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                                                                    EXHIBIT 10.4

                         HOUSTON INDUSTRIES INCORPORATED
                      LONG-TERM INCENTIVE COMPENSATION PLAN

                                Fourth Amendment

                  Houston Industries Incorporated, a Texas corporation ("HII"),
established the Houston Industries Incorporated Long-Term Incentive Compensation
Plan, effective January 1, 1989, and as thereafter amended (the "Plan"). As the
successor to HII, Reliant Energy, Incorporated, a Texas corporation (the
"Company"), having reserved the right under Section 12.1 thereof to amend the
Plan, does hereby amend the Plan, effective January 1, 2001, as follows:

         1. The definition of "Company" in Section 2.1(e) of the Plan is hereby
amended in its entirety to read as follows:

                  "(e) 'Company' means Reliant Energy, Incorporated, a Texas
         corporation, and any successor thereto."

         2. The following new definition of "Employer" is hereby added as
Section 2.1(h) of the Plan, and all subsequent definitions shall be redesignated
and all affected references are hereby amended accordingly:

                  "(h) 'Employer' means the Company, Resources, a Subsidiary, or
         a Resources Subsidiary that employs the Key Employee."

         3. The following new definition of "Resources" is hereby added as
Section 2.1(q) of the Plan (prior to the redesignation in paragraph 2 herein),
and all subsequent definitions shall be redesignated and all affected references
are hereby amended accordingly:

                  "(q) 'Resources' means Reliant Resources, Inc., a Delaware
         corporation, or a successor to Reliant Resources, Inc. in the ownership
         of substantially all of its assets."

         4. The following new definition of "Resources Subsidiary" is hereby
added as Section 2.1(q) of the Plan (prior to the redesignations in paragraphs 2
and 3 herein), and all subsequent definitions shall be redesignated and all
affected references are hereby amended accordingly:

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                  "(q) 'Resources Subsidiary' means a subsidiary corporation of
         Resources as defined in Section 424(f) of the Code."

         5. Section 4.2 of the Plan is hereby amended in its entirety to read as
follows:

                  "4.2 Participation Not Guarantee of Employment. Nothing in
         this Plan or in the instrument evidencing the grant of a Stock
         Incentive shall in any manner be construed to limit in any way the
         right of the Employer to terminate a Key Employee's employment at any
         time, without regard to the effect of such termination on any rights
         such Key Employee would otherwise have under this Plan, or give any
         right to such a Key Employee to remain employed by an Employer in any
         particular position or at any particular rate of compensation."

         6. Section 9.2(b) of the Plan is hereby amended in its entirety to read
as follows:

                  "(b) Payment on Exercise: No shares of Common Stock shall be
         issued on the exercise of an Option unless paid for in full at the time
         of purchase. Payment for shares of Common Stock purchased upon the
         exercise of an Option shall be made in cash or, with the consent of the
         Committee, in Common Stock, or by a combination of cash and Common
         Stock. If shares of Common Stock are used to pay for shares of Common
         Stock purchased upon the exercise of an Option, such shares shall be
         valued based on the fair market value of Common Stock when the Option
         is exercised in accordance with such uniform rules and procedures as
         the Committee determines appropriate. No Key Employee shall have any
         rights as a shareholder with respect to any share of Common Stock
         covered by an Option unless and until such Key Employee shall have
         become the holder of record of such share, and, other than pursuant to
         an adjustment made in accordance with Section 13.3 hereof, no
         adjustment shall be made for dividends (ordinary or extraordinary,
         whether in cash, securities or other property or distributions or other
         rights) in respect of such share for which the record date is prior to
         the date on which such Key Employee shall have become the holder of
         record thereof."

