When will the power be back on? CenterPoint confirms 'significant damage' to their system (2024)

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At the peak of the power outages, more than 900,000 homes and businesses were left without power. Non-essential workers were urged to stay home after the outages led to some traffic lights being out.

CenterPoint Energy warned customers to “be prepared for extended weather-related power outages.”

Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo said 10 transmission towers were damaged during the storms. She added it could take weeks to restore power in some areas. She suggested seeking out public libraries or other facilities that are open during the day.

Right now, 4,000 utility workers are on their way to Houston and Harris County to help restore power.

“We’ve got 10 transmission lines (towers) down across our footprint, seven of which are in Harris County. We hope to have our outage tracker back up and running soon but this is going to be right now we are looking at a multi-day event,” Paul Lock, CenterPoint Energy, said.

The problems extended to the city's suburbs, with emergency officials in neighboring Montgomery County describing the damage to transmission lines as “catastrophic” and warning that power could be impacted for several days.

CenterPoint released the following statement to customers. As of 3:20 p.m., there are more than 638,000 customers without power with large outages in west Houston and the Cypress area. That is down from 750,000 at 4:20 a.m.

"There has been damage to several of our facilities in our Houston-area service territory. As the line of severe weather has made its way through our region, it is now safe for our crews to begin assessing damage but can confirm we’ve experienced significant damage to our system. Restoration efforts will begin tonight (Thursday evening) but will ramp up in daylight hours as damage becomes more visible. We are committed to restoring power to our customers as safely and as quickly as possible.

"When restoring power, we begin with facilities vital to safety, health and welfare, such as hospitals, water treatment plants and public service facilities. While addressing key facilities, we follow our priority restoration process by making repairs to electrical facilities that will return power to the largest number of customers first. We then continue the restoration process by prioritizing repairs to benefit the greatest number of customers, until power is returned to everyone. Throughout the restoration process, we maintain contact with local emergency management agencies, news media and public officials.

"We’d like to remind our customers to stay at least 35 feet away from low-hanging, downed power lines or lines that could be in standing water and call 911 and report them to us at 713-207-2222."

The Public Utility Commission of Texas released a statement on the power outages in Southeast Texas:

"The Public Utility Commission of Texas’ top priority at all times is public safety, and our thoughts are with the communities and families throughout Southeast Texas who were impacted by last night’s storms. As utility crews work around the clock to repair damaged infrastructure and restore power, we want to remind all Texans to listen to their local emergency management officials and never approach downed power lines or flood water. Downed power lines can still be energized and electrify objects or water around them.

PUCT staff is in the State Operations Center coordinating closely with electric utilities and partner state agencies to ensure power is restored to all Texans as quickly and safely as possible. For up-to-date information on power outages, contact information for your local utility and other resources, please visit the PUCT's Storm Resources Page."