HOUSTON, April 4, 2008 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- CenterPoint Energy - Mississippi River Transmission Corporation (MRT), an indirect, wholly-owned interstate natural gas pipeline subsidiary of CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP), announced today a 5-year extension of its firm transportation and storage contracts with Laclede Gas Company, its largest customer.
These contracts provide Laclede nearly 665,000 dekatherms daily of transportation capacity and 23.5 billion cubic feet of storage to serve the St. Louis market. Laclede is the largest natural gas distribution utility in Missouri, serving more than 630,000 residential, commercial, and industrial customers in St. Louis and surrounding counties of eastern Missouri.
"We're pleased to have this opportunity to continue to serve Laclede's needs," said Cy Zebot, senior vice president and chief commercial officer for CenterPoint Energy. "We appreciate Laclede's confidence in our ability to deliver safe and reliable natural gas to serve their customers."
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 $17 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.
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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, and other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.