Texas Genco Holdings, Inc. , a majority-owned subsidiary of CenterPoint Energy, Inc. , announced that on December 9, 2003, one of three standby diesel generators at Unit 2 of the South Texas Project (STP) nuclear facility experienced a failure during a routine monthly surveillance test. Texas Genco owns a 30.8 percent interest in STP.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20030127/DAM020LOGO )

STP Nuclear Operating Company personnel have informed the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and are completing the analysis to determine the cause of the failure and are developing a repair plan. The unit continues to operate at full power and has two operational standby diesel generators.

At this time, the company cannot predict the cost of repairs or if this event would require an outage.

Texas Genco Holdings, Inc., based in Houston, Texas, is one of the largest wholesale electric power generating companies in the United States with over 14,000 MW of generation capacity. It sells electric generation capacity, energy and ancillary services in ERCOT, one of the nation's largest power markets. Texas Genco has one of the most diversified generation portfolios in Texas, using natural gas, oil, coal, lignite, and uranium fuels. The company owns and operates 60 generating units at 11 electric power-generating facilities and owns a 30.8 percent interest in a nuclear generating plant. Texas Genco currently is a majority-owned subsidiary of CenterPoint Energy, Inc. For more information, visit our web site at www.txgenco.com .

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SOURCE: Texas Genco Holdings, Inc.