MINNEAPOLIS - May 09, 2012 - CenterPoint Energy has named Joe Vortherms division vice president of CenterPoint Energy's Regional Gas Operations in Minnesota. In this role, Vortherms will be responsible for the state's largest natural gas distribution utility and the company's unregulated business, Home Service Plus® (HSP). 

Vortherms, a native Minnesotan, began his career with the company in 1988 as the supervisor of Budgeting, Reporting and Taxes.  He went on to hold various finance and management positions in Gas Operations. He most recently served as director of Home Service Plus, CenterPoint Energy's appliance repair and maintenance business. 

Vortherms, a Certified Public Accountant (CPA), holds a bachelor's degree in accounting and finance from Minnesota State University, Mankato.  He serves as the chair of the 2012 United Way Greater Twin Cities New Business Development Committee.  He is a member of the American Gas Association, the Minnesota Society of CPA's, American Institute of CPA's and serves on the Finance Committee of St. Vincent De Paul Church in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota.

Vortherms replaced Tal Centers, who will oversee the company's System Integrity Operations. He and his wife Jean reside in Champlin. Their children, Jamie and Ryan, both work and reside in the Twin Cities metro area.

CenterPoint Energy, Inc., headquartered in Houston, Texas, is a domestic energy delivery company that includes electric transmission and distribution, natural gas distribution, competitive natural gas sales and services, interstate pipelines and field services operations. The company serves more than five million metered customers primarily in Arkansas, Louisiana, Minnesota, Mississippi, Oklahoma and Texas. Assets total more than $21 billion. With about 8,800 employees, CenterPoint Energy and its predecessor companies have been in business for more than 135 years. In Minnesota, CenterPoint Energy is the state's largest natural gas distribution utility, serving over 800,000 customers in 260 communities. The utility also operates a non-regulated business in Minnesota called Home Service Plus®. For more information, visit CenterPointEnergy.com.

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