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Short-term Borrowings and Long-term Debt (Tables)
 12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2022
Debt Disclosure [Abstract]  
Schedule of Debt
 December 31,
2022		December 31,
2021
 Long-Term
Current (1)
Long-Term
Current (1)
 (in millions)
CenterPoint Energy:
ZENS due 2029 (2)
$— $7 $— $10 
CenterPoint Energy senior notes 1.45% to 4.61% due 2024 to 2049
3,050 — 3,650 — 
CenterPoint Energy pollution control bonds 5.125% due 2028 (3)
68 — 68 — 
CenterPoint Energy commercial paper (4) (5)
1,770 — 1,400 — 
VUH senior notes (see Debt Exchange below)
— — 377 — 
VUH commercial paper (4) (5)
— — 350 — 
SIGECO first mortgage bonds 0.875% to 6.72% due 2024 to 2055 (6)
277 11 288 5 
Other debt— 4 4 3 
Unamortized debt issuance costs(15)— (23)— 
Unamortized discount and premium, net(6)—(7)—
Houston Electric debt (see details below)6,197 156 4,975 520 
CERC third party debt (see details below)3,495 1,842 4,476 7 
Total CenterPoint Energy debt$14,836 $2,020 $15,558 $545 
Houston Electric:    
General mortgage bonds 2.35% to 6.95% due 2026 to 2052 (8)
$6,112 $— $4,712 $300 
Other1 — — — 
Restoration Bond Company:
System restoration bonds 4.243% due 2022
— — — 70 
Bond Company IV:
Transition bonds 3.028% due 2024
161 156 317 150 
Unamortized debt issuance costs(50)— (36)— 
Unamortized discount and premium, net(27)— (18)— 
Total Houston Electric debt$6,197 $156 $4,975 $520 
CERC (7):
Short-term borrowings:    
Inventory financing (9)
$— $11 $— $7 
Term loan— 500 — — 
Total CERC short-term borrowings— 511 — 7 
Long-term debt:    
Senior notes 0.70% to 6.625% due 2023 to 2047
$2,620 $1,331 $3,500 $— 
Indiana Gas senior notes 6.34% to 7.08% due 2025 to 2029
96 — 96 — 
Commercial paper (4) (5)
805 — 899 — 
Unamortized debt issuance costs(22)— (15)— 
Unamortized discount and premium, net(4)— (4)— 
Total CERC third-party long-term debt3,495 1,331 4,476 — 
Indiana Gas and VEDO notes payable to CenterPoint Energy— — 1,076 — 
Total CERC debt$3,495 $1,842 $5,552 $7 

(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 11(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, 2022 and 2021 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 and CERC Corp. has maturities up to 60 days and 30 days, respectively, and are backstopped by the respective issuer’s long-term revolving credit facility. The VUH credit facility was terminated in connection with the Restructuring, as discussed below, and VUH no longer issues commercial paper.
(6)The first mortgage bonds issued by SIGECO subject SIGECO’s properties to a lien under the related mortgage indenture as further discussed below.
(7)Issued by CERC Corp.
(8)The general mortgage bonds issued by Houston Electric subject Houston Electric’s properties to a lien under the General Mortgage as further discussed below.
(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 15.
Schedule of Revolving Credit Facilities and Utilization of Such Facilities During 2022, the following debt instruments were issued or incurred:
RegistrantIssuance DateDebt InstrumentAggregate Principal AmountInterest RateMaturity Date
(in millions)
Houston ElectricFebruary 2022
General Mortgage Bonds (1)
$300 3.00%2032
Houston ElectricFebruary 2022
General Mortgage Bonds (1)
500 3.60%2052
Houston ElectricSeptember 2022
General Mortgage Bonds (2)
500 4.45%2032
Houston ElectricSeptember 2022
General Mortgage Bonds (2)
300 4.85%2052
Total Houston Electric (1)
1,600 
CERCJune 2022
Senior Notes (3)
500 4.40%2032
CERCAugust 2022
Term Loan (4)
500 
SOFR (5) + 0.70%
2023
Total CERC1,000 
Total CenterPoint Energy$2,600 

