Item 1. Business
Item 1 — Business
General
NRG Energy, Inc., or NRG or the Company, is a consumer services company built on dynamic retail brands. NRG brings the power of energy to customers by producing and selling energy and related products and services, nation-wide in the U.S. and Canada in a manner that delivers value to all of NRG's stakeholders. NRG sells power, natural gas, and home and power services, and develops innovative, sustainable solutions, predominately under the brand names NRG, Reliant, Direct Energy, Green Mountain Energy, Stream, and XOOM Energy. The Company has a customer base that includes approximately 6 million Home customers as well as commercial, industrial, and wholesale customers, supported by approximately 18,000 MW of generation as of December 31, 2021.
NRG sold 157 TWhs of electricity and 1,877 MMDth of natural gas in 2021, making it one of the largest competitive energy retailers in the U.S. As of the end of 2021, NRG had recurring electricity and/or natural gas sales in 24 U.S. states, the District of Columbia, and 8 provinces in Canada. NRG's retail brands, collectively, have the largest share of competitively served residential electric customers in Texas and nationwide.
The following chart represents NRG's sales volumes for the year ended December 31, 2021:
Strategy
NRG's strategy is to maximize stakeholder value through the safe production and sale of reliable electricity and natural gas to its customers in the markets it serves, while positioning the Company to provide innovative solutions to the end-use energy or service customer. This strategy is intended to enable the Company to optimize its integrated model to generate stable and predictable cash flow, significantly strengthen earnings and cost competitiveness, and lower risk and volatility. Sustainability is a philosophy that underpins and facilitates value creation across our business for our stakeholders. It is an integral piece of NRG's strategy and ties directly to business success, reduced risks and enhanced reputation.
To effectuate the Company’s strategy, NRG is focused on: (i) serving the energy needs of end-use residential, commercial and industrial, and wholesale customers in competitive markets through multiple brands and channels; (ii) offering a variety of energy products and services, including renewable energy solutions, that are differentiated by innovative features, premium service, sustainability, and loyalty/affinity programs; (iii) excellence in operating performance of its assets; (iv) optimal hedging of its portfolio; and (v) engaging in disciplined and transparent capital allocation.
The 2021 fiscal year was pivotal for the Company. NRG completed the acquisition of Direct Energy, doubling the size of its retail portfolio, while further decreasing its physical generation through the sale and planned retirement of certain assets, each as further discussed below. The completion of these significant activities positioned NRG for the next phase of its strategy focusing on growth.
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The Company implemented a four-year plan beginning in 2022 to invest up to $2 billion in order to achieve growth through optimization of the Company's core power and natural gas sales, as well as integrated solution sales within its core network in both power and home services.
Significant Acquisitions, Dispositions and Announced Retirements
On January 5, 2021, the Company acquired Direct Energy. Direct Energy is a leading retail provider of electricity, natural gas, and home and business energy-related products and services in North America, with operations in all 50 U.S. states and 8 Canadian provinces. The acquisition increased NRG's retail portfolio by over 3 million customers and complemented its integrated model. It also broadened the Company's presence in the Northeast and in states and locales where it did not previously operate, supporting NRG's objective to diversify its business. NRG realized its planned synergy target of $175 million in 2021 and expects to realize annual synergies of $225 million and $300 million in 2022 and 2023, respectively. See Item 15 — Note 4, Acquisitions, Discontinued Operations and Dispositions , to the Consolidated Financial Statements for further discussion of the acquisition of Direct Energy.
On December 1, 2021, the Company sold approximately 4,850 MWs of fossil generating assets from its East and West regions of operations to Generation Bridge, an affiliate of ArcLight Capital Partners. As part of the transaction, NRG entered into a tolling agreement for the 866 MW Arthur Kill plant in New York City through April 2025. See Item 15 — Note 4, Acquisitions, Discontinued Operations and Dispositions , to the Consolidated Financial Statements for further discussion.
During the second quarter of 2021, the results of the PJM Base Residual Auction for the 2022/2023 delivery year were released, leading the Company to announce the near-term retirement of approximately 1,600 MW of its PJM coal generating assets in June 2022. On July 30, 2021, PJM identified reliability impacts resulting from the proposed deactivation of one of those assets, Indian River Unit 4. On August 27, 2021 the Company notified PJM that it would continue operations at Indian River Unit 4 until the reliability upgrades identified by PJM were completed, provided that the unit receives a satisfactory and compensatory reliability must run arrangement. See Item 15 — Note 11, Asset Impairments, to the Consolidated Financial Statements for further discussion. The Company is continuing to evaluate the viability of the remaining PJM generating assets.
Extreme Weather Event in Texas During February 2021 and expected Uplift Securitization proceeds
During February 2021, Texas experienced unprecedented cold temperatures for a prolonged duration as a result of Winter Storm Uri, resulting in a power emergency, blackouts, and an estimated all-time peak demand of 77 GW (without load shed). Ahead of the event, NRG launched residential customer communications calling for conservation across all of its brands, and initiated residential and commercial and industrial demand response programs to curtail customer load. The Company maximized available generating capacity and brought in additional resources to supplement in-state staff with technical and operating experts from the rest of its U.S. fleet.
The Texas Legislature passed House Bill ("HB") 4492, which among other things, authorized ERCOT to obtain $2.1 billion of financing to distribute to LSEs that were charged and paid to ERCOT exceptionally highly priced ORDPA and ancillary service costs during Winter Storm Uri (the "Uplift Securitization"). NRG will receive $689 million from ERCOT based on LSE-level detail published by the PUCT on December 7, 2021.
During the year ended December 31, 2021, Winter Storm Uri's pre-tax financial impact to the Company was a loss of $380 million, which reflects the recovery of $689 million of cost of operations as a result of the proceeds NRG will receive from the Uplift Securitization discussed above, with receipt expected to occur during the second quarter of 2022. The Company continues to pursue additional mitigants including, but not limited to, customer bad debt mitigation, counterparty default recovery, and additional ERCOT default recovery.
Business Overview
The Company’s core business is the sale of electricity and natural gas to residential, commercial and industrial and wholesale customers, supported by the Company's wholesale generation. NRG manages its operations based on the combined results of the retail and wholesale generation businesses with a geographical focus.
The Company's business is segmented as follows:
• Texas, which includes all activity related to customer, plant and market operations in Texas;
• East, which includes all activity related to customer, plant and market operations in the East;
• West/Services/Other, which primarily includes the following assets and activities: (i) all activity related to customer, plant and market operations in the West and Canada, (ii) the services businesses, (iii) activity related to the Cottonwood facility, (iv) the remaining renewables activity, including the Company’s equity method investment in Ivanpah Master Holdings, LLC, and (v) activity related to the Company’s equity method investment for the Gladstone power plant in Australia; and
• Corporate activities.
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As of December 31, 2021, in Texas, the Company’s generation supply is fully integrated with its retail load. In the East, the Company’s retail load is more dispersed throughout the region and not fully integrated with the Company’s generation supply due to the locations of its power plants in that region. In the West/Services/Other, the Company’s business is primarily serving retail load and services customers.
The Company’s integrated model consists of three core functions: Customer Operations, Market Operations and Plant Operations, which directly support each other in each geographic region. The Company’s integrated model in Texas provides the advantage of being able to supply a significant portion of the Company’s retail customers with electricity from the Company’s assets, which reduces the need to sell electricity to and buy electricity from other institutions and intermediaries, resulting in stable earnings and cash flows, lower transaction costs and less credit exposure. The integrated model also results in a reduction in actual and contingent collateral through offsetting transactions, thereby reducing transactions with third parties.
