CenterPoint Energy launches interactive map tracking Houston grid-hardening progress

New map tracks Houston grid hardening progress

HOUSTON, Feb 11 (Reuters) — CenterPoint Energy launches a web-based Community Progress Tracker that centralizes visibility of Greater Houston Resiliency Initiative (GHRI) improvements across a 12-county area, giving customers map-based street, neighborhood and ZIP code views of infrastructure upgrades completed since Aug. 1, 2024. The tool aggregates work across the utility’s multi-year grid-hardening program and documents more than 56,000 new storm-resilient poles, over 8,000 miles of enhanced tree-trimming and vegetation management, and more than 500 automation and intelligence devices intended to reduce outage impacts and speed restoration.

The interactive platform is designed for customer accessibility on phones, tablets, laptops and desktops and provides location-specific, measurable progress metrics so residents can see what has been completed on their street and in their ZIP code. CenterPoint positions the tracker as part of a transparency commitment that helps the company measure outcomes from its resilience strategy and improvements in customer communications. By bringing projects into a single public online location, the tracker enables customers, stakeholders and regional planners to monitor deployment of physical assets and intelligent devices in near real time.

CenterPoint emphasizes that the tracker covers a range of modernization projects beyond pole replacement and trimming, including undergrounding of power lines and the installation of advanced grid technologies. The company frames these investments as intended to build the most resilient coastal grid in the nation, addressing increasing severe weather risks across Greater Houston. CenterPoint says the map is updated regularly to reflect ongoing construction, trimming schedules and the installation of additional resilience technologies as GHRI progresses.

Operational upgrades and resilience metrics

The tracker allows CenterPoint and external observers to quantify miles of vegetation work, the count of newly installed poles and the rollout of automation devices that feed faster outage detection and restoration. These operational metrics are central to the utility’s effort to reduce service interruptions and to demonstrate measurable performance improvements from its grid-hardening investments.

Community access and coordination

Chief Customer Officer Tony Gardner says the tracker gives customers “a clear window” into work in their communities. CenterPoint also intends the tool to strengthen coordination with local governments, emergency responders and regional planners and to solicit informed community feedback as the GHRI program advances.