(1)Total proceeds, net of discounts and issuance expenses and fees, of approximately $784 million were used for general limited liability company purposes, including capital expenditures and the repayment of all or a portion of Houston Electric’s borrowings under the CenterPoint Energy money pool.
(2)Total proceeds, net of discounts and issuance expenses and fees, of approximately $789 million were used for general limited liability company purposes, including capital expenditures, the repayment of all or a portion of Houston Electric’s borrowings under the CenterPoint Energy money pool and the redemption of outstanding general mortgage bonds discussed below.
(3)Total proceeds, net of discounts and issuance expenses and fees, of approximately $495 million were used for general corporate purposes, including the issuance by CERC Corp.’s current subsidiaries, Indiana Gas and VEDO, of intercompany notes to CERC Corp. in June 2022; these subsidiaries used the funds to repay intercompany debt owed to VUH in connection with the Restructuring in June 2022.
(4)Total proceeds, net of discounts and issuance expenses and fees, of approximately $500 million were used for general corporate purposes, including the repayment of CERC’s outstanding commercial paper balances. The term loan is reflected in short-term borrowings on CenterPoint Energy’s and CERC’s Consolidated Balance Sheets.
(5)As defined in the term loan agreement, which includes an adjustment of 0.10% per annum.
During 2022, the following debt instruments were repaid at maturity or redeemed, excluding scheduled principal payments of $220 million on the Securitization bonds:
RegistrantRepayment/Redemption DateDebt InstrumentAggregate PrincipalInterest RateMaturity Date
(in millions)
CERC (1)
January 2022Floating Rate Senior Notes$425 
Three-month LIBOR plus 0.5%
2023
Total CERC425 
Houston ElectricAugust 2022General Mortgage Bonds300 2.25%2022
Houston Electric (2)
October 2022General Mortgage Bonds200 5.60%2023
Total Houston Electric500 
CenterPoint Energy (3)
January 2022First Mortgage Bonds5 0.82%2022
CenterPoint Energy (4)
March 2022Senior Notes250 3.85%2024
CenterPoint Energy (5)
March 2022Senior Notes350 4.25%2028
Total CenterPoint Energy$1,530 

(1)In January 2022, CERC provided notice of partial redemption, and on January 31, 2022, CERC redeemed a portion ($425 million) of the outstanding $1 billion aggregate principal amount of the series at a redemption price equal to 100% of the principal amount, plus accrued and unpaid interest on the principal amount being redeemed.
(2)In September 2022, Houston Electric provided notice of redemption, and on October 17, 2022, Houston Electric redeemed $200 million aggregate principal amount, plus accrued and unpaid interest of approximately $3 million and an applicable make-whole premium of approximately $2 million, for a total redemption price of $205 million.
(3)First Mortgage Bonds issued by SIGECO.
(4)In March 2022, CenterPoint Energy provided notice of redemption, and on March 30, 2022, CenterPoint Energy redeemed all of the remaining outstanding senior notes of the series at a redemption price equal to 100% of the principal amount, plus accrued and unpaid interest of approximately $2 million, the write off of issuance costs of $1 million and an applicable make-whole premium of approximately $7 million for a total redemption price of $260 million.
(5)In March 2022, CenterPoint Energy provided notice of partial redemption, and on March 30, 2022, CenterPoint Energy redeemed a portion ($350 million) of the outstanding $500 million aggregate principal amount of the series at a redemption price equal to 100% of the principal amount, plus accrued and unpaid interest of approximately $6 million, the write off of issuance costs of $3 million and an applicable make-whole premium of approximately $34 million for a total redemption price of $393 million.
The Registrants had the following revolving credit facilities as of December 31, 2022:
Execution
 Date 		RegistrantSize of
Facility
Draw Rate of SOFR plus (1)
Financial Covenant Limit on Debt for Borrowed Money to Capital Ratio  
Debt for Borrowed Money to Capital
Ratio as of December 31, 2022 (2)
Termination
 Date
(in millions)
December 6, 2022CenterPoint Energy $2,400 1.500%65%(3)61.8%December 6, 2027
December 6, 2022
CenterPoint Energy (4)
250 1.125%65%45.2%December 6, 2027
December 6, 2022Houston Electric300 1.250%67.5%(3)54.4%December 6, 2027
December 6, 2022
CERC
1,050 1.125%65%49.9%December 6, 2027
Total$4,000 

(1)Based on credit ratings as of December 31, 2022.
(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 SIGECO.

The Registrants, as well as the subsidiaries of CenterPoint Energy discussed above, were in compliance with all financial debt covenants as of December 31, 2022.

As of December 31, 2022 and 2021, the Registrants had the following revolving credit facilities and utilization of such facilities:
December 31, 2022December 31, 2021
RegistrantSize of
Facility		LoansLetters
of Credit		Commercial
Paper		Weighted Average Interest RateSize of
Facility		LoansLetters
of Credit		Commercial
Paper		Weighted Average Interest Rate
(in millions, except weighted average interest rate)
CenterPoint Energy (1)
$2,400 $— $11 $1,770 4.71 %$2,400 $— $11 $1,400 0.34 %
CenterPoint Energy (2)
— — — — — %400— — 350 0.21 %
Houston Electric300 — — — — %300 — — — — %
CERC 1,050 — — 805 4.67 %900 — — 899 0.26 %
SIGECO250 — — — — %— — — — — %
Total$4,000 $— $11 $2,575 $4,000 $— $11 $2,649 
(1)CenterPoint Energy’s outstanding commercial paper generally has maturities of 60 days or less.
(2)This credit facility was issued by VUH and was terminated in connection with the Restructuring, as discussed above.
Schedule of Maturities of Long-term Debt
Maturities. As of December 31, 2022, maturities of long-term debt through 2027, excluding the ZENS obligation and unamortized discounts, premiums and issuance costs, were as follows:
CenterPoint
Energy (1)
Houston
 Electric (1)
CERCSecuritization Bonds
(in millions)
2023$1,999 $156 $1,832 $156 
20241,384 161 — 161 
202551 — 10 — 
2026860 300 60 — 
20272,901 300 831 — 

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