The 'BB-' corporate credit rating (CCR) on NRG Energy Inc. (NRG) reflects the company's fundamental exposure to volatile commodity markets, balanced by a substantially hedged baseload fleet for the next few years that provides cash flow stability and positions NRG better than most of its peers to withstand the current merchant downturn. NRG's baseload generation is now hedged 100%, 70%, 45%, and 27% for each successive year of the 2010-2013 period. We expect NRG to be free-cash-flow positive for the next few years, even when we apply our conservative merchant price deck to the unhedged generation. NRG's ownership of the Reliant Energy retail business provides a natural hedge to its Texas generation assets over the longer term and can moderate
