The newly added $4.5 billion in planned spending is outside of the $10 billion of possible investments CenterPoint executives have identified for the next eight years.<\/p>\n
CenterPoint\u2019s five-year capex plan now totals $38.7 billion and its 10-year plan calls for investing $70.7 billion in various growth projects. Of that latter figure, $51.5 billion is dedicated to electric operations. The roughly $19 billion allotted to CenterPoint\u2019s gas utilities, however, could come down as Wells and his lieutenants, who just wrapped up\u00a0the $2.6 billion sale of an Ohio gas utility<\/a> to National Fuel, look to further streamline their portfolio.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re going to continue to evaluate those opportunities,\u201d Wells said when asked if other divestitures could help fund the projected capex. \u201cThey\u2019re highly efficient for our customers and stakeholders as we\u2019ve executed those in the past. We continue to be supportive of running excellent businesses but you saw recently the benefits from the Ohio close as well.\u201d<\/p>\n Wells said his team is clear about its top priority of meeting Houston\u2019s boom with electricity. The company\u2019s customer count grow by 2% year over year to 3.06 million as of Sept. 30 and forecasts have 3 gigawatts being energized next year to be followed by about 5 gigawatts in 2028.<\/p>\n \u201cOur focus is on enabling the incredible and explosive growth that we\u2019re experiencing and doing so efficiently for our shareholders,\u201d Wells said.<\/p>\n