NRG Energy Inc (NRG) 2022 Q1 法說會逐字稿

Good day, and thank you for standing by. Welcome to the NRG Energy Inc.'s First Quarter 2022 Earnings Call. (Operator Instructions) Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded. (Operator Instructions)

美好的一天，感謝您的支持。歡迎來到 NRG Energy Inc. 的 2022 年第一季度財報電話會議。 （操作員說明）請注意，今天的會議正在錄製中。 （操作員說明）

I would now like to hand the conference over to your speaker today, Kevin Cole, Head of Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

我現在想把會議交給你今天的演講者，投資者關係主管凱文科爾。請繼續。

Thank you, Kim. Good morning, and welcome to NRG Energy's First Quarter 2022 Earnings Call. This morning's call will be 45 minutes in length and is being broadcast live over the phone and via webcast, which can be located in the Investors section of our website at www.nrg.com under Presentations and Webcasts.

謝謝你，金。早上好，歡迎參加 NRG Energy 的 2022 年第一季度財報電話會議。今天上午的電話會議時長為 45 分鐘，將通過電話和網絡直播進行現場直播，該電話可在我們網站 www.nrg.com 的“投資者”部分的演示文稿和網絡廣播下找到。

Please note that today's discussion may contain forward-looking statements, which are based on assumptions that we believe to be reasonable as of this date. Actual results may differ materially. We urge everyone to review the safe harbor in today's presentation as well as the risk factors in our SEC filings. We undertake no obligation to update these statements as a result of future events, except as required by law.

請注意，今天的討論可能包含前瞻性陳述，這些陳述基於我們認為截至該日期是合理的假設。實際結果可能大不相同。我們敦促大家在今天的演示文稿中審查安全港以及我們提交給美國證券交易委員會的文件中的風險因素。我們不承擔因未來事件而更新這些聲明的義務，除非法律要求。

In addition, we will refer to both GAAP and non-GAAP financial measures. For information regarding our non-GAAP financial measures and reconciliations to the most directly comparable GAAP measures, please refer to today's presentation.

此外，我們將參考 GAAP 和非 GAAP 財務指標。有關我們的非 GAAP 財務指標以及與最直接可比的 GAAP 指標的對賬信息，請參閱今天的演示文稿。

And with that, I'll now turn the call over to Mauricio Gutierrez, NRG's President and CEO.

有了這個，我現在將把電話轉給 NRG 總裁兼首席執行官 Mauricio Gutierrez。

Thank you, Kevin. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for your interest in NRG. I'm joined this morning by Alberto Fornaro, Chief Financial Officer; and also on the call and available for questions, we have Elizabeth Killinger, Head of Home; Rob Gaudette, Head of Business and Market Operations; and Chris Moser, Head of Competitive Markets on policy.

謝謝你，凱文。大家早上好，感謝您對 NRG 的關注。今天上午，首席財務官 Alberto Fornaro 加入了我的行列；此外，我們還有 Elizabeth Killinger，家庭負責人，隨時待命並可以回答問題； Rob Gaudette，業務和市場運營主管；競爭市場主管 Chris Moser 負責政策。

I'd like to start on Slide 4 by highlighting the 3 key messages for today's presentation. First, our business delivered strong results in the first quarter, and we are maintaining our 2022 guidance ranges. Second, we are well positioned going into the summer with a balanced risk management strategy designed to provide stability through volatile market conditions. And finally, we continue to advance our strategic growth priorities, moving closer to the customer while being excellent stewards of your capital.

我想從幻燈片 4 開始，重點介紹今天演示的 3 條關鍵信息。首先，我們的業務在第一季度取得了強勁的業績，我們維持 2022 年的指導範圍。其次，我們已經準備好進入夏季，採用平衡的風險管理策略，旨在通過動蕩的市場條件提供穩定性。最後，我們繼續推進我們的戰略增長重點，更貼近客戶，同時成為您資本的優秀管理者。

Moving to the first quarter results on Slide 5, we delivered top best I/O safety performance and $509 million of adjusted EBITDA. This result is in line with the first quarter of last year when adjusted for asset sales and the outage of Limestone. But when including supply chain constraints and higher ancillaries, it is a very strong result, driven by our core operations.

轉到幻燈片 5 的第一季度業績，我們提供了最佳 I/O 安全性能和 5.09 億美元的調整後 EBITDA。這一結果與去年第一季度的資產銷售和石灰石停運調整後的結果一致。但是，當包括供應鏈限制和更高的輔助因素時，這是一個非常強大的結果，由我們的核心業務驅動。

The Limestone power plant in Texas returned to service in April, on time, on budget and ready for the summer. I want to thank the operations team for completing this project on schedule despite a difficult supply chain backdrop.

德克薩斯州的石灰石發電廠於 4 月按時、按預算恢復服務，並為夏季做好準備。我要感謝運營團隊在困難的供應鏈背景下按時完成了這個項目。

Now moving to direct energy integration, we are reaffirming both 2022 and the full planned targets. As part of our capital-light strategy, we have now signed 2.6 gigawatts of renewable PPAs in ERCOT with 45% currently in service and the remaining expected to come online over the next couple of years. These assets are geographically diverse within Texas and have an average tenure of 12 years. We will continue to execute on this strategy and grow our renewable PPAs. But I do expect the development of renewable projects to slow down in the near term, given supply chain constraints and regulatory uncertainty.

現在轉向直接能源整合，我們正在重申 2022 年和全部計劃目標。作為我們輕資本戰略的一部分，我們現在已經在 ERCOT 簽署了 2.6 吉瓦的可再生電力採購協議，其中 45% 目前正在使用中，其餘的預計將在未來幾年內上線。這些資產在得克薩斯州境內分佈廣泛，平均使用期限為 12 年。我們將繼續執行這一戰略並發展我們的可再生購電協議。但鑑於供應鏈限制和監管不確定性，我確實預計可再生能源項目的發展在短期內會放緩。

Finally, we are executing on our $1 billion share buyback program, which Alberto will provide additional details. And we are maintaining our 2022 adjusted EBITDA and free cash flow before growth guidance ranges.

最後，我們正在執行 10 億美元的股票回購計劃，阿爾貝托將提供更多細節。在增長指導範圍之前，我們將維持 2022 年調整後的 EBITDA 和自由現金流。

Over the past few months, we all have seen the significant increase in energy prices, particularly natural gas. I want to take a moment to discuss how our business is positioned to navigate through these volatile market conditions on Slide 6, beginning on the left-hand side of the slide with our hedge tables for this year and next year.

在過去的幾個月裡，我們都看到了能源價格的顯著上漲，尤其是天然氣。在幻燈片 6 中，我想花一點時間討論我們的業務如何在這些動蕩的市場條件中導航，從幻燈片左側開始，我們將今年和明年的對沖表。

As you can see, we are well hedged against our expected load with a combination of our own generation portfolio and third-party hedges. This is by design as it also allows us to maintain predictable and stable margins while mitigating the impact of short-term market volatility for our customers. As a matter of fact, this is probably one of the biggest benefits of competitive markets. Retail companies that hedged can mitigate the impact of short-term market disruptions for their customers.

如您所見，我們通過結合我們自己的發電投資組合和第三方對沖來很好地對沖我們的預期負荷。這是設計使然，因為它還使我們能夠保持可預測和穩定的利潤率，同時減輕短期市場波動對客戶的影響。事實上，這可能是競爭市場的最大好處之一。對沖的零售公司可以減輕短期市場動盪對其客戶的影響。

In the medium to long term, our platform is uniquely positioned to manage structural changes in commodity prices. We have a proven commercial team that manages commodity price risk across our portfolio, all the way from our power plants to our retail brands, providing them with significant visibility on the fundamentals of our core markets.

從中長期來看，我們的平台在管理商品價格的結構性變化方面具有獨特優勢。我們擁有一支久經考驗的商業團隊，可以管理我們投資組合中的商品價格風險，從我們的發電廠到我們的零售品牌，為他們提供對我們核心市場基本面的重要可見性。

On the retail side, our pricing team has significant insights on price elasticity, given the scale and scope of our customer base. And finally, we have a multibrand, multichannel, multiproduct strategy that ensures we're tailoring solutions for each customer segment, while balancing customer retention and margins.

