| Customers to expect same level of safe and reliable service | ||
| Early this morning, CenterPoint Energy and Vectren Corporation announced they have entered into a definitive merger agreement, to form a leading energy delivery, infrastructure and services company serving more than 7 million customers across the United States.
CenterPoint Energy is a domestic energy delivery company that includes electric transmission & distribution, natural gas distribution and energy services operations. The company serves more than 5 million metered customers primarily in Arkansas, Louisiana, Minnesota, Mississippi, Oklahoma, and Texas. Headquartered in Houston, Texas, CenterPoint has nearly 8,000 employees. I want to ensure you and all customers that this agreement will have no impact on you or your energy service while this transaction progresses toward closing, and we will continue to reliably and safely serve our 1.2 million gas and electric customers now and well into the future as the newly combined company moves forward. Today’s news marks the next chapter for Vectren and its subsidiary companies. CenterPoint is the right partner because they demonstrate the values and commitment to customers and communities long demonstrated by Vectren. Together, we will be a stronger, more competitive company that will be well-positioned to continue to provide value for all of our stakeholders in the years to come. CenterPoint is committed to all of Vectren’s stakeholders as evidenced by the terms of this agreement: • The combined company’s natural gas utilities operations will be headquartered in Evansville, Ind., where Vectren utility operations are currently based today; the combined utility will serve ~4.5 million natural gas customers in eight states. • Indiana electric operations will remain headquartered in Evansville; CenterPoint will establish a chief business officer for Vectren’s electric business, who will directly report to CenterPoint’s CEO and spearhead southwestern Indiana’s electric grid modernization and generation transition initiatives recently underway. • In addition to utility field employees, CenterPoint Energy will retain key operational activities in support of the utilities in Evansville. • The Vectren Foundation will remain based in Evansville, and employee volunteerism and grants will continue within the communities we serve. In fact, CenterPoint will fund the Foundation at an additional $3 million per year over the next five years (once the transaction is closed). • Vectren and CenterPoint have made significant commitments to employees to preserve opportunities as the integration process gets underway. The transaction must be approved by several federal regulatory agencies, and Vectren’s shareholders and other customary closing conditions must be satisfied before the parties can close. The parties will also make regulatory filings in Indiana and Ohio. This process will take several months and the parties are targeting closing the transaction by the first quarter of 2019. As you can imagine, we are actively communicating with a number of stakeholders, and our focus is very much on the customers we serve and our employees who help deliver that service. We pledge to continue to keep you updated as this integration process moves forward. Today is the beginning of a bright future for the evolution of our company, and we are optimistic about becoming part of the CenterPoint Energy family. Regards, Carl Chapman |
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