CenterPoint Energy Inc

National Fuel Gas Company has completed its previously announced acquisition of CenterPoint Energy's Ohio natural gas utility business for $2.62 billion. The deal adds roughly 335,000 customers, expanding National Fuel's utility customer base to nearly 1.1 million customers across New York, Pennsylvania and Ohio. Management expects the transaction to double the company's gas utility rate base to roughly $3.2 billion, increase regulated cash flows, and complement its existing New York and Pennsylvania utility businesses while maintaining its investment-grade balance sheet. The acquisition is expected to be immediately accretive to regulated earnings per share, neutral to consolidated adjusted results in fiscal 2028, and accretive thereafter. The article also noted recent consolidation in the U.S. oil and energy sector, including Williams' completed $5.5-billion acquisition of Momentum Midstream in September 2026 and ONEOK's agreement to acquire Brazos Midstream's Permian Midland Basin assets for $4.43 billion.

National Fuel Gas Company said its board expects to complete by October 15 its review of a plan to separate the company into two publicly traded businesses, splitting its Integrated Upstream and Gathering operations from its regulated utility, pipeline and storage businesses. If pursued, shareholders would receive shares of the IUG business through a tax-free distribution, while National Fuel would become a fully regulated natural-gas company. The timing is notable because National Fuel is about to close its $2.62 billion acquisition of CenterPoint Energy's Ohio gas utility business, expected on October 1, a deal that would add roughly 335,000 customers and take its utility customer base to about 1.1 million across Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York. After the split, National Fuel would have nearly $5 billion of rate base, almost 5 Bcf per day of contracted pipeline transportation capacity and 77 Bcf of contracted storage capacity, while IUG holds about 5 Tcf of natural-gas reserves and more than 40 years of prospective Marcellus and Utica development inventory. The company said capital efficiency has improved about 25% since shifting development to its Eastern Development Area in 2023, and it generated $1.035 billion of operating cash flow in the first nine months of fiscal 2026 while expecting $1 billion to $1.5 billion of free cash flow over the next three years. The principal risk is that the separation could remove the benefits of National Fuel's integrated model, since IUG accounted for $388.0 million of segment GAAP earnings in the first nine months of fiscal 2026, up from $221.2 million a year earlier, and Reuters reported the upstream business represented about 69% of National Fuel's adjusted EBITDA. National Fuel issued $1.5 billion of debt in June to help fund the Ohio acquisition and refinance $300 million of notes, meaning the restructuring would follow a large utility acquisition and new financing, potentially creating transaction costs and operational complexity.

CenterPoint Energy, Inc. replaced its prior US$2.40 billion unsecured revolving credit facility with a new five-year senior unsecured revolving credit facility of US$2.20 billion in September 2026. The new facility includes swingline loan and standby letter of credit subfacilities, extendable maturities, and a covenant capping the company's debt-to-capitalization ratio at 67.5%. It also carries a built-in covenant adjustment that temporarily allows higher leverage if large, securitizable natural-disaster restoration costs arise in its service territory. The refreshed facility modestly tightens leverage capacity while adding disaster-related flexibility, and the company also completed Phase Two of the Greater Houston Resiliency Initiative. CenterPoint Energy's narrative projects $11.4 billion in revenue and $1.6 billion in earnings by 2029, with a $46.12 fair value estimate implying 20% upside.