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Regulatory Matters | 3 Months Ended
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Mar. 31, 2023
Regulatory Assets and Liabilities, Other Disclosure [Abstract] |
Regulatory Matters | Regulatory Matters Equity Return The Registrants are at times allowed by a regulator to defer an equity return as part of the recoverable carrying costs of a regulatory asset. A deferred equity return is capitalized for rate-making purposes, but it is not included in the Registrant’s regulatory assets on its Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets. The allowed equity return is recognized in the Condensed Statements of Consolidated Income as it is recovered in rates. The recoverable allowed equity return not yet recognized by the Registrants is as follows:
| March 31, 2023 |  | December 31, 2022
| CenterPoint Energy (1) |  | Houston Electric (2) |  | CERC (3) |  | CenterPoint Energy (1) |  | Houston Electric (2) |  | CERC (3)
| (in millions)
Allowed equity return not recognized | $ | 169 |  |  | $ | 90 |  |  | $ | 58 |  |  | $ | 188 |  |  | $ | 82 |  |  | $ | 54 |
(1)In addition to the amounts described in (2) and (3) below, represents CenterPoint Energy’s allowed equity return on post in-service carrying cost generally associated with investments at SIGECO. (2)Represents Houston Electric’s allowed equity return on its true-up balance of stranded costs, other changes and related interest resulting from the formerly integrated electric utilities prior to Texas deregulation to be recovered in rates through 2024 and certain storm restoration, TEEEF and LLTF balances pending recovery in the next rate proceeding. The actual amounts recognized are adjusted at least annually to correct any over-collections or under-collections during the preceding 12 months. (3)CERC’s allowed equity return on post in-service carrying cost associated with certain distribution facilities replacements expenditures in Texas and costs associated with investments in Indiana. The table below reflects the amount of allowed equity return recognized by each Registrant in its Condensed Statements of Consolidated Income:
| Three Months Ended March 31,
| 2023 |  | 2022
| CenterPoint Energy |  | Houston Electric |  | CERC |  | CenterPoint Energy |  | Houston Electric |  | CERC
| (in millions)
Allowed equity return recognized | $ | 8 |  |  | $ | 7 |  |  | $ | 1 |  |  | $ | 10 |  |  | $ | 9 |  |  | $ | 1 |
February 2021 Winter Storm Event In February 2021, certain of the Registrants’ jurisdictions experienced an extreme and unprecedented winter weather event that resulted in prolonged freezing temperatures, which impacted their businesses. The February 2021 Winter Storm Event impacted wholesale prices of CenterPoint Energy’s and CERC’s natural gas purchases and their ability to serve customers in their Natural Gas service territories, including due to the reduction in available natural gas capacity and impacts to CenterPoint Energy’s and CERC’s natural gas supply portfolio activities, and the effects of weather on their systems and their ability to transport natural gas, among other things. The overall natural gas market, including the markets from which CenterPoint Energy and CERC sourced a significant portion of their natural gas for their operations, experienced significant impacts caused by the February 2021 Winter Storm Event, resulting in extraordinary increases in the cost of natural gas purchased by CenterPoint Energy and CERC of approximately $2 billion. CenterPoint Energy and CERC have completed recovery of natural gas costs in Mississippi, Indiana and Texas discussed further below, and continue to recover the natural gas cost in Louisiana and Minnesota. As of March 31, 2023, CenterPoint Energy and CERC have each recorded current regulatory assets of $102 million and non-current regulatory assets of $161 million associated with the February 2021 Winter Storm Event. As of December 31, 2022, CenterPoint Energy and CERC have each recorded current regulatory assets of $1,175 million and non-current regulatory assets of $202 million associated with the February 2021 Winter Storm Event. In Minnesota, the MPUC issued its written order on October 19, 2022 disallowing CERC’s recovery of approximately $36 million of the $409 million incurred, and CERC’s regulatory asset balance was reduced to reflect the disallowance. CERC filed a petition for reconsideration on November 8, 2022 and a written order denying the petition for reconsideration was issued on January 6, 2023. CenterPoint Energy and CERC have approximately $75 million of the total $2 billion of natural gas costs incurred during the February 2021 Winter Storm Event remaining under prudence review. Recovery of natural gas costs within the regulatory assets as of March 31, 2023 are probable and may be subject to customary regulatory prudence reviews in all jurisdictions, which may impact the amounts ultimately recovered. As of both March 31, 2023 and December 31, 2022, as authorized by the PUCT, both CenterPoint Energy and Houston Electric recorded a regulatory asset of $8 million for bad debt expenses resulting from REPs’ default on their obligation to pay delivery charges to Houston Electric net of collateral. Additionally, both CenterPoint Energy and Houston Electric recorded a regulatory asset of $16 