City of Houston staff said CenterPoint's rate increase application, filed in December, would raise the average household’s bill by $1.83 per month.

The City Council unanimously denied the company’s request to raise rates. The company said the increase would help make improvements to “reliably deliver power.

CenterPoint previously reported the proposed rate increase would have added about $1.25 per month the the average residential bill for customers using 1,000 kWh.

CenterPoint Energy has proposed rate increases of nearly 4% for Minnesota customers this year. Minnesota's biggest gas utility has already implemented an interim 2.4% rate hike that took effect at the start of the year,

The electricity supplier for much of the Houston region wants to make additional investments to “reliably deliver power.” This type of denial by Houston City Council is “not uncommon,” according to the city’s administration and regulatory affairs department.