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Cover and table of contents

UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549

FORM 10-Q


(Mark One)
☑			QUARTERLY REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

For the quarterly period ended March 31, 2022


☐			TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
			FOR THE TRANSITION PERIOD FROM __________________ TO __________________

Commission file number 1-31447

CenterPoint Energy, Inc.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)


Texas			74-0694415
(State or other jurisdiction of incorporation or organization)			(I.R.S. Employer Identification No.)

1111 Louisiana	Houston	Texas	77002
(Address of Principal Executive Offices)			(Zip Code)

(713) 207-1111

Registrant's telephone number, including area code

Commission file number 1-3187

CenterPoint Energy Houston Electric, LLC

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)


Texas			22-3865106
(State or other jurisdiction of incorporation or organization)			(I.R.S. Employer Identification No.)

1111 Louisiana	Houston	Texas	77002
(Address of Principal Executive Offices)			(Zip Code)

(713) 207-1111

Registrant's telephone number, including area code

Commission file number 1-13265

CenterPoint Energy Resources Corp.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)


Delaware			76-0511406
(State or other jurisdiction of incorporation or organization)			(I.R.S. Employer Identification No.)

1111 Louisiana	Houston	Texas	77002
(Address of Principal Executive Offices)			(Zip Code)

(713) 207-1111

Registrant's telephone number, including area code


Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:
Registrant	Title of each class	Trading Symbol(s)	Name of each exchange on which registered
CenterPoint Energy, Inc.	Common Stock, $0.01 par value	CNP	The New York Stock Exchange
			Chicago Stock Exchange, Inc.
CenterPoint Energy Houston Electric, LLC	6.95% General Mortgage Bonds due 2033	n/a	The New York Stock Exchange
CenterPoint Energy Resources Corp.	6.625% Senior Notes due 2037	n/a	The New York Stock Exchange

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant: (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days.


CenterPoint Energy, Inc.	Yes	þ	No	o
CenterPoint Energy Houston Electric, LLC	Yes	þ	No	o
CenterPoint Energy Resources Corp.	Yes	þ	No	o

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files).


CenterPoint Energy, Inc.	Yes	þ	No	o
CenterPoint Energy Houston Electric, LLC	Yes	þ	No	o
CenterPoint Energy Resources Corp.	Yes	þ	No	o

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company or an emerging growth company. See definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company,” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.


	Large accelerated filer	Accelerated filer	Non-accelerated filer	Smaller reporting company	Emerging growth company
CenterPoint Energy, Inc.	þ	o	o	☐	☐
CenterPoint Energy Houston Electric, LLC	o	o	þ	☐	☐
CenterPoint Energy Resources Corp.	o	o	þ	☐	☐

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. o

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act).


CenterPoint Energy, Inc.	Yes	☐	No	þ
CenterPoint Energy Houston Electric, LLC	Yes	☐	No	þ
CenterPoint Energy Resources Corp.	Yes	☐	No	þ

Indicate the number of shares outstanding of each of the issuers’ classes of common stock as of April 20, 2022:


CenterPoint Energy, Inc.	629,448,787	shares of common stock outstanding, excluding 166 shares held as treasury stock
CenterPoint Energy Houston Electric, LLC	1,000	common shares outstanding, all held by Utility Holding, LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of CenterPoint Energy, Inc.
CenterPoint Energy Resources Corp.	1,000	shares of common stock outstanding, all held by Utility Holding, LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of CenterPoint Energy, Inc.

CenterPoint Energy Houston Electric, LLC and CenterPoint Energy Resources Corp. meet the conditions set forth in General Instructions H(1)(a) and (b) of Form 10-Q and are therefore filing this form with the reduced disclosure format specified in General Instruction H(2) of Form 10-Q.

