HOUSTON, Nov. 20 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Reliant Energy this month
delivered $2 million in bill payment assistance funds to four social
service agencies who administer the company's CARE program in the Houston
area.
The funds were made possible by a rate case settlement with CenterPoint
Energy, and the agencies will administer the funds through the CARE
(Community Assistance from Reliant Energy) program to help Reliant
customers in their respective counties who experience severe financial
hardship and need help with their electricity bill payments.
The funds are allocated to each agency based on the number of
low-income Reliant customers the agency has assisted in the past year. Each
agency's share of funds is listed below:
* Harris County Social Services: $1,311,781
* Fort Bend County Social Services: $302,718
* Galveston County Community Action: $201,812
* Brazoria County Social Services: $201,812
This $2 million infusion is in addition to Reliant Energy's annual
contribution of about $900,000 to the CARE program each spring. The next
disbursement of funds from the CenterPoint settlement is scheduled to be
distributed to the agencies in September 2007.
"We're obviously pleased to be able to provide our customers who are
experiencing financial hardship with extra relief dollars under the CARE
program," said Glen Stancil, Reliant Energy vice president, Houston
Residential. "We are committed to the Reliant CARE program and know that
these additional funds will go a long way toward helping more of our
customers who find themselves in unexpected economic distress."
In December 2005, the Public Utility Commission ordered CenterPoint
Energy to undergo a rate proceeding to determine whether its existing rates
were reasonable. Reliant Energy, along with other customer representatives,
negotiated a settlement with CenterPoint to achieve a $77.9 million package
of rate reductions and other benefits. The settlement includes reduced
transmission and distribution rates, $10 million per year in funding for
low- income programs, including CARE, and $10 million per year in
additional funding for energy efficiency programs in the Houston area.
Reliant annually distributes funds to 20 social service agencies in 100
counties statewide through its CARE program, which provides assistance to
about 5,000 customers. Customers who need assistance through CARE should
call their local social service agency to apply for funding. For a list of
the CARE agencies, visit http://www.reliant.com/residential/ and click on
the word "community."
Reliant Energy, Inc. (NYSE: RRI) based in Houston provides electricity
and energy services to retail and wholesale customers in the United States.
In Texas, the company provides service to approximately 1.9 million retail
electricity customers, including residential, small business and
commercial, industrial, governmental and institutional customers. Reliant
also serves commercial, industrial, governmental and institutional
customers in the PJM (Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Maryland) market.
The company is one of the largest independent power producers in the
nation with approximately 16,000 megawatts of power generation capacity
across the United States. These strategically located generating assets
utilize natural gas, fuel oil and coal. For more information, visit
http://www.reliant.com/corporate .
SOURCE Reliant Energy, Inc.
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Related links:
http://www.reliant.com/corporate
http://www.reliant.com/residential
CONTACT:
Pat Hammond of Reliant Energy, Inc.,
+1-713-497-7723
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