CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) raised its 2026 adjusted earnings guidance and expanded its long-term capital plan, citing accelerating customer demand in the Greater Houston area and additional investment needs across its electric transmission and distribution system.
The utility reported third-quarter 2026 GAAP earnings of $0.50 per diluted share and non-GAAP earnings of $0.53 per share. The company increased its full-year non-GAAP earnings-per-share guidance to $1.90 to $1.92, from a prior range of $1.89 to $1.91. At the midpoint, the revised forecast represents nearly 9% growth from 2025 results, according to management.
Quarterly earnings drivers
Chief Financial Officer Chris Foster said rate recovery and customer growth added $0.09 per share year over year in the third quarter, aided by a full quarter of updated rates from interim filings that took effect in June. Weather and customer usage added $0.03 per share, reflecting hotter conditions and higher usage in the company’s Texas and Indiana territories.
Operations and maintenance expenses were flat during the quarter. CenterPoint said it remains on track to reduce annual O&M costs by 1% to 2% from the prior year and had achieved a 1% reduction year to date.
Other items were $0.05 per share unfavorable, primarily because the prior-year quarter included a one-time deferred income-tax remeasurement benefit. Higher financing costs reduced earnings by $0.04 per share, including $0.03 related to approximately $3 billion of net new debt issuances and $0.01 from equity dilution.
Capital plan expands to $70.7 billion
CenterPoint increased its 10-year capital investment plan by $4 billion to $70.7 billion through 2035. It also accelerated $1.5 billion of projects that had been planned for after 2030 into the first five years of the plan.
The investments are intended to meet electricity demand in Greater Houston, where the company submitted about 14 gigawatts of customer demand as eligible load for ERCOT’s Batch Zero process. CenterPoint said it remains confident in 10 GW of base load demand and expects about 2 GW to remain classified as studied load. Including smaller transmission and distribution customers, the company expects to energize at least 14 GW by the end of 2030.
Management said Houston Electric has more than 10 GW of existing system capacity, which has helped the region attract large customers by enabling faster interconnections. The company has received nearly 1 GW of distribution-level load requests over the past year, while industrial and commercial leasing activity in Houston has risen more than 30% from the prior year, Wells said.
The company’s internal transmission study has identified more than a dozen projects to increase import capacity, improve system stability and expand interregional transmission capacity. About 85% of the initial projects are brownfield projects located within existing rights of way, Foster said.
- $4 billion is for newly identified projects not previously included in the plan.
- $1.5 billion represents projects accelerated from the latter half of the 10-year plan.
- CenterPoint expects to deploy $4.5 billion of the incremental and accelerated investments by the end of 2030.
The company expects the plan to drive enterprise rate-base growth of more than 14% annually through 2030. It said it will begin deploying the incremental capital in 2027.
Financing and future opportunities
To support the higher spending plan, CenterPoint raised its remaining 10-year equity financing guide by $1.6 billion to $4.5 billion. Foster said the increase represents funding for about 40% of the newly announced $4 billion capital-plan increase, below the company’s 47% rule of thumb for incremental investment financing.
CenterPoint expects to issue roughly $4 billion of equity between 2027 and 2030, including $500 million to $700 million of common equity in 2027. The company said that, across the $5.7 billion in capital-plan increases announced in 2026, incremental equity accounts for about 25% of the funding requirement.
The utility also cited possible financing benefits from a sublease or sale of its temporary generation units, customer demand charges, portfolio optimization and efforts to reduce regulatory lag. The temporary generation units are currently serving the San Antonio area and are expected to return to CenterPoint by the end of March 2027.
Foster said CenterPoint completed the sale of its Ohio Gas LDC business on Oct. 1 for approximately $1.4 billion in proceeds. The company also filed for a refund of corporate alternative minimum tax after clarification that it is not subject to the tax. Management said the Ohio sale and expected tax refund could improve its Moody’s adjusted funds-from-operations-to-debt metric by about 110 basis points combined.
Regulatory actions and outlook
CenterPoint said its Houston Electric business filed a second distribution capital tracker seeking a $73 million revenue-requirement increase. Interim rates took effect at the end of September, and a final order is expected in October. The company also received approval for a $29 million revenue-requirement increase under its second transmission capital tracker.
Outside Texas, CenterPoint plans to file a three-year forward-looking rate case for Minnesota Gas and a combined rate case for its North and South Indiana gas territories in December. Management said the Indiana filing is expected to reduce bills for a significant number of residential customers.
Looking further ahead, Wells said CenterPoint sees at least $10 billion in additional potential capital investments through 2035, including more Houston transmission infrastructure, resiliency initiatives and large-load opportunities in Indiana. The company expects to provide another update from its Houston transmission study in the first half of 2027.
CenterPoint extended its outlook for non-GAAP EPS growth at the mid-to-high end of its 7% to 9% annual target through 2030, while maintaining an expectation of 7% to 9% annual growth through 2035.
About CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP)
CenterPoint Energy, Inc is a public utility holding company that provides electric and natural gas energy services in the United States. Its operations include electric transmission and distribution, natural gas distribution, and related infrastructure services for residential, commercial, and industrial customers.
The company is the primary electric delivery utility for the Houston, Texas, area and operates electric and natural gas businesses in several states, including Texas, Indiana, Ohio, Louisiana, and Mississippi.
