February 2021 Weather Event and Temporary Bill Surcharge
Winter Storm

In mid-February 2021, large parts of the country experienced an extended period of extremely cold temperatures. Skyrocketing demand for natural gas and significant supply issues in certain areas contributed to sudden, unprecedented price spikes.

During prolonged subzero temperatures, we succeeded in maintaining reliable service that kept our Minnesota customers safe and warm. But, like other utilities in Minnesota and many states, we incurred extraordinary costs that were unavoidable in the extreme market conditions as we acquired natural gas to supplement our baseload and stored supplies.

As a regulated utility, we're required to buy and deliver a reliable supply of natural gas to our customers. The price we pay for natural gas is the same price we charge our customers – with no mark-up.

Typically, customers would pay for the extra natural gas costs over 12 months, beginning in Sept.—but due to the magnitude of these costs, that existing process would mean significantly higher bills, especially in the winter heating months when bills are already highest.

To help protect our customers and ease the impact on monthly bills in this unprecedented situation, we proposed a carefully tailored plan to phase in and spread cost recovery over an extended period.

On Aug. 5, 2021, the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission (MPUC) approved our plan to begin recovering the unusually high natural gas costs from February 2021, through a temporary surcharge that may appear on your bill as "Feb 2021 Weather Event." Pursuant to the MPUC's decision, the other regulated natural gas utilities in Minnesota have added a similar surcharge to their customers' bills.

On December 2, 2021, the MPUC accepted a proposal by CenterPoint Energy to lower the monthly Feb 2021 Weather Event surcharge and extend the cost recovery period to from 27 to 63 months.

We understand the cost of this surcharge may be unexpected or difficult for our customers.

If customers need help paying their bill, payment plan options are available. Please visit our website at CenterPointEnergy.com/PaymentAssistance or call CenterPoint Energy customer service at 800-245-2377. We can also connect eligible customers with energy assistance resources.

For more information, please refer to the questions below.

Frequently Asked Questions

  1. How does the surcharge appear on the invoice?

    As a separate line item labeled "Feb 2021 Weather Event."

  2. When will the first month of the surcharge be applied, and how many months will it last? 

    The charges will be in effect from September 2021 – November 2026.

  3. What is the total amount an average residential customer will pay on the surcharge?

    The MPUC allowed us to collect the extraordinary gas costs over 63 months starting in September 2021.

      • The charge will be volumetric, or billed per "therm," and customers can reduce the amount they pay if they work to conserve energy.
      • The charge will be higher in the summer than in the winter months.
      • The charge will be higher in the last 12 months of recovery.
      • The MPUC is reviewing the costs that we paid for gas during Feb. 13-17, 2021. If they find that some of our costs were unnecessary, or if we receive supplier or government refunds or any other offsets, we will reduce our rates going forward and/or refund any overcollection
      •  If the MPUC determines that all costs were prudently incurred, the average residential customer will pay about $4.61 per month (or a total of $305) over 63 months.

  4. Can customers pay off their amount early? 

    No. The surcharge will be applied monthly to a customer's bill based on that month's therm usage. 

  5. Has the MPUC approved this surcharge?

    Yes. The MPUC approved the monthly surcharge, beginning in Sept. 2021, to recover the extraordinary natural gas costs from Feb. 13-17, 2021. To lower the monthly bill impact, the MPUC also extended the original cost recovery period from 27 to 63 months.

    Following a review of costs from the Feb. 2021 weather event, the MPUC on Oct. 19. 2022, issued an order with the finding that some of the costs were not reasonably incurred. For CenterPoint Energy, the MPUC disallowed recovery of $35.7 million (or about 8.7% of CenterPoint Energy's total costs), which in turn would reduce the total surcharge amount paid by customers. However, a request for the MPUC to reconsider its decision is currently pending.

  6. Will any customer groups be exempt from the surcharge?

    Yes. The following groups are exempt, as authorized by the MPUC:

    • Residential customers who applied and were eligible for Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) assistance during the 2019-2020 heating season or any subsequent heating season through the 2026-2027 heating season.
    • Residential customers who are between 60-120 days past due on the gas portion of their account, as of June 30, 2021, or subsequently. (NOTE: Customers who are 121 days or more past due WILL be subject to the surcharge.)
    • Residential customers who applied for Cold Weather Rule (CWR) protection and met its income eligibility criteria, beginning with the 2021-2022 CWR period (Oct. 1, 2021-April 30, 2022) and effective Sept. 1, 2022.
    • Transportation customers who were transportation customers during Feb. 13-17, 2021. (CenterPoint Energy's Transportation Services provides end-use commercial and industrial natural gas customers on our distribution system with access to competitive natural gas suppliers.)

     
    Additional details:

    • Customers who are covered by the surcharge exemption do not need to contact CenterPoint Energy to have the surcharge removed from their bill.
    • CenterPoint Energy will periodically recalibrate residential customers covered by this exemption, by exempting any new customers who newly applied and were eligible for LIHEAP assistance, or who fall within 60-120 days in arrears or who applied for CWR protection and met its income eligibility criteria. We will also remove customers who no longer fall within the 60-120 days delinquency category.
    • For residential customers who receive exemption from the surcharge because they applied for and were eligible for LIHEAP assistance or because they applied for CWR protection and met its income eligibility criteria, their exemption remains in effect for the remainder of the 63-month surcharge period – even if they no longer receive LIHEAP assistance or CWR protection.
    • CenterPoint Energy will begin exempting residential customers who applied for CWR protection and met its income eligibility criteria as follows:
      • Sept. 1, 2022, for customers from the previous CWR season (Oct. 1, 2021-April 30, 2022)
      • Sept. 1, 2023, for customers from the previous CWR season (Oct. 1, 2022-April 30, 2023);
      • Sept. 1, 2024, for customers from the previous CWR season (Oct. 1, 2023-April 30, 2024);
      • Sept. 1, 2025, for customers from the previous CWR season (Oct. 1, 2024-April 30, 2025); and
      • Sept. 1, 2026, for customers from the previous CWR season (Oct. 1, 2025-April 30, 2026).

