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Acquisitions, Discontinued Operations and Dispositions Acquisitions, Discontinued Operations and Dispositions
12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2019
Discontinued Operations and Disposal Groups [Abstract]  
Acquisitions, Discontinued Operations and Dispositions Acquisitions, Discontinued Operations and Dispositions
Acquisitions
Stream Energy Acquisition — On August 1, 2019, the Company completed the acquisition of Stream Energy's retail electricity and natural gas business operating in 9 states and Washington, D.C. for $329 million, including working capital and other adjustments of approximately $29 million. The acquisition increased NRG's retail portfolio by approximately 600,000 RCEs or 450,000 customers and supports NRG's ongoing efforts to increase the Company's retail position in Texas and the Northeast. The purchase price was allocated as follows:
(In millions)
Account receivable$98  
Accounts payable(73) 
Other net current and non-current working capital 
Marketing partnership154  
Customer relationships85  
Trade name28  
Other intangible assets26  
Goodwill (a)
 
 Stream Purchase Price $329  
(a) Goodwill arising from the acquisition is attributed to the value of the platform acquired and the synergies expected from combining the operations of Stream Energy with NRG's existing businesses. Goodwill is assigned to the Retail segment and is not deductible for tax purposes.
XOOM Energy Acquisition — On June 1, 2018, the Company completed the acquisition of XOOM Energy, LLC, an electricity and natural gas retailer operating in 19 states, Washington, D.C. and Canada, for approximately $213 million, including working capital and other adjustments of $48 million. The acquisition increased NRG's retail portfolio by approximately 395,000 RCEs or 300,000 customers. The purchase price was allocated as follows:
(In millions)
Net current and non-current working capital$46  
Other intangible assets133  
Goodwill34  
XOOM Purchase Price$213  
Small Book Acquisitions — During 2019, the Company acquired several books of customers totaling approximately 72,000 customers for $17 million, of which $13 million was paid in 2019. During 2018, the Company acquired several books of customers totaling approximately 115,000 customers, along with brand names, for $44 million, of which $40 million was paid in 2018, $2 million was paid in 2019 and $2 million was prepaid in 2017. The majority of the purchase price for the 2019 and 2018 book acquisitions were allocated to acquired intangibles.
Discontinued Operations
Sale of South Central Portfolio
On February 4, 2019, the Company completed the sale of its South Central Portfolio to Cleco for cash consideration of $1 billion excluding working capital and other adjustments. The Company concluded that the divested business met the criteria for discontinued operations, as the disposition represents a strategic shift in the business in which NRG operates and held-for-sale criteria as of December 31, 2018. As such, all prior period results for the operations of the South Central Portfolio were reclassified as discontinued operations at December 31, 2018. In connection with the transaction, NRG also entered into a transition services agreement to provide certain corporate services to the divested business.
The South Central Portfolio includes the 1,153 MW Cottonwood natural gas generating facility. Upon the closing of the sale of the South Central Portfolio, NRG entered into a lease agreement with Cleco to leaseback the Cottonwood facility through 2025. Due to its continuing involvement with the Cottonwood facility, NRG did not use held-for-sale or discontinued operations treatment in accounting for the Cottonwood facility.
Summarized results of South Central discontinued operations were as follows: 
Year Ended December 31,
(In millions)201920182017
Operating revenues$31  $410  $422  
Operating costs and expenses(23) (346) (335) 
Other income—   —  
Gain from operations of discontinued components 66  87  
Gain on disposal of discontinued operations, net of tax20  —  —  
Gain from discontinued operations, including disposal, net of tax$28  $66  $87  
The following table summarizes the major classes of assets and liabilities classified as discontinued operations of South Central:
(In millions)December 31, 2018
Cash and cash equivalents$89  
Accounts receivable, net49  
Inventory35  
Other current assets  
Current assets - discontinued operations178  
Property, plant and equipment, net408  
Other non-current assets 
Non-current assets - discontinued operations409  
Accounts payable19  
Other current liabilities 
Current liabilities - discontinued operations24  
Out-of-market contracts, net 50  
Other non-current liabilities11  
Non-current liabilities - discontinued operations$61  
Sale of Ownership in NRG Yield, Inc. and its Renewables Platform
On August 31, 2018, the Company completed the sale of its ownership interests in NRG Yield, Inc. and its Renewables Platform to GIP for total cash consideration of $1.348 billion. The Company concluded that the divested businesses met the criteria for discontinued operations, as the dispositions represented a strategic shift in the business in which NRG operates. As such, all prior period results for the transaction were reclassified as discontinued operations. In connection with the transaction, NRG entered into a transition services agreement to provide certain corporate services to the divested businesses in 2018. During the year ended December 31, 2019, the Company recorded an adjustment to reduce the purchase price by $15 million in connection with the completion of the Patriot Wind project. The Company expects to recover a portion of this adjustment in the future. During the year ended December 31, 2019, the Company reduced the liability related to the indemnification of NRG Yield for any increase in property taxes for certain solar properties by $22 million due to updated estimates.
