CNP - Timeline

1866

Houston Gas Light Company was organized to supply gas (made from oyster shells and coal) for the street lights in a fledgling coastal village in southeast Texas that had sprung from the banks of a winding bayou.

1868

Houston's first manufactured gas plant, built on the west bank of Buffalo Bayou by Houston Gas Light Company, began making coal gas for distribution to customers.

1870

The City of Minneapolis granted the newly formed Minneapolis Gas Light Co. a franchise to provide gas service with gas manufactured from coal or oil at a plant along the Mississippi River.

1882

Houston Electric Light & Power files a charter on May 20 and is granted a franchise by the Houston City Council on June 5.
The electric company conducted the first test of lights on December 15.

1884

First electric street lamps in Houston lighted May 31.

1886

Houston Electric Light & Power franchise transferred to J.W. Jones, a trustee, on March 12.

1887

Houston Electric Light & Power rechartered and taken over on June 21 by bitter rival Houston Gas Light Company.

1888

A franchise to operate in Houston was granted to Fort Wayne Jenny Electric Light Company of Indiana.

1889

Citizens' Electric Light & Power Company chartered on July 29 and three days later purchased the franchise and all the equipment of Fort Wayne Jenny Electric Light Company.

1891

Citizens' Electric acquired Houston Electric Light & Power from Houston Gas Light Company on January 7, once again uniting Houston's electric utility into one company.

1898

Citizens' Electric Light & Power Company went into receivership on January 7.
Boiler explosion and subsequent fire destroyed Citizens' Electric power plant on March 26-27.

1900

The Gable Street power plant, which produced all of Houston's power for the first quarter of the century, placed its first two steam engines into service.

1901

A Houston Lighting & Power Company 1901 charter was drawn on November 12 by three men, including receiver Blake Dupree, who were all connected to the investment arm of General Electric, which was the bondholder of Citizens' Electric's assets.
Citizens' Electric Light & Power Company property and franchises sold on December 3 to HL&P 1901, whose charter was filed in Austin that same day.

1905

An organization of businessmen was granted the first franchise for distribution of natural gas in Shreveport, Louisiana.

1906

Houston Lighting & Power Company 1905 is organized on January 9.

1912

Houston Gas Light, once owner of HL&P, was succeeded by Houston Gas and Fuel.

1922

HL&P 1905 is acquired by National Power & Light, another General Electric property, in a transfer of stock on March 21.
HL&P 1905 changed its name to Houston Lighting & Power Company on April 3 and formed the company that would serve the Houston area for the next 80 years.
First electric traffic signals went into operation on May 18.

1925

Goose Creek Water & Light Company purchased from R.S. Sterling, May 1.
Uniform power schedule adopted for suburban towns, July 1.
La Porte granted franchise, July 3.
La Porte Water, Light & Ice Company purchased, October 5.

1926

HL&P used natural gas as a boiler fuel for the first time in February, pioneering the concept.

1927

Pasadena Light Company was purchased from Charles Meyer on February 28 for $6,250; 123 customers; estimated annual revenue $5,000.
Bellaire Gem Electric Company purchased from Clarence Anderson on April 27 for $12,500; 321 customers; estimated annual revenue $16,000.
South Houston Electric Company purchased from South Texas Fireworks Company on May 27 for $7,500; 61 customers; estimated annual revenue $4,000.
Pelly electric property purchased from Charles Trifon on May 28 for $22,000; 371 customers; estimated annual revenue $20,000.
Humble electric property purchased from S.P. Bellow on June 1 for $5,000; 60 customers; estimated annual revenue $4,000.
Freeport Light, Water & Ice Company purchased from Freeport Sulphur Company on July 25.

1929

Elena and Highlands Light & Water Company purchased from W. Garth and H.K. Johnson on January 30.

1930

Houston's first lighted, nighttime baseball game played July 22.
Houston Gas & Fuel joined 39 other small independent companies in Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi to form United Gas Corporation on June 3.

1931

Galveston Electric Company and electric properties of Galveston-Houston Railroad Company and Hitchcock Ice & Storage Company purchased on August 17.

1934

Arkansas Louisiana Gas was formed from a merger of several small natural gas companies.
Nationwide natural gas pipeline system expanded to Minnesota, and Minneapolis Gas Light Co. began using natural gas with manufactured gas.

1940

Sealy electrical property purchased from Central Power & Light on October 8.
First medical insurance plan for employees at HL&P became effective October 1.

1943

HL&P's ties with the holding company, National Power & Light, severed on May 14.
HL&P's common stock is listed on the New York Stock Exchange, and trading began on August 16.

1945

First employee retirement plan at HL&P became effective on July 1.

1947

Minneapolis Gas Light Co. switched entirely from manufactured gas to natural gas, needing to convert 370,000 appliances to run on "straight" natural gas instead of mixed gas.

