CenterPoint Energy puts the emphasis on innovation
HOUSTON—A recent Innovation User Conference and Expo drove home CenterPoint Energy’s commitment to sustaining a company culture where innovative ideas are celebrated and nurtured. More than 150 employees—and more than 50 vendors—attended the two-day event at the utility’s headquarters.
The idea for a conference and expo focused on innovation grew out of an internal “innovation incubator” team that CenterPoint Energy established in 2017. “It’s a group of employees who represent different businesses and functional areas within the company,” CenterPoint Energy’s Pierce Prater, service area manager, Power Delivery Solutions Group, told American Gas. “Out of that team, we created think-tank subcommittees. Each of those has an initiative to work on that will help foster a culture of innovation at CenterPoint Energy.”
Those initiatives have included creating opportunities for sharing innovative ideas throughout the company; promoting a speaker series featuring presenters from outside companies, who inspire employees to consider innovation from fresh perspectives; stressing the importance of innovative thinking during new-hire orientation; and managing a user conference devoted to innovation.
“Historically, when you hear the word ‘innovation,’ regulated utilities may not be the first thing to come to mind,” Prater admitted. “You’re more likely to think about a technology company, for instance. But that’s changing now. With these initiatives, we’re really entering that innovative space. We want to lead when it comes to innovation.”
The conference and expo featured two keynote speakers—CenterPoint Energy’s president and CEO, Scott Prochazka, and the director of innovation for the city of Houston, Jesse Bounds—as well as 12 breakout sessions led by innovators from AT&T, PricewaterhouseCoopers, and a variety of other companies. Tesla was in attendance as well, parking a Tesla Model 3 outside for attendees to check out.
“After the conference ended, we surveyed the attendees,” Prater told us. “Ninety-six percent said it was valuable. And 95 percent would recommend attending to a co-worker.”
“We will definitely do this conference again,” he added. “Our employees want to innovate, and we want to encourage and motivate that mindset. Every leader in the company is open to new ideas and supports our culture of innovation. If our people see something they can improve, we want to take it on.”