XML 91 R62.htm IDEA: XBRL DOCUMENT v3.22.0.1
Short-term Borrowings and Long-term Debt (Tables)
 12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2021
Debt Disclosure [Abstract]  
Schedule of Debt
 December 31,
2021		December 31,
2020
 Long-Term
Current (1)
Long-Term
Current (1)
 (in millions)
CenterPoint Energy:
ZENS due 2029 (2)
$— $10 $— $15 
CenterPoint Energy senior notes 0.68% to 4.25% due 2024 to 2049
3,650 — 2,700 500 
CenterPoint Energy variable rate term loan 0.865% due 2021
— — — 700 
CenterPoint Energy pollution control bonds 5.125% due 2028 (3)
68 — 68 — 
CenterPoint Energy commercial paper (4) (5)
1,400 — 1,078 — 
VUHI senior notes 3.72% to 6.10% due 2023 to 2045 (6)
377 — 377 55 
VUHI commercial paper (4) (5)
350 — 92 — 
IGC senior notes 6.34% to 7.08% due 2025 to 2029
96 — 96 — 
SIGECO first mortgage bonds 0.820% to 6.72% due 2022 to 2055 (7)
288 5 293 — 
Other debt4 3 6 12 
Unamortized debt issuance costs(23)— (17)— 
Unamortized discount and premium, net(7)—(6)—
Houston Electric debt (see details below)4,975 520 4,406 613 
CERC debt (see details below)4,380 7 2,428 24 
Total CenterPoint Energy debt$15,558 $545 $11,521 $1,919 
Houston Electric:    
First mortgage bonds 9.15% due 2021
$— $— $— $102 
General mortgage bonds 2.25% to 6.95% due 2022 to 2051
4,712 300 3,912 300 
Restoration Bond Company:
System restoration bonds 4.243% due 2022
— 70 69 66 
Bond Company IV:
Transition bonds 3.028% due 2024
317 150 467 145 
Unamortized debt issuance costs(36)— (28)— 
Unamortized discount and premium, net(18)— (14)— 
Total Houston Electric debt$4,975 $520 $4,406 $613 
CERC (8):
Short-term borrowings:    
Inventory financing (9)
$— $7 $— $24 
Total CERC short-term borrowings— 7 — 24 
Long-term debt:    
Senior notes 0.62% to 6.625% due 2023 to 2047
$3,500 $— $2,100 $— 
Commercial paper (4) (5)
899 — 347 — 
Unamortized debt issuance costs(15)— (15)— 
Unamortized discount and premium, net(4)— (4)— 
Total CERC long-term debt4,380 — 2,428 — 
Total CERC debt$4,380 $7 $2,428 $24 

(1)Includes amounts due or exchangeable within one year of the date noted.
(2)CenterPoint Energy’s ZENS obligation is bifurcated into a debt component and an embedded derivative component. For additional information regarding ZENS, see Note 12(b). As ZENS are exchangeable for cash at any time at the option of the holders, these notes are classified as a current portion of long-term debt.
(3)These pollution control bonds were secured by general mortgage bonds of Houston Electric as of December 31, 2021 and 2020 and are not reflected in Houston Electric’s consolidated financial statements because of the contingent nature of the obligations.
(4)Classified as long-term debt because the termination date of the facility that backstops the commercial paper is more than one year from the date noted.
(5)Commercial paper issued by CenterPoint Energy, CERC Corp. and VUHI has maturities up to 60 days, 30 days, and 30 days, respectively, and are backstopped by the respective issuer’s long-term revolving credit facility.
(6)The senior notes issued by VUHI are guaranteed by SIGECO, Indiana Gas and VEDO.
(7)The first mortgage bonds issued by SIGECO subject SIGECO’s properties to a lien under the related mortgage indenture as further discussed below.
(8)Issued by CERC Corp.
(9)Represents AMA transactions accounted for as an inventory financing. Outstanding obligations related to third-party AMAs associated with utility distribution service in Arkansas and Oklahoma of $36 million as of December 31, 2021 are reflected in current liabilities held for sale on CenterPoint Energy’s and CERC’s Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets. For further information about AMAs, see Notes 4 and 16.
Schedule of Revolving Credit Facilities and Utilization of Such Facilities During 2021, the following debt instruments were issued or incurred:
RegistrantIssuance DateDebt InstrumentAggregate Principal AmountInterest RateMaturity Date
(in millions)
CERCMarch 2021Senior Notes$700 0.70%2023
CERCMarch 2021Floating Rate Senior Notes1,000 
Three-month LIBOR plus 0.5%
2023
Total CERC(1)
1,700 
Houston Electric
March 2021General Mortgage Bonds400 2.35%2031
Houston ElectricMarch 2021General Mortgage Bonds700 3.35%2051
Total Houston Electric (2)
1,100 
CenterPoint Energy
May 2021Senior Notes500 1.45%2026
CenterPoint EnergyMay 2021Senior Notes500 2.65%2031
CenterPoint EnergyMay 2021Floating Rate Senior Notes700 
SOFR plus 0.65%
2024
Total CenterPoint Energy (3)
$4,500 

