Dive Brief:
- David Crane's departure from NRG Energy likely signals a shift in strategy, according to analysts, following about a year of declining stock prices and a restructuring plan that separated the company's clean energy segment from the rest of its operations.
- SNL Energy reports that many on Wall Street expect new CEO Mauricio Gutierrez to move the company away from grid-edge technologies and towards a more traditional utility approach.
- Crane took the helm at NRG in 2003, working to transform the company from a traditional wholesale power producer into a more modern company focused on emerging areas and technologies.
Dive Insight:
How will the leadership change at NRG Energy impact the company's broad strategy? That's the question many in the power sector are asking, and it seems most expect a reversion to more traditional models and a move away from evolving technologies and resources.
Moody's Vice President and Senior Credit Officer Toby Shea told SNL that "the biggest thing about Crane's departure is that it solidifies the move away from home solar and distributed generation ... My understanding is that [Gutierrez] is a permanent CEO, and just given his background, the company is going to be going away from distributed generation and will be kind of sticking to its knitting."
Under Crane's leadership, the company was working to reinvent itself to capitalize on the rapidly-evolving power sector. "We have made no secret in recent years of our belief that the future of competitive retail energy supply lay in providing a broader range of energy and energy related products and services, both inside the home and on the home," he said.
In September, the company announced it would reorganize into three divisions, with NRG Renew focused on utility-scale renewable energy and microgrids. The company had 1,300 MW of solar and 3,200 MW of wind. The NRG Home unit would address residential energy products, including solar PV and vehicle charging, while also including its retail electricity business. NRG Energy remained at the center, with more than 49,000 MW of wholesale generation capacity.
NRG Energy shares traded above $28 at the end of 2014, but the stock now sits south of $10. Some point to the decline in share price as the reason for Crane's departure, with the company's stock rising 6% the day his exit was announced.