在零售方面，鑑於我們客戶群的規模和範圍，我們的定價團隊對價格彈性有深刻的見解。最後，我們擁有多品牌、多渠道、多產品戰略，確保我們為每個客戶群量身定制解決方案，同時平衡客戶保留率和利潤。

We continue to execute on our 5-year growth road map and are making great progress across many of our initiatives, as you can see on Slide 7. On our last earnings call, I provided an overview of all the solutions and capabilities currently available and in development for our customers in 2 areas: energy services and home services. Today, I want to focus on 1 area of growth that I'm especially excited about, energy resilience.

正如您在幻燈片 7 中看到的那樣，我們繼續執行我們的 5 年增長路線圖，並在我們的許多計劃中取得了巨大進展。在我們上次的財報電話會議上，我概述了當前可用的所有解決方案和功能，以及在兩個領域為我們的客戶開發：能源服務和家庭服務。今天，我想專注於我特別興奮的一個增長領域，即能源彈性。

Goal Zero is our home energy resilience and storage company that has been part of NRG since 2014. When we acquired the company, their primary focus was to serve a niche market of outdoor enthusiasts. And while they were a market leader in that space, the total addressable market was limited. Recognizing that extreme weather events and power outages were only going to increase, given climate change and an aging power grid, we shifted the company's strategy to address energy resilience head on.

零目標是我們的家庭能源彈性和存儲公司，自 2014 年以來一直是 NRG 的一部分。當我們收購該公司時，他們的主要重點是服務於戶外愛好者的利基市場。雖然他們是該領域的市場領導者，但總的潛在市場是有限的。鑑於氣候變化和電網老化，我們認識到極端天氣事件和停電只會增加，我們改變了公司的戰略，以解決能源彈性問題。

Today, Goal Zero's energy resilience products are clean, accessible and affordable. Their power stations and solar generators are modular and portable, , meaning they can provide resilience to any apartment, residential home or recreational vehicle of any size, something a gas generator or rooftop solar system cannot do. They're also scalable, enabling customers to design a resilient solution that can expand in the future, therefore, balancing budget and need.

今天，Goal Zero 的能源彈性產品是清潔、可及且負擔得起的。他們的發電站和太陽能發電機是模塊化和便攜式的，這意味著它們可以為任何大小的公寓、住宅或休閒車提供彈性，這是燃氣發電機或屋頂太陽能係統無法做到的。它們還具有可擴展性，使客戶能夠設計出可在未來擴展的彈性解決方案，從而平衡預算和需求。

Importantly, these products cost a fraction of what a standby genset or rooftop solar system cost fully installed, which allows us to serve an even broader customer base, and they require minimal installation. These are just some of the reasons why customers love Goal Zero products, giving them a Net Promoter Score above 70, a meeting that is typically reserved for best-in-class brands.

重要的是，這些產品的成本只是備用發電機組或屋頂太陽能係統完全安裝成本的一小部分，這使我們能夠為更廣泛的客戶群提供服務，並且它們需要最少的安裝。這些只是客戶喜歡零目標產品的部分原因，他們的淨推薦值高於 70，這是通常為一流品牌保留的會議。

In the last 3 years, Goal Zero has grown revenue at a 50% CAGR and gross margin of around 40%. While the overall revenue and gross margin of the business today remains small compared to the core operating platform, the energy resilience market is expected to grow at 50% CAGR through 2025, and we expect Goal Zero to grow along with it, and this is before considering external factors that could potentially drive growth even higher.

在過去 3 年中，Goal Zero 的收入以 50% 的複合年增長率和 40% 左右的毛利率增長。雖然與核心運營平台相比，今天業務的整體收入和毛利率仍然很小，但能源彈性市場預計到 2025 年將以 50% 的複合年增長率增長，我們預計零目標將隨之增長，這是之前考慮可能推動增長更高的外部因素。

For example, last December, California announced a ban on gas generator sales beginning in 2028. Such policy decisions by local and state governments will only increase demand for Goal Zero's products. The team is already working on the next generation of solar powered generators that will launch in 2023 with a focus on storage technology upgrades, enhanced home integration and a better digital customer experience. I look forward to providing you updates on their progress as we bring new products to market and integrate these solutions closer with our core energy offerings.

例如，去年 12 月，加利福尼亞宣布從 2028 年開始禁止銷售燃氣發電機。地方和州政府的此類政策決定只會增加對目標零產品的需求。該團隊已經在研究將於 2023 年推出的下一代太陽能發電機，重點是存儲技術升級、增強家庭集成和更好的數字客戶體驗。隨著我們將新產品推向市場並將這些解決方案與我們的核心能源產品更緊密地集成，我期待著為您提供有關他們進展的最新信息。

So with that, I will pass it over to Alberto for the financial review.

因此，我將把它交給阿爾貝托進行財務審查。

Thank you, Mauricio. I will now turn to Slide 9 for a review of the first quarter results. For the quarter, NRG delivered $509 million in adjusted EBITDA, a $58 million decrease versus prior year, excluding the impact of Winter Storm Uri in 2021. Results were reduced by $50 million for the divestiture of 4.8 gigawatt full-sized generation assets in the East and West and of the whole home warranty business.

謝謝你，毛里西奧。我現在將轉到幻燈片 9 來回顧第一季度的結果。本季度，NRG 實現了 5.09 億美元的調整後 EBITDA，比上年減少 5800 萬美元，不包括 2021 年烏里冬季風暴的影響。剝離東部 4.8 吉瓦全尺寸發電資產的結果減少了 5000 萬美元和西和的全家保修業務。

In addition, the lack of availability of Limestone Unit 1 in Q1 2022 and other outages impacted negatively the quarter. Excluding these items, adjusted EBITDA would have been higher than Q1 last year, and this strong result is driven by our diversified portfolio, allowing us to deliver through inflationary pressures and commodity price volatility.

此外，2022 年第一季度石灰石 1 號機組的可用性不足以及其他停電對該季度產生了負面影響。不包括這些項目，調整後的 EBITDA 將高於去年第一季度，而這一強勁結果是由我們多元化的投資組合推動的，使我們能夠應對通脹壓力和商品價格波動。

I'm also pleased to report the total impact of coal constraints have been limited to date. In Texas, lower power prices helped mitigate the overall coal requirement versus expectations. And in the East, we were able to procure more than what we initially estimated. Looking forward, while we have seen overall improvement in the availability of coal, the U.S. railroad delivery network remains fragile. And so while we have made progress in '18, the realized financial impact of the constraints, we continue to tightly manage our coal burn.

我也很高興地報告到目前為止，煤炭限制的總體影響是有限的。在德克薩斯州，較低的電價有助於緩解總體煤炭需求與預期相比。在東部，我們能夠採購到比我們最初估計的更多的東西。展望未來，雖然我們看到煤炭供應的整體改善，但美國的鐵路運輸網絡仍然脆弱。因此，雖然我們在 18 年取得了進展，限制因素的實際財務影響，但我們繼續嚴格管理我們的煤炭燃燒。

Moving to Q1 results by geography, Texas results were in line with prior year when factoring in the previously discussed plant outages. Turning to the East, West and Other segment, as in prior quarters, we were able to leverage our portfolio of natural gas assets to deliver strong results through a volatile market. These benefits were offset by the impact of previously discussed divestiture of generation assets and the whole home warranty business.

按地理劃分的第一季度結果，考慮到先前討論的工廠停電，德克薩斯州的結果與上一年一致。轉向東部、西部和其他部門，與前幾個季度一樣，我們能夠利用我們的天然氣資產組合在動蕩的市場中取得強勁的業績。這些好處被之前討論的發電資產剝離和整個家庭保修業務的影響所抵消。

We continue to make progress on our synergy target, delivering $31 million in incremental synergies during the quarter. We are quite pleased with this progress, and we are well on our way to deliver on our 2022 and full plan committee.

我們繼續在我們的協同效應目標上取得進展，在本季度實現了 3100 萬美元的增量協同效應。我們對這一進展感到非常滿意，並且我們正在順利實現我們的 2022 年和全面計劃委員會。

Lastly, you will note at the bottom of the slide that we are maintaining our previous guidance ranges for the full year adjusted EBITDA and free cash flow before growth. We remain focused on executing our overall 2022 plan, and we look forward to providing you additional updates throughout the year.

