CenterPoint delivery charges, explained

A substantial part of every Houston electricity bill goes to CenterPoint Energy rather than to your retail provider — and no broker, comparison site or switch can change it by a cent.

What CenterPoint is: The transmission and distribution utility (TDU)
What it does: Owns the wires and meter, delivers power, restores outages
Who can change these charges: Nobody — regulated by the PUC of Texas
Outage number: CenterPoint, never your retail provider

Houston's electricity market separates two jobs that used to belong to one company: selling you energy, and delivering it. Retail providers compete for the first. CenterPoint Energy holds a regulated monopoly on the second.

What CenterPoint actually does

CenterPoint owns the transmission lines, the distribution network, the transformers, the poles and the meter on your building. It reads that meter, maintains the equipment, connects new service, and restores power after storms. It does not sell you electricity and it does not compete for your business, because it cannot — every address in its territory is served by CenterPoint and only CenterPoint.

Because that is a monopoly, its rates are regulated. CenterPoint files proposed rates with the Public Utility Commission of Texas, the PUC reviews and approves them, and the approved rates apply identically to every customer on a given tariff.

What appears on your bill

Your retail provider collects delivery charges on CenterPoint's behalf and passes them through. Depending on your tariff, they include:

Charge	What it is for	Shoppable?
Customer charge	A fixed monthly amount for metering, billing and account administration	No
Metering / distribution charge	Per-kWh charge for carrying power over the local distribution network	No
Transmission charge	Recovery of the cost of the high-voltage network moving power across Texas	No
Demand charge (larger commercial)	Billed on the highest fifteen-minute demand in the period	No
Riders and adjustments	Approved recovery mechanisms for network investment and specified costs	No
Energy / supply charge	The electricity itself, sold by your retail provider	Yes

We do not publish the current amounts here, and that is deliberate. Delivery rates are adjusted periodically, a stale figure on a website is worse than none, and the authoritative number for your account is on your own bill. Send us the bill and we will read the current figures off it.

What this means for any savings claim

If a meaningful share of your bill is regulated delivery charges and statutory taxes, then a promise to cut "your bill" by a percentage is a promise about a number that includes charges the promiser cannot touch.

The honest framing, and the one we use, is that your supply rate is what is in play. We will tell you what proportion of your bill that is before anyone talks about savings, because the answer changes what a percentage means.

Demand charges, for commercial accounts

Larger commercial customers are billed not only for energy consumed but for demand — the highest fifteen-minute average rate of consumption in the billing period. The network has to be sized for that peak whether it lasts fifteen minutes or a month, which is the rationale for charging on it.

Demand is a delivery charge, so it is not shoppable. But it is influenceable: staggering equipment start-up, avoiding simultaneous shift-change loads, and knowing whether a ratchet clause applies can all move the number that gets billed. For a motor-heavy facility this is frequently worth more than the supply shop. What a bill audit looks at.

Outages

Report outages to CenterPoint, always. Your retail provider has no operational role and cannot prioritise restoration. If anyone selling you a plan implies faster restoration or better storm response, they are describing something they do not control.

CenterPoint questions

Can any provider lower my CenterPoint delivery charges?

No. They are regulated rates filed with and approved by the Public Utility Commission of Texas, and every customer on the same tariff pays the same delivery rates regardless of which retail provider bills them. Any claim otherwise is false.

Why does CenterPoint charge me when I buy from someone else?

Because CenterPoint owns and maintains the poles, wires, transformers and meter that physically bring electricity to your property, and reads that meter. Your retail provider sells you the energy; CenterPoint delivers it. Both functions have a cost and both appear on your bill.

Do delivery charges ever change?

Yes. Utilities file periodically to adjust rates, and there are riders that update on a set schedule for transmission and distribution investment recovery. Changes are approved by the PUC and apply to every customer on the tariff at once.

Do I call CenterPoint or my provider when the power goes out?

CenterPoint. They own the wires and handle all restoration. Your retail provider has no role in an outage and no ability to prioritise you — no matter what a sales call implies.

Why does my business have a demand charge and my house does not?

Residential customers are billed on energy consumed. Larger commercial customers are additionally billed on demand — the highest fifteen-minute rate of consumption in the period — because the network has to be built to serve that peak whether or not it lasts.

We only talk about the half that can move

We read what you are on now, take it to the providers we hold agreements with, and tell you whether it is worth moving. If it is not, we say so.

Start with your bill Call 832-573-8546

No cost, no obligation. Monday–Friday, 8:00am–6:00pm CT.