TABLE OF CONTENTS


PART I.	FINANCIAL INFORMATION
Item 1.	Financial Statements	1
	CenterPoint Energy, Inc. Financial Statements (unaudited)	1




	CenterPoint Energy Houston Electric, LLC Financial Statements (unaudited)	7




	CenterPoint Energy Resources Corp. Financial Statements (unaudited)	13





	Combined Notes to Interim Condensed Financial Statements (unaudited)	19
	(1) Background and Basis of Presentation	19
	(2) New Accounting Pronouncements	20
	(3) Divestitures	20
	(4) Revenue Recognition and Allowance for Credit Losses	24
	(5) Employee Benefit Plans	27
	(6) Regulatory Matters	28
	(7) Derivative Instruments	29
	(8) Fair Value Measurements	31
	(9 ) Goodwill and Other Intangibles	32
	(1 0 ) Equity Securities and Indexed Debt Securities (ZENS)	33
	(1 1 ) Short-term Borrowings and Long-term Debt	35
	(1 2 ) Income Taxes	37
	(1 3 ) Commitments and Contingencies	38
	(1 4 ) Earnings Per Share	42
	(1 5 ) Reportable Segments	44
	(1 6 ) Supplemental Disclosure of Cash Flow Information	46
	(1 7 ) Related Party Transactions	47
	(1 8 ) Equity	48
	(19) Leases	49
	(20 ) Subsequent Events	51
Item 2.	Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations	53
	Recent Events	53
	Consolidated Results of Operations	53
	Results of Operations by Reportable Segment	54
	Certain Factors Affecting Future Earnings	62
	Liquidity and Capital Resources	63
Item 3.	Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures about Market Risk	74
Item 4.	Controls and Procedures	75

PART II.	OTHER INFORMATION
Item 1.	Legal Proceedings	75
Item 1A.	Risk Factors	75

Item 6.	Exhibits	76
	Signatures	81


GLOSSARY
ACE						Affordable Clean Energy



AMA						Asset Management Agreement



ARO						Asset retirement obligation

ARP						Alternative revenue program
ARPA						American Rescue Plan Act of 2021
ASC						Accounting Standards Codification
Asset Purchase Agreement						Asset Purchase Agreement, dated as of April 29, 2021, by and between CERC Corp. and Southern Col Midco

AT&T						AT&T Inc.
AT&T Common						AT&T common stock

Bcf						Billion cubic feet
Board						Board of Directors of CenterPoint Energy, Inc.
Bond Companies						Bond Company IV and Restoration Bond Company, each a wholly-owned, bankruptcy remote entity formed solely for the purpose of purchasing and owning transition or system restoration property through the issuance of Securitization Bonds
Bond Company IV						CenterPoint Energy Transition Bond Company IV, LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Houston Electric
BTA						Build Transfer Agreement

Capital Dynamics						Capital Dynamics, Inc.
CARES Act						Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act

CCR						Coal Combustion Residuals


CEIP						CenterPoint Energy Intrastate Pipelines, LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of CERC Corp.
CenterPoint Energy						CenterPoint Energy, Inc., and its subsidiaries
CERC						CERC Corp., together with its subsidiaries
CERC Corp.						CenterPoint Energy Resources Corp.
CES						CenterPoint Energy Services, Inc. (now known as Symmetry Energy Solutions, LLC), previously a wholly-owned subsidiary of CERC Corp.
Charter Common						Charter Communications, Inc. common stock
CIP						Conservation Improvement Program




CODM						Chief Operating Decision Maker, who is each Registrant’s Chief Operating Executive
Common Stock						CenterPoint Energy, Inc. common stock, par value $0.01 per share
Compensation Committee						Compensation Committee of the Board
COVID-19						Novel coronavirus disease 2019, and any mutations or variants thereof, and related global outbreak that was subsequently declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization
COVID-19 ERP						COVID-19 Electricity Relief Program
CPCN						Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity
CPP						Clean Power Plan
CSIA						Compliance and System Improvement Adjustment
DCRF						Distribution Cost Recovery Factor
DOC						U.S. Department of Commerce
DRR						Distribution Replacement Rider
DSMA						Demand Side Management Adjustment


ECA						Environmental Cost Adjustment
EDIT						Excess deferred income taxes
EECR						Energy Efficiency Cost Recovery
EECRF						Energy Efficiency Cost Recovery Factor
EEFC						Energy Efficiency Funding Component
EEFR						Energy Efficiency Funding Rider


