nrg energy

Fortune Staff

This year’s Fortune 500 marks the 68th running of the list.

Fortune 500

This year’s group delivered stellar revenue and profit growth, but it underperformed the broader stock market.

100 Fastest-Growing Companies

Previous Rank

Revenue 3 Yr Annual Growth Rate

Revenue 3 Yr Growth Rank

EPS 3 Yr Annual Growth Rate

EPS 3 Yr Growth Rank

Total Return 3 Yr Rank

With headquarters in both Princeton, N.J. and Houston, this energy company serves about 3.7 million residential, small business, commercial, and industrial cust

NRG Energy | 2022 100 Fastest-Growing Companies

legacy

Fastest-Growing Companies

Total Return 3 Yr Annual Rate (Through June 30, 2022)

Beat S&P 500 3 Yr Return (35.2%)

Current Streak

Years on List

Sector

NRG Energy

NRG Energy | 2022 100 Fastest-Growing Companies | Fortune

Katie Fehrenbacher

What Donald Trump Didn’t Mention About Clean Coal

/2016/10/10/donald-trump-clean-coal/

How Solar Can Keep a Drone Flying All Day

/2016/09/23/solar-drones-alta-devices/

Reuters

This Company Won an Auction for Bankrupt SunEdison’s Wind, Solar Projects

/2016/09/12/nrg-energy-wins-sun-edison-auction/

This Is Now the Largest Solar Roof In the U.S.

/2016/07/07/largest-us-solar-roof/

 Mauricio, is getting to that time of year that we're looking ahead for predictions for the year 2017. What is your outlook for the US economy? Well, the outlook is-- you know, we see it as a positive outlook from where we see it. Renewable generation is still on the rise. Economic activity that could be impacted by some policies to stimulate infrastructure and construction could help. We are seeing a very low commodity price environment, which makes the US very competitive compared to other parts of the world. So you know, a combination of that actually paints a picture that could potentially be more constructive than what other people may think. Given that we have a new president-- Donald Trump, who is very pro-growth-- how do you see the business environment? Do you see it changing? Look. I mean, I think it's going to be about the same. If you look at the last eight years, we actually have seen a very attractive business environment. We're in the renewable business. And renewables have been growing steadily in the United States over the past 10-15 years. And so the renewable business looks very promising. Donald Trump has said that he wants to cut taxes. He wants to reduce regulations. A lot of CEOs are getting very excited about those prospects. Do you think that's going to happen? And if so, how soon make that happen? These changes don't happen overnight. They will take some time. And usually, these changes come with trade offs. And we need to understand those trade offs. So what would be some of the trade offs? What could be some of the unintended consequences? Well, some of the unintended consequences is a rising level of debt. As we try to perhaps have a program around construction and infrastructure, that money has to come from somewhere. And if we want to have tax breaks at the same time, we need to make sure that, you know, these objectives are not contrary to each other but actually are complementary. Because at the end of the day, it's a zero sum game. It needs to add up. Mauricio, NRG has been a trailblazer when it comes to clean energy goals, reducing carbon emissions, things like that. But our new president seems to have some very contrarian views on the environment. What kind of policy changes are you expecting from Donald Trump? Well, it's very difficult to know what is the final policy that he's going to have once he's President. But based on his rhetoric, you know, we would think that some of the climate change policies-- specifically the Clean Power Plan-- may be at risk. And perhaps other environmental regulations will be less stringent. Let's say that Donald Trump does do some of the things that he said on the campaign trail, like abolishing the Environmental Protection Agency, reviving the coal industry, things like that. Does that get you off of your own goals that you just talked about? From our perspective and from my perspective, we believe in climate change. We have set, you know, some of the most aggressive goals in any industry for our company. A reduction on our carbon footprint-- 50% by 2030 and 90% by 2050. Our strategic goals, our vision, our mission, and everything that we're doing in the company is consistent with achieving those goals that we have set for ourselves. So I don't think the next four years will deviate us from what we think is the right thing to do. 

