NRG Energy

NRG Energy, Inc.
Public
Traded as NYSE: NRG
S&P 500 Component
Industry Electric utilities
Founded 1992
Headquarters West Windsor, New Jersey (financial), Houston, Texas (operations)[1]
Area served
 USA, 11 states
Key people
 Mauricio Gutierrez
(President and CEO)
Products Electricity generation
Electric power transmission
distribution
Revenue
  • Decrease US$ 14.674 billion (2015) [2]
  • Increase US$ 15.868 billion (2014) [3]
  • Increase US$ 11.295 billion (2013) [3]
  • Increase US$ 8.422 billion (2012) [3]
Number of employees
 10,468 (2015) [2]
Website www.nrg.com

NRG Energy, Inc. is a large American energy company, dual-headquartered in West Windsor Township, New Jersey,[4][5] and Houston, Texas.[1][6][7] It was formerly the wholesale arm of Xcel Energy, and was spun off in bankruptcy in 2004.[8]

Acquisitions

When the state of Texas deregulated the electricity market, the former Houston Lighting & Power (HL&P) was split into several companies.[9] In 2003 HL&P was split into Texas Genco (which got the power plants), CenterPoint Energy (which got the distribution system) and Reliant Energy (which provided the electricity to business and individuals).[10]

In 2006, NRG Energy bought Texas Genco from a group of private equity firms for roughly $5.9 billion.[11] Afterwards, in May 2009, NRG Energy acquired the retail operations of Reliant Energy. With those two moves, NRG's holdings represented most of the former HL&P and today serve 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.[12] 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.[13]

NRG Energy completed its acquisition of GenOn Energy in December 2012[1] for $1.7 billion in stock and cash.[14] 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.[15] The terms of the deal were not disclosed [16]

a Goal Zero battery, lamp and solar panel

In September 2014, NRG acquired Goal Zero, a manufacturer of personal solar power products.[17]

Naming rights

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

On March 12, 2014, NRG Energy announced that they would be re-branding Reliant Park to replace "Reliant" on all signages to "NRG".

Wholesale generation

After the GenOn merger, NRG has 47,000 MW of total generation capacity, enough to power approximately 40 million homes.[18] Its nearly 100 power plants are located in 18 states in the Northeast, Chicago area, Gulf Coast, Southwest, Nevada, and California.[18] 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).[19] 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.[19] Some facilities use cogeneration and the company also owns 28MW of solar distributed generation.[19]

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 charging on an EVgo charger
Nissan LEAF recharging from an EVgo network charging station in Houston, Texas

Beginning in 2009, NRG began an initiative to become an green energy producer in the United States and started investing money in clean energy projects.[20][21] 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.[20] In late 2010, NRG launched the "EVgo" network, the first completely private public car charging station network for electric power vehicles.[22]

The company signed a two-year agreement beginning in January 2011 to provide 100% renewable energy for the Empire State Building.[23][24]

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.[25] The company stated its intention in 2012 to replace 31 older oil generators with new gas generators that will increase the megawatts of power while reducing emissions.[25][26]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "NRG and GenOn Complete Merger, Creating Nation’s Largest Competitive Power Generator". Business Wire (Press Release). Retrieved 2012-02-23.
  2. 1 2 "NRG Energy, Inc. Annual Report Form (10-K)". United States Securities and Exchange Commission. February 29, 2016.
  3. 1 2 3 "NRG Energy, Inc. Annual Report Form (10-K)". United States Securities and Exchange Commission. February 27, 2015.
  4. ↑ http://www.nj.com/mercer/index.ssf/2014/08/west_windsor_officials_tout_sustainability_elements_of_nrg_energys_new_40m_headquarters.html#incart_river
  5. ↑ http://www.nj.com/mercer/index.ssf/2014/11/officials_break_ground_on_nrg_energys_new_headquarters_in_west_windsor.html#incart_river
  6. ↑ "Contact Us." NRG Energy. Retrieved on July 25, 2010. "211 Carnegie Center Princeton, NJ 08540-6213."
  7. ↑ "Township of West Windsor, New Jersey Zoning Map." Township of West Windsor. Retrieved on July 25, 2010.
  8. ↑ Exit revisited: NRG Energy Inc.
  9. ↑ "Exelon bids for major Texas power producer NRG." Houston Chronicle. October 20, 2008. Retrieved on April 14, 2014. "The plants were originally part of the former Houston Lighting & Power, the integrated utility that served the Houston area until it was broken up into three separate companies as the state deregulated its power markets."
  10. ↑ Fowler, Tom. "8 Houston power plants to be sold to NRG." Houston Chronicle. October 2, 2005. Retrieved on April 14, 2014.
  11. ↑ SEC Form 8-K, Accession No. 0000950123-05-011735
  12. ↑ Green Mountain Energy to be acquired for $350 million, 2010-09-16
  13. ↑ NRG Completes Acquisition of Green Mountain Energy
  14. ↑ NRG Energy to Buy GenOn for $1.7 Billion
  15. ↑ NRG Acquires Energy Curtailment Specialists
  16. ↑ NRG Acquires Energy Curtailment Specialists, Works with ThinkEco
  17. ↑ http://www.rechargenews.com/solar/1377246/NRG-seals-Goal-Zero-acquisition
  18. 1 2 "A New, 21st Century Energy Company". Retrieved 2013-02-23.
  19. 1 2 3 "Generation Assets" (PDF). Retrieved 2013-02-23.
  20. 1 2 http://nrgenergy.com
  21. ↑ https://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/21/business/energy-environment/nrg-sets-goals-to-cut-carbon-emissions.html
  22. ↑ "EVgo". Retrieved 2 June 2015.
  23. ↑ Empire State Building To Purchase 100% Renewable Power, January 7, 2011
  24. ↑ Green Mountain Signs Up New York's Empire State Building
  25. 1 2 Trapasso, Clare (May 8, 2012). "NRG hopes to replace 31 generators in Astoria". New York Daily News. Retrieved October 11, 2012.
  26. ↑ Henely, Rebecca (April 30, 2012). "Officials support Astoria repowering to grow jobs". Times Ledger. Retrieved October 11, 2012.

EVgo Website

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