GLOSSARY
Elk GP Merger Sub						Elk GP Merger Sub LLC, a Delaware limited liability company and a direct wholly-owned subsidiary of Energy Transfer
Elk Merger Sub						Elk Merger Sub LLC, a Delaware limited liability company and a direct wholly-owned subsidiary of Energy Transfer
Enable						Enable Midstream Partners, LP
Enable Common Units						Enable common units, representing limited partner interests in Enable
Enable GP						Enable GP, LLC, Enable’s general partner
Enable Merger						The merger of Elk Merger Sub with and into Enable and the merger of Elk GP Merger Sub with and into Enable GP, in each case on the terms and subject to the conditions set forth in the Enable Merger Agreement, with Enable and Enable GP surviving as wholly-owned subsidiaries of Energy Transfer, which closed on December 2, 2021
Enable Merger Agreement						Agreement and Plan of Merger by and among Energy Transfer, Elk Merger Sub LLC, Elk GP Merger Sub, Enable, Enable GP and, solely for the purposes of Section 2.1(a)(i) therein, Energy Transfer GP, and solely for the purposes of Section 1.1(b)(i) therein, CenterPoint Energy
Enable Series A Preferred Units						Enable’s 10% Series A Fixed-to-Floating Non-Cumulative Redeemable Perpetual Preferred Units, representing limited partner interests in Enable
Energy Services						Offered competitive variable and fixed-priced physical natural gas supplies primarily to commercial and industrial customers and electric and natural gas utilities through CES and CEIP
Energy Services Disposal Group						Substantially all of the businesses within CenterPoint Energy’s and CERC’s Energy Services reporting unit that were sold under the Equity Purchase Agreement
Energy Systems Group						Energy Systems Group, LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Vectren
Energy Transfer						Energy Transfer LP, a Delaware limited partnership
Energy Transfer Common Units						Energy Transfer common units, representing limited partner interests in Energy Transfer
Energy Transfer GP						LE GP, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company and sole general partner of Energy Transfer
Energy Transfer Series G Preferred Units						Energy Transfer Series G Fixed-Rate Reset Cumulative Redeemable Perpetual Preferred Units, representing limited partner interests in Energy Transfer
EPA						Environmental Protection Agency
Equity Purchase Agreement						Equity Purchase Agreement, dated as of February 24, 2020, by and between CERC Corp. and Symmetry Energy Solutions Acquisition, LLC (f/k/a Athena Energy Services Buyer, LLC)
ERCOT						Electric Reliability Council of Texas
February 2021 Winter Storm Event						The extreme and unprecedented winter weather event in February 2021 (Winter Storm Uri) that resulted in electricity generation supply shortages, including in Texas, and natural gas supply shortages and increased wholesale prices of natural gas in the United States, primarily due to prolonged freezing temperatures
FERC						Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
Fitch						Fitch Ratings, Inc.
Form 10-Q						Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q



GHG						Greenhouse gases

GRIP						Gas Reliability Infrastructure Program

GWh						Gigawatt-hours
Houston Electric						CenterPoint Energy Houston Electric, LLC and its subsidiaries
IDEM						Indiana Department of Environmental Management
Indiana Electric						Operations of SIGECO’s electric transmission and distribution services, and includes its power generating and wholesale power operations
Indiana Gas						Indiana Gas Company, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Vectren
Indiana North						Gas operations of Indiana Gas
Indiana South						Gas operations of SIGECO

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GLOSSARY
Indiana Utilities						The combination of Indiana Electric, Indiana North and Indiana South


Interim Condensed Financial Statements						Unaudited condensed consolidated interim financial statements and combined notes

IRP						Integrated Resource Plan
IRS						Internal Revenue Service
IURC						Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission



LIBOR						London Interbank Offered Rate

LPSC						Louisiana Public Service Commission
LTIP						Long-term Incentive Plan

Merger						The merger of Merger Sub with and into Vectren on the terms and subject to the conditions set forth in the Merger Agreement, with Vectren continuing as the surviving corporation and as a wholly-owned subsidiary of CenterPoint Energy, Inc.
Merger Agreement						Agreement and Plan of Merger, dated as of April 21, 2018, among CenterPoint Energy, Vectren and Merger Sub