Customer Operations
Customer Operations is responsible for growing and retaining the customer base and delivering an outstanding customer experience. This includes acquisition and retention of all of NRG’s residential, small commercial, government and commercial & industrial customers. NRG employs a multi-brand strategy that leverages a wide array of sales and partnership channels, direct face-to-face sales channels, call centers, websites, and brokers. Go-to-market activities include market strategy planning and development, product innovation, offer design, campaign execution, marketing and creative services, and selling. Customer portfolio maintenance and retention activities include fulfillment, billing, payment processing, collections, customer service, issue resolution, and contract renewals. NRG provides energy and related services at either fixed, indexed or month-to-month prices. Home customers typically contract for terms ranging from one month to five years, while Business contracts are often between one year and five years in length. Throughout all Customer Operations activities, the customer experience is kept at the forefront to inform decision-making and optimize retention, while creating supporters and advocates for NRG’s brands in the market. Following the expansion of the customer base with the acquisition of Direct Energy, Customer Operations now comprises three end-use customer facing teams: NRG Home, which serves residential customers, NRG Business, which serves business customers, and NRG Services, which primarily includes the services businesses acquired.
Product Offerings
NRG sells a variety of products to residential and small commercial customers, including retail electricity and energy management, natural gas, home security, line and surge protection products, HVAC installation, repair and maintenance, home protection products, carbon offsets, back-up power stations, portable power, portable solar and portable lighting. Home and Services customers make purchase decisions based on a variety of factors, including price, incentive, customer service, brand, innovative offers/features and referrals from friends and family. Through its broad range of service offerings and value propositions, NRG is able to attract, retain, and increase the value of its customer relationships. NRG's brands are recognized for exemplary customer service, innovative smart energy and technology product offerings, and environmentally-friendly solutions.
The Company provides power and natural gas to the business-to-business markets in North America, as well as retail services, including demand response, commodity sales, energy efficiency and energy management solutions to Business customers. The Company is an integrated provider of supply and distributed energy resources and focuses on distributed products and services as businesses seek greater reliability, cleaner power and other benefits that they cannot obtain from the grid. These solutions include system power, distributed generation, renewable products, carbon management and specialty services, backup generation, storage and distributed solar, demand response, and energy efficiency and advisory services. In providing on-site energy solutions, the Company often benefits from its ability to supply energy products from its wholesale generation portfolio to Business customers.
Market Operations
Market Operations has two primary objectives: (i) to supply energy to our customers in the most cost-efficient manner; and (ii) to maximize the value of the Company's assets after satisfying its customer load requirements. These objectives are intended to reduce supply costs and maximize earnings with predictable cash flows.
Power and natural gas are the two main commercial groups within market operations.
Power
The power commercial group is responsible for end-use electricity supply including power plant optimization and certain fuel supply. To meet the market operations objectives, NRG enters into supply, power and gas sales and hedging agreements via a wide range of products and contracts, including (i) physical and financial commodity instruments, (ii) fuel supply and transportation contracts, (iii) renewable PPAs and (iv) capacity and other contracted revenue sources, as further discussed below.
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In addition, because changes in power prices in the markets where NRG operates are generally correlated to changes in natural gas prices, NRG uses hedging strategies that may include power and natural gas forward purchases and sales contracts to manage the commodity price risk.
Physical and Financial Commodity Instruments
NRG trades electric power, natural gas and related commodities, environmental products, weather products and financial products, including forwards, futures, options and swaps. NRG enters into these instruments primarily to manage price and delivery risk, optimize physical and contractual assets in the portfolio, manage working capital requirements, reduce the carbon exposure in its business and comply with laws.
Fuel Supply and Transportation Contracts
NRG's fuel requirements consist of various forms of fossil fuel and nuclear fuel. The prices of fossil fuels can be volatile. The Company obtains its fossil fuels from multiple suppliers and through multiple transporters. Although availability is generally not an issue, localized shortages, transportation availability, delays arising from extreme weather conditions and supplier financial stability issues can and do occur. The preceding factors related to the sources and availability of raw materials are fairly uniform across the Company's business and fuel products used. NRG's primary fuel requirements consist of the following:
Natural Gas — NRG operates a fleet of mid-merit and peaking natural gas plants. Fuel needs are managed by the natural gas commercial group, on a spot basis, especially for peaking assets, as the Company does not believe it is prudent to forward purchase natural gas for these types of units as the dispatch is highly unpredictable.
Coal —NRG actively manages its coal requirements based on forecasted generation, market volatility and its inventory on site. The Company believes it is adequately hedged, using forward coal supply agreements, for its domestic coal consumption for 2022. As of December 31, 2021, NRG had purchased forward contracts to provide fuel for approximately 88% of the Company's expected requirements for 2022 and 2023. For the domestic fleet, NRG purchased approximately 16.1 million tons of coal in 2021, almost all of which was Powder River Basin coal. For fuel transport, NRG has entered into various rail transportation and rail car lease agreements with varying tenors that will provide for most of the Company's transportation requirements of Powder River Basin coal for the next three years.
Nuclear Fuel — STP's owners, including NRG, satisfy their fuel supply requirements by: (i) acquiring uranium concentrates and contracting for conversion of the uranium concentrates into uranium hexafluoride; (ii) contracting for enrichment of uranium hexafluoride; and (iii) contracting for fabrication of nuclear fuel assemblies. Through its proportionate participation in STPNOC, which is the NRC-licensed operator of STP that is responsible for all aspects of fuel procurement, NRG is party to a number of long-term forward purchase contracts with many of the world's largest suppliers covering STP's requirements for uranium concentrates with only approximately 25% of STP's requirements outstanding for the duration of the original operating license (through 2027/2028). Similarly, STP has begun the process of covering fuel supply requirements into the extended license period and has secured a fabrication contract with Westinghouse through 2047/2048. Other fuel requirements such as uranium, conversion and enrichment remain open at this time.
Renewable PPAs
The Company's strategy is to procure mid to long-term renewable generation through power purchase agreements. As of December 31, 2021, NRG has entered into PPAs totaling approximately 2.6 GW with third-party project developers and other counterparties. The average tenor of these agreements is twelve years. The Company expects to continue evaluating and executing similar agreements that support the needs of the business. The total GW entered into through PPAs may be impacted by contract terminations when they occur.
Capacity and Other Contracted Revenue Sources
NRG's revenues and cash flows, primarily in the East and West, benefit from capacity/demand payments and other contracted revenue sources, originating from market clearing capacity prices, resource adequacy contracts, tolling arrangements and other long-term contractual arrangements.
The Company's largest sources of continuing capacity revenues are capacity auctions in PJM and NYISO. PJM operates a pay-for-performance model where capacity payments are modified based on real-time performance and NRG's actual revenues will be the combination of revenues based on the cleared auction MW plus the net of any over- and under-performance of NRG's respective generation assets. The Company primarily sells physical and financial capacity forward through bilateral contracts for our New York state assets. To the extent NRG is not able to enter into physical bilateral contracts, NRG will sell the remaining capacity into the NYISO six-month strip, monthly or spot auctions.
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In California, there is a resource adequacy requirement that is primarily satisfied through bilateral contracts. Such bilateral contracts are typically short-term resource adequacy contracts. When bilateral contracting does not satisfy the resource adequacy need, such shortfalls can be addressed through procurement tools administered by the CAISO, including the capacity procurement mechanism or reliability must-run contracts.
