General Qualifications

Competitive Retailers (CR) / Retail Electric Providers (REP) should complete these steps to qualify as a market participant in CenterPoint Energy's service territory:

Obtain formal certification as a Retail Electric Provider from the
Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUCT).

Obtain the following information when registering with the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT):

Designate a Qualified Scheduling Entity (QSE).
Execute a Load Serving Entity (LSE) Agreement with ERCOT.
Complete ERCOT testing for Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) transactions.
Execute two required contract documents with CenterPoint Energy. Submit two (2) original signed copies of each document requiring execution to your assigned Competitive Retailer Relations Account Manager so that the authorized CenterPoint Energy representative may execute both copies.

One original signed copy of each document will be returned to you, and we will keep the other original signed copy for our records.

Delivery Service Agreement (DSA): Must be executed prior to CenterPoint Energy's commencement of retail delivery services for your company and includes complete formal contact information and the Competitive Retailer's designation of contact for reporting of outages, interruptions and irregularities and for making service requests.

Contact your assigned Competitive Retailer Relations Account Manager to obtain this document in a Microsoft Word (.doc) format FORM that you may fill in to complete, sign and return.

Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) Authorization: This document, which must be executed prior to any transaction Test Flight, provides complete instructions for the electronic transfer of funds for invoice remittances and refunds or credits authorized by the Texas Standard Electronic Transactions (TxSET).

Contact your assigned Competitive Retailer Relations Account Manager to obtain this document in a Microsoft Word (.doc) format FORM that you may fill in to complete, sign and return.

CenterPoint Energy will request information for the Credit Review Process

CenterPoint Energy will begin to support the CR by:

Assigning an Account Manager to assist the CR with orientation to CenterPoint Energy business processes and act as the initial / primary point of contact for the CR. Support Contacts for Competitive Retailers* includes CenterPoint Energy Contact Personnel for:

Competitive Retailer (CR) Account Manager
Business Risk Department Representative

Verifying the CR's PUCT certification status.
Verifying the CR's ERCOT qualification status.
Verifying the CR's EDI qualification status.

Return CenterPoint Energy's required contract documents to:

Assigned Account Manager
Competitive Retailer Relations
CenterPoint Energy
P.O. Box 1700
Houston, TX 77251-1700

*These documents require Adobe Acrobat Reader.

​​​​​​​​​​​​General Qualifications

General Qualifications