As part of CenterPoint Energy’s ongoing effort to strengthen its electric system, the company announced that it has reached a $3.2 billion settlement agreement on the landmark Systemwide Resiliency Plan.
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This comes as part of CenterPoint’s Greater Houston Resiliency Initiative, launched in August 2024. The initiative focused on a series of immediate actions to improve resiliency and reduce the risk of outages from the next major storm or hurricane.
The plan was a direct feedback from Gov. Greg Abbott following the deadly power outage from Hurricane Beryl. It included an accelerated timeline to bring out specific actions to strengthen the city’s electric infrastructure, as well as the grid, and improve communication and emergency coordination.
This settlement is the largest single resiliency investment in CenterPoint’s history. It’s designed, according to CenterPoint, to further address the impacts of a wide range of extreme weather threats, including more powerful storms, hurricanes, and wind events like derechos, flooding, extreme temperatures, tornadoes, wildfires and winter storms.
“We are committed to continuing critical system resiliency work to help provide an electric system for the Greater Houston area that is safe, reliable, cost-effective and resilient when our customers need it most. Following constructive discussions with the Commission and intervening parties, this plan represents a landmark investment and suite of resiliency actions that will provide customers with clear benefits now and in the future,” said Jason Wells, president and chief executive officer of CenterPoint Energy.
The settlement includes a revised, agreed-upon investment of more than $3 billion in CenterPoint’s electric distribution system. The agreement also includes the deferment of more than $240 million in SRP costs until the second half of 2029, which will help reduce customers’ bills by spreading costs over four years instead of three years.
Customers should expect automation devices capable of self-healing, 130,000 more storm-resistant poles and braces to be installed and replaced, and outages will be reduced by 1 billion minutes.
Once approved, and while some cost recovery would be deferred into 2029, all SRP work will be completed in the proposed 2026-2028 timeframe.