最後，您將在幻燈片底部注意到，我們將維持我們之前對全年調整後 EBITDA 和增長前自由現金流的指導範圍。我們將繼續專注於執行我們的 2022 年總體計劃，並期待在全年為您提供更多更新。

I will turn now to Slide 10 for a brief update on our 2022 capital allocation. Moving left to right at the midpoint of our free cash flow before growth, guidance remains unchanged at $1.290 billion. Next, a reminder on Winter Storm Uri, the total net 2021 earnings impact of the storm to energy was $380 million, which included an accrual for $696 million of expected mitigants. As we discussed on our fourth quarter call, we expect to receive $689 million by the end of the second quarter. And this will be partially offset by $97 million of bill credits that will be issued to C&I customers for a total net cash inflow of $599 million to be realized in 2022.

我現在將轉到幻燈片 10，簡要了解我們 2022 年的資本配置。在我們增長前的自由現金流的中點從左到右移動，指導保持不變，為 12.9 億美元。接下來，提醒一下冬季風暴烏里，風暴對能源的 2021 年淨收益總影響為 3.8 億美元，其中包括 6.96 億美元的預期緩解措施。正如我們在第四季度電話會議上所討論的，我們預計到第二季度末將收到 6.89 億美元。這將被向工商業客戶發放的 9700 萬美元的票據信貸部分抵消，2022 年將實現 5.99 億美元的總淨現金流入。

Moving to the right and focusing on the changes from last quarter shown in blue, total SPAC cash used to fund our $1.40 per share dividend decreased by $5 million as a result of less share outstanding. Next, we have made good progress in executing our $1 billion share repurchase program. Since the beginning of the year, we have repurchased $262 million to be added to the $39 million in 2021. The remaining balance of $699 million will be completed over the next several months.

向右移動並關注上一季度以藍色顯示的變化，由於流通股減少，用於支付每股 1.40 美元股息的 SPAC 現金總額減少了 500 萬美元。接下來，我們在執行 10 億美元的股票回購計劃方面取得了良好進展。自今年年初以來，我們已回購 2.62 億美元，以增加 2021 年的 3900 萬美元。剩餘的 6.99 億美元將在未來幾個月內完成。

Lastly, we expected to have $315 million of remaining cash available for allocation, of which we have earmarked approximately $100 million to fund the initial project in our $2 billion growth plan, which also includes initiatives that will be launched to accelerate the growth of our Goal Zero business.

最後，我們預計將有 3.15 億美元的剩餘現金可供分配，其中我們已指定約 1 億美元為我們 20 億美元增長計劃中的初始項目提供資金，其中還包括將啟動的旨在加速我們目標增長的舉措零業務。

Back to you, Mauricio.

回到你身邊，毛里西奧。

Thank you, Alberto. Now turning to Slide 12, I want to provide a few closing thoughts on today's presentation. We delivered very strong results for the first quarter despite volatile market conditions, and we are well positioned to deliver through all market cycles. .

謝謝你，阿爾貝托。現在轉到幻燈片 12，我想就今天的演示提供一些結束的想法。儘管市場條件動盪，我們在第一季度仍取得了非常強勁的業績，並且我們已做好準備在所有市場週期中取得成功。 .

Despite a backdrop of commodity price volatility, inflation and difficult economic conditions, 1 thing remains the same. Customers value our brands and the products and solutions we offer. We continue to be relentlessly focused on not just meeting the consumers where they are, but also looking around the corner to meet them where they're going. I have never been more excited about the future of NRG, and I look forward to updating you on our progress along the way as we execute on our growth road map.

儘管在大宗商品價格波動、通貨膨脹和困難的經濟條件的背景下，一件事保持不變。客戶重視我們的品牌以及我們提供的產品和解決方案。我們將繼續不懈地專注於不僅滿足消費者所在的位置，而且還環顧四周，在他們要去的地方與他們會面。我對 NRG 的未來感到前所未有的興奮，我期待著在我們執行增長路線圖的過程中向您介紹我們的進展情況。

So with that, I want to thank you for your time and interest in NRG. Kim, we're now ready to open the line for questions.

因此，我要感謝您對 NRG 的時間和興趣。金，我們現在可以開始提問了。

(Operator Instructions) Our first question comes from the line of Julien Dumoulin-Smith with Bank of America.

（操作員說明）我們的第一個問題來自美國銀行的 Julien Dumoulin-Smith。

Listen, so the marketplace has been focused on the volatility in the commodity price uptick of late. And obviously, the pivot that you guys have been towards an asset-light model has gotten folks' attention here. Can you guys address more squarely how you're thinking about mitigating those risks, especially on a longer-term basis as you think about not just the basic blocks, but the peaks and troughs, if you will, of consumption and how you're addressing the risk mitigation there? Just try to address some of these market fears, especially given how quickly the overall market backdrop has been moving.

聽著，所以市場一直關注最近大宗商品價格上漲的波動性。顯然，你們對輕資產模式的轉變已經引起了人們的注意。你們能否更直接地解決您如何考慮減輕這些風險，尤其是在長期基礎上，因為您不僅要考慮基本障礙，還要考慮消費的高峰和低谷，以及您現在的情況解決那裡的風險緩解問題？試著解決其中的一些市場擔憂，特別是考慮到整體市場背景的變化速度有多快。

And then maybe in tandem with that, can you speak to how your retail pricing is evolving, i.e., how quickly are you able to reflect this back to your customers right now? It seems like power to choose is seeing something of an uplift of late.

然後也許與此同步，您能否談談您的零售定價是如何演變的，即您現在能夠多快將其反映給您的客戶？似乎選擇的權力最近有所提升。

Yes, Julien. Well, okay. So this is a really long question and...

是的，朱利安。哦，那好吧。所以這是一個很長的問題，而且......

Take it as you will.

隨便拿吧。

We can take a long time to have this conversation. But let me just say that at the end of the day, we have designed a platform that is stable and provides visibility and stability on margins, right? So what we provided you on one of the slides is not just how we are positioned on the short term, medium term, but also to the long run. So for 2022, 2023, we're pretty well hedged against expected load, and I feel very comfortable with that.

我們可能需要很長時間才能進行這次對話。但我只想說，歸根結底，我們設計了一個穩定的平台，並提供利潤的可見性和穩定性，對吧？因此，我們在其中一張幻燈片上為您提供的不僅僅是我們在短期、中期的定位，還包括長期定位。因此，對於 2022 年和 2023 年，我們可以很好地對沖預期負載，我對此感到非常滿意。

As you think about perhaps -- if you have a structural change on the commodity price curve that is longer term, first of all, I think the industry does a really good job in passing through those costs, not only increasing cost but also decreasing costs. I mean that is one of the strengths of competitive markets. But the second thing, and I think this is very important, are the competitive advantages that we have as a company.

正如您所想的那樣-如果您對商品價格曲線進行長期的結構性變化，首先，我認為該行業在轉移這些成本方面做得非常好，不僅增加了成本，而且還降低了成本.我的意思是，這是競爭市場的優勢之一。但第二件事，我認為這非常重要，是我們作為一家公司所擁有的競爭優勢。

And I'm not going to list again everything that I put on the slide. But first, I will just tell you this. We have best-in-class risk management capabilities with our commercial team. We have a retail pricing team that is pricing customers every day and the insights that we get from that and the scale and scope of our customer base allows us just to have really good insights in terms of pricing, depending on different customer segments. And finally is our unique go-to-market strategy that we laid out, multi-brand product and channel that allows us to tailor solutions for each of the customer segments. So now obviously, that's like the big structure of how we provide more stability on margins.

我不會再次列出我放在幻燈片上的所有內容。但首先，我將告訴你這一點。我們的商業團隊擁有一流的風險管理能力。我們有一個零售定價團隊，每天都在為客戶定價，我們從中獲得的洞察力以及客戶群的規模和範圍使我們能夠根據不同的客戶群在定價方面擁有非常好的洞察力。最後是我們制定的獨特的上市戰略，多品牌產品和渠道，使我們能夠為每個客戶群量身定制解決方案。所以現在很明顯，這就像我們如何在利潤上提供更多穩定性的大結構。

Now keep in mind that we have also a lot of tools to be able to manage specific volatility for certain hours and for certain months. Not only we have the flex of risk management capability on the supply side, on the wholesale side and tremendous amount of information on how the power grid works. But also on the retail side, remember, we're working very closely with our customers to incentivize demand side management. So we actually help our customers lower their energy bills by incentivizing them to do them and respond. So not only we have capabilities on the wholesale side, but we also have tools on the retail side to ensure that we balance our position. And we -- at the end of the day, the goal is to have stable margins and help our customers with managing their own bills.

