In Honor of Its “10 Years of Progress” in Connecticut, NRG Energy Donates 5,000 Trees to the Connecticut Urban Forest Council and Girl Scouts of Connecticut

Today, representatives from NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE: NRG) were joined by state, local and environmental officials at a press conference in Hartford, Connecticut to reflect on the Company’s 10 years as the owner and operator of power plants in the state. NRG’s Connecticut plants can produce a combined total of nearly 2,000 megawatts (MW), enough to power more than 1.5 million homes.

“Since we bought these plants in 1999, we reduced traditional emissions by more than 90% through a combination of our own investments and operational changes, as well as legislative and regulatory actions,” said John Ragan, President of NRG’s Northeast Region. “We remain committed to repowering our facilities with environmentally responsible new power generation, and hope to work with the state to put federal stimulus dollars to work immediately for the benefit of CT, including helping the state reach its goal of having 20% of power come from renewable sources by 2020.”

To commemorate this milestone, NRG is working together with the Connecticut Urban Forestry Council and the Girl Scouts of Connecticut to plant 5,000 trees throughout the state over the next year. These plantings will help sequester carbon for cleaner air, shade our streets and sidewalks from the sun and provide valuable food, protection, and habitat for many birds and mammals.

“These trees will help promote sustainable forestry and symbolize our commitment to Connecticut for both today and into the future,” added Ragan.

NRG has four major sites in Connecticut, located in Middletown, Norwalk, Milford and Uncasville, respectively, as well as smaller power stations in Cos Cob, Branford and Torrington. Since 1999, when NRG first entered the state’s then-newly restructured electricity market, the Company has made great strides to increase its fleet’s environmental performance. Other accomplishments include:

• Emergency power: NRG made major improvements at its Cos Cob generating station ─ adding 40 MW of generating capacity ─ bringing the site’s total capacity to 100 MW, enough to power approximately 80,000 homes during high demand periods.
• GenConn: NRG, through its unprecedented partnership with The United Illuminating Company, known as GenConn, will build approximately 400 MW total combined of new peaking generation at NRG’s existing sites in Middletown and Milford (Devon).
• Biomass: NRG is planning to repower 30 MW of Montville generating station in Uncasville with biomass, a clean, renewable source of energy. This would be the first repowered plant of its kind in Connecticut.
• Reliability: NRG has significantly increased in availability of its Connecticut plants. Availability is measured by the number of hours a plant can run and is affected by the quality of the plant operations.
• Safety: NRG’s multi-year focus on improving safety has yielded results. The Company’s plants are now among the safest in the Country.
• Energy policy: The accomplishments discussed above would not have been possible without the foresight of Connecticut’s legislature and regulatory agencies. NRG looks forward to working with Connecticut lawmakers and other state and local officials, as well as environmental advocates and fellow generators to help shape energy policy that continues to benefit all Connecticut residents

“We have made significant progress working with Connecticut for the past decade, and will continue to work with the state to bring about new construction jobs, more efficient generation and further emissions improvements for additional projects that NRG has ready to go,” said Ragan. “We look forward to using our existing sites, with their existing infrastructure, to bring even more economic growth and benefits to the state for years to come.”

About NRG

A Fortune 500 company, NRG Energy, Inc. owns and operates one of the country’s largest and most diverse power-generating portfolios. NRG’s plants provide approximately 24,000 megawatts of generation capacity—enough to power nearly 20 million homes. In November 2007, NRG won two of the industry’s highest honors—Platts Industry Leadership and Energy Company of the Year awards. Headquartered in Princeton, NJ, 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

Certain statements contained herein may constitute 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 typically can be identified by the use of words such as “will,” “expect,” “estimate,” “anticipate,” “forecast,” “plan,” “believe” and similar terms.

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