Customers of CenterPoint Energy, the natural-gas provider, will receive credits totaling $10.4 million, the Public Service Commission has decided in a case lodged by the consumer utility advocacy division of the Arkansas attorney general's office.
Beginning Oct. 1, customers will see a monthly credit on their bills, an average of $1.81. CenterPoint has 425,000 customers in Arkansas.
Rates are set under a formula rate plan subject to a 4% annual limit but, according to the attorney general, this is the second-consecutive year that CenterPoint has been required to credit customers because of excessive charges.
The consumer utility division represents the interests of Arkansas' utility customers before the Public Service Commission and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, and litigates on behalf of Arkansas ratepayers when utilities petition the Public Service Commission for rate increases.
-- Stephen Steed
LR company buys Texas apartments
Little Rock's BSR Real Estate Investment Trust has acquired a 356-unit apartment complex near Austin, Texas, for $93.8 million. The newly constructed property fully opened this month with more than 90% of the apartments leased.
The Aura 36Hundred Apartments is expected to be accretive to the company's adjusted funds from operations per unit in the first 90 days of ownership, BSR said in the announcement.
The transaction was funded with $51 million in mortgage debt, a drawdown of $41 million from the real estate investment trust's credit facility and $2 million in cash.
The complex is part of Avery Centre, a new 1,200-acre mixed use planned community adjacent to higher-education and medical-care hubs, including Texas State and Texas A&M Health and Science Center Round Rock.
"Aura 36Hundred complements BSR's more modernized portfolio as we deploy capital and enhance our scale in Austin, one of the most robust apartment markets in the U.S.," John Bailey, BSR's chief executive officer, said in announcing the deal.
-- Andrew Moreau
Arkansas Index ends session 6.16 higher
The Arkansas Index, a price-weighted index that tracks the largest public companies based in the state, closed Thursday at 678.58, up 6.16.
"Equities rallied for a second consecutive day with the S&P 500 gaining more than 1% for the first time in 43 trading sessions marking the longest stretch of days without a 1% gain since January 2020 as the market was led again by economic sensitive sectors, including energy and financials," said Leon Lants, managing director at Stephens Inc.
The index was developed by Bloomberg News and the Democrat-Gazette with a base value of 100 as of Dec. 30, 1997.