With hurricane season set to begin on June 1, CenterPoint Energy is assuring customers that its revamped power outage tracker is fully operational and ready to withstand extreme weather events. The Houston-based utility company, which supplies electricity to a significant portion of Texas, roughly 25% of the state’s grid load, is under pressure to avoid the technological failures that frustrated users last year.
During severe storms in 2023, including a powerful May derecho and Hurricane Beryl in July, CenterPoint Energy outage tracker crashed when it was needed most. As a result, many residents were left in the dark, not only literally but also figuratively, without information about when their power might be restored. In response, the company launched a redesigned tracker in August 2023, transitioning from a physical server to a cloud-based system.
Houston Chronicle energy reporter Claire Hao explained the upgrade: “The reason for moving to the cloud is that it’s able to automatically scale its capacity in response to more people using the tracker.” The new system reportedly supports up to 20 million users per hour, six times the peak traffic seen during Hurricane Beryl. This shift aims to prevent system crashes even during massive surges in user activity.
Lessons from Past Failures Drive Changes
The previous system’s failure was largely attributed to server overload and physical damage caused by storms. Hao likened the site crash to trying to buy concert tickets during a rush, with too many users trying to access the same site at once. Making matters worse, the tracker remained nonfunctional for months following the derecho, until the new system was finally introduced in late summer.
The consequences of the outage were felt deeply across the Houston area. “People were really upset,” said Hao. “A lot of them actually turned to unconventional methods, like the Whataburger app, to determine which neighborhoods had electricity.” Because the app showed which restaurants were open, residents used it as a makeshift power status tool.
The outage map’s failure didn’t just impact individuals. City officials also struggled to coordinate emergency responses. “Houston city officials or other local officials rely on a status tracker to deploy resources,” Hao noted. Without accurate power information from CenterPoint Energy, the city was forced to create its own makeshift outage tracker to help manage crisis response during severe weather.
State Oversight Tightened to Ensure Future Accountability
In the wake of last year’s disruptions, the Texas Public Utility Commission, the state’s energy regulator, has enacted new requirements for all utility companies. These rules mandate that each utility must maintain a functional outage tracker. If the system goes down, the utility must report it to the commission, provide a timeline for restoration, and disclose any planned maintenance windows.
These regulations are aimed at holding companies like CenterPoint Energy accountable and ensuring that critical information is always available to both the public and emergency responders during natural disasters. With forecasters warning that Texas may be overdue for another major hurricane on the scale of Hurricane Harvey, the reliability of tools like outage trackers has become a matter of public safety.
As CenterPoint promises improved service this hurricane season, all eyes will be on whether its new technology can withstand the storm.
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