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NRG Solar Agrees to Acquire Solar Development Portfolio from US Solar

^{Published on 2010-06-21 05:14:23 - Market Wire}
 

PRINCETON, N.J.--([ BUSINESS WIRE ])--NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE: NRG), through its wholly owned subsidiary, NRG Solar, has entered into a definitive agreement with US Solar, an affiliate of Arclight Capital Partners LLC, to acquire a portfolio of solar development projects on nine sites in California and Arizona. The purchase price is subject to a confidentiality agreement between the parties.

"US Solar has developed a project pipeline that gives us strategic depth in promising solar markets in which there is a public policy commitment to use this zero-emission, domestic peak period energy source"

The development projects acquired range in size from 20 megawatts (MW) to 99 MW with the potential to be operational between 2011 and 2013. The acquisition nearly doubles NRG Solara™s projects under development to 1,150 MW.

aUS Solar has developed a project pipeline that gives us strategic depth in promising solar markets in which there is a public policy commitment to use this zero-emission, domestic peak period energy source,a said David Crane, NRG President and Chief Executive Officer. aWe expect the American public will increasingly demand that their energy come from these type of sources as they are confronted with the ever increasing human, environmental and strategic cost of our national dependence on fossil fuels.a

aAcquiring the nine development projects will be instrumental in expanding our clean energy portfolio and further establishing NRGa™s leadership as a solar generation company,a said Tom Doyle, President, NRG Solar. aThis agreement adds meaningful depth to NRG Solara™s development pipeline of strong solar projects that can compete well against other solar projects on efficiency, cost of power and return on investment.a

NRG is developing solar capacity at sites with strong solar resources, potential for long-term power offtake agreements with load-serving entities and established, easily accessible connections to power grids. These solar projects support NRGa™s commitment to increase its portfolio of low and no carbon generation assets with diverse technologies including new nuclear generation, onshore and offshore wind, biomass projects and a commercial-scale carbon capture project for fossil-fueled generation.

NRG Solar is responsible for developing, constructing, financing and operating a multi-technology portfolio of solar power assets in North America. NRG now operates the largest photovoltaic solar project in California, a 21 MW facility in Blythe. The solar power generated at Blythe alone will displace approximately 12,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions annually a" the equivalent of taking over 2,200 cars off the road.

About NRG

NRG Energy, Inc., a Fortune 500 company, owns and operates one of the countrya™s largest and most diverse power generation portfolios. Headquartered in Princeton, NJ, the Companya™s power plants provide more than 24,000 megawatts of generation capacitya"enough to supply more than 20 million homes. NRGa™s retail business, Reliant Energy, serves 1.6 million residential, business, commercial and industrial customers in Texas.

A past recipient of the energy industrya™s highest honorsa"Platts Industry Leadership and Energy Company of the Year awards, NRG is a member of the U.S. Climate Action Partnership (USCAP), a group of business and environmental organizations calling for mandatory legislation to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. More information is available at [ www.nrgenergy.com ].

Safe Harbor Disclosure

This news release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Such forward-looking statements are subject to certain risks, uncertainties and assumptions and include NRGa™s expectations regarding NRGa™s solar development initiatives and forward-looking statements typically can be identified by the use of words such as awill,a aexpect,a abelieve,a and similar terms. Although NRG believes that its expectations are reasonable, it can give no assurance that these expectations will prove to have been correct, and actual results may vary materially. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contemplated above include, among others, general economic conditions, hazards customary in the power industry, weather conditions, competition in wholesale power markets, the volatility of energy and fuel prices, failure of customers to perform under contracts, changes in the wholesale power markets, changes in government regulation of markets and of environmental emissions, unanticipated outages at our generation facilities, the inability to implement value enhancing improvements to plant operations and companywide processes, and our ability to achieve the expected benefits and timing of our RepoweringNRG projects.

NRG undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. The foregoing review of factors that could cause NRGa™s actual results to differ materially from those contemplated in the forward-looking statements included in this news release should be considered in connection with information regarding risks and uncertainties that may affect NRGa™s future results included in NRGa™s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission at [ www.sec.gov ].