In an update Monday night, CenterPoint said customers in the hardest-hit areas “could experience extended outages and should plan accordingly.”
HOUSTON — Hurricane Beryl knocked out power to more than 3 million customers in the Greater Houston area on Monday, most of them with CenterPoint.
Power companies and city leaders said it will be a multi-day outage for most customers because the damage is extensive and widespread.
In an update Monday night, CenterPoint said it hopes to restore power to 1 million customers by the end of the day Wednesday but customers in the hardest-hit areas” could experience extended outages and should plan accordingly.” At 9:30 p.m., more than 1.8 million CenterPoint customers were still without power.
Crews were assessing the damage and will start repairs as soon as possible. However, thousands of out-of-town crews weren’t staged in Houston in advance of Hurricane Beryl as in past hurricanes.
At least 10 transmission lines are down, according to Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick.
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CenterPoint Energy update on efforts to restore power
CenterPoint said the initial focus in the storm’s aftermath will be assessing the type of damage to the electric system and rerouting power on unaffected power lines. Concurrent with the damage assessment, crews have already begun a cut-and-clear process, which allows crews to identify and isolate areas of damage to more quickly restore customers along sections that are not impacted.
CenterPoint has approximately 11,500 power workers mobilized to begin assessment and repairs. To supplement the company’s 1,500 internal resources, CenterPoint is bringing in an additional 10,000 resources from other utilities to assist with the restoration efforts. CenterPoint is also expected to increase its staging sites across the area to 12.
“We are mobilizing all of our available resources, as well as mutual assistance resources from other utility companies, to begin the process of quickly and safely restoring power to our customers,” Lynnae Wilson with CenterPoint said in a 4 p.m. update. “We understand how difficult it is to be without power for any amount of time, especially in the heat. We are laser-focused on the important and time-sensitive work that lies ahead.”
Click or tap here to see the current number of CenterPoint outages.
When the damage assessment is completed, CenterPoint will begin publishing estimates for substantial restoration of the system.
Finally, the company is assessing the deployment of its mobile generation units to provide temporary power restoration to certain critical facilities, such as cooling centers, healthcare facilities, first responder locations, senior centers and educational centers.
CenterPoint will continue to provide general outage information such as total outage counts – updated approximately every 5 to 15 minutes – at CenterPointEnergy.com/StormCenter. CenterPoint’s electric customers are encouraged to enroll in Power Alert Service® to receive outage details and community-specific restoration updates as they become available.
Entergy outages
As of 2 p.m. Monday, approximately 247,000 Entergy Texas customers were without power, with the majority of the power outages located in Montgomery, Jefferson, Walker, and Liberty counties. More than 6,200 are without power in Galveston County, which includes the entire Bolivar Peninsula.
Click or tap here to see the current number of Entergy outages.
Texas New Mexico Power
Texas New Mexico Power reported over 105,000 customers without power at 9:30 p.m. Monday.
Check outages for Texas New Mexico Power
If you’re using a generator, don’t use it indoors because it can cause carbon monoxide poisoning.
For more natural gas and electric safety tips, additional information and resources on hurricane preparedness, visit CenterPointEnergy.com/StormCenter and follow @CenterPoint for updates during inclement weather events.
If you lose power for an extended period, here’s how long food will last in the refrigerators, according to the CDC.