HOUSTON, Dec 14, 2004 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX/ -- CenterPoint Energy, Inc.'s (NYSE: CNP) Board of Directors announced that the Annual Meeting of Shareholders will be held on Thursday, June 2, 2005, at 9 a.m. CDT in the CenterPoint Energy Tower auditorium, 1111 Louisiana Street, Houston, Texas. Shareholders who hold shares of CenterPoint Energy as of April 4, 2005, will receive notice of the meeting and will be eligible to vote.

     (Logo:  http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20020930/CNPLOGO )

CenterPoint Energy, Inc., headquartered in Houston, Texas, is a domestic energy delivery company that includes electric transmission & distribution, natural gas distribution and sales, and interstate pipeline and gathering operations. The sale of the company's fossil generation assets is expected to be completed December 15, 2004, and the sale of its ownership interest in the South Texas Project nuclear generating facility is expected to close in the first half of 2005. The company serves nearly five million metered customers primarily in Arkansas, Louisiana, Minnesota, Mississippi, Oklahoma, and Texas. Assets total over $19 billion. With more than 11,000 employees, CenterPoint Energy and its predecessor companies have been in business for more than 130 years. For more information, visit the Web site at http://www.CenterPointEnergy.com .

SOURCE CenterPoint Energy, Inc.

media, Leticia Lowe, +1-713-207-7702, or investors, Marianne
Paulsen, +1-713-207-6500, both of CenterPoint Energy, Inc.
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http://www.CenterPointEnergy.com

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