NRG Energy's VP of Sustainability Discusses Highlights of 2017 Report

It is with pride that I introduce to you, our stakeholders, our second Sustainability Report since I joined NRG. In it, we outline our 2017 sustainability accomplishments, along with a comprehensive view of the actions we’ve taken across our value chain to enhance the resilience of our operations and create value for our customers and shareholders.

In last year’s report, we introduced a new sustainability strategy, cutting across five organizational pillars: customers, workplace, business, operations and suppliers.

In 2017, we took this framework from concept to implementation, allowing us to take a more holistic view of our business and demonstrate that sustainability is indeed foundational to our overall value proposition.

So how did we do?

As we transformed our business, we doubled down on our commitment to transparency and responsibility while further integrating sustainability across organizational functions and proactively engaging stakeholders. Our inaugural report using the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) was widely praised by the investment community.

We’ve now helped our customers avoid over 70 million tons of greenhouse emissions through NRG low carbon residential and business solutions. Electric vehicle owners in Texas can choose a Reliant electricity plan specifically designed for their needs. In addition to what we offer, we’ve taken everything we’ve learned as a sustainability trailblazer and turned it into an advisory service to help businesses, academic institutions and municipalities assess how to achieve their sustainability and energy objectives more quickly and cost-effectively.

We also made great strides in engaging our suppliers and taking a leading role in our sector’s efforts to enhance sustainability in the supply chain. We completed a comprehensive materiality and footprint analysis and were pleased to be recognized as a Supply Chain Engagement leader by CDP.

Notable progress was made across NRG’s power generation operations. I’m thrilled to report we’re now 70% of the way to our 2030 GHG reduction goal and actually achieved our 2030 water reduction goal. And most importantly, our team accomplished these milestones with a stellar safety record.

In our workplace, employees once again rose to the challenge, volunteering in their communities and implementing sustainability initiatives around the company. 2017 was a uniquely trying year for many, with a large number of our Gulf Coast team members affected by Hurricane Harvey. Across the organization, we saw employees band together to support each other and impacted communities during and after the storm.

In 2018, we will keep driving execution across our five pillars, with several areas of focus:

• Accelerating the power of our integrated retail platform to help customers large and small achieve more sustainable energy outcomes faster, cheaper and on their terms;
• Internalizing the recommendations of the Financial Stability Board’s Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) to meet investor expectations;
• Using the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals as our guide to societal progress

Our sustainable future won’t simply be built, we have to design it. Our customers want to take their energy future into their own hands and our entire organization is working hard to make sure they’re successful. Let’s continue to pursue the future we want, together. 

Read NRG Energy's full 2017 Sustainability Report here.