2026 Event Schedule

In 2024, CenterPoint Energy faced unprecedented storm activity across Houston and its service territory, putting its outage communication systems to the test. In response, the utility deployed a series of transformative enhancements—designed in collaboration with DataCapable—that redefined outage management, customer engagement, and regulatory readiness.

This session will showcase how CenterPoint Energy implemented a high-availability, cloud-based Active/Active infrastructure to eliminate single points of failure and ensure service continuity during major weather events. We’ll explore advancements in smart outage mapping, including enhanced geolocation, multi-source address lookup, and real-time ADA-compliant accessibility upgrades like browser-based Spanish language detection.

Attendees will gain insight into how operational accuracy was strengthened through a Joint Data Cleanup Initiative, improving the integrity of OMS data and supporting more precise outage tracking and regulatory reporting. Innovations like Service Center Awareness and Configurable Polygon Buffering enabled clearer communication with customers while protecting privacy.

Finally, we’ll examine how enhanced reporting capabilities empower regulatory agencies and emergency responders with jurisdiction-specific data views to support rapid decision-making. This presentation offers a forward-looking framework for utilities seeking to build more resilient, inclusive, and data-driven outage communication systems.