Natural Gas
The natural gas commercial group is responsible for all costing, logistics and supply for all of NRG's residential, commercial & industrial and wholesale customers. The Direct Energy acquisition, which closed on January 5, 2021, significantly increased our capabilities and scale across the natural gas value chain. NRG has acquired contractual rights to natural gas transportation and storage assets across its footprint that allow for optimal supply economics in support of our various businesses. Our diversified load coupled with this asset portfolio enables us to deliver supply economically while providing incremental optimization activities when market conditions allow. The scale of the natural gas operation extends from the wellhead (through our producer services business) to our end use customers (through our various sales channels). This scale, coupled with our associated assets, gas system platform and people, create significant opportunity across North America.
Plant Operations
The Company owns and leases a diversified wholesale generation portfolio with approximately 18,000 MW of fossil fuel, nuclear and renewable generation capacity at 25 plants as of December 31, 2021, including approximately 1,600 MW of its PJM coal fleet with an announced retirement date of June 2022. The Company's wholesale generation assets are diversified by fuel-type and dispatch level, which helps mitigate the risks associated with fuel price volatility and market demand cycles. NRG continually evaluates its generation portfolio to focus on asset optimization opportunities and the locational value of its generation assets in each of the markets where the Company participates, as well as opportunities for the development of new generation.
The following table summarizes NRG's generation portfolio as of December 31, 2021:
(In MW) (a)
Type Texas
East
West/Services/Other
Total
Natural gas 4,775 1,881 1,494 8,150
Coal 4,174 3,140 605 7,919
Oil — 455 — 455
Nuclear 1,132 — — 1,132
Utility Scale Solar — — 219 219
Battery Storage 2 — — 2
Total generation capacity 10,083 5,476 2,318 17,877
(a) All Utility Scale Solar are described in MW on an alternating current basis. MW figures provided represent nominal summer net MW capacity of power generated as adjusted for the Company's owned or leased interest.
Plant Operations is responsible for operating the Company's generation facilities at the highest standards of safety and reliability, and includes (i) operations and maintenance, (ii) asset management, and (iii) development, engineering and construction.
Operations & Maintenance
NRG operates and maintains its generation portfolio, as well as approximately 7,377 MW of additional coal and natural gas generation capacity at 12 plants operated on behalf of third parties as of December 31, 2021 using prudent industry practices for the safe, reliable and economic generation of electricity in compliance with all local, state and federal requirements. The Company follows a consistent set of operating requirements, including a solid base of training, required adherence to specific safety and environmental limits, procedure and checklist usage, and the implementation of continuous process improvement through incident investigations.
NRG uses best-in-class maintenance practices for preventive, predictive, and corrective maintenance planning. The Company’s strategic planning process evaluates equipment condition, performance, and obsolescence to support the development of a comprehensive work scope and schedule for long-term performance.
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Asset Management
NRG manages all aspects of its generation portfolio to optimize the lifecycle value of the assets, consistent with the Company’s goals. The Company evaluates capital projects required for continued operation and strategic enhancement of the assets, provides quality assurance on capital outlays, and assesses the impact of rules, regulations, and laws on business profitability. In addition, the Company manages its long-term contracts, PPAs, and real estate holdings and provides third party asset management services.
Development, Engineering & Construction
NRG develops, engineers and executes major plant modifications, “new build” generation and energy storage projects that enhance the value of its generation portfolio and provide options to meet generation growth needs in the retail markets we serve, in accordance with the Company’s strategic goals. Projects have included gas-fired generation development and construction, coal to gas conversions, grid scale energy storage development, grid scale renewable construction, and asset demolition, remediation and reclamation work.
Operational Statistics
The following statistics represent the Company's retail load and customer count:
Year ended December 31,
2021 2020 2019
Sales volumes - Electricity (in GWh)
Home - Texas 42,397 38,473 38,958
Home - East 14,108 10,221 9,918
Home - West/Services/Other 2,252 — —
Business - Texas 34,367 17,928 18,976
Business - East 53,204 1,596 1,214
Business - West/Services/Other 10,625 — —
Total Load 156,953 68,218 69,066
Sales volumes - Natural gas (in MDth)
Home - East 74,920 23,509 23,359
Home - West/Services/Other 97,272 — —
Business - East 1,595,533 — —
Business - West/Services/Other 109,021 — —
Total Load 1,876,746 23,509 23,359
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Year ended December 31,
2021 2020 2019
Customer count - Electricity customers (a)(b) (in thousands)
Home - Texas
Average retail 3,055 2,449 2,358
Ending retail 3,024 2,451 2,450
Home - East
Average retail 1,484 1,019 990
Ending retail 1,402 970 1,070
Home - West/Services/Other
Average retail 510 — —
Ending retail 498 — —
Customer count - Natural gas customers (b) (in thousands)
Home - East
Average retail 360 156 122
Ending retail 364 166 158
Home - West/Services/Other
Average retail 452 — —
Ending retail 434 — —
Total Customer count
Average retail - Home 5,861 3,624 3,470
Ending retail - Home 5,722 3,587 3,678
(a) Includes services customers
(b) Dual fuel customers are included within electricity customer counts only
The following are industry statistics for the Company's fossil and nuclear plants, as defined by the NERC:
Annual Equivalent Availability Factor, or EAF — Measures the percentage of maximum generation available over time as the fraction of net maximum generation that could be provided over a defined period of time after all types of outages and deratings, including seasonal deratings, are taken into account.
Net Heat Rate — The net heat rate represents the total amount of fuel in BTU required to generate one net kWh provided.
Net Capacity Factor — The net amount of electricity that a generating unit produces over a period of time divided by the net amount of electricity it could have produced if it had run at full power over that time period. The net amount of electricity produced is the total amount of electricity generated minus the amount of electricity used during generation by the station.
The tables below presents these performance metrics for the Company's generation portfolio, including leased facilities, for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020:
Year Ended December 31, 2021
Fossil and Nuclear Plants (a)
Net Owned
Capacity (MW) (b)
Net Generation (In thousands of MWh) (a)
Annual Equivalent Availability Factor Average Net Heat Rate BTU/kWh Net Capacity
Factor
Texas 10,083 36,920 70.6 % 10,717 42.4 %
East 5,476 7,494 79.8 % 11,877 8.8 %
West/Services/Other 2,318 7,949 88.0 % 7,337 47.2 %
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Year Ended December 31, 2020
Fossil and Nuclear Plants (a)
Net Owned
Capacity (MW) Net Generation (In thousands of MWh) (a)
Annual Equivalent Availability Factor Average Net Heat Rate BTU/kWh Net Capacity
Factor
Texas 10,082 31,385 76.0 % 10,781 35.9 %
East 9,482 4,102 81.7 % 12,329 4.8 %
West/Services/Other 3,234 9,171 88.0 % 7,338 52.3 %
(a) Excludes equity method investments
The generation performance by region for the three years ended December 31, 2021, 2020 and 2019 is shown below:
Net Generation
(In thousands of MWh) 2021 2020 2019
Texas
Coal 18,876 15,701 21,985
Gas 8,846 6,006 6,315
Nuclear (a)
9,198 9,678 9,695
Total Texas 36,920 31,385 37,995
East
Coal 5,774 1,888 4,435
Oil 201 322 209
Gas 1,519 1,892 2,269
Total East (b)
7,494 4,102 6,913
West/Services/Other
Gas 7,941 9,165 9,450
Renewables 8 6 12
Total West/Services/Other (c)
7,949 9,171 9,462
Total generation performance 52,363 44,658 54,370
(a) Reflects the Company's undivided interest in total MWh generated by STP
(b) Includes gas generation of 855 thousand MWh, 870 thousand MWh and 903 thousand MWh and oil generation of 199 thousand MWh, 322 thousand MWh and 209 thousand MWh for the years ended December 31, 2021, 2020 and 2019, respectively, that was sold to Generation Bridge
(c) Includes gas generation of 2,445 thousand MWh, 3,002 thousand MWh, and 2,203 thousand MWh for the years ended December 31, 2021, 2020 and 2019, respectively, that was sold to Generation Bridge
Competition
While there has been consolidation in the competitive retail space over the past few years, there is still considerable competition for customers. In Texas, there is healthy competition in deregulated areas and customers can choose providers based on the most appealing offers. Outside of Texas, electricity retailers compete with the incumbent utilities, in addition to other retail electric providers, which can inhibit competition depending on the market rules of the state. There is a high degree of fragmentation, with both large and small competitors offering a range of value propositions, including value, rewards, and sustainability-based offerings.
