CenterPoint Energy leaders donated a backup trailer generator to the Matagorda County Office of Emergency Management as part of its Community Generator Donation Program to support local community resiliency. Through this program, the CenterPoint Energy Foundation is donating funds for more than 20 backup generators at key locations throughout its 12-county Greater Houston region. It is expected that there will be at least one generator or other support for each county.
The company is working in close collaboration with local Offices of Emergency Management (OEMs) and other county and city leaders to identify the appropriate locations for the donated generators to be able to have the greatest impact and local benefit.
The Community Generator Donation Program is part of CenterPoint’s Greater Houston Resiliency Initiative (GHRI). The backup generators will help provide support for critical community partners during major weather events or other emergencies and will be funded through a $5 million grant from the CenterPoint Energy Foundation at no cost to customers. The CenterPoint Energy Foundation is a charitable giving organization focused on strengthening the quality of life in the communities served by the company. The foundation is funded by shareholders and has no impact on customer rates. For more information, visit CenterPointEnergy.com/Foundation.
“We are committed to improving resiliency in our local communities and working closely with our community partners to achieve this important goal. Today, we are donating backup generation to support our partners in Matagorda County, and we look forward to sharing other locations for our Community Generator Donation Program with other counties and cities in the weeks ahead. These generators are each capable of powering an entire large building and will help make the communities we are proud to serve even more resilient during major storms and other emergency events,” said June Deadrick, CenterPoint’s vice president of community relations.
These backup generators will provide an additional power supply during major storms and other emergency events that cause outages. Facilities that receive the donated backup generators will be able to better serve their communities during outages, acting as hubs for essential services like medical care, cooling stations, water and food distribution, charging stations for critical devices and other services.
Working with Community Partners on Locations
To support local community needs, CenterPoint worked closely with county and city officials and OEMs to identify and select the ideal locations for the donated generators, with local officials ultimately deciding which critical facilities will receive the donations.
“Matagorda County is very grateful for our partnership with CenterPoint Energy and their proactive Community Generator Donation Program. With the increasing frequency of severe weather events, this initiative is a vital step toward improving our emergency preparedness and ensuring that our community remains resilient during power outages. The donated generator will help us keep essential services running when they are needed most, and we deeply appreciate CenterPoint’s continued commitment to supporting the wellbeing of our residents,” said Matagorda County Judge Bobby Seiferman.
CenterPoint will continue coordinating with local community partners to ensure the backup generators are suitable to meet the specific needs of the critical facilities they have identified. The goal is to have all generators installed and operational by June 1, 2025, to further resiliency ahead of the 2025 hurricane season.
CenterPoint is working with other county OEMs and county and city leaders across the Greater Houston region to make similar announcements in the near future.
