In honor of Earth Day, CenterPoint Energy's regulated natural gas operations business is partnering with the Arbor Day Foundation to plant trees in neighborhoods throughout its six-state natural gas service territory. For a limited time, when CenterPoint Energy customers enroll in Online Billing, Arbor Day Foundation members will plant a tree in the customer's home state.

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

Online Billing is a fast, free and secure way for customers to pay their monthly natural gas bill. With Online Billing, customers can:

  --  Help the environment by going paperless: Customers will receive a
      paper bill for the first three months and then everything will be
      conveniently accessible online.
  --  Reduce clutter: Customers receive an e-mail when their bill is ready
      to view and be paid online.
  --  Enjoy 24-hour access: Customers can view and print any bill they've
      received for up to 13 months.
  --  Save money: Customers will avoid the hassle and cost of stamps.
  --  Enjoy convenience: Pair Online Billing with Automatic Bank Draft and
      customers' monthly bill will be automatically paid from their bank
      account.

The tree planting promotion ends May 15 so customers should enroll now for a greener planet.

For more information about the promotion and to sign up for Online Billing, visit CenterPointEnergy.com/plantatree. To learn more about the Arbor Day Foundation, visit arborday.org.

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 pipeline and field services operations. The company serves more than five million metered customers primarily in Arkansas, Louisiana, Minnesota, Mississippi, Oklahoma and Texas. Assets total almost $19 billion. With about 8,800 employees, CenterPoint Energy and its predecessor companies have been in business for more than 135 years. For more information, visit the Web site at www.CenterPointEnergy.com.

  For more information
   contact:
  Alicia Dixon
  Phone                     713.207.5885
  Pager                     713.619.5143

First Call Analyst:
FCMN Contact: alicia.dixon@centerpointenergy.com

Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20020930/CNPLOGO
AP Archive: http://photoarchive.ap.org/
PRN Photo Desk, photodesk@prnewswire.com

SOURCE: CenterPoint Energy, Inc.