Here's What NRG Energy's CEO Thinks About Trump's Climate Change Policies

Leadership

Mauricio is getting to that time of year that we're looking ahead for predictions for the year 2017. What is your outlook for the U. S economy? Well, the outlook, ese. You know, we see it as a positive outlook from where we see, um, renewable generation still on the rice, um, economic activity that could be impacted by some policies to stimulate infrastructure and construction could help. You know, we're seeing a very low commodity price environment, which makes the U. S very competitive compared to other parts of the world. So, you know, a combination of that actually paints a picture that could potentially be more constructive than what other people may think, Given that we have a new president, Donald Trump and who is very pro growth. How do you see the business environment? Do you see it changing? Look, I mean, I think it's gonna be about the same if you look at you know, the last eight years, um, we've actually have seen a very attractive business environment. We're in the renewable business, and renewables have bean growing steadily in the United States over the past 15 years. And so the renewable business looks very promising. Donald Trump has said that he wants to cut taxes. He wants to reduce regulations. Ah, lot of seals. They're getting very excited about the prospects. Do you think that's gonna happen? And if so, how soon like that happen? These changes don't happen over time. Overnight, they will take some time. And usually these changes come with trade off. And we need toe. Understand those traders. So what would be some of the trader for could be some of the unintended consequences. Well, some of the unintended consequences is a rising level of debt. A CZ. We try to, um, perhaps have a program around construction and infrastructure. Yeah, that has to come That money has to come from somewhere. And if we wanna have tax breaks at the same time and we need to make sure that you know, these objectives are not contrary to each other but actually are complementary because at the end of the day, a similar sum game needs to adult. Mauricio NRG has been a trail blazer. When it comes to clean energy cools, reducing carbon emissions, things like that. But our new president seems to have some very contrarian views on the environment. What kind of policy changes are you expecting from Donald Trump? Well, it's very difficult to know, You know, what is the final policy that he's gonna have once he's president? But based on his referee, you know, we would think that some of the climate change policies, specifically that clean power plan may be at risk, and perhaps other environmental regulations will be less stringent. Let's say that Donald Trump does do some of the things that he said on the campaign trail, like abolishing the Environmental Protection Agency, reviving the coal industry, things like that. I mean, does that get you off of your own goals that you just talked about? From our perspective and from my perspective, we believe in climate change. We have said, you know, some of the most aggressive goals in any industry for our company. A reduction on our carbon footprint, 30% sorry, 50% by 2030 and 90% by 2050. Our strategic goals, our vision, our mission and everything that we're doing in the company is consistent with achieving those goals that we have set for ourselves. So I don't think a the next four years will deviate us from You know what we think is the right thing to do

 Mauricio, congratulations that you have now come on your one-year anniversary as CEO of NRG. But you came in under difficult circumstances. Your predecessor was fired. There was no transition time. And suddenly, you were the boss of the whole company. What did you learn from that experience that prepared you to be an effective leader? As I took over as CEO, one of the first things that I did was to reach out to five CEOs of very large, public companies to ask that same question. They said own the vision and the mission. You can have a very inclusive process with a number of stakeholders and employees and listen to all of them. But at the end of the day, you have to provide a very clear direction because you own it, and they expect that you provide-- that you give it to them. How did you get NRG's senior executive levels, as well as employees throughout the company to back you up and to follow your lead? It must have been difficult. Well, it wasn't that difficult, Susie, because I've been in the company for nearly 12 years before I took over as CEO. So many of the employees were peers of mine, were colleagues. They knew me well. So in those first initial days, I brought the leadership team together, and we talk about it openly. We learned to disagree in the path and disagree on the various paths and options that we had. But I wanted to create this environment of trust. Some people, when they get a little bit of pushback or resistance, they take it as a negative, as almost a criticism. How did you take it? As a negative or as valuable information? Well, I took it as a valuable information because my main objective was to make sure that they felt comfortable talking to me and expressing their ideas and expressing their concerns. So in the first 100 days as CEO, I embarked on something that I called the Listening Tour. And I reach out to employees, customers, stakeholders. And we talked about the issues that we had in the company and in the industry. And that all helped me inform my thinking about how to move the company forward and how to reshape it. Given that this is the first time that you're a CEO of a huge company, did you feel that you had to modify your natural way of leading that you did in other executive jobs in order to be an effective leader? Look, I mean the main change that you do is you have to learn to listen more. You have to be open to different ideas. Once you have all this information, then you have to be decisive because people want leaders that are decisive and that shows them a clear path and a clear vision for the company. As you look back on your career, I'm sure you had a lot of mentors along the way who gave you a lot of advice. What was the best leadership advice that you ever received? And why did it resonate with you? Well, the best advice came from my father. He was the CEO of his company, and I worked with him when I came out of university. And his advice was around work ethic. Be the first one in the office, and be the last one to leave. People always watch the CEO. And you need to show great work ethic around your employees. 

The Best Advice NRG Energy's CEO Ever Received

Mauricio Gutierrez reveals his father’s words of wisdom.