Merger Sub						Pacer Merger Sub, Inc., an Indiana corporation and wholly-owned subsidiary of CenterPoint Energy
MES						CenterPoint Energy Mobile Energy Solutions, Inc. (now known as Mobile Energy Solutions, Inc.), previously a wholly-owned subsidiary of CERC Corp.
MGP						Manufactured gas plant
MISO						Midcontinent Independent System Operator
MLP						Master Limited Partnership

Moody’s						Moody’s Investors Service, Inc.
MPSC						Mississippi Public Service Commission
MPUC						Minnesota Public Utilities Commission

MW						Megawatt
NERC						North American Electric Reliability Corporation


NOLs						Net operating losses
NRG						NRG Energy, Inc.





Posey Solar						Posey Solar, LLC, a special purpose entity
PowerTeam Services						PowerTeam Services, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company, now known as Artera Services, LLC


PPA						Power Purchase Agreement
PRPs						Potentially responsible parties
PUCO						Public Utilities Commission of Ohio
PUCT						Public Utility Commission of Texas
Railroad Commission						Railroad Commission of Texas
RCRA						Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976
Registrants						CenterPoint Energy, Houston Electric and CERC, collectively

REP						Retail electric provider
Restoration Bond Company						CenterPoint Energy Restoration Bond Company, LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Houston Electric

ROE						Return on equity
ROU						Right of use
RRA						Rate Regulation Adjustment
RSP						Rate Stabilization Plan
S&P						S&P Global Ratings
Scope 1 emissions						Direct source of emissions from a company’s operations
Scope 2 emissions						Indirect source of emissions from a company’s energy usage
Scope 3 emissions						Indirect source of emissions from a company’s end-users


GLOSSARY
SEC						Securities and Exchange Commission
Securities Purchase Agreement						Securities Purchase Agreement, dated as of February 3, 2020, by and among Vectren Utility Services, Inc., PowerTeam Services and, solely for purposes of Section 10.17 of the Securities Purchase Agreement, Vectren
Securitization Bonds						Transition and system restoration bonds
Series A Preferred Stock						CenterPoint Energy’s Series A Fixed-to-Floating Rate Cumulative Redeemable Perpetual Preferred Stock, par value $0.01 per share, with a liquidation preference of $1,000 per share
Series B Preferred Stock						CenterPoint Energy’s 7.00% Series B Mandatory Convertible Preferred Stock, par value $0.01 per share, with a liquidation preference of $1,000 per share

Series C Preferred Stock						CenterPoint Energy’s Series C Mandatory Convertible Preferred Stock, par value $0.01 per share, with a liquidation preference of $1,000 per share
SIGECO						Southern Indiana Gas and Electric Company, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Vectren

Southern Col Midco						Southern Col Midco, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company and an affiliate of Summit Utilities, Inc.
SRC						Sales Reconciliation Component

Symmetry Energy Solutions Acquisition						Symmetry Energy Solutions Acquisition, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company (f/k/a Athena Energy Services Buyer, LLC) and subsidiary of Energy Capital Partners, LLC
TBD						To be determined

TCJA						Tax reform legislation informally called the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017
TCOS						Transmission Cost of Service
TCRF						Transmission Cost Recovery Factor
TDSIC						Transmission, Distribution and Storage System Improvement Charge
TDU						Transmission and distribution utility


Tenaska						Tenaska Wind Holdings, LLC
Texas RE						Texas Reliability Entity



Transition Services Agreement						Transition Services Agreement by and between CenterPoint Energy Service Company, LLC and Southern Col Midco
Vectren						Vectren Corporation, a wholly-owned subsidiary of CenterPoint Energy as of February 1, 2019
VEDO						Vectren Energy Delivery of Ohio, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Vectren
VIE						Variable interest entity

Vistra Energy Corp.						Texas-based energy company focused on the competitive energy and power generation markets, whose major subsidiaries include Luminant and TXU Energy
VRP						Voluntary Remediation Program
VUHI						Vectren Utility Holdings, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Vectren
WBD Common						Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. Series A common stock
ZENS						2.0% Zero-Premium Exchangeable Subordinated Notes due 2029
ZENS-Related Securities						As of both March 31, 2022 and December 31, 2021, consisted of AT&T Common and Charter Common. As of April 8, 2022, consisted of AT&T Common, Charter Common and WBD Common
2021 Form 10-K						Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2021 as filed with the SEC on February 22, 2022