million as of both March 31, 2023 and December 31, 2022, to defer operations and maintenance costs associated with the February 2021 Winter Storm Event. See Note 13(c) for further information regarding litigation related to the February 2021 Winter Storm Event. Texas Public Securitization. In 2022, CenterPoint Energy and CERC received approval to recover CERC’s natural gas costs related to the February 2021 Winter Storm Event in Texas through the state’s public securitization program. The Texas Natural Gas Securitization Finance Corporation issued customer rate relief bonds in March 2023, and on March 23, 2023, CenterPoint Energy and CERC, collectively, received approximately $1.1 billion in cash proceeds from the state’s customer rate relief bonds. The proceeds from the state’s customer rate relief bonds included carrying costs incurred through August 2022. Incremental carrying costs incurred after August 2022 until the date the proceeds were received are recorded in a separate regulatory asset to be included for recovery in a subsequent rate proceeding. As CenterPoint Energy and CERC have no future financial obligations for the repayment of the state’s customer rate relief bonds, the customer rate relief bonds are not recorded on CenterPoint Energy’s or CERC’s balance sheets. The $1.1 billion in cash proceeds from the customer rate relief bonds is considered to be a government grant. The state’s customer rate relief bonds are backed in part by customer rate relief property, including customer rate relief charges, which are nonbypassable uniform monthly volumetric charges to be paid by all existing and future customers as a component of each regulated utility’s gas cost or in another manner that the Railroad Commission determines reasonable, separate from their base rate. CERC only acts as a collection agent, whose duties include management, servicing and administration of a portion of the customer rate relief property which is associated with the customer rate relief charge imposed on customers of CERC under the guidance and direction from the Railroad Commission. The Texas Natural Gas Securitization Finance Corporation, and not CenterPoint Energy or CERC, is the owner of the customer rate relief property. The assets of the Texas Natural Gas Securitization Finance Corporation are not available to pay creditors of CenterPoint Energy, CERC, or their affiliates. While the customer rate relief charges will be included by CERC in their monthly billings, the billing amount is established by the Railroad Commission. CERC will remit all customer rate relief charges to the financing entity set up by the Railroad Commission. Therefore, collection and service to repay the state’s customer rate relief bonds have no impact on the respective Condensed Statements of Consolidated Income of CenterPoint Energy or CERC. As U.S. generally accepted accounting principles have no specific accounting guidance for government grants or assistance, the cash proceeds from the state’s customer rate relief bonds were accounted for as a government grant by analogy to the grant model under IAS 20—Accounting for Government Grants and Disclosures of Government Assistance. CenterPoint Energy and CERC reflect the proceeds from the grant as a deduction to natural gas costs and recognized the $1.1 billion of cash proceeds from the state’s customer rate relief bonds within Utility natural gas expense on their respective Condensed Statements of Consolidated Income, net of the recognition of natural gas cost related to relieving CenterPoint Energy and CERC’s regulatory assets related to the February 2021 Winter Storm Event. Indiana Electric Securitization of Planned Generation Retirements (CenterPoint Energy) The State of Indiana has enacted legislation, Senate Bill 386, that allows CenterPoint Energy to request approval from the IURC to securitize the remaining book value and removal costs associated with certain generating facilities not more than twenty-four months before the unit is retired. The Governor of Indiana signed the legislation on April 19, 2021. On May 10, 2022, CenterPoint Energy (Indiana Electric) filed an application with the IURC to securitize qualified costs associated with its planned retirements of coal generation facilities. Total qualified costs were estimated at $360 million, of which $350 million would be financed and $10 million are estimated total ongoing costs. A hearing was held before the IURC on September 7, 2022 and an order was issued by the IURC on January 4, 2023 authorizing the issuance of up to $350 million in securitization bonds. Accordingly, CenterPoint Energy determined that the retirement of property, plant and equipment became probable upon the issuance of the order. No loss on abandonment was recognized in connection with issuance of the order as there was no disallowance of all or part of the cost of the abandoned property, plant and equipment. CenterPoint Energy reclassified property, plant and equipment of $257 million to be recovered through securitization to a regulatory asset during the three months ended March 31, 2023 and such amounts will continue to earn a full return until recovered through securitization. The amount remaining in property, plant and equipment as of March 31, 2023 is the difference in the net book value of the property, plant and equipment