HOUSTON – On Wednesday, the Houston City Council denied a new CenterPoint Energy rate increase.
Houston is just one stakeholder in CenterPoint’s request to raise rates, so the recent denial does not mean the issue is resolved.
The Public Utility Commission allows CenterPoint to recover costs twice a year for ongoing investments in poles, wires and other infrastructure. However, how much they raise rates is negotiable.
Arturo Michel, City of Houston attorney, said, “This just begins a negotiation process. As typically happens, they come in with a higher number. We come in with a lower number and we meet somewhere in between. We almost always find some potential reduction and we begin a negotiation process.”
The increase CenterPoint wants would add about $1 to the average residential customer’s monthly electric bill. The city has until Oct. 15 to review CenterPoint’s request and respond with a new number.
The Public Utility Commission has the final say on whether the rate is approved.
The city reached out to CenterPoint for comment. The company acknowledged there have been five rate increases this year already but said two of those were related to severe weather events from last year. CenterPoint also noted that one of the rates will go down beginning in 2027.
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We checked the records and discovered six rate increases requests in 2025 to date.
- $3.2 billion for system resiliency. This will cost the average customer an extra $1.40 a month from 2026 through 2028.
- In April, the PUC approved an increase of $122 million. That adds $2.22 to every customer’s monthly bill.
- Derecho storm recovery costs mean everyone pays an extra $1 a month for the next 15 years to reimburse CenterPoint $425 million.
- Beryl storm recovery adds another $2 a month for the next 14 years.
- September 1: Rates increased by about $13 a month for the average residential customer.
- Now: CenterPoint wants another $55 million for “investments that are necessary to maintain a safe and reliable distribution system that requires ongoing investments to serve new customers and replace aging infrastructure.” If approved, it will cost about another $1 a month.
Compare those six increases in 2025 to just two in 2022 and three in 2023. So what changed?
In 2023, state legislators voted to allow electric delivery companies like CenterPoint to increase rates more than once a year without waiting for a full rate study. In the past, companies might have had to absorb the costs of improvements and expenses while regulators studied and approved an increase.
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This new system is great for CenterPoint, which gets the money faster. It’s not so great for customers and cities that want time to study whether the rate increases are justified.
In a statement late Tuesday, the company tells us, “CenterPoint Energy is always working to prioritize customer affordability while continuing to deliver safe and reliable service to our communities. CenterPoint’s cost of the customer bill has remained essentially flat over the last decade, about $47 in 2014 and $49 in 2024.”
While speaking to each rate, spokesperson Grace Carter gave us these bullet points.
- The Distribution Cost Recovery Factor (DCRF) is an adjustment made twice per year that helps recover the cost of ongoing investments in poles, wires, substations, and other infrastructure that support reliability and resiliency across our service area.
- It’s important to distinguish between DCRF filings and storm cost recovery filings. Storm recovery securitization filings are separate and only occur after major weather events that cause significant damage to the grid. These filings allow utilities to recover extraordinary costs associated with emergency response and infrastructure restoration, which are outside of our control and not part of regular operations.
- While it’s true that customers saw a change on Sept. 1, 2025, an increase of 1.35 cents per kilowatt-hour, it’s important to note that this is not a permanent rate increase. Like the DCRF, the Transmission Cost Recovery Factor (TCRF) changes twice per year and includes a seasonal adjustment to account for higher energy usage in the summer. This adjustment is temporary and reverses in March, when rates return to lower levels.
- For further context: In September 2024, the average homeowner using 1000 kWhs per month paid approximately $57.89 per month. That amount decreased to about $49.29 in March 2025 and remained at that level until September 1, 2025, when the new rate adjustment took effect, bringing the average monthly cost to approximately $62.79.
- For the Houston Electric rate case that was settled earlier this year, CenterPoint will receive approximately $50 million less revenue annually, reducing electric customer bills by about $1.00 a month for most customers from 2025 through 2029 – while also continuing to deliver support for significant local economic growth and upgrades across the Greater Houston area.
- For 2025 TEEEF-1, costs associated with the large temporary emergency generation units are now out of rates for Houston electric customers, and by 2027, bills will be reduced by an estimated $2 less per month for the average customer.
- The 2025 Derecho Storm Cost Recovery results in a temporary surcharge of about $1 per month for the average customer. The securitization of these funds will save more than $50 million in interest charges.
- 2025 Storm Cost Recovery for Hurricane Beryl, Hurricane Francine, and Winter Storm Enzo, an average residential customer would see a rate adjustment of approximately $2 per month, subject to PUCT approval.
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