CenterPoint Energy files request to recover investments in electric infrastructure to support system safety, reliability and resiliency
2024-03-06T06:00:00Z

Houston – March 6, 2024 – CenterPoint Energy Houston Electric (CenterPoint Energy) today filed an application with the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUCT) and municipal regulatory authorities requesting an adjustment to its base rates and charges through a process known as a base rate case.

  • Significant capital investments support continued strengthening of electric system across Greater Houston area for the benefit of customers and communities
  • Customers' rates have remained relatively flat over the past decade due to cost management and sustained customer growth
  • Request is expected to result in an average increase of less than 1% on a customer's total bill

CenterPoint Energy's service territory covers approximately 5,000-square-miles across Houston and surrounding communities and includes nearly 60,000 circuit miles of transmission and distribution lines, serving approximately 2.8 million metered customers across its electric system. The 2.8 million represents nearly 300,000 more metered customers than when the company filed its most recent rate case in 2019.

While the Greater Houston area comprises about 2% of the geographic area of Texas, CenterPoint Energy's metered customers account for approximately 25% of the total electric load in the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) region. This area includes the City of Houston — the largest city in Texas and the fourth largest in the country — and is home to the largest medical and petrochemical complexes in the world, as well as one of the largest container ports in the nation.

To help meet the region's ever-increasing electric demands, CenterPoint Energy has invested more than $6 billion in its electric grid since the 2019 rate case. Key benefits to customers from these investments have included:  ​

  • Nearly 2,200 miles of new distribution lines and more than 100 miles of new transmission lines installed to meet the needs of a strong economy;
  • Six new distribution substations and two new transmission substations constructed to support regional growth and increased load needs;
  • 25 new generation resources interconnected to the grid;
  • 11 substations elevated to aid in flood mitigation and improve the resiliency of CenterPoint Energy's system; and
  • 437 Intelligent Grid Switching Devices installed to help prevent and reduce sustained customer outages, resulting in more than 80 million minutes of customer outages avoided in 2023.

​In addition to investments that support the continued growth and development of the Greater Houston area, the company has also focused on maintaining stable rates below the historic level of inflation for the average residential customer. Today's proposal, factoring in all of CenterPoint Energy's bill components, will result in a 0.7% increase for the average residential customer's total bill.

“The portion of customer electric bills attributable to CenterPoint Energy was an average of $49 a month a decade ago, and it remains about $49 a month on average today, despite billions of dollars in investments in our system over that period," said Jason Ryan, CenterPoint Energy's Executive Vice President of Regulatory Services and Government Affairs. “Being able to continue to keep rates relatively flat even with the rate change proposed today reflects the hard work we are doing to maintain affordable service for our customers, while we make material investments to improve system safety, reliability and resiliency."

CenterPoint Energy is asking the PUCT and municipal regulatory authorities to review its investments that have not already been reviewed through other rate adjustment mechanisms, consider the value customers are receiving, and approve the proposed rates. The process is expected to take several months to complete, with a decision anticipated no earlier than September of 2024.

“We have been serving the Houston area and surrounding communities for nearly 160 years, and during that time we have strived to build a proven track record of doing our work as safely, responsibly and cost-efficiently as possible," said Lynnae Wilson, CenterPoint Energy's Senior Vice President, Electric Business. “As our region continues to experience strong economic growth, industrial and business expansion, and population increases, it is imperative that we are equipped to continue meeting the demands of our customers and the electric grid. The approval of the request will enable CenterPoint Energy's continued investment in our transmission and distribution electric system to help support our customers' long-term energy needs, support regional growth and increase electrification."

More information about the rate case can be found at CenterPointEnergy.com/EnergyForTheFuture.

About CenterPoint Energy, Inc.
As the only investor-owned electric and gas utility based in Texas, CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE: CNP) is an energy delivery company with electric transmission and distribution, power generation and natural gas distribution operations that serve more than 7 million metered customers in Indiana, Louisiana, Minnesota, Mississippi, Ohio and Texas. As of December 31, 2023, the company owned approximately $39 billion in assets. With approximately 9,000 employees, CenterPoint Energy and its predecessor companies have been in business for more than 150 years. For more information, visit CenterPointEnergy.com.

