HOUSTON, Aug. 16, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- With a score of 721 (on a 1,000-point scale), CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) scores highest among Texas electric transmission & distribution service providers (TDSPs) on residential customer engagement, according to the Texas TDSP Trusted Brand & Customer Engagement study, a Cogent Reports(TM) study by Market Strategies International. The study was conducted in the second half of 2015 and first half of 2016 among 2,820 electric service customers residing in Texas in six deregulated electric service territories.

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TDSPs are the companies that own and maintain wires, poles and electric infrastructure and facilitate the distribution of electricity within a given region. CenterPoint Energy's score is 30 points higher than the 691 market average. Customer engagement is scored based upon an Engaged Customer Relationship (ECR) index that comprises three components--Operational Satisfaction, Brand Trust and Product Experience. CenterPoint Energy posts the highest score on each of these components among other Texas TDSPs.

"The focus and strategy CenterPoint Energy put into building strong relationships with its customers has really paid off, resulting in the highest ECR score by a significant amount," said Chris Oberle, senior vice president at Market Strategies International. "Operational Satisfaction is the utility's strongest-performing component, and there is now a great opportunity to leverage its superior operational performance into even deeper customer relationships with high value-added product usage."

"In addition to achieving the highest ECR score, we are the only TDSP to score over 700 on safety and reliability, significantly higher than the market average on customer effort to obtain service, and significantly higher for community support," said Gregg Knight, senior vice president and chief customer officer for CenterPoint Energy. "We are extremely proud of these results."

About Texas TDSP Trusted Brand & Customer Engagement Study
The sample design uses US census data and strict quotas to ensure a demographically balanced sample of each evaluated utility's customers based on age, gender, income, race and ethnicity. Utilities were weighted to balance the influence of each utility's customers on survey results. Market Strategies will supply the exact wording of any survey question upon request.

CenterPoint Energy, Inc., headquartered in Houston, Texas, is a domestic energy delivery company that includes electric transmission & distribution, natural gas distribution and energy services operations. The company serves more than five million metered customers primarily in Arkansas, Louisiana, Minnesota, Mississippi, Oklahoma, and Texas. The company also owns a 55.4 percent limited partner interest in Enable Midstream Partners, a publicly traded master limited partnership it jointly controls with OGE Energy Corp., which owns, operates and develops natural gas and crude oil infrastructure assets. With more than 7,400 employees, CenterPoint Energy and its predecessor companies have been in business for more than 140 years. For more information, visit the website at www.CenterPointEnergy.com.

For more information contact
Olivia Ross
Phone 713.207.3288
Pager 713.619.5143

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SOURCE CenterPoint Energy, Inc.