CenterPoint Energy Continues Damage Assessment
CenterPoint Energy continues damage assessment, ramps up repairs and restoration following severe storms  Â
Evansville – Aug. 2, 2022 – CenterPoint Energy has issued the following update as restoration efforts continue in southwestern Indiana:
Following the first line of storms yesterday evening, outages peaked at more than 30,000 customers without power, with incremental progress made overnight as high winds and lightning continued through the early morning hours.
As of 9:00 a.m., there are 398 outages with 21,500 total estimated electric customers without power. All outages of 200 customers or greater currently have crews assigned and working on restoration.
The heaviest hit areas are on the eastside of Evansville, with a significant number of trees, limbs and wires down. As CenterPoint Energy crews working overnight are being relieved by replacement crews this morning, damage assessment and debris clearing efforts will continue to ramp up.
“Our crews have worked through the night assessing damage and troubleshooting major outages as safely as possible,†said Richard Leger, Senior Vice President, Indiana Electric. “Due to ongoing heavy storms throughout the night and this morning, progress has been slow-going; however, as conditions continue to improve, we will deploy additional crews.â€
Leger added, “We continue to ask for patience as we evaluate the extent of damage to the system and work as safely and quickly as possible to make repairs and restore service. As larger outages will take priority to get as many customers restored at a time, those tied to smaller outages should expect to be out through the day and likely into tomorrow.â€
As assessments and restoration efforts continue, CenterPoint Energy is working with the City of Evansville and The American Red Cross on assistance efforts.
The restoration process begins with facilities vital to safety, health and welfare, such as hospitals, water treatment plants and public service facilities. After key facilities, the company follows its priority restoration process by making repairs to electrical facilities that will return power to the largest number of customers first, then continue the restoration process by prioritizing repairs to benefit the greatest number of customers until power is returned to everyone.
CenterPoint Energy Reminds All Customers:
- Stay away from downed power lines. Be especially mindful of downed lines that could be hidden and treat all downed lines as if they are energized.
- Be cautious around work crews and give them the distance to assess damages and make repairs.
- If you smell gas, get to a safe area and call both 911 and CenterPoint Energy at (800) 227-1376.
- Don’t open freezers and refrigerators any more than absolutely necessary. Opening these appliances will allow food to thaw more quickly.
- Consider checking with others who may benefit from your assistance.
- Report any downed lines or damage to 800-227-1376.
For The Latest Information On Power Outages:
- Report outages by texting the word “OUT” to 83212
- Sign up for Power Alert Service for information on individual outages
- Follow @CNPAlerts Indiana and visit our outage map for general outage locations; and
- Visit CenterPoint Energy’s Electric Outage Center for electric safety tips and other resources.
Gov. Holcomb Makes Appointments To Various Boards And Commissions
INDIANAPOLIS — Governor Eric J. Holcomb today announced several appointments to various state boards and commissions.
Board of Trustees of Purdue University
The governor made one reappointment to the board, who will serve until July 1, 2025:
- Malcolm DeKryger (DeMotte), president and co-owner of Belstra Milling Company
Commission for Higher Education
The governor made three reappointments to the commission:
- Anne Bowen (Terre Haute), MBA student at Indiana State University, who will serve until June 30, 2024
- Al Hubbard (Indianapolis), co-founder of E&A Industries, who will serve until June 30, 2025
- Christopher LaMothe (Indianapolis), former CEO of Elevate Ventures, who will serve until June 30, 2026
The governor also made three new appointments to the commission, who will serve until June 30, 2026:
- Mike Daigle (South Bend), CEO and executive director of the St. Joseph County Airport Authority
- Nancy Jordan (Fort Wayne), senior consultant with Bulldog Consulting Services
- Tom Saunders (Lewisville), retiring state representative
Governor’s Workforce Cabinet
The governor made three new appointments to the cabinet, who will serve until December 31, 2023:
- Theresa Koleszar (Brownsburg), director of the Bureau of Rehabilitation Services with FSSA
- Marilyn Pitzulo (Indianapolis), associate chief of workforce strategy and design with the Indiana Department of Workforce Development
- Steve Schreckengast (Lafayette), president and co-founder of Citation Homes, Inc.
State Ethics Commission
The governor made two reappointments to the commission, who will serve until December 31, 2025:
- Corrinne Finnerty (North Vernon), principal at McConnell Finnerty PC
- Katherine Noel (Kokomo), principal at Noel Law, who will also continue her service as chair of the commission.
The governor also made one new appointment to the commission, who will serve until July 31, 2026:
- John Krauss (Indianapolis), former and founding director of the Indiana University Public Policy Institute
State Lottery Commission
The governor made one reappointment to the commission, who will serve until June 30, 2026:
- Norman Gurwitz (Indianapolis), consultant and former executive vice president, corporate counsel, and director of human resources for Emmis Communications Corporation
The governor also made one new appointment to the commission, who will serve until June 30, 2026:
- Roger Utzinger (Carmel), management consultant
Commission to Combat Substance Use Disorder Meets Thursday
INDIANAPOLIS – The Indiana Commission to Combat Substance Use Disorder will meet Thursday at the Indiana State Library, History Reference Room 211. At the meeting, Executive Director for Drug Prevention, Treatment and Enforcement Douglas Huntsinger and other commission members will discuss continued efforts related to the drug crisis. A complete meeting agenda can be found here.
