NRG Energy

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"Reliant Energy" redirects here. For the company that formerly held this name, see GenOn Energy.
NRG Energy, Inc.
Type Public
Traded as NYSE: NRG
S&P 500 Component
Industry Wholesale and retail electricity generation and distribution
Headquarters Princeton, New Jersey (financial), Houston, Texas (operations)[1]
Area served USA, 11 states
Key people David Crane
(President and CEO)
Employees ~9000[2]
Website www.nrgenergy.com

NRG Energy, Inc. is a large American energy company, dual-headquartered in West Windsor Township, New Jersey, near Princeton and Houston, Texas.[1][3][4]

Acquisitions

In late 2005, NRG Energy bought Texas-based Texas Genco from a group of private equity firms for roughly $5.9 billion.[5]

In May 2009, NRG entered this market by acquiring the retail operations of Reliant Energy. NRG's retail service serves 1.6 million customers in Texas. The retail operations continue to operate under the Reliant Energy name while the remainder of the former Reliant Energy became RRI Energy.

Following the acquisition of Reliant, NRG extended its retail footprint with the acquisition of Green Mountain Energy in November 2010.[6] In doing so, NRG also became the largest retailer of green power in the nation, providing all of its Green Mountain and many of its Reliant customers with energy derived from 100% renewable resources.[7]

NRG Energy completed its acquisition of GenOn Energy in December 2012[1] for $1.7 billion in stock and cash.[8] The GenOn name was retired in the merger, but the combined company retained GenOn's Houston headquarters to coordinate operations.[1]

In August 2013, NRG acquired Energy Curtailment Specialists, a Buffalo, New York based Demand response company.[9] The terms of the deal were not disclosed [10]

Reliant Energy naming rights

Reliant Energy holds the naming rights to the Reliant Park campus in Houston, Texas, home to the Reliant Astrodome, Reliant Stadium, Reliant Arena and Reliant Center.

Wholesale generation

After the GenOn merger, NRG has 47,000 MW of total generation capacity, enough to power approximately 40 million homes.[2] Its nearly 100 power plants are located in 18 states in the Northeast, Chicago area, Gulf Coast, Southwest, Nevada, and California.[2] Generation facilities include mostly fossil fuel power plants powered by natural gas, oil, and coal; plus four wind farms (in Texas) and six solar farms (in California, Arizona, and New Mexico).[11] NRG also has a 44% ownership stake in the South Texas Nuclear Generating Station and a 37.5% stake in a coal power plant in Gladstone, Queensland, Australia.[11] Some facilities use cogeneration and the company also owns 28MW of solar distributed generation.[11] Despite the name, neither NRG nor Green Mountain Energy own the Green Mountain Wind Energy Center.

Retail electricity

NRG's Retail Power services provide electricity services to more than 2 million homes and businesses, mostly in Arizona and the Northeast.

Green energy initiatives

Nissan Leaf recharging from an eVgo network charging station in Houston, Texas

Beginning in 2009, NRG began a major initiative to become the leading green energy producer in the United States and started investing very large amounts of money in clean energy projects.[12] They include onshore and offshore wind power, solar thermal energy, photovoltaic, and distributed solar power facilities, and repowering of some of their traditional coal plants with biomass.[12]

In late 2010, NRG made news by launching the "eVgo" network, the first completely private public car charging station network for electric power vehicles.[citation needed]

NRG continued the trend of leading in the green power market in 2011 by becoming the largest green power retailer in New York City.[citation needed] The company also signed a two-year agreement beginning in January 2011 to provide 100% renewable energy for the Empire State Building.[13][14]

Assemblywoman Aravella Simotas has been chair of a coalition to support the utility in their plan to replace its "decades-old, dirty" power plant in Astoria with a newer generator.[15] The company wants to replace 31 generators with new ones that will increase the megawatts of power while reducing emissions.[15][16] Emissions would be reduced because the new plants will use natural gas, while the current generators run primarily on oil.[16]

See also


References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 "NRG and GenOn Complete Merger, Creating Nation’s Largest Competitive Power Generator". Business Wire (Press Release). Retrieved 2012-02-23. 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 "A New, 21st Century Energy Company". Retrieved 2013-02-23. 
  3. ↑ "Contact Us." NRG Energy. Retrieved on July 25, 2010. "211 Carnegie Center Princeton, NJ 08540-6213."
  4. ↑ "Township of West Windsor, New Jersey Zoning Map." Township of West Windsor. Retrieved on July 25, 2010.
  5. ↑ SEC Form 8-K, Accession No. 0000950123-05-011735
  6. ↑ Green Mountain Energy to be acquired for $350 million, 2010-09-16 
  7. ↑ NRG Completes Acquisition of Green Mountain Energy
  8. ↑ NRG Energy to Buy GenOn for $1.7 Billion
  9. ↑ NRG Acquires Energy Curtailment Specialists
  10. ↑ NRG Acquires Energy Curtailment Specialists, Works with ThinkEco
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 "Generation Assets". Retrieved 2013-02-23. 
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 http://nrgenergy.com
  13. ↑ Empire State Building To Purchase 100% Renewable Power, 01/07/2011 
  14. ↑ Green Mountain Signs Up New York's Empire State Building
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 Trapasso, Clare (May 8, 2012). "NRG hopes to replace 31 generators in Astoria". New York Daily News. Retrieved October 11, 2012. 
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 Henely, Rebecca (April 30, 2012). "Officials support Astoria repowering to grow jobs". Times Ledger. Retrieved October 11, 2012. 

External links

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