Vistra's Effort to Powering Texas During Unprecedented Winter Storm
On February 17, 2021, Vistra (NYSE: VST) addressed the challenges posed by a historic winter storm in Texas. The company reported that only 1,000 of its nearly 19,000 megawatts capacity were offline, thanks to a comprehensive winter preparedness strategy. Vistra estimated it was generating 25-30% of the power on the Texas grid, amidst fuel supply challenges. The CEO emphasized the company's commitment to restoring electricity to affected Texans. Vistra remains dedicated to maximizing electricity production and ensuring service reliability during this crisis.
- Only approximately 1,000 out of nearly 19,000 megawatts capacity are offline, indicating high operational resilience.
- Vistra estimated to generate 25-30% of the power on the Texas grid during the storm, outperforming its market share capacity.
- Challenges in obtaining a steady fuel supply for power plants due to the extreme weather conditions.
IRVING, Texas, Feb. 17, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Vistra (NYSE: VST), through its integrated retail and power generation business, is committed to providing an essential product – electricity – and exceptional customer service every day of the year, and especially during this historic winter storm.
"Our people have worked around the clock, across the company and especially at our power plants, under difficult circumstances and continue to do so. We know that many of our fellow Texans are without electricity and are suffering through this unprecedented winter weather event. We are committed to doing everything possible to provide electricity to them with the utmost urgency," said Curt Morgan, CEO of Vistra.
Vistra is powered by a diverse fleet of generation sources, made up of nuclear, natural gas, coal, solar, and battery energy storage. While the weather has created a number of challenges, of the company's nearly 19,000 megawatts of capacity, only approximately 1,000 megawatts are currently not able to produce electricity. Most of the remaining 18,000 megawatts are producing electricity with the balance of the capacity constrained due to challenges with receiving a steady supply of fuel for some plants as well as challenges with handling fuel already on site given the freezing conditions. Luminant, Vistra's generation subsidiary, is working with the electric utilities, natural gas pipelines and producers, and the railroad companies to obtain as much fuel supply as possible.
Power plant teams executed a significant winter preparedness strategy to keep electricity flowing to the Texas power grid during this unprecedented, extended winter weather event. Through these efforts and dealing with the challenges with fueling, Vistra estimates that it was able to produce approximately 25
Luminant has a winter weather preparedness process that includes an extensive checklist of items to review prior to the start of the season. This process includes installing windbreaks and large radiant heaters to supplement existing freeze protection and insulation, and performing preventative maintenance on freeze protection equipment such as the insulation and automatic circuitry designed to keep pipes from freezing. Around-the-clock weather monitoring, especially of critical instruments, occurs as well as coordination with ERCOT, the Public Utilities Commission of Texas, and the Railroad Commission of Texas.
Vistra recognizes that this unprecedented winter weather event in Texas is not over and we are continuing to focus on taking every action possible to keep our plants online, delivering the maximum electricity possible to Texans.
About Vistra
Vistra (NYSE: VST) is a premier, integrated, Fortune 275 retail electricity and power generation company based in Irving, Texas, providing essential resources for customers, commerce, and communities. Vistra combines an innovative, customer-centric approach to retail with safe, reliable, diverse, and efficient power generation. The company brings its products and services to market in 20 states and the District of Columbia, including six of the seven competitive wholesale markets in the U.S. and markets in Canada and Japan, as well. Serving approximately 4.3 million residential, commercial, and industrial retail customers with electricity and natural gas, Vistra is one of the largest competitive electricity providers in the country and offers over 50 renewable energy plans. The company is also the largest competitive power generator in the U.S. with a capacity of approximately 39,000 megawatts powered by a diverse portfolio, including natural gas, nuclear, solar, and battery energy storage facilities. In addition, the company is a large purchaser of wind power. The company is currently constructing a 400-MW/1,600-MWh battery energy storage system in Moss Landing, California, which is the largest of its kind in the world. Vistra is guided by four core principles: we do business the right way, we work as a team, we compete to win, and we care about our stakeholders, including our customers, our communities where we work and live, our employees, and our investors. Learn more about our environmental, social, and governance efforts and read the company's sustainability report at https://www.vistracorp.com/sustainability/.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
The information presented herein includes forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements, which are based on current expectations, estimates and projections about the industry and markets in which Vistra Corp. ("Vistra") operates and beliefs of and assumptions made by Vistra's management, involve risks and uncertainties, which are difficult to predict and are not guarantees of future performance, that could significantly affect the financial results of Vistra. All statements, other than statements of historical facts, that are presented herein, or in response to questions or otherwise, that address activities, events or developments that may occur in the future, including such matters as activities related to our financial or operational projections, the potential impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on our results of operations, financial condition and cash flows, projected synergy, value lever and net debt targets, capital allocation, capital expenditures, liquidity, projected Adjusted EBITDA to free cash flow conversion rate, dividend policy, business strategy, competitive strengths, goals, future acquisitions or dispositions, development or operation of power generation assets, market and industry developments and the growth of our businesses and operations (often, but not always, through the use of words or phrases, or the negative variations of those words or other comparable words of a future or forward-looking nature, including, but not limited to: "intends," "plans," "will likely," "unlikely," "believe," "confident", "expect," "seek," "anticipate," "estimate," "continue," "will," "shall," "should," "could," "may," "might," "predict," "project," "forecast," "target," "potential," "goal," "objective," "guidance" and "outlook"), are forward-looking statements. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Although Vistra believes that in making any such forward-looking statement, Vistra's expectations are based on reasonable assumptions, any such forward-looking statement involves uncertainties and risks that could cause results to differ materially from those projected in or implied by any such forward-looking statement, including, but not limited to: (i) adverse changes in general economic or market conditions (including changes in interest rates) or changes in political conditions or federal or state laws and regulations; (ii) the ability of Vistra to execute upon the contemplated strategic, capital allocation, and performance initiatives and to successfully integrate acquired businesses; (iii) actions by credit ratings agencies; (iv) the severity, magnitude and duration of pandemics, including the COVID-19 pandemic, and the resulting effects on our results of operations, financial condition and cash flows; and (v) those additional risks and factors discussed in reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission by Vistra from time to time, including the uncertainties and risks discussed in the sections entitled "Risk Factors" and "Forward-Looking Statements" in Vistra's annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended Dec. 31, 2019 and any subsequently filed quarterly reports on Form 10-Q.
Any forward-looking statement speaks only at the date on which it is made, and except as may be required by law, Vistra will not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statement to reflect events or circumstances after the date on which it is made or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events. New factors emerge from time to time, and it is not possible to predict all of them; nor can Vistra assess the impact of each such factor or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statement.
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SOURCE Vistra Corp.
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