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Regulatory Matters | 9 Months Ended
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Sep. 30, 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:
| September 30, 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 | $ | 205 |  |  | $ | 81 |  |  | $ | 66 |  |  | $ | 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, including investments at SIGECO and securitized qualified costs associated with the completed retirements of SIGECO’s A.B. Brown coal-fired generation facilities. (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. (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 September 30,
| 2023 |  | 2022
| CenterPoint Energy |  | Houston Electric |  | CERC |  | CenterPoint Energy |  | Houston Electric |  | CERC
| (in millions)
Allowed equity return recognized | $ | 14 |  |  | $ | 14 |  |  | $ | — |  |  | $ | 14 |  |  | $ | 12 |  |  | $ | 1 |
| Nine Months Ended September 30,
| 2023 |  | 2022
| CenterPoint Energy |  | Houston Electric |  | CERC |  | CenterPoint Energy |  | Houston Electric |  | CERC
| (in millions)
Allowed equity return recognized | $ | 32 |  |  | $ | 30 |  |  | $ | 1 |  |  | $ | 36 |  |  | $ | 33 |  |  | $ | 2 |
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 September 30, 2023, CenterPoint Energy and CERC have each recorded current regulatory assets of $92 million and non-current regulatory assets of $141 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 in Louisiana, which may impact the amount ultimately recovered in Louisiana. On August 24, 2023, the LPSC Staff issued an Audit Report which recommends some prospective process changes to the gas supply bid process and did not recommend any disallowance of February 2021 Winter Storm Event gas costs incurred in Louisiana. Recovery of such costs remains subject to LPSC approval. As of both September 30, 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 $17 million and $16 million as of both September 30, 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 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 non-bypassable 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, the collection and servicing of customer rate relief charges 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 in the nine months ended September 30, 2023, 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 in the same period. Indiana Electric Securitization of Generation Retirements (CenterPoint Energy) On January 4, 2023, the IURC issued an order in accordance with Indiana Senate Enrolled Act 386 authorizing the issuance of up to $350 million in securitization bonds to securitize qualified costs associated with the retirements of Indiana Electric’s A.B. Brown coal-fired generation facilities. 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. In the first quarter of 2023, upon receipt of the order, CenterPoint Energy reclassified property, plant and equipment to be recovered through securitization to a regulatory asset and such amounts continued to earn a full return until recovered through securitization. On March 24, 2023, SIGECO and the SIGECO Securitization Subsidiary filed a registration statement on Form SF-1, amended on May 16, 2023, under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, with the SEC registering the public offering and sale of approximately $341 million aggregate principal amount of the SIGECO Securitization Bonds. The registration statement became effective on June 12, 2023. The SIGECO Securitization Subsidiary issued $341 million aggregate principal amount of the SIGECO Securitization Bonds on June 29, 2023. See Note 11 for further details of the issuance. The SIGECO Securitization Subsidiary used the net proceeds from the issuance to purchase the securitization property from SIGECO. No gain or loss was recognized. The SIGECO Securitization Bonds are secured by the securitization property, which includes the right to recover, through non-bypassable securitization charges payable by SIGECO’s retail electric customers, the qualified costs of SIGECO authorized by the IURC order. SIGECO has no payment obligations with respect to the SIGECO Securitization Bonds except to remit collections of securitization charges as set forth in a servicing agreement between SIGECO and the SIGECO Securitization Subsidiary. The non-bypassable securitization charges are subject to a true-up mechanism. Houston Electric TEEEF 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 deferred costs and the applicable return as of December 31, 2021 under these lease agreements of approximately $200 million 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. The annual revenue increase requested for these lease agreements was approximately $57 million. A final order was issued on April 5, 2023 approving a reduced revenue requirement of $39 million that results in full recovery of costs requested but lengthens the amortization period for the short-term lease to be collected over 82.5 months. On April 28, 2023, and May 1, 2023, certain intervenors filed motions for rehearing of the PUCT’s April 5, 2023 order. On May 25, 2023, the PUCT issued its order on rehearing which clarified some of the findings, but did not change the approval of TEEEF cost recovery. On June 19, 2023, certain intervenors filed motions for rehearing of the PUCT’s May 25, 2023 Order on Rehearing; the PUCT issued an order on August 3, 2023 denying the motions for rehearing. The deadline for a party to file a judicial appeal of the PUCT’s decision was September 5, 2023, and no appeal was filed. As such, the PUCT’s decision on the first TEEEF filing is now final and non-appealable. On April 5, 2023, Houston Electric made its second TEEEF filing requesting recovery of TEEEF related costs incurred through December 31, 2022. Houston Electric is requesting a new annual revenue requirement of approximately $188 million u sing 78 months to amortize the related deferred costs for proposed rates beginning September 2023, a net increase in TEEEF revenues of approximately $149 million. On June 7, 2023, intervenors jointly requested a hearing, and on June 14, 2023, the PUCT staff indicated that it does not oppose a hearing in this docket. On June 21, 2023 Houston Electric made a filing that a hearing is not necessary given the PUCT’s decision in the TEEEF docket filed in 2022 and indicated that if the PUCT does refer this case to the State Office of Administrative Hearings, any preliminary order issued by the PUCT should be limited. On July 18, 2023 the PUCT referred the case to the State Office of Administrative Hearings and, on July 20, 2023, the PUCT issued a preliminary order identifying the issues to be addressed. On August 28, 2023, the State Office of Administrative Hearings issued an Order setting interim rates to collect an annual revenue requirement at the filed amount. Interim rates became effective on September 1, 2023 and are subject to surcharge or refund if they differ from the final rates approved by the PUCT. On October 12, 2023, a joint motion to abate was filed because the parties reached an agreement in principle on all issues. The agreement in principle is subject to PUCT approval. The ultimate outcome of these proceedings cannot be predicted at this time. 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 debt returns, and determined that such regulatory assets remain probable of recovery as of September 30, 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 nine months ended September 30, 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 $18 million and $17 million, respectively, as of September 30, 2023 and December 31, 2022. CenterPoint Energy and CERC have $5 million and $4 million, respectively, remaining to recover through rates and other sources as of September 30, 2023, and $11 million and $10 million, respectively, remaining to recover through rates and other sources as of December 31, 2022.

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