CenterPoint Energy sees up to $1.3 billion in restoration costs after Hurricane Beryl

By Vallari Srivastava

(Reuters) -Electric and gas utility CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:) said on Tuesday it expects total costs to restore facilities damaged by Hurricane Beryl to be in the range of $1.2 billion to $1.3 billion.

Earlier this month, Hurricane Beryl made landfall near the coastal town of Matagorda, Texas, causing significant damage to CenterPoint electric subsidiary’s delivery system.

The largest Texas power provider also expects $425 million to $475 million in additional costs related to storm events that occurred in May.

CenterPoint said on a post earnings call that it expects the storm-related costs to add about 2% to the average residential electric bills.

Shares of the company were down 1.6% in afternoon trade.

Scotiabank analyst Andrew Weisel said Beryl was weighing on the company’s balance sheet, and may impact its rate case filings in Houston as “customer satisfaction and public perception of the utility have taken a hit following the widespread outages.”

Utility companies use rate case proceedings to raise electricity prices, to boost funding for transmission and service costs.

Restaurants in and around Houston have sued CenterPoint Energy, seeking more than $100 million in damages, alleging incompetence and negligence in the utility’s efforts to restore power quickly following Hurricane Beryl.

CenterPoint, which serves about 2.9 million electric customers in the greater Houston area and southwestern Indiana, provided details on its plans to reduce the risks related to future storms.

The company’s net income available to common shareholders rose to $228 million, or 36 cents per share, in the second-quarter, from $106 million, or 17 cents per share, a year earlier, helped by increased demand for electricity during the peak summer months.