Harris County targets CenterPoint's $66.7 billion capital plan over data center grid surge
Harris County is fighting for authority to slow 8 gigawatts of data center load that underpins CenterPoint's $66.7 billion capital plan, just days ahead of its third-quarter print.
Vincent Jiang · 3 min read
On October 15, 2026, Harris County Attorney Abbie Kamin stood on the courthouse steps alongside county commissioners Lesley Briones and Adrian Garcia and did something unusual for a local official: she read a regulated utility’s investor presentation back at it as an indictment 17. The numbers belonged to Houston wires-and-pipes operator CenterPoint Energy−0.32% — CenterPoint Energy, down 0.32 percent today 1.
Management had told Wall Street that 8 gigawatts of data center load would be energized across the Houston area by 2029, swelling system demand roughly 50 percent 17. Kamin's complaint was not that the utility's forecast was inaccurate, but that Harris County had zero legal authority to decide what plugs into its dirt 18.
The rate base stakes
For CenterPoint, that load projection is the economic engine of its corporate equity 19. Because investor-owned utilities earn state-sanctioned returns on approved physical capital rather than commodity power, data center queues directly dictate rate-base growth 1.
On July 28, 2026, CenterPoint raised its 10-year capital expenditure plan for 2026 through 2035 by $1.2 billion to $66.7 billion, marking its second capex hike of the year 19. Management tied the spending directly to Houston's accelerating queue, estimating that absorbing the massive volume would dilute fixed network expenses and trim local residential and commercial delivery charges by at least $5 billion over a decade 19.
CenterPoint has deployed over $10 billion in capital across eight quarters
Data
| Capital Expenditure | |
|---|---|
| Q3 '24 | $0.84B |
| Q4 '24 | $2.01B |
| Q1 '25 | $1.04B |
| Q2 '25 | $1.13B |
| Q3 '25 | $1.22B |
| Q4 '25 | $1.48B |
| Q1 '26 | $1.2B |
| Q2 '26 | $1.37B |
Wall Street embraced the arithmetic 3456. TD Cowen initiated coverage at Buy on October 22, 2026, with a $47 target and upgraded the stock to Strong-Buy on October 23, 2026 34. HSBC initiated at Buy with a $44 target 5. Scotiabank named CenterPoint a top utility pick on October 22, 2026, noting an internal transmission study could add another $10 billion of capex into guidance while acknowledging political pushback 6.
The jurisdictional clash
Yet the foundation of that $66.7 billion capital plan faces multiple political collisions 1. Texas counties hold no zoning powers, leaving Harris County unable to impose development moratoria or steer substation locations 17.
In response, the Commissioners Court voted on October 15, 2026, to order emergency service and flood control agencies to flag every major permit application, while petitioning Texas lawmakers for siting jurisdiction ahead of the January 2027 legislative session 18. The county also awaits an opinion from Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton on whether local governments possess any statutory authority to pause data center builds 17.
Paxton has separately targeted the sector, opening a statewide investigation on October 15, 2026, into water compliance across 156 data center projects spanning 32 counties, including Harris County 110. Above both sits Governor Greg Abbott's September 21, 2026, directive halting Texas Commission on Environmental Quality data center permits pending an Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) audit of 474 gigawatts of large-load requests 18. The compliance deadline for that environmental halt passed on October 19, 2026, and ERCOT must publish its audit by December 10, 2026 1.
The earnings test
CenterPoint management argues the backlog is durable, noting with its second-quarter print that it filed more than 17 gigawatts into ERCOT's Batch Zero study, where it expects 14 gigawatts to qualify against a current system peak of 21 gigawatts 19. When the utility reports third-quarter earnings on October 27, 2026, analysts will look for whether executive leadership formally folds Scotiabank's anticipated $10 billion transmission expansion into the base plan 26.
Our previous reporting on Entergy's transparency dispute highlighted how rapidly utility agreements can collide with regulatory oversight 1. If Austin or county officials restrict interconnections, the promised $5 billion ratepayer relief and the capital spending that justifies CenterPoint's valuation will evaporate together 1. Deep dive into the filings below as regulatory friction reshapes the Texas grid.
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