現在請記住，我們還有很多工具可以管理特定時間和特定月份的特定波動性。我們不僅在供應端、批發端擁有靈活的風險管理能力，而且還擁有關於電網運作方式的大量信息。但在零售方面，請記住，我們正在與客戶密切合作，以激勵需求方管理。因此，我們實際上通過激勵他們去做並做出回應來幫助我們的客戶降低他們的能源費用。因此，我們不僅在批發方面有能力，而且在零售方面也有工具來確保我們平衡我們的地位。而我們——歸根結底，我們的目標是獲得穩定的利潤並幫助我們的客戶管理自己的賬單。

And if you don't mind, Mauricio, I mean, more strategically here, you guys have been on this journey towards an asset-light model for a little while here. What is the latest uptick in commodity prices impact that, right? And what I mean by that is, is there actually an opportunity to monetize your generation assets at yet a higher value now? Does that actually tilt you towards monetizing further rather than this perception that owning generation right now is the right way forward?

如果你不介意，毛里西奧，我的意思是，在這裡更具戰略意義的是，你們已經在這裡向輕資產模式邁進了一段時間。大宗商品價格的最新上漲對此有何影響，對吧？我的意思是，現在真的有機會以更高的價值將您的發電資產貨幣化嗎？這是否真的使您傾向於進一步貨幣化，而不是認為現在擁有一代是正確的前進方向？

Well, I mean, I think we embrace the asset-light strategy a few years ago. We launched the renewable PPAs, Julien, and I think everybody can see now the benefits of it, given the increase in commodity prices. So I am very pleased with the team and how they executed. Today, we provided 1 additional disclosure, which is how many of those megawatts now are in line or on service. We continue to work with developers and our partners to continue growing. Those megawatts add value for us and also add value for them, because we provide them a much needed long-term contracts so they can actually finance those renewable plants and bring them to market.

好吧，我的意思是，我認為我們在幾年前就接受了輕資產戰略。我們推出了可再生 PPA，Julien，鑑於商品價格的上漲，我認為現在每個人都可以看到它的好處。所以我對團隊以及他們的執行方式感到非常滿意。今天，我們提供了一項額外的披露，即現在有多少兆瓦在生產線上或投入使用。我們將繼續與開發人員和我們的合作夥伴合作以繼續發展。這些兆瓦為我們增加了價值，也為他們增加了價值，因為我們為他們提供了急需的長期合同，這樣他們就可以真正為這些可再生能源工廠提供資金並將它們推向市場。

With respect to how I think about the generation portfolio in context of our retail, remember, now we -- a few years ago, we shifted the focus of the generation portfolio. Now their purpose now is to serve our customers. And I think we have done exactly that by rightsizing our generation portfolio and making sure that we keep the assets and not just own, but also third-party contracted assets to better serve our customers in the most cost-effective way. So I think that's going to continue to be our North Star as we look at optimizing our portfolio and the rest of our generation portfolio going forward.

關於我如何看待我們零售環境中的發電組合，請記住，現在我們 - 幾年前，我們轉移了發電組合的重點。現在他們的目的是為我們的客戶服務。我認為我們已經做到了這一點，通過調整我們的發電組合併確保我們保留資產，而不僅僅是擁有，還包括第三方合同資產，以便以最具成本效益的方式更好地為我們的客戶服務。因此，我認為這將繼續成為我們的北極星，因為我們著眼於優化我們的產品組合和我們未來的其他一代產品組合。

Our next question comes from the line of Shahriar Pourreza with Guggenheim.

我們的下一個問題來自古根海姆的 Shahriar Pourreza。

I just want to just follow up on Julien's question, maybe just drill down a little bit on the capital-light strategy, especially if these curves aren't transitory, right, the moves. I mean maybe looking at -- sort of at slightly different angle, is there any potential interest even on the margin of owning generation, especially if the curve moves aren't transitory?

我只是想跟進 Julien 的問題，也許只是深入研究輕資本策略，特別是如果這些曲線不是暫時的，對，就是這些動作。我的意思是也許從稍微不同的角度來看，即使在擁有一代的邊緣是否有任何潛在的興趣，特別是如果曲線移動不是暫時的？

And I couldn't get a sense with your prepared remarks. Do you believe the curve moves are transitory or sort of sticky and even have more upside given what's been going around us? So what are you assuming with your planning assumptions?

我無法理解你準備好的言論。你認為曲線移動是暫時的還是有點粘性的，考慮到我們周圍發生的事情，甚至還有更多的上行空間？那麼，您對規劃假設有何假設？

Well, so let's start with the last part of your question. I mean, when I look at the forward curves today, particularly in ERCOT, from my perspective, a forward curve should actually reflect the fundamentals of a market. And when I look at the fundamentals of the ERCOT market today, what I see is very healthy reserve margins. I think this year, we're going to be around in the high 20%. And over the planning period on the next 5 years, I think it goes to low 30%. I think this has been the highest reserve margin since the market went competitive more than a few years ago. .

好吧，讓我們從你問題的最後一部分開始。我的意思是，當我看今天的遠期曲線時，特別是在 ERCOT 中，從我的角度來看，遠期曲線實際上應該反映市場的基本面。當我查看今天 ERCOT 市場的基本面時，我看到的是非常健康的儲備利潤率。我認為今年，我們將保持在 20% 左右。在未來 5 年的規劃期內，我認為它會降至 30% 的低點。我認為這是自幾年前市場競爭激烈以來的最高儲備保證金。 .

So now there is a fundamental shift here in terms of the composition of that reserve margin, and that is the amount of renewable energy that we have in the market. So when renewables perform well, we have plenty of capacity to mid low. When renewables don't perform that well, it's a little tighter. But I mean, when you look at a 26%, 27% reserve margin for the year, it's kind of hard to justify some of the scarcity hours that are embedded in the forward prices. So -- and if you put on top of that how ERCOT is running the grid, which is very conservative, I would think that, perhaps, there is a little too much excitement right now in the forward market that [dislocated] from the fundamental reality of the market.

因此，就儲備邊際的構成而言，現在這裡發生了根本性的轉變，這就是我們在市場上擁有的可再生能源的數量。因此，當可再生能源表現良好時，我們有足夠的產能到中低端。當可再生能源表現不佳時，情況會更加緊張。但我的意思是，當你看到今年 26%、27% 的儲備利潤率時，很難證明遠期價格中包含的一些稀缺時間是合理的。所以 - 如果你把 ERCOT 是如何運行電網的，這是非常保守的，我認為，也許，現在遠期市場有點過於興奮，[錯位]了基本面市場的現實。

So I mean that's how I think about it and I mean that's my perspective on the market. Obviously, market prices for us are being -- or have been very muted in our business strategy. Our platform -- our integrated platform will perform under a number of commodity price cycles, whether it's low or whether it's high, and we have proven that.

所以我的意思是這就是我的想法，我的意思是我對市場的看法。顯然，對我們來說，市場價格在我們的業務戰略中正在——或者已經非常低調。我們的平台——我們的集成平台將在多個商品價格週期下運行，無論是低還是高，我們已經證明了這一點。

Now with your first question around what does that mean for our asset-light strategy and for that matter, for our supply strategy. Our supply strategy will always be informed by market dynamics. Always. It's not like we have a strategy and then we go to bed and wake up 3 years later. So based on what we're seeing now, and importantly, what ERCOT and the PUCT are doing to provide more regulatory certainty around market design changes, that is going to inform how are we going to optimize our generation portfolio going forward.

現在，您的第一個問題是，這對我們的輕資產戰略以及我們的供應戰略意味著什麼。我們的供應策略將始終以市場動態為依據。總是。這不像我們有一個策略，然後我們上床睡覺並在 3 年後醒來。因此，根據我們現在看到的情況，重要的是，ERCOT 和 PUCT 正在做些什麼來為市場設計變化提供更多的監管確定性，這將告知我們將如何優化我們未來的發電組合。

I don't know if that means more asset capital-light megawatts. I don't know if that means partnering with some developers to bring new generation to market. I think at the end of the day, we all recognize that we need more dispatchable generation in the system, and that's a good thing. And we know that we can play a big role of that, but the role that we're going to play is different than what we have done in the past.