(1)In February 2021, CERC Corp. received financing commitments totaling $1.7 billion on a 364-day term loan facility to bridge any working capital needs related to the February 2021 Winter Storm Event. Total proceeds of the senior notes and floating rate senior note offerings, net of issuance expenses and fees, of approximately $1.69 billion were used for general corporate purposes, including to fund working capital. Upon the consummation of its senior notes offerings, in March 2021, CERC Corp. terminated all of the commitments for the 364-day term loan facility.
(2)Total proceeds, net of issuance expenses and fees, of approximately $1.08 billion were used for general limited liability company purposes, including capital expenditures and the repayment of outstanding debt discussed below and Houston Electric’s borrowings under the CenterPoint Energy money pool.
(3)Total proceeds, net of issuance expenses and fees, of approximately $1.69 billion, excluding amounts issued by Houston Electric and CERC, were used for general corporate purposes, including the repayment of outstanding debt discussed below and a portion of CenterPoint Energy’s outstanding commercial paper.
During 2021, the following debt instruments were repaid at maturity or redeemed, excluding scheduled principal payments of $211 million on the Securitization bonds:
RegistrantRepayment/Redemption DateDebt InstrumentAggregate PrincipalInterest RateMaturity Date
(in millions)
CERC (1)
December 2021Senior Notes$300 3.55%2023
Total CERC300 
Houston ElectricMarch 2021First Mortgage Bonds102 9.15%2021
Houston Electric (2)
May 2021General Mortgage Bonds300 1.85%2021
Total Houston Electric402 
CenterPoint Energy (3)
January 2021Senior Notes250 3.85%2021
CenterPoint Energy (4)
May 2021Term Loan700 0.76%2021
CenterPoint Energy (5)
June 2021Senior Notes500 3.60%2021
CenterPoint Energy
November 2021Senior Notes55 4.67%2021
CenterPoint Energy (6)
December 2021Senior Notes500 2.50%2022
Total CenterPoint Energy$2,707 

