Houston Chronicle: How H-E-B helped reduce CenterPoint’s request for electricity price hike

Feb. 18 — H-E-B, the San Antonio-based grocery chain, was experiencing so many power outages at its Houston-area stores that three years ago it began installing its own backup generators to keep food at the right temperature.

So when CenterPoint Energy, the regulated utility that distributes electricity to the Houston area, asked Texas regulators to raise rates this spring by $161 million and to boost its profit to 10.4 percent, H-E-B stepped up and said the utility didn’t deserve either.

— Houston Chronicle