CenterPoint Energy’s request for $100 million in federal funding to bolster its grid resilience against extreme weather events was denied in 2023, according to a recent report from E&E News. The funds would have come from the Biden Administration’s $10.5 billion Grid Resilience and Innovation Partnerships Program, designed to “improve the power system’s resilience against growing threats of extreme weather and climate change,” as stated in the Department of Energy’s website.
The denial of CenterPoint’s proposal, which the utility disclosed in a detailed resiliency plan submitted to the Public Utility Commission of Texas earlier this year, is troubling news for Houstonians. The city is experiencing its second major power outage event of 2024. The first, a surprise derecho in May, left nearly 1 million people without power due to high winds.
The second event, Hurricane Beryl, while anticipated, still overwhelmed the grid, leaving CenterPoint to face heavy criticism. The Category 1 storm landed in Matagorda County on Monday, knocking out power to over 2.2 million Texans. Five days later, power has been restored to 1.6 million customers, but 592,000 are still without electricity, according to CenterPoint’s tracker. Another heat wave is expected to begin Sunday, and a CenterPoint executive informed the PUC that half a million customers could remain without power through the weekend.
It’s important to note that the federal government’s rejection of the funding request does not absolve CenterPoint or local entities from responsibility for the widespread outages following Beryl. Even if the funds had been granted last year, it is still being determined how many improvements could have been implemented before Beryl struck. Additionally, enhancing a city’s electrical grid resilience against frequent natural disasters requires more than one grant and far more than $100 million.
For instance, Florida Power & Light, serving about 5 million customers, has invested billions over the past two decades in grid resilience. Their improvements include utility poles made of concrete or steel instead of wood and burying power lines. As a result, the Juno Beach-based company restored power to 4.4 million people within 10 days after Hurricane Irma in 2017 and suffered minimal infrastructure damage during Hurricane Ian in 2022.
CenterPoint cited a “highly competitive” process when asked about the rejected proposal for federal funds by E&E News. The company also mentioned incorporating feedback from the DOE into its second-round funding proposal submitted in January and a “full grant application” submitted in April.
Meanwhile, CenterPoint’s $2.19 billion resiliency plan, filed with the PUC in April and including grid hardening improvements like metal utility poles, has yet to be approved. The state has until October to make a decision, according to the Houston Chronicle.
