CenterPoint Energy has asked a judge to dismiss its mandatory rate review that was already pending before Hurricane Beryl.
State law requires a rate review by the Public Utility Commission of Texas every four years, and CenterPoint’s last review was back in 2019.
In Wednesday’s filing, CenterPoint asked the review to be revisited at the end of June in 2025.
Last week, dozens of cities in CenterPoint’s area -- including Houston -- reached out, asking the same judge not to grant the company’s exemption from the review. The cities claim that the company is overcharging its customers by more than $100 million every year. They want the judge to have the hearing so they could present evidence and argue for a rate decrease.
Consumer advocates say this extension means that customers could have higher rates until 2025, and refunds aren’t an option after the customer has paid.
In the meantime, the PUC could also intervene and give CenterPoint a lower interim rate until the company completes the review in the summer of 2025.
Wednesday evening, CenterPoint sent KPRC 2′s Gage Goulding the following statement:
“Our CenterPoint Energy team is laser-focused on addressing our customers’ concerns following Hurricane Beryl, and immediately implementing the over 40 actions outlined as part of our Greater Houston Resiliency Initiative. We believe that prioritizing resiliency this hurricane season and meeting our customers’ needs is critical. We have respectfully asked that the application opposing withdrawal of the rate case be dismissed, with support of a new rate case filing by no later June 30, 2025. While we understand that other parties have differing views, we believe that is absolutely essential that we all work together to strengthen overall resiliency, improve customer communications and strengthen community partnerships in order to better prepare for the next major storm or hurricane.”