Houston - December 4, 2003 - CenterPoint Energy, Inc.'s (NYSE:CNP) Board of Directors announced that the Annual Meeting of Shareholders will be held on Thursday, June 3, 2004, at 9 a.m. CDT in the CenterPoint Energy Tower auditorium, 1111 Louisiana Street, Houston, Texas. Shareholders who hold shares of CenterPoint Energy as of April 5, 2004, will receive notice of the meeting and be eligible to vote.

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.

For more information contact
Media: Leticia Lowe
Phone 713.207.7702
Investors: Marianne Paulsen
Phone 713.207.6500