1948

American Gas and Power Co. changed its name to Minneapolis Gas Co. and acquired all the assets of Minneapolis Gas Light Co.

1953

Arkansas Louisiana Gas was established as a publicly owned corporation on an order of the SEC under the Public Utility Holding Company Act, and the stock is listed on the American Stock Exchange.

1955

Peak demand for electricity in Houston surpassed one million kilowatts for the first time, between 1 and 2 p.m. on June 27.
400,000th electricity customer meter installed in Houston area on September 30.

1957

Houston voters approved a new 50-year franchise for HL&P during a special election on July 27; franchise became effective October 1.
Clute became the first city outside Houston to grant HL&P a new 50-year franchise on October 10.

1959

Minneapolis Gas Co. first used the unofficial name of Minnegasco and used an Indian maiden icon to create a modern, helpful image.

1960

Boiler No. 2 at Webster exploded on August 11, causing more than a half-million dollars in damage.
HL&P requested first rate increase in company's history on September 27.
Arkansas Louisiana Gas acquired Consolidated Gas Utilities Corp., Southwest Natural Gas Co. and MidSouth Gas Co.

1961

Hurricane Carla caused $1.5 million in damage to HL&P property on September 11.
Houston's population reached one million on September 18.

1962

500,000th customer connected to power in Houston on December 7.

1965

Conversion from incandescent to mercury vapor street lights began in June; completed in 1967, two years ahead of schedule.
New Galveston Service Center dedicated on October 28.
Groundbreaking ceremonies held for Electric Tower on December 9.

1968

Electric Tower opened for business in downtown Houston on July 8.
First issue of HL&P preferred stock in 24 years, July 11.

1970

United Gas Corporation, which grew out of the company that acquired HL&P in 1887, merged with Pennzoil and spun off the distribution unit as United Gas, Inc., which later became Entex.
Minimum bill for HL&P customers increased to $1.90 on December 22.

1971

State-of-the-art Energy Control Center dedicated in downtown Houston on May 9.

1973

South Texas Project (STP) to build nuclear power plant announced on June 6.
Participation Agreement signed by HL&P, CP&L and San Antonio on July 1.
Austin joined STP on December 1.

1974

Application for construction permit for South Texas Project filed with the Atomic Energy Commission on May 17.
United Gas, Inc. name changed to Entex, Inc.
Minnesota Gas Co. merged with Minnesota Natural Gas Company.
Minnesota Gas Company acquired Central Natural Gas Company.
Executive elections for HL&P were held on December 3. J.G. Reese was elected chairman of the board and CEO; Don D. Jordan was elected president

1975

Public hearings on STP nuclear plant began on April 22.
Texas Legislature passed bill providing for the creation of the Public Utility Commission on June 2.
Limited Work Authorization for STP granted August 12.
Preliminary work at STP began September 22.
Construction permit issued for STP on December 22

1976

Entex acquired the gas distribution properties of the Houston Natural Gas Corporation.
Formation of Houston Industries, Inc. was approved by HL&P stockholders on December 8.
Minnesota Gas Co. acquired Cengas, natural gas properties of CENTEL — Central Telephone and Utilities Corp. in Nebraska and South Dakota

1977

HL&P customer count surpassed 800,000 on November 30.
HL&P’s first coal-fired generating plant went into service.

1981

Arkansas Louisiana Gas Company shareholders voted to change the company name to Arkla, Inc.
Bechtel Power Corp. was announced on September 24 as the design engineer for STP, replacing Brown & Root.
Austin voters authorized City Council on November 3 to sell the city's 16 percent interest in STP.
Minnesota Gas Co. began creating its Home Service Plus® retail business to continue appliance repair service when it could no longer do so as a regulated natural gas company.

1982

Diversified Energies, Inc. holding company was formed with Minnegasco, Inc. as its subsidiary.
Ebasco Services, Inc., named on February 15 as contractor to complete STP.
Don D. Jordan was elected chairman and CEO, and Don Sykora was elected president and COO of HL&P and Houston Industries on May 12.

1983

City of Austin filed suit in Travis County State District Court on January 7 seeking release from the STP Participation Agreement.
Dome-topping ceremony marked completion of construction on STP No. 1 reactor containment building on September 7.

1984

NRC licensing board issued preliminary decision favorable to granting STP operating license on March 14.
Houston Industries stock listed on the London Exchange, June 4.

1988

Arkla, Inc. acquires Entex in the largest acquisition in company history.

1990

Arkla, Inc. merged with Diversified Energies, Inc. and Minnegasco, Inc. became Minnegasco, a Division of Arkla, Inc.

1992

Arkla, Inc., acting through its Minnegasco division, traded its South Dakota assets for Midwest Gas Company's Minnesota assets.

