Property, Plant and Equipment

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2022

Property, Plant and Equipment [Abstract]

(a) Property, Plant and Equipment

Property, plant and equipment includes the following:


		December 31, 2022						December 31, 2021
	Weighted Average Useful Lives	Property, Plant and Equipment, Gross		Accumulated Depreciation & Amortization		Property, Plant and Equipment, Net		Property, Plant and Equipment, Gross		Accumulated Depreciation & Amortization		Property, Plant and Equipment, Net
	(in years)	(in millions)
CenterPoint Energy
Electric transmission and distribution	36	$	19,154	$	5,317	$	13,837	$	17,156	$	4,658	$	12,498
Electric generation (1)	26	2,120		813		1,307		1,807		1,179		628
Natural gas distribution	32	15,097		4,135		10,962		13,578		3,981		9,597


Finance ROU asset mobile generation	6.5	662		41		621		179		—		179
Other property	23	695		279		416		953		371		582
Total		$	37,728	$	10,585	$	27,143	$	33,673	$	10,189	$	23,484


		December 31, 2022						December 31, 2021
	Weighted Average Useful Lives	Property, Plant and Equipment, Gross		Accumulated Depreciation & Amortization		Property, Plant and Equipment, Net		Property, Plant and Equipment, Gross		Accumulated Depreciation & Amortization		Property, Plant and Equipment, Net
	(in years)	(in millions)
Houston Electric
Electric transmission and distribution	38	$	14,791	$	3,556	$	11,235	$	13,321	$	3,502	$	9,819

Finance ROU asset mobile generation	6.5	662		41		621		179		—		179
Other property	20	2,300		695		1,605		1,773		568		1,205
Total		$	17,753	$	4,292	$	13,461	$	15,273	$	4,070	$	11,203
CERC
Natural gas distribution	32	$	14,316	$	3,946	$	10,370	$	12,885	$	3,800	$	9,085

Other property	17	63		27		36		49		26		23
Total		$	14,379	$	3,973	$	10,406	$	12,934	$	3,826	$	9,108

(1)SIGECO and AGC own a 300 MW unit at the Warrick Power Plant (Warrick Unit 4) as tenants in common. SIGECO’s share of the cost of this unit as of December 31, 2022, is $198 million with accumulated depreciation totaling $162 million. AGC and SIGECO share equally in the cost of operation and output of the unit. SIGECO’s share of operating costs is included in Operation and maintenance expense in CenterPoint Energy’s Statements of Consolidated Income.

(b) Depreciation and Amortization

The following table presents depreciation and amortization expense for 2022, 2021 and 2020:


	Year Ended December 31,
	2022						2021						2020
	CenterPoint Energy		Houston Electric		CERC		CenterPoint Energy		Houston Electric		CERC		CenterPoint Energy		Houston Electric		CERC
	(in millions)
Depreciation	$	1,013	$	434	$	420	$	1,024	$	391	$	466	$	961	$	368	$	426
Amortization of securitized regulatory assets	191		191		—		213		213		—		155		155		—
Other amortization	84		45		28		79		38		17		73		37		15
Total	$	1,288	$	670	$	448	$	1,316	$	642	$	483	$	1,189	$	560	$	441

The Registrants recorded AROs associated with the removal of asbestos and asbestos-containing material in its buildings, including substation building structures. CenterPoint Energy recorded AROs relating to the closure of the ash ponds at A.B. Brown and F.B. Culley. CenterPoint Energy and Houston Electric also recorded AROs relating to treated wood poles for electric distribution, distribution transformers containing PCB (also known as Polychlorinated Biphenyl), and underground fuel storage tanks. CenterPoint Energy and CERC also recorded AROs relating to gas pipelines abandoned in place. The estimates of future liabilities were developed using historical information, and where available, quoted prices from outside contractors.

A reconciliation of the changes in the ARO liability recorded in Other non-current liabilities on each of the Registrants’ respective Consolidated Balance Sheets is as follows:


	December 31, 2022						December 31, 2021
	CenterPoint Energy (1)		Houston Electric		CERC (1)		CenterPoint Energy (1)		Houston Electric		CERC (1)
	(in millions)
Beginning balance	$	659	$	42	$	479	$	664	$	43	$	514

Accretion expense (2)	20		1		15		19		1		13
Revisions in estimates (3)	(69)		(7)		(74)		(24)		(2)		(48)
Ending balance	$	610	$	36	$	420	$	659	$	42	$	479

(1)Excludes ARO activity of Arkansas and Oklahoma Natural Gas businesses that were sold in January 2022 and are reflected as held for sale as of December 31, 2021. For further information, see Note 4.

(2)Reflected in Regulatory assets on each of the Registrants’ respective Consolidated Balance Sheets.

(3)In 2022, the Registrants reflected a decrease in their respective ARO liability, which is primarily attributable to increases in the long-term interest rates used for discounting in the ARO calculation.