{"id":213800,"date":"2025-09-09T21:14:10","date_gmt":"2025-09-09T21:14:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/213800\/"},"modified":"2025-09-09T21:14:10","modified_gmt":"2025-09-09T21:14:10","slug":"why-your-centerpoint-bill-keeps-climbing-and-how-it-can-again","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/213800\/","title":{"rendered":"Why your CenterPoint bill keeps climbing, and how it can again"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 kNAFkD cuqaEv article-text\"><strong>HOUSTON<\/strong> \u2013 On Wednesday, the Houston City Council will vote to approve or deny a new <a href=\"https:\/\/www.click2houston.com\/topic\/CenterPoint\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.click2houston.com\/topic\/CenterPoint\/\">CenterPoint<\/a> Energy rate increase.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">Even if the city votes against it, the state Public Utility Commission is the ultimate authority to decide if CenterPoint can raise the rates we all pay on our electric bills.<\/p>\n<p>Texas PUC meeting dated 11-14-2024 (Copyright 2024 by KPRC Click2Houston &#8211; All rights reserved.)<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">But it feels a bit like whack-a-mole trying to keep track of all the increases CenterPoint is applying to electric bills. As soon as regulators are successful in getting the company to lower the amount it wants to raise rates, CenterPoint is back with a new request for something else.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 kNAFkD cuqaEv article-text\"><b>RELATED: <\/b><a href=\"https:\/\/www.click2houston.com\/news\/local\/2025\/07\/17\/does-centerpoint-have-to-pay-if-a-power-surge-damages-your-appliances\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.click2houston.com\/news\/local\/2025\/07\/17\/does-centerpoint-have-to-pay-if-a-power-surge-damages-your-appliances\/\"><b>Does CenterPoint have to pay if a power surge damages your appliances?<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">We checked the records and discovered six rate increases requests in 2025 to date<\/p>\n<ul class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 kDvXdO font_openSans articleList\">\n<li class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__StackBase-sc-1fnzlkn-7 ecGWWE iQviKm\">\n<p>$3.2 billion for system resiliency. This will cost the average customer an extra $1.40 a month from 2026 through 2028.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__StackBase-sc-1fnzlkn-7 ecGWWE iQviKm\">\n<p>In April, the PUC approved an increase of $122 million. That adds $2.22 to every customer\u2019s monthly bill.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__StackBase-sc-1fnzlkn-7 ecGWWE iQviKm\">\n<p>Derecho storm recovery costs mean everyone pays an extra $1 a month for the next 15 years to reimburse CenterPoint $425 million.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__StackBase-sc-1fnzlkn-7 ecGWWE iQviKm\"\/>\n<li class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__StackBase-sc-1fnzlkn-7 ecGWWE iQviKm\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.click2houston.com\/news\/local\/2025\/08\/29\/new-rate-hike-your-electric-bill-is-going-up\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.click2houston.com\/news\/local\/2025\/08\/29\/new-rate-hike-your-electric-bill-is-going-up\/\">September 1<\/a>: Rates increased by about $13 a month for the average residential customer.<\/li>\n<li class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__StackBase-sc-1fnzlkn-7 ecGWWE iQviKm\">\n<p>Now: CenterPoint wants another $55 million for \u201cinvestments that are necessary to maintain a safe and reliable distribution system that requires ongoing investments to serve new customers and replace aging infrastructure.\u201d If approved, it will cost about another $1 a month.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">Compare those six increases in 2025 to just two in 2022 and three in 2023. So what changed?<\/p>\n<p>House Speaker Dade Phelan listens to state Representatives on the House floor during Sine Die, the last day of the 88th Texas Legislative Session, at the Capitol in Austin on May 29, 2023. (Eddie Gaspar\/The Texas Tribune)<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">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.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 kNAFkD cuqaEv article-text\"><b>RELATED: <\/b><a href=\"https:\/\/www.click2houston.com\/news\/local\/2025\/07\/25\/centerpoint-responds-after-poles-left-in-houston-neighborhood\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.click2houston.com\/news\/local\/2025\/07\/25\/centerpoint-responds-after-poles-left-in-houston-neighborhood\/\"><b>CenterPoint responds after poles left in Houston neighborhood<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 kNAFkD cuqaEv article-text\">This new system is great for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.click2houston.com\/topic\/CenterPoint_Energy\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.click2houston.com\/topic\/CenterPoint_Energy\/\">CenterPoint<\/a>, which gets the money faster. It\u2019s not so great for customers and cities that want time to study whether the rate increases are justified.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 kNAFkD cuqaEv article-text\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.click2houston.com\/team\/WTV6ZOJ6QFFHNMAN2A6FCSBH7E\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.click2houston.com\/team\/WTV6ZOJ6QFFHNMAN2A6FCSBH7E\/\">2 Investigates Amy Davis<\/a> will be at the Houston City Council meeting on Wednesday, and will keep you updated. <\/p>\n<p>KPRC 2 Investigates<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 kiwhtN\">Keep up to date with all our investigations by signing up for the KPRC 2 Investigates newsletter. <\/p>\n<p>Copyright 2025 by KPRC Click2Houston &#8211; All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"HOUSTON \u2013 On Wednesday, the Houston City Council will vote to approve or deny a new CenterPoint Energy&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":213801,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5130],"tags":[22520,4345,51079,16844,358,3187,59259],"class_list":{"0":"post-213800","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-houston","8":"tag-centerpoint","9":"tag-houston","10":"tag-houston-city-council","11":"tag-investigates","12":"tag-texas","13":"tag-tx","14":"tag-utility-bills"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115176411281844455","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/213800","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=213800"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/213800\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/213801"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=213800"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=213800"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=213800"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}