         7. Section 10.1(a) of the Plan is hereby amended in its entirety to
read as follows:

                  "(a) voluntary termination of employment with an Employer by
         the Key Employee, with or without consent of the Company or Resources,"

         8. Section 10.1(b) of the Plan is hereby amended in its entirety to
read as follows:

                  "(b) termination of employment of the Key Employee by an
         Employer, with or without cause, or"

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         9. Section 10.1(c) of the Plan is hereby amended in its entirety to
read as follows:

                  "(c) termination of the Key Employee's employment with an
         Employer because of Disability, retirement under a retirement plan
         maintained by the Company or Resources, or because the entity employing
         such Key Employee ceases to be an Employer and he does not, prior
         thereto or contemporaneously therewith, become a Key Employee of
         another Employer;"

         10. Section 10.1 of the Plan is hereby amended by adding the following
sentence to the end thereof to read as follows:

                  "Following the Distribution (as defined below), a termination
         of employment with an Employer includes a transfer of employment from
         the Company (or a Subsidiary) to Resources (or a Resources Subsidiary)
         and vice versa. "Distribution" means the distribution by the Company to
         the holders of its Common Stock of all of the shares of the common
         stock of Resources it then owns."

         11. The last sentence in Section 11.1 of the Plan is hereby amended to
read as follows:

                  "The Committee's determination in all matters referred to
         herein shall be conclusive and binding for all purposes and upon all
         persons including, but without limitation, the Employers, the
         shareholders of the Company, the shareholders of Resources, the
         Committee and each of the members thereof, as well as Key Employees and
         Employees of the Company and their respective successors in interest."

         12. Section 13.5 is hereby amended in its entirety to read as follows:

                  "The Company or its designated third party administrator shall
         have the right to deduct taxes at the applicable supplemental rate from
         any payment or delivery hereunder and withhold, at the time of delivery
         or vesting of cash or shares of Common Stock under this Plan, an
         appropriate amount of cash or number of shares of Common Stock or a
         combination thereof for payment of taxes or other amounts required by
         law or to take such other action as may be necessary in the opinion of
         the Company to satisfy all obligations for withholding of such taxes,
         provided that withholding obligations with respect to Options may only
         be satisfied in cash as long as withholding of stock following the
         exercise of an Option would result in a charge to earnings. The
         Committee may also permit withholding to be satisfied by the transfer
         to the Company of shares of Common Stock theretofore owned by the
         holder of the award with respect to which withholding is required,
         except with respect to Options. If shares of Common Stock are used to
         satisfy tax withholding, such shares shall be valued based on the fair
         market value when the tax withholding is required to be made."

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                  IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the Company has caused these presents to
be executed by its duly authorized officer in a number of copies, all of which
shall constitute one and the same instrument, which may be sufficiently
evidenced by any executed copy hereof, this 7th day of August, 2002, but
effective as of January 1, 2001.

                                       RELIANT ENERGY, INCORPORATED

                                       By /s/ David M. McClanahan
                                          --------------------------------------
                                          David M. McClanahan
                                          President and Chief Operating Officer,
                                          Reliant Energy Delivery Group
ATTEST:

/s/ Richard B. Dauphin
------------------------------
Assistant Corporate Secretary<PAGE>
                                                                    EXHIBIT 10.5

                  NORAM ENERGY CORP. 1994 INCENTIVE EQUITY PLAN

                                 First Amendment

                  NorAm Energy Corp., a Delaware corporation ("NorAm"),
established the NorAm Energy Corp. 1994 Incentive Equity Plan, effective January
1, 1994, and as thereafter amended (the "Plan"). As the successor to NorAm,
Reliant Energy, Incorporated, a Texas corporation (the "Company"), having
reserved the right under Section 15(a) thereof to amend the Plan, does hereby
amend the Plan, effective January 1, 2001, as follows:

         1. The first sentence of the Plan shall be amended by removing the
clause "(the 'Company')" therefrom.

         2. The following new definition of "Company" is hereby added as Section
2(h) of the Plan, and all subsequent definitions shall be redesignated and all
affected references are hereby amended accordingly:

                  "(h) 'Company' means Reliant Energy, Incorporated, a Texas
         corporation, and any successor thereto."

