occurs when there is additional damage to your circuit that was not identified or fixed by the repairs.

How do I check the status of my power outage in Texas? ›

You can report a power outage or check the status of a previously reported power outage via our online reporting tool. You can also call us at 888.313. 4747. If you have signed up for My Oncor Alerts, text OUT to 66267 (ONCOR).

Why is CenterPoint Energy so expensive? ›

Why Are CenterPoint's Electric Rates So High? In short, CenterPoint has been spending customer money with reckless abandon, making huge investments without consideration of customer impacts, and charging customers for a much higher profit margin than Indiana's other investor-owned electric utilities.

Who is buying out CenterPoint Energy? ›

HOUSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE: CNP) (“CenterPoint”) today announced the sale of its Louisiana and Mississippi natural gas LDC businesses to Bernhard Capital Partners, a services and infrastructure-focused private equity management firm, for $1.2 billion.

What happened to the CenterPoint map? ›

Citing technical challenges and an increase in webpage traffic, CenterPoint removed its original outage tracker map from the company's website in May, after a deadly derecho left nearly 1 million customers without power.

What does orange mean on outage map? ›

The outage map has a legend at the top of the page to indicate how many customers are affected by the outage. Green equals 1–49, Yellow, 50–499, Orange 500–4,999 and Red 5,000. Oftentimes, a larger outage is made up of many small outages, meaning you may see many green pins representing 1–49 customers.

What was the outage of Hurricane Beryl? ›

When Hurricane Beryl swept through southeast Texas on July 8, its damaging 80-mile-per-hour winds took down thousands of trees and knocked out much of the electricity system. More than 2.6 million Texas power customers went without electricity for days in the summer heat.

What is the difference between a power outage and a power interruption? ›

The terms are more or less synonymous, although in general an interruption is short (up to a few seconds), and an outage long.

What is outage detection? ›

Outage detection (as early and accurate as possible) is critical to take actions to manage, mitigate, or recover from power outages. When outages due to weather, third-party damage or asset failure occur, utilities' number one priority is to isolate the interruption and restore service quickly.

What is a momentary outage? ›

• Momentary Outage : An Automatic Outage with an Outage Duration less. than one (1) minute. If the circuit recloses and trips again within less than a minute of the initial outage, it is only considered one outage.

How do you check if the power is off? ›

Use a receptacle voltage tester by plugging the device into the outlet. The lights on the device will come on to indicate the presence of a live electrical current. Test an electrical outlet with a non-contact voltage tester by holding the tester about an inch away from the short slot on the outlet.

How long will food last in a fridge without power? ›

As the USDA notes in Keeping Food Safe During an Emergency, your refrigerator will keep food safe for up to 4 hours during a power outage. Keep the door closed as much as possible. Discard refrigerated perishable food such as meat, poultry, fish, eggs, and leftovers after 4 hours without power.

How long do most power outages last? ›

Outages typically last 1-2 hours.

What is the CenterPoint Energy strategy? ›

Net Zero by 2035 Goals

Specifically, CenterPoint Energy aims to help our residential and commercial customers reduce greenhouse gas emissions attributable to their end use of natural gas by 20-30% by 2035 from a 2021 baseline.

What type of energy does CenterPoint Energy use? ›

Our generation transition plan shifts generation from coal to renewables and natural gas in the near term with a long-term shift from natural gas to mostly renewables.

How does CenterPoint read gas meter? ›

CenterPoint Energy's AMR system uses radio transmitting devices that are attached to the meter sets of existing CenterPoint Energy natural gas customers.

What is the abbreviation for CenterPoint Energy? ›

(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, Louisiana, Minnesota, Mississippi, Ohio and Texas.

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