我不知道這是否意味著更多的資產資本輕兆瓦。我不知道這是否意味著與一些開發商合作將新一代產品推向市場。我認為最終，我們都認識到系統中需要更多可調度的生成，這是一件好事。我們知道我們可以在其中發揮重要作用，但我們將要扮演的角色與我們過去所做的不同。

Got it. That's helpful. And then, Mauricio, can you just maybe be slightly more specific on what you're seeing in the PPA market today, given sort of the commodity moves in the tariff circumvention tail was. I mean, have you been able to add contracts as needed this spring? And any issues with your current contracts that may be under construction now? So just maybe elaborate a little bit on potential slowdowns in that market.

知道了。這很有幫助。然後，毛里西奧，考慮到關稅規避尾部的商品走勢，您能否更具體地了解您今天在 PPA 市場上看到的情況。我的意思是，今年春天你能根據需要添加合同嗎？您當前可能正在建設的合同有任何問題嗎？因此，也許可以稍微詳細說明一下該市場的潛在放緩。

Sure. Well, I'm going to ask Rob Gaudette, he's been leading our renewable PPA effort for now quite some time and now you have -- you're parked and you're lodged. So Rob?

當然。好吧，我要問 Rob Gaudette，他領導我們的可再生 PPA 工作已經有一段時間了，現在你已經 - 你已經停好車了。所以羅布?

So let me take that in parts. So as we disclosed today, we've got 45% of the portfolio flowing, right? So we've got no risks on that side, which is a good thing, and it's working out for us in a lot of ways. We also have an additional set of contracts. You can -- the 55% that's out there. We have minimal, like, less than 100 megs of stuff that we're expecting this year and then the stuff -- the rest is out in the '23 and '24.

所以讓我把它分成幾部分。因此，正如我們今天披露的那樣，我們有 45% 的投資組合流動，對吧？所以我們在這方面沒有風險，這是一件好事，而且它在很多方面對我們有用。我們還有一套額外的合同。你可以 - 那裡的 55%。我們今年預計的東西很少，比如不到 100 兆，然後是這些東西——其餘的將在 23 和 24 年推出。

We are in communication with these guys on a monthly basis. If they're starting into their construction phase, so that depends on when the contract starts. We're monitoring that just like we would any other power plant. And just -- we've said this before, but I'll say it again for history. We're in the market every, call it, 3 to 6 months with a new RFP, looking and assessing every type of product so that we can build a portfolio for the business.

我們每個月都會與這些人進行溝通。如果他們開始進入建設階段，這取決於合同何時開始。我們正在監控它，就像我們監控任何其他發電廠一樣。只是 - 我們之前已經說過，但我會再說一遍歷史。我們每 3 到 6 個月都在市場上推出新的 RFP，尋找和評估每種類型的產品，以便我們可以為業務建立投資組合。

As you would expect, people's prices are going up over time and a lot of that uncertainty is around things like labor or general inflation around steel. The Commerce lawsuit right now, that's obviously scared the market. To date, any of our contracts that we have out in front of us that are not flowing, we haven't received any notices or issues. We monitor that, and we talk to those guys fairly regularly.

正如你所預料的那樣，人們的價格隨著時間的推移而上漲，其中很多不確定性是圍繞勞動力或鋼鐵普遍通脹等問題。現在的Commerce訴訟，這顯然嚇壞了市場。迄今為止，我們面前的任何沒有流動的合同，我們都沒有收到任何通知或問題。我們對此進行監控，並定期與這些人交談。

But Mauricio said it and I concur, I would expect, given the price environment, meaning the cost environment for developers, I would expect a little bit of a slowdown in renewable development kind of across the country. Does that answer your question?

但毛里西奧這麼說，我同意，我預計，鑑於價格環境，這意味著開發商的成本環境，我預計全國可再生能源發展會有所放緩。這是否回答你的問題？

It does. It was actually pretty comprehensive.

確實如此。它實際上非常全面。

Shar, just to put a finer point on what Rob said. I mean the remaining 55% is basically 2023 and 2024. We don't have any exposure right now in 2022 from projects that will come online. I mean, it's de minims. So we feel very comfortable with our portfolio going forward.

Shar，只是為了更好地說明 Rob 所說的話。我的意思是剩下的 55% 基本上是 2023 年和 2024 年。我們現在在 2022 年沒有任何來自即將上線的項目的曝光。我的意思是，這是最低限度的。因此，我們對未來的投資組合感到非常滿意。

The next question comes from the line of Angie Storozynski with Seaport.

下一個問題來自 Seaport 的 Angie Storozynski。

So my first question is about Midwest Gen. Can you tell us anything about these assets? I mean do you have additional coal supplies to run these assets more in this current natural gas price environment and how that ties into your earnings outlook for this year and maybe even forward years?

所以我的第一個問題是關於 Midwest Gen。你能告訴我們關於這些資產的任何信息嗎？我的意思是，在當前的天然氣價格環境下，您是否有額外的煤炭供應來更多地運營這些資產，這與您今年甚至未來幾年的盈利前景有何關聯？

Yes, Angie. So let me just start by saying that the Midwest Generation portfolio, we announced a few retirements at the Investor Day, if you remember, Angie. And all we're doing right now is we're -- some of those assets are just moving to retirement. I think we extended 1 of those -- we extended Waukegan 1 month just because we need to burn the coal pile. And that is -- I mean, of course, it will capture additional economics. But the most important thing is from an environmental standpoint, I think it's better that we just go through the pile as opposed to bring in trucks and getting the coal out. So I think that's the main goal.

是的，安吉。所以讓我先說中西部一代投資組合，如果你還記得的話，我們在投資者日宣布了一些退休。我們現在正在做的就是我們 - 其中一些資產剛剛退休。我認為我們延長了其中 1 個月——我們延長了沃基根 1 個月，只是因為我們需要燒掉煤堆。那就是 - 我的意思是，當然，它將獲得額外的經濟利益。但最重要的是從環境的角度來看，我認為我們最好只是通過堆而不是引入卡車並將煤炭取出。所以我認為這是主要目標。

And with respect to whether you can extend the life of the assets that we announced retirement, no, we're not going to. I mean, and the main reason why is because there is a tremendous amount of logistics that go into it from personnel to maintenance dollars to fuel supply. So once you make a decision like this, it's very hard to pull back, and we are not going to pull back. Obviously, the other 2 assets, Powerton and Joliet, will continue to operate. And whether you have higher energy prices or higher capacity prices or whatever dynamics are, they will -- we'll optimize those assets.

至於您是否可以延長我們宣布退休的資產的壽命，不，我們不會。我的意思是，主要原因是因為從人員到維護資金再到燃料供應，需要大量的後勤工作。所以一旦你做出這樣的決定，就很難退縮，我們也不會退縮。顯然，其他 2 項資產 Powerton 和 Joliet 將繼續運營。無論您有更高的能源價格或更高的容量價格或任何動態，它們都會 - 我們將優化這些資產。

Now I want to remind you, Angie, that we actually zeroed out the contribution of the Midwest Gen portfolio on our economic outlook that we provided to you at Investor Day. So I think this is an important part. So we actually have no -- we haven't reflected any economic contribution from these assets.

現在我想提醒你，安吉，我們實際上將中西部一代投資組合對我們在投資者日提供給你的經濟前景的貢獻歸零。所以我認為這是一個重要的部分。所以我們實際上沒有 - 我們沒有反映這些資產的任何經濟貢獻。

And moving on to Texas and also your 2022 guidance. So you mentioned that any sort of constraints related to coal have subsided even though rail services is still fragile. You had low realized power prices in Texas while Limestone was out. The Limestone is back. So those were 2 big drags on your 2022 guidance. So is there any offset as you -- as we stand right now to your expectations for 2022? I'm just wondering why they haven't moved up?

