• Teams remain ready to respond with enhanced staffing plans and conducting pre-landfall emergency preparedness protocols 
• Customer natural gas disconnections have been suspended in Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi to focus resources on preparation efforts

HOUSTON, Nov. 7, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Following Rafael's rapid intensification into a Category 3 hurricane before striking Cuba on Wednesday, CenterPoint Energy continues to diligently monitor weather forecasts and remains ready to execute its emergency preparedness plans and potential restoration efforts following any landfall impacts in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas.

The company is continuing to conduct pre-landfall emergency preparedness protocols and stands ready to deploy enhanced staffing plans across its Gulf Coast service area to help restore service related to any potential outages. CenterPoint has also identified more than 13,000 mutual assistance resources that are available to support emergency response efforts if needed.

In addition to working closely with emergency responders and agency partners, the company is also sharing safety information with customers across its multi-state Gulf Coast service area.

"While forecasts are starting to indicate a potential path toward Mexico in the coming days, there remains a great deal of uncertainty around this storm and its potential impacts. To make sure we are ready for our customers and the communities we serve across the Gulf Coast, we continue to prepare to respond for any potential impacts from Hurricane Rafael on both our electric and natural gas infrastructure. Should it change paths and make a landfall in Texas, Louisiana or Mississippi, our teams will be focused on restoring service to customers as safely and quickly as possible," said Richard Leger, CenterPoint's Senior Vice President of Gas Business.

CenterPoint temporarily suspends natural gas disconnections ahead of Rafael

To help support its customers ahead of the storm's landfall, CenterPoint has temporarily suspended disconnections of natural gas service in Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi. This action will remain in place until next week when more is known about Hurricane Rafael and any potential impacts and restoration activities.

Electric and natural gas safety tips

• If you experience an electric outage, do not open freezers and refrigerators any more than necessary, as opening these appliances will allow food to thaw more quickly.
• Only use a portable generator in a well-ventilated area and never run it inside or in a garage to avoid carbon monoxide fumes, which can be deadly.
• Never connect a portable electric generator directly to your building's electrical system during a power outage; electricity could back-feed into the power lines and potentially endanger CenterPoint Energy workers.
• Do not turn off your natural gas at the meter; your natural gas meter should be left on to maintain proper pressure in the natural gas piping within the house and to prevent water from entering the lines should flooding occur.
• If you wish to discontinue natural gas service, the natural gas can be turned off at each appliance. Later, to restore natural gas service to an appliance, you may follow the written instructions located on the appliance for re-lighting. If you are unable to locate the instructions or don't feel comfortable re-lighting, call a qualified plumber/technician.

Important information for electric customers

At this time, the Greater Houston area is not expected to be heavily impacted by Hurricane Rafael's potential impacts, but storms are unpredictable, conditions can change rapidly and storm-related outages could occur. CenterPoint electric customers are encouraged to enroll in the company's Power Alert Service® to receive outage details, estimated restoration times and customer-specific restoration updates via phone call, text or email. Customers can also stay up-to-date on outages with CenterPoint's new and improved, cloud-based Outage Tracker, which allows customers to see outages by county, city and zip code. The new tracker is capable of handling increased traffic during storms and is ADA- and mobile-friendly.

CenterPoint encourages all customers to have a plan to stay safe

CenterPoint is encouraging all of its customers to prepare and have a plan to stay safe during Hurricane Rafael. Customers can get storm-related electric, natural gas and flooding safety tips at CenterPointEnergy.com/StormCenter. Additional preparation best practices are available at Ready.gov. 

For the latest updates, follow CenterPoint on X (formerly Twitter) for real-time updates. For more information and other resources, visit CenterPointEnergy.com/NaturalGasSafety. 

About CenterPoint Energy, Inc.

As the only investor-owned electric and gas utility based in Texas, CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (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. With approximately 9,000 employees, CenterPoint Energy and its predecessor companies have been in business for more than 150 years. For more information, visit CenterPointEnergy.com.

For more information, contact

Communications

Media.Relations@CenterPointEnergy.com

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SOURCE CenterPoint Energy