between the issuance of the order and the anticipated securitization bond issuance date, and is essentially the estimated depreciation during that period. On March 24, 2023, SIGECO and the Securitization Subsidiary filed a registration statement on Form SF-1 under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, with the SEC registering the public offering and sale of up to $350 million aggregate principal amount of the Securitization Subsidiary Securitization Bonds. The registration statement has not yet become effective, and the Securitization Subsidiary Securitization Bonds may not be sold nor may offers to buy be accepted prior to the time the registration statement becomes effective. The Securitization Subsidiary Securitization Bonds will not be obligations of SIGECO or any of its affiliates other than the Securitization Subsidiary. The Securitization Subsidiary Securitization Bonds will not be secured by SIGECO first mortgage bonds, and SIGECO’s rights, titles, and interest in and under the IURC Order, which provides authority to issue the Securitization Subsidiary Securitization Bonds and to impose, collect and receive securitization charges from SIGECO’s electric customers as well as to obtain periodic adjustments to such securitization charges, are not subject to the lien of SIGECO mortgage indenture. Houston Electric TEEEF Houston Electric continues to review the effects of legislation passed in 2021 and is working with the PUCT regarding proposed rulemakings and pursuing implementation of these items where applicable. For example, pursuant to legislation passed in 2021, Houston Electric entered into two leases for TEEEF (mobile generation) which are detailed in Note 19. Houston Electric initially sought recovery of the 2021 lease costs for the TEEEF and the 2021 operational costs for transportation, mobilization and demobilization, labor and materials for interconnections, fuel for commissioning, testing and operation, purchase and lease of auxiliary equipment, and labor and materials for operations in its DCRF application filed with the PUCT on April 5, 2022, and subsequently amended on July 1, 2022, to show mobile generation in a separate Rider TEEEF, seeking recovery of deferred costs and the applicable return as of December 31, 2021 under these lease agreements of approximately $200 million. The annual revenue increase requested for these lease agreements was approximately $57 million. On October 13, 2022, the PUCT staff filed a statement of position recommending a longer amortization period for the short-term lease, deferral of associated rate case expenses to the next base rate proceeding and exclusion of the retail transmission rate class from allocation of TEEEF costs. Lengthening the amortization period for the short-term lease would reduce the revenue requirement to $39 million. Houston Electric indicated to the PUCT staff that it did not oppose their recommendations. On January 27, 2023, the administrative law judges issued a proposal for decision recommending that the PUCT deny recovery of all of the costs related to TEEEF-related investments in 2021. On March 9, 2023, PUCT reversed, in part, the proposal for decision and verbally approved the recovery of all TEEEF costs included in the DCRF application. A final order was issued on April 5, 2023 approving a revenue requirement of $39 million. On April 5, 2023, Houston Electric filed its second TEEEF filing requesting recovery of TEEEF related costs incurred through December 31, 2022. Houston Electric is requesting a total revenue requirement of approximately $188 million. Houston Electric defers costs associated with the short-term and long-term leases that are probable of recovery and would otherwise be charged to expense in a regulatory asset, including allowed returns, and determined that such regulatory assets remain probable of recovery as of March 31, 2023. Right of use finance lease assets, such as assets acquired under the long-term leases, are evaluated for impairment under the long-lived asset impairment model by assessing if a capital disallowance from a regulator is probable through monitoring the outcome of rate cases and other proceedings. Houston Electric continues to monitor the on-going proceedings and has not recorded any impairments on its right of use assets in the year ended December 31, 2022 or the three months ended March 31, 2023. See Note 19 for further information. COVID-19 Regulatory Matters Regulatory commissions in Indiana Electric’s and CenterPoint Energy’s and CERC’s Natural Gas service territories have either (1) issued orders to record a regulatory asset for incremental bad debt expenses related to COVID-19, including costs associated with the suspension of disconnections and payment plans, or (2) provided authority to recover bad debt expense through an existing tracking mechanism. Both CenterPoint Energy and CERC have recorded estimated incremental uncollectible receivables to the associated regulatory asset of $17 million as of both March 31, 2023 and December 31, 2022. Both CenterPoint Energy and CERC have $8 million remaining to recover through rates and other sources as of March 31, 2023 and $11 million and $10 million remaining to recover through rates and other sources as of December 31, 2022, respectively.

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