Monica Karuturi
Executive Vice President and General Counsel
Monica is Executive Vice President and General Counsel of CenterPoint Energy. In this role, she oversees the company’s legal department and risk management functions, including claims, environmental, insurance, enterprise risk management, ethics, compliance and privacy and cybersecurity. She also has responsibility for the company’s supply chain, strategic planning and utility strategy teams. Until July of 2023 when the business was sold, Monica also had responsibility for the company’s performance contracting and energy services business.
Since joining the company, Monica has led more than $40 billion in mergers and acquisitions and financing transactions, including CenterPoint Energy’s $6 billion merger with Vectren and related financing activities, as well as the company’s recent divestitures of its infrastructure and energy services businesses and Enable Midstream.
During her tenure with CenterPoint Energy, Monica has served in several leadership roles, including Senior Vice President and General Counsel and Vice President and Deputy General Counsel. Before joining the company, Monica was at LyondellBasell Industries, where she served in various roles, including counsel for corporate, finance and strategic transactions. Prior to LyondellBasell, she worked in private practice as a corporate associate at Baker Botts LLP.
Monica has received prestigious honors for her work and impact on the legal industry. She was named to the National Diversity Council’s Top 50 General Counsel, Top 100 Most Influential Women in Energy and Top 50 Women Lawyers lists, recognized her for inspiring others and molding the future of the legal industry. Monica was also presented with a Magna Stella Award by the Texas General Counsel Forum for in-house leadership and excellence in the Senior Managing Counsel, Large Legal Department category.
She serves as chair of the board of directors for the Houston Bar Foundation. In addition, she is a member of the Houston Pro Bono Joint Initiative Planning Committee, the Advisory Council of the Tahirih Justice Center and serves on the board of the CenterPoint Energy Foundation. In June 2015, Monica was appointed as a Commissioner of the Texas Access to Justice Commission by the Texas Supreme Court and served in this capacity for six years. She is also a former member of the Legal Services to the Poor in Civil Matters Committee of the Texas Bar Association.
Monica received her bachelor’s degree from Brown University, her master’s degree in public health from Columbia University and her law degree from Georgetown University Law Center.
