--Four years of perseverance result in recognition of outstanding
workplace health and safety from California OSHA's Voluntary Protection
Program (VPP)--
Aug. 5, 2010 (Business Wire) -- NRG Energy, Inc.’s (NYSE: NRG) Encina Generating Station in Carlsbad has qualified for Star status under California’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (Cal/OSHA) Voluntary Protection Program. VPP Star status is the highest level of recognition for exemplary workplace health and safety efforts given by both Cal/VPP and the U.S. Department of Labor’s OSHA, which provides funding and oversight for state programs.
The Encina station received its official VPP Star certification after a rigorous, four-year process of improvements and evaluation by Cal/OSHA auditors. The Star Program is designed to recognize exemplary work sites with comprehensive, successful safety and health management systems. Companies in the Star Program have achieved superior health and safety records for their respective industries. Star participants are reevaluated every few years, although incident rates are reviewed annually.
“At NRG, safety is our number one priority, as evidenced by the tremendous effort over the past four years by everyone at Encina to achieve this remarkable goal,” said Fran Sullivan, NRG’s Senior Vice President of Plant Operations. “VPP Star status affirms our laser-like focus on the safety and health of our employees and contractors and visitors at the plant site.”
“Cal/VPP Star is designed to recognize employers and their employees who have implemented safety and health programs that go beyond Cal/OSHA standards to provide the best feasible protection at the site,” said Iraj Pourmehraban, Cal/VPP Star Manager. “By achieving this goal, NRG Encina improves employee morale and motivation to work safely, while reducing costs and missed time associated with injuries, illnesses, workers compensation and insurance.”
With five steam turbines and one peaking combustion turbine, Encina generates 965 megawatts of electricity, supplying power to about 775,000 homes in San Diego. NRG is currently developing the Carlsbad Energy Center, the first phase in replacing the existing plant with a cleaner and more efficient generating facility to be located on the 95-acre site. The new facility will also undergo VPP Star certification once it achieves commercial operations, expected to be in 2011. The new facility will replace three older generating units with modern, high-efficiency natural gas units that will increase the net output of the facility by 200 megawatts, enough additional power to supply over 160,000 homes.
Encina is the first of NRG’s California facilities to achieve VPP Star Status, and joins NRG’s Texas facilities that have earned this recognition.
- 2000 - Limestone Generating Station
- 2003 - Cedar Bayou Generating Station
- 2004 - WA Parish and Greens Bayou Generating Stations, and Texas Maintenance Services
- 2005 - SR Bertron and San Jacinto Generating Stations
- 2008 - TH Wharton Generating Station
About NRG
NRG Energy, Inc., a Fortune 500 and S&P 500 Index company, owns and operates one of the country’s largest and most diverse power generation portfolios. Headquartered in Princeton, NJ, the Company’s power plants provide more than 24,000 megawatts of generation capacity—enough to supply more than 20 million homes. NRG’s retail business, Reliant Energy, serves 1.5 million residential, business, commercial and industrial customers in Texas. A past recipient of the energy industry’s highest honors—Platts Industry Leadership and Energy Company of the Year awards, NRG is a member of the U.S. Climate Action Partnership (USCAP), a group of business and environmental organizations calling for mandatory legislation to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. More information is available at www.nrgenergy.com.
