Mauricio Gutierrez stepped down Nov. 17 as NRG Energy’s CEO, an apparent victim of a push by activist investor Elliott Investment Management to reshape the organization’s leadership.
NRG said that Gutierrez had resigned as CEO and as a member of the board of directors. In a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, NRG said the resignation “was not the result of any disagreement with the company” or any matter concerning its operations, policies or practices.
However, Elliott, owner of more than 13% of NRG’s shares, has been openly critical of the company’s $5.2 billion acquisition of Vivint Smart Home earlier this year. Elliott has called the purchase “the worst deal of the decade” and called on the company to focus on returning capital to shareholders.
Interim CEO Lawrence Coben, the board’s chair, said in NRG’s press release that Vivint’s integration is “well underway.”
“As a differentiated company at the intersection of energy and smart home technology, NRG has clear upside-value creation opportunities,” he said.
The board has begun seeking a permanent CEO and has retained a search firm to help.
“Today, NRG is in a position of strength. The board is confident in NRG’s strategic direction,” Coben said. “We extend our appreciation to Mauricio for his contributions in helping to build NRG’s solid foundation as we prepare for the next generation of leadership.”
Gutierrez joined NRG in 2004 and served in several leadership positions before being named CEO in December 2015.
The Houston-based company has a large presence in Texas. Reliant Energy, its electric retailer, owns about 40% of ERCOT’s deregulated market, and NRG accounts for about 20% of the grid operator’s fleet, noted Stoic Energy CEO Doug Lewin.
“This is big Texas energy news. [NRG has] been among the loudest voices for a capacity market, even though their power plants are often broken down when most needed,” he wrote on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.
NRG said it will also conduct a comprehensive review of its operations and cost structure to “further enhance capital return to shareholders” and to identify additional efficiency opportunities.
Elliott partner John Pike and portfolio manager Bobby Xu said the fund invested in NRG “because we believed that a renewed focus on best-in-class operations and returns-driven capital allocation would strengthen NRG and enable it to deliver significant upside for shareholders.”
NRG also said Monday that, pursuant to a cooperation agreement with Elliott, it has added four new independent directors to the board:
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- Marwan Fawaz, former executive adviser for Google and its parent company, Alphabet, and former CEO of Nest and Motorola Home;
- Kevin Howell, former Dynegy COO and former regional president for NRG Texas;
- Alex Pourbaix, CEO of Cenovus Energy; and
- Marcie Zlotnik, co-founder and COO of Texas retailer StarTex Power.
The four new directors were identified as part of NRG’s board “refreshment process” in collaboration with Elliott, the company said. They increase the board’s membership to 13, 12 of whom are independent. NRG said it expects to reduce the board’s size to 11 members in the second half of 2024.
Howell and Pourbaix will join the board’s CEO search committee, with fellow independent Directors Lisa Donohue, (the chair), Antonio Carrillo and Heather Cox. Incumbent Director Anne Schaumburg was appointed lead independent director.
