If you live in the Houston area like us, you’re probably wondering, “when will the power be back on?” And you’re also wondering how to understand the CenterPoint outage map and its colored squiggles.
In this article, you’ll find the link for CenterPoint Energy’s outage map. Plus, we’ll show you how to use it.
- How to Find Centerpoint Outage Map
- Video: How to Use CenterPoint Outage Map
- Step by Step: How to Use the CenterPoint Outage Map
- Green Doesn’t (Necessarily) Mean Good in CenterPoint
- Editorial: CenterPoint Told Us They Were About to Mess Up. And They Did.
How to Find Centerpoint Outage Map
Here’s a link to the CenterPoint outage map. You can also access the CenterPoint Outage Tracker from the Outage Center.
But read the next section on how to use the outage map before you click that link. It’s hard to use on a cell phone, which is probably what you’re using if you don’t have power or WiFi.
Just remember: If you are confused by the outage map, don’t worry; it’s not you, it’s them.
Video: How to Use CenterPoint Outage Map
CenterPoint’s customer restoration map, also called the outage map, uses a technical map format called GIS, commonly used in engineering firms. This video will show you how to use the outage map to find your home’s power status.
>Video showing how to use CenterPoint Outage Map
Step by Step: How to Use the CenterPoint Outage Map
Time needed:10 minutes
How to Use CenterPoint Outage Map (Hurricane Beryl Version)
- Go to CenterPoint Outage Center
Click this link or go to
https://gisoutagetracker.azurewebsites.net/?_ga=2.2100656.1610810366.1720726911-1751338032.1720552457See AlsoHouston power outages: CenterPoint releases outage map; 1.2 million still without power after Beryl | Houston Public MediaHouston outage tracker: More than 1.5 million without power on WednesdayNew CenterPoint Energy map shows repair work hasn't even started in many areas still without powerBeryl power outage updates: More than 500,000 Texans remain without power after hurricane - Click “View Restoration Map”
- Scroll past the public relations content.
CenterPoint shows extensive content about what a great job they are doing. Scroll past all that to the bottom of the page to find the map you came here for.
(Most of this page is for CenterPoint’s institutional investors on Wall Street, not you, the rate-payer.) - Scroll down to find the outage map.
Keep scrolling toward the bottom of the page to find the current map.
- Enter your address to see the current power status at your home.
There are 2 places to enter your address on the CenterPoint Outage Map.
One is in the upper left corner, and looks like a magnifying glass.
The other is in the lower right corner, and looks like a circle. - View your status
Here’s how to understand what are the colors on the CenterPoint outage map:
Dark Green = Energized
Light Green = Partially Energized
Light Blue = Assessment CompleteIf you are part of the 4.5% of Americans with Blue/Green colorblindness, good luck and Godspeed.
If you are googling “What does blue mean on the CenterPoint outage map,” it means you are still in the assessment category and CenterPoint hasn’t provided a date for power restoration.
- What to do next.
If your home is showing dark green or light green and you don’t have power, go to CenterPointEnergy.com/powerout and report your outage. If your home is showing blue on the CenterPoint map, try again later.
Green Doesn’t (Necessarily) Mean Good in CenterPoint
If your area shows green and you don’t have power yet at your house, don’t panic.
Green means “green light all systems go” to most people. But that’s not what it means in CenterPointville.
When it launched on 7/9/2024, the CenterPoint outage map included three color-coded statuses for customers: “energized” (lime), “assigned for repair” (lavender) and “assessments in progress” (tangerine).
Unfortunately, many addresses showing as green/energized didn’t actually have power.
As of 7/11/2024, there are four color-coded circuit statuses: “energized” (forest green), “partially energized” (lime green), “assessment complete” (turquoise) and “assessment in progress” (tangerine).
If your house shows as partially energized, don’t ask which part. Possibly none of it.
There is this little footnote called a nested outage that most people miss on their cell phones.
