Initial Statement of Beneficial Ownership (3)

FORM 3	UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION Washington, D.C. 20549 INITIAL STATEMENT OF BENEFICIAL OWNERSHIP OF SECURITIES	OMB APPROVAL OMB Number: 3235-0104 Estimated average burden hours per response... 0.5
	Filed pursuant to Section 16(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 or Section 30(h) of the Investment Company Act of 1940

1. Name and Address of Reporting Person ^*

Doyle Scott Edward

2. Date of Event Requiring Statement (MM/DD/YYYY) 3/1/2017

3. Issuer Name and Ticker or Trading Symbol

CENTERPOINT ENERGY INC [CNP]

(Last) (First) (Middle)

1111 LOUISIANA

4. Relationship of Reporting Person(s) to Issuer (Check all applicable)

_____ Director _____ 10% Owner
___ X ___ Officer (give title below) _____ Other (specify below)
Senior VP /

(Street)

HOUSTON, TX 77002

(City) (State) (Zip)

5. If Amendment, Date Original Filed (MM/DD/YYYY)

6. Individual or Joint/Group Filing (Check Applicable Line)

_ X _ Form filed by One Reporting Person
___ Form filed by More than One Reporting Person

Table I - Non-Derivative Securities Beneficially Owned
1.Title of Security (Instr. 4)	2. Amount of Securities Beneficially Owned (Instr. 4)	3. Ownership Form: Direct (D) or Indirect (I) (Instr. 5)	4. Nature of Indirect Beneficial Ownership (Instr. 5)
Common Stock	24211 ⁽¹⁾	D
Common Stock	6131	I	By Savings Plan ⁽²⁾

*Table II - Derivative Securities Beneficially Owned ( e.g.* , puts, calls, warrants, options, convertible securities)**
1. Title of Derivate Security (Instr. 4)	2. Date Exercisable and Expiration Date (MM/DD/YYYY)		3. Title and Amount of Securities Underlying Derivative Security (Instr. 4)		4. Conversion or Exercise Price of Derivative Security	5. Ownership Form of Derivative Security: Direct (D) or Indirect (I) (Instr. 5)	6. Nature of Indirect Beneficial Ownership (Instr. 5)
1. Title of Derivate Security (Instr. 4)	Date Exercisable	Expiration Date	Title	Amount or Number of Shares	4. Conversion or Exercise Price of Derivative Security		6. Nature of Indirect Beneficial Ownership (Instr. 5)

Explanation of Responses:
( 1)	Total includes (i) 2,350 time-based restricted stock units previously awarded under the Issuer's Long-term Incentive Plan and vesting in February 2018, (ii) 2,894 time-based restricted stock units previously awarded under the Issuer's Long-term Incentive Plan and vesting in February 2019, and (iii) 3,044 time-based restricted stock units previously awarded under the Issuer's Long-term Incentive Plan and vesting in February 2020. Each award shall vest if the Reporting Person continues to be an employee of Issuer from the grant date through the vesting date and on a prorata basis in the event of his earlier retirement, disability or death.
( 2)	Equivalent shares held in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. Savings Plan.

Reporting Owners
Reporting Owner Name / Address	Relationships
Reporting Owner Name / Address	Director	10% Owner	Officer	Other
Doyle Scott Edward 1111 LOUISIANA HOUSTON, TX 77002			Senior VP

Signatures
Vincent A. Mercaldi, Attorney-in-Fact		3/6/2017
^** Signature of Reporting Person		Date

Reminder: Report on a separate line for each class of securities beneficially owned directly or indirectly.
*	If the form is filed by more than one reporting person, see Instruction 5(b)(v).
**	Intentional misstatements or omissions of facts constitute Federal Criminal Violations. See 18 U.S.C. 1001 and 15 U.S.C. 78ff(a).
Note:	File three copies of this Form, one of which must be manually signed. If space is insufficient, see Instruction 6 for procedure.
Persons who respond to the collection of information contained in this form are not required to respond unless the form displays a currently valid OMB control number.