Empowering Customers For a Sustainable Energy Future

Originally published on NRG Energy Insights

By Lynda Clemmons

This Earth Month is the perfect opportunity to reflect on the intersection of sustainability and customers in our energy systems. Having spent most of my career in the energy space, I have never seen a transformation like the one we are facing today. Renewable technologies like wind and solar have changed the way we generate power. At the same time, consumer behaviors and technological advances outside of the energy space are changing how we use — and think about — energy.

However, NRG and many others in our industry continue to contend with how to drive the energy transition reliably and affordably. What I have learned over the past decade on the NRG team confirms what I have always believed. Success begins and ends with the consumer.

A customer-first approach

Today, we are at an inflection point. The demand side of the energy equation is no longer something just to be served. It is an opportunity. For consumers to become a participant in the energy future. For controllable support for the power grid. And for increasingly cleaner and more efficient energy use.

As such, we are committed to facilitating customers’ sustainability efforts through solutions that make renewables, energy efficiency, and home management more accessible to everyone. Our robust technology platform helps customers be better energy users by providing data and insights into their consumption. Paired with the right electricity plan, we reward them for leveraging this information to modify energy use — without disrupting their lives.

While still emerging, these small reductions have the potential to be harnessed together through smart, controllable devices in the home to create a meaningful power resource. When paired with NRG’s market expertise, this aggregation can help support the grid as the number of intermittent resources increases.

For our larger business customers, this type of controllable demand is nothing new. They have been participating in load management programs for years, both managing risk and monetizing flexible demand. Additionally, any reduction in demand also reduces stress on less efficient generation sources that run during peak demand.

Moreover, we are constantly working to expand our offerings and provide additional sustainable value to home and business customers through cleaner products such as renewable and producer-certified natural gas, RECs, carbon offsets, virtual PPAs, and community solar projects.

Through this approach, we are supporting our customers' decarbonization journey and our own. Not through a silver-bullet solution but by empowering customers through products and solutions that meet their needs.

The next chapter

We all want to leave a better world for the next generation. By using the technology we have now to manage our resources, we can turn the tide on climate change. As with any transition, there will be bumps, and the path may not always seem clear. But NRG will be there along the way.

We have grasped the opportunity to do more than just provide electricity. We sit in the perfect place to look beyond our own sustainability goals and toward helping our customers achieve so much more. From my seat, I see the headwinds, opportunities, tools, and resources that will be key to furthering our progress. Undoubtedly, I am inspired by the many ways we can all participate in building a better tomorrow.

Please stay with us on our journey and learn more about our story and progress. I am excited about what we can achieve and how we are partnering with customers, both large and small, to power a brighter future, together.