繼續前往德克薩斯州以及您的 2022 年指導。所以你提到任何與煤炭有關的限制已經消退，儘管鐵路服務仍然很脆弱。石灰石退出時，德克薩斯州的實際電價很低。石灰石回來了。因此，這對您的 2022 年指導造成了兩大拖累。那麼，正如我們現在對您對 2022 年的期望所持的立場一樣，您是否有任何抵消？我只是想知道他們為什麼沒有上升？

Yes. So I mean, as I mentioned, we have a really strong quarter -- first quarter. The team did an excellent job in managing supply chain issues with coal, particularly product availability. And as Alberto mentioned, now the issue is around railroad logistics and cycle times. We're working with our railroad partners as we go into the summer. And so those constraints or those supply chain issues have moved now from product to transportation.

是的。所以我的意思是，正如我所提到的，我們有一個非常強勁的季度——第一季度。該團隊在管理煤炭供應鏈問題方面做得非常出色，尤其是產品可用性。正如阿爾貝託所提到的，現在的問題在於鐵路物流和周期時間。進入夏季，我們正在與鐵路合作夥伴合作。因此，這些限製或供應鏈問題現在已經從產品轉移到了運輸。

I think I'm not -- I'm very comfortable that the team is going to manage them well. But at the same time, we need to be prudent. In the past, Angie, I have revised our guidance in the third quarter call, and I am going to continue to do that. I'm very optimistic where we are. And now just to keep in mind, just like we're managing some of those headwinds that we had in the outset of the year, we're also deploying some growth capital dollars.

我想我不是——我很高興球隊能很好地管理他們。但與此同時，我們也需要謹慎。過去，安吉，我在第三季度電話會議中修改了我們的指導，我將繼續這樣做。我對我們所處的位置非常樂觀。現在請記住，就像我們在管理年初遇到的一些不利因素一樣，我們也在部署一些增長資本。

And I think we earmarked that for this year around $100 million, which is 5% of our $2 billion. So that is embedded within the guidance. So you have some puts and takes. And while we have been able to manage really well our coal constraints, that has been offset by the capital that we're deploying for growth, which will have a return, but nonetheless, it was not part of the original guidance. So think of that as the loss of mines.

而且我認為我們為今年預留了大約 1 億美元，這是我們 20 億美元的 5%。因此，它包含在指導中。所以你有一些看跌期權。雖然我們能夠很好地管理我們的煤炭限制，但這已經被我們為增長而部署的資本所抵消，這將有回報，但儘管如此，這並不是最初指導的一部分。因此，可以將其視為地雷的損失。

Okay. And lastly, it looks like the summer came early to Texas or is about to come early to Texas. We wish we have the case in the Northeast. But anyway, so how -- I mean, everybody talks about the strong load, and I know that the biggest risk to your retail assets or retail earnings is your accurate estimates of load and hedging of that load. I mean as you go into this next week, next couple of days, like, how concerned are you?

好的。最後，德克薩斯州的夏天似乎來得早，或者德克薩斯州即將到來。我們希望我們在東北有這個案子。但無論如何，如何 - 我的意思是，每個人都在談論強大的負載，我知道您的零售資產或零售收益的最大風險是您對負載的準確估計和對該負載的對沖。我的意思是，當你進入下週，接下來的幾天，比如，你有多擔心？

Okay. Well, I will ask Rob to -- with this new responsibility to address that. And yes, Rob?

好的。好吧，我會要求 Rob —— 以這個新的責任來解決這個問題。是的，羅布？

So I'm not going to go into the how scared I am on a Friday before a weekend event. But I'll tell you that we saw, and I'm sure you've seen the weekend was trading, call it, in the $300 to $400 range at the beginning of the week. That was a concern around heat, which we are getting early heat here in Texas, but it was also concern about lack of wind.

因此，我不打算在周末活動之前的星期五談論我有多害怕。但我會告訴你，我們看到了，而且我敢肯定你已經看到週末在本周初的 300 至 400 美元範圍內交易。這是對熱量的擔憂，我們在得克薩斯州這裡很早，但也擔心缺乏風。

The heat has moderated model over models. The market is half of where it was and wind is up. But as we go into these events, we feel very comfortable where we're at because we are hedging up our load going into it. And then when it comes to excursion time inside of a 1 week or 2 weeks, we're managing and watching that, but we also have our fleet ready to go for events like this. So I'm going to sweep okay.

熱量已經緩和了模型的模型。市場是原來的一半，風起雲湧。但是當我們進入這些事件時，我們會感到非常舒服，因為我們正在對沖我們的負擔。然後，當涉及 1 週或 2 週內的遊覽時間時，我們正在管理和觀察這一點，但我們也有我們的車隊準備好參加這樣的活動。所以我要掃一掃就好了。

Angie, if I can just take a little bit of a step back, and I know Rob focus on NRG specifically. But I mean, keep in mind that the ERCOT system is designed for summer weather. And I think we have been very successful in managing through a number of record peak loads. So yes, this is certainly heat, but it's not like the system -- the electric system wasn't designed to handle this type of load.

安吉，如果我能退後一點，我知道羅布特別關注 NRG。但我的意思是，請記住，ERCOT 系統是為夏季天氣設計的。而且我認為我們已經非常成功地管理了許多創紀錄的峰值負載。所以，是的，這肯定是熱量，但它不像系統——電力系統不是為處理這種類型的負載而設計的。

So I mean, I feel that the supply and the amount of capacity that exists in the market is good to meet the demand, and we have a lot more capabilities to actually manage demand today than we did before. So as Rob said, I think our risk management and our supply is going to be okay as we go into the next couple of days and then going into the summer.

所以我的意思是，我覺得市場上存在的供應和容量足以滿足需求，而且我們今天有比以前更多的能力來實際管理需求。所以正如 Rob 所說，我認為我們的風險管理和供應會好起來，因為我們會進入接下來的幾天，然後進入夏季。

The next question comes from the line of Keith Stanley with Wolfe Research.

下一個問題來自沃爾夫研究公司的基思斯坦利。

First, I just wanted to clarify the prior question. The $100 million of growth investment that's earmarked for later this year, is that part of CapEx? Or is that in operating cost and could impact EBITDA for the year?

首先，我只是想澄清前面的問題。今年晚些時候指定的 1 億美元增長投資是資本支出的一部分嗎？或者是在運營成本方面，可能會影響當年的 EBITDA？

It's a combination. If you remember during Investor Day, I said as we start deploying this growth capital, it's going to be a combination of OpEx and CapEx. And the way you need to think about the OpEx is when we're doing this organic growth, some of it is going to be just incremental selling and marketing and acquiring customers. Remember, the growth is not just adding new capabilities, but also growing our core offerings of power, gas and dual-fuel.

這是一個組合。如果您還記得在投資者日期間，我說過當我們開始部署這種增長資本時，它將是運營支出和資本支出的結合。您需要考慮運營支出的方式是，當我們進行這種有機增長時，其中一些將只是增量銷售和營銷以及獲取客戶。請記住，增長不僅僅是增加新功能，還包括增加我們在電力、天然氣和雙燃料方面的核心產品。

So it's going to be a combination. And that's why I was saying, as you think about the guidance that we provided, we've seen some really good management on coal supply issues and that's offset by some of the capital that we're deploying that will have a return. But remember, when you're doing this organic type of growth, that return can -- there is a lag, 12 to 18 months. So there is that offset in our results, and that's why I feel very comfortable maintaining our guidance.

所以這將是一個組合。這就是為什麼我說，當你考慮我們提供的指導時，我們已經看到了一些關於煤炭供應問題的非常好的管理，而這被我們正在部署的一些資本所抵消，這些資本將獲得回報。但請記住，當你進行這種有機增長時，回報可能會存在 12 到 18 個月的滯後。因此，我們的結果存在這種抵消，這就是為什麼我對維持我們的指導感到非常自在。

A separate question, just wanted to ask on direct. It seems like the business is doing very well with the gas price volatility that we're seeing. Can you talk a little more to some of the key gas logistics assets and contracts you have at direct, I guess, where they're located and maybe some more examples of how you're able to optimize around the gas price volatility that we're seeing?

