HOUSTON, Nov 25, 2008 (GlobeNewswire via COMTEX News Network) -- CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) (the Company) announced today that the Supreme Court of Texas has requested the parties to the pending appeal of the decision by the Public Utility Commission of Texas on the Company's true up application to submit briefs on the merits.

As previously reported, the Company's electric transmission and distribution subsidiary, CenterPoint Energy Houston Electric, LLC, and other parties to the lower court proceedings have sought review by the Supreme Court of a decision rendered earlier this year by the Texas Third Court of Appeals in Austin.

Although the Supreme Court has not indicated whether or not it will grant review of the lower court's decision, the Court's request for full briefing on the merits will allow the parties to more fully explain their positions to the Court. Under the Court's order, each party seeking review will submit its brief, and the other parties will be entitled to submit responses to those briefs. Any decision by the Court to grant or accept review is discretionary with the Court, and there is no prescribed timeline for action beyond the briefing.

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 $19 billion. With about 8,600 employees, CenterPoint Energy and its predecessor companies have been in business for more than 130 years. For more information, visit the Web site at www.CenterPointEnergy.com.

The CenterPoint Energy logo is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=3588

This news release includes forward-looking statements. Actual events and results may differ materially from those projected. The statements in this news release regarding future financial performance and results of operations and other statements that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements. Factors that could affect actual results include the timing and outcome of appeals from the true-up proceedings, the timing and impact of future regulatory, legislative, and IRS decisions, effects of competition, weather variations, changes in CenterPoint Energy's or its subsidiaries' business plans, financial market conditions, the timing and extent of changes in commodity prices, particularly natural gas, the impact of unplanned facility outages, and other factors discussed in CenterPoint Energy's and its subsidiaries' Form 10-Ks for the period ended December 31, 2007, CenterPoint Energy's and its subsidiaries' Form 10-Qs for the periods ended March 31, 2008, June 30, 2008, and September 30, 2008, CenterPoint Energy's Form 10-Q for the period ended September 30, 2008, and other filings with the SEC.

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SOURCE: CenterPoint Energy, Inc.

CenterPoint Energy, Inc.
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          Floyd LeBlanc
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