         3. The following new definition of "Employer" is hereby added as
Section 2(i) of the Plan (prior to the redesignation in paragraph 2 herein), and
all subsequent definitions shall be redesignated and all affected references are
hereby amended accordingly:

                  "(i) 'Employer' means the Company, Resources, a Subsidiary, or
         a Resources Subsidiary that employs the Key Employee."

         4. The following new definition of "Resources" is hereby added as
Section 2(r) of the Plan (prior to the redesignations in paragraphs 2 and 3
herein), and all subsequent definitions shall be redesignated and all affected
references are hereby amended accordingly:

                  "(r) 'Resources' means Reliant Resources, Inc., a Delaware
         corporation, or a successor to Reliant Resources, Inc. in the ownership
         of substantially all of its assets."

<PAGE>

         5. The following new definition of "Resources Subsidiary" is hereby
added as Section 2(s) of the Plan (prior to the redesignations in paragraphs 2
and 3 herein and after the redesignation in paragraph 4 herein), and all
subsequent definitions shall be redesignated and all affected references are
hereby amended accordingly:

                  "(s) 'Resources Subsidiary' means a subsidiary corporation of
         Resources as defined in Section 424(f) of the Code."

         6. Section 13 of the Plan is hereby amended in its entirety to read as
follows:

                  "Withholding Taxes. The Company or its designated third party
         administrator shall have the right to deduct taxes at the applicable
         supplemental rate from any payment or delivery hereunder and withhold,
         at the time of delivery or vesting of cash or shares of Common Stock
         under this Plan, an appropriate amount of cash or number of shares of
         Common Stock or a combination thereof for payment of taxes or other
         amounts required by law or to take such other action as may be
         necessary in the opinion of the Company to satisfy all obligations for
         withholding of such taxes, provided that withholding obligations with
         respect to Option Rights may only be satisfied in cash as long as
         withholding of stock following the exercise of an Option Right would
         result in a charge to earnings. The Committee may also permit
         withholding to be satisfied by the transfer to the Company of shares of
         Common Stock theretofore owned by the holder of the award with respect
         to which withholding is required, except with respect to Option Rights.
         If shares of Common Stock are used to satisfy tax withholding, such
         shares shall be valued based on the fair market value when the tax
         withholding is required to be made."

         7. Section 15(c) of the Plan is hereby amended in its entirety to read
as follows:

                  "(c) This Plan will not confer upon any Participant any right
         with respect to continuance of employment or other service with any
         Employer, nor will it interfere in any way with any right any Employer
         would otherwise have to terminate such Participant's employment or
         other service at any time."

         8. A new Section 16 is hereby added to the Plan to read as follows:

                  "16. Service with Resources Not a Termination. From and after
         January 1, 2001, service with Resources or a Resources Subsidiary shall
         not constitute a termination of employment hereunder or under any grant
         authorized hereunder, and the transfer of a Participant from employment
         by one Employer to employment by another Employer shall not be deemed
         to be a termination of employment; provided, however, that following
         the Distribution (as defined below), the transfer of employment from
         the Company (or a Subsidiary) to Resources (or a Resources Subsidiary)
         or vice versa shall constitute a termination of employment for purposes
         of the Plan. "Distribution" means the distribution by the Company to
         the holders of its Common Stock of all of the shares of the common
         stock of Resources it then owns."

<PAGE>

                  IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the Company has caused these presents to
be executed by its duly authorized officer in a number of copies, all of which
shall constitute one and the same instrument, which may be sufficiently
evidenced by any executed copy hereof, this 7th day of August, 2002, but
effective as of January 1, 2001.

                                       RELIANT ENERGY, INCORPORATED

                                       By /s/ David M. McClanahan
                                         ---------------------------------------
                                         David M. McClanahan
                                         President and Chief Operating Officer,
                                         Reliant Energy Delivery Group
ATTEST:

/s/ Richard B. Dauphin
-----------------------------
Assistant Corporate Secretary

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