Goodwill and Other Intangibles (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2017

Goodwill and Intangible Assets Disclosure [Abstract]

Summary of the Components of Intangible Assets Subject to Amortization

The following tables summarize the components of NRG's intangible assets subject to amortization:



				Contracts
Year Ended December 31, 2017	Emission Allowances			Energy Supply			Fuel			Customer			Customer Relationships			Marketing Partnerships			Trade Names			PPA			Other			Total
	(In millions)
January 1, 2017	$	789		$	54		$	72		$	16		$	816		$	88		$	342		$	1,286		$	198		$	3,661
Purchases	31			—			—			—			—			—			—			—			32			63
Acquisition of businesses	—			—			—			—			18			—			—			—			—			18
Usage	(10		)	—			—			—			—			—			—			—			(28		)	(38		)
Write-off of fully amortized balances^(a)	—			(54		)	(23		)	—			—			—			—			—			—			(77		)
Impairment	(20		)	—			—			—			—			—			—			(6		)	—			(26		)
Other	(23		)	—			—			—			—			—			—			5			(19		)	(37		)
December 31, 2017	767			—			49			16			834			88			342			1,285			183			3,564
Less accumulated amortization	(591		)	—			(45		)	(9		)	(698		)	(54		)	(182		)	(205		)	(34		)	(1,818		)
Net carrying amount	$	176		$	—		$	4		$	7		$	136		$	34		$	160		$	1,080		$	149		$	1,746

(a) Adjusted for write-off of fully amortized energy supply contracts of $54 million and fuel contracts of $23 million.



				Contracts
Year Ended December 31, 2016	Emission Allowances			Energy Supply			Fuel			Customer			Customer Relationships			Marketing Partnerships			Trade Names			PPA			Other			Total
	(In millions)
January 1, 2016	$	816		$	54		$	72		$	16		$	834		$	88		$	342		$	1,286		$	213		$	3,721
Purchases	13			—			—			—			—			—			—			—			34			47
Acquisition of businesses	—			—			—			—			—			—			—						18			18
Usage	(1		)	—			—			—			—			—			—			—			(44		)	(45		)
Write-off of fully amortized balances^(a)	(10		)	—			—			—			—			—			—			—			—			(10		)
Impairment^(b)	(23		)	—			—			—			(18		)	—			—			—			(23		)	(64		)
Other	(6		)	—			—			—			—			—			—			—			—			(6		)
December 31, 2016	789			54			72			16			816			88			342			1,286			198			3,661
Less accumulated amortization	(518		)	(54		)	(67		)	(8		)	(663		)	(49		)	(159		)	(143		)	(27		)	(1,688		)
Net carrying amount	$	271		$	—		$	5		$	8		$	153		$	39		$	183		$	1,143		$	171		$	1,973

(a) Adjusted for write-off of fully amortized emission allowances of $10 million.

(b) The impairment of customer relationships and other intangibles included a write-off of accumulated amortization of $10 million and $8 million, respectively.

Schedule of Amortization of Intangible Expense

The following table presents NRG's amortization of intangible assets for each of the past three years:



	Years Ended December 31,
Amortization	2017		2016		2015
	(In millions)
Emission allowances	$	73	$	66	$	60
Energy supply contracts	—		7		5
Fuel contracts	1		2		2
Customer contracts	1		2		2
Customer relationships	35		49		67
Marketing partnerships	5		8		14
Trade names	23		22		23
Power purchase agreements	62		64		51
Other	7		11		14
Total amortization	$	207	$	231	$	238

Schedule of Estimated Amortization of Intangible Assets for Next Five Years

The following table presents estimated amortization of NRG's intangible assets for each of the next five years:



			Contracts
Year Ended December 31,	Emission Allowances		Fuel		Customer		Customer Relationships		Marketing Partnerships		Trade Names		PPA		Other		Total
	(In millions)
2018	$	33	$	1	$	1	$	25	$	5	$	22	$	64	$	8	$	159
2019	30		—		1		21		4		22		64		8		150
2020	16		—		1		17		4		22		64		8		132
2021	16		—		1		13		4		22		64		8		128
2022	15		—		1		7		3		22		64		8		120

Schedule of Out of Market Contracts, Future Amortization

The following table summarizes the estimated amortization related to NRG's out-of-market contracts:



Year Ended December 31,	Power Contracts		Leases		Total
	(In millions
2018	$	16	$	9	$	25
2019	16		9		25
2020	17		9		26
2021	14		9		23
2022	1		9		10