Falling Natural Gas Prices Lower Natural Gas Bills For CenterPoint Energy Customers In Mississippi Beginning This Month

HOUSTON, Feb. 9, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) is decreasing the purchased gas adjustment (PGA) portion of Mississippi customers' natural gas bills beginning this month.

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The adjustment will lower a Mississippi residential winter gas bill using 100 Ccf (hundred cubic feet) of natural gas by 19 percent. This means a bill that was $79.36 in January will be $64.29 this month. Actual bills will vary depending on how much natural gas individual customers use.

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 reflects the actual prices the company pays for natural gas.

"The price we pay to purchase natural gas has continued to drop in the last several months," said Bruce Coogler, vice president of Gas Supply for CenterPoint Energy.  "We are happy to be passing along savings to our customers since gas usage is typically higher at this time of year due to heating needs."

CenterPoint Energy works with a variety of natural gas suppliers and buys natural gas throughout the year on a competitively bid basis, a common utility practice to ensure reliable supplies at a reasonable price.

CenterPoint Energy communicates with customers prior to each heating season about current natural gas prices and provides energy efficiency and conservation information through customer bill inserts and on its Website. There are many no-cost to low-cost things customers can do to lower their consumption and their natural gas bill during the winter. For more information, visit CenterPointEnergy.com/ReadyforWinter.

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 $21 billion. With over 8,800 employees, CenterPoint Energy and its predecessor companies have been in business for more than 135 years. For more information, visit the company's website at CenterPointEnergy.com.