Wholesale generation is highly fragmented and diverse in terms of industry structure by region. As such, there is wide variation in terms of the capabilities, resources, nature and identities of the Company’s competitors depending on the market. Competitors include regulated utilities, municipalities, cooperatives, other independent power producers, and power marketers or trading companies, including those owned by financial institutions.
Seasonality and Price Volatility
The sale of power and natural gas to retail customers are seasonal businesses with the demand for power generally peaking during the summer, and the demand for natural gas generally peaking during the winter. As a result, net working capital requirements for the Company's retail operations generally increase during summer and winter months along with the higher revenues, and then decline during off-peak months. Weather may impact operating results and extreme weather conditions could have a material impact. The rates charged to retail customers may be impacted by fluctuations in total power
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prices and market dynamics, such as the price of natural gas, transmission constraints, competitor actions, and changes in market heat rates.
Annual and quarterly operating results of the Company's generation portfolio can be significantly affected by weather and energy commodity price volatility. Significant other events, such as the demand for natural gas, interruptions in fuel supply infrastructure and relative levels of hydroelectric capacity can increase seasonal fuel and power price volatility. The preceding factors related to seasonality and price volatility are fairly uniform across the regions in which the Company operates.
Market Framework
NRG sells electricity, natural gas and related products and services to customers throughout the U.S. and Canada. In most of the states and regions that have introduced retail consumer choice, NRG competitively offers electricity, natural gas, portable power and other value-enhancing services to customers. Each retail consumer choice state or province establishes its own retail competition laws and regulations, and the specific operational, licensing, and compliance requirements vary by state or province. Regulated terms and conditions of default service, as well as any movement to replace default service with competitive services, as is done in ERCOT, can affect customer participation in retail competition. In Canada, NRG sells energy and related services to residential and commercial customers in the province of Alberta pursuant both to a regulated rate service governed by provincial regulations as well as a competitive service with rates set by market forces. Sales of energy to commercial customers take place in other provinces as well. The attractiveness of NRG's retail offerings may be impacted by the rules, regulations, market structure and communication requirements from public utility commissions in each state and province.
NRG's fleet of power plants which it owns, operates or manages are located in organized energy markets, known as RTOs or ISOs. Each organized market administers day-ahead and real-time centralized bid-based energy and ancillary services markets pursuant to tariffs approved by FERC, or in the case of ERCOT, market rules approved by the PUCT. These tariffs and rules dictate how the energy markets operate, how market participants make bilateral sales with one another, and how entities with market-based rates are compensated. Established prices reflect the value of energy at the specific location and time it is delivered, which is known as the Locational Marginal Price. Each market is subject to market mitigation measures designed to limit the exercise of locational market power. These market structures facilitate NRG's sale of power and capacity products at market-based rates.
Other than ERCOT, each of the ISO regions also operates a capacity or resource adequacy market that provides an opportunity for generating and demand response resources to earn revenues to offset their fixed costs that are not recovered in the energy and ancillary services markets. The ISOs are also responsible for transmission planning and operations.
Texas
NRG's business in Texas is subject to standards and regulations adopted by the PUCT and ERCOT (a) , including the requirement for retailers to be certified by the PUCT in order to contract with end-users to sell electricity. The ERCOT market is one of the nation's largest and, historically, fastest growing power markets. ERCOT is an energy-only market and has implemented market rule changes referred to as the ORDC to provide pricing more reflective of higher energy value when operating reserves are scarce or constrained. The PUCT directed the implementation of the ORDC in 2014 to act as the primary scarcity pricing mechanism, with subsequent amendments made in 2019, 2020 and 2021. The majority of the retail load in the ERCOT market region is served by competitive retail suppliers, except certain areas that have not opted into competitive consumer choice and are served by municipal utilities and electric cooperatives.
East
While most of the states in the East region of the U.S. have introduced some level of retail consumer choice for electricity and/or natural gas, the incumbent utilities currently provide default service in most of the states and as a result typically serve the majority of residential customers. NRG’s retail activities in the East are subject to standards and regulations adopted by the ISOs, state public utility commissions and legislators, including the requirement for retailers to be certified in each state in order to contract with end-users to sell electricity.
(a) The Cottonwood facility is located in Deweyville, Texas, but operates in the MISO market
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Power plants owned, operated and managed by NRG and NRG's demand response assets located in the East region of the U.S. are within the control areas of PJM, NYISO and MISO. Each of the market regions in the East region provides for robust competition in the day-ahead and real-time energy and ancillary services markets. Additionally, the assets in the East region receive a significant portion of their revenues from capacity markets. PJM uses a forward capacity auction, while NYISO uses a month-ahead capacity auction. MISO has an annual auction. Capacity market prices are sensitive to design parameters, as well as additions of new capacity. PJM operates a pay-for-performance model where capacity payments are modified based on real-time generator performance. In such markets, NRG’s actual capacity revenues will be the combination of cleared auction prices times the quantity of MW cleared, plus the net of any over-performance "bonus payments" and any under-performance charges. Additionally, bidding rules allow for the incorporation of a risk premium into generator bids.
West
In the West region of the U.S., NRG owns equity interests in natural gas-fired power plants located entirely within the CAISO footprint. The CAISO operates day-ahead and real-time locational markets for energy and ancillary services, while managing congestion primarily through nodal prices. The CAISO system facilitates NRG's sale of power, ancillary services and capacity products at market-based rates, either within the CAISO's centralized energy and ancillary service markets or bilaterally pursuant to tolling arrangements or other capacity sales with California's LSEs. The CPUC also determines capacity requirements for LSEs and for specified local areas utilizing inputs from the CAISO. Both the CAISO and CPUC rules require LSEs to contract with sufficient generation resources in order to maintain minimum levels of generation within defined local areas. Additionally, the CAISO has independent authority to contract with needed resources under certain circumstances, typically either when LSEs have failed to procure sufficient resources, or system conditions change unexpectedly.
Canada
In Canada, NRG sells to residential and commercial retail customers in Alberta under both regulated rates approved by the AUC as well as through competitive service. The Company's regulated rates are approved through periodic rate applications that establish rates for power and gas sales as well as for recovery of other costs associated with operating the regulated business. In addition, the Company sells energy to commercial customers in other provinces. All sales and operations are subject to applicable federal and provincial laws.
Regulatory Matters
As participants in wholesale and retail energy markets and owners and operators of power plants, certain NRG entities are subject to regulation by various federal and state government agencies. These include the CFTC, FERC, NRC and the PUCT, as well as other public utility commissions in certain states where NRG's generation or distributed generation assets are located. In addition, NRG is subject to the market rules, procedures and protocols of the various ISO and RTO markets in which it participates. Likewise, certain NRG entities participating in the retail markets are subject to rules and regulations established by the states and provinces in which NRG entities are licensed to sell at retail. NRG must also comply with the mandatory reliability requirements imposed by NERC and the regional reliability entities in the regions where NRG operates.
