NRG Energy, with nine power plants in Connecticut, lost money in the first quarter stemming from its $481 million write-down of two planned nuclear reactors in South Texas.
The company, based in New Jersey, abandoned its South Texas Project plans in April after the nuclear crisis in Japan reduced the probability the two Texas reactors would be completed in a timely fashion. One of NRG’s partners on the project was to be TEPCO, the Japanese utility that owns the reactor complex crippled by the March earthquake and tsunami.
After the write down, NRG reported on Thursday a first-quarter net loss of $260 million, or $1.06 per share, compared to earnings of $58 million, or 22 cents per share, in the first quarter last year.
NRG’s Northeast segment, which includes its Connecticut plants, had a net loss of $32 million for the first quarter, compared to earnings of $52 million the first quarter in 2010. The company attributed the losses to increased fuel costs, lower hedge prices and a 25 percent decline in coal generation.