CAUTIONARY STATEMENT REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION

From time to time the Registrants make statements concerning their expectations, beliefs, plans, objectives, goals, strategies, future events or performance and underlying assumptions and other statements that are not historical facts. These statements are “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied by these statements. You can generally identify forward-looking statements by the words “anticipate,” “believe,” “continue,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “forecast,” “goal,” “intend,” “may,” “objective,” “plan,” “potential,” “predict,” “projection,” “should,” “target,” “will” or other similar words.

The Registrants have based their forward-looking statements on management’s beliefs and assumptions based on information reasonably available to management at the time the statements are made. The Registrants caution you that assumptions, beliefs, expectations, intentions and projections about future events may and often do vary materially from actual results. Therefore, the Registrants cannot assure you that actual results will not differ materially from those expressed or implied by the Registrants’ forward-looking statements. In this Form 10-Q, unless context requires otherwise, the terms “our,” “we” and “us” are used as abbreviated references to CenterPoint Energy, Inc. together with its consolidated subsidiaries, including Houston Electric, CERC and Vectren.

The following are some of the factors that could cause actual results to differ from those expressed or implied by the Registrants’ forward-looking statements and apply to all Registrants unless otherwise indicated:

CenterPoint Energy’s business strategies and strategic initiatives, restructurings, joint ventures and acquisitions or dispositions of assets or businesses, including the completed sale of our Natural Gas businesses in Arkansas and Oklahoma and the exit from midstream, which we cannot assure will have the anticipated benefits to us;
industrial, commercial and residential growth in our service territories and changes in market demand, including the demand for our non-utility products and services and effects of energy efficiency measures and demographic patterns;
our ability to fund and invest planned capital and the timely recovery of our investments, including those related to Indiana Electric’s generation transition plan as part of its most recent IRP;
our ability to successfully construct and operate electric generating facilities, natural gas facilities, mobile generation and electric transmission facilities, including complying with applicable environmental standards and the implementation of a well-balanced energy and resource mix, as appropriate;
the recording of impairment charges;
timely and appropriate rate actions that allow recovery of costs and a reasonable return on investment, including the timing and amount of recovered natural gas costs associated with the February 2021 Winter Storm Event and those related to Houston Electric’s mobile generation;
future economic conditions in regional and national markets and their effect on sales, prices and costs;
weather variations and other natural phenomena, including the impact of severe weather events on operations and capital, such as impacts from the February 2021 Winter Storm Event;
the ability of REPs, including REP affiliates of NRG and Vistra Energy Corp., to satisfy their obligations to CenterPoint Energy and Houston Electric, including the negative impact on such ability related to COVID-19 and the February 2021 Winter Storm Event;
the COVID-19 pandemic and its effect on our operations, business and financial condition, our industries and the communities we serve, U.S. and world financial markets and supply chains, potential regulatory actions and changes in customer and stakeholder behaviors relating thereto;
increases in commodity prices;
volatility in the markets for oil and natural gas as a result of, among other factors, the actions of certain crude-oil exporting countries and the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, armed conflicts, including the conflict in Ukraine and the related sanctions on certain Russian entities, and climate change concerns, including the increasing adoption and use of alternative energy sources;
state and federal legislative and regulatory actions or developments affecting various aspects of our businesses, including, among others, energy deregulation or re-regulation, pipeline integrity and safety and changes in regulation and legislation pertaining to trade, health care, finance and actions regarding the rates charged by our regulated businesses;
direct or indirect effects on our facilities, resources, operations and financial condition resulting from terrorism, cyber attacks or intrusions, including as a result of global conflict such as the conflict in Ukraine, data security breaches or other attempts to disrupt our businesses or the businesses of third parties, or other catastrophic events such as fires, ice, earthquakes, explosions, leaks, floods, droughts, hurricanes, tornadoes and other severe weather events, pandemic health events or other occurrences;
tax legislation, including the effects of the CARES Act and of the TCJA (which includes but is not limited to any potential changes to tax rates, tax credits and/or interest deductibility), as well as any changes in tax laws under the

