CenterPoint reports grid resilience updates as hurricane season begins

hurricane readiness

Hurricane season began June 1. Photo via Pexels

As hurricane season descends upon the region, CenterPoint Energy has shared the latest update on its Greater Houston Resiliency Initiative (GHRI) that’s been working to make grid upgrades and introduce weather-related tech since 2024.

As of April 2026, CenterPoint had:

Replaced more than 65,000 poles with stronger storm-resistant infrastructure
Trimmed or cleared more than 10,000 miles of vegetation
Undergrounded more than 500 miles of power lines
Installed more than 600 automation devices
Installed more than 150 weather stations

In May, CenterPoint announced its new Community Progress Tracker, which helps residents track electronic infrastructure improvements. In terms of other technology, CenterPoint has announced its partnership with weather, wildfire and flood modeling software Technosylva. The software is expected to help CenterPoint track weather conditions in advance to better prepare crews.

CenterPoint has also added 150 weather stations to improve weather monitoring, conducted a full-scale hurricane response exercise involving more than 400 employees and completed more than 25,000 hours of FEMA training across more than 800 employees. The company opened a new year-round Emergency Operations Center to help coordinate with emergency response partners, local and state officials, and media during major weather events.

According to the company, the GHRI aims to improve overall grid resiliency and reliability and to reduce outages for customers. CenterPoint projects its efforts can reduce customer outages by 150 million by the end of 2026.

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CenterPoint Energy has launched a new Community Progress Tracker. Screenshot via centerpointenergy.com

CenterPoint launches real-time tracker to map Houston’s power grid upgrades

resiliency plan

Houstonians can now track electronic infrastructure improvements via CenterPoint’s new Community Progress Tracker, part of the company’s ongoing Greater Houston Resiliency Initiative.

The tracker allows users to search by zip code and see completed work in real time, as well as updates on upcoming projects that highlight infrastructure improvements and efforts to strengthen the power grid in the face of extreme weather. Users can view icons on a map that track automation and intelligence projects, storm-resilient pole and equipment installations, undergrounding work and tree trimmings.

CenterPoint had installed 10,000 storm-resilient poles, cleared 1,600 miles of higher-risk vegetation, completed 99 miles of power line undergrounding and hardened 220 miles of power lines by the end of Q1 2026, according to the company.

For the rest of 2026, CenterPoint aims to install 35,000 stronger, storm-resilient poles, clear high-risk vegetation from 8,000 miles of power lines and harden 500 transmission structures against storms.

Via centerpointenergy.com

“We are proud of the progress made in 2025, which helped deliver more than 100 million fewer outage minutes when compared to 2024, and we are determined to make even more progress in 2026 as we work toward our defining goal: building the nation's most resilient coastal grid,” Nathan Brownell, CenterPoint's vice president of resilience and capital delivery, said in a news release. “To date, we are ahead of schedule in making critical 2026 GHRI improvements, and we will continue to build the stronger, smarter infrastructure necessary to further improve systemwide reliability and strengthen resiliency, reducing the likelihood and impact of outages for our customers.”

Jesus Soto Jr., an energy executive with deep Houston ties, will join CenterPoint Energy as COO and executive vice president on Aug. 11. Photo courtesy CenterPoint Energy.

CenterPoint Energy names new COO as resiliency initiatives continue

new hire

CenterPoint Energy has named Jesus Soto Jr. as its new executive vice president and chief operating officer.

An energy industry veteran with deep ties to Texas, Soto will oversee the company's electric operations, gas operations, safety, supply chain, and customer care functions. The company says Soto will also focus on improving reliability and meeting the increased energy needs in the states CenterPoint serves.

"We are pleased to be able to welcome a leader of Jesus Soto's caliber to CenterPoint's executive team,” Jason Wells, CEO and president of CenterPoint, said in a news release. “We have one of the most dynamic growth stories in the industry, and over the next five years we will deliver over $31 billion of investments across our footprint as part of our capital plan. Jesus's deep understanding and background are the perfect match to help us deliver this incredible scope of work at-pace that will foster the economic development and growth demands in our key markets. He will also be instrumental in helping us continue to focus on improving safety and delivering better reliability for all the communities we are fortunate to serve.”

Soto comes to CenterPoint with over 30 years of experience in leading large teams and executing large scale capital projects. As a longtime Houstonian, he served in roles as executive vice president of Quanta Services and COO for Mears Group Inc. He also served in senior leadership roles at other utility and energy companies, including PG&E Corporation in Northern California and El Paso Corp. in Houston.

