Utility-scale solar facility in San Diego County provides clean power to SDG&E customers

PRINCETON, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Mar. 5, 2013-- NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE: NRG), through its wholly owned subsidiary NRG Solar, announced the start of commercial operations for the Borrego I Solar Generating Station, a 26 megawatt (AC) photovoltaic facility located northeast of Borrego Springs, Calif. The station’s electricity will be sold to San Diego Gas & Electric under a 25-year power purchase agreement.

NRG's 26 megawatt Borrego I Solar Generating Station has begun operations in California. The electricity will be sold to San Diego Gas & Electric under a 25-year power purchase agreement. (Photo: Business Wire)

“Borrego is our first utility-scale solar facility providing power to the San Diego area, helping to create local construction jobs and meet SDG&E’s demands for cost-competitive renewable sources of electricity,” said Randy Hickok, Senior Vice President of NRG Solar. “Our large-scale solar facilities provide clean, renewable energy that Californians want for their homes and to power the electric vehicle infrastructure NRG is currently building in California and Texas. Taken together, solar and electric vehicles will go a long way toward reducing our reliance on fossil fuels and our carbon emissions.”

“The Borrego I Solar Generating Station will provide clean renewable solar power for our customers, and is the first utility scale local renewable project to come online in San Diego County since 2006,” said Matt Burkhart, vice president of electric and fuel procurement for SDG&E. “We applaud NRG Energy for their perseverance in getting this project constructed and look forward to more local renewable projects.”

The Borrego facility will generate enough energy to meet the annual needs of approximately 9,000 homes. Using clean solar power also avoids the annual emission of approximately 19,000 tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, the equivalent of taking 3,500 cars off the road.

Borrego is one of eight large-scale solar facilities in NRG’s ownership portfolio that is currently producing clean solar power for thousands of homes and businesses in three states. The other seven completed or partially completed plants are Agua Caliente (under construction) and Avra Valley in Arizona; Roadrunner in New Mexico; and Avenal, Blythe, Alpine and California Valley Solar Ranch (under construction) in California. A ninth solar plant that is not yet producing power, the Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System in California, is expected to be completed before the end of this year.

In addition to developing California’s largest solar portfolio currently under contract, NRG is investing more than $100 million to build the nation’s first comprehensive, privately funded electric vehicle infrastructure. NRG plans to install thousands of charging stations at homes, offices, multi-family communities and retail locations throughout major metropolitan areas in California, Texas and the Washington D.C./Maryland/Northern Virginia region.

About NRG and NRG Solar

NRG is at the forefront of changing how people think about and use energy. We deliver cleaner and smarter energy choices for our customers, backed by the nation’s largest independent power generation portfolio of fossil fuel, nuclear, solar and wind facilities. A Fortune 300 company, NRG is challenging the U.S. energy industry by becoming the largest developer of solar power, building the first privately-funded electric vehicle charging infrastructure, and providing customers with the most advanced smart energy solutions to better manage their energy use. In addition to 47,000 megawatts of generation capacity, enough to supply nearly 40 million homes, our retail electricity providers – Reliant, Green Mountain Energy and Energy Plus – serve more than two million customers. More information is available at www.nrgenergy.com. Connect with NRG Energy on Facebook and follow us on Twitter @nrgenergy.

NRG Solar LLC, a subsidiary of NRG, has more than 2,000 MW of photovoltaic and solar thermal projects in operation, under construction or in development across the southwestern United States. More information is available at www.nrgsolar.com.

NRG 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 NRG’s expectations regarding the Company’s Borrego solar project and forward-looking statements typically can be identified by the use of words such as “will,” “expect,” “believe,” 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, 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, and our ability to achieve the expected benefits and timing of our electric vehicle 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 NRG’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 NRG’s future results included in NRG’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission at www.sec.gov.

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Source: NRG Energy, Inc.

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