Carlsbad
On February 6, 2018, NRG entered into an agreement with NRG Yield and GIP to sell 100% of its membership interests in Carlsbad Energy Holdings LLC, which owns the Carlsbad project, for $385 million of cash consideration, excluding working capital adjustments. The primary condition to close the Carlsbad transaction was the completion of the sale of NRG Yield and the Renewables Platform. At the time of the sale of NRG Yield and the Renewables Platform in August 2018, the Company concluded that the Carlsbad project met the criteria for discontinued operations and accordingly, all current and prior period results for Carlsbad were reclassified as discontinued operations. The transaction closed on February 27, 2019. Carlsbad will continue to have a ground lease and easement agreement with NRG with an initial term ending in 2039 and two ten-year extensions. As a result of the transaction, additional commitments related to the project totaled $23 million as of December 31, 2019 and December 31, 2018.
Summarized results of NRG Yield, Inc. and Renewables Platform and Carlsbad discontinued operations were as follows: 
Year Ended December 31,
(In millions)201920182017
Operating revenues$19  $909  $1,164  
Operating costs and expenses(9) (661) (1,114) 
Other expenses(5) (174) (288) 
Gain/(loss) from operations of discontinued components, before tax 74  (238) 
Income tax expense—   52  
Gain/(loss) from discontinued operations, net of tax 70  (290) 
Gain/(loss) on disposal of discontinued operations, net of tax265  (134) —  
Income/(expense) from California property tax indemnification22  (153) —  
Income/(expense) from other commitments, indemnification and fees (75) —  
Income/(loss) on disposal of discontinued operations, net of tax291  (362) —  
Income/(loss) from discontinued operations, net of tax$296  $(292) $(290) 

The following table summarizes the major classes of assets and liabilities classified as discontinued operations:
(In millions)
December 31, 2018 (a)
Restricted Cash$ 
Accounts receivable, net10  
Other current assets  
Current assets - discontinued operations19  
Property, plant and equipment, net590  
Intangible assets, net 
Other non-current assets 
Non-current assets - discontinued operations603  
Current portion of long term debt and capital leases20  
Accounts payable27  
Other current liabilities 
Current liabilities - discontinued operations48  
Long-term debt and capital leases572  
Other non-current liabilities 
Non-current liabilities - discontinued operations$574  
(a) Represents the Carlsbad project

Sale of Assets to NRG Yield, Inc. Prior to Discontinued Operations
On June 19, 2018, the Company completed the UPMC Thermal Project and received cash consideration from NRG Yield of $84 million, plus an additional $3 million received at final completion in January 2019.
On March 30, 2018, as part of the Transformation Plan, the Company sold to NRG Yield, Inc. 100% of NRG's interests in Buckthorn Renewables, LLC, which owns a 154 MW construction-stage utility-scale solar generation project, located in Texas. NRG Yield, Inc. paid cash consideration of approximately $42 million, excluding working capital adjustments, and assumed non-recourse debt of $183 million.
On March 27, 2017, the Company sold to NRG Yield, Inc.: (i) a 16% interest in the Agua Caliente solar project, representing ownership of approximately 46 net MW of capacity and (ii) NRG's interests in seven utility-scale solar projects located in Utah representing 265 net MW of capacity, which reached commercial operations. NRG Yield, Inc. paid cash consideration of $130 million, plus $1 million in working capital adjustments, and assumed non-recourse debt of $328 million.
GenOn
On June 14, 2017, the GenOn Entities filed voluntary petitions for relief under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code in the Bankruptcy Court. As a result of the bankruptcy filings, NRG concluded that it no longer controlled GenOn as it was subject to the control of the Bankruptcy Court; and, accordingly, NRG deconsolidated GenOn and its subsidiaries for financial reporting purposes as of such date.
By eliminating a large portion of its operations in the PJM market with the deconsolidation of GenOn, NRG concluded that GenOn met the criteria for discontinued operations, as this represented a strategic shift in the business in which NRG operated. As such, all prior period results for GenOn were reclassified in 2017 as discontinued operations.
