For more information contact:
Media: Rolf Lund, 612.321-4879

MINNEAPOLIS – September 18, 2007 – With only four weeks until low temperatures typically drop below freezing for the first time in much of Minnesota, more than 160,000 CenterPoint Energy customers – who owe a combined $55 million in past-due natural gas bills – are still behind on their payments.

Customers with past-due bills, or who have had their service disconnected, need to contact CenterPoint Energy immediately to pay their bill in full or make a payment arrangement. Once a payment arrangement has been made, it could take up to five days to restore natural gas service.

If customers need help paying their bill, they should contact CenterPoint Energy to learn about available energy assistance programs. Assistance is limited, so customers who need help should call immediately.

To make a payment, call CenterPoint Energy at 612-321-4680 or 1-800-245-2377, or visit the company’s Web site at CenterPointEnergy.com.

Over the next four weeks, the company will provide weekly updates about the progress customers are making in paying their past-due bills.

CenterPoint Energy, Inc., headquartered in Houston, Texas, is a domestic energy delivery company that includes electric transmission & 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. In Minnesota, CenterPoint Energy is the state’s largest natural gas distribution utility, serving nearly 790,000 customers in 259 communities. The utility also operates a non-regulated business in Minnesota called Home Service Plus®. For more information, visit the Web site at www.CenterPointEnergy.com.