NRG's operations within the ERCOT footprint are not subject to rate regulation by FERC, as they are deemed to operate solely within the ERCOT market and not in interstate commerce. These operations are subject to regulation by the PUCT, as well as to regulation by the NRC with respect to NRG's ownership interest in STP.
Federal Energy Regulation
In March 2021, President Biden announced a framework for his "Build Back Better" initiative which includes policies to address climate change across the whole of the federal government through the tax code, an energy efficiency and clean energy incentives, research and development, among other areas of focus. The "Build Back Better" initiative has taken the form of two separate bills in Congress. The $1.2 trillion "core infrastructure" bill, which contains spending on new electric vehicle charging programs, among other things, was signed into law by President Biden on November 15, 2021. The remaining priorities, commonly referred to as "Build Back Better," are being monitored by NRG as they progress through the legislative process.
State and Provincial Energy Regulation
Illinois Legislation — Illinois enacted the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act ("CEJA") on September 15, 2021, which targets 100% clean energy by 2050. CEJA focuses on (i) decarbonization, (ii) incentives to transition coal plants into clean energy facilities and (iii) nuclear subsidies. CEJA requires non-publicly owned coal or oil electric generating units larger than 25 MWs to eliminate CO2e and copollutant emissions by January 1, 2030. Non-publicly owned electric generating units that are gas-fired, including Joliet, must eliminate CO2e and copollutant emissions, including through unit retirement or the use of 100% green hydrogen, in a timeframe ranging from January 1, 2030 to January 1, 2045 depending on certain emission rates and proximity to environmental justice communities. Furthermore, CEJA placed restrictions, with immediate effect, on gas-fired units that limits future emissions to their historic baselines. These limits affect the total potential energy production by gas units in Illinois. PJM, the PJM Independent Market Monitor and the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency have exchanged
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correspondence to obtain clarification on the implications of these restrictions. The new energy law also provides $174 million in incentives to develop solar and battery storage at coal generating sites that may be available to NRG.
Regional Regulatory Developments
NRG is affected by rule/tariff changes that occur in the ISO regions. For further discussion on regulatory developments see Item 15 — Note 24, Regulatory Matters, to the Consolidated Financial Statements.
Texas
Public Utility Commission of Texas’ Actions with Respect to Wholesale Pricing and Market Design — In September 2021, the PUCT opened a rulemaking project to evaluate whether it should amend its rules to modify the High System Wide Offer cap ("HCAP") and the ORDC, which is intended to ensure prices in the competitive market appropriately reflect the value of operating reserves as the system approaches scarcity conditions. This rulemaking project concluded in December 2021, resulting in a rule amendment that lowered the HCAP to $5,000 per MWh and which expands the minimum contingency level to 3,000 MW. These two changes are broadly offsetting in their effect on overall average energy prices.
Activity on Securitization and ERCOT Pricing during Winter Storm Uri — The Texas Legislature acted to pass a variety of securitization vehicles to finance exceptionally high power and gas costs from Winter Storm Uri, including HB 4492. ERCOT subsequently filed two applications requesting the PUCT to issue Debt Obligation Orders ("DOOs") based on the legislation. On October 13, 2021, the PUCT issued DOOs authorizing ERCOT's securitization of $800 million to cover short payments and reimburse congestion revenue right account holders for amounts related to the default of market participants other than electric cooperatives Brazos and Rayburn, which are discussed below (the "Default Securitization") and $2.1 billion related to highly priced ancillary service and ORPDA during Winter Storm Uri (the "Uplift Securitization").
The DOOs require ERCOT to issue loans or securitized bonds through a bankruptcy remote special purpose entity as the borrower and distribute the proceeds to affected market participants for default-related short payments and to LSEs for certain ancillary-service and ORDPA costs using an allocation of proceeds based on an LSE's exposure to relevant costs as calculated by the LSE's prevailing load-ratio share during the period of Winter Storm Uri, and a further redistribution of proceeds initially allocated to other LSEs and customers who opt-out of securitization. In turn, ERCOT will charge non-bypassable fees related to the Default Securitization and Uplift Securitization to all qualified scheduling entities and to all LSEs (other than those that have opted-out), respectively. The Uplift Securitization provided for a one-time opt-out for certain LSEs or individual transmission-level customers who in exchange for foregoing any securitization-related proceeds likewise avoid future fees assessed by ERCOT for the use of repaying ERCOT's debt obligations. However, nearly all competitive REPs were required by the law to participate, ensuring the charge established by the law is competitively neutral. These opt-outs and calculations of the allocation of proceeds have been finalized. Based on LSE-level detail published by the PUCT on December 7, 2021, NRG will receive $689 million of Uplift Securitization proceeds, with receipt expected to occur during the second quarter of 2022. The $800 million Default Securitization was disbursed by ERCOT in November 2021, with NRG receiving $12 million.
Electric Cooperative Bankruptcy and Securitization — Of the defaults in the ERCOT market, two electric cooperatives, Brazos and Rayburn, constitute the vast majority. Brazos currently is in bankruptcy. NRG and ERCOT have both filed a proof of claim in the bankruptcy proceeding of Brazos, and Brazos has challenged ERCOT's claims in a manner that may prejudice NRG's claims against Brazos. During the fourth quarter of 2021, ERCOT filed a motion to dismiss Brazos' complaint relating to ERCOT's proof of claim, which NRG joined in support, but this motion was denied by the Bankruptcy Court, and ERCOT, NRG and certain other parties appealed. On January 11, 2022, the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas entered an order allowing the appellants to seek direct review from the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals of the Bankruptcy Court's decision on the motion to dismiss. On January 18, 2022, ERCOT, NRG and certain other parties filed a petition for direct review by the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. The Court of Appeals granted the petition on February 4, 2022. On February 7, 2022, the Bankruptcy Court entered an order granting summary judgement in favor of Brazos on whether ERCOT's sales to Brazos were in the ordinary course of Brazos' business. The Bankruptcy Court ruled that the portion of ERCOT's claims for charges incurred by Brazos after the intervention of the PUCT and ERCOT were not in the ordinary course and thus are not entitled to administrative expense status under the Bankruptcy Code. The amount and priority of ERCOT's claim for amounts incurred prior to such intervention or after such intervention ceased are issues to be determined at trial. The Bankruptcy Court's summary judgement ruling may also apply to NRG's claims again Brazos. Trial on the merits of the ERCOT proof of claim and Brazos' complaint is set to commence before the Bankruptcy Court on February 22, 2022. To the extent the Bankruptcy Court reduces or disallows claims against Brazos, this presents risk for NRG.
ERCOT's market protocols provide for short payments to be extinguished through a process of uplift, whereby the cost of defaults is allocated to all market participants, including retailers, generators, municipal and cooperative utilities, and financial traders. However, the total amount of this uplift is limited by ERCOT's current protocols of $2.5 million per month. Consequently, it would take approximately 63 years for the net short-pay balance of $1.887 billion related to Brazos to be uplifted to the market under the current market rules. NRG's undiscounted share of the uplift based on its current market share
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is estimated to be approximately $121 million and has been short-paid $68 million. The remaining $53 million has been discounted based on the 63 year repayment term and present value of $9 million was recorded as an additional liability.
Rayburn announced that it intended to securitize the amounts owed to ERCOT and payment from such securitization is expected in the first quarter of 2022.