Forward-looking Statements
This news release includes forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. When used in this news release, the words "anticipate," "believe," "continue," "could," "estimate," "expect," "forecast," "goal," "intend," "may," "objective," "plan," "potential," "predict," "projection," "should," "target," "will" or other similar words are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based upon assumptions of management which are believed to be reasonable at the time made and are subject to significant risks and uncertainties. Actual events and results may differ materially from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. Examples of forward-looking statements in this news release, include future legislative and regulatory filings, actions and decisions, including the timing and impact of such actions and decisions, the amount and timing of, and expected benefits derived from, proposed investments, the expected impact and timing of the proposed rate adjustments on customer bills, the performance and expected benefits of various projects, the projected impact to customers, and any other statements that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements. Each forward-looking statement contained in this news release speaks only as of the date of this release.

Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated by the provided forward-looking information include, but are not limited to, risks and uncertainties relating to: (1) CenterPoint's business strategies and strategic initiatives, restructurings, joint ventures and acquisitions or dispositions of assets or businesses, including the announced sale of our Natural Gas businesses in Louisiana and Mississippi, and the completed sale of Energy Systems Group, LLC, which we cannot assure you will have the anticipated benefits to us; (2) industrial, commercial and residential growth in CenterPoint's service territories and changes in market demand; (3) CenterPoint's ability to fund and invest planned capital, and the timely recovery of its investments; (4) financial market and general economic conditions, including access to debt and equity capital and inflation, interest rates and instability of banking institutions, and their effect on sales, prices and costs; (5) continued disruptions to the global supply chain and increases in commodity prices; (6) actions by credit rating agencies, including any potential downgrades to credit ratings; (7) the timing and impact of regulatory proceedings and actions and legal proceedings, including those related to Houston Electric's mobile generation and the February 2021 winter storm event; (8) legislative decisions, including tax and developments related to the environment such as global climate change, air emissions, carbon, waste water discharges and the handling of coal combustion residuals, among others, and CenterPoint's net zero and carbon emissions reduction goals; (9) the impact of pandemics, including the COVID-19 pandemic; (10) the recording of impairment charges; (11) weather variations and CenterPoint's ability to mitigate weather impacts, including the approval and timing of securitization issuances; (12) changes in business plans; (13) CenterPoint's ability to execute on its initiatives, targets and goals, including its net zero and carbon emissions reduction goals and operations and maintenance goals; and (14) other factors discussed CenterPoint's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2023, including in the “Risk Factors" and “Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Information" sections of such reports, and other reports CenterPoint or its subsidiaries may file from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

​

 Recent News

 

 
CenterPoint Energy launches "12 Days of Holiday Safety" winter campaign

Holiday campaign to include daily social media tips to keep friends, family and neighbors safe during the holiday season and to promote the importance of preparedness and safety for winter storm season

HOUSTON, Dec. 13, 2024 - As part of a company-wide effort to prepare for extreme weather and the 2025 winter storm season, CenterPoint Energy is launching a new "12 Days of Holiday Safety" campaign.

The new holiday campaign will provide important daily winter and holiday safety tips and tools for customers, as well as a social media campaign with safety resources and tips to help customers better prepare for the winter season. The holiday campaign follows a series of pre-winter preparedness actions CenterPoint has taken to strengthen and winterize its electric and gas infrastructure, as well as inspect and test cold-weather critical equipment ahead of severe weather that could impact the gas and electric system in the winter months.

"This holiday season, and through winter, we want all our customers to know about the array of safety actions we are taking to be prepared for the winter storm season, as well as how they, their families, and neighbors can be safe and better prepared for storms to come. To date, we have taken a range of actions to get ready, and we want our customers to take some simple steps to plan and stay safe ahead of extreme cold and winter storms," said Richard Leger, Senior Vice President of CenterPoint Energy's Natural Gas business. 

CenterPoint Customer Campaign: 12 Days of Holiday Safety
As part of its "12 Days of Holiday Safety" campaign, CenterPoint will be raising awareness around important and helpful safety tips, tools and links to customer resources via email, as well as a new social media campaign. All of the holiday safety resources will be available at the CenterPointEnergy.com/ReadyForWinter website.

Among the customer safety areas CenterPoint will highlight are:

  • Day One: Holiday lighting safety
  • Day Two: Holiday cooking safety
  • Day Three: Use CenterPoint's new and improved Outage Tracker to stay informed
  • Day Four: Holiday candle safety
  • Day Five: Test smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors
  • Day Six: Fireplace safety
  • Day Seven: Holiday tree care and safety
  • Day Eight: Space heater safety
  • Day Nine: Unplug unused appliances, turn off unused lights and turn down thermostats
  • Day Ten: Be prepared – have an emergency kit stocked and ready with supplies
  • Day Eleven: Identify and know where your closest warming center is located
  • Day Twelve: Sign up for CenterPoint's Power Alert Service for your home, business or family members

Electric Customers Encouraged to Enroll in Power Alert Service®
As part of its campaign, CenterPoint electric customers are encouraged to enroll in the company's Power Alert Service® to receive winter storm outage details, estimated restoration times and customer-specific restoration updates by phone call, text or email.

