Stakeholder Engagement

Our major stakeholders include customers, communities, employees, investors, suppliers and regulators. We believe that good governance practices include maintaining a consistent and transparent dialogue throughout the year with our stakeholders. Feedback from our stakeholders helps to inform our business plans and strategies.

Each year, we engage in shareholder outreach through various engagement channels including direct meetings, analyst conferences and road shows, among others, and proactively solicit feedback. We also regularly reach out to the proxy governance teams of certain of our large institutional investors to solicit feedback on a range of topics, including various ESG matters. This feedback is shared with the Board of Directors.

Through CenterPoint Energy’s stakeholder engagement process, we define our key Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) material topics for ESG disclosures.

GRI MATERIAL TOPICS

Stakeholder	Key Topics	How We Engage
Communities	Community impact and engagement Diversity, equity and inclusion Environmental compliance and stewardship Customer health and safety Effluents and waste Advocacy	CenterPoint Energy Foundation Online grant applications Community events and sponsorships Employee volunteerism Community partnerships to revitalize low-income neighborhoods Low-income energy assistance City and county council meeting presentations
Customers: Residential, Commercial and Industrial	Electricity and natural gas emissions Effluents and waste Environmental compliance Non-discrimination Anti-corruption Customer health and safety Customer satisfaction Customer privacy	CenterPoint Energy website Customer Contact Center Social media, TV, radio, email and marketing campaigns Mobile application to report outages and make payments Speaker’s Bureau presentations Bill inserts/onserts Customer surveys and focus groups Energy efficiency/demand-side management initiatives Trade shows and customer forums Business and commercial account managers Ethics and Compliance Helpline for grievances
Employees: Current and prospective employees, retirees and labor unions	Diversity, equity and inclusion Diversity and equal opportunity Economic performance Environmental compliance Employee recruitment, turnover, benefits and retention Employee health and safety Training and development Non-discrimination Employee engagement	Leadership meetings Employee meetings, video-streams and webcasts Training and skills development Leadership development programs Informal, ongoing meetings Employee engagement surveys Professional affinity and employee resource groups Workforce recruiting programs Ethics and Compliance Concerns Helpline for grievances Ethics and Compliance Roundtables with employees Health and wellness programs Labor and management joint engagement on key topics, such as safety
Government	Economic performance Indirect economic impacts Energy consumption and conservation Emissions Compliance Occupational health and safety Diversity and equal opportunity Public policy Customer health and safety Customer privacy	Regulatory participation with federal, state and local governmental agencies on requirements and processes Workshops Industry and trade associations Legislative sessions Collaboration on community investments Comments on proposed rules Regulatory filings and hearings State and federal government affairs staff Corporate lobbying efforts
Investors	Economic performance Short-term and long-term incentive plan design Executive succession planning ESG matters: corporate governance practices – board structure, composition and refreshment; environmental and sustainability matters – climate change and carbon emissions reduction goals; human capital management, including diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives Proxy statement disclosure	Shareholder engagement program Energy consumption and conservation Environmental compliance Community engagement Customer satisfaction Quarterly earnings conference calls Meetings, road shows and presentations Analyst/industry conferences Public disclosures Annual meeting of shareholders Website Governance outreach Shareholder services Annual Report Investor Relations staff
Non-Governmental Agencies	Indirect economic impacts Community Relations Energy consumption and conservation Compliance Customer satisfaction Customer privacy	Local-level consultations and meetings Website and communications Industry associations Collaboration on community development projects Impact assessments Sustainability reporting Annual reporting Stakeholder discussions
Suppliers	Economic impacts Compliance Supplier engagement Community investment Diversity and equal opportunity	Supplier diversity program and events: mentoring and scholarship program; employees and vendors; participation in minority and women supplier development councils; recognition events; engagement with diverse business organizations; industry trade shows Request for proposals Meetings with suppliers to review Key Performance Indicators Fair dealing Timely payments Competitive bidding processes Ethics and Compliance Code of Conduct for Consultants, Contractors, Suppliers, and Vendors Ethics and Compliance Concerns Helpline