Summarized results of discontinued operations were as follows:
Year Ended December 31,
(In millions)201920182017
Operating revenues$—  $—  $646  
Operating costs and expenses—  —  (702) 
Other expenses—  —  (98) 
Loss from operations of discontinued components, before tax—  —  (154) 
Income tax expense—  —   
Loss from discontinued operations—  —  (163) 
Interest income - affiliate—    
Income/(loss) from discontinued operations, net of tax—   (155) 
Pre-tax loss on deconsolidation—  —  (208) 
Settlement consideration, insurance and services credit—  63  (289) 
Pension and post-retirement liability assumption—  21  (131) 
Other(3) (53) (6) 
(Loss)/income on disposal of discontinued operations, net of tax(3) 31  (634) 
(Loss)/income from discontinued operations, net of tax$(3) $34  $(789) 
GenOn Settlement and Plan Confirmation
Effective July 16, 2018, NRG and GenOn consummated the GenOn Settlement whereby the Company paid GenOn approximately $125 million, which included (i) the settlement consideration of $261 million, (ii) the transition services credit of $28 million and (iii) the return of $15 million of collateral posted to NRG; offset by the (i) $151 million in borrowings under the intercompany secured revolving credit facility, (ii) related accrued interest and fees of $12 million, (iii) remaining payments due under the transition services agreement of $10 million, (iv) $4 million reduction of the settlement payment related to NRG assigning to GenOn approximately $8 million of historical claims against REMA and (v) certain other balances due to NRG totaling $2 million.
GenOn's plan of reorganization was confirmed on December 14, 2018. Pursuant to the confirmed plan, NRG retained the pension liability for GenOn employees for service provided prior to the completion of the reorganization. NRG also retained the liability for GenOn's post-employment and retiree health and welfare benefits. As a result of GenOn's emergence from bankruptcy, NRG took a deduction for GenOn tax losses of $9.5 billion, including a worthless stock deduction.
Other than those obligations which survive or are independent of the releases described herein, the GenOn Settlement and the GenOn Chapter 11 plan provide NRG releases from GenOn and each of its debtor and non-debtor subsidiaries.
REMA Plan of Reorganization
On October 16, 2018, REMA and its subsidiaries filed voluntary petitions for chapter 11 relief and a prepackaged plan of reorganization in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas. The REMA debtors' plan of reorganization has been formally accepted by REMA's voting creditors and is consistent with the releases NRG received under the GenOn Settlement and the GenOn plan.
GenMA Settlement
The Bankruptcy Court order confirming the plan of reorganization also approved the settlement terms agreed to among the GenOn Entities, NRG, the Consenting Holders, GenOn Mid-Atlantic, and certain of GenOn Mid-Atlantic’s stakeholders, or the GenMA Settlement, and directed the settlement parties to cooperate in good faith to negotiate definitive documentation consistent with the GenMA Settlement term sheet in order to pursue consummation of the GenMA Settlement. The definitive documentation effectuating the GenMA Settlement was finalized and effective as of April 27, 2018. Certain terms of the compromise with respect to NRG and GenOn Mid-Atlantic are as follows:
Settlement of all pending litigation and objections to the Plan (including with respect to releases and feasibility);
NRG provided $38 million in letters of credit as new qualifying credit support to GenOn Mid-Atlantic; such letters of credit were never drawn and were returned and canceled on December 17, 2019 and
NRG paid approximately $6 million as reimbursement of professional fees incurred by certain of GenOn Mid-Atlantic's stakeholders in connection with the GenMA Settlement.
Dispositions
On August 1, 2018, the Company completed the sale of 100% of its ownership interests in BETM to Diamond Energy Trading and Marketing, LLC for $71 million, net of working capital adjustments, which resulted in a gain of $15 million on the sale. The sale also resulted in the release and return of approximately $119 million of letters of credit, $32 million of parent guarantees, and $4 million of net cash collateral to NRG.
On June 29, 2018, the Company completed the sale of Canal 3 to Stonepeak Kestrel for cash proceeds of approximately $16 million and recorded a gain of $17 million. Prior to the sale, Canal 3 entered into a financing arrangement and received cash proceeds of $167 million, of which $151 million was distributed to the Company. The related debt was non-recourse to NRG and was transferred to Stonepeak Kestrel in connection with the sale of Canal 3. The Company entered into a project management agreement in 2018 to manage construction of Canal 3 and substantial completion was reached in June 2019.
The Company completed other asset sales for cash proceeds of $22 million and $28 million during the years ended December 31, 2019 and 2018, respectively.