CenterPoint Energy said during its second-quarter earnings call Tuesday that it has submitted more than 17 GW of large-load projects into the Electric Reliability Council of Texas' (ERCOT) new large-load interconnection process, and expects 14 GW of that to qualify as base-load or study-load.

Texas regulators approved the new rules in June. The first batch of projects to move through the new process is called "Batch Zero."

Company officials said the 14 GW would represent an increase of more than 65% over the company's current Houston-area peak system demand of 21 GW. The utility expects load to grow 50% by the end of 2029.

"Based on the expected load ramps our customers are seeking, we expect nearly all of these projects to be energized by the end of 2030," CenterPoint CEO Jason Wells told analysts. "Given the level of customer commitments already secured, we believe the combined 14 GW of base-load and study-load are well-positioned to move forward in the 'Batch Zero' process."

Key data at a glance

  • $1.2B: Increase in CenterPoint's ten-year capital investment plan, bringing total investment to $66.7 billion through 2035.
  • $244M: Consolidated net income for the second quarter of 2026, compared with $198 million in the second quarter of 2025.
  • $5B: Projected savings for residential and commercial customers over the next decade due to new large loads.

Of the 14 GW, about 10 GW of projects have received all required ERCOT study approvals and are eligible for base-load designation, Wells said. The remaining 4 GW "are expected to qualify for study-load status, having received approval for one of the two required studies."

The 14 GW is supported by signed facility extension agreements with long-term end-user commitments, approximately $900 million in customer cash commitments and deposits, and "clear visibility into material execution capabilities and system service capacity," Wells said. The remaining 3 GW of "Batch Zero" submissions "represent additional customer demand that is awaiting ERCOT approval of required studies."

CenterPoint increased its ten-year capital investment plan by $1.2 billion to $66.7 billion through 2035. The increase reflects incremental investments to support the accelerated growth of large-load customers in Houston and rising costs associated with the utility's downtown Houston revitalization project.

CenterPoint expects this growth to help keep utility bills affordable. Wells said the higher demand of 14 GW from large loads will save residential and commercial customers more than $5 billion over the next decade.

In addition to the transmission-level demand CenterPoint is seeing from large-load customers, the utility expects distribution-level demand to increase by about 2 GW over the next few years, "driven by the reshoring of advanced manufacturing and continued population growth in the greater Houston area," Wells noted.

While Texas is CenterPoint's largest service territory, where it serves nearly 2.8 million metered customers and dozens of retail providers, the company also sees "transformative" large-load opportunities in its Indiana electric territory. CenterPoint serves more than 150,000 customers in southwestern Indiana and has begun serving a new customer that will be "the largest single load we serve in that area," Wells said.

"Due to the customer's commitment, we have already begun serving this load. Beyond that project, we are engaged with multiple parties regarding additional large-load projects in the area," he said. "The associated investments required to serve these large loads will be incremental and outside of our current base plan."

CenterPoint Energy has been planning the retirement of its coal-fired F.B. Culley Unit 2 in Indiana, but the U.S. Department of Energy issued emergency orders in December, March, and June directing the utility to continue operating the unit through September 19.

The utility filed a complaint with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) "requesting the establishment of a cost recovery/cost allocation mechanism," CenterPoint said in its quarterly report filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. In March, FERC directed the Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO) to adopt a tariff revision authorizing cost recovery for the F.B. Culley unit.

"A separate application will be filed with FERC at a later date to seek recovery of all costs incurred in complying with the DOE emergency 202(c) orders," CenterPoint said. The utility also said it has filed applications with Indiana regulators "to recover any compliance costs related to the emergency 202(c) orders that are not recovered through the FERC process."