About CenterPoint Energy, Inc.
As the only investor-owned electric and gas utility based in Texas, CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE: CNP) is an energy delivery company with electric transmission and distribution, power generation and natural gas distribution operations that serve more than 7 million metered customers in Indiana, Louisiana, Minnesota, Mississippi, Ohio and Texas. With approximately 9,000 employees, CenterPoint Energy and its predecessor companies have been in business for more than 150 years. For more information, visit CenterPointEnergy.com.

For more information, contact
Media Relations
Media.Relations@CenterPointEnergy.com

SOURCE CenterPoint Energy

CenterPoint Energy launches “12 Days of Holiday Safety” winter campaign

​Evansville, Ind. – Dec. 13, 2024 – As part of a company-wide effort to prepare for extreme weather and the 2025 winter storm season, CenterPoint Energy is launching a new “12 Days of Holiday Safety" campaign.

The new holiday campaign will provide important daily winter and holiday safety tips and tools for customers, as well as a social media campaign with safety resources and tips, to help customers better prepare for the winter season. The holiday campaign follows a series of pre-winter preparedness actions CenterPoint has taken to strengthen and winterize its electric and gas infrastructure, as well as inspect and test cold-weather critical equipment ahead of severe weather that could impact the gas and electric system in the winter months.

“This holiday season, and through winter, we want all our customers to know about the array of safety actions we are taking to be prepared for the winter storm season, as well as how they, their families, and neighbors can be safe and better prepared for storms to come. To date, we have taken a range of actions to get ready, and we want our customers to take some simple steps to plan and stay safe ahead of extreme cold and winter storms," said Richard Leger, Senior Vice President of CenterPoint Energy's Natural Gas business. 

CenterPoint Customer Campaign: 12 Days of Holiday Safety
As part of its “12 Days of Holiday Safety" campaign, CenterPoint will be raising awareness around important and helpful safety tips, tools and links to customer resources via email, as well as a new social media campaign. All of the holiday safety resources will be available at the CenterPointEnergy.com/ReadyForWinter website.

Among the customer safety areas CenterPoint will highlight are:

  • Day One: Holiday lighting safety
  • Day Two: Holiday cooking safety
  • Day Three: Use CenterPoint's Outage Tracker to stay informed
  • Day Four: Holiday candle safety
  • Day Five: Test smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors
  • Day Six: Fireplace safety
  • Day Seven: Holiday tree care and safety
  • Day Eight: Space heater safety
  • Day Nine: Unplug unused appliances, turn off unused lights and turn down thermostats
  • Day Ten: Be prepared – have an emergency kit stocked and ready with supplies
  • Day Eleven: Identify and know where your closest warming center is located
  • Day Twelve: Sign up for CenterPoint's Power Alert Service for your home, business or family members

 
Electric Customers Encouraged to Enroll in Power Alert Service®
As part of its campaign, CenterPoint electric customers are encouraged to enroll in the company's Power Alert Service® to receive winter storm outage details, estimated restoration times and customer-specific restoration updates by phone call, text or email.

###


About CenterPoint Energy, Inc.  

As the only investor-owned electric and gas utility based in Texas, CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE: CNP) is an energy delivery company with electric transmission and distribution, power generation and natural gas distribution operations that serve more than 7 million metered customers in Indiana, Louisiana, Minnesota, Mississippi, Ohio and Texas. With approximately 9,000 employees, CenterPoint Energy and its predecessor companies have been in business for more than 150 years. For more information, visit CenterPointEnergy.com.

CenterPoint Energy Declares Regular Common Stock Dividend of $0.2200

HOUSTON, Dec. 13, 2024 - CenterPoint Energy, Inc.'s (NYSE: CNP) Board of Directors today declared a regular quarterly cash dividend of $0.2200 per share on the issued and outstanding shares of Common Stock payable on March 13, 2025 to shareholders of record at the close of business on February 20, 2025. This quarterly dividend represents a $0.010 increase over the prior quarter. This dividend growth rate aligns with the high end of the company's previously announced 6-8% non-GAAP earnings per share growth target.

