NRG Energy, Inc., or NRG or the Company, is primarily a wholesale power generation
company with a significant presence in major competitive power markets in the
U.S., as well as a major retail electricity franchise in the Electric Reliability
Council of Texas, or ERCOT, market. NRG is engaged in the ownership, development,
construction and operation of power generation facilities, the transacting in
and trading of fuel and transportation services, the trading of energy, capacity
and related products in the U.S. and select international markets, and the supply
of electricity and energy services to retail electricity customers in the Texas
market.
NRG’s principal domestic power plants consist of a mix of natural gas-,
coal-, oil-fired, nuclear and renewable facilities. In addition, 9% of NRG’s
domestic generating facilities have dual or multiple fuel capacity, which allows
plants to dispatch with the lowest cost fuel option.
NRG’s domestic generation facilities consist of intermittent, baseload,
intermediate and peaking power generation facilities, the ranking of which is
referred to as the Merit Order, and include thermal energy production plants.
The sale of capacity and power from baseload generation facilities accounts
for the majority of the Company’s revenues and provides a stable source
of cash flow. In addition, NRG’s generation portfolio provides the Company
with opportunities to capture additional revenues by selling power during periods
of peak demand, offering capacity or similar products to retail electric providers
and others, and providing ancillary services to support system reliability.
Reliant Energy is the second largest electricity provider to residential and
small business, or Mass, customers in Texas. Reliant Energy is also the largest
electricity and energy services provider, based on load, to commercial, industrial
and governmental/institutions, or C&I, customers in Texas. Based on metered
locations.
Competition
Wholesale power generation is a capital-intensive, commodity-driven business
with numerous industry participants. NRG competes on the basis of the location
of its plants and ownership of multiple plants in various regions, which increases
the stability and reliability of its energy supply. Wholesale power generation
is basically a local business that is currently highly fragmented relative to
other commodity industries and diverse in terms of industry structure. As such,
there is a wide variation in terms of the capabilities, resources, nature and
identity of the companies NRG competes with depending on the market.