Soto has a bachelor's degree in civil engineering from the University of Texas at El Paso, and a master's degree in civil engineering from Texas A&M University. He has a second master's degree in business administration from the University of Phoenix.

“I'm excited to join CenterPoint's high-performing team,” Soto said in the news release. “It's a true privilege to be able to serve our 7 million customers in Texas, Indiana, Ohio and Minnesota. We have an incredible amount of capital work ahead of us to help meet the growing energy needs of our customers and communities, especially across Texas.”

Soto will join the company on Aug. 11 and report to Wells as CenterPoint continues on its Greater Houston Resiliency Initiative and Systemwide Resiliency Plan.

“To help realize our resiliency and growth goals, I look forward to helping our teams deliver this work safely while helping our customers experience better outcomes,” Soto added in the news release. “They expect, and deserve, no less.”

CenterPoint Energy aims to complete its suite of grid resiliency projects before the 2025 hurricane season. Photo via centerpointenergy.com

CenterPoint reports progress on grid improvements ahead of 2025 hurricane season

grid resilience

As part of an ongoing process to make Houston better prepared for climate disasters, CenterPoint Energy announced its latest progress update on the second phase of the Greater Houston Resiliency Initiative (GHRI).

CenterPoint reported that it has completed 70 percent of its resiliency work and all GHRI-related actions are expected to be complete before the official start of the 2025 hurricane season.

"Our entire CenterPoint Houston Electric team is focused on completing this historic suite of grid resiliency actions before the start of hurricane season,” Darin Carroll, Senior Vice President of CenterPoint's Electric Business, said in a news release. “That is our goal, and we will achieve it. To date, we have made significant progress as part of this historic effort.”

CenterPoint’s resiliency solutions include clearing higher-risk vegetation across thousands of miles of power lines, adding thousands more automation devices capable of self-healing, installing thousands of storm-resistant poles, and undergrounding hundreds of miles of power lines.

CenterPoint's GHRI efforts, which entered a second phase in September 2024, aim to improve overall grid resiliency and reliability and are estimated to reduce outages for customers by more than 125 million minutes annually, according to the company. It has undergrounded nearly 350 miles of power lines, about 85 percent of the way toward its target of 400 miles, which will help improve resiliency and reduce the risk of outages. CenterPoint also aims to install the first of 100 new local weather monitoring stations by June 1.

In March, CenterPoint cleared 655 miles of high-risk vegetation near power lines, installed 1,215 automated reliability devices capable of self-healing, and added an additional 3,300 storm-resilient poles.

In April, CenterPoint will begin building a network of 100 new weather monitoring stations, which will provide 24/7 weather monitoring and storm response preparation.

“We will continue to work every day to complete these critical improvements as part of our company's goal of building the most resilient coastal grid in the country,” Carroll added in the release.

Neara’s AI-enabled simulation and analytics platform can help CenterPoint reduce customer outages and accelerate restoration efforts. Photo via Getty Images

CenterPoint partners with AI company to help reduce outages, help restoration

hi, tech

CenterPoint Energy announced an agreement with Artificial Intelligence-powered infrastructure modeling platform Neara for engineering-grade simulations and analytics, and to deploy Neara’s AI capabilities across CenterPoint’s Greater Houston service area.

“We are thrilled to collaborate with CenterPoint as they lead the charge in addressing today’s most existential energy challenges,” Robert Brook, senior vice president and managing director of Neara Americas, says in a news release.

Neara’s AI-enabled simulation and analytics platform can help CenterPoint reduce customer outages and accelerate restoration efforts. The technology can support CenterPoint’s efforts to address higher-risk vegetation along power lines, and identify equipment upgrades. Upgrades can include pole replacements or reinforcements. The platform will help CenterPoint to prioritize “assets and locations where grid hardening improvements will help optimize system-wide benefit,” per the release.

"Our 3D digital modeling technology will help CenterPoint proactively reduce customer outages by simulating severe weather events, such as hurricanes, tropical storms, heat waves and flash floods, and their potential impact on the utility’s infrastructure,” Brook says in the release.

CenterPoint recently announced the ahead of schedule completion of core resiliency actions as part of the first phase of its Greater Houston Resiliency Initiative (GHRI). This included a series of targeted actions to improve the resiliency of CenterPoint Houston Electric's grid with a second phase of GHRI that will include strategic undergrounding, system hardening, self-healing grid technology and enhancements to the company's outage tracker. These efforts are all part of a longer-term resilience plan.

