• Strong second quarter performance resulted in GAAP Net Income of $308 million and Adjusted EBITDA of $819 million
• Energy business benefited from customer growth, strong plant operations, diversified supply strategy and favorable market conditions
• Vivint Smart Home segment increased second quarter revenue by 12%¹ , surpassed 2 million customers, and delivered impressive monthly recurring service margin
• Completed $200 million in debt reduction and $50 million in share repurchases through July
• Increasing 2023 growth contribution target to $60 million from $30 million

NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE: NRG) today reported second quarter 2023 results.

“NRG had a solid second quarter with strong financial results and excellent progress on our strategic priorities. Our plants performed well during this period of record peak demand, and we continued to grow our customers and margins," said Mauricio Gutierrez, NRG President and Chief Executive Officer. “We are advancing our consumer strategy and delivering on our commitments. NRG is well-positioned to create significant shareholder value capitalizing on the convergence of energy and smart technologies in the home.”

Quarterly Financial Results

NRG reported second quarter 2023 Net Income of $308 million. Adjusted EBITDA for the second quarter was $819 million, Cash Provided by Operating Activities was $570 million, and Free Cash Flow Before Growth Investments (FCFbG) was $425 million.

NRG Strategic Developments

Enhanced Operating Efficiency and Growth Initiatives - $300 Million Growth and $250 Million Cost Savings Plan Through 2025

During its June 2023 Investor Day, NRG provided a strategic update on its consumer services strategy. NRG is positioned to fully capitalize on its market leadership and approximately 7.5 million residential customer base. NRG's enhanced consumer services platform is creating new, high-margin recurring revenue streams while extending customer tenure and reach. Through a combination of cross-selling, bundling, and organic growth, NRG expects to achieve $300 million of incremental FCFbG by 2025. Given the positive results of various initiatives to date, the Company is increasing the growth plan’s 2023 contribution to FCFbG to $60 million, from $30 million.

Reflecting the Company's focus on cost discipline and operational excellence, NRG in June announced an additional $150 million cost reduction program that is expected to be completed by 2025, derived from operations and maintenance efficiencies, sourcing optimization, automation, service levels, and spans of control. This $150 million cost reduction program is incremental to the $100 million in cost synergies related to the Vivint Smart Home acquisition and totals $250 million in cost savings by 2025. Additionally, NRG expects to complete its $300 million in Direct Energy cost synergies program by the end of 2023.

Revised Capital Allocation Framework

In June 2023, having line-of-sight to its investment needs following the Vivint Smart Home acquisition, NRG revised its long-term capital allocation policy to target allocating approximately 80% of cash available for allocation after debt reduction to be returned to shareholders. As part of the revised capital allocation framework, the Board of Directors approved an increase in its share repurchase authorization to $2.7 billion to be executed through 2025. NRG has executed $50 million in share repurchases in July 2023.

Also in June 2023, NRG provided visibility in achieving its target investment grade credit metrics of 2.50-2.75x net debt / adjusted corporate EBITDA by 2025, allocating up to $2.55 billion of capital available for allocation to debt reduction. As part of this plan, the Company expects to reduce its debt by $1.4 billion in 2023 with $900 million funded with cash from operations and $500 million with proceeds from the sale of STP. As of July 31, 2023, the Company executed $200 million in debt reduction.

On July 17, 2023, NRG announced that its Board of Directors declared a quarterly dividend on the Company's common stock of $0.3775 per share. The dividend is payable on August 15, 2023, to stockholders of record as of August 1, 2023.

NRG's share repurchase program and common stock dividend are subject to maintaining satisfactory credit metrics, available capital, market conditions, and compliance with associated laws and regulations. The timing and amount of any shares of NRG’s common stock that are repurchased under the share repurchase authorization will be determined by NRG’s management based on market conditions and other factors. NRG will only repurchase shares when management believes it would not jeopardize the company’s ability to maintain satisfactory credit ratings.

W.A. Parish Outage

In May 2022, W.A. Parish Unit 8 came offline as a result of damage to the steam turbine/generator. Based on work completed to date, the Company expects to return the unit to service in late August 2023. NRG expects lost revenues and expenditures incurred in 2023 to be offset by insurance recoveries.

Sale of 44% Equity Interest in the South Texas Project (STP)

On May 31, 2023, the Company entered into an agreement to sell its 44% equity interest in STP for $1.75 billion, unlocking significant shareholder value. The transaction is subject to regulatory approvals by the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act and is expected to close by the end of 2023.

Year in Review, Including 13^th Annual Sustainability Update

NRG released its 2022 Year in Review, including its 13^th year of sustainability reporting, providing an update on the Company’s dedication to people, commitment to environmental stewardship, and governance. The report highlights a record year of safety performance and customer retention, as well as many initiatives that reflect NRG's commitment to employee well-being and community. Additionally, as of December 31, 2022, NRG recorded an approximately 42% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from the 2014 base year and a 60% decrease in revenue carbon intensity since 2020.