Reliability and Plant Operations Standards — The PUCT established a rulemaking to establish weatherization standards, and issued a notice for comments in response to provisions of Texas Senate Bill 3 ("SB3") that require mandatory standards for power generators and others within the electric-power sector. SB3 provides that the standards adopted by the PUCT be implemented by generation owners, be subject to ERCOT inspections, and that ERCOT provide asset owners with a reasonable period of time to remedy any violation. Continuing violations would be subject to an administrative penalty and a requirement that a third-party contractor assess the asset owner's weatherization plans. On August 24, 2021, Commission Staff issued a proposal of weatherization standards for publication. NRG, through its trade association, filed comments. On October 21, 2021, Commissioners of the PUCT voted to adopt the rule without substantial modifications from the proposal.
PJM
PJM’s Variable Resource Requirement Curve — On July 9, 2021, the Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit issued a decision denying in part and granting in part an appeal by several PJM state consumer advocates regarding FERC’s order approving revisions to PJM’s Variable Resource Requirement Curve (“VRR”). The court upheld PJM's use of a greenfield gas-fired combustion turbine as the reference unit to establish Net Cost of New Entry ("Net CONE"). However, the court remanded back to FERC the issue of allowing generators to have a 10% adder to their offer to supply capacity in the PJM market, and on January 20, 2022, FERC issued an order removing the 10% adder. The VRR is the demand curve that represents the slope of bids in the auction that ultimately results in the price and quantity of capacity allocated to load-serving entities, including NRG. The VRR curve is based on several inputs, including the Net CONE. The outcome could affect PJM’s capacity market prices.
PJM Revisions to Minimum Offer Price Rule — On July 30, 2021, PJM filed proposed tariff changes at FERC to largely eliminate the current minimum offer price rules ("MOPR") except in very narrow cases. The proposal would eliminate: (i) the current MOPR for new entrant natural gas resources effective with the 2023/2024 delivery year and (ii) the expanded MOPR established in FERC's December 2019 Order to address out-of-market subsidies. On September 30, 2021, PJM's proposal went into effect by operation of law because the FERC Commissioners were split 2-2 as to the lawfulness of the change. Multiple parties filed motions for rehearing and ultimately appealed to the federal court of appeals. On December 21, 2021 and December 30, 2021, respectively, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals and the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals issued an order holding the appeals in abeyance. The proposed revisions would allow PJM to address specific and narrow instances of buyer-side market power through subsequent filings at FERC. Any changes to the PJM capacity market construct may impact the outcome of future Base Residual Auctions.
PJM's ORDC Filing and Compliance Directives — On May 21, 2020, PJM proposed energy and reserve market reforms to enhance price formation in reserve markets, which included modifying ORDC and aligning market-based reserve products in Day-Ahead and Real-Time markets. In addition to approving PJM's proposal, FERC also directed PJM to implement a forward-looking Energy and Ancillary Services Offset to be used in PJM's capacity markets. After multiple compliance filings, parties filed appeals at the Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit of FERC’s orders, and on August 13, 2021, FERC filed a motion and was granted a voluntary remand the case back to the agency. On December 22, 2021, FERC issued its order on voluntary remand affirming in part and reversing in part FERC's determination. Specifically, FERC reversed itself and ordered PJM to: (i) eliminate the more robust ORDC curves and reserve penalty adders and maintain the existing (lower) curves and (lower) penalty adders and (ii) restore its tariff provisions related to its prior backward-looking Energy and Ancillary Services Offset. At the direction of FERC, on January 21, 2022, PJM filed a compliance fling proposing a new schedule for the Base Residual Auctions.
Independent Market Monitor Market Seller Offer Cap Complaint — On March 18, 2021, finding that the calculation of the default Market Seller Offer Cap was unjust and unreasonable, the Order permitted the current PJM May 2021 capacity auction for the 2022/2023 delivery rule to continue under the existing rules and set a procedural schedule for parties to file briefs with possible solutions. On September 2, 2021, FERC issued an order in response to a complaint filed by the PJM Independent Market Monitor's proposal, which eliminates the Cost of New Entry-based Market Seller Offer Cap and implements a limited default cap for certain asset classes based on going-forward costs and provides for unit specific cost review by the Independent Market Monitor for all other non-zero offers into the auctions. As required by the Order, PJM submitted its compliance tariff on October 4, 2021. On October 4, certain parties filed a motion for rehearing. which was denied. Multiple parties filed appeals at the Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. The appeals are currently being held in abeyance. The removal of the Offer Caps may impact the outcome of future Base Residual Auctions.
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New York
NYISO's Revisions to the Buyer Side Mitigation Rules — On January 5, 2022, the NYISO filed its Comprehensive Mitigation Review proposing changes to the buyer-side mitigation rules. The proposal would remove certain facilities to be reviewed under the buyer-side mitigation rules to serve the goals of New York's Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, adopt a marginal capacity accreditation market design and adjust the rules surrounding installed and unforced capacity. Changes to NYISO's Buyer Side Mitigation rules may impact the outcome of future capacity auctions.
California
California Resource Adequacy Proceedings — On March 25, 2021, the CPUC directed the state's major investor-owned utilities to engage in up to 1.5 GW of emergency procurement for 2021 and 2022 and is currently evaluating further procurement directives through 2023. In the same docket, the CPUC approved a new demand response program for use during emergency conditions. As part of the Integrated Resource Procurement docket, the CPUC approved a decision on June 24, 2021 that will require all Load Serving Entities to procure a pro rata share of 11.5 GW of new non-fossil resource adequacy from 2023 to 2026. To replace the retiring Diablo Canyon nuclear plant, this will consist largely of GHG-free energy, long-duration storage, baseload renewables and energy storage. A new resource adequacy docket opened in October 2021 will consider changes to the reserve margin and qualifying capacity of different resource types, and the CPUC and CAISO will continue to evaluate major structural reforms to the resource adequacy program in California that would begin in 2024.
Midway-Sunset Reliability Must Run Proceeding — San Joaquin Energy, LLC, a subsidiary of NRG, owns a 50%, non-controlling interest in the Midway-Sunset Cogeneration Company ("MSCC"). MSCC owns a cogeneration facility near Fellows, California and submitted mothball notices for the cogeneration facility to the CAISO in the latter half of 2020. On December 17, 2020, the CAISO Board effectively rejected the mothball notices by authorizing its staff to designate the MSCC facility as a reliability must-run ("RMR") resource conditioned on execution of a RMR contract. On January 29, 2021, MSCC made its RMR filing at FERC. Multiple parties filed protests and on March 16, 2021, MSCC filed a response to those protests. On April 2, 2021, FERC accepted the RMR filing, suspended it to become effective February 1, 2021 subject to refund and established hearing and settlement judge proceedings. The parties are engaging in settlement proceedings. On September 27, 2021, the CAISO gave notice to MSCC extending the term of the reliability designation through December 31, 2022.
Canada
Alberta Energy Market — In December 2020, prior to its acquisition by NRG, Direct Energy filed a Non-Energy Rate Application with the AUC to approve cost recovery for the 2020-2022 period. Major cost elements of this application relate to bad debt, corporate costs, and customer care and billing contracts. The Company engaged in a mediation and settlement process, and on April 20, 2021 an all-party settlement was executed, and was filed with the AUC on April 23, 2021. The AUC approved the settlement agreement on June 4, 2021. Separately, the Company received approval from the AUC of a negotiated rate settlement for its electricity focused 2020-2022 Energy Price Setting Plan which went into effect on July 1, 2021. The Company has completed the last repayment to the Balancing Pool and the Alberta government as part of its 90-day utility bill deferral program. This program, effective March 18, 2020, was designed to assist residential, farms, and small business customers who were negatively affected by COVID-19 related economic circumstances by temporarily deferring their utility bill payments. The program was also designed to mitigate bad debt risks associated with the implementation of the program.
