HOUSTON — CenterPoint Energy announced it has reached an agreement with Neara, an artificial intelligence (AI)-powered infrastructure modeling platform for engineering-grade simulations and analytics, to deploy Neara’s AI capabilities across CenterPoint’s 5,000-square-mile Greater Houston service area.
CenterPoint will supplement its existing systems with Neara’s technology to focus its investments strategically and cost-effectively and to continue to advance safety, reliability and resilience for the benefit of its approximately 2.8 million customers, a news release said. Neara’s AI-enabled simulation and analytics platform are expected to help CenterPoint reduce customer outages and accelerate restoration efforts across its system.
“Leveraging technology and AI to deliver better outcomes for our customers and communities is a significant part of the commitment we made after Hurricane Beryl,” said CenterPoint President and Chief Executive Officer Jason Wells. “By simulating the potential impact of severe weather events on our infrastructure and customers, Neara’s platform and tools will inform our plans and actions before, during and after major weather events to help reduce the impact and duration of power outages. Understanding how weather scenarios and their risks could affect our operations will position us to be several steps ahead on our preparedness and response.”
“We are thrilled to collaborate with CenterPoint as they lead the charge in addressing today’s most existential energy challenges,” Robert Brook, Neara Senior Vice President and Managing Director of the Americas, said. “Our 3D digital modeling technology will help CenterPoint proactively reduce customer outages by simulating severe weather events, such as hurricanes, tropical storms, heat waves and flash floods, and their potential impact on the utility’s infrastructure.”
Neara’s technology will also support CenterPoint’s efforts to address higher-risk vegetation along power lines, as well as identify critical equipment upgrades, including pole replacements or reinforcements, quickly and efficiently. Additionally, Neara’s predictive technology will help CenterPoint prioritize specific assets and locations where grid hardening improvements will reportedly help optimize system-wide benefit. As targeted system upgrades are completed, CenterPoint will be able to quantify performance increases at the individual asset level and forecast, deliver and measure resilience improvements.
In late August 2024, CenterPoint announced the completion, ahead of schedule, of core resiliency actions as part of the first phase of its Greater Houston Resiliency Initiative (GHRI), which included a series of targeted immediate actions to improve the resiliency of CenterPoint Houston Electric’s grid.
Source: CenterPoint