WHAT:
Indiana Commission to Combat Substance Use Disorder
WHO:
Douglas Huntsinger, Executive Director for Drug Prevention, Treatment and Enforcement
Members of the Commission to Combat Drug Abuse
WHEN:
Thursday, August 4, 2022
10 a.m. EST
WHERE:
Indiana State Library, History Reference Room 211
315 W. Ohio Street
Indianapolis, IN 46204
LIVESTREAM LINK:Â https://www.in.gov/recovery/about/commission/
CenterPoint Energy Assessing Damage Following Severe Storms Â
CenterPoint Energy Assessing Damage Following Severe Storms Â
Evansville – August 1, 2022 – In response to the severe weather’s impact on its electric system in Southwestern Indiana, CenterPoint Energy has issued the following update:
Storms with high winds and lightning have caused widespread damage to the system throughout CenterPoint Energy’s service area.
As of 10:30 p.m., there were approximately 329 outages with more than 25,000 total estimated electric customers without power. The number of outages could continue to climb as additional storms, potentially even more severe, travel through the service territory late tonight and into tomorrow morning.
CenterPoint Energy crews are working to troubleshoot outages and assess damaged equipment and downed wires. However, we expect restoration efforts will be slow-going as crews work throughout the night with the threat of continued storm activity.
“We are committed to restoring service to our customers as safely and quickly as possible. We ask for patience as some areas received heavy damage to trees and equipment, which make it difficult for our crews to access the area and make repairs,†said Richard Leger, Senior Vice President, Indiana Electric.
Leger added, “Keeping our crews’ and public safety in mind, improved weather conditions and daylight will be necessary to continue to assess damages and begin repairs. Due to the extent of damage, many customers should plan for extended outages.â€
The restoration process begins with facilities vital to safety, health, and welfare, such as hospitals, water treatment plants, and public service facilities. After key facilities, the company follows its priority restoration process by making repairs to electrical facilities that will return power to the largest number of customers first, then continue the restoration process by prioritizing repairs to benefit the greatest number of customers until power is returned to everyone.
CenterPoint Energy Reminds All Customers:
- Stay away from downed power lines. Be especially mindful of downed lines that could be hidden and treat all downed lines as if they are energized.
- Be cautious around work crews and give them the distance to assess damages and make repairs.
- Don’t open freezers and refrigerators any more than absolutely necessary. Opening these appliances will allow food to thaw more quickly.
- Consider checking with others who may benefit from your assistance.
- Report any downed lines or damage to 800-227-1376.
For The Latest Information On Power Outages:
- Report outages by texting the word “OUT” to 83212
- Sign up for Power Alert Service for information on individual outages
- Follow @CNPAlerts Indiana and visit our outage map for general outage locations; and
- Visit CenterPoint Energy’s Electric Outage Center for electric safety tips and other resources.
Our Redesigned City-County Observer Daily Online Publication Has Proven To Be A “Good News Worthy Egg”
 The Improved  City-County Observer Has Proven To Be a “Good News Worthy Egg”
While we are excited about our newly-expanded publishing format, we will be keeping our basic mission to inform, educate, and entertain and continue to provide it to our readers cost-free.
We are pleased to announce that our daily online user-friendly and professional-looking layout, with informational headlines added to our regular features section, is a big success among our readers.
In fact, our daily online paper is more reader-friendly than ever before because you can now print copies of the articles that we publish in our online publication.
We are also especially proud to have the ability to post as many as seven “breaking newsâ€Â articles at one time.
Our local sports section has gone beyond the regular basketball and baseball coverage because we have added other sports to our sports section.
Rest assured that our reader’s comments remain a valued part of CCO. We will also continue to offer the public a chance to keep their identities confidential as they tell us their concerns because we understand that there are some people who are in a position that makes it necessary to maintain anonymity. As always, we want to hear what the public believes is important to improving our community whether it is done under a person’s own name or a pseudonym. We only ask that you avoid making personal attacks on other posters and stay on topic. Our highly-prized confidential contributors  (“Moles”) continue to provide us with breaking news before it is leaked to other news sources.
The primary reason for making our most popular features available through an easy-to-use link is that we want to appeal to a wider range of readers and advertisers.  We have opened the door to growing our publication, readers, and advertisers while keeping it free to the public. Our advertisers are pleased to see that the new format is offering a lot of “bang†for their advertising buck. As a part of our continued commitment to “home-owned and homegrown†local businesses, we now can offer small businesses with small advertising budgets an opportunity to spread the word about their goods and services throughout the area. Larger businesses will have the chance to keep in touch with their customers at a reasonable cost.
We are excited to take a new step to a print Monthly edition of the CCO and it has helped make our online version appeal to more readers. Even more, we are proud to be the only local news outlet to inform, educate, and entertain our readers at no cost. Â Oh, we also have a “MOBILE” edition of the City-County Observer at no cost.
Finally, Â We realize that we still have a few issues to work out, and thanks for reading the City County Observer.
Here Are Some Tips About How To Testify At The Statehouse
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As Key Bills Advance, Here Are Some Tips About How To Testify At The Statehouse
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By State Representative. Ryan Hatfield
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| The current special session called by the governor features some of the most ill-conceived and divisive legislation in the state’s history.
A special session originally called to ensure Hoosiers got back a portion of the state’s $6 billion budget surplus for “inflation relief” has turned into a session of controversy and emotionally-charged efforts to limit access to women’s health care services through a ban on all abortions: Senate Bill 1. If you want to share your opinion about Senate Bill 1 in person at the Statehouse, here is some information you will need to know:
As always, please reach out to my office if I can assist you in any way. Sincerely, |