Environmental Regulatory Matters
NRG is subject to numerous environmental laws in the development, construction, ownership and operation of power plants. These laws generally require that governmental permits and approvals be obtained before construction and maintained during operation of power plants. Federal and state environmental laws historically have become more stringent over time. Future laws may require the addition of emissions controls or other environmental controls or impose restrictions on the Company's operations. Complying with environmental laws often involves specialized human resources and significant capital and operating expenses, as well as occasionally curtailing operations. NRG decides to invest capital for environmental controls based on the relative certainty of the requirements, an evaluation of compliance options, and the expected economic returns on capital.
A number of regulations that affect the Company have been revised recently by the EPA, including ash storage and disposal requirements, NAAQS revisions and implementation and effluent limitation guidelines. Some of these recent revisions may, in turn, be revised by the current U.S. presidential administration. NRG will evaluate the impact of these regulations as they are revised but cannot fully predict the impact of each until anticipated revisions and legal challenges are resolved.
Air
The CAA and related regulations (as well as similar state and local requirements) have the potential to affect air emissions, operating practices and pollution control equipment required at power plants. Under the CAA, the EPA sets NAAQS for certain pollutants including SO 2 , ozone, and PM2.5. Many of the Company's facilities are located in or near areas that are
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classified by the EPA as not achieving certain NAAQS (non-attainment areas). The relevant NAAQS may become more stringent. The Company maintains a comprehensive compliance strategy to address continuing and new requirements. Complying with increasingly stringent air regulations could require the installation of additional emissions control equipment at some NRG facilities or retiring of units if installing such controls is not economic. Significant changes to air regulatory programs affecting the Company are described below.
CPP/ACE Rules — The attention in recent years on GHG emissions has resulted in federal and state regulations. In October 2015, the EPA promulgated the CPP, addressing GHG emissions from existing EGUs. On February 9, 2016, the U.S. Supreme Court stayed the CPP. In July 2019, EPA promulgated the ACE rule, which rescinded the CPP, which had sought to broadly regulate CO 2 emissions from the power sector. On January 19, 2021, the D.C. Circuit vacated the ACE rule (but on February 22, 2021, at the EPA's request, stayed the issuance of the portion of the mandate that would vacate the repeal of the CPP). On October 29, 2021, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to review the D.C. Circuit's decision, which should provide some clarity regarding the scope of the EPA's authority to regulate CO 2 under the Clean Air Act. The Company expects the EPA to promulgate a new rule to regulate GHG emissions from power plants after a decision from the U.S. Supreme Court.
Greenhouse Gas Emissions — NRG emits CO 2 (and small quantities of other GHGs) when generating electricity at a majority of its facilities. Nearly all (>99%) of NRG's domestic GHG emissions are subject to federal (U.S. EPA) GHG reporting requirements.
NRG's climate goals are to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 50% by 2025, from its current 2014 baseline, and to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050. Greenhouse gas emissions include directly controlled emissions, emissions from NRG's purchased energy, and emissions from employee business travel. In 2021, NRG's climate goals were certified by the Science Based Targets initiative as aligned with a 1.5 degree Celsius trajectory. From the current 2014 baseline to 2021, the Company's CO 2 e emissions decreased from 61 million metric tons to 34 million metric tons, representing a cumulative 44% reduction. The decrease is attributed to reductions in fleet-wide annual net generation and a market-driven shift away from coal as a primary fuel to natural gas. The increase in emissions in 2021, as compared to 2020, was primarily due to higher power demand which was a result of the easing of COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns and the associated economic recovery. The Company is continuing to target a 50% reduction by 2025 and is on track to meet that goal.
As of December 31, 2021, less than 5% of the Company's consolidated operating revenues were derived from coal-fired operating assets.
The following charts reflect the Company’s domestic generation portfolio, including leased facilities and those accounted for through equity method investments. Prior year information was adjusted to remove divested assets.
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Byproducts, Wastes, Hazardous Materials and Contamination
In April 2015, the EPA finalized the rule regulating byproducts of coal combustion (e.g., ash and gypsum) as solid wastes under the RCRA. In September 2017, the EPA agreed to reconsider the rule. On July 30, 2018, the EPA promulgated a rule that amended the existing ash rule by extending some of the deadlines and providing more flexibility for compliance. On August 21, 2018, the D.C. Circuit found, among other things, that the EPA had not adequately regulated unlined ponds and legacy ponds. In 2019 and 2020, the EPA proposed several changes to this rule. On August 28, 2020, the EPA finalized "A Holistic Approach to Closure Part A: Deadline to Initiate Closure," which amended the April 2015 Rule to address the August 2018 D.C. Circuit decision and extend some of the deadlines. On November 12, 2020, the EPA finalized "A Holistic Approach to Closure Part B: Alternative Demonstration for Unlined Surface Impoundments," which further amended the April 2015 Rule to, among other things, provide procedures for requesting approval to operate existing ash impoundments with an alternate liner.
Domestic Site Remediation Matters
Under certain federal, state and local environmental laws, a current or previous owner or operator of a facility, including an electric generating facility, may be required to investigate and remediate releases or threatened releases of hazardous or toxic substances or petroleum products. NRG may be responsible for property damage, personal injury and investigation and remediation costs incurred by a party in connection with hazardous material releases or threatened releases. These laws impose liability without regard to whether the owner knew of or caused the presence of the hazardous substances, and the courts have interpreted liability under such laws to be strict (without fault) and joint and several. Cleanup obligations can often be triggered during the closure or decommissioning of a facility, in addition to spills during its operations. Further discussions of affected NRG sites can be found in Item 15 — Note 23, Commitments and Contingencies , to the Consolidated Financial Statements.
Jewett Mine Lignite Contract — The Company's Limestone facility historically burned lignite obtained from the Jewett mine, which was operated by TWCC. In 2019, the Jewett mine and related lignite supply agreement with NRG were acquired by Westmoreland Jewett Mining LLC ("Jewett Mining"), a subsidiary of Westmoreland Mining LLC pursuant to a plan of reorganization confirmed by the Texas Bankruptcy Court. Effective August 5, 2020, NRG's subsidiary, NRG Texas LLC, acquired all of the equity interests of Jewett Mining. Active mining under the lignite supply agreement ceased as of December 31, 2016; however, under the terms of the lignite supply agreement, Jewett Mining remains responsible for reclamation activities and NRG is responsible for all reclamation costs. NRG has recorded an adequate ARO liability. The Railroad Commission of Texas has imposed a bond obligation of approximately $99 million for the reclamation of the Jewett mine, which NRG supports through surety bonds. The cost of the reclamation may exceed the value of the bonds. NRG may provide additional performance assurance if required by the Railroad Commission of Texas.
Nuclear Waste — The federal government's program to construct a nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain, Nevada was discontinued in 2010. Since 1998, the U.S. DOE has been in default of the federal government's obligations to begin accepting spent nuclear fuel, or SNF, and high-level radioactive waste, or HLW, under the Nuclear Waste Policy Act. Owners of nuclear plants, including the owners of STP, had been required to enter into contracts setting out the obligations of the owners and the U.S. DOE, including the fees to be paid by the owners for the U.S. DOE's services to license a spent fuel repository. Effective May 16, 2014, the U.S. DOE stopped collecting the fees.
