HTX-WDL: Impact 10/8/2025

• 4 Waterway Square Place, The Woodlands

The South Montgomery County Fire Department Maintenance Facility is now open, department officials said.

Notable quote: "We are excited about this next step forward and grateful for the continued support of our community that makes this possible," the department said in a social media post.

• Opened Sept. 17
• 27900 Robinson Road, Conroe

The Woodlands Area Chamber of Commerce is holding a candidate forum for the open position on The Woodlands Township's board of directors, Position 6, on Oct. 9.

The forum will take place at the chamber office, 9320 Lakeside Blvd., Ste. 200, The Woodlands, from 4-5:30 p.m. and is being held in partnership with Community Impact and Woodlands Online.

About the candidates: The four candidates for Position 6 are:  

• Adam Lamb
• Allan Bounds
• Philip Ikharebhore
• Maria Holmes

The Public Utility Commission of Texas on Oct. 2 authorized CenterPoint Energy to issue a customer rate increase—totaling approximately $1.2 billion—to cover repair and recovery costs from Hurricane Beryl and two other Greater Houston storms.

The overview: The restoration costs will add about $2 per month to the average customer’s electricity bill, with the rate change expected to take effect later this year or early next year, according to an Oct. 6 statement from CenterPoint Energy. The decision allows CenterPoint to spread the cost to residential customers across 15 years, saving more than $265 million in interest charges, per the statement. 

Looking back: According to previous Community Impact reporting, more than 2.2 million customers in the Greater Houston area lost power during Hurricane Beryl in July 2024, and over 4,400 Harris County homes were damaged. The Category 1 storm led to an estimated $32 billion in losses nationwide.

Odyssey, a New York-based tech company, has been selected to manage Texas’ $1 billion education savings account program, the state comptroller’s office announced Oct. 6.

The overview: Odyssey will work with the comptroller to launch the program, deemed “Texas Education Freedom Accounts,” ahead of the 2026-27 school year. Families can begin applying for the program early next year, and those accepted will receive thousands of dollars in state funds to send their children to private school or homeschool them.

Zooming in: Odyssey will develop and manage an online platform to administer Texas’ education savings account program. State law also tasks the company with:

• Collecting applications and determining which families are accepted to the program
• Approving vendors for education-related materials and services, such as textbooks, transportation and tutoring
• Reviewing inquiries and complaints about the program
• Advertising the program and communicating with interested families