CenterPoint Energy Cautionary Statement

This report contains statements concerning our expectations, beliefs, plans, objectives, goals, strategies, future operations, events, financial position, earnings, growth, costs, prospects, capital investments or performance or underlying assumptions and other statements that are not historical facts. These statements are “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. 

You should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied by these statements. You can generally identify our forward-looking statements by the words “anticipate,” “believe,” “continue,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “forecast,” “goal,” “intend,” “may,” “objective,” “plan,” “potential,” “predict,” “projection,” “should,” “target,” “will,” or other similar words. The absence of these words, however, does not mean that the statements are not forward-looking. 

We have based our forward-looking statements on our management’s beliefs and assumptions based on information currently available to our management at the time the statements are made. Any statement on this website regarding future events, such as CenterPoint Energy’s carbon emission reduction goals, including its net-zero emission goals, and its ability to achieve such goals and related timing thereof, the advancement of and use of new technologies for alternative energy sources, CenterPoint Energy’s ability to continue to modernize its distribution grid, executive management continuity and succession planning, future board composition, corporate governance commitments, strategic plans and value creation, capital investments, business opportunities, future financial performance and results of operations, renewable energy growth objectives and any other statement that is not historical facts are forward-looking statements. We caution you not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements and that assumptions, beliefs, expectations, intentions and projections about future events may and often do vary materially from actual results. Accordingly, we cannot assure you that actual results will not differ materially from those expressed or implied by our forward-looking statements. 

Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated by the provided forward-looking information include risks and uncertainties relating to: (1) the performance of Enable Midstream Partners, LP (Enable), the amount of cash distributions CenterPoint Energy receives from Enable, Enable’s ability to redeem the Enable Series A Preferred Units in certain circumstances and the value of CenterPoint Energy’s interest in Enable, and factors that may have a material impact on such performance, cash distributions and value, including factors such as: (A) competitive conditions in the midstream industry, and actions taken by Enable’s customers and competitors, including drilling, production and capital spending decisions of third parties and the extent and timing of the entry of additional competition in the markets served by Enable; (B) the timing and extent of changes in the supply of natural gas and associated commodity prices, particularly prices of natural gas and natural gas liquids (NGLs), the competitive effects of the available pipeline capacity in the regions served by Enable, and the effects of geographic and seasonal commodity price differentials, including the effects of these circumstances on re-contracting available capacity on Enable’s interstate pipelines and its commodity risk management activities; (C) economic effects of the actions of certain oil-exporting countries and the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, which have in the past resulted in a substantial decrease in oil and natural gas prices and the combined impact of these events and COVID-19 on commodity prices; (D) the demand for crude oil, natural gas, NGLs and transportation and storage services; (E) environmental and other governmental regulations, including the availability of drilling permits and the regulation of hydraulic fracturing; (F) recording of goodwill, long-lived asset or other than temporary impairment charges by or related to Enable; (G) the timing of payments from Enable’s customers under existing contracts, including minimum volume commitment payments; (H) changes in tax status; and (I) access to debt and equity capital; (2) the integration of the businesses acquired in the merger with Vectren Corporation (Vectren) with CenterPoint Energy, including the integration of technology systems, the outcome of shareholder litigation filed against Vectren that could reduce the benefits of the merger, the ability to realize additional benefits and commercial opportunities from the merger, including the development of new opportunities and the performance of projects undertaken by Energy Systems Group, a subsidiary of CenterPoint Energy, which are subject to, among other factors, the level of success in bidding contracts and cancellation and/or reductions in the scope of projects by customers and obligations related to warranties, guarantees and other contractual and legal obligations; (3) the recording of impairment charges; (4) industrial, commercial and residential growth in CenterPoint Energy’s service territories and changes in market demand, including the demand for CenterPoint Energy’s non-utility products and services and effects of energy efficiency measures and demographic patterns; (5) timely and appropriate rate actions that allow recovery of costs and a reasonable return on investment, including the timing and amount of natural gas purchase costs associated with the February 2021 winter storm event recovered; (6) future economic conditions in regional and national markets and their effect on sales, prices and costs; (7) weather variations and other natural phenomena, including the impact of severe weather events on operations and capital, such as impacts from the February 2021 winter storm event; (8) CenterPoint Energy’s or Enable’s business strategies and strategic initiatives, restructurings, joint ventures and acquisitions or dispositions of assets or businesses, including the announced sale of our Natural Gas businesses in Arkansas and Oklahoma, which we cannot assure will be completed or will have the anticipated benefits to us, and the merger of Enable with Energy Transfer, which we cannot assure will be completed or will have the anticipated benefits to us or Enable; (9) the outcome of litigation, including litigation related to the February 2021 winter storm event; (10) the ability of retail electric providers (REPs), including REP affiliates of NRG Energy, Inc. and Vistra Energy Corp., to satisfy their obligations to CenterPoint Energy and Houston Electric, including the negative impact on such ability related to COVID-19 and the February 2021 winter storm event; (11) the COVID-19 pandemic and its effect on CenterPoint Energy’s and Enable’s operations, business and financial condition, the industries and communities they serve, U.S. and world financial markets and supply chains, potential regulatory actions and changes in customer and stakeholder behaviors relating thereto; (12) volatility and historical substantial declines in the markets for oil and natural gas as a result of the actions of certain crude-oil exporting countries and the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and reduced worldwide consumption due to the COVID-19 pandemic; (13) state and federal legislative and regulatory actions or developments affecting various aspects of CenterPoint Energy’s businesses (including the businesses of Enable), including, among others, energy deregulation or re-regulation, pipeline integrity and safety and changes in regulation and legislation pertaining to trade, health care, finance and actions regarding the rates charged by our regulated businesses; (14) direct or indirect effects on CenterPoint Energy’s or Enable’s facilities, resources, operations and financial condition resulting from terrorism, cyber attacks or intrusions, data security breaches or other attempts to disrupt their businesses or the businesses of third parties, or other catastrophic events such as fires, ice, earthquakes, explosions, leaks, floods, droughts, hurricanes, tornadoes and other severe weather events, pandemic health events or other occurrences; (15) tax legislation, including the effects of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act and the comprehensive tax reform legislation informally referred to as the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (which includes but is not limited to any potential changes to tax rates, tax credits and/or interest deductibility), as well as any changes in tax laws under the Biden administration and uncertainties involving state commissions’ and local municipalities’ regulatory requirements and determinations regarding the treatment of excess deferred income taxes and CenterPoint Energy’s rates; (16) CenterPoint Energy’s ability to mitigate weather impacts through normalization or rate mechanisms, and the effectiveness of such mechanisms; (17) actions by credit rating agencies, including any potential downgrades to credit ratings; (18) matters affecting regulatory approval, legislative actions, construction, implementation of necessary technology or other issues with respect to major capital projects that result in delays or cancellation or in cost overruns that cannot be recouped in rates; (19) local, state and federal legislative and regulatory actions or developments relating to the environment, including, among others, those related to global climate change, air emissions, carbon, waste water discharges and the handling and disposal of coal combustion residuals (CCR) that could impact the continued operations, cost recovery of generation plant costs and related assets, and CenterPoint Energy’s carbon emission reduction targets; (20) the impact of unplanned facility outages or other closures; (21)) CenterPoint Energy’s ability to fund and invest planned capital and the timely recovery of CenterPoint Energy’s investments, including those related to Indiana Electric’s generation transition plan as part of its most recent Integrated Resource Plan; (22) CenterPoint Energy’s ability to successfully construct and operate electric generating facilities, including complying with applicable environmental standards and the implementation of a well-balanced energy and resource mix, as appropriate; (23) the sufficiency of CenterPoint Energy’s insurance coverage, including availability, cost, coverage and terms and ability to recover claims; (24) the investment performance of CenterPoint Energy’s pension and postretirement benefit plans; (25) changes in interest rates and their impact on costs of borrowing and the valuation of CenterPoint Energy’s pension benefit obligation; (26) commercial bank and financial market conditions, CenterPoint Energy’s access to capital, the cost of such capital, and the results of CenterPoint Energy’s financing and refinancing efforts, including availability of funds in the debt capital markets; (27) changes in rates of inflation; (28) inability of various counterparties to meet their obligations to CenterPoint Energy; (29) non-payment for CenterPoint Energy’s services due to financial distress of its customers; (30) the extent and effectiveness of CenterPoint Energy’s and Enable’s risk management and hedging activities, including but not limited to, financial and weather hedges; (31) timely and appropriate regulatory actions, which include actions allowing securitization, for any future hurricanes or other severe weather events, or natural disasters or other recovery of costs; (32) acquisition and merger activities involving CenterPoint Energy or its competitors, including the ability to successfully complete merger, acquisition and divestiture plans; (33) CenterPoint Energy’s or Enable’s ability to recruit, effectively transition and retain management and key employees and maintain good labor relations; (34) changes in technology, particularly with respect to efficient battery storage or the emergence or growth of new, developing or alternative sources of generation; (35) the impact of alternate energy sources on the demand for natural gas; (36) the timing and outcome of any audits, disputes and other proceedings related to taxes; (37) the effective tax rates; (38) political and economic developments, including energy and environmental policies under the Biden administration; (39) the transition to a replacement for the LIBOR benchmark interest rate; (40) the effect of changes in and application of accounting standards and pronouncements; (41) CenterPoint Energy’s ability to execute operations and maintenance management initiatives, targets and goals; and (42) other factors discussed in CenterPoint Energy’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2020, CenterPoint Energy’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarters ended March 31, 2021 and June 30, 2021, and other reports CenterPoint Energy or its subsidiaries may file from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission. 