1993

Houston Industries formed the subsidiary, Houston Industries Energy Inc.
Arkla, Inc. and Minnegasco sold Nebraska properties to Utilicorp United, Inc.

1994

Arkla, Inc. shareholders approved a name change to become NorAm Energy Corp.

1995

NorAm Energy Services began marketing wholesale electric power nationwide. NorAm Energy Management was established for retail energy marketing, and the gas gathering assets were unbundled and transferred to NorAm Field Services.

1996

Houston Industries announced an agreement to acquire NorAm Energy Corp. in a deal valued at $3.8 billion.

1997

Houston Industries Incorporated and NorAm Energy Corp. completed their merger on August 6 to become one of the largest integrated energy companies in the United States.

1999

Houston Industries changed its name to Reliant Energy Inc. on February 2 . Its distribution companies became Reliant Energy HL&P, Reliant Energy Entex, Reliant Energy Arkla and Reliant Energy Minnegasco.
Don D. Jordan announced that after 43 years with the company he was stepping down as CEO but would remain as Chairman until Dec. 31, 2000, then on December 1 declared that he would leave the Chairman's job a year earlier on Dec. 31, 1999.

2000

Reliant Energy announced on July 27 that it planned to split its business into separate regulated and unregulated companies.

2001

Reliant Resources, an unregulated electricity and energy services company, began trading on the New York Stock exchange on May 1.
Reliant Energy's new name, CenterPoint Energy, was revealed on October 10.
Special shareholder's meeting held on December 17 to approve restructuring and merger of Reliant Energy and CenterPoint Energy.

2002

CenterPoint Energy was announced as a new holding company on January 18, with its stock symbol, CNP, to replace Reliant Energy's REI stock symbol.
Reliant Energy announced on July 8 that the Securities and Exchange Commission had approved Reliant Energy's separation plan, giving the company the green light to spin off Reliant Resources and officially adopt the CenterPoint Energy name.
CenterPoint Energy and Reliant Resources officially separated on October 1; HL&P and Entex became CenterPoint Energy.

2003

On January 6, CenterPoint Energy, Inc. completed the distribution of approximately 19 percent of the 80 million outstanding shares of common stock of its wholly owned subsidiary, Texas Genco Holdings, Inc., to CNP shareholders. Texas Genco shares began trading on the New York Stock Exchange the next day under its new TGN symbol.
CenterPoint Energy extended service in the third week of March to its one-millionth Houston-area customer.
On May 30, CenterPoint Energy announced that it had permanently reduced its bank credit facility to $2.846 billion since it amended its $3.85 billion credit facility on February 28.
CenterPoint Energy announced on October 7 that it completed a refinancing of its $2.85 billion bank credit facility. On September 9, the company and its subsidiary, CenterPoint Energy Houston Electric, LLC, issued $500 million of secured and unsecured debt, which was used to reduce the credit facility to $2.35 billion. The company closed on a new $2.35 billion credit facility to replace the prior facility. The new three-year facility was composed of a revolving credit facility of $1.425 billion with a 12-bank syndicate and a $925 million term loan from institutional investors.

2004

On March 31, CenterPoint Energy’s electric transmission and distribution subsidiary, CenterPoint Energy Houston Electric, filed with the Public Utility Commission of Texas the final true-up application required by the 1999 Texas Electric Choice Law.
On June 18, the Texas Supreme Court ruled that interest on stranded costs began to accrue as of January 1, 2002 and reversed the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUC) rule to the contrary. The Court remanded the rule to the PUC to review the interaction between the Court's interest decision and the PUC's capacity auction true-up rule.
On July 21, a definitive agreement was reached for the sale of Texas Genco Holdings to GC Power Acquisition LLC, an entity owned in equal parts by affiliates of The Blackstone Group, Hellman & Friedman LLC, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. L.P. and Texas Pacific Group, for approximately $3.65 billion in cash.
On December 1, CenterPoint Energy ceased using its legacy names, Arkla, Entex, HL&P and Minnegasco, to become One Company known as CenterPoint Energy.
On December 15, CenterPoint Energy completed the sale of its fossil generation assets (coal, lignite and gas-fired plants) to Texas Genco LLC, formerly known as GC Power Acquisition LLC. Texas Genco LLC is owned in equal parts by affiliates of The Blackstone Group, Hellman & Friedman LLC, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. L.P. and Texas Pacific Group.

