Acquisition

Centrica PLC
                  

Centrica acquires third Texas power station

Centrica plc today announced that its North American subsidiary, Direct Energy,
has acquired 100 per cent of the partnership interests in Tenaska III Texas
Partners (TP) for a consideration of US$47.5 million (£26.6 million) in cash. TP
owns the Paris Energy Center, a 244MW gas-fired combined-cycle power plant in
Texas.

The Paris Energy Center is a highly flexible asset which complements Centrica's
current generation portfolio in Texas by providing both mid-merit and
fast-response peaking capacity. It is the third power station Centrica has
bought in Texas, following the acquisition of Bastrop Energy Center and Frontera
Energy Center in 2004. The purchase price is equivalent to US$195 (£109) per
kilowatt.

Centrica will now be able to meet approximately 31 per cent of Texas peak
demand, where it currently has around 900,000 customers, from its own assets.
Its location, in the northeast region of Texas, also means that it is ideally
positioned to support Centrica's organic growth efforts in Dallas-Fort Worth and
the surrounding areas.

Sir Roy Gardner, Chief Executive of Centrica, said: 'This acquisition provides
further evidence of our commitment to increase the proportion of our energy
requirements that we can meet from our own assets and it supports our growth
plans for the Texas market.'

The Paris Energy Center was commissioned in 1989, initially as a simple cycle
operation, and then in January 1990 as a gas-fired combined cycle plant. The
power station is debt free and, on 1 February 2006, became a 100 per cent
merchant facility.

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