League City households and small businesses could see lower electric bills over the next decade after CenterPoint Energy announced a plan it says will keep roughly $5 billion in infrastructure costs off residential bills by charging large data centers and other high-demand energy users instead.
The Houston-based utility unveiled its "Customer Savings Initiative" on Tuesday, Aug. 11, projecting the savings across its nearly 2.9 million Greater Houston customers through 2036.
League City falls within CenterPoint's service territory.
The mechanism is straightforward: as data centers and other large facilities connect to the grid, they pick up a bigger share of fixed infrastructure costs that would otherwise be passed on to all ratepayers through rate increases. CenterPoint officials said roughly $5 billion in costs that would have hit residential and small business bills over the next decade will instead be paid by high-energy users.
"We have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to generate historic levels of customer savings of more than $5 billion statewide by leveraging new investment in large projects to build a more affordable, reliable and resilient electric grid for millions of customers," CenterPoint chairman and CEO Jason Wells said in the company's announcement.
How it works
The initiative hinges on the planned addition of up to 14 gigawatts of new large-load projects connecting to the ERCOT grid. Under Senate Bill 6, signed by Gov. Greg Abbott on June 20, 2025, any new or expanded facility expecting to draw 75 megawatts or more must pay higher infrastructure costs and study fees to verify its energy demands. The law was authored by Sens. Phil King and Charles Schwertner and sponsored in the House by Rep. Ken King.
Before SB 6, those infrastructure costs were spread across all customers through rate increases. The Katy News reported that under the new law, large-load users must contribute directly toward the infrastructure built for them.
For League City customers, transmission and distribution charges still flow through their retail electric provider. Switching providers does not eliminate those PUCT-approved delivery costs, but the initiative means delivery charges should grow more slowly as large users absorb a greater share.
What League City residents should know
CenterPoint says its Greater Houston customers already pay the lowest infrastructure cost per kilowatt hour of any investor-owned electric utility in Texas. The infrastructure portion of customer bills rose just over 1% per year from 2014 to 2025, well below national inflation over the same period.
The $5 billion figure is a company projection, not a guarantee. It assumes all 14 gigawatts of planned large-load projects materialize. The Public Utility Commission of Texas must finalize transmission cost rules under SB 6 by Dec. 31, 2026, meaning the regulatory framework underpinning the savings is still being written. CenterPoint has not announced a specific date when customers will first see reductions on their bills.
CenterPoint also signed the National Ratepayer Protection Pledge, committing to prioritize affordability while enabling private investment in grid infrastructure.
Dates to watch
- Dec. 31, 2026: PUCT deadline to finalize SB 6 transmission cost rules
- Through 2036: Timeline for CenterPoint's projected $5 billion in customer savings