current administration, and uncertainties involving state commissions’ and local municipalities’ regulatory requirements and determinations regarding the treatment of EDIT and our rates;

our ability to mitigate weather impacts through normalization or rate mechanisms, and the effectiveness of such mechanisms;
actions by credit rating agencies, including any potential downgrades to credit ratings;
matters affecting regulatory approval, legislative actions, construction, implementation of necessary technology or other issues with respect to major capital projects that result in delays or cancellation or in cost overruns that cannot be recouped in rates;
local, state and federal legislative and regulatory actions or developments relating to the environment, including, among others, those related to global climate change, air emissions, carbon, waste water discharges and the handling and disposal of CCR that could impact operations, cost recovery of generation plant costs and related assets, and CenterPoint Energy’s net zero and carbon emissions reduction goals;
the impact of unplanned facility outages or other closures;
the sufficiency of our insurance coverage, including availability, cost, coverage and terms and ability to recover claims;
the availability and prices of raw materials and services and changes in labor for current and future construction projects and operations and maintenance costs, including our ability to control such costs;
continued disruptions to the global supply chain, including tariffs and other legislation impacting the supply chain, that could prevent CenterPoint Energy from securing the resources needed to fully execute on its 10-year capital plan or achieve its net zero and carbon emissions reduction goals;
the investment performance of CenterPoint Energy’s pension and postretirement benefit plans;
changes in interest rates and their impact on costs of borrowing and the valuation of CenterPoint Energy’s pension benefit obligation;
commercial bank and financial market conditions, our access to capital, the cost of such capital, and the results of our financing and refinancing efforts, including availability of funds in the debt capital markets;
changes in rates of inflation;
inability of various counterparties to meet their obligations to us;
non-payment for our services due to financial distress of our customers;
the extent and effectiveness of our risk management and hedging activities, including, but not limited to financial and weather hedges;
timely and appropriate regulatory actions, which include actions allowing securitization, for any future hurricanes or other severe weather events, or natural disasters or other recovery of costs;
acquisition and merger activities involving us or our competitors, including the ability to successfully complete merger, acquisition and divestiture plans;
our ability to recruit, effectively transition and retain management and key employees and maintain good labor relations;
changes in technology, particularly with respect to efficient battery storage or the emergence or growth of new, developing or alternative sources of generation, and their adoption by consumers;
the impact of alternate energy sources on the demand for natural gas;
the timing and outcome of any audits, disputes and other proceedings related to taxes;
the effective tax rates;
political and economic developments, including energy and environmental policies under the current administration;
the transition to a replacement for the LIBOR benchmark interest rate;
CenterPoint Energy’s ability to execute on its initiatives, targets and goals, including its net zero and carbon emissions reduction goals and its operations and maintenance goals;
the outcome of litigation, including litigation related to the February 2021 Winter Storm Event;
the development of new opportunities and the performance of projects undertaken by Energy Systems Group, which are subject to, among other factors, the level of success in bidding contracts and cancellation and/or reductions in the scope of projects by customers, and obligations related to warranties, guarantees and other contractual and legal obligations;
the effect of changes in and application of accounting standards and pronouncements; and
other factors discussed in “Risk Factors” in Item 1A of Part I of the Registrants’ combined 2021 Form 10-K, which are incorporated herein by reference, and other factors described in Item 1A of Part II of this combined Form 10-Q, and in other reports the Registrants file from time to time with the SEC.

You should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Each forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date of the particular statement, and the Registrants undertake no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements. Investors should note that the Registrants announce material financial and other information in SEC filings, press releases and public conference calls. Based on guidance from the SEC, the Registrants may use the Investors section of CenterPoint

vii

Energy’s website (www.centerpointenergy.com) to communicate with investors about the Registrants. It is possible that the financial and other information posted there could be deemed to be material information. The information on CenterPoint Energy’s website is not part of this combined Form 10-Q.

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Tab le of Contents

PART I. FINANCIAL INFORMATION

Next: Item 1. FINANCIAL STATEMENTS