¹ Adjusted to reflect the sale of Vivint Smart Home's Canada business, which was completed in June 2022

Consolidated Financial Results

Segments Results

Table 1: Net Income/(Loss)

1. Includes Corporate segment
2. Vivint Smart Home acquired in March 2023

Net Income for the second quarter was $205 million lower than the second quarter of 2022, primarily driven by lower mark-to-market non-cash gains on economic hedge positions in Texas and the East. Net Loss for the six months ended June 30, 2023 was $1.0 billion, $3.3 billion lower than the prior year. This was driven by unrealized mark-to-market non-cash losses on economic natural gas and power hedges in the first quarter of 2023. Certain hedge positions are required to be marked-to-market every period, while the customer contracts related to these items are not, resulting in temporary unrealized non-cash losses or gains on the economic hedges that are not reflective of the expected economics at future settlement.

Table 2: Adjusted EBITDA

1. Includes Corporate segment
2. Vivint Smart Home acquired in March 2023

Texas: Second quarter Adjusted EBITDA was $504 million, $241 million higher than the second quarter of 2022. This increase was primarily driven by lower retail supply costs, including the impact of lower power pricing, the diversified supply strategy, and improved plant performance coupled with the 2022 impact of the W.A. Parish Unit 8 extended outage. This increase was partially offset by a decrease in retail load and higher operating costs due to an increase in planned outages in the second quarter of 2023 compared to the second quarter of 2022.

East: Second quarter Adjusted EBITDA was $77 million, $9 million higher than the second quarter of 2022. This increase was primarily driven by increased retail power margins, partially offset by asset retirements and lower retail natural gas margins.

West/Services/Other: Second quarter Adjusted EBITDA was $21 million, $34 million lower than the second quarter of 2022, primarily driven by lower contributions from the services businesses and Cottonwood.

Vivint Smart Home: Adjusted EBITDA was $217 million in the second quarter of 2023.

Liquidity and Capital Resources

Table 3: Corporate Liquidity

As of June 30, 2023, NRG's cash was $422 million, and $4.1 billion was available under the Company’s credit facilities. Total liquidity was $4.5 billion, $1.7 billion higher than at the end of 2022. This increase was due to specific initiatives to optimize the amount of collateral supporting NRG's market operations activity and increases in credit facilities.

2023 Guidance

NRG is reaffirming its Adjusted EBITDA, Cash provided by operating activities, and FCFbG guidance for 2023 as set forth below.

Table 4: Adjusted EBITDA, Cash Provided by Operating Activities, and FCFbG Guidance^a

1. Non-GAAP financial measure; see Appendix Table A-8 for GAAP Reconciliation from Net Income to FCFbG. Adjusted EBITDA excludes fair value adjustments related to derivatives. The Company is unable to provide guidance for Net Income due to the impact of such fair value adjustments related to derivatives in a given year.

Earnings Conference Call

On August 8, 2023, NRG will host a conference call at 9:00 a.m. Eastern (8:00 a.m. Central) to discuss these results. Investors, the news media and others may access the live webcast of the conference call and accompanying presentation materials through the investor relations website under “presentations and webcasts” on investors.nrg.com. The webcast will be archived on the site for those unable to listen in real time.

About NRG

NRG Energy is a leading energy and home services company powered by people and our passion for a smarter, cleaner, and more connected future. A Fortune 500 company operating in the United States and Canada, NRG delivers innovative solutions that help people, organizations, and businesses achieve their goals while also advocating for competitive energy markets and customer choice. More information is available at www.nrg.com. Connect with NRG on Facebook and LinkedIn, and follow us on Twitter, @nrgenergy.

Forward-Looking Statements

In addition to historical information, the information presented in this press release includes forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Exchange Act. These statements involve estimates, expectations, projections, goals, assumptions, known and unknown risks and uncertainties and can typically be identified by terminology such as “may,” “should,” “could,” “objective,” “projection,” “forecast,” “goal,” “guidance,” “outlook,” “expect,” “intend,” “seek,” “plan,” “think,” “anticipate,” “estimate,” “predict,” “target,” “potential” or “continue” or the negative of these terms or other comparable terminology. Such forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements about the Company’s future revenues, income, indebtedness, capital structure, plans, expectations, objectives, projected financial performance and/or business results and other future events, and views of economic and market conditions.

