CenterPoint Energy officials told The Woodlands Township Board of Directors June 25 that the utility is pursuing a multi‑year resiliency plan that will include harder poles, automated grid switching, selective undergrounding of new lines and expanded communications tools including an outage tracker and a power‑alert enrollment service.

"Resilient does not mean that the power never goes out," Aaron Minervine, CenterPoint service area director, told the board. He described a phased program that began after Hurricane Beryl, studies the footprint and moves toward greater automation and targeted undergrounding. CenterPoint said work will continue through 2029 for the full footprint and noted phases completed and planned.

Minervine said CenterPoint has installed more resilient poles (fiberglass or ductile iron replacements for some wooden poles), more automation devices such as intelligent grid switching devices (IGSDs) to reduce customer impact during faults, and added weather stations and FEMA training to improve preparedness. The utility described a goal to underground 50% of the system for any new infrastructure and said strategic undergrounding where feasible will be prioritized for new builds, dense developments and key feeder crossings.

CenterPoint described a new cloud‑based outage tracker with a bilingual interface and a hazard reporting feature that accepts photos and GPS coordinates. Officials also encouraged residents and institutions to enroll in CenterPoint’s power‑alert service to receive text and phone updates about planned or unplanned outages and estimated restoration times. "You need to apply or you need to enroll in the service to get it," Minervine said of the power alerts.

Minervine addressed several local concerns raised by directors and village presidents in the meeting: the company said it will continue regular vegetation trimming on a three‑year cycle for circuits, is piloting predictive analytics to flag failing transformers and is reorganizing restoration operations into local divisional branches to shorten response times and improve prioritization for critical facilities.

Technical and timeline details provided in the presentation included: a phased vegetation and pole program beginning July 1; aggressive deployment of automation devices to reduce the number of customers affected by faults; and a multi‑year undergrounding strategy. Minervine cited a company goal to reduce outage minutes substantially and said CenterPoint is tracking Public Utility Commission metrics to measure progress.

The board accepted the CenterPoint update on a voice vote (moved by Director Frank; seconded by Director Nelson; motion carries). Staff and CenterPoint agreed to continue direct coordination on communication materials and distribution of the new power alert enrollment information to township residents.