CenterPoint Energy is one of the largest utility companies in Texas, serving over 2.5 million customers in the greater Houston area with approximately 8,300 employees. If you were injured working for CenterPoint Energy — or as a contractor at one of their facilities — your legal rights depend critically on whether CenterPoint carries traditional Texas workers' compensation insurance.
This is the single most important question for any injured CenterPoint worker. Texas is the only state that allows employers to opt out of workers' compensation insurance. Companies that opt out are called non-subscribers — and injured workers at non-subscriber companies have the right to sue their employer directly with powerful legal advantages.
How to find out if CenterPoint is a non-subscriber: The Texas Department of Insurance maintains a searchable database of workers' compensation subscribers at tdi.texas.gov. You can also check your onboarding paperwork — Texas employers are required to notify workers of their workers' compensation status at hire and post notices in the workplace.
Go to tdi.texas.gov/wc/employer and search for CenterPoint Energy Houston Electric or CenterPoint Energy Resources. An independent attorney can also verify this status for you instantly during a free consultation — this is one of the first things they check.
Many workers at CenterPoint facilities are contractors or subcontractors — not direct CenterPoint employees. If you were injured as a contractor working at a CenterPoint facility, your rights may be significantly different from direct employees. You may have claims against CenterPoint, your direct employer, and other parties simultaneously. An independent attorney can identify all available claims.
CenterPoint Energy's workforce in Texas includes lineworkers, gas technicians, pipeline workers, substation personnel, and support staff — many working in inherently dangerous conditions involving high-voltage electricity, natural gas pipelines, and heavy equipment.
CenterPoint's electric transmission and distribution operations involve significant electrocution risk. Workers and contractors have been fatally electrocuted working on CenterPoint's lines and equipment in Texas. In 2016 a CenterPoint employee was fatally electrocuted attempting to connect a residential drop cable with a transformer.
CenterPoint operates thousands of miles of natural gas pipeline in Texas. In March 2021, seven workers were injured when a CenterPoint gas pipeline exploded in Gleannloch Farms near Spring, Texas. Pipeline work involves constant explosion and burn injury risk.
CenterPoint's field workforce operates heavy equipment and utility vehicles throughout the Houston metro area — creating significant vehicle accident and equipment injury exposure.
Lineworkers and pole workers face significant fall risk from elevated work on utility poles, towers, and substations throughout the Houston metro area.
If your investigation confirms CenterPoint is a non-subscriber, your legal position is significantly stronger than a traditional workers' comp claim. Non-subscriber employers in Texas cannot use three critical defenses against injured employees:
This means you only need to prove CenterPoint's negligence played any role in causing your injury — a significantly lower bar. And you can pursue full damages including pain and suffering, complete wage replacement, future earning capacity, and in cases of gross negligence, punitive damages.
If CenterPoint is a workers' comp subscriber, your options are different — but not exhausted. You still have potential claims through:
If equipment manufacturers, contractors, subcontractors, or property owners contributed to your injury, you can pursue separate personal injury claims against them regardless of CenterPoint's workers' comp status.
In limited circumstances where CenterPoint's conduct showed conscious indifference to an extreme risk — knowingly ignoring documented safety violations, for example — gross negligence claims may be available even against a workers' comp subscriber.
CenterPoint has faced OSHA investigations following worker injuries. Documented OSHA violations can be powerful evidence in injury claims establishing the company's failure to maintain safe working conditions.