(1)In December 2021, CERC provided notice of redemption and on December 30, 2021, CERC redeemed all of the outstanding senior notes of the series at a redemption price equal to 100% of the principal amount, plus accrued and unpaid interest and an applicable make-whole premium.
(2)In April 2021, Houston Electric provided notice of redemption and on May 1, 2021, Houston Electric redeemed all of the outstanding bonds of the series at a redemption price equal to 100% of the principal amount, plus accrued and unpaid interest.
(3)In December 2020, CenterPoint Energy provided notice of redemption of a portion of its outstanding $500 million aggregate principal amount of the series and on January 15, 2021, CenterPoint Energy redeemed $250 million aggregate principal amount of the series at a redemption price equal to 100% of the principal amount redeemed, plus accrued and unpaid interest and an applicable make-whole premium.
(4)In April 2021, CenterPoint Energy amended its existing term loan agreement by extending its maturity from May 15, 2021 to June 14, 2021. The outstanding LIBOR rate loan balance was prepaid in full at a price equal to 100% of the principal amount, plus accrued and unpaid interest, which was calculated based on the interest rate at maturity.
(5)In May 2021, CenterPoint Energy provided notice of redemption and on June 1, 2021, CenterPoint Energy redeemed all of the outstanding senior notes of the series at a redemption price equal to 100% of the principal amount, plus accrued and unpaid interest and an applicable make-whole premium.
(6)In December 2021, CenterPoint Energy provided notice of redemption and on December 30, 2021, CenterPoint Energy redeemed all of the outstanding senior notes of the series at a redemption price equal to 100% of the principal amount, plus accrued and unpaid interest and an applicable make-whole premium.
The Registrants had the following revolving credit facilities as of December 31, 2021:
Execution
 Date 		RegistrantSize of
Facility
Draw Rate of LIBOR plus (1)
Financial Covenant Limit on Debt for Borrowed Money to Capital Ratio  
Debt for Borrowed Money to Capital
Ratio as of
December 31, 2021 (2)
Termination
 Date
(in millions)
February 4, 2021CenterPoint Energy $2,400 1.625%65%(3)61.8%February 4, 2024
February 4, 2021
CenterPoint Energy (4)
400 1.250%65%48.9%February 4, 2024
February 4, 2021Houston Electric300 1.375%67.5%(3)56.2%February 4, 2024
February 4, 2021
CERC
900 1.250%65%60.6%February 4, 2024
Total$4,000 

(1)Based on credit ratings as of December 31, 2021.
(2)As defined in the revolving credit facility agreement, excluding Securitization Bonds.
(3)For CenterPoint Energy and Houston Electric, the financial covenant limit will temporarily increase to 70% if Houston Electric experiences damage from a natural disaster in its service territory and CenterPoint Energy certifies to the administrative agent that Houston Electric has incurred system restoration costs reasonably likely to exceed $100 million in a consecutive 12-month period, all or part of which Houston Electric intends to seek to recover through securitization financing. Such temporary increase in the financial covenant would be in effect from the date CenterPoint Energy delivers its certification until the earliest to occur of (i) the completion of the securitization financing, (ii) the first anniversary of CenterPoint Energy’s certification or (iii) the revocation of such certification.
(4)This credit facility was issued by VUHI, is guaranteed by SIGECO, Indiana Gas and VEDO and includes a $20 million letter of credit sublimit. This credit facility backstops VUHI’s commercial paper program.

The Registrants, as well as the subsidiaries of CenterPoint Energy discussed above, were in compliance with all financial debt covenants as of December 31, 2021.

As of December 31, 2021 and 2020, the Registrants had the following revolving credit facilities and utilization of such facilities:
December 31, 2021December 31, 2020
RegistrantLoansLetters
of Credit		Commercial
Paper		Weighted Average Interest RateLoansLetters
of Credit		Commercial
Paper		Weighted Average Interest Rate
(in millions, except weighted average interest rate)
CenterPoint Energy (1)
$— $11 $1,400 0.34 %$— $11 $1,078 0.23 %
CenterPoint Energy (2)
— — 350 0.21 %— — 92 0.22 %
Houston Electric— — — — %— — — — %
CERC — — 899 0.26 %— — 347 0.23 %
Total$— $11 $2,649 $— $11 $1,517 

(1)CenterPoint Energy’s outstanding commercial paper generally has maturities of 60 days or less.
(2)This credit facility was issued by VUHI and is guaranteed by SIGECO, Indiana Gas and VEDO.
Schedule of Maturities of Long-term Debt
Maturities. As of December 31, 2021, maturities of long-term debt, excluding the ZENS obligation and unamortized discounts, premiums and issuance costs, were as follows:
CenterPoint
Energy (1)
Houston
 Electric (1)
CERCSecuritization Bonds
(in millions)
2022$524 $520 $— $220 
20232,113 356 1,700 156 
20244,283 161 899 161 
202551 — — — 
2026860 300 — — 

(1)These maturities include Securitization Bonds principal repayments on scheduled payment dates.