Locator: 48691CNP.
I've written about CNP off and on over the years but have generally lost interest in the company.
Then, today, I see that oilprice has a piece on CNP.
CenterPoint Energy (CNP) reported solid second-quarter 2025 financial results, reaffirmed its full-year guidance, and raised its 10-year capital investment plan by another $500 million to $53 billion, the third upward revision this year.
The Houston-based utility reported GAAP earnings of $0.30 per diluted share and non-GAAP EPS of $0.29 for Q2 2025, down from $0.36 in the same quarter last year.
The decline was largely attributed to the timing of rate recoveries and higher financing and maintenance costs. However, favorable weather and usage partially offset these impacts.
CenterPoint reiterated its 2025 non-GAAP EPS guidance range of $1.74 to $1.76 (which averages out to $0.44 per share), which implies 8% growth over 2024 and supports the company’s longer-term annual growth target of 6%–8% through 2030.
Today’s $500 million increase in long-term capital spending follows previous boosts totaling $5 billion earlier this year, bringing the full 10-year plan to $53 billion.
Importantly, the company noted it expects to fund the expanded investment plan without issuing incremental equity.
President and CEO Jason Wells said the expansion reflects both confidence in demand growth—particularly in Texas—and a “conservative approach” that leaves room for additional investment opportunities not yet factored into current projections.
A refreshed 10-year plan is expected to be released by the end of September.
The company reported a 6 GW increase in its interconnection queue since its Q1 earnings call, further validating its forecast of 50% load growth by 2031. This surge is fueled by rapid industrial, data center, and electrification growth across its territories, especially in Texas.
CNP: a utility. A simple utility. A simple, boring utility. It forecasts a load growth of 50% by 2031. That's about five years from now.
Does a 50% increase in load growth by a simple, boring electric utility seem unusual over the next few years seem unusual?
Three things are going on in Texas right now:
- phenomenal population growth;
- a Permian that keeps producing more and more natural gas, though the rate of rise has flattened; and,
- AI data centers.
Look at share price for CNP. Most unusual schematic for a simple, boring electric utility.
And then at that multiple for CNP. In the same ballpark as the P/E for AAPL.
For comparison: MDU's multiple is 13. SRE, 17. OTTR, 11.
If CNP grows into its P/E, a. year from now, CNP could be trading for $80.
U-Haul: I don't know if folks remember the number of U-Haul trailers stacking up in Williston in 2009 during the boom. I stopped by our local U-Haul location today, here in the DFW area, north Texas, northwest of the city that won't keep growing, according to The WSJ. I've never seen it so busy. It looked like Williston at the height of the boom. I mentioned that to the assistant manager at U-Haul today and they said they're getting slammed every day, weekdays and weekends. It's been going on like this for quite some time.
Some people say AI is a bubble. I don't recall "things" looking like this during the dot.com bubble. I do remember things looking like this during the Bakken boom.
Oilprice is an energy site. I don't recall the last time I saw oilprice posting a story about CNP. I don't think oilprice is all that interested in data centers. LOL. Wow, what a story. Absolutely fascinating.