2005

CNP announced on April 13 that it completed the final step of the Texas Genco Holdings, Inc., transaction with the sale of the South Texas Project nuclear generating facility to Texas Genco LLC, formerly GC Power Acquisition LLC, for $700 million cash.
Following Hurricane Katrina, CenterPoint Energy sent crews from Arkansas, Houston, and Shreveport to Louisiana and Mississippi to address damaged natural gas lines impacting thousands of CNP customers. Electric crews provided power restoration assistance to fellow utitlies in Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, and Mississippi, while CNP volunteers provided leadership and support in sheltering thousands of evacuees at the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston.
In less than one week, CenterPoint Energy restored power to 700,000 customers in the wake of Hurricane Rita. CNP also mobilized electric crews to assist Entergy, a neighboring utility, in restoring electric service to their customers while also helping the restoration of electric service (also outside CNP territory) to the pumping station that supplies water to ten cities as well as industries along the Houston Ship Channel.
On Nov. 3, the company announced that it had combined its two regulated operations – electric transmission and distribution and natural gas distribution – into a new Regulated Operations business unit.
On Nov. 16, CenterPoint Energy Gas Transmission Company (CEGT) and Duke Energy Gas Transmission (DEGT) [now Spectra Energy Corp.] announced an agreement to cooperate in the evaluation, marketing and development of a proposed 250-mile pipeline connecting CEGT’s Perryville Hub to DEGT’s partially-owned affiliate pipeline, Gulfstream Natural Gas System. The pipeline's capacity would be between 700 million cubic feet per day and 1.0 billion cubic feet per day and would connect CEGT’s Perryville Hub in northeast Louisiana to an interconnect with Gulfstream.

2006

In February, CenterPoint Energy was named by The Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC) to its annual list of America’s Top Corporations for Women’s Business Enterprises.
In March, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recognized CenterPoint Energy with the ENERGY STAR Sustained Excellence 2006 Award for its continued leadership in protecting the environment through energy efficiency.
On Aug. 23, Southeast Supply Header, LLC, a CenterPoint Energy/Duke [now Spectra] Energy joint venture, announced an agreement with Florida Power and Light Company (FPL) for firm transportation service on its proposed pipeline that will bring natural gas from east Texas and north Louisiana to growing U.S. markets.
On October 2, CenterPoint Energy Gas Transmission Company (CEGT) received a certificate from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to build and operate a natural gas pipeline from Carthage, Texas to the company’s Perryville Hub in northeast Louisiana.

2007

On April 11, IBM named CenterPoint Energy as a founding member of an industry coalition to accelerate "Intelligent Grid" technologies. CNP begins a limited deployment of Intelligent Grid technologies wiithin Its electric distribution system to improve reliability and energy efficiency.
On May 11, CenterPoint Energy Gas Transmission Company (CEGT) marks the completion of its 172-mile Carthage to Perryville pipeline with a ribbon-cutting ceremony attended by a commissioner of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). The pipeline begins delivering 1 billion cubic feet per day of natural gas to nine interstate and two intrastate pipelines serving the Midwest, Northeast, and Southeast.
On Sept. 20, Southeast Supply Header, LLC (SESH) received authorization from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to construct, operate and maintain 270 miles of interstate pipeline that will bring alternative supplies of natural gas to the Southeast U.S. market.
On Dec. 20, the Texas 3rd Court of Appeals in Austin reversed portions of an earlier decision by an Austin district court that would have allowed CenterPoint Energy Houston Electric (CEHE) to recover certain costs related to the capacity auction true-up aspect of CEHE’s 2004 stranded cost “true-up” filing. The company will appeal the decision to the Texas Supreme Court.

2008

On May 5, CenterPoint Energy Houston Electric filed with the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUC) an Advanced Metering System (AMS) initial plan to deploy up to 250,000 interactive meters and related infrastructure over a three-year period. AMS should encourage greater energy conservation by giving Houston-area electric consumers the ability to better monitor and manage their electric use and its cost in near real-time.
On June 25, CenterPoint Energy Gas Transmission Company (CEGT), announced the start of a non-binding, 31-day open season to gauge market interest in an additional expansion of its 1.5 Bcf/d, 42 inch Carthage to Perryville (Line CP) pipeline. CEGT has successfully completed the first three phases of Line CP and continues to receive expressions of interest in incremental capacity.
Sept. 8 - Oct. 1: CenterPoint Energy prepares for and responds to Hurricane Ike, which struck the Texas Gulf Coast at Galveston on Sept. 13, resulting in the loss of electricity to 2.15 million customers, the largest power outage in Texas history. Over the next 18 days, working 16-hour shifts with the help of 11,000 workers from 35 states and Canada, employees replace 6,400 poles; 4,463 transformers and 332,045 feet of wire and cable to restore power to the citizens of Houston,"the Energy Capital of the World."
On Dec. 1, Southeast Supply Header a 50/50 joint venture between affiliates of Spectra Energy Corp and CenterPoint Energy, announced it is conducting a non-binding open season for a proposed expansion along its existing 274-mile pipeline system.