MINNEAPOLIS, March 08, 2001 (BUSINESS WIRE)--- NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) yesterday priced its secondary public offering of 16,000,000 shares of its common stock at a purchase price of $27 and $250,000,000 of equity units, representing 10 million units at a purchase price of $25 each.

In addition to receiving a 6.5 percent coupon, equity unit investors are obligated to purchase shares of NRG common stock at a price of $32.94 in three years. The equity units will trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "NRZ."

"We believe the investment community's strong reception of these offerings underscores a recognition of NRG's performance since last year's initial public offering and demonstrates investors' belief in the dynamic growth potential of NRG," said Leonard A. Bluhm, NRG chief financial officer. "The proceeds from the sale of these securities will be used to repay amounts outstanding under a bridge financing facility NRG entered into to fund its acquisition of LS Power, LLC's 5,633 megawatt (MW) portfolio of projects as well as fund general corporate purposes that sustain the momentum we have built."

A registration statement relating to the proposed common stock and equity unit offerings was filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission and is effective. Credit Suisse First Boston and Merrill Lynch & Co. are joint book-running managers for the offerings.

NRG has granted the underwriters an option to purchase up to an additional 2,400,000 shares of common stock to cover any over-allotments, and also has granted the equity units underwriters an option to purchase up to $37.5 million of equity units (1,500,000 units) to cover any over-allotments. The gross proceeds from the offering are expected to be approximately $682 million before the exercise of the underwriter over-allotment options.

NRG Energy is a leading global energy company primarily engaged in the acquisition, development, construction, ownership and operation of power generation facilities. NRG owns all or a portion of 66 power generation projects and its net ownership interest in these projects is 16,704 MW. The company's operations utilize such diverse fuel sources as natural gas, oil, coal and coal seam methane, biomass, landfill gas, and hydro, as well as refuse-derived fuel. Certain statements included in this news release are forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Although NRG believes that its expectations are reasonable, it can give no assurance that these expectations will prove to have been correct. Factors that could cause NRG's actual results to differ materially from those contemplated in the forward-looking statements above include, among others, the business or investment considerations disclosed from time to time in NRG's Securities and Exchange Commission filings or in other publicly disseminated written documents.

NRG undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. For more information, review NRG's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

More information on NRG Energy is available at www.nrgenergy.com.

Contacts:

NRG Energy, Inc.

Media Relations
Meredith Moore, 612/373-8892

Investor Relations
Rick Huckle, 612/313-8900