  7. Is the surcharge calculated differently based on rate class? 
    No. All rate classes will be charged the same tariff rate. However, the surcharge will NOT be assessed for transportation accounts that were receiving transportation service in February 2021 or residential customers who received LIHEAP or are between 60-120 days past due.            

  8. What if usage changes during the repayment period; for example, if a business was closed due to COVID? 
    Because it is a usage-based charge, if a business were to close and therefore not use any gas, they would not be responsible to pay for the charges.
  9. What if there is an issue with reading an individual meter? 
    These charges would follow the same billing procedures currently used. For instance, if a meter reading needs to be estimated or later corrected, the initial bill would be based on the estimated/initial reading and when the correct meter reading is made, any difference between the estimated reading and the actual reading is accounted for and the individual customer would be billed only for actual usage (including the Feb 2021 Weather Event charges).
  10. What if a customer moves out before the end of the 63 months approved for recovery?
    If a customer moves out or otherwise stops taking service from CenterPoint Energy Minnesota Gas, they will no longer receive a bill with the Feb 2021 Weather Event charges. However, any new customers that start taking service will be billed the Feb 2021 Weather Event charges. The new customer will be responsible for paying the surcharge during the remaining months of the 63-month cost recovery period (unless they meet the previously noted exemption criteria).
  11. Is the surcharge paying for natural gas used outside of Minnesota? 
    No. The surcharge only recovers the costs for natural gas that was purchased and delivered to our Minnesota customers. Minnesota has a rigorous regulatory process to ensure that customers pay only for natural gas supplies that were used in the state. 

  12. Does the surcharge include interest charges on the natural gas costs? 
    No. The surcharge does not include any interest or financing charges. As approved by the MPUC, the surcharge only recovers the actual cost of the natural gas that was purchased and delivered to our customers during Feb. 13-17, 2021. 

  13. Is CenterPoint Energy earning a profit from the surcharge? 
    No. The price that we pay for natural gas is passed on directly to our customers with no mark-up, and we do not profit from the sale of the natural gas.            

  14. Why didn't CenterPoint Energy tell customers to conserve natural gas at the time to avoid these extra costs?

    As a utility, we must ensure that there is an adequate natural gas supply to always meet customer needs, especially on the coldest days. The Feb. 2021 extreme weather and natural gas price spike occurred on the Friday before the Presidents Day holiday weekend, when we (and other utilities) had to obtain in advance an adequate supply of natural gas to meet customer needs through the following Tuesday. Because residential customers are not required to comply with a request to conserve energy, it is impossible to know in advance how much, or how little, the overall demand for natural gas might change during a specific time. If we had asked customers to conserve energy, bought less gas based on that ask, but not all customers conserved, we would not have had enough gas to keep customers warm during an incredible cold period.

    By reducing natural gas usage, conservation can help customers save money on their utility bills. However, for residential customers, usage is measured and billed only monthly. As a result, for billing purposes, there is no way to distinguish a customer who may have chosen to conserve during the Presidents Day weekend when gas costs were highest from a customer who conserved later in February when gas costs had already gone down. So, customers who conserved during the event wouldn't see their bills go down any more than customers who conserved at some other point during February.

  15. Couldn't CenterPoint Energy have done something to prevent these extraordinary costs? 

    We do not control prices in the natural gas market. We do not produce, process, or trade in natural gas. As a utility, our business is to purchase natural gas in the market for safe, reliable delivery to our residential and business customers.

    Like utilities in many other states, we had to make short-term purchases of natural gas in the market during the Feb. 2021 price spike. In addition to baseload and stored gas supplies, these purchases were necessary to keep our customers safe and warm in the extreme cold. When utilities need to purchase short-term natural gas over a weekend, the actual price is not known until after the gas is purchased. Our gas supply plan protected customers from an estimated additional $570 million in cost by using a combination of measures to guard against market volatility, including hedging, storage, investments in conservation, and curtailments.

  16. Is anyone looking into whether these extraordinary costs were justified? 

    Even though it authorized the state's natural gas utilities to begin cost recovery with a surcharge starting on Sept. 1, 2021, the MPUC did not make a final decision on the total amount each utility can ultimately recover. Instead, as requested jointly by the utilities, the MPUC ordered a contested case proceeding by the Office of Administrative Hearings to evaluate whether the utilities' actions were prudent, and the costs were reasonable. An administrative law judge will issue a report by May 4, 2022, with recommendations for the MPUC, which will then decide the total amount each utility can recover.

  17. How will CenterPoint Energy prevent extraordinary costs like this from happening in the future?

    Considering the February market events, we continue to review our annual natural gas procurement plan to identify any changes for the future. Longer-term, we are pursuing opportunities to diversify our supply sources with made-in-Minnesota renewable natural gas and green hydrogen.

    We are also committed to working with other utilities and stakeholders to pursue market reforms or regulatory changes at the federal level that would prevent future price spikes and protect utility customers.

  18. Where can customers go if they wish to register their concerns outside of CenterPoint Energy? 
    Customers can log their complaints in Docket 21-135 following the directions from the MPUC website, or they may contact the MPUC at 651-296-0406