CenterPoint Energy Delivers Safe, Reliable Electricity and Natural Gas to Houston-Area Homes and Businesses

  • Written By: Kelly Bedrich

  • If you live in the Houston area, including Katy, Richmond, Humble, Tomball your utility company is Centerpoint Energy Electric. Headquartered in Houston, CenterPoint Energy (NYSE: CNP) is a Fortune 500 energy utility. They serve energy markets in Texas, Minnesota, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Mississippi. Within Texas, they provide electric transmission and distribution as well as natural gas distribution. CenterPoint maintains the wires, poles, and the electric infrastructure within the Houston metropolitan area, covering over 5,000 square miles and 2.3 million customers.

    Areas Served by CenterPoint Energy

    CenterPoint provides electricity transmission and distribution as well as natural gas distribution in the Houston metro area. These areas include Houston, Kingwood, Galveston, Sugar Land, Spring, Katy, Cypress, and Tomball.

    Shop for an Electricity Provider in Centerpoint

    The Centerpoint market area became deregulated in 2001. As a utility, Centerpoint does not sell electricity, they only deliver it and maintain the poles and wires. If you live in the Centerpoint delivery area, you must select a retail electricity provider (REP). There are over 70 REPs in Texas that serve the CenterPoint utility delivery area.

    These featured electricity plans have straight-forward rates, with no gimmicks. Regardless of your monthly kWh usage levels, you can have confidence that you won’t have any unexpected surprises in your monthly electric bill.

    Houston electricity rates and electricity prices in the surrounding area are very competitive.

    Average Electricity Rate in Centerpoint Delivery Area

    • Average electricity rate in Centerpoint : 16.03¢ per kWh
    • Average electricity usage per month: 1300 kWh
    • Average electricity bill in Centerpoint : $208.39

    Top Ten Best Houston Electric Rates for your Home – CenterPoint

    Plan Name Term Rate/kWh
    OhmConnect Energy TexasConnect 36 36 14.3 ¢
    OhmConnect Energy TexasConnect 24 24 14.4 ¢
    Veteran Energy Select 24 24 14.5 ¢
    OhmConnect Energy TexasConnect 12 12 14.5 ¢
    OhmConnect Energy GreenConnect 12 12 14.8 ¢
    TriEagle Energy Simple Savings 24 24 14.8 ¢
    TriEagle Energy Simple Savings 36 36 14.8 ¢
    Direct Energy Live Brighter Lite 24 24 14.9 ¢
    Rhythm Simply Select 24 24 14.9 ¢
    Rhythm Simply Select 12 12 15.0 ¢

    Shop CenterPoint Electricity Rates Near You

    CenterPoint TDU Delivery Charges

    The Public Utilities Commission of Texas (PUCT) regulates the CenterPoint utility delivery rates. The residential delivery rates update on March 1st and September 1st of each year. These rates are comprised of numerous tariffs that are approved by the PUCT. These fees pay for the maintenance of the poles and wires and meters that service your home and any system upgrades or repairs from storms. The TDU charges are passed through to the customer by the REPs in the monthly electric bill. The utility charges and are the same regardless of who supplies the electricity.

    Current & Historic CenterPoint TDU Delivery Charges
    Effective DateMonthly Charge$/kWh
    March 1, 2024$4.39$.038957
    September 1, 2023$4.39$0546944
    March 1, 2023$4.39$.037332
    September 1, 2022$4.39$.049167
    March 1, 2022$4.39$.039416
    September 1, 2021$4.39$.046397
    March 1, 2021$4.39$.033547
    September 1, 2020$4.39$.042723
    April 23, 2020
    (Special Rate Case Update)
    $4.39$.037105
    March 1, 2020$5.47$.034485
    September 1, 2019$5.47$.040512
    March 1, 2019$5.47$.036983
    September 1, 2018$5.47$.042536
    March 1, 2018$5.47$.041084
    September 1, 2017$5.47$.040313
    March 1, 2017$5.47$.035676

    CenterPoint Energy History

    Founded in 1882 by a franchise from the Houston City Council, Houston Electric Light & Power (HL&P) served the electricity generation, sales, and delivery needs of Houston customers up until 1990 when it merged to form NorAm Energy. NorAm merged with Houston Industries in 1997 and was renamed Reliant Energy. When Texas deregulated its electricity market in 2002, it spun off its electricity generation assets and retail electric provider operations and became known as CenterPoint Energy to focus on transmission and distribution.

    Utility Highlights

    Centerpoint Energy knows that keeping electricity supplies safe and lines of communication open are high priorities. That’s why they have taken a customer-first approach to utilities. They designed systems to ensure customers are in the loop as electricity-related problems are identified and serviced.

    CenterPoint’s customer tools include:

    • Power Alert Service. Customers can sign up to get informative email, text or calls when the power goes out. If the problem persists for more than a few minutes and cannot be resolved quickly, the system sends an estimated repair time, as well as a call when the problem is resolved.
    • CenterPoint Power Outage Tracker. While you’re waiting for your home’s electricity to be restored, you can watch power outages clear up or track problems like storms using the outage tracker. Updated every five minutes, the outage tracker keeps Centerpoint Energy accountable for each and every customer’s electricity service reliability while your power lines are being restored.
    • My Energy Analyzer. CenterPoint provides a free energy analysis tool to help customers understand household energy use and identify ways to reduce electricity.

    CenterPoint works with all registered retail electricity providers (REPs) in the CenterPoint service area to provide fast, efficient transfer of service for customers. In order to start electricity service, you must first choose and contract with a REP. The Provider of Last Resort (POLR) in the CenterPoint service area is Reliant.

    About Kelly Bedrich

    Kelly Bedrich co-founded ElectricityPlans in 2016 with the goal of simplifying the complicated process of buying energy. As president and chief technology officer, Kelly keeps our development team focused on providing a user-friendly website. When not reading the latest on technology and finance, Kelly enjoys celebrating Taco Tuesday, listening to live music at local venues, and hiking.

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