CenterPoint Energy Issues Important Natural Gas Safety Tips

HOUSTON, Jan. 15, 2008 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) reminds
customers to take natural gas leaks seriously and to immediately notify their
utility if they detect one.

Natural gas has an odorant added to it to help make it detectable. If you smell
natural gas, which smells like rotten eggs, take the following precautions:

* Leave the property immediately! Do not use electric switches,
telephones (including cell phones) or anything that could cause a
spark.

* Go to a safe location and call your utility's natural gas leak
hotline. Don't assume that someone else has reported the leak.
Alert your neighbors.

* Never try to repair a natural gas leak. Leave all repairs to a
trained technician.
The heating season is also a good time to remind customers the importance of
having their heating systems inspected annually by a qualified technician to
ensure its safe operation and to reduce the risk of carbon monoxide (CO)
poisoning.

Any fuel-burning equipment or appliance, including wood stoves, fireplaces,
space heaters, barbecue grills, furnaces, water heaters, boilers and ranges, has
the potential to produce CO which is a poisonous gas that is colorless,
odorless, tasteless, and non-irritating.

CenterPoint Energy recommends customers:

* Follow manufacturers' operating instructions properly for their
gas heating equipment.
* Do not use stovetop burners or ovens to heat a room since they
are not designed for this use.
* Make sure to follow the blue flame rule. Natural gas flames
should burn blue except natural gas fireplace logs which burn
orange to have a more realistic wood burning look.
* Crack windows slightly if using unvented space heaters.
* Consider buying a CO detector as another line of defense against
CO poisoning. CNP recommends buying one with an audible alarm and
continuous digital display; make sure it is tested to the national
standard for residential CO detectors (UL2034 or IAS NO. 6-96).
CenterPoint Energy, Inc., headquartered in Houston, Texas, is a domestic energy
delivery company that includes electric transmission and distribution, natural
gas distribution, competitive natural gas sales and services, interstate
pipelines and field services operations. The company serves more than five
million metered customers primarily in Arkansas, Louisiana, Minnesota,
Mississippi, Oklahoma, and Texas. Assets total over $17 billion. With about
8,600 employees, CenterPoint Energy and its predecessor companies have been in
business for more than 130 years. For more information, visit the Web site at
www.CenterPointEnergy.com.

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CONTACT: CenterPoint Energy, Inc.
Alicia Dixon
713.207.5885
Pager: 713.619.5143