Houston – We know some of you are concerned about frequent power outages in your neighborhood. Even after millions of dollars in infrastructure upgrades, Houston outages are down, but new numbers show our area has twice as many power outages as the national average.
If you live in one of five Greater Houston areas, you are still in the dark far more than the average homeowner. KPRC 2 Investigative reporter Amy Davis is asking CenterPoint why.
A KPRC 2 investigation reveals that while CenterPoint Energy reports overall improvements in outage reduction across Houston, residents in specific neighborhoods continue facing reliability challenges that exceed both local and national standards.
Critical areas face frequent disruptions
Sugar Land resident Sanford Siegel, 79, relies on a CPAP machine for breathing assistance, making power reliability a critical health concern.
“I woke up and the electricity was shut off and I wasn’t breathing. I had to tear the mask off my face to be able to breathe,” Siegel said, describing a frightening nighttime experience.
Records show Siegel’s home lost power 32 times in 2024, highlighting persistent infrastructure challenges in his area.
More than 52 miles away, in Huffman, the power goes out so often, stay-at-home mom Ashley Flores keeps a flashlight within arms reach since they moved into their brand-new home in 2023.
“We noticed it right away. I mean it was almost daily, if not weekly,” Flores said.
To confirm her suspicions, we asked Flores to request the outage data from the Public Utility Commission. They get it from CenterPoint and then sent it back to Flores. It shows Flores and her family lost power 46 times in 2024. That’s almost once a week.
“It was an ongoing joke in the neighborhood that, like, if the wind blew, the power was going to go out,” Flores said.
Siegel’s electricity went out 32 times last year.
“And you don’t get any answers from them. You just get their standard spiel,” Siegel said.
“Look- your power quality isn’t up to par. It’s not as good as what it should be relative to Houston standards or the national standard,” said Bob Marshall, CEO of Whisker Labs in Maryland.
Widespread impact on Houston communities
Whisker Labs sells and installs small plug-in Ting sensors in homes and businesses across the country. The sensors detect fire risks and power problems. Whisker Labs now has more than one million sensors activated across the country and more than 18,000 in greater Houston. This allows the company to see real time data on power outages here and and in just about every city in the country. Whisker Labs data reveals the five Greater Houston areas experiencing the most frequent outages in 2024:
• Stagecoach (Montgomery County): More than two outages per month
• Atascocita: More than two outages per month
• Jersey Village: More than two outages per month
• Sugar Land: Nearly two outages monthly
• Arcola: Approximately 1.5 outages per month
Infrastructure investment and reliability challenges
“Your power quality isn’t up to par,” Marshall told investigative reporter Amy Davis. “It’s not as good as what it should be relative to Houston standards or the national standard,” Marshall stated.
The investigation comes as CenterPoint implements significant system upgrades following widespread outages during Hurricane Beryl, which left more than two million customers without power and resulted in dozens of heat-related deaths.
Whisker Labs data shows some improvement in service reliability. You can look at public power quality data for every utility in the country at Ting’s website here.
Numbers from CenterPoint Energy show in Huffman, resident Ashley Flores, who experienced 46 outages in 2024 - has seen a significant decrease, reporting only four outages in the first five months of 2025.
RELATED: How to check power outages in your home
Average Outages for all of CenterPoint’s service area:
• January-April 2024: On average, 75% of houses/ customers experienced one outage every month.
• January-April 2025: Monthly outage rate decreased. 50% of houses/ customers experienced one outage a month.
• Houston outages are still double when compared to the the national average number of power outages.
Keith Stephens, CenterPoint’s Senior Vice President of Communications, acknowledges the variations in service reliability across different areas. “Each community, each circuit’s a little bit different depending on the land it’s built on, the terrain, the tree cover,” Stephens explained.
The utility company plans to focus future improvements on specific neighborhood circuits showing higher outage frequencies, aiming to bring Houston’s power reliability in line with national standards.
