Houston's Electric Utility Is Prepared for Storms After 2024 Blackout, CEO Says
By and Mark Chediak
Save
Houston's electric utility is confident significant grid investments will prevent a repeat of widespread blackouts that occurred last summer following Hurricane Beryl.
CenterPoint Energy Inc. is integrating artificial intelligence to predict tree growth, using light detection to spot tangled wires in the area's dense vegetation and upgrading its weather modeling to better predict storms, according to Chief Executive Officer Jason Wells said.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Yahoo
With A Return On Equity Of 8.8%, Has CenterPoint Energy, Inc.'s (NYSE:CNP) Management Done Well?
While some investors are already well versed in financial metrics (hat tip), this article is for those who would like to learn about Return On Equity (ROE) and why it is important. We'll use ROE to examine CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP), by way of a worked example. Return on Equity or ROE is a test of how effectively a company is growing its value and managing investors' money. In short, ROE shows the profit each dollar generates with respect to its shareholder investments. Trump has pledged to "unleash" American oil and gas and these 15 US stocks have developments that are poised to benefit. ROE can be calculated by using the formula: Return on Equity = Net Profit (from continuing operations) ÷ Shareholders' Equity So, based on the above formula, the ROE for CenterPoint Energy is: 8.8% = US$966m ÷ US$11b (Based on the trailing twelve months to March 2025). The 'return' is the profit over the last twelve months. So, this means that for every $1 of its shareholder's investments, the company generates a profit of $0.09. Check out our latest analysis for CenterPoint Energy By comparing a company's ROE with its industry average, we can get a quick measure of how good it is. However, this method is only useful as a rough check, because companies do differ quite a bit within the same industry classification. You can see in the graphic below that CenterPoint Energy has an ROE that is fairly close to the average for the Integrated Utilities industry (8.9%). That isn't amazing, but it is respectable. While at least the ROE is not lower than the industry, its still worth checking what role the company's debt plays as high debt levels relative to equity may also make the ROE appear high. If true, then it is more an indication of risk than the potential. You can see the 2 risks we have identified for CenterPoint Energy by visiting our risks dashboard for free on our platform here. Most companies need money -- from somewhere -- to grow their profits. That cash can come from retained earnings, issuing new shares (equity), or debt. In the first two cases, the ROE will capture this use of capital to grow. In the latter case, the use of debt will improve the returns, but will not change the equity. In this manner the use of debt will boost ROE, even though the core economics of the business stay the same. CenterPoint Energy does use a high amount of debt to increase returns. It has a debt to equity ratio of 2.03. Its ROE is quite low, even with the use of significant debt; that's not a good result, in our opinion. Investors should think carefully about how a company might perform if it was unable to borrow so easily, because credit markets do change over time. Return on equity is useful for comparing the quality of different businesses. Companies that can achieve high returns on equity without too much debt are generally of good quality. If two companies have the same ROE, then I would generally prefer the one with less debt. But when a business is high quality, the market often bids it up to a price that reflects this. The rate at which profits are likely to grow, relative to the expectations of profit growth reflected in the current price, must be considered, too. So you might want to take a peek at this data-rich interactive graph of forecasts for the company. But note: CenterPoint Energy may not be the best stock to buy. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies with high ROE and low debt. Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Bloomberg
5 days ago
- Bloomberg
Houston's Electric Utility Is Prepared for Storms After 2024 Blackout, CEO Says
By and Mark Chediak Save Houston's electric utility is confident significant grid investments will prevent a repeat of widespread blackouts that occurred last summer following Hurricane Beryl. CenterPoint Energy Inc. is integrating artificial intelligence to predict tree growth, using light detection to spot tangled wires in the area's dense vegetation and upgrading its weather modeling to better predict storms, according to Chief Executive Officer Jason Wells said.
