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Goodwill and Other Intangibles
 12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2025
Goodwill and Intangible Assets Disclosure [Abstract]  
Goodwill and Other Intangibles Goodwill and Other Intangibles
Goodwill
The following table presents the changes in goodwill for the years ended December 31, 2025 and 2024 based on the Company's reportable segments:
(in millions)TexasEastWest/OtherVivint Smart HomeTotal
Balance as of January 1, 2024
$643 $721 $192 $3,523 $5,079 
Impairment— — (15)— (15)
Sale of Airtron— — (43)— (43)
Foreign currency translation adjustments— — (10)— (10)
Balance as of December 31, 2024
$643 $721 $124 $3,523 $5,011 
Foreign currency translation adjustments— — 6 — 6 
Balance as of December 31, 2025
$643 $721 $130 $3,523 $5,017 
Intangible Assets
The Company's intangible assets as of December 31, 2025, primarily reflect intangible assets established with the acquisitions of various companies, including Vivint Smart Home, Direct Energy, other retail acquisitions and Texas Genco. Intangible assets are comprised of the following:
•Customer relationships — These intangibles represent the fair value at the acquisition date of acquired businesses' customer base from the acquisition of Vivint Smart Home, Direct Energy and other acquisitions. Customer relationships are amortized to depreciation and amortization expense based on the expected discounted future net cash flows by year.
•Emission Allowances — These intangibles primarily consist of SO2 emission allowances, including those established with the 2006 acquisition of Texas Genco, RGGI emission credits and California carbon allowances. These emission allowances are held-for-use and are amortized to cost of operations based on units of production.
•Customer and supply contracts — These intangibles include the fair value at the acquisition date of in-market and out-of-market customer and supply contracts from the acquisition of Direct Energy and are amortized to revenue and cost of operations, respectively, based upon the fair market value, as of the acquisition date, for each delivery month.
•Marketing partnerships — These intangibles represent the fair value at the acquisition date of existing agreements with marketing vendors and loyalty and affinity partners for customer acquisition. Marketing partnerships are amortized to depreciation and amortization expense based on the expected discounted future net cash flows by year.
•Technology — These intangibles represent the fair value at the acquisition date of developed technology for Vivint Smart Home integrated software and products. Technology is amortized to depreciation and amortization expense, ratably based on the expected discounted future net cash flows by year.
•Trade names — These intangibles are amortized to depreciation and amortization expense on a straight-line basis.
•Other — These intangibles primarily include renewable energy certificates. RECs are retired, as required, for the applicable compliance period. RECs are expensed to cost of operations based on NRG’s customer usage. Other also included in-market nuclear fuel contracts established from the Texas Genco acquisition in 2006 which were amortized to cost of operations over expected volumes over the life of each contract.
The following tables summarize the components of NRG's intangible assets:
(In millions)     
Year Ended December 31, 2025Customer
Relationships		Emission
Allowances		Customer and Supply ContractsMarketing PartnershipsTechnologyTrade
Names
Other(a)
Total
January 1, 2025$3,093 $625 $606 $294 $861 $801 $260 $6,540 
Purchases— 58 — — — — 543 601 
Acquisition of businesses(b)
32 — — — — — — 32 
Usage/Sales/Retirements/Transfers— (50)— — — — (508)(558)
Write-off of fully amortized balances(81)(1)— — — (193)(45)(320)
Other2 (5)1 1 (1)3 1 2 
December 31, 20253,046 627 607 295 860 611 251 6,297 
Less accumulated amortization
(1,843)(548)(450)(217)(632)(296)(2)(3,988)
Net carrying amount$1,203 $79 $157 $78 $228 $315 $249 $2,309 
(a)RECs are not subject to amortization and had a carrying value of $248 million
(b)The weighted average amortization period for total amortizable intangible assets is approximately 5 years

(In millions)    
Year Ended December 31, 2024Customer
Relationships		Emission
Allowances		Customer and Supply ContractsMarketing PartnershipsTechnologyTrade
Names
Other(a)
Total
January 1, 2024$3,464 $628 $609 $295 $860 $841 $224 $6,921 
Purchases— 22 — — — — 497 519 
Acquisition of businesses(b)
35 — — — — — — 35 
Usage/Sales/Retirements— (19)— — — — (461)(480)
Write-off of fully amortized balances(146)— — — — (11)— (157)
Sale of Airtron(c)
(255)— — — — (24)— (279)
Other(5)(6)(3)(1)1 (5)— (19)
December 31, 20243,093 625 606 294 861 801 260 6,540 
Less accumulated amortization
(1,555)(538)(399)(193)(457)(443)(47)(3,632)
Net carrying amount$1,538 $87 $207 $101 $404 $358 $213 $2,908 
(a)RECs are not subject to amortization and had a carrying value of $213 million
(b)The weighted average amortization period for total amortizable intangible assets is approximately 5 years
(c)Includes $81 million of intangibles that were amortized
The following table presents NRG's amortization of intangible assets for each of the past three years:
Years Ended December 31,
(In millions)202520242023
Customer relationships$368 $476 $556 
Customer and supply contracts51 71 121 
Emission allowances10 5 6 
Marketing partnerships23 23 24 
Technology176 227 230 
Trade names45 59 60 
Other(a)
— 15 4 
Total amortization$673 $876 $1,001 
(a)For the years ended December 31, 2025 and 2023, other intangibles amortized to depreciation and amortization expense were de minimis. For the year ended December 31, 2024, other intangibles amortized to depreciation and amortization expense was $15 million
The following table presents estimated amortization of NRG's intangible assets included in the Company’s balance sheet as of December 31, 2025 for each of the next five years:
(In millions)
Year Ended December 31,Customer
Relationships		Emission
Allowances		Customer and Supply ContractsMarketing PartnershipsTechnologyTrade
Names		Total
2026$298 $20 $52 $23 $130 $37 $560 
2027227 17 30 23 89 37 423 
2028182 15 12 15 9 37 270 
2029140 9 13 5 — 37 204 
2030111 8 13 4 — 37 173