HOUSTON, Feb 10, 2005 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX/ -- CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE: CNP) announced today that effective February 25, 2005, it will change the key ticker symbol on transition bonds issued by its subsidiary, CenterPoint Energy Transition Bond Company, LLC (the "Company"). The ticker symbol on these transition bonds will change from RNLT 2001-1 to CNP 2001-1, which will be accessible on the Bloomberg MTGE key, and will affect bonds with the CUSIP numbers 75953MAA8, 75953MAB6, 75953MAC4, and 75953MAD2. The change is intended to reflect more accurately the change in the name of the Company and its corporate affiliations after these transition bonds were issued.

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

The transition bonds were issued in 2001 by Reliant Energy Transition Bond Company LLC when it was a subsidiary of Reliant Energy, Incorporated. In a restructuring on August 31, 2002, CenterPoint Energy, Inc. became the new holding company for the regulated operations (electric transmission and distribution, gas distribution and gas pipelines) of the former Reliant Energy, Incorporated. At that time Reliant Energy Transition Bond Company LLC changed its name to CenterPoint Energy Transition Bond Company, LLC. CenterPoint Energy, Inc. distributed the stock of its unregulated retail electric sales and trading and marketing businesses in Texas to its shareholders on September 30, 2002, and is no longer affiliated with Reliant Energy, Inc. (formerly named Reliant Resources, Inc.). The Company is a special purpose subsidiary of CenterPoint Energy Houston Electric, LLC, which is a subsidiary of CenterPoint Energy, Inc.; therefore, the Company is no longer affiliated with Reliant Energy, Inc.

The transition bonds were issued pursuant to the Texas electric restructuring legislation and a financing order issued by the Public Utility Commission of Texas ("PUCT"). The legislation permits the PUCT to issue financing orders authorizing CenterPoint Energy to form one or more special purpose entities in order to issue transition bonds to recover certain regulatory assets and stranded costs that the PUCT has authorized the utility to recover. Each financing order permits a special purpose entity to collect a non-bypassable charge, calculated to recover the amount authorized in the financing order, plus interest, over a period not to exceed 15 years, from retail electric providers who supply electricity to customers in CenterPoint Energy Houston Electric's historic service territory. Under the legislation, the state (including the PUCT) has pledged not to modify the financing orders and the PUCT conducts periodic reviews to ensure that principal and interest on the transition bonds are recovered on the anticipated repayment schedule once transition bonds have been issued pursuant to a financing order.

CenterPoint Energy, Inc., headquartered in Houston, Texas, is a domestic energy delivery company that includes electric transmission & distribution, natural gas distribution and sales, interstate pipeline and gathering operations and an electric generation business that the company is under a contract to sell. The company serves nearly five million metered customers primarily in Arkansas, Louisiana, Minnesota, Mississippi, Oklahoma, and Texas. Assets total about $17 billion after giving effect to the first step in the sale of Texas Genco Holdings, Inc. With more than 9,000 employees, CenterPoint Energy and its predecessor companies have been in business for more than 130 years.

CenterPoint Energy Houston Electric, LLC is a regulated utility engaged in the transmission and distribution of electric energy in a 5,000-square mile area located along the Texas Gulf Coast, including the City of Houston. CenterPoint Energy Houston Electric, LLC is also the servicer of these transition bonds.

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.

http://www.prnewswire.com

Copyright (C) 2005 PR Newswire. All rights reserved.

News Provided by COMTEX