Marie Theo, Congratulations That you have. Now. Come on. Your one year anniversary, a CEO of an RG. But you came in under difficult circumstances. Your predecessor was fired. There was no transition time. And suddenly you're the boss off the whole company. What did you learn from that experience that prepared you to be an effective leader? You know, So I took over as CEO. You know, one of the first things that I did was to reach out to five feels off very large public companies to ask that same question. They said own division and the mission. You can have a very inclusive process with a number off stakeholders and employees, but listen to all of them. But at the end of the day, you have to provide a very clear direction because you own it. And they expect that you provided that you give it to them. How did you get and RG senior executive levels as well as employees throughout the company, too Back you up and to follow your lead well, have been difficult. Well, it wasn't that difficult to see because I've been in the company for nearly 12 years before I took over a CEO. So many of the employees where Pierce of mine were colleagues. They knew they knew me well, so in those first initial days, yeah, I brought the leadership team together and we talk about it openly. Um, we learn toe, disagree in the path. Ah, and and we agree and disagree on the various paths and options that we had. But I wanted to create this environment off Trust. Some people, when they get a little bit of pushback or resistance they take it as a negative is almost a criticism. How did you take it? As you know, a Z negative or is valuable information. Well, I took it as a valuable information because my main objective was to make sure that they felt that comfortable talking to me and expressing their ideas and expressing their concerns. So in the 1st 100 days of CEO, I am barking something that I call the listening tour, and I reach out to employees, customers, stakeholders, and we talked about the issues that we had in the company and in the industry, and that all help me, um, informed my thinking about how to move the company forward and how to reshape it. Given that this is the first time that you're a CEO of a huge company, Did you feel that you had to modify your natural way of leading that? You did another executive job in order to be an effective leader. Look, I mean, the main change that you do it if you have to learn to listen more, um, you have to be open two different ideas. Um, once you have all the information, then you have to be decisive. And because people want leaders that are decisive and that shows them a clear path and, um, a clear vision for the company. As you look back on your career, I'm sure you had a lot of mentors along the way. Who gave you a lot of advice. What was the best leadership advice that you ever received? And why did it resonate with you? All the best advice came from my father. Uh, he was the seal off his company, and I worked with him when I came out off university, and he said lives was around Work ethic. Be the 1st 1 in the office and be the last one to leave. People always watch the seal, and you need to show and great work ethic Ah, around your employees

David, as one of the CEOs of the country's biggest power producers. Mm hm. You are a big believer in clean energy, cutting carbon emissions, it's very unusual for your industry. So tell us why you are such a big believer. Change is coming to a industry. Change is going to disrupt our industry. It's going to be technology driven change. I think the only thing that makes me different is I'm willing to look a little bit more over the horizon than other people. I'm not just looking to say for what may be the end of my career. I'm looking as to the longevity of NRG, and I'm saying if we face an existential threat, You know, we can either drive the bus or be run over by the bus, and we choose to drive the bus. But how ready is the rest of your industry to make these dramatic changes? Oh, the rest of our industry is not ready at all, because they don't want to make the changes. The rest of the industry Has a very good gig as it is. And if you have a $ 6 trillion industry and you're the CEO of a company that's got a share of that, for most of them their first job is protecting what they've got. And so an industry that's now faced with disruptive change, your first instinct is that that disruptive change. There's no way that that disruptive change can be as good as what you've got now. You've set a goal for energy to cut its carbon emissions in half by the year 2030. Sounds very ambitious. Is that really doable? Impossible, no. Ambitious, yes. But keep in mind, in a lot of ways, we are responding to what our customers expect from us. You look at the great companies that, the consumer facing companies, whether they be Coke You know Walmart, Unilever, some of the hotel chains like Starwood, they're embracing sustainability in a big way, and it used to be in the United States that sustainability was we recycle. But, now with, cost- competetive wind power and solar power, sustainability is very much being centered around clean energy. So our business customers are demanding that we do this and so that's as good a reason as any in my book to go that way. You're also investing heavily in solar power. Yes. But now. Now with energy costs so low, it seems like these technologies have less appeal. What do you think? The price of a solar panel has gone down 100 % just in the last two or three years. And so the price points for renewable energy are getting very competitive with the most competitive form of fossil fuel. So what's holding people back? There was one statistic that floats around our industry that the average American spends six minutes a year thinking about where their energy comes from. That's, to hit that mark in terms of changing their mind and doing things different from what's been done, basically, since the time of Thomas Edison. Mm- hm. And keep in mind, electricity is not like IT or entertainment and people don't wake up in the morning and say I can't wait to use electricity today. It's a means to an end, and so the biggest issue we have in terms of the customer is making the vast majority of customers actually care enough to sort of make the right economic decision.

NRG CEO: Massive change is coming to the energy world

David Crane talks about the energy business.

David Crane sits down with Fortune's Susie Gharib to talk about the changing landscape of the energy business.

NRG Energy

Company Information

Fastest-Growing Companies
As of 10/26/22

NRG Energy

Company Information

Fastest-Growing CompaniesAs of 10/26/22

Fastest-Growing Companies
As of 10/26/22