The Texas Public Utility Commission approved CenterPoint Energy’s $2.9 billion plan to strengthen Houston’s power grid. Customers will start paying for it in 2026, with bills increasing by about $1 per year for three years. The plan includes raising 99% of substations above the 500-year floodplain and increasing vegetation management. CenterPoint said, "As part of our commitment to building the most resilient coastal grid in the country, we are focused on performing critical vegetation management to improve reliability and reduce storm-related outages," according to KHOU. The plan follows recent hurricanes that affected the electric grid.
CenterPoint plans to enhance its grid resiliency by installing sturdier poles, burying more power lines, and increasing tree trimming from a five-year to a three-year cycle, aiming to prevent over 820 million minutes of outages. Following Hurricane Beryl, which left 2.2 million customers without power, the company undertook an "unprecedented" level of infrastructure work, costing $500 million and contributing to gradual rate increases of up to $4 per month by 2028.
State regulators approved part of CenterPoint’s $5.75 billion grid upgrade proposal, after Houston-area cities contested the full plan as too costly. CenterPoint executive Jason Ryan said, "It is how we will achieve the promise that we've made to our customers to build the most resilient coastal grid in the nation," reflecting the company's commitment to reliability amid public concerns over expenses and long-term infrastructure goals, as reported by Houston Chronicle.
