CenterPoint Energy
CNP
Utilities
3
exclusion reasons
2 themes
This page is part of our public exclusion list — a transparency tool that shows which companies we screen out and why. It is not investment advice, and it is not an accusation. But it is subject to change as our understanding of the facts evolves.
CenterPoint Energy derives approximately 47% of revenue from natural gas distribution, serving over 4 million gas customers across Texas, Indiana, Ohio, and Minnesota. The company has committed $19 billion to gas infrastructure investment through 2035 — not maintaining legacy systems, but actively expanding the network. Its electric segment capex is growing faster, but this is driven by data center demand and Hurricane Beryl storm hardening, not a deliberate decarbonization strategy.
CenterPoint has no Science Based Targets initiative commitment. Its self-set net-zero target excludes Scope 3 emissions from sold gas, which is the dominant emission source for a gas distribution utility.
CenterPoint Energy operates coal-fired generation through its Indiana subsidiary (formerly Vectren/SIGECO, acquired 2019). The F.B. Culley Generating Station in Warrick County includes Unit 2 (104 MW) and Unit 3 (265 MW), both coal-fired, for a combined 369 MW of coal capacity. Culley Unit 2 was scheduled to retire in December 2025, but DOE Emergency Order 202-25-13 compelled its continued operation through at least March 2026. Culley Unit 3 was originally slated for natural gas conversion by 2027, but CenterPoint announced in October 2025 that it would delay retirement past 2027, with no firm exit date before 2032.
CenterPoint has retired approximately 635 MW of coal capacity at A.B. Brown and Warrick, but the remaining 369 MW at Culley is not on a binding retirement schedule. The Sierra Club characterized the October 2025 announcement as a backtrack on the company's 2023 IRP commitment to be coal-free by 2027. Environmental groups filed suit in the D.C. Circuit in March 2026 challenging the DOE emergency orders.
CenterPoint sits on the board of the American Gas Association, which opposes building electrification policy. The company is a member of ALEC and Consumer Energy Alliance. It supported Texas SB 1261, which blocks municipal greenhouse gas regulation, and Indiana PL 180, which blocks fossil gas bans.
In 2021, a CenterPoint lobbyist ghostwrote third-party comments submitted to Minnesota regulators supporting gas appliance rebates. The company acknowledged providing "guidance and sample letters." InfluenceMap assesses CenterPoint as taking "mostly negative positions on the energy transition" and "strategically advocating for fossil gas infrastructure."
Research Sources
8 organizations
Related Exclusions
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Companies appear on our exclusion list based on our investment judgment — not because they've done anything illegal. This is a difference of values and opinion, not an accusation of wrongdoing. Exclusion does not constitute a recommendation against investing in any company, and absence from the list does not constitute a recommendation to invest.
This information is provided for educational and transparency purposes only and should not be relied upon as investment advice. Data is drawn from independent watchdogs, NGOs, government registries, and Ethical Capital's ongoing research — see Research Sources for the full list.
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