Battier, Landry Make Dream Come True for Winning Stafford Family with Direct Energy Driveway Challenge H-O-R-S-E, Five-on-Five, Food, DJ Components of Once-In-A-Lifetime Day for Local Family

Houston, TX (3/30/2009) - Nervous energy was running high today as Lisa English stepped onto the newly painted home-court - her driveway in Stafford - as winner of the inaugural Direct Energy Driveway Challenge with the Houston Rockets. But the nerves were well worth it for the mother of three as she was joined by her daughter Tia, sons, Timothy and Trevon, her husband, Vernon, and nearly 100 friends and family to greet Rockets forwards Shane Battier and Carl Landry at her home Monday, March 30th.

“I love basketball and am a season ticket-holder for the Rockets. We love the players and can’t believe I won this chance to play with Shane and Carl,” said English. “My 13 year-old son has a special love of basketball. He plays on his school’s team and is sure he is going to be the first person drafted right out of middle school.”

Working with Direct Energy, the official electricity provider to the Houston Rockets and Toyota Center, Battier and Landry agreed to give up home-court advantage to the contest winners, the English family, who hosted the duo on their driveway in Stafford. While Landry focused on getting his five-on-five team game-ready, Battier bravely took on Lisa and her boys for a game of H-O-R-S-E before going head-to-head against Landry in a coaching show-down.

“These kids showed us a thing or two today; they played hard,” said Battier. “Teaming up with Carl to do this for Lisa and her family today was an awesome experience. This family lives and breathes the Rockets – we hear our fans, and we see them at the games, but to get to take time to spend an hour with them and make this such an unforgettable experience for these guys, is something special for us.”

Adding to the celebration was a mini block-party coordinated by Direct Energy and the Houston Rockets, where the guests and family members of the English family enjoyed a catered barbecue, live DJ, and appearances by the Rocket Power Dancers, mascot Clutch, and the Rockets’ Launch Crew.

“Direct Energy and the Rockets have been working together since 2003, and this has been a great example of teamwork between our two organizations to bring such a once-in-a-lifetime experience as the Driveway Challenge to the English family,” said Kevin West, Vice President for Direct Energy. “It’s always a pleasure to work with the Rockets, who share with us a focus on being active in the Houston community. Shane Battier and Carl Landry were 100 percent committed to making this an unforgettable experience for the English family – proving once again why they’re such fan-favorites.”

Lisa was among thousands of fans who entered online before February 27th for a chance to win the Direct Energy Driveway Challenge with the Houston Rockets. English, Pat Guajardo and Nicole Ramos were selected by random draw to compete in an on–court challenge during the March 8th Rockets game for the grand prize.

About Direct Energy
Direct Energy is part of the Centrica group of companies, one of the largest multi-state providers of retail energy services in North America. The North American operations have grown to more than 5 million residential and commercial customer relationships. Through its Direct Energy, CPL Retail Energy and WTU Retail Energy brands, the company is the third largest retail energy provider in Texas, and owns a series of energy-related services companies. Globally, the Centrica group of companies is a leading provider of energy and other essential services with approximately 32 million customer relationships. For more information, visit www.directenergy.com.

Editor’s note: Photos of the event available by contacting Lisa Dornan at 713.877.3925 or lisa.dornan@directenergy.com

Direct Energy® is a subsidiary of Centrica plc. All rights reserved. Centrica was created following the demerger of British Gas plc in 1997 and is now a leading supplier of energy and related services. To read more about Centrica plc please visit www.centrica.com.