“Leveraging technology and AI to deliver better outcomes for our customers and communities is a significant part of the commitment we made after Hurricane Beryl,” adds CenterPoint President and CEO Jason Wells in a news release. “By simulating the potential impact of severe weather events on our infrastructure and customers, Neara’s platform and tools will inform our plans and actions before, during and after major weather events to help reduce the impact and duration of power outages. Understanding how weather scenarios and their risks could affect our operations will position us to be several steps ahead on our preparedness and response.”

In the wake of Hurricane Beryl, CenterPoint Energy announced its Greater Houston Resiliency Initiative. The initiative will include an “accelerated timeline to execute specific actions to strengthen electric infrastructure across Houston, and more than 40 critical actions in total to strengthen the electric grid, and improve the company's customer communications and emergency coordination before the next hurricane,” according to the company.

CenterPoint Energy releases details of resiliency plan

making changes

To improve resiliency and reduce the risk of outages from storms or hurricanes, CenterPoint Energy announced its Greater Houston Resiliency Initiative.

The initiative will include an “accelerated timeline to execute specific actions to strengthen electric infrastructure across Houston, and more than 40 critical actions in total to strengthen the electric grid, and improve the company's customer communications and emergency coordination before the next hurricane,” according to a news release.

As part of the “Taking Action Now” section, more than 2,500 CenterPoint frontline workers and contractors will be taking a series of targeted actions to strengthen the grid and reduce the risk of outages before the next major storm that includes installing stronger and more storm-resilient poles, trimming or removal of vegetation from lines, and installing 300 automated devices, which CenterPoint says can help reenergize certain lines and lead to less without power.

“We have heard the calls for change, and we are taking action now,” CEO and president Jason Wells says in a news release. “This first phase of our Greater Houston Resiliency Initiative will focus on a series of targeted actions to immediately strengthen our infrastructure across our communities. We know we have a lot of work to do to re-earn our customers' trust. This initiative reflects our commitment to become the most resilient coastal utility in the country.”

CenterPoint hopes to replace 1,000 wooden poles by Aug. 31 with stronger fiberglass poles that can withstand winds up to 132 MPH, and also plans to double its vegetation management workforce by the end of the month.

The accelerated timeline is in part with Governor Greg Abbot and the state, which represents the first phase of its Greater Houston Resiliency Initiative that will be executed in August. CenterPoint says it has already completed 15 of the actions and will be providing ongoing updates on its progress.

“We share the Governor's urgency around hurricane preparedness and increased resiliency of the grid and are committed to completing these critical actions on an accelerated timeline,” Wells said in a news release. “The actions we are taking this month are just the beginning. We want to exceed the Governor's and our customers' expectations and improve in every aspect of our emergency response – before, during, and after any future storm or hurricane."

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Meet the 80+ startups pitching at Houston Energy and Climate Week

Pitch Lineup

One of the highlights from Houston Energy and Climate Week is hearing directly from the up-and-coming founders working to reshape the energy landscape.

This year, dozens of startups from Brazil to Berkeley and from right here in the Bayou City will compete for cash prizes and bragging rights while showcasing their concepts at HECW pitch events. Here's who's pitching at some of the week's signature competitions. Check back after the week wraps to see who takes home the top prizes.

Cypher Pilotathon and Startup Showcase — Sept. 15 at POST Houston

At the Cypher Pilotathon, founders will give their best 7-minute pilot pitches to industry experts and a live audience, followed by Q&A. This year's event will center around the theme, "The NEW Energy Industrial Revolution." Here's who's pitching:

Houston-based Aeromine Technologies, a distributed wind turbine company
San Francisco-based Ammobia, which develops low-carbon, energy source-agnostic ammonia
Birmingham, Alabama-based Ashipa Electric, a renewable energy semiconductor and microgrid manufacturer
Houston-based BigMachine AI, an AI engineer for industrial projects
Houston-based Corrolytics, which has developed corrosion detection technology
São Paulo, Brazil-based GLR Tech, which has developed a compact, scalable, low-cost platform for industrial emissions control
Monreal-based Green Graphite Technologies, which produces battery-grade graphite in a cost-effective and sustainable manner
Boston-based KIRA, which converts industrial wastewater into ultrapure water and solids
Edinburgh-based Mocean Energy, which works to deliver renewable ocean energy to power offshore industry
Los Angeles-based Mote, which works to convert agricultural and forestry waste into clean energy
Berkeley-based Oleo, which is developing a biomanufacturing platform to transform biomass waste into carbon-negative, cost-competitive oil feedstocks for advanced fuels
Oslo, Norway-based OTee, an automation machinery manufacturer
Houston-based Resollant, which is working to produce battery-grade graphite and ultra-low-cost hydrogen
Tulsa-based RyuGen Energy Solutions Inc., which works to turn underused commercial power into distributed AI infrastructure
Berkeley-based Sunchem, which provides precision separation of critical metals from sources including e-waste, evaporator scrap, solar panels, and mining ores and concentrates

