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Regulatory Matters | 3 Months Ended
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Mar. 31, 2024
Regulated Operations [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, 2024 |  | December 31, 2023
| CenterPoint Energy (1) |  | Houston Electric (2) |  | CERC (3) |  | CenterPoint Energy (1) |  | Houston Electric (2) |  | CERC (3)
| (in millions)
Unrecognized equity return | $ | 204 |  |  | $ | 69 |  |  | $ | 73 |  |  | $ | 204 |  |  | $ | 75 |  |  | $ | 69 |
(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 in Indiana. (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 TEEEF costs and storm restoration costs. (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,
| 2024 |  | 2023
| CenterPoint Energy |  | Houston Electric |  | CERC |  | CenterPoint Energy |  | Houston Electric |  | CERC
| (in millions)
Allowed equity return recognized | $ | 9 |  |  | $ | 8 |  |  | $ | 1 |  |  | $ | 8 |  |  | $ | 7 |  |  | $ | 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, and continue to recover the natural gas cost in Louisiana and Minnesota. As of March 31, 2024, CenterPoint Energy and CERC have each recorded current regulatory assets of $69 million and non-current regulatory assets of $104 million associated with the February 2021 Winter Storm Event. As of December 31, 2023, CenterPoint Energy and CERC had each recorded current regulatory assets of $86 million and non-current regulatory assets of $130 million associated with the February 2021 Winter Storm Event. 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. On December 19, 2023, the LPSC issued an order which accepted and approved the audit report. As of both March 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023, 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 $18 million and $17 million as of both March 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023, respectively, and have requested reimbursement of costs associated with the February 2021 Winter Storm Event in Houston Electric’s rate case. 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 issuance and sale of 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; the current CERC rate proceeding in Texas includes a request for recovery of this regulatory asset. 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 state’s 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 sales customers as a component of each regulated utility’s gas cost, 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 collected 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 three months ended March 31, 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. The SIGECO Securitization Subsidiary issued $341 million aggregate principal amount of the SIGECO Securitization Bonds on June 29, 2023. The SIGECO Securitization Subsidiary used a portion of the net proceeds from the issuance of the SIGECO Securitization Bonds 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 the lease 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. A final order was issued on April 5, 2023 approving a 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 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. Additional motions for rehearing were filed and 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 requested 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 July 18, 2023, the PUCT referred the case to the State Office of Administrative Hearings and 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 reduces the annual revenue requirement by approximately $35 million based on recovering the balance as of December 31, 2022 over a 102 month amortization period (instead of the 78 month period in the initial filing) and also allows for revised interim rates (to incorporate the agreement in principle and the initial interim rates that have been in place since September 1, 2023). The updated interim rates were implemented December 15, 2023. Pursuant to its order issued on February 1, 2024, the PUCT approved the agreement in principle. 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 March 31, 2024. 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, 2023 or the three months ended March 31, 2024. See Note 19 for further information.

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