CenterPoint Energy Applies for $200 Million Federal Stimulus Grant to Accelerate Current Smart Meter Project and Begin Building
05 Août 2009 - 5:00PM
PR Newswire (US)
Scalable, replicable smart grid would increase electric service
reliability for the nation's 4th largest city and 'energy capital
of the world' HOUSTON, Aug. 5 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- CenterPoint
Energy, Inc. (NYSE: CNP) announced that on Aug. 4, its electric
transmission and distribution subsidiary, CenterPoint Energy
Houston Electric LLC, applied to the U.S. Department of Energy for
a $200 million grant for a project titled "Houston's Smart Grid:
Transforming the Future of Electric Distribution & Energy
Consumption." (Logo:
http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20020930/CNPLOGO) The project
involves two distinct but interdependent parts. If granted,
CenterPoint Energy Houston Electric will use $150 million of the
requested $200 million grant to accelerate its current smart meter
and associated equipment installation that make up its Advanced
Metering System (AMS). The $50 million balance will be used to
accelerate the installation of the first phase of CenterPoint
Energy Houston Electric's Intelligent Grid (IG) that utilizes the
AMS and other technologies to build a self-healing grid, and
improve operational efficiency and reliability. "CenterPoint
Energy's electric infrastructure is critical to the international
commerce that flows through our Texas Gulf Coast service territory,
which is susceptible to hurricanes," said Tom Standish, group
president of Regulated Operations for CenterPoint Energy. "We're
committed to strengthening the company's electric grid to increase
reliability and speed restoration following outages. Our Smart Grid
alliance, including company personnel, together with consultants
from IBM, GE, Itron, and Quanta who have subject matter expertise,
firsthand knowledge of our company and the electric industry, and
proficiency in Texas' competitive electricity market, provides for
a level of skill, experience and know-how that is unmatched in the
industry." CenterPoint Energy Houston Electric is a regulated
electric utility whose rates, operations and services are subject
to the jurisdiction of the Public Utility Commission of Texas. It
provides electric transmission and distribution delivery services
to more than two million metered customers in a 5,000-square-mile
area of the Texas Gulf Coast, including Houston, the nation's 4th
largest city and "energy capital of the world." Houston is also
home to N.A.S.A., the Texas Medical Center and the Port of Houston
Authority, the largest port in the U.S. in terms of foreign
tonnage. On behalf of the Retail Electric Providers (REPs),
CenterPoint Energy Houston Electric delivers electricity from power
generators to retail electric customers in locations throughout its
service territory. Until the company's AMS is in place, REPs will
be limited in offering dynamic pricing programs in the competitive
Texas electric market. Once complete, CenterPoint Energy Houston
Electric's IG will serve as an example of a fully integrated,
scalable and replicable smart grid. The company will expand and use
its Technology Center to test various smart grid components, to
evaluate the security of new technologies and to educate consumers,
vendors and others about the benefits of smart grid technology.
CenterPoint Energy Houston Electric's five-year smart meter
deployment began in March 2009, and on Aug. 1, the company reached
a significant milestone with the installation of 45,000 smart
meters and started delivering enhanced smart meter functionality to
REPs, including 15 minute interval energy usage data. By the end of
the year, 145,000 smart meters will be installed along with the
necessary communications infrastructure and computing systems. More
than 2 million meters are expected to be installed system-wide by
the project's completion in 2014 or by the end of 2012, with the
aid of the federal grant money. Visit
CenterPointEnergy.com/EnergyInSight for the latest information on
smart meters, including deployment maps for 2009 - 2014. A replay
of the press conference will be available beginning on Thursday
afternoon for one month at
CenterPointEnergy.com/EnergyInSightPressConference. 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 nearly $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
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 decisions, effects of competition, weather variations,
changes in CenterPoint Energy's or its subsidiaries' business
plans, 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 fiscal year ended December 31,
2008, CenterPoint Energy's and its subsidiaries' Form 10-Qs for the
periods ended March 31, 2009, CenterPoint Energy's Form 10-Q for
the period ended June 30, 2009, and other filings with the SEC.
Media: Floyd LeBlanc Phone 713.207.7125 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, Floyd LeBlanc, +1-713-207-7125, or Investors,
Marianne Paulsen, +1-713-207-6500, both of CenterPoint Energy, Inc.
Web Site: http://www.centerpointenergy.com/
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