一個單獨的問題，只是想直接問。看起來該業務在我們看到的汽油價格波動方面做得很好。你能多談談你直接擁有的一些關鍵天然氣物流資產和合同嗎？再看？

So you mean give you the secret sauce for how we optimize our gas business, Keith? Well, let me just tell you. As I have described the business in the past, this is really a logistics business. We don't take price risk on Henry Hub. So when we sign customers, we buy the supply. And as we are serving those customers, there is a lot of assets that come with it. And those assets can be gas storage, pipeline capacity, LDC -- contracts with the LDC, distribution assets. And -- so this is really a basis optimization business and basis -- when you're optimizing just the different regional points, it's all about information.

所以你的意思是給你我們如何優化天然氣業務的秘訣，基思？好吧，讓我告訴你。正如我過去所描述的那樣，這確實是一項物流業務。我們不對 Henry Hub 承擔價格風險。因此，當我們簽約客戶時，我們會購買供應。當我們為這些客戶提供服務時，隨之而來的是很多資產。這些資產可以是儲氣庫、管道容量、最不發達國家——與最不發達國家的合同、分銷資產。而且——所以這實際上是一個基礎優化業務和基礎——當你只優化不同的區域點時，這都是關於信息的。

And I mean, I already described our commercial operations team and I have -- and in the past, I have said that the gas commercial operations team that we acquired from Direct Energy is best-in-class. I have been incredibly impressed and I think the results speak for themselves. So without going into specific things on what pipeline capacity we have or what storage we have, all I will tell you, it is a very good business as predictable and the team is best-in-class. And I'm really excited that -- of the capability that we have.

我的意思是，我已經描述了我們的商業運營團隊，而且我已經 - 過去，我說過我們從 Direct Energy 收購的天然氣商業運營團隊是一流的。我印象非常深刻，我認為結果不言自明。因此，無需詳細說明我們擁有什麼管道容量或我們擁有什麼存儲，我只會告訴你，這是一項非常好的業務，可以預測，並且團隊是一流的。我真的很興奮——我們擁有的能力。

And also 1 important aspect, it's actually complementary to our power business. So usually, when gas prices rise, people get concerned about power. Well, now we have an opportunity to monetize some of that volatility in the gas market and complement that with our power business. So really excited about what we put together between power and gas.

還有一個重要方面，它實際上是對我們電力業務的補充。所以通常，當天然氣價格上漲時，人們會擔心電力。好吧，現在我們有機會將天然氣市場的部分波動貨幣化，並與我們的電力業務相輔相成。對我們在電力和天然氣之間的結合感到非常興奮。

Our final question comes from the line of Jonathan Arnold with Vertical Research.

我們的最後一個問題來自 Vertical Research 的 Jonathan Arnold。

Just a couple on the new businesses and maybe 1 that you exited, I think. The focus on Goal Zero, today, Mauricio, is that sort of one of the things you're doing? Or just how -- is it the one that's sort of you're most focused on? Or do you just kind of pull out as an example for us?

我想只有一些關於新業務的新業務，也許還有你退出的 1 個。毛里西奧，今天關注零目標是你正在做的事情之一嗎？或者只是如何——它是你最關注的那個嗎？或者你只是作為我們的榜樣？

Yes. Well, I mean, so 2 things. Number one, it is an incredibly exciting market. The energy resilience market has grown leaps and bounds over the past couple of years. That is the result of what we are all experiencing in terms of extreme weather events, power outages. California is a perfect example. So we have been working on these and perfecting the energy solutions for a number of years.

是的。好吧，我的意思是，有兩件事。第一，這是一個令人難以置信的令人興奮的市場。在過去的幾年裡，能源彈性市場取得了長足的發展。這是我們所有人在極端天氣事件、停電方面所經歷的結果。加利福尼亞就是一個很好的例子。因此，我們多年來一直致力於這些並完善能源解決方案。

Today, we're kind of pulling the vail of this business a little bit more, as I committed to all of you to increase disclosures during the year. The energy solutions that they have meet a customers' needs today. It is an engaged market. The growth that we're seeing is very attractive. The margins that we have are very attractive because of these nascent characteristic of this new market.

今天，由於我向你們所有人承諾，在這一年中增加披露，我們正在稍微拉動這項業務的面紗。他們擁有的能源解決方案滿足了當今客戶的需求。這是一個活躍的市場。我們看到的增長非常有吸引力。由於這個新市場的這些新生特徵，我們擁有的利潤非常有吸引力。

And importantly, I will tell you that the -- what -I've seen the team work on the next generation of solutions in terms of integrating different storage technologies, looking at the power electronics. So it's easier to interface with the critical circuits in your home and this digital customer interface. I'm just very excited about the solutions that we're bringing to the market that I think -- right now, there is a big, big niche that is not met by other distributed gen technology, GM technologies, whether it's the big batteries or whatever, t's gas generators.

重要的是，我會告訴你 - 我看到團隊在集成不同存儲技術方面致力於下一代解決方案，著眼於電力電子設備。因此，您可以更輕鬆地與您家中的關鍵電路和此數字客戶界面進行交互。我對我們為市場帶來的解決方案感到非常興奮，我認為——現在，有一個很大的利基市場，這是其他分佈式發電技術、通用技術、無論是大電池都無法滿足的。或者其他什麼，燃氣發電機。

So all I will tell you is that this is a very exciting and important part of our capability. And importantly, it's complementary to the existing business that we have. So we see a lot of potential on cross-selling, bundling these energy resilience to our current offerings.

所以我要告訴你的是，這是我們能力中非常令人興奮和重要的一部分。重要的是，它是對我們現有業務的補充。因此，我們看到了交叉銷售的巨大潛力，將這些能源彈性與我們當前的產品捆綁在一起。

Could you give us any insight, Mauricio, into how much of what you've done so far is cross-sold and where it's sort of multiproduct customers or to what extent it's sort of doing its own thing?

毛里西奧，您能否告訴我們到目前為止您所做的有多少是交叉銷售的，以及它在哪裡是多產品客戶，或者它在多大程度上是在做自己的事情？

I mean, right now, it is really the market -- the product on its own has been incredibly exciting because of -- particularly in California. But this is an area that we're focusing on right now on the cross-sell, right? How do you create these new products and -- with our existing offering. So you're going to hear a whole lot more about that in the coming months and quarters. This is the focus right now of that business. And like I said, I mean, product always has an evolution. And I think that the energy solution that we have right now is 1 that just fits very well with the current core offering that we give to our customers.

我的意思是，現在，它真的是市場——產品本身就非常令人興奮，因為——尤其是在加利福尼亞。但這是我們現在關注交叉銷售的一個領域，對吧？您如何使用我們現有的產品創建這些新產品。因此，在接下來的幾個月和幾個季度中，您將聽到更多關於此的信息。這是該業務目前的重點。就像我說的，我的意思是，產品總是有進化的。而且我認為我們現在擁有的能源解決方案非常適合我們為客戶提供的當前核心產品。

And maybe if I could just squeeze in, any comment on why you decided to exit the home service -- the warranty business, which I think was part of the sort of suite that you laid out at the Analyst Day, and then it maybe might have come with direct, if I remember correctly.

如果我能插話，就你決定退出家庭服務的原因發表任何評論——保修業務，我認為這是你在分析師日佈置的那種套件的一部分，然後它可能會如果我沒記錯的話，直接來的。

Yes. So Jonathan, if you remember, I said to all of you during Investor Day that we were evaluating every single one of these capabilities to provide a new experience on 2 big categories, energy services and home services. But I also mentioned to all of you that we didn't need to completely vertically integrate every single 1 of them. In some cases, we were going to partner. In some cases, we were going to own the entire value chain.

是的。所以喬納森，如果你還記得的話，我在投資者日期間對你們所有人說，我們正在評估這些能力中的每一項，以在能源服務和家庭服務兩大類別提供新的體驗。但我也向大家提到，我們不需要完全垂直整合它們中的每一個。在某些情況下，我們打算合作。在某些情況下，我們將擁有整個價值鏈。

In the case of energy resilience and Goal Zero, we are going to own it. We're going to have it, and we're moving this forward. In the case of Home work here from America, we decided to monetize these and keep in mind that, that was the thing that we're not going to be on home services. You need to think about this in 2 ways. You have home protection and you have whole home warranties. So what we sold is the whole home warranties and what we're advancing is the home protection services. So I mean, my expectation is that in the future, we're going to work with our strategic partners for the home warranty -- whole home warranty business. And right now, we're testing and learning our home protection.

