CenterPoint Energy is borrowing heavily to expand its regulated power and gas networks. In the third quarter of 2026, rate recovery outran rising interest costs, but owners still need that to keep happening.
If you live in Greater Houston, the electricity that reaches your light switch probably travels over CenterPoint Energy's wires. The company also delivers power in parts of Indiana and pipes natural gas to homes and businesses in several states. It grows by building networks and then asking regulators to let it charge for them. It sold its Ohio gas business in October 2026 to help fund a 10-year plan to spend at least $70.7 billion through 2035.
Households and businesses pay regulator-approved rates for the power and gas delivered to them. Electricity, in Houston and Indiana, is the main engine. It was the primary source of higher group net income in the first nine months of 2026. What the company keeps depends less on selling more energy than on how much of its spending regulators accept into rates, and how quickly. The costs that matter come with owning a large network: wear on its assets, interest on the debt that built them, upkeep and safety rules. Federal officials also ordered an Indiana coal unit, Culley Unit 2, to keep running past its planned retirement. Recovering those costs depends on contested proceedings, and any cost regulators refuse comes out of margin.
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