CenterPoint Energy 2011 Annual Report Download - page 5

Natural Gas Distribution Interstate Pipelines Field Services Competitive Natural Gas
Sales & Services
Our natural gas distribution business
serves approximately 3.3 million
customers in Arkansas, Louisiana,
Minnesota, Mississippi, Oklahoma
and Texas.
Our interstate natural gas pipelines
business has approximately
8,200 miles of pipe and the capacity
to transport more than 9.5 billion cubic
feet (Bcf) per day.
Our natural gas gathering and
processing business operates
approximately 3,900 miles of
gathering lines. We gathered
823 Bcf of natural gas in 2011.
Our natural gas sales and services
business provides energy solutions
to retail and wholesale customers in
21 states. We delivered approximately
558 Bcf in 2011.
Overview
We continue to improve our
natural gas distribution operations,
implement rate designs that align
both our shareholders’ and our
customers’ interests and make
intelligent investments in technology.
We are installing a drive-by meter
reading system that will provide
significant efficiencies and serve
as a foundation for on-demand usage
information. New online and phone
self-service options further enhance
the customer experience.
Overview
Through technology advancements,
we are improving the management
of pipeline capacity across our entire
system, offering enhanced customer
service, innovation and communication,
and providing timely information on
pipeline flows and capacity availability.
We continue to pursue opportunities
to serve power generation conversions
from coal to natural gas.
Overview
We continue to see volume growth
and return on investments made in the
Fayetteville and Haynesville shales.
Our long-term agreements provide
steady, fee-based revenue and help
mitigate the impacts of production
volume fluctuations due to declining
natural gas prices. We are the
largest non-producer gatherer in
the Haynesville Shale in terms of
system capacity.
Overview
We provide comprehensive energy
solutions, including procurement,
transportation and risk management.
We buy natural gas directly from
small- to mid-size producers and
provide gas supply services to
marketers, utilities, municipalities,
and commercial and industrial
customers. Continuing to build strong
relationships, we are committed to
aligning our asset portfolio to meet
our customers’ needs.
•฀$623฀million฀in฀operating฀income,฀
•฀Added฀45,000+฀customers
•฀Remotely฀completed฀nearly฀2฀million฀
•฀Spent฀nearly฀$38฀million฀on฀system฀
•฀In฀the฀second฀quarter฀of฀2012,฀
Delivering Results
•฀$226฀million฀in฀operating฀income
•฀Added฀19,000+฀customers
•฀Decreased฀bad฀debt฀expense฀by฀
$8 million. Our bad debt-to-revenue
ratio is now less than 1 percent,
compared to the national average
of 2 percent
•฀Invested฀$295฀million฀in฀capital,฀in฀
part for system safety and reliability
•฀Launched฀My฀Energy฀Analyzer,฀a฀
free online tool that helps customers
better understand their bill
•฀Expanded฀conservation฀programs฀
and achieved record-setting
participation
•฀Earned฀a฀J.D.฀Power฀and฀Associates฀
first-place ranking in the Midwest region
Delivering Results
•฀$248฀million฀in฀operating฀income
•฀$21฀million฀in฀earned฀equity฀income฀
from our 50 percent interest in the
Southeast Supply Header
•฀Added฀40฀new฀industrial฀customers,฀
and renewed contracts with several
key customers
•฀Began฀offering฀a฀new฀premium฀
service to natural gas-fired power
plants that provides swing-load
service during high-demand periods
•฀Made฀upgrades,฀such฀as฀adding฀
state-of-the-art system control
technology to optimize real-time
operations
Delivering Results
•฀$189฀million฀in฀operating฀income
•฀$9฀million฀in฀equity฀income฀from฀
our 50 percent interest in a gathering
and processing joint venture
•฀Total฀daily฀throughput฀increased฀
nearly 30 percent
•฀Added฀nearly฀100฀miles฀of฀pipeline฀
to our gas gathering system
•฀Expanded฀our฀treating฀and฀
compression facilities that serve
the Fayetteville, Haynesville and
Woodford shales
Delivering Results
•฀$6฀million฀in฀operating฀income
•฀Accelerated฀our฀strategy฀of฀
releasing unprofitable pipeline
capacity contracts
•฀Expanded฀into฀four฀new฀states
•฀Invested฀in฀our฀intrastate฀pipeline฀
system to serve new industrial
customers along the Gulf Coast
•฀Introduced฀Green฀Balance,฀a฀carbon-
neutral gas purchase program that
gives customers the ability to offset
carbon emissions
•฀Launched฀our฀Premier฀Partners฀
program for national accounts
•฀Continue฀to฀implement฀new฀
•฀Build฀infrastructure฀to฀meet฀the฀
•฀Provide฀an฀essential฀level฀of฀
Pursuing Opportunities
•฀Increase฀capital฀spending฀to฀
approximately $350 million in
2012 to enhance system integrity
and operations
•฀In฀2013,฀expect฀to฀complete฀the฀
$98 million upgrade of 1.3 million
meters in Houston and South Texas
to drive-by metering, which will
significantly improve meter reading
productivity
•฀Promote฀the฀adoption฀of฀natural฀
gas vehicles
Pursuing Opportunities
•฀Secure฀power฀generation฀business฀
through existing service upgrades
and new power generation load
contracts
•฀Continue฀rate฀and฀cost฀recovery฀
strategy to improve long-term
earnings potential while pursuing
contract extensions
Pursuing Opportunities
•฀Pursue฀new฀gathering฀and฀
processing opportunities within
and outside our current footprint
•฀Test฀new฀processes฀at฀our฀amine฀
facilities that allow the system to
remain in service during plant
maintenance
•฀Provide฀greater฀daily฀optimization฀
opportunities through upgraded
technology applications
Pursuing Opportunities
•฀Focus฀on฀retail฀customer฀growth฀
through continued geographic
expansion and increased
market share
•฀Increase฀service฀offerings฀
through Mobile Energy Solutions,
which provides temporary natural
gas supplies