CenterPoint Energy Donates Backup Generator to Trini Mendenhall Community Center
Houston – Feb. 11, 2025 – Today, at an announcement in Houston with elected officials and community leaders, CenterPoint Energy leaders announced the donation of a backup generator to the Trini Mendenhall Community Center as part of its Community Generator Donation Program to support local community resiliency. Through this program, the CenterPoint Energy Foundation is donating funds for 21 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 announcing the donation of backup generation to support our partners in Harris County Precinct 3, and we look forward to sharing other locations for our Community Generator Donation Program with other counties and cities in the weeks and months ahead. These 21 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 Keith Stephens, CenterPoint Senior Vice President and Chief Communications and Marketing Officer.
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 is working 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.
“This generator donation is a tremendous benefit to the residents of Precinct 3. Our precinct was the hardest hit during the Derecho and Beryl windstorms, particularly this area, with crews removing over one million cubic yards of vegetative debris. By placing this generator at Trini Mendenhall Community Center, one of our busiest facilities, we can ensure that we remain operational when the community needs us most. Thank you to CenterPoint for their partnership and this generous donation,” said Harris County Precinct 3 Commissioner Tom S. Ramsey.
Over the next several months, CenterPoint will be coordinating with local community partners to ensure the backup generators are suitable to meet the specific needs of the critical facility 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 coming weeks and months.