About CenterPoint Energy, Inc.
As the only investor-owned electric and gas utility based in Texas, CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE: CNP) is an energy delivery company with electric transmission and distribution, power generation and natural gas distribution operations that serve more than 7 million metered customers in Indiana, Louisiana, Minnesota, Mississippi, Ohio and Texas. With approximately 9,000 employees, CenterPoint Energy and its predecessor companies have been in business for more than 150 years. For more information, visit CenterPointEnergy.com.

For more information, contact: 
Communications
Media.Relations@CenterPointEnergy.com 

SOURCE CenterPoint Energy, Inc

CenterPoint Energy announces critical readiness actions in Texas to prepare for 2025 winter storm season

CenterPoint shares regulatory declaration of winter readiness and completion of key actions to inspect and test equipment, strengthen the grid, and prepare for winter storm events

Company participated in joint exercise with the Electric Reliability Council of Texas and other utility partners to prepare for extreme cold-weather events

HOUSTON, Dec. 12, 2024 - Today, as part of its 2025 winter storm readiness efforts, CenterPoint Energy shared the completion of key actions to prepare for the coming winter season and mitigate potential impacts of extreme cold weather events. The pre-winter storm readiness actions CenterPoint is taking include: (1) inspecting and testing cold-weather critical equipment; (2) submitting a formal declaration of winter preparedness to regulatory oversight agencies; and (3) coordinating emergency plans with utility partners and grid operators, including a joint training exercise with the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT).

"Our CenterPoint Texas team is focused on working closely with our emergency partners and preparing the grid for the impact of potential winter storms and extreme cold. As part of this effort, we are taking actions that will be vital if, or when, a winter storm impacts the energy system. Our goal is to be ready to respond to any emergency, even as we build the most resilient and reliable coastal grid in the country that can withstand extreme weather at any time of the year," said Darin Carroll, Senior Vice President of CenterPoint Energy's Electric Business.

Critical Winter Readiness Action: Annual Declaration of Winter Readiness
CenterPoint submitted its annual declarations of winter readiness to both ERCOT and the Railroad Commission of Texas. These declarations demonstrate that CenterPoint has completed the regulatory requirements that were adopted in 2021 to prepare electric and natural gas infrastructure for winter storms and extreme cold weather and aims to provide customers with more reliable service.

The pre-winter safety and readiness actions taken by CenterPoint include:

  • Inspecting and testing critical equipment, including all 270 substations, to prepare for high demand and cold temperatures; 
  • Hardening electric and natural gas infrastructure across the Greater Houston area, including by installing heaters and devices to prevent ice damage or buildup; 
  • Maintaining freeze protection equipment and enclosures for cold-weather critical components;
  • Repairing damaged or degraded thermal insulation and water-proofing materials; and
  • Conducting emergency training for hundreds of operational personnel and contractors to prepare for, mitigate and respond to the impacts of severe winter weather. 

Critical Winter Readiness Action: Joint ERCOT Training Exercises
Last week, CenterPoint participated in a joint tabletop exercise with ERCOT and industry partners to prepare for potential winter weather events that cause high energy demand and create a strain on the electric grid. This exercise included a tabletop review of different scenarios and exams for participants to foster collaboration and coordination around winter preparedness.

The ERCOT-hosted training was one of several exercises and trainings that CenterPoint teams participate in throughout the year. These exercises help CenterPoint and other utilities across Texas to be more closely aligned and prepared to partner in response to weather events that increase demand and strain the grid.

Critical Winter Readiness Actions: Customer Winter Storm Safety Campaign
In the coming weeks, the company will proactively share vital safety information with customers and local partners about how they can plan ahead to prepare for extreme winter weather, including important safety tips, programs and resources that will help the Greater Houston community prepare for the risk of extreme cold weather events. For more winter preparedness information, customers can visit CenterPointEnergy.com/ReadyForWinter.

About CenterPoint Energy, Inc.
As the only investor-owned electric and gas utility based in Texas, CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE: CNP) is an energy delivery company with electric transmission and distribution, power generation and natural gas distribution operations that serve more than 7 million metered customers in Indiana, Louisiana, Minnesota, Mississippi, Ohio and Texas. With approximately 9,000 employees, CenterPoint Energy and its predecessor companies have been in business for more than 150 years. For more information, visit CenterPointEnergy.com.

For more information, contact:
Communications
Media.Relations@CenterPointEnergy.com

SOURCE CenterPoint Energy

Greater Houston Resiliency Initiative Phase Two Monthly Update: CenterPoint Energy continues to make good progress with more than 7,000 stronger poles installed across the area in less than 100 days

Actions throughout GHRI Phase Two include installation of stronger poles, clearance of more vegetation miles, undergrounding of more power lines and additional "self-healing" devices

When complete, GHRI Phase Two actions will improve reliability by saving customers more than 125 million fewer outage minutes annually.

