Centrica plc is pleased to announce the completion of the sale of its North American energy supply, services and trading business, Direct Energy, to NRG Energy Inc. for $3.625bn.

Chris O’Shea, Centrica Group Chief Executive, said:

“Direct Energy has been an important part of Centrica for over 20 years, and I wish the business and its great team all the best for the future. This sale is an important step in the turnaround of Centrica, allowing us to materially strengthen our balance sheet and become a more focused energy services and solutions company – putting customers at the heart of everything we do and helping them transition to a lower carbon future.”

About Centrica

Centrica is a leading international energy services and solutions provider, founded on a 200-year heritage of serving people. Through our two customer-facing divisions, Centrica Consumer and Centrica Business, we supply energy, services and solutions to over 26 million customer accounts. We serve customers across the UK, Ireland, North America and Continental Europe through strong brands such as British Gas, supported by around 13,000 highly trained engineers and technicians. We are focused on satisfying the changing needs of our customers, enabling them to transition to a lower carbon future. Our aim is to reduce emissions in line with the Paris climate goals by 2030 and develop a path to net zero by 2050.

Energy Marketing and Trading is the trading and optimisation arm of Centrica plc. We are a leading provider of energy management and optimisation services to businesses, in addition to managing commodity risk and providing wholesale market access for the Centrica Group. We have over 14GW of capacity under contract in Europe, more than half of which is for renewable assets. We also continue to expand our global LNG business, having built a full range of LNG trading, optimisation and operations capability.

About NRG Energy

At NRG, we’re bringing the power of energy to people and organizations by putting customers at the center of everything we do. We generate electricity and provide energy solutions and natural gas to more than 3.7 million residential, small business, and commercial and industrial customers through our diverse portfolio of retail brands. A Fortune 500 company, operating in the United States and Canada, NRG delivers innovative solutions while advocating for competitive energy markets and customer choice, and by working towards a sustainable energy future.