CenterPoint Energy 2008 Annual Report Download - page 11

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ELECTRIC
TRANSMISSION
AND DISTRIBUTION
OPERATIONS
COMPETITION
TRANSITION CHARGE
TRANSITION
BOND COMPANIES
with less than 1 percent of our poles
destroyed or needing to be replaced.
Uprooted trees and flying debris,
however, damaged or severed power lines
throughout our service territory causing
outages that affected more than 2 million,
or 90 percent, of our customers and more
than 3 million customers overall in Texas.
With the help of 11,000 line mechanics and
tree trimmers from 35 states and Canada,
we safely restored service within 18 days
and limited the loss of revenue to about
$17 million. We are currently working
within the regulatory process to recover
the estimated $600-650 million it cost
to restore the system.
We have begun the implementation of
leading-edge technology to dramatically
transform the way electricity is managed.
This is a critical step to move the electric
grid into the digital age. We received
regulatory approval in December 2008
to install more than 2 million advanced
meters over the next five years, beginning
in March 2009, to meet the future needs
of the Texas restructured market place.
This technology will provide the remote
capability for meter reading, connection
and disconnection of service, and
customers’ operation of thermostats and
other electric devices. These innovative
meters should encourage greater energy
conservation by giving Houston-area
electric consumers the ability to better
monitor and manage their electric use
and its cost in near real time.
Other environmentally friendly projects
include supporting the installation of
LED traffic signals in the City of Houston,
converting off-road vehicles such as
forklifts to electric motors, and testing
plug-in hybrid electric vehicles. For the
seventh consecutive year, we received
the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency’s ENERGY STAR Sustained
Excellence Award.
PAGE 9
2008 OPERATING INCOME