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Short Term Borrowings and Long Term Debt (Tables)
 12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2018
Debt Disclosure [Abstract]  
Schedule of Short-term Borrowings and Long-term Debt [Table Text Block]
 
December 31,
2018
 
December 31,
2017
 
Long-Term
 
Current (1)
 
Long-Term
 
Current (1)
 
(in millions)
CERC (2):
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Short-term borrowings:
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Inventory financing (3)
$
—

 
$
—

 
$
—

 
$
39

Total short-term borrowings
—

 
—

 
—

 
39

Long-term debt:
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

Senior notes 3.55% to 6.625% due 2021 to 2047
2,193

 
—

 
1,593

 
—

Commercial paper (4)
210

 
—

 
898

 
—

Unamortized debt issuance costs
(15
)
 
—

 
(12
)
 
—

Unamortized discount and premium, net
(17
)
 
—

 
(22
)
 
—

Total CERC long-term debt
2,371

 
—

 
2,457

 
—

Total CERC debt
2,371

 
—

 
2,457

 
39

Houston Electric:
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

First mortgage bonds 9.15% due 2021
102

 
—

 
102

 
—

General mortgage bonds 1.85% to 6.95% due 2021 to 2048
3,212

 
—

 
2,812

 
—

Restoration Bond Company:
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
System restoration bonds 4.243% due 2022
197

 
59

 
256

 
56

Bond Company II:
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Transition bonds 5.302% due 2019
—

 
208

 
208

 
194

Bond Company III:
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Transition bonds 5.234% due 2020
29

 
56

 
85

 
53

Bond Company IV:
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Transition bonds 2.161% to 3.028% due 2020 to 2024
753

 
135

 
888

 
131

Unamortized debt issuance costs
(24
)
 
—

 
(22
)
 
—

Unamortized discount and premium, net
(11
)
 
—

 
(10
)
 
—

Total Houston Electric debt
4,258

 
458

 
4,319

 
434

CenterPoint Energy:
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
ZENS due 2029 (5)
—

 
24

 
—

 
122

Senior notes 2.50% to 4.25% due 2021 to 2028
2,000

 
—

 
500

 
—

Pollution control bonds 5.125% due 2028 (6)
68

 
—

 
68

 
50

Commercial paper (4)
—

 
—

 
855

 
—

Unamortized debt issuance costs
(13
)
 
—

 
(4
)
 
—

Unamortized discount and premium, net
(2
)
 
—

 
—

 
—

Total CenterPoint Energy long-term debt
8,682

 
482

 
8,195

 
606

Total CenterPoint Energy debt
$
8,682

 
$
482

 
$
8,195

 
$
645


(1)
Includes amounts due or exchangeable within one year of the date noted.

(2)
Issued by CERC Corp.

(3)
CenterPoint Energy’s and CERC’s NGD has AMAs associated with its utility distribution service in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma and Texas. In March 2018, NGD’s third-party AMAs in Arkansas, Louisiana and Oklahoma expired, and NGD entered into new AMAs with CES effective April 1, 2018 in these states. The AMAs have varying terms, the longest of which expires in 2021. Pursuant to the provisions of the agreements, NGD sells natural gas and agrees to repurchase an equivalent amount of natural gas during the winter heating seasons at the same cost.

(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)
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.

(6)
$68 million and $118 million of these series of debt were secured by general mortgage bonds of Houston Electric as of December 31, 2018 and 2017, respectively.

Long-term Debt

Debt Retirements. During the year ended December 31, 2018, CenterPoint Energy retired the following debt instrument at maturity:
Registrant
 
Retirement Date
 
Debt Instrument
 
Aggregate Principal Amount (1)
 
Interest Rate
 
Maturity Date
 
 
 
 
 
 
(in millions)
 
 
 
 
CenterPoint Energy
 
November 2018
 
Pollution control bonds
 
$
50

 
5.050%
 
2018

(1)
Secured by general mortgage bonds of Houston Electric.

Debt Issuances. During the year ended December 31, 2018 and in January 2019, the Registrants issued the following debt instruments:
Registrant
 
Issuance Date
 
Debt Instrument
 
Aggregate Principal Amount
 
Interest Rate
 
Maturity Date
 
 
 
 
 
 
(in millions)
 
 
 
 
Houston Electric (1)
 
February 2018
 
General mortgage bonds
 
$
400

 
3.95%
 
2048
CERC (1) (2)
 
March 2018
 
Unsecured senior notes  
 
300

 
3.55%
 
2023
CERC (1) (2)
 
March 2018
 
Unsecured senior notes  
 
300

 
4.00%
 
2028
CenterPoint Energy (3)
 
October 2018
 
Unsecured senior notes  
 
500

 
3.60%
 
2021
CenterPoint Energy (3)
 
October 2018
 
Unsecured senior notes  
 
500

 
3.85%
 
2024
CenterPoint Energy (3)
 
October 2018
 
Unsecured senior notes  
 
500

 
4.25%
 
2028
Houston Electric (1)
 
January 2019
 
General mortgage bonds
 
700

 
4.25%
 
2049


(1)
Proceeds from these debt issuances were used for general limited liability company and corporate purposes, as applicable, including capital expenditures, repayment of portions of outstanding commercial paper and borrowings under CenterPoint Energy’s money pool.

