Arizona Schools Going Solar

PRINCETON, N.J. & PHOENIX, Sep 14, 2010 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- As students attend classes in several Arizona school districts this fall, the schools will be featuring on-campus solar arrays specially designed to meet their own electricity needs while providing the school's faculty with new teaching tools. This clean solar energy program has been conceived by Arizona's Kennedy Partners, LLC and co-developed by Kennedy, NRG Solar, a subsidiary of NRG Energy, Inc. (NRG 21.64, -0.01, -0.05%) , and in conjunction with Pinnacle West, APS and public officials across the state.

As a first stage of the program, NRG Solar and Kennedy Partners are building 12 large solar pavilions at schools which are part of the Continental Elementary School District in Green Valley, south of Tucson and the Gila Bend Unified School District, southwest of Phoenix. Additionally, NRG and Kennedy Partners are currently working on similar large scale projects at Payson Unified School District, northeast of Phoenix, and Arlington Elementary School District, west of Phoenix. This unique public/private partnership allows the schools to benefit not only from available utility incentives but also from the federal and state tax benefits.

The solar cells on these pavilions will collectively generate more than 2.5 megawatts (MW) of power for the schools, roughly the same amount of power consumed by more than 2,000 homes. In reducing greenhouse gases, this is the equivalent of taking more than 550 passenger vehicles off Arizona's roads.

In addition to providing electricity for the schools, the solar pavilions and their solar panels will give students the opportunity to learn about emission-free solar power generation and participate in the development of America's clean energy future. NRG and Kennedy Partners will construct the solar pavilions as carports adjacent to the school buildings. Future installations could also supply shade for playgrounds, sidewalks or whatever best fits the needs of the individual school.

"With this project, we're not only creating clean, renewable solar energy, we're investing in the imagination of youths across Arizona," said David Crane, President and CEO of NRG Energy. "The solar pavilions, which can be sized to provide customized clean energy solutions for each school, give students a dynamic, new learning experience while helping Arizona to meet its growing energy needs cleanly and sustainably."

"To Help Arizona school districts control energy costs, I directed $20 million of the State Energy Program monies be dedicated to upgrade energy efficiencies and add renewable energy programs," said Jan Brewer, Governor of Arizona. "An important aspect of these school projects is that they will be designed and constructed by Arizona companies and built by Arizona workers. These projects are good for Arizona school districts and they are good for the State of Arizona."

This is NRG Solar's first venture into distributed generation and builds on the Company's growing portfolio of utility-scale solar developments across the U.S. Southwest.

Under the terms of the agreement, NRG will support the project development and provide investment capital for the installation and operation of the solar pavilions. NRG Solar will continue to work with Kennedy Partners under a joint development agreement on similar solar-powered projects within Kennedy's substantial portfolio of school and government projects as well as commercial and institutional entities throughout the Southwest.

"Our School District and Government clients are very excited about developing these capital improvement projects on their sites with no capital cost," said John Kennedy, Managing Principal of Kennedy Partners, a project management firm in Phoenix, Arizona specializing in the development of renewable energy projects for schools, governments and not-for-profit entities. Kennedy's unique approach establishes an ownership path with no capital expense for their clients.

These partnerships are part of a growing presence for NRG in Arizona. NRG has signed a power purchase agreement with Tucson Electric Power for a 25 megawatts (MW) photovoltaic field to provide natural peaking power across Arizona, and recently acquired one of the newest district cooling systems in the U.S., providing chilled water to commercial buildings, office complexes, municipalities, universities and sport complexes in the Phoenix central business district. The Company has also recently announced the acquisition from US Solar of a portfolio of solar development projects on nine sites in California and Arizona ranging in size from 20 MW to 99 MW with the potential to be operational between 2011 and 2013.

"NRG Solar's increasing focus on Arizona is a natural evolution for the Company," said Tom Doyle, President of NRG Solar. "Few states have the incredible solar potential that Arizona does and we will continue to look for partnerships that help make solar generation more and more integral to meeting the growing need for clean energy."

Solar projects support NRG'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. The Company has more than 1,150 MW of projects under development with strong solar resources, potential for long-term power off take agreements with load-serving entities and established easily accessible connections to power grids.

"Adding these schools as well as future distributed generation projects to NRG Solar's growing portfolio of utility-scale solar projects will further establish NRG's position as a leading developer of solar generation capacity, large and small," said Doyle.

About NRG

NRG Energy, Inc., a Fortune 500 company, owns and operates one of the country's largest and most diverse power generation portfolios. Headquartered in Princeton, NJ, the Company's power plants provide more than 24,000 megawatts of generation capacity--enough to supply more than 20 million homes. NRG's retail business, Reliant Energy, serves 1.6 million residential, business, commercial and industrial customers in Texas. A past recipient of the energy industry's highest honors--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.

About Kennedy Partners

Kennedy Partners is a Program and Project Management firm with offices in Phoenix, Arizona. Kennedy has worked with dozens of Arizona School Districts and Governments in the planning, design and construction of their major capital projects. Currently, the Kennedy Partners team is working to develop solar renewable energy projects on over 50 School and Government sites across Arizona which will result in approximately 30MW of distributed generation. These projects are all capital neutral to the host site and to the greatest extent possible, are placed on elevated pavilions so as to provide shade as well as electricity.

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 NRG's solar development initiatives 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, weather conditions, competition in solar power markets, the volatility of energy and fuel prices, failure of customers to perform under contracts, inability to maintain partnering relationships, and changes in the wholesale power markets, changes in government regulation of markets and of environmental emissions.

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.

SOURCE: NRG Energy, Inc.


For NRG Energy:
Media:
Meredith Moore, 609-524-4522
David Knox, 713-795-6106
Lori Neuman, 609-524-4525
or
Investors:
Nahla Azmy, 609-524-4526
Stefan Kimball, 609-524-4527
Erin Gilli, 609-524-4528
or
For Kennedy Partners:
Mark Rafferty, 623-374-2478
John Kennedy, 623-374-2478