Twenty-two other startups will participate in the startup showcase. See the full list here.

Greentown Climatetech Summit — Sept. 16 at the Continental Club

Ten Greentown startups will compete for $25,000 in prizes at Greentown Climatetech Summit's signature pitch event. Judges include Dave Dreessen, of Chevron Technology Ventures’ Future Energy Fund, and Jon Greene, of New Climate Ventures. Here's who's pitching:

Houston-based AMPeers, which manufactures high-temperature superconducting wire for high-power electrification infrastructure
Detroit-based AmHyTech, which enables ambient-condition liquid ammonia handling for fertilizer and fuel applications
Houston- and Zurich-based Biosimo, which converts biomass-based ethanol into lower-carbon acetic acid and acetyls
Houston-based Capwell Services Inc., which captures methane from low-flow oil and gas vents and returns it to market
Cleveland- and Ghana-based Cocoa Potash, which extracts potassium carbonate and fertilizer from cocoa, coconut, and palm-nut waste
Houston-based Solidec, which electrolyzes air, water, and electricity into onsite hydrogen peroxide.
Houston-based Focis AI, which converts industrial laser scans into a queryable digital twin of refineries and plants
Calgary-based Kanin Energy, which develops and finances waste heat to power projects for industrial clients
San Francisco-based FelixFusion, which models grid connection points so developers can validate interconnection in minutes
Houston-based Pike Robotics, which deploys its Wall-Eye robot to inspect hazardous tanks without taking assets offline

TEX-E Student Innovators will also pitch earlier in the day-long event, and an additional five Greentown startups will compete for $1,000 during the Lightning Pitch Competition. Find more information here.

Rice Alliance Energy Tech Venture Forum — Sept. 17 at Rice University’s Jones Graduate School of Business

Houston-based companies Aquanta Vision, Capwell Services and Deep Anchor Solutions will be joined by startups from around the world to compete to be named one of the 10 Most Promising Companies at the 23rd Energy Tech Venture Forum. Additional companies will participate in office hours.

See the full list of nearly 50 companies pitching here.

Halliburton Labs Pitch Day — Sept. 18 at the Ion

Halliburton Labs Pitch Day brings together a curated group of early‑stage energy technology investors and 16 participating companies. The event is invitation‑only. Here's who's pitching:

Australia-based Aquafortus, which has developed a non-thermal liquid to liquid desalination technology for resource recovery from wastewater brine
Calgary-based Ayrton Energy, which has developed a proprietary technology that enables hydrogen to be stored within an organic liquid, which can be handled and transported like gasoline
Illinois-based Cache Energy, which is developing electrified heat and long-term energy storage
New York-based Cella, which is working to advance subsurface mineralization of CO2
Miami-based Chemergy, which has developed a patented process to convert wet organic and plastic wastes into green hydrogen
Tennessee-based Enexor BioEnergy, which is developing on-site waste-to-bioenergy conversion systems
Reno-based Espiku, which focuses on water and minerals recovery from industrially produced water
UK-based LiNa Energy, which is developing low-cost, solid-state sodium battery technology
Michigan-based Marel Power Solutions, which is developing advanced cooling technology to redefine power-stacks
California-based Mitico, which is developing technology to collect and purify carbon dioxide at the source, post-combustion, before it enters the atmosphere
Singapore-based Nandina REM, which turns end-of-life assets into new, reliable, high-performance carbon fiber materials for the aviation, aerospace and defense industries
California-based Noon Energy, which is developing a 100-plus-hour ultra-long-duration battery storage
Silicon Valley-based Proof Energy, which is commercializing next-generation metallic solid oxide fuel cell (M-SOFC) technology.
Berkeley-based Sunchem, which provides precision separation of critical metals from sources including e-waste, evaporator scrap, solar panels, and mining ores and concentrates
Singapore-based Sungreen, an advanced materials company pioneering nanotechnology-based coatings for high-efficiency, low-cost electrodes
Minneapolis-based Syncris, which is developing next-generation modular power systems designed for the most demanding environments

Read more about Houston Energy and Climate Week and its programming in Energy Capital's event preview.