Associated Press
14-06-2025
- Associated Press
CenterPoint Energy reaches settlement agreement on landmark Systemwide Resiliency Plan to strengthen Houston electric system against extreme weather threats and future hazards
HOUSTON, June 13, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- As part of its commitment to build and operate the most resilient coastal grid in the country, CenterPoint Energy (CenterPoint) announced yesterday that it has reached a settlement agreement with parties to its 2026-2028 Systemwide Resiliency Plan (SRP). Subject to Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUCT) review and approval, the SRP represents the largest single grid resiliency investment in CenterPoint's history and is expected to reduce the impact of storm-related outages by nearly 1 billion (more than 913 million minutes) for its 2.8 million customers by 2029. CenterPoint's 2026-2028 SRP will build on the progress made during the first two phases of the company's Greater Houston Resiliency Initiative (GHRI) and is designed to further address the impacts of a wide range of extreme weather threats, including more powerful storms, hurricanes, wind events like derechos, flooding, extreme temperatures, tornadoes, wildfires and winter storms. 'We are committed to continuing critical system resiliency work to help provide an electric system for the Greater Houston area that is safe, reliable, cost-effective and resilient when our customers need it most. Following constructive discussions with the Commission and intervening parties, this plan represents a landmark investment and suite of resiliency actions that will provide customers with clear benefits now and in the future,' said Jason Wells, President and Chief Executive Officer of CenterPoint Energy. 'Our plan is cost-effective and will build on the progress we've made to date through the Greater Houston Resiliency Initiative. Taken together, we believe that these resiliency actions will help create a future with fewer outages that impact smaller clusters of customers, coupled with faster restoration times for our Greater Houston communities. This is another major step on our strategic roadmap to building and operating the most resilient coastal grid in the nation,' said Wells. Key improvements in CenterPoint's Systemwide Resiliency Plan This settlement agreement reflects discussions with intervening parties following the filing of CenterPoint's enhanced SRP with the PUCT in January 2025. It includes a revised, agreed-upon investment of more than $3 billion in CenterPoint's electric distribution system. The agreement also includes the deferment of more than $240 million in SRP costs until the second half of 2029, which will help reduce the bill impact for customers by spreading costs over a four-year period instead of three years. Once approved, and while some cost recovery would be deferred into 2029, all SRP work will be completed in the proposed 2026-2028 timeframe. Separate from the 2026-2028 SRP which is focused on the electric distribution system, CenterPoint will continue its nearly $2 billion investments planned for the electric transmission system, including rebuilding or upgrading more than 2,200 structures to better withstand extreme weather. Customer bill impacts Pending approval from the PUCT, CenterPoint's historic SRP investment in the electric distribution system would add approximately $1.40 per month for an average residential customer each year from 2026 through 2028, with a final $0.60 per month added in 2030 to help lessen bill impacts in previous years. The impacts of these investment in Greater Houston's electric infrastructure are reduced over the next three years, other key components of the average residential customer bill will go down during the same period including: Building the stronger, more resilient, self-healing electric system of the future The investments outlined in CenterPoint's SRP are designed to benefit customers across the entire 12-county service area, with a specific focus on customers in higher-risk areas. When complete, this array of resiliency actions, combined with CenterPoint's normal operations, will achieve the following: Addressing growing energy needs and weather challenges The resiliency actions outlined by the SRP will also help meet the energy needs of the growing population across CenterPoint's Greater Houston service area. The number of customers is expected to continue growing by approximately 2 percent annually for the foreseeable future – the equivalent of adding a city the size of Waco, Texas, every year. As Greater Houston's population, economy and energy needs continue to grow, CenterPoint's SRP will help address the increasing risk that this fast-growing region faces from extreme weather. A Systemwide Resiliency Plan shaped by experts, stakeholders and customer feedback The SRP incorporates important feedback from customers, elected leaders, emergency management agencies and independent experts. In preparation for filing the SRP, CenterPoint conducted 30 community meetings and listening sessions and solicited feedback on the plan during the draft stages. As part of CenterPoint's commitment to long-term affordability, the SRP is designed to provide the greatest dollar value to customers now and in the future by prioritizing proven, cost-effective resiliency actions that will ultimately prove vital to reducing future storm-related costs for the communities CenterPoint serves. CenterPoint GHRI Phase One and Phase Two resiliency actions Since launching GHRI in response to Hurricane Beryl last summer, CenterPoint has made progress on the historic series of critical resiliency improvements across both Phase One and Phase Two. When combined, the company has completed the following actions: About CenterPoint Energy, Inc. CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE: CNP) is a multi-state electric and natural gas delivery company serving approximately 7 million metered customers across Indiana, Minnesota, Ohio, and Texas. The company is headquartered in Houston and is the only Texas-domiciled investor-owned utility. As of March 31, 2025, the company had approximately $44 billion in assets. With approximately 8,300 employees, CenterPoint Energy and its predecessor companies have been serving customers for more than 150 years. For more information, visit Forward-looking Statements This news release, as well as the website pages related to the GHRI, includes forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. When used in this news release, the words 'anticipate,' 'believe,' 'continue,' 'could,' 'estimate,' 'expect,' 'forecast,' 'goal,' 'intend,' 'may,' 'objective,' 'plan,' 'potential,' 'predict,' 'projection,' 'should,' 'target,' 'will,' 'would' or other similar words are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements, which include statements regarding the Systemwide Resiliency Plan and the Greater Houston Resiliency Initiative, including their respective benefits, are based upon assumptions of management which are believed to be reasonable at the time made and are subject to significant risks and uncertainties. Actual events and results may differ materially from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. Any statements in this news release or the website pages related to the GHRI regarding future events that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements. Each forward-looking statement contained in this news release or the website pages related to the GHRI speaks only as of the date of this release. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated by the provided forward-looking information include risks and uncertainties relating to: (1) business strategies and strategic initiatives, restructurings, joint ventures, acquisitions or dispositions of assets or businesses involving CenterPoint Energy or its industry; (2) CenterPoint Energy's ability to fund and invest planned capital, and the timely recovery of its investments; (3) financial market and general economic conditions; (4) the timing and impact of future regulatory, legislative and political actions or developments; and (5) other factors, risks and uncertainties discussed in CenterPoint Energy's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2024 and CenterPoint's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarters ended March 31, 2025 and other reports CenterPoint Energy or its subsidiaries may file from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission. For more information, contact: Communications [email protected] View original content to download multimedia: SOURCE CenterPoint Energy