HOUSTON, Dec. 12, 2024 - Today, as part of the second phase of its Greater Houston Resiliency Initiative (GHRI), CenterPoint Energy shared it latest monthly progress update with new resiliency milestones including the installation of approximately 7,060 stronger, storm-resilient total poles in the last three months.

Since the launch of GHRI Phase Two three months ago, and in preparation for the 2025 hurricane season, CenterPoint continues to make good progress on the suite of additional resiliency actions. The latest program updates are available at CenterPointEnergy.com/TakingAction.

In the last four weeks alone, the company has: installed an additional nearly 2.500 more storm-resilient poles; completed the clearance of more than approximately 400 more miles of power lines with high-risk vegetation, undergrounded 40 more miles of power lines to reduce the impact of extreme weather; and installed an additional 20 self-healing automation devices to minimize the impact of outages and help improve overall restoration times.

When completed, the resiliency actions outlined in GHRI Phase Two will lead to more than 125 million fewer outage minutes annually for customers.

"All across Greater Houston, our teams continue working toward our goal of building the most resilient coastal grid in the country and providing the more reliable day-to-day service that our customers expect and deserve. From the thousands of poles we've installed to trimming more hazardous areas of vegetation around our lines, and undergrounding more power lines, the many other critical resiliency actions we are taking reflect our commitment to our customers, our stakeholders, and to ensuring our communities are better positioned to withstand the next major storm or hurricane," said Darin Carroll, Senior Vice President of CenterPoint's Electric Business.

GHRI Phase Two: Significant Progress to Date
On September 30, CenterPoint announced the launch of Phase Two of the GHRI, which included a series of actions to strengthen resiliency, enable a self-healing grid and reduce the duration and impact of power outages. Through early December, the company has made significant advances across its Greater Houston service area, including:

GHRI Phase Two: More "Self-Healing" Devices Coming in Early 2025
CenterPoint teams will be taking additional actions as part of the second phase of GHRI, which runs through May 31, 2025, including beginning in early 2025: installing some 4,500 automated reliability devices to create a more "self-healing' grid and minimize sustained interruptions during major storm events as well as reduce restoration times; and establishing a network of 100 new weather monitoring stations. These improvements are on track to begin in early 2025 and be completed before the start of the next hurricane season.

The company is also working to expand and improve the way it communicates with customers and engages with communities before, during and after emergencies, including through a year-round safety and preparedness campaign.

CenterPoint will continue to provide updates on its progress toward completing its critical resiliency actions and other GHRI commitments. More information and real-time updates are available at CenterPointEnergy.com/TakingAction.

About CenterPoint Energy, Inc.
As the only investor-owned electric and gas utility based in Texas, CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE: CNP) is an energy delivery company with electric transmission and distribution, power generation and natural gas distribution operations that serve more than 7 million metered customers in Indiana, Louisiana, Minnesota, Mississippi, Ohio and Texas. With approximately 9,000 employees, CenterPoint Energy and its predecessor companies have been in business for more than 150 years. For more information, visit CenterPointEnergy.com. 

Forward-looking Statements
This news release, as well as the website pages related to the GHRI, includes forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. When used in this news release or the website pages related to the GHRI, the words "anticipate," "believe," "continue," "could," "estimate," "expect," "forecast," "goal," "intend," "may," "objective," "plan," "potential," "predict," "projection," "should," "target," "will" or other similar words are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements, which include statements regarding our resiliency investments, and the GHRI, including effectiveness, timing and related matters, are based upon assumptions of management which are believed to be reasonable at the time made and are subject to significant risks and uncertainties. Actual events and results may differ materially from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. Any statements in this news release or the website pages related to the GHRI regarding future events that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements. Each forward-looking statement contained in this news release, or the website pages related to the GHRI speaks only as of the date of this release. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated by the provided forward-looking information include risks and uncertainties relating to: (1) the impact of pandemics, including the COVID-19 pandemic; (2) financial market conditions; (3) general economic conditions; (4) the timing and impact of future regulatory and legislative decisions; and (5) other factors, risks and uncertainties discussed in CenterPoint Energy's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2023 and CenterPoint's Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q for the quarters ended March 31, 2024 and June 30, 2024 and other reports CenterPoint Energy or its subsidiaries may file from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

For more information, contact:
Communications
Media.Relations@CenterPointEnergy.com

SOURCE CenterPoint Energy