On a humid afternoon in southwest Houston, a retired teacher spread three months of electricity statements across a kitchen table and did the arithmetic twice. The energy price on her contract had not moved. The line she barely noticed in prior summers had. That quiet shift is the CenterPoint September bill hike, a delivery rate change that local reporting put at roughly fourteen dollars for a typical household even when the supply contract itself stayed put.
What changed on the September statement
CenterPoint Energy Houston Electric does not sell the power that most households choose through a retail provider. It owns the poles, wires, meters, and substations that carry electricity to the door. The delivery portion of the bill is set through regulated charges, then collected on the retail statement so customers see one total rather than two checks.
According to coverage in the Houston Chronicle, the delivery rate rose from 4.99 cents to 6.41 cents per kilowatt hour. On a usage pattern common in the city, that gap lands near fourteen dollars before taxes and other adjustments. The figure is an average illustration, not a promise. A small apartment with modest air conditioning will see less. A large house running the system hard through late heat will see more. The percentage move is large relative to the old delivery rate, which is why a number that looks modest in cents can feel sharp when it arrives as cash…