CenterPoint Energy : crews faced with significant challenges from extensive damage in ongoing storm restoration efforts

Evansville, Ind. - April 3, 2024 -In the aftermath of Tuesday'ssevere storms that swept through southwestern Indiana, with winds in excess of80 miles per hour, CenterPointEnergy and contract crews have been tirelessly working to restore power to thousands of customers affected by widespread damage.

Crews have restored power to 60% of the 24,000 customersleft without power after Tuesday's storms. As of 9:30 p.m., there are approximately 6,300customers without power. Restoration may continue to take more time than usual as crews continue to uncover damageand encounternew challenges while making repairs.

CenterPoint Energy is using a wide range of resources to address severe vegetation damage, extensive debris, downed poles and linesand continued identification ofa significant amount of previously unidentified damage. Additionaloutages have been caused by wind guststoday, further increasing the challenges of making necessary repairs and restoring service.

"While the progress may not yet be fully visible in the number of outages restored, our crews continue to work tirelessly to restore service assafely and quickly as possible," stated RichardLeger, Senior Vice President, Indiana Electric at CenterPoint Energy. "The extensive damage from this storm has been unlike anything seen by many of our linemen - a great number of them with decades of experience."

Many of the challenges crewshave faced are comparable to the type of damage experienced with multiple storm events:

• More than 150 downed poles inthe Evansville metro area
• Multiple transformer replacements and spans of wire to be replaced
• Many orders requiretree trimming and clearing of vegetation before repair work can begin
• Crews have encounteredinaccessible poles, leading to increased repair times

The company is communicating with customers who will continue to experience extended outages into tomorrow, Fridayand the weekend.

CenterPoint Energy would like toremind customers if they have experienced damage to the weatherhead- the point of entry from the service drop to the home - the customer will need to have a licensed electrician make necessary repairs before power can be restored.