“If your home or the houses on your block don’t have power, but others around you do, you may have a nested outage. A ‘nested outage’ occurs when our systems indicate power was restored to equipment in your area, but your home may be impacted by a more localized issue. Localized issues could include a damaged line fuse, transformer or possibly a tree on the service line that runs directly to a customer’s home.”
CenterPoint made a very poor choice of color by using green in areas that weren’t fully energized. Those who saw their house colored in green and had no power? They panicked.
“CenterPoint has abandoned me. They think I have power but I don’t! Don’t you forget about me!”
You are not alone. They’re working on it. They just can’t tell you when they’ll get to it.
If your home is marked in forest green or lime green but you don’t have power, visit CenterPointEnergy.com/powerout to report your power outage.
Editorial: CenterPoint Told Us They Were About to Mess Up. And They Did.
CenterPoint told us ahead of time they were going to mess this up.
But it was no secret, and we aren’t special. They told everyone they were going to fumble the ball.
On Sunday July 7th, 2024, as Hurricane Beryl changed course and barreled toward Houston, CenterPoint emailed all customers to let them know not to expect their previous levels of communications.
They told everyone that CenterPoint’s Outage Tracker had been offline since May due to “technical difficulties” caused by the derecho that hammered northwest Harris County.
CenterPoint said the company aimed to replace the Outage Tracker with a “redesigned cloud-based platform” by the end of July. The updated map would offer “the same level of outage information and functionality” as the previous tool and tolerate higher levels of customer traffic.
Instead, they had to rush this color-scribbled outage map into production quickly.
As former corporate folks, we can imagine the meeting rooms at CenterPoint. “I don’t care that it isn’t ready. You put that &*^%$! map into production now!”
We don’t know. But maybe, possibly, probably, that conversation happened somewhere.
What we can tell you is that this.
The author has been in the electricity business since 2000. The rule of thumb was always, “never launch any new technology in the summer.” No major website changes, nothing rushed into production, nothing to jeopardize systems between the very crucial June through September time period.
The idea that CenterPoint had to revamp their outage map and communications system as we entered hurricane season? No excuse for this. Lack of a resilient and reliable distribution systems for the 3rd largest city in America? No excuse for this.
Especially considering their profitability for shareholders.
Look at your latest electricity bill. Twenty-five to 35% of your bill goes to CenterPoint Energy.
The average home in Houston uses 15,600 kWh a year or 1,300 kWh a month. CenterPoint Energy delivery rates for residential service are $4.39/month and 4.0189¢/kWh. The average person pays CenterPoint $56.64 per month or $679.63 per year.
CenterPoint’s gross profit for the twelve months ending March 31, 2024 was $6.707 billion, a 7.1% increase year-over-year. (That includes all operations nationwide, not just Houston Electric Operating Company.)
CenterPoint Energy is a 100-year old utility company with a monopoly granted to them by the State of Texas. A utility company that’s been around forever should know how to handle this, both operationally and in their communications.
Shame on them.
Read More About CenterPoint Energy Management of Hurricane Beryl Outages
- Eric Berger, Space City Houston, Houston Deserves A Much Better Electricity Distribution System
- “Just as ERCOT faced a reckoning after the great freeze, our distributors need a reckoning after Beryl. The status quo, and political leaders who enable it going forward, are unacceptable. What we have seen this week is unsustainable for a city that bills itself as the energy capital of the world.”
- Chris Tomlinson, Houston Chronicle, CenterPoint Energy failed during Hurricane Beryl but who will hold them accountable?
- “CenterPoint isa $19 billion, for-profit corporationgranted a monopoly over a hundred years ago to manage and maintain the transmission and distribution of electricity across the Houston region. This regulated utility failed to deliver power to 85% of its customers during the height of a mild hurricane.”
- “The important question is, why did so many CenterPoint powerlines and poles snap so easily? Why wasn’t the grid built stronger, and why wasn’t vegetation cut away? These are CenterPoint’s primary responsibilities for which they receive a guaranteed profit from customer bills, and they didn’t fulfill them.”
