Senate Business & Commerce committee reviews CenterPoint plan to refund customers and donate large generators to ERCOT; SB231 amended to reflect agreement

The Senate Committee on Business & Commerce heard detailed testimony on Senate Bill 231 and an agreement between CenterPoint Energy and state actors to refund customers for charges tied to 15 large emergency generators and to donate those units to ERCOT for temporary use.

The bill and a committee substitute were presented Tuesday to reflect a negotiated process whereby CenterPoint will (a) forego charging customers for most costs attributable to the 15 large units going forward, (b) implement an immediate, multi‑year base rate reduction and (c) donate the 15 units to ERCOT for deployment in the San Antonio area for about two years. The committee laid out the substitute and then left SB231 pending for further review and for forthcoming filings at the Public Utility Commission (PUC).

Why this matters: CenterPoint customers have already been billed for work tied to those generators. Committee members, Houston delegation senators and consumer groups pressed CenterPoint and the PUC for a remedy that would return funds to customers while keeping emergency tools available for grid reliability.

CenterPoint executive vice president Jason Ryan told the committee the company will not charge ERCOT or Houston‑area…