NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) Q4 2022 Earnings Call Transcript

Mauricio Gutierrez: Yes. No, Angie, I mean I’m glad that you went down the list because when I think about 2023, I would say that it’s more conservative than we have did in 2022. Not only from what we control. So if you think about the characteristics of our plans, the assumptions that we use in our forecast are more conservative we have also — remember now this is the second year that we have increased maintenance CapEx around our plans. So we expect greater reliability on them. And there is a lot of tailwinds on our guidance. You already mentioned the dynamics in the East where prices for the default service utility providers are much higher, and I think we’re going to have a great opportunity to gain market share. With the falling gas prices, that creates really good environment for us for managing our retail margin.

So all of this is positive. Now, let’s just — it’s only February, right? So I want to make sure that we see at least a couple of months, and we have greater visibility on the rest of the year before we can provide you additional adjustments. But I think it’s fair to say that I feel very confident that we can achieve our guidance and perhaps we are hearing on the conservative side with the number. But I think it is — I think it’s prudent given the type of volatility and extreme weather that we have seen in the past couple of years.

Angie Storozynski: That’s good, especially after this whole year. Okay. And then on the PJM capacity penalties. So it’s my understanding that the disclosures that the generation companies were provided by PJM on Slide 8 only talked about penalties. So any sort of bonus capacity payments haven’t been disclosed or calculated. So I know that, that’s a ’22 issue. But just talk to us about how you accounted for those offsets to the penalties on the capacity side.

Mauricio Gutierrez: Sure. I’ll let Alberto cover.

Alberto Fornaro: Yes. No, I mean it is — from the penalty side, it is relatively simple because we have considered based on our record, what is the potential penalties that they can in to account. On the bonus side, there is a lot of variables, including potential bankruptcy that can change the amount that will be distributed. And therefore, what we have done with the limited information available, we have estimated what is the best case scenario, the worst-case scenario and we have chosen a level we are comfortable. And therefore, we have, at the end of the day, risk adjusted the bonus for — that we could get at the end of this process. We will know more in the in the next months, but we are comfortable with what we have done.

Mauricio Gutierrez: Yes. So I think it’s fair to say that penalties — we have taken all of that into consideration and bonuses, we need more information from PJM. So we have risk adjusted down for that.

Angie Storozynski: Okay. And then lastly, so when you announced the event, there was a plan to execute on share buybacks a pretty meaningful $360 million. I mean, looking at the share count, you haven’t done it. I understand that there is a plan for ’23 to finish that $1 billion of the share buyback allocation. So just talk to me about the timing, why it hasn’t happened yet. Were you waiting for the proceeds from Astoria? Is it somewhat of a reflection of the weak free cash flow generation for ’22? And again, just roughly about when we should expect those buybacks to happen.