KBR's Mission Technology Solutions spinoff awarded $1.1B NOAA contract

A Big Deal

Amid a major spinoff, Houston-based KBR's Mission Technology Solutions business has been awarded a five-year contract for up to $1.1 billion from NOAA’s National Weather Service to help predict and combat extreme weather conditions.

Under the follow-on Commercial Data Program National Mesonet Program (CDP NMP) contract, KBR will provide weather and observational data from commercial stations, university and research campuses, and other non-federal providers nationwide. The information collected will assist in predicting severe temperatures and high-impact weather conditions like extreme storms.

"This award underscores KBR's proven track record of delivering vital data that strengthens national forecasting capabilities," Todd May, KBR’s senior vice president of Mission Technology Solutions, said in a news release.

According to a separate release from NOAA, the contract expands upon KBR's existing relationship with the agency. KBR will work with about 70 private industry partners on services such as data recording, collection, aggregation and processing, and will lead the CDP NMP's "network of networks."

“NOAA gathers environmental information from a wide variety of sources, and a growing list of private industry partners have joined our agency to collect this vital data,” Ken Graham, director of NOAA’s National Weather Service, said in the release. “This agreement streamlines the process that turns raw data into the gold-standard forecasts that Americans depend on.”

KBR will utilize its Speed to Mission ImpactSM technology for the project to supply data from across regions, measurement types, and system configurations. Both KBR and NOAA say the expanded data collection contract will help the agency create more accurate and timely forecasts, particularly for severe weather and extreme events, while also creating a path for new weather-observation technologies.

KBR has supported the CDP NMP for more than nine years. The program will be managed in Greenbelt, Maryland.

"We're driving expanded integration of commercial sensor and data sources into this platform and are honored to know our work helps forecasters give their communities earlier warnings and more time to prepare for dangerous weather,” May added in a release.

KBR’s Mission Technology Solutions business will be rebranded as Trinzic after its planned spin-off, the company announced last month. The spin-off is expected to close in January 2027.

Trinzic will work as an independent, publicly traded company focused on technology and engineering services for the space and national security sector. KBR will remain a separate publicly traded company that will focus on sustainable technology and services to support the energy transition.

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This article originally appeared on InnovationMap.com.

Houston researchers map data center growth, trends in new interactive platform

data center development

Have you ever wondered why data centers are located where they are?

Energy experts at Rice University’s Center for Energy Studies (CES) have developed a tool to help answer that question.

Rice researchers at the CES, part of Rice’s Baker Institute for Public Policy, have created an interactive map to track data center growth and energy infrastructure in the United States.

Kenneth B. Medlock III, Miaomiao Rimmer, Anmol Mital and Beck Edwards developed the tool, known as the U.S. Data Centers and Infrastructure map. It aims to provide a comprehensive view of the factors shaping where data centers are located, from power and water costs to infrastructure, public policy and local sentiment.

“The map lets you see why data centers are being built where they are by connecting the dots between infrastructure, power costs, water availability, public policy and public sentiment across different regions,” Medlock, senior director at CES, said in a news release. “You can zoom out and look at the whole U.S. to easily realize why data centers locations are being chosen—the price of power and water matters.”

The tool maps information on data center locations against other factors like energy, water, economics and politics. It also shows existing infrastructure in the area, including electric transmission lines, power plants, and fiber-optic networks, and provides information on water stress, electricity prices and natural gas prices.

According to Rice, the map will be updated in real time and currently includes information on existing data centers and proposed data centers.

Additionally, the map provides county-level analyses of news coverage and media to explore local attitudes towards the development of data centers in communities. Users can also explore political and demographic information.

According to the Pew Research Center, most data centers that are being built will appear in rural areas, with Virginia, Texas and Georgia leading the way in the number of planned facilities. Pew’s 2026 findings also noted that 38 percent of Americans live within 5 miles of at least one operational data center.

Meanwhile, Houston and Texas are poised for continued data center growth. Other reports predict that Houston’s data center capacity could more than double by 2028. Texas is home to an estimated 400-plus data centers, according to commercial real estate services provider CBRE.

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