CenterPoint Energy is working with the city of Katy, residents and other stakeholders to ensure installing underground power lines is done as safely and efficiently as possible. (Rachel Leland/Community Impact)
CenterPoint Energy is installing new underground power lines in Katy as part of its Greater Houston Resiliency Initiative aimed at providing customers with better service.
What’s happening?
The new power lines will be more resilient through storms, reduce outage times for roughly 5,600 Katy customers and support the city’s growth with the new capacity, said Aaron Coronis, CenterPoint Energy service area manager.
Coronis said there are “more than 50 critical facilities” that will benefit from the circuit, including Katy City Hall, Fire Station No. 1, Memorial Hermann Katy Hospital and several assisted living centers.
The cost
The project was approved by the Public Utility Commission and will not utilize city funds, Coronis said. A portion of the cost will be passed on to all of CenterPoint's ratepayers and not just Katy residents.
Community Impact reached out to CenterPoint Energy for the total project cost, but did not receive a response by press time. More updates will come once additional information is provided.
Also of note
CenterPoint officials will communicate with residents “before, during and after this work” through letters, emails, door hangers, texts and Nextdoor posts about any potential outages, Coronis said.
The project’s implementation will focus on restricting road closures, minimizing traffic impacts, restoring each work area before moving on to the next and coordinating with the city on restoration.
Residents can prepare for crews on-site working Monday-Saturday from 8 a.m.-7 p.m. and for planned power interruptions. The planned outages could last several hours, but CenterPoint will give affected entities an overestimate of outage times in case they run into any issues.
Looking ahead
Construction will begin in roughly 30 days and last approximately eight months, Coronis said.