On February 5, 2013, STPNOC entered into a settlement agreement with the U.S. DOE for payment of damages relating to the U.S. DOE's failure to accept SNF and HLW under the Nuclear Waste Policy Act through December 31, 2013, which has been extended three times through addendums to cover payments through December 31, 2022. There are no facilities for the reprocessing or permanent disposal of SNF currently in operation in the U.S., nor has the NRC licensed any such facilities. STPNOC currently stores all SNF generated by its nuclear generating facilities on-site. STPNOC plans to continue to assert claims against the U.S. DOE for damages relating to the U.S. DOE's failure to accept SNF and HLW.
Under the federal Low-Level Radioactive Waste Policy Act of 1980, as amended in 1985, the state of Texas is required to provide, either on its own or jointly with other states in a compact, for the disposal of all low-level radioactive waste generated within the state. Texas is currently in a compact with the state of Vermont, and the compact low-level waste facility located in Andrews County in Texas has been operational since 2012.
Water
The Company is required under the CWA to comply with intake and discharge requirements, requirements for technological controls and operating practices. As with air quality regulations, federal and state water regulations have become more stringent and imposed new requirements.
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Effluent Limitations Guidelines — In November 2015, the EPA revised the Effluent Limitations Guidelines ("ELG") for Steam Electric Generating Facilities, which imposed more stringent requirements (as individual permits were renewed) for wastewater streams from FGD, fly ash, bottom ash, and flue gas mercury control. On September 18, 2017, the EPA promulgated a final rule that, among other things, postponed the compliance dates to preserve the status quo for FGD wastewater and bottom ash transport water by two years to November 2020 until the EPA amended the rule. On October 13, 2020, the EPA amended the 2015 ELG rule by: (i) altering the stringency of certain limits for FGD wastewater; (ii) relaxing the zero-discharge requirement for bottom ash transport water; and (iii) changing several deadlines. On July 26, 2021, the EPA announced that it is initiating a new rulemaking to evaluate revising the ELG rule. While the EPA is developing the new rule, the existing rule (as amended in 2020) will stay in place, and the EPA expects permitting authorities to continue to implement the current regulation. The EPA anticipates releasing a proposed rule in fall 2022. In October 2021, NRG informed its regulators that the Company intends to comply with the ELG by ceasing combustion of coal by the end of 2028 at its domestic coal units outside of Texas, and installing appropriate controls by the end of 2025 at its two plants in Texas.
Regional Environmental Developments
Ash Regulation in Illinois — On July 30, 2019, Illinois enacted legislation that requires the state to promulgate regulations regarding coal ash at surface impoundments. On April 15, 2021, the state promulgated the implementing regulation, which became effective on April 21, 2021. The new regulation requires NRG to apply for initial operating permits for its coal ash surface impoundments by October 31, 2021 and construction permits (for closure) starting in 2022.
Customers
NRG sells to a wide variety of customers, primarily end-use customers in the residential, commercial and industrial sectors. The Company owns and operates power plants to generate and sell power to wholesale customers, such as utilities and other intermediaries. The Company had no customer that comprised more than 10% of the Company's consolidated revenues for the year ended December 31, 2021.
Human Capital
As of December 31, 2021, NRG and its consolidated subsidiaries had 6,635 employees, approximately 13% of whom were covered by U.S. collective bargaining agreements. During 2021, the Company did not experience any labor stoppages or labor disputes at any of its facilities.
NRG believes its employees are vital to its success and is committed to offering employees a rewarding career that provides opportunities for growth and the ability to make valuable contributions toward the achievement of the Company’s business objectives. NRG focuses on safety, health and wellness, diversity, equity and inclusion, talent development and total rewards for its employees.
Safety
Safety is embedded in the culture at NRG. The Company strives to begin each meeting with a safety moment and regularly reminds its employees that safety comes first. NRG has achieved its targeted top decile safety record of Occupational Safety and Health Administration recordable injury rates in each of the 5 previous years.
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Health and Wellness
For several years, NRG has invested in the well-being of its employees and their families. NRG provides programs that holistically support its employees’ physical, emotional and financial wellness, allowing employees the opportunity to take control of their well-being and focus on what matters most to them for a healthy, secure future.
During 2020, the Company evaluated its approach to health and well-being in light of the circumstances resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. In response to COVID-19, NRG implemented additional programs to provide services to support the needs of employees, including those working from home, such as programs that provided back-up childcare, expanded access to telemedicine (for both physical and mental health), and supported mental and emotional well-being through programs such as mindfulness. During 2021, the Company continued its support of employees by partnering with the National Council for Behavioral Health to roll out their Mental Health First Aid program. This program safely, respectfully and effectively opens the conversation about mental illness and addiction, encourages employees to recognize and take responsibility for their mental health, teaches managers to recognize and speak to an employee with a mental health concern before it creates performance problems, complements and supports existing benefit and wellness programs and company’s policies and procedures.
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
NRG is committed to diversity, equity and inclusion ("DE&I") as an integral part of the Company. In 2020, NRG completed a gender and race pay equity study to ensure that the Company's pay decisions were not influenced by gender, race, or other similar factors. The study showed equitable pay practices after accounting for education, experience, performance and location. NRG also conducted company-wide unconscious bias training to help all employees recognize, understand, and reduce implicit bias and offers various other related guides and tools to its employees and management.
In 2021, the Company focused on embedding DE&I in the Company’s operations, culture and communications, by working with diverse suppliers, finding diverse talent, facilitating engagement and awareness of DE&I by employees, and committing to be accountable for our DE&I progress.
Talent Development
NRG deploys various talent development strategies and programs with the goal of ensuring a pipeline of leadership who can execute on the Company’s strategy and drive value for all stakeholders. The Board of Directors regularly engages with management on leadership development and succession planning, including providing feedback on development plans and bench strength for key senior leader positions. The Board of Directors also has a structured program that allows directors to interact directly with individuals deeper within the organization whom management, through a robust talent assessment program, as well as mentoring relationships, has identified as high potential future leaders. In 2021, the Company launched an Executive Leadership Program to strengthen the identified pipeline of future leaders and create a cohort of high potential candidates for the program. The Company has a performance management tool that emphasizes a continuous feedback loop and a robust online training curriculum with topics including leadership, communication and productivity.
Total Rewards
NRG seeks to provide the median target of compensation and benefits, benchmarked against direct peers, industry, and, where appropriate, general peers. To ensure incentives are properly aligned with business needs and can attract and retain qualified employees, the Compensation Committee of the Board of Directors actively reviews the Company's total rewards programs, including benchmarking programs against peer groups, assessing the risks of programs and evaluating the design of the annual and long-term incentive programs. The Company offers full-time employees incentives designed to motivate and reward success. NRG continues to evaluate its offerings taking into consideration the needs of its employees to ensure they are competitive and best serve its employees. Every two years, the Company engages an independent third party to benchmark its compensation and benefits programs against its peers and report the results to the Compensation Committee of the Board of Directors.
For further discussion and recent available data regarding the Company’s efforts and programs please see the Company’s 2021 Proxy Statement and 2020 Sustainability Report, which are available on the Company’s website at: www.nrg.com . Information included in these documents is not intended to be incorporated into this Form 10-K.
Available Information
NRG's annual reports on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K, and amendments to those reports filed or furnished pursuant to section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Exchange Act are available free of charge through the SEC's website, www.sec.gov , and through the Company's website, www.nrg.com , as soon as reasonably practicable after they are electronically filed with, or furnished to, the SEC. The Company also routinely posts press releases, presentations, webcasts, sustainability reports and other information regarding the Company on the Company's website. The information posted on the Company's website is not a part of this report.
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