verification . please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . november 2009 learn how and when to remove this template message centerpoint energy type public traded as nyse cnp s & p 500 component industry utilities founded 1882 headquarters centerpoint energy tower houston texas united states key people scott m. prochazka ceo & president revenue 8.106 billion 1 usd 2013 operating income 1 billion 1 usd 2013 net income 311 million 1 usd 2013 number of employees 8 720 1 2013 website www.centerpointenergy.com centerpoint energy plaza centerpoint energy headquarters in downtown houston centerpoint energy is a fortune 500 electric and natural gas utility serving several markets in the u.s. states of arkansas louisiana minnesota mississippi oklahoma and texas . it was formerly known as reliant energy from which it is now separated noram energy houston industries and hl & p. the company is headquartered in the centerpoint energy tower at 1111 louisiana street in downtown houston . 2 3 some of its notable subscribers include retail electric providers reps such as nrg energy champion energy dynowatt ambit energy texas power bounce energy mxenergy direct energy stream energy first texas energy corporation gexa energy cirro energy and kona energy . contents 1 history 2 criticism 3 see also 4 references 5 external links history edit this section does not cite any sources . please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . november 2009 learn how and when to remove this template message when the state of texas deregulated the electricity market the former houston lighting & power hl & p was split into several companies . 4 in 2003 hl & p was split into reliant energy texas genco and centerpoint energy . 5 until december 15 2004 centerpoint energy and its predecessors operated in its various markets under these names ; they were used separately prior to reliant energy and later in conjunction with the reliant energy and centerpoint energy names minnegasco natural gas throughout parts of minnesota houston lighting and power or hl & p houston galveston electric provider entex natural gas throughout south and east texas southern louisiana and mississippi arkla natural gas throughout northern louisiana northeast texas 6 oklahoma and arkansas in late 2004 four private equity firms the texas pacific group the blackstone group kohlberg kravis roberts and hellman & friedman combined forces to purchase texas genco from centerpoint . later in 2006 texas genco was sold to nrg energy of princeton n.j. september 2008 power outage this section does not cite any sources . please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . november 2009 learn how and when to remove this template message a centerpoint energy facility in downtown houston . hurricane ike caused great disruption of service in the greater houston area wiping out 2.1 million of centerpoint energy s 2.26 million clients electricity . citation needed this was the largest power outage in the company s 130 year history and the largest in the state s history . smart meter pilot program in march 2009 the company s five year smart meter deployment began delivering enhanced smart meter functionality to retail electric providers reps . the company worked with the department of energy for a pilot program in texas centered on energy consumption . 7 after working with 500 residential electricity customers in the houston area it was found that by using a smart meter consumers cut down on energy use for the home . 7 the pilot program was funded in part by the 200 million it received from the federal stimulus act . 7 centerpoint energy has been working with ibm . in 2013 ibm helped centerpoint energy develop the customer vision platform . the customer vision platform will give centerpoint a 360 degree view of their 5 million metered customers incorporating their gas electric and home services customers . it s going to give customers a range of choices around how they want to interact with centerpoint while also providing a consistent experience across the board . 8 criticism edit on december 16 2005 centerpoint energy inc. said it would restate its finances for 2004 and the first three quarters of 2005 to correct accounting errors that overstated revenue and natural gas expenses . 9 in december 2011 the non partisan organization public campaign criticized centerpoint energy for spending 2.65 million on lobbying and not paying any taxes during 2008 2010 instead getting 284 million in tax rebates despite making a profit of 1.9 billion and having an executive pay between 12 and 13 million for its top 5 executives . 10 see also edit houston portal deregulation of the texas electricity market electric reliability council of texas ercot sheffield nelson references edit a b c d http investors.centerpointenergy.com highlights.cfm contact information . centerpoint energy . retrieved on january 14 2009 . centerpoint energy tower . berger iron works . retrieved on january 14 2009 . exelon bids for major texas power producer nrg . houston chronicle . october 20 2008 . retrieved on april 14 2014 . the plants were originally part of the former houston lighting & power the integrated utility that served the houston area until it was broken up into three separate companies as the state deregulated its power markets . fowler tom . 8 houston power plants to be sold to nrg . houston chronicle . october 2 2005 . retrieved on april 14 2014 . http investing.businessweek.com research stocks private snapshot.asp privcapid 867002 a b c cnet . texans take a shine to in home energy displays . ibm centerpoint energy launch customer vision platform . centerpoint energy to restate finances . portero ashley . 30 major u.s. corporations paid more to lobby congress than income taxes 2008 2010 . international business times . archived from the original on 26 december 2011 . retrieved 26 december 2011 . external links edit centerpoint energy web site company timeline v t e dow jones utility average components aes american electric power american water works company centerpoint consolidated edison dominion duke edison international exelon firstenergy nextera nisource pg & e pseg southern company retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title centerpoint energy & oldid 743465376 categories companies listed on the new york stock exchangecompanies in the dow jones utility averagepower companies of the united statesnatural gas companies of the united statescompanies based in houstonhidden categories articles needing additional references from november 2009all articles needing additional referencesall articles with unsourced statementsarticles with unsourced statements from february 2016 navigation menu personal tools not logged 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