在能源彈性和零目標的情況下，我們將擁有它。我們將擁有它，並且我們正在向前推進。對於來自美國的家庭工作，我們決定將這些貨幣化並記住，這是我們不會提供家庭服務的事情。你需要從兩個方面考慮這個問題。你有家庭保護，你有整個家庭的保證。所以我們賣的是整個家庭保修，我們正在推進的是家庭保護服務。所以我的意思是，我的期望是，在未來，我們將與我們的戰略合作夥伴合作進行家庭保修——整個家庭保修業務。現在，我們正在測試和學習我們的家庭保護。

We have 1 more question from Michael Lapides from Goldman Sachs.

我們還有 1 個來自高盛的 Michael Lapides 的問題。

It's a 2-parter, but they're obviously related. And it's stuff that we thought about prior to Winter Storm Uri, but when you first announced direct. First of all, what's your expectation? Or how are you thinking about the growth in mass market customer counts in Texas, meaning what you think your market growth, just number of individual accounts do you think there's sort of? And kind of what are you embedding in your forecast for that? And how you're thinking about customer churn?

這是一個兩部分，但它們顯然是相關的。這是我們在 Winter Storm Uri 之前考慮的東西，但是當你第一次直接宣佈時。首先，你的期望是什麼？或者您如何看待德克薩斯州大眾市場客戶數量的增長，這意味著您認為您的市場增長是多少，您認為個人賬戶的數量是多少？你在預測中嵌入了什麼？您如何看待客戶流失？

Good. Michael, I'm going to ask Elizabeth to address the customer retention and customer count. Elizabeth?

好的。邁克爾，我要請伊麗莎白解決客戶保留和客戶數量問題。伊麗莎白？

Yes, Michael, thanks for the question. So I'll start by saying that we are very pleased with both our customer acquisition and our customer retention performance. You may recall, last year was a record year for retention for us, and that is all underneath that acquisition. So one of the things that -- the DE acquisition, which was sizable. And every time we do a major acquisition, you do see some transition of customers, and I am really happy with our performance. And as I mentioned, it's slightly better than we expected for first quarter and acquisition is also slightly better than first quarter.

是的，邁克爾，謝謝你的提問。所以我首先要說的是，我們對我們的客戶獲取和客戶保留表現都非常滿意。您可能還記得，去年對我們來說是一個創紀錄的留存年份，而這一切都在收購背後。所以其中一件事 - 收購DE，這是相當大的。每次我們進行重大收購時，您都會看到一些客戶的轉變，我對我們的表現感到非常滿意。正如我所提到的，它略好於我們第一季度的預期，收購也略好於第一季度。

As we look out with the rising customer prices, just because COGS are up, we do expect to see more market activity. And given the strength of our multi-brand, multi-product, multichannel platform, there is no other competitor that has the sweet spot for kind of the innovative pioneer with Reliant and NRG, the renewable pioneer with Green Mountain, the frugal or cost conscious with our zero and discount platforms. And then with our DE platform, which is really allowing customers to direct where they want their energy and to create that on their own. We are positioned very well to navigate this year. We will have some transitions though with the DE attrition and the small book acquisition attrition, but I'm very pleased.

當我們關注不斷上漲的客戶價格時，僅僅因為 COGS 上漲，我們確實希望看到更多的市場活動。鑑於我們的多品牌、多產品、多渠道平台的實力，沒有其他競爭對手比 Reliant 和 NRG 的創新先驅、Green Mountain 的可再生先驅、節儉或註重成本的人更勝一籌我們的零和折扣平台。然後使用我們的 DE 平台，該平台真正允許客戶將能源引導到他們想要的地方並自行創造。我們今年的定位非常好。我們將在 DE 減員和小圖書收購減員方面進行一些過渡，但我很高興。

And you asked the question about what do we think the potential is. We absolutely expect, after this transition, to grow. We see Lubbock market opening up next year. In fact, that -- they applied for the -- to the PUCT just, I think, sometime this week. And -- but all the approvals needed are done. And so we are really excited about a platform we have and the potential for our future.

你問了我們認為潛力是什麼的問題。我們絕對希望，在這個轉變之後，增長。我們看到拉伯克市場明年開放。事實上，我認為，他們只是在本週的某個時候向 PUCT 申請了。而且——但所有需要的批准都已完成。因此，我們對我們擁有的平台和未來的潛力感到非常興奮。

And if I can, 1 quick follow-up. Another big piece when I think about your communication when you first announced the direct deal was converting single fuel customers into dual fuel customers. And if I'm not mistaken, that's much more of an East Coast than an ERCOT or a Texas item. Can you talk about how much progress you've made in doing that? Meaning of the East Coast customers you have inherited, what percent in the 15 months, 16 months that you've owned direct have you been able to convert in a dual fuel?

如果可以的話，1 快速跟進。當我想到你第一次宣布直接交易時的溝通時，另一個重要的部分是將單一燃料客戶轉變為雙燃料客戶。如果我沒記錯的話，那更像是東海岸，而不是 ERCOT 或德克薩斯州的產品。你能談談你在這方面取得了多少進展嗎？您繼承的東海岸客戶的意義，在您直接擁有的 15 個月、16 個月中，您能夠轉換成雙燃料的百分比是多少？

Yes. So I'm not going to give you the specific percentage, but what I will tell you is we have initiatives underway, both in the East and in Canada focused on doing 2 things. Number one, selling more gas directly, because we doubled -- with the Direct Energy acquisition, we doubled our capabilities there. So we have a lot more of that single fuel. So we'll grow that way.

是的。所以我不會給你具體的百分比，但我要告訴你的是，我們正在東部和加拿大開展計劃，重點是做兩件事。第一，直接銷售更多的天然氣，因為我們翻了一番——通過收購 Direct Energy，我們在那裡的能力翻了一番。所以我們有更多的單一燃料。所以我們會這樣成長。

We'll also grow in the dual fuel way where we're selling, not a single product, but a second product and in some cases, a bundled offer for whole home. So electricity and gas sold as a single offering. So lots of activity underway. We are seeing that new customer, sales significant success. Again, just a couple of percentage points better on the new sale rates for those customers buying dual fuel, where that's an option. And most importantly, really setting up our platform so that we can sell, not only dual fuel, but other products and services as they -- as it makes sense given the unique markets that we have.

我們還將以雙燃料方式發展，我們銷售的不是單一產品，而是第二種產品，在某些情況下，整個家庭的捆綁產品。因此，電力和天然氣作為單一產品出售。很多活動正在進行中。我們看到了新客戶，銷售取得了巨大的成功。同樣，對於那些購買雙燃料的客戶來說，新的銷售率只提高了幾個百分點，這是一種選擇。最重要的是，真正建立我們的平台，以便我們不僅可以銷售雙燃料，還可以銷售其他產品和服務——考慮到我們擁有的獨特市場，這很有意義。

And Michael, I mean, this is 1 of the incremental disclosures that we'll be giving throughout the year. So if you recall last quarter, we provided you additional effect in disclosure. This quarter, we're starting to provide the disclosures around the new capabilities. So I think what you should expect is more metrics around our efforts on how we're progressing with these new focus on selling more than just 1 problem.

邁克爾，我的意思是，這是我們全年將提供的增量披露之一。因此，如果您回想起上個季度，我們為您提供了額外的披露效果。本季度，我們開始提供有關新功能的披露。因此，我認為您應該期待更多關於我們如何通過這些新的重點來銷售不僅僅是一個問題的努力的指標。

I'm showing no further questions at this time. I would now like to turn the call back to Mauricio Gutierrez.

我現在沒有進一步的問題。我現在想把電話轉回毛里西奧·古鐵雷斯。

Well, thank you. I look forward to speaking with all of you. Thank you for your interest in NRG. This is a very exciting time for the company and a very exciting time for our industry. So I look forward to continue providing you with updates on our initiatives.

嗯，謝謝。我期待著與大家交談。感謝您對 NRG 的關注。這對公司來說是一個非常激動人心的時刻，對我們的行業來說也是一個非常激動人心的時刻。因此，我期待繼續為您提供有關我們舉措的最新信息。

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for your participation in today's conference. This concludes the program.

女士們，先生們，感謝你們參加今天的會議。程序到此結束。