2010
- Jan. 22: CenterPoint Energy employees in Minnesota completed a 10-year plan to restore 23 acres of the company’s land along the Minnesota River in Burnsville to its native prairie state.
- March 23: CenterPoint Energy Houston Electric, LLC, signs an agreement with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to receive a $200 million stimulus grant for its advanced metering system and intelligent grid projects. The agreement is the culmination of negotiations that began in November 2009 after the DOE selected CenterPoint Energy as one of six utilities to receive the maximum smart grid grant under the American Recovery & Reinvestment Act.
- March 23: CenterPoint Energy Houston Electric, LLC, joins other electric transmission and distribution utilities (TDUs) in Texas to launch the Smart Meter Texas common portal and data repository, www.SmartMeterTexas.com, which will give consumers in Texas with smart meters more control over their electricity use.
- April 28: CenterPoint Energy Field Services, Inc., will expand its gathering and treating services by 200 million cubic feet per day (MMcf/day) for subsidiaries of Encana and Shell’s growing Haynesville Shale natural gas production, on a project known as the Magnolia Gathering System. This expansion brings the total capacity to 900 MMcf/day.
- May 3: CenterPoint Energy Field Services, Inc., enters into new long-term agreements with subsidiaries of Encana Corporation and Shell to provide gathering and treating services for their growing Haynesville Shale natural gas production located in portions of De Soto, Red River, Sabine and Natchitoches parishes in northwest Louisiana. The system will be known as the Olympia Gathering System.
- June 14: CenterPoint Energy Gas Transmission Company announces the start of a non-binding, three-week open season to gauge market interest in an additional expansion of its nearly 1.9 billion cubic feet per day, 42 inch Carthage to Perryville (Line CP) pipeline. This expansion would support growing volumes of gas produced from the Haynesville shale for delivery into the Perryville Hub and to Carthage area delivery points.
- June 30: CenterPoint Energy Houston Electric, LLC, filed with the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUC) and the cities in its service area, cost data and other information that supports a base rate increase for delivery charges of approximately $76 million to the retail electric providers (REPs) that sell electricity to end-use customers in CEHE’s service territory. The rate package also supports an increase of $18 million for wholesale transmission customers.
- Aug. 2: CenterPoint Energy has received the results of independent tests that verify the accuracy of its smart electric meters. The tests, conducted by Navigant Consulting LLC, confirm the accuracy of CenterPoint Energy’s smart meters, manufactured by Itron, Inc., as well as the effectiveness of the utility’s meter data management and data transfer process and controls. All of the thousands of CenterPoint Energy smart meters tested were found to be accurate by American National Standards Institute (ANSI) standards.
- Sept. 14: Ford Motor Company and CenterPoint Energy Houston Electric, LLC, announce a collaboration to help prepare the Houston area for the operation of electric vehicles. Ford and CenterPoint Energy will work together to develop consumer outreach and education programs on electric vehicles as well as share information on charging needs and requirements to ensure the electrical infrastructure can support the necessary demand.
- Nov. 17: CenterPoint Energy Houston Electric, LLC, announces that it has selected ABB, a leading power and automation technology company, for the electric company’s intelligent grid Advanced Distribution Management System (ADMS). Phase 1 is expected to be completed in 2013 and will cover more than half a million Houstonians in central Houston and along the Houston Ship Channel.
