Oct. 28, 2009 (Business Wire) -- Reliant Energy has been chosen to receive approximately $20 million in federal stimulus funding for upgrade of the nation’s electricity grid. The company will use the grant to empower Texas residential electricity customers to become more energy efficient by providing tools and information to manage their energy usage.

President Barack Obama announced the $3.4 billion in American Reinvestment and Recovery Act grant awards for energy grid modernization at a press conference Tuesday. Reliant Energy is the only competitive electricity provider in Texas to have been selected. The company will now work collaboratively with the Department of Energy to negotiate a contract to complete the award.

“This grant will help us to bring the benefits of smart energy products and services to our customers as soon as possible,” said Jason Few, president, Reliant Energy. “We are thrilled to have been chosen and honored to have the opportunity to play a role in this important technological advance. Providing the tools and information that consumers need to make informed choices about using energy is one of the ways we add value for our customers.”

Reliant, in collaboration with Tendril Networks, will use the grant to develop of a suite of smart energy products and services enabling customers to manage their electricity usage, promote energy efficiency and lower overall energy costs.

The planned products and services include a weekly usage email, Web portal, home energy monitoring devices, time-of-use rate plan and smart appliances. Some of these services, including the weekly usage email and time of use rate plan, are already available to customers who have smart meters.

About Reliant Energy:

Reliant Energy provides electricity and energy services to more than 1.6 million retail customers—including homes, small and large businesses, manufacturing facilities, government entities and institutions across Texas. As part of NRG Energy (NYSE: NRG), Reliant Energy is backed by one of the nation’s largest power producers. NRG owns and operates more than 24,000 megawatts of generation capacity, including more than 11,000 megawatts of capacity in Texas. For more information about Reliant Energy products and services, visit www.reliant.com.

Safe Harbor Disclosure

This news release contains forward-looking statements of Reliant Energy, an NRG Energy, Inc. company, within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Such forward-looking statements are subject to certain risks, uncertainties and assumptions and include expectations regarding the development of smart energy products, and typically can be identified by the use of words such as “will,” “expect,” “estimate,” “anticipate,” “forecast,” “plan,” “believe” and similar terms. Although NRG believes that its expectations are reasonable, it can give no assurance that these expectations will prove to have been correct, and actual results may vary materially. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contemplated above include, among others, general economic conditions, hazards customary in the power industry, the volatility of energy and fuel prices, failure of customers to perform under contracts, construction delays, changes in government regulation of markets and of environmental emissions, the condition of capital markets generally, and our ability to access capital markets.

NRG undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. The foregoing review of factors that could cause NRG’s actual results to differ materially from those contemplated in the forward-looking statements included in this news release should be considered in connection with information regarding risks and uncertainties that may affect NRG’s future results included in NRG’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission at www.sec.gov.

EDITORS NOTE: Reliant Energy is hosting a breakfast for members of the news media at its Houston Smart House at 10 a.m., Wednesday, October 28 at 2625 Peckham St., Houston, TX., 77098.