CenterPoint Energy Files to Adjust Natural Gas Bills for Houston-area Customers
31 Juillet 2009 - 6:09PM
PR Newswire (US)
Lower wholesale natural gas prices offset proposed change to base
rates HOUSTON, July 31 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- CenterPoint Energy
(NYSE CNP) today made filings with municipal regulatory authorities
and the Texas Railroad Commission that will affect the amount that
Houston-area customers pay for gas utility service. CenterPoint
Energy is reducing the amount billed to customers through the PGA
portion of a customer's gas bill beginning in August which will
have an annualized reduction of $96.7 million. (Logo:
http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20020930/CNPLOGO) Wholesale
natural gas prices have decreased nationwide and CenterPoint Energy
is passing along lower prices. Through the PGA, an allowed
adjustment to the gas supply charge portion of a customer bill,
CenterPoint Energy passes on the cost of natural gas with no
markup. The PGA typically makes up 60-70 percent of a customer
bill. "We are happy to be able to pass this natural gas price
decrease on to customers because the PGA is the largest portion of
a customer bill," said Rick Zapalac, division vice president of Gas
Operations in Texas. "CenterPoint Energy manages a diversified gas
portfolio that balances reliability, reduced price volatility and
reasonable price to meet the needs of all our customers. We work
with a variety of natural gas suppliers and buy throughout the year
on a competitively bid basis." With this lower PGA, a typical
residential customer's bill using 35 Ccf that was $49.36 in July
will be $43.33 beginning in August, excluding taxes. This
represents a 12.2 percent decrease. For typical winter usage of 100
Ccf, a customer's bill will be $104.29 this winter compared to
$134.64 last winter, excluding taxes, a 22.5 percent decrease. The
company also filed to change the base rates that the company
charges customers for natural gas utility service. The proposed
annual revenue increase is $25.4 million. The base rate portion of
a customer's natural gas bill, which makes up about 30-40 percent
of the total bill, covers the cost of distributing natural gas. The
overall average increase for a residential customer using 35 Ccf is
$4.09 per month and represents an 8.3 percent increase in the total
residential bill, excluding taxes. "We are proposing to change the
base rate portion of the bill because the cost of distributing
natural gas to our customers, such as labor, materials and
supplies, and other operating expenses, has continued to increase
while usage has declined. The ability to earn a reasonable return
on investment is critical to our ability to continue to build our
system to support future economic development," he added. While the
lower PGA goes into effect in August, CenterPoint Energy expects
the new base rates would go into effect in the first quarter of
2010. 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. With about 8,800
employees, CenterPoint Energy and its predecessor companies have
been in business for more than 130 years. For more information,
visit the Web site at http://www.centerpointenergy.com/. 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 impact of future regulatory
and 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 and their
Form 10-Qs for the periods ended December 31, 2008 and March 31,
2009, and other filings with the Securities and Exchange
Commission. For more information contact Media: Alicia Dixon Phone
713.207.5885 Investors: Marianne Paulsen Phone 713.207.6500
http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20020930/CNPLOGO
http://photoarchive.ap.org/ DATASOURCE: CenterPoint Energy, Inc.
CONTACT: Media, Alicia Dixon, +1-713-207-5885, or Investors,
Marianne Paulsen, +1-713-207-6500, both of CenterPoint Energy, Inc.
Web Site: http://www.centerpointenergy.com/
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