Although NRG believes that its expectations are reasonable, it can give no assurance that these expectations will prove to be correct, and actual results may vary materially. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contemplated herein include, among others, general economic conditions, including increasing interest rates and rising inflation, hazards customary in the power industry, weather conditions and extreme weather events, competition in wholesale power, gas and smart home markets, the volatility of energy and fuel prices, failure of customers or counterparties to perform under contracts, changes in the wholesale power and gas markets, changes in government or market regulations, the condition of capital markets generally and NRG’s ability to access capital markets, NRG’s ability to execute its market operations strategy, risks related to data privacy, cyberterrorism and inadequate cybersecurity, the loss of data, unanticipated outages at NRG’s generation facilities, NRG’s ability to achieve its net debt targets, adverse results in current and future litigation, complaints, product liability claims and/or adverse publicity, failure to identify, execute or successfully implement acquisitions or asset sales, risks of the smart home and security industry, including risks of and publicity surrounding the sales, subscriber origination and retention process, the impact of changes in consumer spending patterns, consumer preferences, geopolitical tensions, demographic trends, supply chain disruptions, NRG’s ability to implement value enhancing improvements to plant operations and company wide processes, NRG’s ability to achieve or maintain investment grade credit metrics, NRG’s ability to proceed with projects under development or the inability to complete the construction of such projects on schedule or within budget, the inability to maintain or create successful partnering relationships, NRG’s ability to operate its business efficiently, NRG’s ability to retain retail customers, the ability to successfully integrate businesses of acquired companies, including Direct Energy and Vivint Smart Home, NRG’s ability to realize anticipated benefits of transactions (including expected cost savings and other synergies) or the risk that anticipated benefits may take longer to realize than expected, and NRG’s ability to execute its capital allocation plan. Achieving investment grade credit metrics is not an indication of or guarantee that the Company will receive investment grade credit ratings. Debt and share repurchases may be made from time to time subject to market conditions and other factors, including as permitted by United States securities laws. Furthermore, any common stock dividend is subject to available capital and market conditions.

NRG undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law. The adjusted EBITDA, cash provided by operating activities and free cash flow before growth guidance are estimates as of August 8, 2023. These estimates are based on assumptions NRG believed to be reasonable as of that date. NRG disclaims any current intention to update such guidance, except as required by law. The foregoing review of factors that could cause NRG’s actual results to differ materially from those contemplated in the forward-looking statements included in this press release should be considered in connection with information regarding risks and uncertainties that may affect NRG's future results included in NRG's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission at www.sec.gov. For a more detailed discussion of these factors, see the information under the captions “Risk Factors” and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” in NRG’s most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K, and in subsequent SEC filings. NRG’s forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this communication or as of the date they are made.

(a) Includes $(16) million and $(6) million for tax withholdings on equity awards during the six months ended June 30, 2023 and June 30, 2022, respectively

Appendix Table A-1: Second Quarter 2023 Adjusted EBITDA Reconciliation by Operating Segment

The following table summarizes the calculation of Adjusted EBITDA and provides a reconciliation to Net Income/(Loss)¹:

¹ This schedule reflects 2023 results under the harmonization of the Adjusted EBITDA definition

² Amortization of customer acquisition costs, which are excluded from the calculation of Adjusted EBITDA, is the income statement recognition of capitalized costs related to commissions and other costs related to securing the new customer

³ Includes stock-based compensation of $3 million

Second Quarter 2023 condensed financial information by Operating Segment:

¹ Excludes MtM gain of $75 million and contract amortization of expense of $8 million

² Includes TDSP expense, capacity and emission credits

³ Excludes other non-recurring charges of ($45) million, deactivation costs of $9 million, stock-based compensation of $2 million, ARO expenses of ($1) million and amortization of customer acquisition costs of $1 million

⁴ Excludes amortization of customer acquisition costs of $27 million and stock-based compensation of $24 million

The following table reconciles the condensed financial information to Adjusted EBITDA:

¹ Excludes Operations & maintenance and other cost of operations of $460 million

² Other adj. includes amortization of customer acquisition costs of $28 million, stock-based compensation of $26 million, acquisition and divestiture integration and transaction costs of $23 million, NRG share of adjusted EBITDA in unconsolidated affiliates of $4 million. other non-recurring charges of ($42) million, gain on sales of assets ($3) million and ARO expenses of ($1) million

Appendix Table A-2: Second Quarter 2022 Adjusted EBITDA Reconciliation by Operating Segment

The following table summarizes the calculation of Adjusted EBITDA and provides a reconciliation to Net Income/(Loss)¹:

¹ In 2022, Stock-based compensation and Amortization of customer acquisition costs were not excluded from Adjusted EBITDA. This schedule reflects 2022 results under the harmonization of the Adjusted EBITDA definition

² Amortization of customer acquisition costs, which are excluded from the calculation of Adjusted EBITDA, is the income statement recognition of capitalized costs related to commissions and other costs related to securing the new customer

Second Quarter 2022 condensed financial information by Operating Segment:

¹ Excludes MtM loss of $148 million and contract amortization of $13 million

² Includes TDSP expense, capacity and emission credits

³ Excludes other non-recurring charges of $15 million, ARO expense of $9 million, deactivation costs of $5 million

⁴ Excludes amortization of customer acquisition costs of $20 million, stock-based compensation of $8 million and acquisition and integration costs of $1 million

The following table reconciles the condensed financial information to Adjusted EBITDA:

¹ Excludes Operations & maintenance and other cost of operations of $446 million

² Other adj. includes impairments costs of $155 million, amortization of customer acquisition costs of $20 million, NRG share of adjusted EBITDA in unconsolidated affiliates of $17 million, other non-recurring charges of $15 million, acquisition and divestiture integration and transaction costs of $14 million, ARO expenses of $9 million, stock-based compensation of $8 million and gain on sales of assets ($32) million

Appendix Table A-3: YTD Second Quarter 2023 Adjusted EBITDA Reconciliation by Operating Segment

The following table summarizes the calculation of Adjusted EBITDA and provides a reconciliation to Net Income/(Loss)¹: