NRG and Vistra could end up controlling about 75 percent of the competitive Texas market, according to published reports.
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Marking a further consolidation of the Texas retail electric market, Vistra, the parent company of state’s largest retail electric company, will soon acquire the customers of two additional retail electric companies.
Announced this week in Vistra’s quarterly earnings report, the move will expand the Irving, Texas-based company’s retail electric footprint in the Lone Star State by approximately 60,000 residential customers.
Vistra is the owner of retail electric giant TXU. The acquired customers currently are served by Infinite Energy and Veterans Energy. The deal is expected to close at the end of the month and has been valued at $13 million, according to published reports.
Vistra’s acquisition continues a consolidation trend in the Texas retail electric market in which its largest providers have acquired the assets of smaller ones. In July, for instance, Houston and New Jersey-based NRG announced the purchase of British-owned Direct Energy for $3.6 billion in cash. Direct Energy is the third-largest seller of electricity in Texas and at the time of the announcement controlled about 10 percent of the Texas market, according to reports.
Although there are more than 90 retail electric providers operating in Texas, The Houston Chronicle has reported that NRG and Vistra could end up controlling about 75 percent of the market — a calculation the newspaper based on the companies’ securities filings and other presentations.
NRG ACQUIRES ASSETS
NRG, which is Vistra’s most significant rival in the Texas retail electricity market, also purchased low-cost retail electric provider Texans Energy in May and purchased Dallas-based Stream Energy last year. NRG likewise owns the Reliant, Green Mountain Energy and Discount Power retail electric brands.
For its part, Vistra last year bought Connecticut retail power seller Crius Energy — including its TriEagle Energy and Viridian Energy brands.
In addition to Texas, Vistra operates in 19 other states and the District of Columbia. The company serves nearly 5 million residential, commercial, and industrial retail customers with electricity and natural gas, and is the largest competitive residential electricity provider in the United States. Vistra also is the largest competitive power generator in the United States, with a capacity of approximately 39,000 megawatts — including natural gas, nuclear, solar, and battery energy storage facilities.