(2)
Issued by CERC Corp.

(3)
Proceeds from these debt issuances were used to fund a portion of the Merger and to pay related fees and expenses.
Schedule of Revolving Credit Facilities and Utilization of Such Facilities [Table Text Block]
As of December 31, 2018 and 2017, the Registrants had the following revolving credit facilities and utilization of such facilities:
 
 
December 31, 2018
 
December 31, 2017
 
 
Size of
Facility
 
Loans
 
Letters
of Credit
 
Commercial
Paper
 
Weighted Average Interest Rate
 
Size of
Facility
 
Loans
 
Letters
of Credit
 
Commercial
Paper
 
Weighted Average Interest Rate
 
 
(in millions, except weighted average interest rate)
 
 
CenterPoint Energy
 
$
3,300

 
$
—

 
$
6

 
$
—

 
—

 
$
1,700

 
$
—

 
$
6

 
$
855

 
1.88
%
Houston Electric
 
300

 
—

 
4

 
—

 
—

 
300

 
—

 
4

 
—

 
—

CERC (1)
 
900

 
—

 
1

 
210

 
2.93
%
 
900

 
—

 
1

 
898

 
1.72
%
Total
 
$
4,500

 
$
—

 
$
11

 
$
210

 
 
 
$
2,900

 
$
—

 
$
11

 
$
1,753

 
 

(1)
Issued by CERC Corp.

In January 2019, CenterPoint Energy issued the following commercial paper in connection with the closing of the Merger:
Registrant
 
Issuance Date
 
Debt Instrument
 
Aggregate Principal Amount
 
Weighted Average Interest Rate
 
 
 
 
 
 
(in millions)
 
 
CenterPoint Energy (1) (2)
 
January 2019
 
Commercial paper
 
$
1,660

 
2.88%

(1)
Proceeds from these commercial paper issuances were used to fund a portion of the Merger and to pay related fees and expenses and were contributed to Vectren for its payment of its stub period cash dividend, long-term incentive payments and to fund the repayment of indebtedness of Vectren subsidiaries redeemed at the option of the holder as a result of the closing of the Merger.

(2)
The commercial paper notes were issued at various times in January 2019 with maturities up to and including 90 days as of the time of issuance, and, prior to their use as described in connection with the closing of the Merger, the net proceeds of such issuances were invested in short-term investments.

Execution
 Date
 
Registrant
 
Size of
Facility
 
Draw Rate of LIBOR plus (1)
 
Financial Covenant Limit on Debt for Borrowed Money to Capital Ratio (2)
 
Debt for Borrowed Money to Capital
Ratio as of
December 31, 2018 (3)
 
Termination
 Date (4)
 
 
 
 
(in millions)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
March 3, 2016
 
CenterPoint Energy
 
$
3,300

(5)
1.250%
 
65%
 
44.9%
 
March 3, 2022
March 3, 2016
 
Houston Electric
 
300

 
1.125%
 
65%
 
49.2%
 
March 3, 2022
March 3, 2016
 
CERC (6)
 
900

 
1.125%
 
65%
 
46.8%
 
March 3, 2022


(1)
Based on credit ratings as of December 31, 2018.

(2)
For CenterPoint Energy and Houston Electric, the financial covenant limit will temporarily increase from 65% 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.

(3)
As defined in the revolving credit facility agreement, excluding Securitization Bonds.

(4)
Amended on June 16, 2017 to extend the termination date.

(5)
Pursuant to the amendment entered into in May 2018, the aggregate commitments under the CenterPoint Energy revolving credit facility increased to $3.3 billion on October 5, 2018 as a result of the satisfaction of certain conditions described above.

(6)
Issued by CERC Corp.
Schedule of Maturities of Long-term Debt [Table Text Block]
Maturities.  As of December 31, 2018, maturities of long-term debt, capital leases and sinking fund requirements, excluding the ZENS obligation, are as follows:
 
CenterPoint
Energy (1)
 
Houston
 Electric (1)
 
CERC
 
Securitization Bonds
 
(in millions)
2019
$
458

 
$
458

 
$
—

 
$
458

2020
231

 
231

 
—

 
231

2021
1,706

 
613

 
593

 
211

2022
1,230

 
519

 
210

 
219

2023
656

 
356

 
300

 
156


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