Houston - October 24, 2003 - CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) today announced the sale of its remaining international asset, a 25 percent indirect interest in Rain Calcining Ltd. in Hyderabad, India, to Corbin Holdings, Inc. As a result of the sale, the company will record a small gain in 2003. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

Rain is a five-year-old coke calcining plant that cogenerates 54 megawatts of electricity and sells it into the local power market.

"This sale of Rain completes our strategy of exiting the international energy market," said David McClanahan, president and chief executive officer for CenterPoint Energy. "We are committed to keeping CenterPoint Energy focused on our core businesses of energy delivery in the U.S."

CenterPoint Energy, Inc., headquartered in Houston, Texas, is a domestic energy delivery company that includes electric transmission and distribution, natural gas distribution and sales, interstate pipeline and gathering operations, and more than 14,000 megawatts of power generation in Texas. The company serves nearly five million customers primarily in Arkansas, Louisiana, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Texas. Assets total approximately $20 billion. CenterPoint Energy became the new holding company for the regulated operations of the former Reliant Energy, Incorporated in August 2002. With more than 11,000 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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Media: Leticia Lowe, 713.207.7702
Investors: Marianne Paulsen, 713.207.6500