00:00We'll talk about crypto mining maybe, but let's talk about data centers because that is definitely the hot topic of the year.
00:06So you think about some of these growth forecasts.
00:09What does it mean for Centerpoint Energy specifically when you look at your queue of data centers?
00:15You know, it's just an incredible opportunity for us.
00:18You know, it took us about 100 years to build this system.
00:20And as you said, we may double it over the next five to 10 years.
00:23Really largely driven by data centers, advanced manufacturing, energy exports and refining.
00:30Logistics and life sciences.
00:31From a data center standpoint, it is all about speed to power.
00:35And fortunately, in the Texas market, we have excess capacity today where we can timely connect these data centers and get their chips processing quickly.
00:44And so we have seen a dramatic increase over the course of last year.
00:47So you're joining us on a day where the Bloomberg Big Take is all about AI and how data centers are causing electricity bills
00:54when it comes to data center alley in the Virginia region to really skyrocket for residents.
01:00And I'm curious what the situation is in Texas, whether there's more that needs to be done to ensure that those costs aren't actually passed on to residents.
01:09You know, I think each electric system in the U.S. is a little bit different.
01:12And we're really fortunate in the greater Houston region to have been able to keep bills flat since 2014.
01:18Part of that is we continue to see just a massive influx of residential customers each and every year.
01:23To try to put this in a little bit of context, we see a city the size of Ann Arbor, Michigan, Stanford, Connecticut, moving into the greater Houston region each and every year.
01:34And so as we build that system out, we spread those costs over an ever wider base.
01:38And so right now we're charging customers today what we charged them in 2014.
01:43When we look forward, we're able to keep our rates well in line with the historical rate of long-term inflation.
01:49I'm curious, though, but as you go forward and the demands now in the system are, I guess, a little bit more layered than maybe.
01:55I mean, I guess they've always been layered, but probably more so when you start to factor in data centers and such here.
01:59How do you sort of address that on your end to make sure that you can make sure you get reliable enough power to those data centers at a cost that they are comfortable with?
02:08And at the same time, you know, for a person like me, that my home can also be powered at a cost that I'm comfortable with.
02:13That's it.
02:14I mean, you know, we've in the greater Houston region have been connecting these what we call large loads, these large customers each and every year.
02:21So we have that recipe down.
02:24When it comes to making sure that we maintain affordable service, we have to make sure it's both reliable and resilient.
02:29Resilient because we're on the coast.
02:31We're impacted by storms.
02:33Reliable so that it's up and running every day.
02:35What we've been able to do is thread that needle of making sure that we have the right level of investment to accommodate that growth, to make sure it's reliable.
02:42But since we're spreading that cost each and every year over a wider customer base, that's why we've been able to keep the rates flat over a decade.
02:50With regards to this investment and the build out of the network, is that going to keep pace or catch up with the investments that we've seen in these new, I guess, energy hungry areas?
03:00I'm absolutely confident that in Texas we're able to keep up.
03:03This is kind of what we've been doing for decades.
03:06It's accelerating at a faster rate.
03:08But the recipe in terms of connecting these customers is a tried and true playbook for us.
03:13And so we will keep pace.
03:15The energy supply will be there.
03:17We will lean into this next opportunity.
03:20With the tens of billions of dollars that you have to deploy for this, I mean, where is that money going to come from?
03:24You're going to go back to equity markets, to the bond markets?
03:26Where is it going to come from?
03:27It's a mixture.
03:27About 50% of it comes from the debt markets.
03:31We're in the process of selling one of our Ohio gas local distribution companies.
03:36We're going to recycle those proceeds back into Texas to help facilitate that growth.
03:41So we're thinking constructively about tapping a number of different markets.
03:44We're in the market today for a hybrid instrument, whether it's equity, hybrids, debt, selling of assets.
03:51It's all of the above to help efficiently fund this growth.
03:54Do you think the investor appetite is going to be there?
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