This report contains time-sensitive information that is accurate as of September 23, 2021. Some of the information in this report is unaudited and may be subject to change. We undertake no obligation to update the information presented herein, except as required by law. 

Net Zero Disclaimer: While we believe that we have a clear path toward achieving our net zero emissions (Scope 1 and Scope 2) by 2035 goals, our analysis and path forward required us to make a number of assumptions. These goals and underlying assumptions involve risks and uncertainties and are not guarantees. Should one or more of our underlying assumptions prove incorrect, our actual results and ability to achieve net zero emissions by 2035 could differ materially from our expectations. Certain of the assumptions that could impact our ability to meet our net zero emissions goals include: emission levels, service territory size and capacity needs remaining in line with company expectations (inclusive of changes related to the sale of our natural gas businesses in Arkansas and Oklahoma); regulatory approval of our generation transition plan; impacts of future environmental regulations or legislation; impacts of future carbon pricing regulation or legislation; price and availability of carbon offsets; price of fuel, such as natural gas; cost of energy generation technologies, such as wind and solar, natural gas and storage solutions; adoption of alternative energy by the public, including adoption of electric vehicles; rate of technology innovation with regards to alternative energy resources; our ability to implement our modernization plans for our pipelines and facilities; retirement dates of our coal facilities by 2035; and enhancement of energy efficiencies. In addition, because Texas is in an unregulated market, our Scope 2 estimates do not take into account Texas electric transmission and distribution assets in the line loss calculation and exclude emissions related to purchased power between 2024E-2026E. Our Scope 3 estimates do not take into account the emissions of transport customers and emissions related to upstream extraction. Please also review the section entitled “CenterPoint Energy Cautionary Statement” included on this website.