CenterPoint Targets 8 GW of Data Center Load in 3 Years

CenterPoint Energy Inc on Thursday announced plans to energize 8 gigawatts (GW) of generation projects catered to data centers by 2029.

The Houston, Texas-based power and gas utility said in its quarterly report it has 12.2 GW of firmly committed industrial load in Greater Houston.

Of the 8 GW planned capacity for data centers, 3.5 GW are under construction, CenterPoint said.

“We understand the best way to deliver on affordability for our current customers is by bringing more connections onto our electric systems. With the incremental and accelerating growth we see in Greater Houston alone, we project to be able to deliver customer savings of approximately $4 billion over the next decade", said president and chief executive Jason Wells.

"Through our team’s disciplined execution and moving at the speed of business, we have made meaningful progress for numerous new customers to help them realize their large load connections. As a result, we now have clear line of sight to 12.2 gigawatts of firmly committed industrial load.

"Given all these trends, we continue to believe we have one of the most tangible and executable growth plans in the industry".

On February 19, 2026 CenterPoint announced a $500-million increase in its 10-year (2026-35) investment plan, which now totals $65.5 billion.

CenterPoint expects a nearly 50 percent increase in peak demand to over 30 GW in its Houston Electric territory by 2029, compared to 2024, it said in its annual report.

Meanwhile, for the first quarter (Q1) of 2026, New York-listed CenterPoint reported $316 million, or $0.48 per diluted share, in GAAP net profit, up from $0.45 per diluted share for the same three-month period in 2025.

Non-GAAP earnings per share for January-March 2026 stood at $0.56, up from $0.53 for Q1 2025.

"These strong first-quarter results were primarily driven by growth and regulatory recovery, which contributed $0.11 per share of favorability compared to the first quarter of 2025", CenterPoint said.

"This favorability was partially offset by $0.02 per share of unfavorable weather and usage and $0.04 of unfavorability from increased interest expense. Additionally, $0.03 of unfavorable variance was primarily related to the divestiture of Louisiana and Mississippi natural gas LDC businesses, reflecting the completed sale in the first quarter of 2025".

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