2,500 Residents Without Natural Gas on Coldest Day of Christmas Season So Far

HOUSTON, TX -- About 2,500 CenterPoint Energy customers in Southeast Houston are finding themselves shivering on the coldest day of the coldest day of the Christmas season so far after finding themselves without natural gas service.

According to CenterPoint Energy officials, the outage is affecting customers between Highway 288 and Cullen Boulevard, south of the Beltway 8.

The cause of the outage was not immediately released.

CenterPoint Energy officials said they are in the process of turning off customers’ gas meters, and crews hope to have them all deactivated by noon.

“Once the meters are turned off, our certified service technicians will begin performing a series of safety checks to ensure there is no risk involved in restoring gas service,”April Parra, operations manager for CenterPoint Energy told KPRC.

Parra added that the goal is to have service restored to most customers by the end of the day on Saturday.

“To perform these inspections, CenterPoint Energy service technicians will need to enter each home or business. We expect this process to begin this afternoon and continue throughout the weekend. We have also brought in technicians from other parts of the area to assist in restoring gas service,” she said.

Customers are asked to turn off their natural gas appliances and if you smell natural gas please call 800-752-8036.

Image: Ervins Strauhmanis via Flickr