HOUSTON, Feb. 20, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- CenterPoint Energy, Inc.'s (NYSE: CNP) Board of Directors appointed Phillip R. Smith as a director, effective March 3 2014. Smith, expected to stand for election at the company's 2014 annual meeting in April, is president and chief executive officer of Torch Energy Advisors, Inc. He served as a partner of KPMG from 2002 until his retirement in 2012 and also previously served as audit partner of another international accounting firm from 1987 to 2002.

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Smith joins current board members Milton Carroll (chairman), Michael P. Johnson, Janiece Longoria, Scott J. McLean, Scott M. Prochazka, Susan O. Rheney, R. A. Walker and Peter S. Wareing.

CenterPoint Energy, Inc., headquartered in Houston, Texas, is a domestic energy delivery company that includes electric transmission & distribution, natural gas distribution and competitive natural gas sales and services operations. The company serves more than five million metered customers primarily in Arkansas, Louisiana, Minnesota, Mississippi, Oklahoma, and Texas. The company also owns a 58.3 percent limited partner interest in Enable Midstream Partners, a partnership it jointly controls with OGE Energy Corp. with operations in major natural gas and liquids producing areas of Oklahoma, Texas, Arkansas and Louisiana. With more than 8,700 employees, CenterPoint Energy and its predecessor companies have been in business for more than 140 years. For more information, visit the website at www.CenterPointEnergy.com.

For more information contact
Media:
Leticia Lowe
Phone       713.207.7702
Investors:
Carla Kneipp
Phone      713.207.6500

SOURCE CenterPoint Energy, Inc.