CenterPoint Energy Honors Workers on National Lineworker Appreciation Day
Every year, the National Electrical Contractors Association (NECA), the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW), the Edison Electric Institute (EEI) and utilities across the country join together to observe National Lineworker Appreciation Day on July 10.
This annual observance honors the life and work of Henry Miller, the first IBEW president, and the nation’s frontline electric workers. These dedicated workers serve their communities year-round during the hottest summers and coldest winters by helping deliver safe and reliable electric service to customers every day. These same lineworkers answer the call for mutual assistance from neighboring utilities in other states by responding to hurricanes, wildfires, tornadoes, winter storms and other extreme weather events and natural disasters.
“We celebrate this day annually to recognize our highly skilled and highly trained workforce. Whether installing new storm resilient poles, repairing lines impacted by cars or accidents or restoring electric service following an extreme weather event, lineworkers serve as the first responders of our industry,” said Darin Carroll, senior vice president, Electric Business. “I want to thank our CenterPoint line men and women for the commitment and sacrifices made by both them and their families every day. A lineworker’s job is not an easy one, but on both blue-sky days and after major weather events, our team shows up, works hard, and delivers this critical service to our customers.”
CenterPoint’s Houston electric lineworkers serve more than 2.8 million metered customers across 12 counties in southeast Texas, maintaining about 4,000 circuit miles of transmission lines and about 56,000 miles of distribution lines. In addition to installing, maintaining and repairing electric infrastructure such as transmission towers, distribution poles, substations, transformers and wires, these lineworkers also educate the public on electric wire safety and adhere to rigorous safety standards to protect themselves and the communities CenterPoint serves.
They are also playing a critical role in helping the company work toward its goal of building and operating the most resilient coastal grid in the country. Since CenterPoint launched the Greater Houston Resiliency Initiative (GHRI) in August 2024, lineworkers and contractor partners have:
- installed or replaced more than 26,000 stronger, more storm-resilient poles built to withstand extreme winds;
- undergrounded more than 400 miles of power lines to improve overall resiliency;
- installed more than 5,150 more automated reliability devices and intelligent grid switching devices to reduce the impact of outages and improve restoration times; and
- installed 100 weather monitoring stations to improve situational awareness and storm preparation.
Supporting long-term resiliency and rising energy demand
As part of the company’s commitment to harden and strengthen the grid in the Greater Houston area, CenterPoint is focused on helping build the next generation of electric workers to support continued resiliency work and help meet the rapidly growing energy. This next generation of line workers will also support the implementation of CenterPoint’s 2026-2028 Systemwide Resiliency Plan, which is designed to strengthen the electric system against extreme weather of the future and reduce outages for customers by nearly 1 billion minutes into 2029.
For more information on CenterPoint’s efforts to build a stronger, more resilient grid for its customers, visit CenterPointEnergy.com/